Term Four, Week Three

October 28, 2020

Message & Notifications From The Principal

Dear Families and Friends

Welcome to Week 3!

Book Week

It was terrific to see so many students (and staff) dressed up in a variety of outfits for our Book Week parade last Friday. A big thank you to the parents and carers who came along and well done to the students who were lucky enough to win a book prize.

Our Book Fair in the library concludes this afternoon. Thank you to Ms Eileen and Miss Tianna who have facilitated this event for our school community.

Confirmation

Congratulations to Mia Davies, Huon Diddams, Monika Garrity, Charlotte Hogan and Miss Marion Gehrmann who received the sacrament of Confirmation at St Vincent Pallotti Church yesterday. A big thank you to sponsors, families, Mr Luke Roberts, Fr Joel and Sr Julianne who assisted in preparing the candidates so well for what is a significant event in their lives.

School Banking

School banking will return next Wednesday at 7:40am at the lunch shed. School banking will be offered to students at the following times over the remainder of the term:

Wednesday 4th November, 7:40am

Wednesday 18th November, 7:40am

Wednesday 2nd December, 7:40am

Thank you to Mr Brock Burston who will provide these opportunities for students over the remainder of the year.

All Souls Day

Our Mass for All Souls Day will be held at St Vincent Pallotti Church on Monday 2nd November beginning 8.30am. Students in Years 3-6 will be attending Mass while Pre-Primary - Year 2 students will remain at school to participate in activities with their teachers. Families and friends are most welcome to come along to Mass.

Swimming

A final reminder that swimming begins for Years 2, 3, 4/5 & 5/6 classes on Monday 9th November. Permission slips should now have been returned to the school. Please ensure that children have the necessary items to participate in these lessons. Thank you to Mr Jamie, Mrs Christopher and Miss Gehrmann who will be facilitating these sessions.

Farewell

With sadness we will be farewelling the following staff at the end of the year:

Laura Christopher - Laura will be relocating to Perth. Laura and her husband Darren are also expecting the birth of their first child early next year. Laura has made a tremendous contribution to our school as an Assistant Principal over the past 3 years.

Melinda Fitt - Melinda will be relocating to Broome. Melinda led our Aboriginal Families as First Educators group before taking on the role as our Kindergarten teacher for the past 2 years. We will definitely miss Melinda's passion for early childhood education and we wish her, Ben, Cassidy and Fletcher all the very best for the future

Thomas Zahra will be relocating to Perth with his family. After working as a relief teacher at St Joseph's during 2019, Thomas accepted the position as our Physical Education Coordinator this year and did a fantastic job in organising events such as our Athletics Carnival.

Kate Carew - Kate will be relocating to Darwin. Before taking Maternity Leave earlier this year, Kate made valuable contributions to our school as a Reading Recovery and classroom teacher. We wish her, Thomas, Tahlia and Sophie all the best for the future.

Izzy Stewart - We wish Izzy well as she takes 12 months maternity leave and heads back to Perth to be closer to her family. We thank Izzy for her tireless efforts working with our early childhood students over the past 3 years.

Claire Hill - Claire will be relocating to Donnybrook with her family. Claire worked diligently as a teaching assistant in Kindergarten this year and we wish her, Luke, Elliott and Isla all the best with their move.

Staffing for 2021

The following appointments have been made for 2021:

AFAFE- Emma Walker and Kimberley McLaughlin

KINDY- Teacher: Tanya Lockwood Teaching Assistants: Leelee Morgan and Nicole Absalom

PRE-PRIMARY- Teacher: Harriet Maingard Aboriginal Teaching Assistants: Judith Brennan & Tianna Garlett

YEAR 1 - Teachers: Marion Gehrmann (4 days a week) Mel Monks (1 day a week) Aboriginal Teaching Assistant: Bernadette Knott

Teaching Assistant: Ros Grace

YEAR 2 - Teacher: Matthew Absalom Teaching Assistants: Deb Rocke (4 days a week) and Leelee Morgan (1 day a week)

YEAR 3 - Teacher: Elle Tierney Aboriginal Teaching Assistant: Sandra Kelly Teaching Assistant: Marcia Constantine

YEAR 4/5- Teacher: Luke Roberts Aboriginal Teaching Assistant: Susan Swan

YEAR 5/6 – Teacher: David Ballingall Teaching Assistant: Jamie Short

Religious Education Leaders - Sr Julianne Murphy and David Ballingall

Specialists

Specialist Subjects - Matilda Kehl (full time) and Tanya Lockwood (2 days a week)

Reading Recovery - Mel Monks

NON-TEACHING STAFF

Administration Officer - Di Brooks

Administration Officer - Eileen Watkins

Canteen - Kris Oleinik

We look forward to welcoming back Mel Monks from her time in the Northern Territory! At St Joseph's, we are very fortunate to have such dedicated, committed, and talented staff. I am sure you will join me in congratulating each of our teachers, ATAs, TAs and non-teaching staff on their respective appointments for 2021.

It is hoped that information concerning our new Assistant Principal and Principal for 2021 can be shared over the coming weeks.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Tim Hogan

Principal

Term Dates 2020

Term 4: 12 Oct—11 Dec

Other Important Dates

2 November: All Souls Day
9 December: Christmas Concert, Leisure Centre, 5pm

Are you angry with someone? Pray for that person. That is what Christian Love is." Pope Francis

Reminders

At St Joseph’s School we take great pride in our appearance. The school uniform is also an important aspect of child health and safety. It is a requirement that all students wear a St Joseph’s uniform (including a hat with our logo) that is purchased from our uniform shop. Similar items bought elsewhere may not be worn to school.

Please note that our “no hat, no play” policy is enforced.

See our website for a full range of uniform items.

Uniforms may be purchased at any time from our office.

Friday of every even week beginning 1:20pm

Assemblies, Fridays, 1.20pm

23 October, Week 2: Yr 5/6

6 November, Week 4: Yr 4/5

20 November, Week 6: Yr 3

4 December, Week 8: Yr 2

Sr Julianne is collecting used stamps for the Sisters of St Joseph Peruvian mission. These are put with collections from many other schools and parishes, and sold at auctions. Over $20,000 gets raised each year. Please leave in the box at the front office.

To read more, see: https://www.marymackilloptoday.org.au/how-you-can-help/pray/stamps/

We are also seeking donations of material and scarfs that could be used for classroom prayer tables.

Apply for KidSport funding and help your children experience the benefits of club sport.

Eligible children in Western Australia can receive up to $150 per calendar year to cover the costs of joining any approved KidSport club.

Vouchers can also be used across multiple KidSport clubs, helping more children to get active and connect with community sport.

To be eligible for KidSport applicants must be:

Aged 5 to 18 years

A resident in Western Australia

Named on a valid Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card

Registering with a KidSport approved club.

Click to learn more

Description Title

Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays.

VacSwim in January offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations during the long break. Not only are they a great school holiday activity, they teach valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water.

Your children can start as young as five years old.

Don’t wait! Enrol your children in VacSwim now at

Click to find out more

Well Term 4 is off and running and everyone has settled back well into our classroom routine.

All students are encouraged to read every morning with Miss Susan or myself and so far, everyone does!

As it is getting very hot, we have also encouraged students to bring their water bottles and hats to school and leave them here.

We have done some interesting artwork to brighten up our classroom and it is starting to look fabulous so if you have the time come and have a look.

This term in Mappen students are learning about Our Island Home: different environments, climate zones and natural vegetation. They will learn about Australia's neighbouring countries and why heat is important to life on Earth. This will culminate in students working together to consider the location, climate, and values of their own artificial island nation.

Last week for Book Week we all dressed up on Friday for the parade - Charmaine won best-dressed girl for her Mulan costume and Tyler won best-dressed boy for his awesome T-Rex costume.

We are very lucky to have Sr Julianne teach Religious Education on Mondays and this week we started our remembrance branch for All Soul's Day. We have really enjoyed our lessons with Sister this year.

We now have Miriwoong for one full hour instead of two half hour sessions.

We have been practising our Christmas concert songs and dances and can't wait to show you!

We will be doing an assembly item in Week 6.

Please feel free to come and join in with us anytime.

Ms Tanya and Ms Susan

Specialist Subjects

As we move deeper into Term 4, we are quickly heading towards the end of the school year and with it the beginning of the festive season. The choir is busy learning lines and practicing the timing of their song choices. They are singing in a variety of small groups and solo parts to expand their vocal range and learn to sing with others and alone.

All classes have begun practicing and fine tuning their performance pieces in anticipation of a spectacular concert. We are very excited to see what Kindy and Pre-Primary have created for the Nativity this year. The Nativity song practices are sounding fantastic and students are really getting into the theme and building a deeper understanding about the importance of Christmas and why we celebrate at this time of year.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Christmas Concert at the Leisure Centre on Wednesday 9th December, in the last week of term. Doors open from 5:00pm, with the show kicking off promptly at 5:30pm. It should finish no later than 7:30pm.

There will be two practices at the Leisure Centre where students and teachers will fine-tune their performances.

We anticipate the staff dance routine to be particularly exciting and a huge drawcard for audience numbers.

The staff have been very busy working with their students to create an outstanding performance and we look forward to having some fun and spreading the Christmas cheer.

Mrs Matilda Kehl