Term Four, Week Two

October 21, 2020

Message & Notifications From The Principal

Dear Families and Friends

A big thank you to the St Joseph's School community for making our start to Term 4 so positive. Last Friday we celebrated the 10th anniversary of St Mary Mackillop's canonisation. Sr Julianne spoke to the students about the significance of this event and then we enjoyed an icy pole near our statue of Mary.

Book Week

This week is Book Week. Our Book Fair is set up in the library and can be visited between 2:00pm-2:30pm until Friday 23rd October. We look forward to seeing all of the wonderful costumes on display during our parade this Friday at 8:30am. All families and friends are welcome to attend.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Last Sunday, Miss Marion Gehrmann was officially received into the Catholic Church. This week, Marion will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation along with Huon Diddams, Mia Davies, Monika Garrity and Charlotte Hogan. Students will participate in a final practice tomorrow morning. We thank Sr Julianne Murphy and Mr Luke Roberts for preparing the students so well for this significant event. Mass will be held at St Vincent Pallotti Church this Sunday at 8:30am. All students, families and friends are welcome to attend.

Year 5 and 6 Parent Information Session

An Information Session for parents and carers with a child in Years 5 or 6 will be held at East Kimberley College tonight at 5:00pm in the Performing Arts building. You will have the opportunity to find out about:

Secondary School pathways
Support available through Student Services
Transition activities for Term 4

School Banking

School Banking will resume at 7.40am on Wednesday 4th November. We thank Mrs Stephanie Hogan for facilitating this program for students over the past 3.5 years. Mr Brock Burston will replace Stephanie in this role.

Christmas Concert

Save the date for our end of year Christmas Concert: Wednesday 9th December. The concert will be held at the Leisure Centre with doors opening at 5:00pm. Our awards ceremony will take place at our school library the following day on Thursday 10th December, at 1:20pm.

School Fees

Thank you to the may families who have paid all outstanding school fees. If you are yet to do so, please make a time to speak to myself or Di in the office.

Staffing for 2021

Announcements regarding staffing for 2021 will be made in next week's newsletter.

Health Lessons for Year 5/6 students

Our School Health Nurse, Ruth Rummery-Hoath, will be commencing health lessons with students in Years 5 & 6 next week. Please see your child's respective classroom teacher should you have any queries about these lessons.

Attendance

Attendance will continue to remain as a key focus this term. If children are unable to attend school for a particular reason, we ask that contact is made with the school.

Medications

If your child requires prescription medication during the school day, a Student Medication Administration Request must be filled out by parents/carers. These are available from the office. We are unable to administer medications without a signed form, even if verbal permission is given over the phone or to the school bus driver.

Thank you.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Mrs Laura Christopher and her husband Darren on the news they are expecting the birth of their first child early next year!

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Tim Hogan

Principal

Term Dates 2020

Term 4: 12 Oct—11 Dec

Other Important Dates

25 Oct: Confirmation at St Vincent Pallotti Church, 8.30am
2 November: All Souls Day
9 December: Christmas Concert, Leisure Centre, 5pm

“Look back a little and see what God has done for us.” Mary Mackillop

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

I hope everyone has had a great start to Term 4. For Year 5/6 it is a very busy term filled with lots of exciting events, but also a sad time as we say goodbye to our Graduating class of 2020 who have led the school in such a positive manner. Here are some student reflections about their time at St Joseph’s.

My favourite part about being at St Joseph’s was making lots of friends, my best memory from primary school was going on Year 5/6 Camp to Lake Argyle. When I leave St Joseph’s I’m going to miss Mrs Christopher, Alakia and Mr Roberts ~ Miytia

One of my favourite times at St Joseph’s was when we did our G.A.T (gifted and talented) lessons with Mrs Christopher which ranged from building LEGO, to science tests and playing with robots. I am sure I’m going to 100% miss my friends a lot. I loved my time at St Josephs and am sad to leave. ~ Ben 10

I loved St Joseph’s because I got to make lots of new friends, achieving head boy and doing gifted and talented this year. I really enjoyed going on school camp this year and last year. I enjoyed doing lots of different activities on the iPad. ~ Huon

When I leave for high school, I’m going to miss all my friends and the special memories. My favourite teachers are Miss B, Mrs Christopher, Miss Peters in year 3, Miss Healy, Mrs Roach, Ms Monks and Ms Oakley. My favourite moments were the Year 4 camp, Year 5/6 camp to Lake Argyle and all the sun swim days at the end of the year. My most favourite day of the year is the Christmas concert. I am mostly going to miss Alakia, Miytia, Leah and Camille. ~ Mia

Mr Roberts

Pre-Primary News

The Pre-Primary students have settled back into school nicely this term. They are all showing great listening skills and using their amazing manners. This term is very busy as we get ready for the Christmas Concert, as well preparing for the transition into Year 1.

At the moment our biggest interest is looking for bugs and caterpillars in the play ground and making sure that they have a safe place to live. Our focus in class is writing, in which the students are showing a lot more interest and pride. We are looking forward to our community excursion next week with Kindy and Year 5/6 where we are going to help the people in need by making and giving out sandwiches at White Gum Park and picking up as much rubbish as we can. We will continue to put in a great deal of effort and enthusiasm for our work as we approach the end of the year.

Miss Harriet Maingard