17 June 2025 (Week 8 Term 2 2025)
Dear St Joseph’s Community
It’s hard to believe how quickly the term is moving—there are just a few short weeks until the holidays, and the energy across the school reflects the fullness of these final weeks. From learning initiatives to community events, our students and staff have been engaged in rich and meaningful experiences.
Last Friday, our Year 6 Mission Leaders coordinated the Cosy for a Cause initiative, inviting students to wear warm pyjamas, beanies, and scarves while raising funds for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal and the Bishop’s Flood Appeal. Thank you to all families for your generosity—through gold coin donations, teddy bear purchases, and hot chocolate sales, we raised close to $500 to support those doing it tough this winter.
That same afternoon, we welcomed Kindergarten families for our Teddy Bears & Prayers afternoon picnic. The event began with a shared picnic on the playground, followed by an opportunity to join together in prayer. Students and their families then enjoyed craft activities together, creating teddy bear masks, and ended the day with a teddy bear parade. It was a lovely way to come together and celebrate the sense of belonging that underpins a child’s first year of school. See more about this lovely afternoon below!
Numeracy Fluency Program
In last week’s newsletter, Mr Crosby shared an overview of our school’s work with the Numeracy Fluency Program, which focuses on helping students develop efficient and accurate recall of number facts and to engage in simpler mathematical processes. Last week, we hosted visitors from the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Office (DLCS), who observed the program across classrooms. They were impressed by the strong student engagement, the professional and consistent practice of our staff, and the calm, focused learning environments.
Fluency matters because it frees up students’ working memory. When students can recall number facts with speed and accuracy, they are better able to tackle challenging problems, apply reasoning, and engage deeply in mathematical thinking. I am incredibly proud of how hard our teachers have worked to implement these strategies and how well our students are engaging in the process. We look forward to seeing the impact of this project on our Mathematics data.
Steady Gains in Reading Yrs 3-6 – A Testament to Great Teaching
We’re delighted to share the steady improvement in our students’ reading results over the past three years. The image below shows our school’s PAT Reading data from 2023 to 2025. You can see that not only are the average scores going up each year, but more students are reaching the higher achievement bands.
One of the clearest signs of progress is in the middle range of student results—this is where most students sit—and we’ve seen solid improvement here each year. There’s also strong growth at the lower end, which shows that our targeted support for students who find reading more difficult is working.
This progress is a result of our strong teaching practices, the consistent use of effective strategies in every classroom, and the relentless effort of our teachers. When students struggle, we act early and provide the right support through well-planned interventions.
Thank you to our staff for your hard work and to our families for your ongoing partnership in learning.
Semester 1 Reports and Parent Teacher Meetings
Our teachers are currently in the process of preparing Semester 1 reports, which provide a snapshot of the learning your child has been engaged in throughout the first half of the year. These reports are based on a wide range of assessment strategies and classroom observations, ensuring we develop a clear understanding of what each student knows, understands, and can do. We thank our teaching staff for the time, care, and professional judgement they bring to this important process. Semester 1 reports will be released on Monday, 30th of June.
Parent–Teacher Interviews will be held early next term, on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 July, with appointments available from 8:00am and into the afternoon on both days. These conversations are an important opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and next steps in learning and we ask parents to prioritise attendance.
The Compass Conferences to book Parent Teacher Meetings will open on Friday 27 June (Week 9) at 4:00 pm.
Scripture Reflection
On Sunday, we celebrated the mystery of the Holy Trinity—God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It’s one of the deepest truths of our faith: that God is not a solitary being, but a relationship of love.
A beautiful image of the Trinity is found in the icon by Andrei Rublev, where three figures sit in harmony around a table. They represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—distinct, yet united. They are turned toward one another, in peace and love. The open space at the front of the table reminds us that we are invited into this divine relationship.
At St Joseph’s, our motto is “Growth Through Love.” Trinity Sunday reminds us that love is not just a feeling—it is relationship. It is being with others, listening, forgiving, sharing, and building each other up. Just as the Trinity is united in love, we grow when we love in the same way—in our homes, classrooms, playgrounds, and community.
May we always find our strength, our joy, and our growth in love—because God is love, and we are made in God’s image.
You are invited to listen to Bishop Greg’s Homily from Sunday’s Mass.
🏠 Mathematics at home
“I Have, You Need” is a quick yet powerful instructional routine designed to help students construct the essential numerical relationships of partners, including 10, 100, and 1,000.
How
- Decide on your ‘Whole’ target number- 10, 100 or 1000
- Establish a target number.
- Example: Say, “For a total of 100, I have 92, you need...” OR for 10 say “ I have 7, you need…” OR for 1000 say “ I have 350, you need…”
- Give brief think time. Then cue students to respond, “8”.
- Play several rounds at a time, gradually choosing more challenging numbers.
Ask
- How do you know?
- What do you think about as you find the partner number?
- Prove it!
Target 100
Parent: “I have 75…you need…”
Student: “25!”
First Eucharist Information Evening
The Information Night for First Eucharist will be held on Wednesday June 25, 2025, in the staffroom at St Joseph's at 6:00 pm. The meeting will address the meaning of the Sacrament of Eucharist and will be the opportunity to organise the various groups for home instruction. This will involve all parents from both Government schools and St Joseph's. Your child is also expected to attend the meeting.
All children who are in Year 4 and beyond and who have received the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Reconciliation are eligible to receive First Eucharist. Enrolment forms for First Eucharist can be collected from the school.
Some parents received an email yesterday asking them to complete a form regarding the adjustments in place for their child. It is a requirement that parents confirm receipt of this information.
Your child’s teacher will have discussed these supports and adjustments during your parent/teacher meeting earlier this year, and in many cases, you may have also had other meetings, phone calls, or emails about them.
We'll have further opportunities for parent, teacher, and student collaboration at our upcoming parent-teacher interviews early next term, with the option for longer meetings where needed.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to discuss your child’s learning needs and supports further.
Last Tuesday, Hugo McCall competed in the Polding Cross Country event in Sydney. Hugo finished 7th out of 44 competitors. This was a great effort and we are super proud of Hugo and this achievement.
Our Athletics Carnival will be on Friday Week 9. The Compass event went out last week and as planning is still underway, the program and additional information will be added close to the carnival. We hope to have canteen information available for families this week too.
The Kindergarten students, their families, and teddies had a ‘beary’ fun afternoon last Friday. We gathered together for our ‘Teddy Bears and Prayers’ celebration, which involved a picnic, engaging in prayer, craft, singing, and a parade.
Term 2 Community Day
This term, we will have our Community Day celebration on Monday, June 30, which will be a movie and salted popcorn. Students are asked to bring their own tupperware container to receive their popcorn in and they are welcome to bring a pillow.
