16 September 2025 (Week 9 Term 3 2025)

Dear St Joseph’s Community

We are fast approaching the end of the term, and it has been both an exciting and full one for our school community. Today, our students enjoyed a wonderful day of praise and worship with the Wildfire band and the 10:10 experience from the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Office. The energy, joy and faith-filled spirit of the day was a great reminder of the importance of coming together as a community to celebrate God’s love.

Looking ahead, we are very excited about our Community Celebration Afternoon on the final day of term for students. This will be a time for tabloid sports and fun activities led by our Year 6 leaders, and we look forward our student leaders demonstrating their excellent leadership of these fun activities for their felliow students. 

I would also like to congratulate and commend the students who represented our school at the Polding Athletics Carnival. Jack, Harvey and Jonty all competed with determination and pride, and we are very proud of the way they represented St Joseph’s. A special congratulations goes to Jonty, who placed first in the 100 metres and long jump, and second in the shot put. An outstanding achievement!

This coming Sunday, 21 September, is our Stage 1 Mass. Our Year 1 and Year 2 students will be taking on some of the responsibilities of the liturgy, and our school will also be looking after the music. We warmly invite all Stage 1 parents and families to join us for this special celebration. After Mass, you are most welcome to stay a little longer and enjoy some time together on the playground.

Father’s Day Breakfast Thanks

A big thank you to all the dads, grandads, uncles and special men who joined us on Friday, Week 7. The breakfast, prayer service, games on the playground and even the ‘dad jokes’ all made for a memorable morning.

It was a joy to share this time with you and to see the children so excited to have you with them at school. Thank you for the many ways you support your children and our community.

Sadly, we had a technical issue with the photographs we took at the St Joseph statue, and only a couple turned out. We had hoped to send these home to families. 

Arriving to School Punctually 

A gentle reminder of the importance of arriving at school punctually each day. Our morning session is vital, with teachers outlining the day and beginning the Literacy Block – a key part of our learning program.

When students arrive on time, they begin the day calmly, settled, and ready to learn. Building this routine helps set them up for success and ensures they don’t miss out on important learning opportunities.

Professional Learning Days - Last Day of Term and First Day of Term 4

A reminder that the last day of term, Friday 26 September, is a Professional Learning Day for the staff of St Joseph’s, which means it is a pupil-free day (making Thursday 25 September the last day of attendance for students).

Our final Staff Development Day for 2025 is the first day of Term 4, Monday, 13 October.  Students return to school Tuesday, 14 October. 

Unfortunately, Rainbow Region is not available for vacation care on these days.

Junior Joeys Starts Term 4 and Kindergarten 2026

Our Junior Joeys Program commences in Term 4 and will run each Friday for the first 6 weeks of Term from 9:00-10:55am. We look forward to welcoming our new students and their families as they begin their transition into our community. 

Mrs McCall and Mrs Moran will be taking Junior Joeys this year. We know all of our students will be excited to welcome our new students!

Important Parent Workshops Coming Up

You will see below details of two important parent workshops coming up: Children, Devices & Healthy Development on Tuesday 28 October and Raising Calm, Connected Kids – Part B with Rachael Jennings on Tuesday 4 November. Both sessions will provide practical strategies and insights to support families in navigating the challenges of parenting today. We warmly encourage parents to take part in these valuable opportunities.

Numeracy Fluency Thanks

A big thank you to the parents who were able to join us last Friday, before assembly, to see our Numeracy Fluency Project in action in the classrooms. This important initiative is designed to build speed and accuracy in core numeracy skills, helping students confidently tackle more challenging maths without overloading their working memory. We are very proud of our students for the way they engage in this daily practice, and of our teachers for their excellent implementation of the program.

Reflection on Saint Carlo Acutis

Earlier this month, our Church joyfully celebrated the canonisation of Carlo Acutis, making him an official saint. Carlo was just fifteen when he passed away in 2006, but his life spoke powerfully of holiness lived in everyday things: school, friendships, hobbies, technology, and prayer. He deeply loved the Eucharist, seeing it, as he once said, as his “highway to Heaven.” He used his tech skills to catalogue Eucharistic miracles and shared God’s love in ways that resonated with young people.

For students, Carlo’s example is both inspiring and very accessible. He shows that being a saint is not about perfection or grand gestures, but about faithfulness in daily habits: showing kindness, being honest, choosing to do good even when it’s difficult, using one’s gifts, even digital and online ones, to help others. His canonisation reminds us that youngsters can lead with love, that holiness can grow in simple acts of service, prayer, generosity, and courage.

Let us pray that we might follow his example, that our children, students, and families see in Saint Carlo Acutis a guide for living with faith in our present age.

5 Questions parents can ask their children

1. What did you learn today?
2. How did you do?
3. What did you do if you didn’t understand? 
4. How can you improve your learning? 
5. What are you most proud of?

These questions can create opportunities for informative conversations with your children. 

1. What did you learn today?

A clear response to this question goes beyond a simple list of topics. You'd want to hear the child articulate a concept or skill.

• Vague/Less Clear: "We learned about math and reading."
• Clear/Desired: "I learned how to subtract numbers with regrouping from the tens place” or  “I learned about how to use noun groups to describe characters”

2. How did you do?

This question is about self-assessment. A clear response indicates that the child understands what constitutes a "successful" or "not so successful" performance and can justify their answer.

• Vague/Less Clear: "I did ok."
• Clear/Desired: "I did well on the science project because I made sure to include a diagram and label all the parts”

3. What did you do if you didn’t understand?

This question gets at the student's learning process and their ability to self-regulate. A clear response shows they have a strategy for seeking help or clarifying confusion.

• Vague/Less Clear: "I just waited." or "The teacher helped me."
• Clear/Desired: "I reread the question a few times, and when I still didn't get it, I asked the person next to me to explain it a different way. I asked the teacher to show me another example of a long division problem because the first one didn't make sense to me."

4. How can you improve your learning?

This is about setting next steps and demonstrating ownership. A clear response shows the child has a plan.

• Vague/Less Clear: "I don't know." or "I'll try harder."
• Clear/Desired: "I need to practice my multiplication facts more often because that's what's slowing me down in my math problems.”

5. What are you most proud of?

This question encourages the child to reflect on their accomplishments. A clear response connects the achievement to a specific effort or learning goal.

• Vague/Less Clear: "I'm proud of my drawing."
• Clear/Desired: "I'm most proud of my persuasive writing. I spent a lot of time researching my topic and used some really strong evidence to back up my opinion, which was hard, but I know it made my writing stronger."

Invitation to our Family Mass this Sunday

We would love to invite you to our Family Mass this Sunday. All families are warmly invited to come along and enjoy a play and catch up in the playground after.

Stage 1 are invited to lead special parts in the Mass. If you are a parent of a Stage 1 student, please let us know if they can attend via this link so they can be given a special part.

Year 3 Retreat

This year, we have developed a retreat for every year group in the school, as well as our whole school Advent retreat. Miss MacDonald has prepared a beautiful retreat for Year 3 called ‘Sharing God’s Love’. This retreat relates to their learning in Religious Education this term and provides an opportunity for special prayer experiences. They will conclude the day with service in the community by handing out bookmarks down the street, continuing to share God’s love with others.

Here are some excellent resources to support parents and families in navigating strong emotions and behaviour at home.

NSW Parent Line https://www.parentline.org.au/

Temper Tantrums

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/hot-parenting-topics/throws-temper-tantrums/

Strong Emotions 

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/hot-parenting-topics/coping-with-fear-anger-and-sadness/

Stronger Relationships

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/parenting-courses/triple-p-online-under-12/

Stage 3 Soccer Gala Day

On Wednesday the Stage 3 Soccer Gala day went ahead in Goonellabah. 15 students played 3 games against different schools from around our Diocese. On a day that was very hot and muggy, the Joey’s soccer team played magnificently, finishing the day with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.
There were some brilliant goals, excellent goalkeeper saves and wonderful team play produced by our students. They all played with brilliant sportsmanship and competitiveness and it was a great day to be a part of.

Polding Athletics Carnival

On Friday, we had 3 students attend the Polding Athletics Carnival in Newcastle. All 3 students represented our school and Diocese with great sportsmanship and we are very proud of them all.
Below are the results.
Jack Kubils - Discus - 10th overall
Harvey Emery - 100m - 12th overall
Jonty Allen - 100m 1st, Long Jump 1st, ShotPut 2nd.  Jonty will now progress to the NSW Combined Catholic Primary Schools carnival in Term 4.

SAVE THE DATE!

Monitor your child’s online activities. Negative interactions can lead to school avoidance

Monitoring your child’s online activities is a crucial aspect of parenting in the digital age, and it can indeed play a role in addressing and preventing issues like school avoidance. Here are some reasons why monitoring online activities is important and how it can help prevent negative interactions that may contribute to school avoidance:

• Early Detection of Issues. Regular monitoring allows you to detect any early signs of negative online interactions, such as cyberbullying or social media conflicts. Addressing these issues promptly can prevent them from escalating and negatively impacting your child's well-being.
• Understanding Social Dynamics. By staying informed about your child's online interactions, you gain insights into their social dynamics and relationships. Understanding the online environment helps you identify positive and negative influences on your child's emotional and social wellbeing.
• Communication and Trust. Open communication about online activities fosters trust between you and your child. When children know that their online experiences are open for discussion, they are more likely to share concerns or challenges they may be facing.
• Setting Boundaries. Establishing clear expectations and boundaries for online behaviour is essential. By monitoring your child's activities, you can ensure that they are adhering to these boundaries and engaging in positive online interactions.
• Providing Guidance on Conflict Resolution. If negative interactions do occur, use them as teachable moments to guide your child on conflict resolution and appropriate ways to handle disagreements. This skill is valuable both online and offline.

By actively engaging in their digital world, you can create a safer online environment and contribute to their emotional and social resilience.

Lost Property

With the cooler mornings and pleasant days, children often remove their jumper as the day warms. Many of these jumpers then find their way to our Lost Property. Please assist by ensuring your child’s belongings are LABELLED with their name and by reminding them to put their belongings into their school bags. 

Labelled items are returned to classrooms ... unnamed items build up to dizzying heights in our Lost Property basket.

We also have a number of items that were left behind on Family Day - if you or your child/ren are missing anything from this day, please drop in to have a look through our Lost Property basket.

Names and Preloved Uniform Purchases too!

A reminder to parents when purchasing uniform items, including all second hand items, to please label them with your child’s name. We often have these items finding their way to lost property still marked with the previous owner’s name and therefore no way of returning them to their new owner.

Parent Workshop: Children, Devices & Healthy Development

Our children are the first generation to grow up with digital devices in their pockets, but what is it costing them? Research shows that excessive screen time can have an impact on:

• Brain development – attention, self-control, and creativity
• Social skills – friendship building, empathy, and conflict resolution
• Emotional wellbeing – anxiety, loneliness, and disrupted sleep

We are pleased to offer parents a special information session:

Children and Technology Parent Workshop

• 📅 Tuesday 28 October
• 🕑 Choose a time that suits you: 2:00 pm or 6:00 pm
• 🍎 Light refreshments provided

At this workshop, you will:

• Explore why devices can be “experience inhibitors” for children
• Hear the latest insights from leading researchers
• Learn how to set healthy and realistic screen limits at home

Every family who attends will also receive a free copy of The Tech Diet for Your Child by Brad Marshall, known as The Unplugged Psychologist — a practical guide for families navigating the digital world.

👉 Register here or scan the QR code on the flyer.

📣 Parent Workshop: Raising Calm, Connected Kids - Part B

Last week, our Occupational Therapist, Rachael Jennings, offered a session on Raising Calm, Connected Kids. She spent time unpacking how we, as parents, can support our children to regulate their emotions. We had time to discuss how this works in our own family context and to ask advice from Rachael.

We didn't get the opportunity to move into he next part of the session on building healthy boundaries and loving limits. 

Rachael has agreed to come back for Part B to lead the session on boundaries, and we warmly invite our school community to attend. 

🗓 Tuesday 4 November, 2025

🕕 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

📍 McCarthy Hall, St Joseph’s Primary

This interactive session will offer practical strategies to:

• Set clear, loving boundaries appropriate to your child’s age
• Reduce conflict and create a calm, predictable home environment
• Strengthen communication and connection within your family

It’s a chance to pause, reflect, and gain tools for supporting your child through every stage of development.

🧒 Supervision will be available for students who need to attend with their parents.

We hope you can join us for this valuable evening of shared learning and discussion.

🔗 Please RSVP by clicking this link.