LENT

The weather begins to change, calendars continue to turn, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations drift further into the rearview mirror.  All are signs that Lent is drawing near.

Lent is one of the five seasons of the Catholic liturgical calendar.  Lent goes for a period of 40 days.  It precedes Easter and is a period centered on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. 

There is no better time to reconnect with or deepen one’s faith than Lent. During this time, we can draw closer to God as we prepare for the joyous celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Easter.  Lent can be an incredibly rewarding time for our faith lives. 

The first day of Lent was Ash Wednesday, in which we use ashes on our forehead in the shape of a cross to remember our own mortality and begin our journey of penance.  We were lucky to have Fr Amal join us to celebrate this in our assembly hall.  We were challenged to make the next 40 days a time for LENT - let’s eliminate negative thoughts.  These negative thoughts impact our relationships and can effect our relationship with God.  Negative thoughts we can encounter are when

• We argue with our parents
• Are unkind to each other with words or actions
• Refuse to do what is asked of us
• Get angry
• Don’t give things our best effort
• Refuse to try new things

Often Lent is a time we are asked to give up something, giving up negative thoughts will all allow us to grow in ourselves, will help our relationships with each other and with God. Negative thoughts effect us all.  I am looking forward to giving up the negative thoughts that I encounter for the next 40 days, giving them to God knowing that he will give me the strength to overcome them.  

Swimming Carnival

Each week students are provided with teaching and learning as part of the resilience project.  Monday 6th March was a day that this learning was in action for our Year 3 - 6 students.  The older students of our school community participated in the modified swimming carnival.  The weather was very unkind and those watching and supporting the swimmers were as wet as the participants.  We witnessed many courageous and talented swimmers who pushed themselves and surprised themselves with what they could do.  We are grateful for the family and friends who came to support our swimmers, the students for doing their best and the staff who were champions in making the day happen despite the adversity.  There were many student performances to highlight, inparticular:

The competition between Calin Jones/Hudson Hindle and Lucy Mansson/Sydney Gray was consistently close keeping our judges on their toes.  

The persistence of Max Gasperic and Chelsea Jones that competed hard in every race. 

Thank you to Christine Gray for starting our races.

 Congratulations to all of our superb swimmers.

Mrs Teresa McLeod

Principal 

Term 1: 3rd February - 6th April

Term 2: 26th April - 7th July

Term 3: 25th July - 29th September

Term 4: 17th October - 13th December

A reminder that next Monday, 13th March is a Public Holiday. Students return to school on Tuesday, 14th March. 

Last week our school leaders were blessed at our Commissioning Mass.

Literate Learners for Life

Seven weeks into the school year and every class is determined to make every minute count. To that end, every morning in every classroom our focus is on building the literacy skills of every learner. From 9am to 11am, Prep to Grade 2 students are engaging in our Initialit program. Each morning, students participate in lessons in small groups learning their sounds, reading, spelling and enhancing their vocabulary and fundamentals of writing.

In Grades 3-6, a spelling program has been (re)introduced to the literacy program. Each day, students are lead direct instruction approach that is catered to individual student needs. Five groups across two classes meet Monday to Friday for 20 mins to learn the spelling rules and conventions. The brisk pace of lessons have provided high engagement and confidence. We are very much looking forward to seeing our spelling achievements transfer into our writing.

As students grow through the early years of ‘learning to read’ to the upper years ‘reading to learn’, the valuable skills that they learn during our literacy blocks are fundamental to students succeeding in all learning areas.

Mr Barry Jones

School Leader: Teaching & Learning

Religious Education in Sassafras

In Sassafras, we have been learning about different types of prayer and how we pray. Students have learnt the four important things needed in a prayer space: a cloth, a Bible, a candle and a cross. We have written our own prayers of praise and thanks with some help from Miss Bounds. Students have thought about and painted different places we can pray in. We have been practising the Sign of the Cross and demonstrating it in prayer times as well as participating in different songs.

We have been learning about Prayer and how it is used during the Liturgy along with the different readings. The students were asked to create a poster on Canva using words, signs and symbols that are related to the Liturgy.

Loaves and Fishes

Loaves and Fishes Tasmania prepare healthy nutritionally balanced meals for various educational settings. They currently donate breakfast muffins towards our breakfast program to both our West Coast Catholic schools and fruit to St Joseph’s Queenstown.

Loaves and fishes Tasmania will be providing our students with nutritious lunches for all students who attend our school twice a week during school terms on Monday and Friday. The hot lunches will provide a sound base to the students eating throughout the week.  This program will educate the students about healthy eating and nutritious alternatives, this initiative aligns with our ‘Move Well Eat Well’ program. Students also learn to eat with others and learn socially acceptable behaviours. The meals are prepared meeting the guidelines for School Food Matters.  

Providing a school lunch for all children has many benefits.

• enjoyment of eating together and eating the same food.

• exciting how many different foods children will try when they are eating with friends.

• a nutritious meal is a great way to enable children to concentrate during the lessons after lunch.

• Teachers have indicated a calmer classroom when all children have eaten a balanced meal at lunch time.

• Parents have indicated that the pressure is not as intense in the mornings getting the children to school due to not having to make a school lunch box,

• and parents have peace of mind that their child will be fed well.

Please  note all students will be provided with a hot meal at lunch time on a Monday and Friday, students will only need to bring recess on these days.

The menu will be full of delicious, dietitian-approved recipes with ingredients locally-sourced where possible and a focus on sustainability. 

Recently a small number of students have been wearing incorrect uniforms, this includes shoes. The correct school uniform is an important part of attending St Joseph’s. 

The aims of wearing a school uniform are for the following reasons:

• To provide a focus and a sense of identity for students attending the school.
• To provide an opportunity for parents and staff to instill in the children a sense of pride in their appearance, which is an important Christian ethic.
• To prevent excesses in fashion trends and to eliminate competition among students.
• To provide an economic means of clothing children for school.

A reminder that fawn tights are to be worn if wearing tights with the summer dress.

Girls Summer Uniform

• Summer Dress
• Soft Shell Jacket
• Fawn Socks
• Black School Shoes
• School Hat

Boys Summer Uniform

• Fawn Short Sleeve Shirt
• Grey Shorts/Pants
• Soft Shell Jacket
• Grey Socks
• School Hat
• Black School Shoes

NAPLAN 2023

Students will be sitting NAPLAN between 15 and 27 March 2023.

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

This is the first year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.

Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.

Please note that students in Year 3 complete the Writing Test on paper.

Parent information brochures and other resources

Your questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child:

NAPLAN information brochure for parents and carers

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website.

Please contact the school if you have any further queries.

2023 NAPLAN Timetable

Emergency Practice

This term we will hold an unannounced emergency practice with staff and students to test our response to a potential scenario that staff identify as a threat, warranting the school to go into lockdown (opposite to evacuation).

We have plans in place to make this practice as least disruptive as possible.

If you have queries please contact Teresa McLeod on 03 6471 1139.

On Friday, 24th March we will be participating in National Ride to School Day. Please keep an eye out for more details in the coming weeks.

2023 Easter Raffle

The School Board AGM will be held on Wednesday 22nd March at 7:00pm in the school Library. 

The school board convenes twice a term to discuss school initiatives including buildings, facilities, policy direction, staffing, finances, and educational programs. The School Board currently have positions vacant and are seeking expressions of interest from parents of St Joseph’s Catholic School for consideration for School Board membership. If you are interested in becoming a member of our School Board, please contact the school office on 6471 1139 for further details.

Parent and Community Presentation

Parents and Carer will need to register for the webinar using the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tWLlDrq3QbmIOzKvO5-SpA

Please circulate this to your parent and carer community with the below flyer and social media tiles.  Upon registration, registrants will receive a link to attend the webinar, along with a reminder the day prior.

Wednesday 15th March from 6:30pm - 8:00pm (90 minutes) AEDT

Vinnies Volunteers