Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been wonderful to see all students come back to school and settle into their new classes with their teachers. Class teachers are looking forward to meeting with parents next week to discuss student learning goals. Please make an appointment via the conferences tab in Compass. Phone the office if you require support with this.

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2025 will open over the next few weeks. If you have a child beginning Kinder next year, please phone the office so we can begin the enrolment process. I will be running a school tour for any prospective Kindergarten students in the community on Thursday 7th March at 3:30pm, and you are most welcome to bring your preschooler along to have a look around the school.

We have entered the Liturgical season of Lent, a season for us to reflect on how we can pray, repent and renew our faith in Christ. It was wonderful to see so many parents and parishioners join us for Mass on Ash Wednesday. We received lots of positive feedback from the parishioners about student conduct and participation. Thank you to Mr Buchtmann for organising this and for cooking us delicious pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.

https://bustedhalo.com/video/ash-wednesday-in-two-minutes

Students have received a Project Compassion box and are encouraged to contribute small amounts of money as a way of alms giving during Lent. Boxes are returned to the school at the end of Lent and the funds are forwarded to Caritas Australia to help with their projects working with some of the world’s most vulnerable people. We are grateful for this opportunity to help others on a global scale.

Please join me in saying a prayer for Mrs Hunt and her family. Sadly, her father passed away over the weekend. Bob was surrounded by his family, and I know they will all cherish the time they have had together over the last few weeks. Mrs Hunt has extended her leave and is due to return March 27th. I appreciate the support the parents, students and staff have given me over the last few weeks to ensure things run smoothly in Mel’s absence.

Finally, thank you to the families who attended out Meet and Greet session on Friday. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know everyone, to review the new FACE model and to outline our School Improvement Plan Goals for the year. These are outlined below for your information.

Warm Regards,

Shae Lapi-an

Religious Education News: The Season of Lent

What is Lent?

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (14 February 2024) and ends at sunset, with Mass, on Holy Thursday (28 March 2024). It is a 40-day time of prayer (communicating with God), fasting (Giving up a luxury or taking up an extra chore), and giving to the poor (in time, money or donations) that helps Christians become closer in their relationship with God as they prepare to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter.

Why is Lent important?

For Christians it is a time of reflection and repentance. A time to make right with others and God as they are led to the Paschal Mystery, that is the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?

Traditionally Shrove Tuesday was an opportunity to use up ‘rich’ ingredients such as butter, eggs, and sugar before fasting for the Lenten season. Pancakes are the most logical thing to cook. It is a tradition that is still popular with many today, especially children.

Why do people have an ash cross on their forehead on Ash Wednesday?

Catholics have been doing this for centuries. In the Old Testament wearing ashes was a common sign of repentance for sins, and a sign of one’s humility before God. Since Lent is a season of restoring relationships it’s appropriate that this ancient sign marks the beginning of the season.

As a school we celebrate these special days of the liturgical year by having Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and then attending mass with the OLPH Wingham community on Ash Wednesday.

Year 6 Formation Morning:

On Friday morning, our Year 6 students took part in a formation program that focused on the History of our school, the Sisters of St Joseph and of St Mary Mackillop, designed to help our students better understand their role in the mission of our school. Student formation is an important part of what we do as a Catholic School and Year 6 were able to think deeply about what it means to our school to be, as our school mission statement says; "an inclusive Catholic community that makes a positive impact on society." It is sessions like these that help our Year 6 leaders to fully understand and embrace their role as leaders in our school, and in the Wingham community. Throughout 2024, students in years 3-6 will participate in other formation opportunities like this, as part of our continual improvement plan for the identity and culture of our school.

YEAR 1 NEWS

Year One have begun pondering and learning about various forms of artwork. We have started by completing a directed drawing of a flowerpot arrangement and engaging with water-based paints as the medium for our artwork. These paints provided students with the flexibility to modify the depth of their colour just by adding a drop of water.

News From Year 2

Year 2 have had a wonderful and busy start to the Year. They have been learning about community in Religion as well as the season of Lent. They have been producing some wonderful creative stories in English and have been learning about whole number concepts in Maths. The students have listed what they are enjoying about Year 2 so far.

Mark Knoke, Classroom Teacher

Finn - I like dog catcher, bop and library.

Zaidyn - My favourite thing to do is dog catcher.

Sierra - I like my teacher and I like Bop.

Nicholas - My favourite thing to do is dog catcher.

Zedd - My favourite thing to do is dog catcher.

Charli - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is dog catcher.

Tori - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is play dog catcher.

Dylan - My favourite thing to do is dog catcher.

Aria H - I like reading and story writing.

Oliver - I like the games and learning about the clock.

Theodore - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is Maths and dog catcher.

Elijah - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is play dog catcher.

Aurora - I like story writing.

Daniel - I love writing.

Jai - My favourite thing to do is dog catcher, reading and Bop.

Aria O - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is story writing and drawing.

Evie - My favourite thing to do is Dog catcher.

Lincoln - My favourite thing to do is games.

Levi - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is dog catcher.

Sebellah - I like learning about spelling.

Dakota - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 reading.

Maxwell - I like library, dog catcher and bop.

Juniper - My favourite thing to do in Yr 2 is Bop.

Paul - My favourite thing to do in Year 2 is brain breaks.

Harley - My favourite thing to do in Yr 2 is Bop.

Curriculum News from our Gifted Education Mentor:

My name is Gary Pomplun and I work at St Joseph’s every Wednesday as the Gifted Education Mentor. For the past two years, I have been employed by the Catholic Schools Office to work in schools throughout the Manning region, where I work alongside teachers to build their awareness of and capacity to support high potential and gifted learners throughout each school.

The work I engage in closely aligns with each school’s School Improvement Plan. This year, St Joseph’s focus is on the teaching of Mathematics, to develop a consistent, evidence-based approach across the school. We have been introduced to a new Mathematics syllabus in K-2 in 2023, and a new syllabus in Years 3-6 from this year, with the outcomes and content prioritising essential knowledge and skills, building on the mathematical concepts and processes developed in earlier years. Both syllabus documents have been developed using evidence-based research.

With the changes to the content teachers must teach, there will also be some changes to how this content will be taught compared to previous years. There is now a greater focus on:

· Mathematical ideas being connected,

· The importance of communicating ideas,

· The language used in mathematics to better support learning and understanding, and

· Strengthening foundational mathematical skills for future success.

With the changing focus, you may notice some slight changes to the work your child is completing when engaging in Mathematics lessons at school. There will be a greater amount of student talk to discover new learnings and apply the language of mathematics, more hands-on learning experiences to develop a deeper understanding of concepts, and greater opportunities to connect concepts with the world around them. As a result, there will be less traditional book work completed in Mathematics, however, the research suggests that this is best practice.

To support your child’s learning in Mathematics, you can ask the following 5 questions to them at home:

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?

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interview bookings are now open. Please make a booking via compass. Teachers would like to make contact with all parents. Please contact the office if you require support with booking. Bookings Close Thursday 22nd February.

Instructions for app users:

Click More (bottom right)

Click Conferences

Click Term 1 2024 Parent Teacher Meetings

Click Done

Select your child

Select teacher

Select time

Please note your date and timeslot on your calendar

Congratulations Zoe and Evie

Zoe and Evie were absent from the school Advent Liturgy and Awards night last year. We presented Zoe with the Infants Library Award and Evie with the Growth in Unity Award for Year 1 as well as certificates of recognition for her achievements with the ASPIRE songwriting competition.

Swimming Champions

Congratulations to all students who took part in the school Swimming Carnival. Congratulations to Paterson House for winning the overall house points championship. Our age champions are as follows:

Junior Girls - Bella Crittenden/Susannah Healy

Junior Boys - Benjamin Buchtmann

11 Yrs Girls - Eleanor Healy

11 Yrs Boys - Kaii MacMillan

Open Girls - Sophie Hook

Open Boys - Zeke Pereira

Student Supervision and Bell Times

Please be aware that morning supervision (play time) begins at 8:40am. Prior to this, students are to sit quietly on the verandah outside the office.

School bell times are as follows:

9:05am Morning Assembly

11:30am Lunch

1:40pm Recess

3:05pm Pack Up

3:10pm Dismissal

School Fundraising:

Easter Eggs: We are seeking donations towards our Easter Hampers which will be raffled off later in the term. Please send in one Easter egg/ chocolate block or Easter chocolate item per family. These can be sent to the school office.

Paint and Sip:

Tour Paint and Sip Evening being held 16th March is our major fundraiser for the term. All money raised will go towards upgrading technology used by the students.

Please share with family and friends. All are welcome (18+ event). If painting isn’t your thing, we are seeking two helpers to assist Mrs Lapi-an on the night (5.45pm-9pm) Please let the office know if you can help. (filling water jars/ washing up glassware)

Tickets are available via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/st-josephs-wingham-paint-and-sip-fundraising-evening-tickets-807463012607?aff=oddtdtcreator

Ex Home Readers: We have updated our home readers. We have a few boxes of old readers available for free. If you would like to look through them, they will be outside Mary’s office until Friday 23rd February.