Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we recognised National Sorry Day and we began National Reconciliation Week.  The theme of Reconciliation Week this year is “More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.”  We have a responsibility to build respectful relationships with all members of our community that value the history, culture and future of all people. 

Aunty Kylie is doing a wonderful job in our school helping us all to grow in our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.  I am so proud to hear our Aboriginal children speaking in Gathang and sharing their language proudly in the school.   

Our theme for PBS this week was also being a WEST person, being Welcoming and Encouraging and Saying Sorry and Thank you, so it tied in beautifully with Reconciliation week.  Below is a wonderful sign that Aunty Kylie and some of our Aboriginal students made to help us recognise Sorry Day this week.

School Support Staff Day

Recently we celebrated and recognised our School Support staff with a beautiful morning tea put on by the teachers.  The support staff that we have at St Joseph’s are an amazing and special group of people.  Their genuine care and support of all students in our school is superb.  Thank you to Mary, Jane, Natasha, Ros, Tori and Aunty Kylie for all they do each and every day to support our staff and students.

Parent Meeting Update

Thank you to all parents who voted for either the P&F model or the Parent Engagement Model.  The vote was unanimous and the motion was moved to formally dissolve the P&F.  We will now begin to plan our next meeting and a note will come home soon for your to let us know when you would like meetings and what topics you would like us to present to you.

Welcome Back Gabriella

We were so pleased to welcome back Gabriella Blanco and her family to Year 1 this week.  It is wonderful to see her smiling face back in our school and her classmates were very welcoming and excited to have her back.

200 Years of Catholic Education

This week marked 200 year of Catholic Education in Australia.  As a school we have decided to celebrate this through the offering of service.  Every child in the school has made a little prayer card which we will deliver to the local nursing home as well as members of our Parish that are currently unwell.  We will also be conducting a food drive during Week 9 and 10 to donate to the Taree Community Kitchen so we can assist in helping others that are less fortunate than ourselves.

Playground Update

Our playground continues to evolve and become a more engaging space for our students.  Over the past two weeks our shade structure has been erected over the sandpit, making it an all-weather play space now.  The second part of the mud kitchen was also installed.  Thanks to Mr and Mrs Bridgeman and Mr Hunt for their work in helping to create such a popular play space for our students.

Wonderful Donation from St Kevin’s in Cardiff

Just after the floods I was contacted by the Mini Vinnies group at St Kevin’s in Cardiff asking if they could help our school community in our recovery.  I mentioned to them that we had a number of families who had been impacted by the floods and we would appreciate any help they could offer.  This week I was so surprised to hear that they had raised $698 to assist our families that had been impacted by the floods.  Their generosity and thoughtfulness is so wonderful, our children watched a short video message from the entire school of St Kevin’s to let us know how and why they raised money for our school.  This money will go directly towards school supplies and excursion costs for those families that have been impacted.

Weekly Storytime