Dear Parents and Carers,
Each year I look forward to attending the Year 6 camp. It is a wonderful opportunity to spend some quality time with our student leaders before they depart our school and start new adventures in high school. At our school, we value the opportunity for our students to experience outdoor programs. During their school years 3 – 6, our students are able to attend four camp experiences with a range of outdoor activities on offer. At this camp, our Year 6 students were able to learn to surf, tackle the hills on mountain bikes, build and race billy carts, work together to design & build a raft that could float and to develop their kayaking skills on a lake. This is just a small sample of what our students can experience, however the development of many other skills contribute to their own personal growth and enable them to interact effectively and harmoniously. School camps are a liberating way for students to interact with the natural world while learning a range of life skills.
The benefits of a good outdoor program include: opportunities for peer bonding, being physically active, the freedom to be responsible, screen-free time, being exposed to new experiences and simply spending time in nature. Our school camps provide these experiences beyond the classroom to give our students the opportunity to interact with their teachers and peers in new environments and, most importantly, to have fun.
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been a very busy start to term 4 for all our staff and students. We have managed school photos this week, a Year 3/4 Reflection day with Year 10 Rostrevor College students, a special photo shoot of the new R-1 Learning Street, Children’s University Graduation at Bonython Hall and many other great teaching and learning moments. Don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for a great snapshot of life at St Joseph’s.
I would like to acknowledge and thank all our wonderful parents and carers for the way you have adapted to the new entrance to the school for dropping off and collecting students. It is greatly appreciated how our families have done this in a safe and orderly manner, using this zone more efficiently. The staff have been pleased with the way the pick-up zone is flowing as everyone has become familiar with its operation. We encourage you to keep moving along the street in the zone when possible. The more cars that can fit safely in the collection zone, the greater number of students who can then be collected safely.
Just a small reminder to all parents and carers when collecting students in this zone, you must remain in your vehicle, as exiting and leaving your vehicle will hold up the process and create some safety issues for all involved. Staff will do their best to assist students during this collection time which concludes at 3:20pm.
Thank you to the many families who are choosing to park their vehicle and then walk to collect their child/ren, especially if they are in the early years classes. We are lucky to have a reasonably safe and quiet street for our school to use, however it is important to be very aware of cars during these peak times, especially if you are crossing the road.
Dear Parents and Carers,
The Learning Street comes to Life!
In early 2018 the idea of the ‘Learning Street’ was first discussed when the building committee met with our architects to design and develop a comprehensive Master Plan for the school, looking ahead to the next 15 years at St Joseph’s Tranmere. Five years later and we see today the result of the many hours of planning and preparation finally come together as our Reception and Year 1 students experience the Learning Street for the first time this term.
It was delightful to see the many happy faces of students and parents coming through the complex for the very first time. It was a very proud and joyful start to the term, especially for our new mid-year Reception students as they start their school journey.
The Learning Street has now provided our school with amazing contemporary learning spaces and the latest facilities - already we can see how effective the space is for both teachers and students as the classes become a very connected learning community.
We hope to complete the landscaping over the next few weeks and will then organise a time for families to come and visit the Street.
Thank you to all who have assisted with this second staged project. We would like to acknowledge and thank the State Government for their contribution of a $1.6M grant to assist with this timely development.
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are certainly into the winter season as the rain has well and truly arrived. Unfortunately, as much as we need the rain, it has slowed our efforts when it comes to our building project and the completion date.
We are into the final stretch internally, however externally will require the holiday break to really start on the landscaping.
The R/1 classrooms will be ready to move into their new classrooms for the start of Term 3. We will be doing the set up and moving during the holiday break.
Next term will begin on Tuesday 23 July 2024 as the whole Eastern Region catholic schools will be coming together at the Convention Centre for a conference focusing on Student Agency, presented by two highly acclaimed international guest speakers on Monday 22 July 2024. Please note the date as the school will be closed on this Monday of Term 3, with the first day of the term being Tuesday 23 July 2024.
This Sunday is a special day for nine children and families in our community. At a special mass on Sunday these children will receive the Final Sacraments of Initiation. This process was started at their baptism. On Sunday the children will be confirmed in the Catholic Church and they will receive Eucharist for the first time. We congratulate these young people as they commit themselves to live a life inspired by faith and hope. Here a few quotes from some of the children:
"I am happy to be a full member of the Catholic Church. My family is going to celebrate together". Christian
"I am excited to be with my sponsor and my family and I am happy to be closer to Jesus". Olivia
"I am excited that I am going to receive my first Communion". Gavin
"I am so happy that I can be a full member of the Catholic Church” . Luca
Please keep the children and their families in your prayers.
Dear Parents and Carers,
On Wednesday our Year 3/4 Classes and the Year 6 Ecology Team spent the morning working with Landcare at The Gums, planting many trees to celebrate World Environment Day. Our school has built a very productive and positive relationship with Landcare at The Gums since 2019. During this time our students have assisted with planting over 450 native plants. We are all very proud of our achievements and I would like to thank Gerry and Ian from The Gums Landcare Group for allowing us to be part of this very important initiative. We can certainly see how this area is being regenerated and preserved by our next generation of environmentalists.
I received an email from Ian, which I have included below:
Just a quick note to confirm how much we value our connection with you and your students at St Joseph’s School. Today was a celebration of the beauty and intricacy of the natural environment, it revealed how keenly your young people relate to its beauty and significance.
They were a pleasure to work with, we look forward to our next joint venture. Ian – Landcare
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome everyone to Term 2. No doubt you are enjoying the beautiful weather we are experiencing at the moment, ideal for building!
This term will be a busy and exciting time for our school as we transition into the new classrooms for our Reception and Year 1 students. At this stage we hope to be the Learning Street complex by mid-June, in around about 4-5 weeks’ time. Each week we see many changes within and around the building. Recently the builders completed the new irrigation system for the grass area, have begun installing the joinery and are beginning to paint inside and out. Over the next few weeks, we hope to get to the lock-up stage and begin more of the landscaping and civil works. One of the major works will be the removal of the old transportable and temporary sandpit as major trenching needs to take place in this area to connect to the sewer in Birkinshaw Avenue. As a result of these works our Year 6 class will make the move into their new and final location – Room 1. This has meant that our Reception Class, RMM will move into the Resource Centre temporarily while they wait for their final move to their brand-new classroom on completion of the project. As a result, we have adjusted the library times for classes during this period to accommodate borrowing for our students. We hope this will only be for the next 4 weeks as we rapidly approach the handover of the site.
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you enjoyed the Easter break with Family and Friends. It is a time to be reminded that Jesus is alive and in our midst and he welcomes us in a new life with him. This year we have been blessed with Easter falling before our term break. This has allowed our school community to spend more time on reflecting and coming together to celebrate its true meaning. Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended one of the many special liturgies over the holy week period as we retold the Easter Story.
Dear Parents and Carers,
NAPLAN
Next week will see our Year 3 and Year 5 students participate in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). These online tests will occur between Wednesday 13 March and Monday 18 March.
NAPLAN assists parents, carers and schools to ensure that children are meeting important numeracy and literacy standards. In addition to other assessment tools, NAPLAN is used to support school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor their students’ progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.
The National Assessment Program highlights for families that NAPLAN tests the skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress.
Each day over the testing period, students in Year 3 and 5 will complete the different online tests. The Online NAPLAN tests are designed to provide precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive) which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students to remain engaged with the assessment.
If your child is absent for a particular test, where possible we may arrange for individual students to complete missed tests at another time during the testing period.
Students in the junior years have enjoyed learning a new Benvenuto - welcome song with actions. And of course, they love singing the many “old” songs they have learnt in the past.
Listening and singing songs in the Italian language can help students memorise new words, patterns and phrases more easily. It’s also a great way to learn better pronunciation.
Students in Year 5 and Year 6 were given the task to research the benefits of learning another language. The students were surprised by their findings.
