NEWSLETTER

The end of Term 2 marks the half-way point in the school year with Semester One School Reports sent home on Wednesday July 2. This is an opportunity for parents and children to discuss achievements during the first half of the year and set goals for the remainder of the year. The upcoming school holidays is an ideal time to do this.

Catholic Identity

Over the past 3 weeks I have had the pleasure of being a part of several class liturgies. Our school liturgies provide an opportunity for children to experience contemporary liturgical celebrations with a focus directly related to classroom learning experiences. This is in line with our School Strategic Improvement Plan.

Curriculum News

I have included two mathematical tasks which you might like to have a go at with your child/children.

This week’s Mathematical tasks:

Reception to Year 3

I am thinking of a number between 10 and 100 with a single 7 in it. What might my number be?

What numbers can you make using 1, 3 and 6?

Years 4-6

How many numbers can you make using the digits 3, 4, 7 and 8? You can only use each digit once in each number.

Two numbers multiply to give 16000. What might the two numbers be?

Happy inquiry.

Children develop their reading skills, knowledge and understanding by reading regularly. Below are some strategies you might like to try at home to support your children’s learning:

• Encourage and model reading in the home
• Listen to your child read their reading material and ask specific questions related to what they have read
• Read with your child
• Share what you are reading with your child
• Read your child a bedtime story
• Read to your child in your family’s first language
• Talk to your child about the different situations you find yourself in whereby you are required to read texts.

Happy reading.

Teaching and Learning Update

On Wednesday July 2 you should have received your child’s Semester One school report. This report captures the entire learning achieved by your child during their first semester of school this year.

Each of our children received a grade for ‘Achievement’ and for ‘Effort’. One of the areas I take particular note of is a child’s ‘Effort’. This grade is provided for each subject area and compliments the ‘Achievement' grade, informing you about how your child has applied themselves and given effort in their learning. Two of our Keys to Success; ‘Persistence and Resilience’ highlight the importance of trying your best, regardless of your knowledge or interest level in a particular subject area.

I’d like to thank our teachers for their efforts with writing these reports and encourage you to celebrate your child’s achievements and talk to them about the importance of setting personal learning goals for the remainder of the year.

Leader of Learning - T Pfeiffer

In Week 5 of this term, all Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 students completed the DIBELS assessment. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. It is a widely used reading screener and benchmark assessment designed to evaluate early reading development. This is the second year we have implemented DIBELS to monitor student progress in literacy and inform our teaching.

The DIBELS assessment consists of five one-minute subtests:

• Letter Naming Fluency - assesses recognition of alphabetic letters
• Phoneme Segmentation Fluency - measures phonemic awareness
• Nonsense Word Fluency - evaluates decoding skills
• Word Reading Fluency - assesses word-level reading
• Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) - evaluates fluency and accuracy in connected text
• Maze - measures reading comprehension

DIBELS Assessments take place 3 times each year (beginning, middle and end of year). These assessments provide valuable insight into each student’s development.

Our professional learning continues to focus on explicit and direct teaching practices. Two staff members, along with our principal, Shaun O’Leary, are currently participating in a professional development program through Teach Well. This initiative supports educators in increasing student engagement and evaluating the impact of high-impact teaching strategies on learning outcomes.

EALD support remains a key component of our literacy instruction. I work with students in a targeted phonics program called UFLI . In Years 2 and 3, students participate in modelled, shared, and interactive writing sessions designed to scaffold their development as independent writers.

Australian Government Anti-Bullying Rapid Review Consultation

The Australian Government recently announced an Anti-Bullying Rapid Review. The Review will look at current approaches to addressing bullying in schools, what is working and what needs strengthening, with the aim of providing options for the development of a consistent national standard for responding to bullying and its underlying causes in schools. The Review is now accepting submissions. The Review co-chairs, Dr Charlotte Keating and Dr Jo Robinson AM, are seeking views from students, parents, teachers, and those involved in school education across the country. Submissions can be made anonymously if preferred. To provide feedback through the submission process, please visit www.education.gov.au/antibullying-rapid-review. This page contains instructions on how to participate, along with the Review’s Terms of Reference.

STEM Open Day

As part of Catholic Schools Open Week (Term 3 Week 3) and as a lead up to National Science Week (Term 3 Week 4), you are invited to join our school STEM Open Day on Tuesday August 5, 11:30am-1:30pm in the school grounds. Parents and family members will have the opportunity to join our children as they work in class groups engaging in STEM learning activities planned by our teaching staff. It is hoped that as many of our parents and carers as possible will be able to join us as it provides teaching staff with an opportunity to showcase the learning which takes place as part of our ongoing STEM learning focus. 

School Climate Surveys

This year through Catholic Education South Australia we are continuing our partnership with Professor Jill Aldridge from Curtin University who is supporting Catholic schools in Developing Leadership Capacity in School Improvement through surveying the school community.The School Improvement focus involves collecting and analysing data from the school community (students, parents, and staff) to identify plans for future actions. Surveys will take place in Term 3 with further details provided early next term. This year we will once again be using the Living Learning Leading surveys.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified - the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

How Much Exercise do Children and Young People Need?

The Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines outline the following recommendations for children and young people:

• Infants (birth to one year): 30 minutes of supervised interactive floor-based play including tummy time, reaching and grasping, pushing and pulling and crawling.
• Toddlers (1-2 years): at least 180 minutes a day, including energetic play such as running and jumping.
• Pre-schoolers (3-5 years): at least 180 minutes a day of which 60 minutes is energetic play such as running, jumping and kicking and throwing.
• Children (5-12 years) and young people (13-17 years): at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day.

The percentage of children meeting current guidelines is:

• 61% of two to five-year-olds
• 26% of five to 12-year-olds
• 7.9% of 13 to 17-year-olds.

To learn more about how you can support the wellbeing of your child, visit Be You (formerly Beyond Blue). The website also provides a range of resources and ideas to support the mental health and wellbeing of our young people. I encourage you to visit the website at https://beyou.edu.au/and have a look for yourself.

Term 3 Preschool and Reception Intake

St. Joseph’s School will once again have a Pre-school and Reception intake at the start of Term 3 this year. Our Term 3 new Pre-school children will replace those moving into Reception as part of our Term 3 Reception intake. The criteria for starting Pre-school or Reception on the first day of school in Term 3 is that a child will have turned 4 (Pre-school) or 5 (Reception) between 1 May and 31 October in that year. This week we held the last of three transition visit mornings for our new Pre-school and Reception children with the aim of supporting their new start.

Diary Dates

Term 2 Concludes - 3:00pm Thursday July 3.

Term 3 Commences - 8:45am Monday July 21.

Important Safety Message

Students and families are reminded to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. If they are approached students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts.

Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report the event to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible.

SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling police can deter the offender and they recommend the student making a formal report to their closest police station.

For guidance on what to teach your child about strategies for staying safe, view this link:  SAPOL Personal Safety | Safety for Young People

Kiss and Drop Zone Speed Limit 10km per Hour.

A reminder that the school Kiss and Drop Zone along Rosewater Terrace has a speed limit of 10km per hour. Please ensure you observe the speed limit when using the Kiss and Drop Zone as this is an area where children are entering and exiting the school in large numbers.

A reminder also that the school Kiss and Drop Zone is not a place to park your car if you need to enter the school grounds as this holds up all incoming and outgoing traffic. It also leads to children exiting their cars on Rosewater Terrace and having to manoeuvre between traffic, raising further safety concerns. If you need to come into the school grounds, parking is available along Rosewater Terrace and on Ina Avenue.

Thank you in anticipation of your support with these important safety matter.

Multicultural Week

The newly formed multicultural week committee will meet on Wednesday afternoons to plan our Multicultural Week. The committee comprises of our students:

• Annabella
• Feben
• Amelia
• Charlie
• Jack 
• Peter
• Lachlan

Please see below dates-

• Multicultural Celebration Day is Wednesday Week 8 10/9 from 11:30am - 1:30pm
• St Joseph's Got Talent is Wednesday Week 9 17/9 from lunch time in the hall.

Sacrament Program 2025

We keep our 2025 Sacrament Program group in our prayers this year as they get ready for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, First Communion and Confirmation. This program is facilitated each Monday from 2pm in the Church.

Jack, Felicity, Tania, Romy, Mary-Kate, Giulia, Stacey, An, Faith, Harmony, Camille, Glyzelle, Cailey, Juilianna, Ageil and Stacey

Confirmation Date:

Celebrant: Archbishop Patrick O'Regan and Fr Marek

Date: 18/10/2025 at 10.00am in St Maximilian Kolbe Church, Ottoway

Dear Parents and Caregivers.

Welcome to OSHC.

The children were learning and making Tom Boys with great success. This activity supports the development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and patience, while also giving children a sense of achievement as they create something with their own hands. It encourages focus, creativity, and perseverance, making it a valuable hands-on learning experience."

Children explored nature in a creative and hands-on way by making their very own living flower bracelets. Using pieces of plants and freshly picked flowers, the children carefully arranged their treasures onto strips of sticky tape. They thoughtfully chose colours, textures, and shapes, enjoying the sensory experience of working with natural materials.                                                                                                                                 

In OSHC children are in a safe supervised environment; learning happens while children play, have fun, and make new friends.

Please feel welcome to visit.

Morning care in OSHC is available, 6.30-8.30am.                                          

Afterschool care in OSHC is available 3.00-6.00pm Monday to Friday, 2.45-6.00pm Tuesday.

Please remember to make a booking when you need OSHC.

All bookings can be made by ringing or messaging the OSHC mobile on 0437 863 067. If there is no answer leave a message on the service. I will call or message you back. Making a booking helps us keep the child/educator ratio in line with legislation. 24 hours’ notice is necessary when cancelling a booking or charges will occur.

All parents using OSHC will need to check their myGov app to check for messages.              

When you attend OSHC Casually- Please remember check your myGov app and Centrelink for messages. When parents use OSHC casually you won’t automatically receive CCS (Childcare Subsidy). Follow the prompts-confirming that you used the OSHCservice. Centrelink is just confirming that you are using the service.

Parents/caregivers are welcome to read the OSHC Policies, feel welcome to ask and I will make copies available for your perusal.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Mieke   

OSHC Director   

Sneak Peek Alert!

Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot from the Battle of the Rock Bands event on June 18th. Our school band brought the house down with an electrifying performance, and we couldn’t be prouder.

More photos and highlights coming soon - stay tuned!

Goodstart Angle Park currently have vacancies in the Nursery (0-2), Toddler 1 (2-2.5) and Toddler 2 (2.5-3 years) rooms.

3^rd Term 2 Concludes