NEWSLETTER

We had such a fun week celebrating Book Week, diving into stories and sharing our love of reading through costumes and activities. In Science, our Year 2 and 3 students have been learning about the water cycle—discovering how water travels through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, and why this cycle is so important for life on Earth.

It is great to be back leading our school community after recovering from recent hip replacement surgery. The surgery, recovery and rehab have all gone well. It has been great to reconnect with our children, staff and families over the past week. A big thank you to Belinda Elliott for stepping into the role of Acting Principal of our school for the first 4 weeks of this term.

Catholic identity 

On Friday August 8 the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of St Mary of The Cross Mackillop. This is the date she died in 1909 in Sydney at the age of 67. Mary’s influence on education and bringing God to the people, especially the poor, is one of the most remarkable stories in our Australian story. She remains our only Australian Saint. Yet she was an ordinary person who held a deep love for God, a deep love for people, a deep love for the poor. Mary believed that education sets a person free and she believed that Catholic children should learn about their Catholic faith through their parents and at school. Although Mary favoured the poor and the marginalised, she welcomed all and she befriended people at different levels of society.

As a Josephite School we carry on this Tradition. The word ‘Tradition’ is often misunderstood as something from the past. Tradition is actually the lived expression of the values that inspired St Mary MacKillop and the sisters of St Joseph, in the past and now expressed in today’s world.

Where do these values come from? The values come from the Gospel. They are Gospel values as Mary MacKillop interpreted the stories of Jesus in the Gospel and applied them in her life through her words and actions. Our school community is fortunate to be part of this story and, therefore we are part of Mary MacKillop’s legacy and the Josephite Tradition is alive in us.

Being part of the Josephite Tradition means to be a welcoming, inclusive, compassionate community. Mary MacKillop believed that the compassionate love of God was available to all she met. Mary Mackillop had a compassionate heart, big enough to enclose all humanity. No one was excluded. Today in our school community we do the same. We include and welcome people of all cultures and all religious backgrounds, of all socio-economic backgrounds and, support children with special needs who are considered to have special rights. We promote compassion and empathy amongst our children.

On Friday August 8 as a school community, we celebrated the Feast of St Mary of The Cross Mackillop by celebrating a whole school liturgy lead by the MacKillop House Team. The week also provided children and staff the opportunity to get involved in fundraising to support the homeless living in our society. The fundraising slogan was Walk a Mile in My Boots. As a sign of support, as a whole school we walked a mile within the local school area on Monday August 18.

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

A basketballer scored 12 points in two games. What might her scores in each of the games be? Record as many possibilities as you can.

The difference between two numbers is 6. What might the two numbers be? Record as many possibilities as you can.

Years 4-6

8?0 - ??5 = 215.  Work out as many possible answers for this subtraction number sentence as you can.

A problem for 12 ÷ 2 is: There are 12 tennis players. How many teams of 2 are there? Make up two different types of word problems for 49 ÷ 7.

Happy inquiry.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

This year many of our children have once again taken up the opportunity to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The challenge closes on Friday September 5 with children needing to have their Premier’s Reading Challenge Student Reading Record forms handed into the front office by then. I encourage all our children to continue to read regularly at home whether they are involved in the challenge or simply reading for fun.

Happy reading.

STEM Open Day

As part of Catholic Schools Open Week (Term 3 Week 3) and National Science Week (Term 3 Week 4), a number of parents and carers joined our school STEM Open Day on Tuesday August 5. Parents and family members had the opportunity to join our children as they worked in class groups engaging in STEM learning activities planned by our teaching staff. The day provided an opportunity to showcase both Catholic Education in South Australia and the learning which takes place as part of our STEM learning focus within the school. 

Book Week

A big thank you to all our parents and carers who worked behind the scenes to arrange costumes for our children to dress up as their favourite book character as part of our Book Week Dress Up Parade. Thank you also to all those who attended and supported our parade. It was a great event. Finally thank you to our Leader of Learning Trish Pfeiffer and our Librarian Kylie Zouroudis for all their work in preparing for our Book Week celebration.

Multicultural Day

On Wednesday September 10 we will hold our annual multicultural day. The day provides the school with an opportunity to celebrate our Multiculturalism. Children will have the opportunity to come to school dressed in their traditional cultural dress as part of the celebration. A number of activities have been planned for the day by a group of our senior students and supported by APRIM Simon McCullough. Parents and Carers are invited to join our celebration.

Father’s Day Breakfast

On Friday September 5 we will hold our annual Father’s Day breakfast adjacent to the Parent Centre from 8:15am. APRIM Simon McCullough, and I will prepare breakfast for all dads and granddads to enjoy before heading off to work. Hoping to see as many of our fathers and grandfathers there as possible.

School Master Plan Update

Work on Stage Three of our School Masterplan (refurbishment of downstairs classrooms, relocation of canteen and student toilets) is progressing nicely. Building works are currently focused on building our new canteen space which is due to be completed in September. Work will then commence on developing the two new downstairs classrooms and new toilet block.

How are Nutrition and Mental Health linked?

Healthy eating helps children and young people cope more effectively with stress, better manage their emotions and get a good sleep - all of which assist learning. Most research about nutrition and mental health has focused on adults. We know that good nutrition is associated with better mental health outcomes, whereas a poor diet is associated with a greater risk of depression and anxiety. However, emerging research that focuses on children and young people has also found a relationship between unhealthy diets and poorer mental health outcomes. 

Poor nutrition has been associated with:

• externalising behaviour (such as hyperactivity, aggression, disobedience)
• symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 
• poor concentration and tiredness, which interfere with learning
• immune system function, which is also linked to mental health
• delayed brain development - high-fat, high-sugar diets can affect proteins in the body that are important for brain development
• iron deficiency, which has been linked to cognitive function impairments associated with learning and memory
• nutrient deficiencies, which have been associated with mental health conditions including depression and anxiety (we know that fruits and vegetables, grains, fish, lean red meats and olive oils are rich in important nutrients such as folate, magnesium, vitamins and zinc which all impact on body and brain functions, including mood regulation). 

Dietary habits aren't always a choice. ‘Food insecurity’ - where people don’t have enough food as a result of homelessness, unemployment, poverty - is also a problem for many families in Australia. Food insecurity can result in poorer academic performance, time off from school, stress, depression, anxiety, aggression, and difficulty getting along with others. Food insecurity can result in: 

• psychological stress - high levels of ongoing stress have been related to depression and delayed brain development
• poorer academic performance
• time off from school
• anxiety
• aggression
• difficulty getting along with others. 

The good news is that improving what you eat can lead to improvements in your mental health, so it’s never too late to encourage healthier eating patterns. 

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.

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.

Audiri App

To keep up to date with what is happening within our school along with upcoming school events why not download the AudiriApp from the App Store on your mobile phone. Once downloaded simply search St Joseph’s School, Ottoway and add to your Audiri page. Many of our families currently use the Audiri App to keep up to date with what is happening across our school.

May God continue to bless all our families throughout Term 3.

Working in partnership with you.

Shaun O’Leary.

Father’s Day Breakfast

We invite Father’s, Grandfathers or Carers to our Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday 7th September from 8:15am. Shaun and I will be preparing a breakfast and would love to see you. Following this we will offer a special blessing prayer for you as part of our community prayer gathering.

Parent Centre - near the office entrance

Please make yourself comfortable and help yourself to tea, coffee and biscuits.

The room will be open most days 8:25am and 2:30pm

Multicultural Celebration  

A group of our students, staff and parents are organizing a multicultural celebration which will be held on Wednesday 10^th of September at 11:30am. Thanks you to our students, Peter, Jack U, Annabella, Charlee, Feben and Amelia for their leadership and preparation for this event. There will be more information shortly about the week including the day and time of performances.

There will be a special assembly led by the students, and this will be followed by a shared school community lunch. We are inviting students to wear national costumes or colours from their family’s country of origin. You are most welcome to do the same

We hope you might be able to join us for this whole school family event.  

We would like to share a picnic in the school grounds and ask that you consider if you would like to prepare and cook some food to share for this.  Children should still bring or order their lunch. The shared food will be available to all, but it is hard to predict how much we will have to share.

The rules for preparing food off the school site are listed below. It is essential that all food is prepared in the correct way and labelled clearly with all ingredients that have been used. This is important so that we can keep all our students who have food allergies safe.

Please read the following guidelines below if you are bringing food to share.

Kind regards

Simon McCullough on behalf of the Multicultural Committee    

Safe food handling and labelling rules

Clean - Wash hands and surfaces often  

Separate - Don’t cross-contaminate 

Cook - Cook to proper temperatures 

Chill - Refrigerate promptly 

Storage 

• Always refrigerate perishable food within two hours (one hour when the temperature is above 32°C.

Preparation 

• Always wash hands before and after handling food. 
• Don’t cross -contaminate. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish and their juices away from the food.  After cutting raw meats, wash hands, cutting board, knife, and counter tops with hot, soapy water. 

Cooking 

• Cook ground meats to 71°C; ground poultry to 73°C. 
• Beef, veal and lamb steaks, roasts and chops may be cooked to 62°C; all cuts of fresh pork, 71°C. 
• Whole poultry should reach 82°C in the thigh; breasts, 76°C.

Cook Thoroughly 

Cook food to a safe internal temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. 

Serving 

• Hot food should be held at 60°C or warmer. 
• Cold foods should be held at 4°C or colder. 
• When serving food at a buffet, keep food hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Keep food cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice or use small serving trays and replace them often. 
• Perishable food should not be left out more than two hours at room temperature (one hour when the temperature is above 32°C). 

Serving the Food 

When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter. Don’t put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry. Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food. In hot weather (above 32°C), food should never sit out for more than one hour. 

A friendly reminder that school fees are due by the end of Term 4 2025.

Please see Kali Brown our Finance Office if you require assistance with this.

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