NEWSLETTER

Children tested their safety knowledge and learnt about the special phone number to call in an emergency .

We also took part in the whole school Sport’s Day!

The rain held out for most of the day and a good time was had by all!

Catholic Identity

During the season of Easter, we celebrate the essence of our faith: Jesus Lives! Without this truth, faith falls apart and we, as church, become irrelevant. But we believe! Jesus Lives! And it is our privilege and responsibility to bear witness to the belief that Jesus lives among us. The Church season of Easter lasts for 7 weeks leading up to Pentecost. It is a time to celebrate the love of God in our lives and the gifts which have been given to us. The gifts of family, friends, freedom of choice and the environment, just to name a few. We see Jesus everyday through the actions of those around us. We can continue to live the word of Jesus through our interactions with others. The way we speak to each other, care for each other, reach out to those in need, value each other and allow those we are in disagreement with to maintain their dignity, are all ways we can live Jesus’ call to create a just and fair world for all people.

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

How many objects can you find that are longer than three of your foot lengths but shorter than four of your foot lengths?

Years 4-6

I have drawn a shape with a perimeter of 36cm. Record all the different ways my shape may look.

Happy inquiry.

Reading is another core learning area here at St Joseph’s School. Our staff use an agreed set of practices around children’s development of reading skills, knowledge and understanding. These practices shape our reading programs across the school.

Children develop their reading skills, knowledge and understanding by reading regularly. At St Joseph’s School regular reading at home forms a major part of homework set each evening. Why not create regular timeslots throughout the week whereby all electronic devices in the home are turned off and members of the family spend 15 minutes reading together.

Happy reading.

Teaching and Learning in our Reception Year One Unit

Term 1 was a very busy and exciting one for our students, as some had begun school for the very first time. The Year 1’s reviewed set 4 of the Jolly Phonics sounds. They also focused on the narrative genre through picture books and animated stories and participated in book making on Friday mornings. The Reception students learned the first set of letter-sounds from the Jolly Phonics program and are learning to blend these sounds together to read words. It has been wonderful to see their excitement with first learning how to read. Both Year 1 and Reception students explored number concepts in Term 1 (Receptions with numbers up to 20 and Year 1's beyond), such as counting, ordering, matching and number formation. Students also learned patterning and sorting strategies through a range of hands-on activities.

Sports Day - Monday May 8 (Term 2 Week 2)

Our whole school Sports Day held at the Port Adelaide Athletics Club on Monday May 8 proved to be a great day full of fun for all our children. Our Physical Education Coordinator Daniel Nguyen did a great job planning for and facilitating the running of the day. Our House Captains did a great job leading their teams. All staff got into the spirit of the day supporting both their house teams and all our children. The day was a great community building event. The Joseph Team (Yellow Team) were the overall Sports Day winners with team captains Savanah La Roche and Minh Le (Timmy) receiving our Sports Day Shield. Their house and names will be engraved on our Sports Day Shield and presented during our next whole school assembly.

Five Areas of Social and emotional Learning (SEL)

SEL involves developing the ability to understand and manage our emotions, establish positive relationships, develop empathy for others, set and achieve goals and feel good about ourselves.

Be You’s approach to SEL is based on the model developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an internationally recognised organisation in this area of research.

Self-awareness

This is the ability to recognise and understand your own emotions, thoughts and values, and understand how they affect your behaviour. It’s about understanding and assessing your personal strengths and understanding that abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved.

The main skills include:

• identifying emotions
• self-perception
• understanding strengths
• self-confidence
• self-efficacy

Self-management

This is the ability to manage and regulate your emotions and behaviour, including managing stress, controlling impulses and keeping yourself motivated.

The main skills include:

• impulse control
• stress management
• self-discipline
• self-motivation
• goal setting
• organisational skills

Social awareness

This is the ability to understand and empathise with people from a range of diverse backgrounds, and to understand social and ethical norms of behaviour.

The main skills include:

• perspective-taking
• empathy
• appreciating diversity
• respect for others

Relationship skills

These involve the ability to develop and maintain healthy and positive relationships with others. They include the ability to communicate clearly, listen, cooperate, resist peer pressure, and negotiate conflict.

The main skills include:

• communication
• social engagement
• relationship building
• teamwork

Responsible decision-making

This is the ability to make informed and responsible decisions about personal behaviour and social interactions with others, based on adherence to ethical standards, safety concerns and social norms.

The main skills include:

• identifying problems
• analysing situations
• solving problems
• self-evaluation
• self-reflection
• ethical responsibility

To learn more about how you can support the Social and Emotional Learning
and Wellbeing of your child visit Be You  (formerly Beyond Blue)

Skool Bag App

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

In addition, our school website News and Events link is regularly updated to assist our families in keeping up with what is happening across our school.

May the love of the Risen Lord be with us during the Easter Season.

Working in partnership with you.

Shaun O’Leary

Mother’s Day Morning tea

We invite Mother’s, Grandmothers or Carers to our Mother’s Day Morning tea on Friday 12th May from 8:15am—9.30 am. We will be having tea coffee and food and would love to see you. Following this we will offer a special blessing prayer for you as part of our community prayer gathering.

In this month of May dedicated to Mary - the Mother of Jesus we pray and give thanks for the love and care of our Mums and the nurturing and love they provide us with.

May Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of us all, bless all Mothers.

Sacrament program

We have just begun our 2023 Sacrament Program group. Catholic children from Year 3 to Year 6 can nominate to be prepared for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation. We currently have a small group, please let me know if you would like your child to join the program. I can be contacted in person or via email, smccullough@stjotto.catholic.edu.au

We would love to see you join us as a volunteer. There are a range of ways to be involved and we greatly appreciate opportunities to work with you and get to know your family. Volunteering requires that you complete a process of induction and also some online training in child protection called, ‘Responding to abuse and neglect.’ All people who work with children are required to do this training. If you would like to volunteer, you will need to complete the following:

• Speak with Tanya and Anne about a Working with Children check which the school will lodge on your behalf. There is also a personal information form to complete which includes your contact details and those we would contact in any emergency
• Complete the required Child Protection training - Responding to abuse and neglect for volunteers. This will take an hour or two and it is done online. Follow the instructions below to locate this training. You will need to register for a PLINK number to access the training on the Department for Education website
• Provide the school with a copy of your child protection training certificate. This will be accessible at the end of the training module - Responding to abuse and neglect for volunteers
• Follow this link to register and get your plink number. This will allow you access to the training. CLICK HERE
• Then access the training through this website

Thanks very much for considering becoming a volunteer, we respect and value your time very much. Please let me know if you have any questions. My email is smccullough@stjotto.catholic.edu.au
 

Dear Parents and Caregivers.

This term children have been making flowers from wool and cards for their mothers in preparation of Mother’s Day. We will continue with more making for our mothers this week.

Last term we set an environment to keep Stick Insects. We have a male and female and the children are learning to care for them. Children are carefully handling the stick insects.

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. (by appointment or permanent booking)
You will need to make a booking for the 6.30am care. OSHC is available each weekday 7.30-8.30am, and 3.00-6.00pm, 2.45-6.00pm Tuesday.

All parents using OSHC casually will need to check their myGov app to check for messages. Follow the prompts-confirming that you used the OSHC service. Centrelink is just confirming you are using the service. If you don’t confirm you will not receive CCS (Child Care Subsidy).

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

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.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Mieke, OSHC Director