ABOUT - Term 1 Week 11 - 11 April 2024

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze"
-St Catherine of Seina-

HAPPY & SAFE HOLIDAYS

Tomorrow, Friday, 12 April, is the last day of Term 1. We hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday and return refreshed and ready for Term 2 on Monday, 29 April. 

DIOCESAN CROSS COUNTRY

We held our St Joey's Cross Country Trials at school last Thursday. Congratulations to the following students who will now represent Joey's at the Diocesan Cross Country to be held at Coolah next term on Tuesday, 7 May: Tom Mudford, Liam Cosier, Sterling Newton, Aaron Robin, Hannah Peart, Madeleine Foran, McKenzie Harvey, Mary Lesslie, Michael Vermeulen, Charlie Cruickshank, Rose Howard, Katie Colwell, Regan Godber, Alice Peart, Bill Ryan, Harrison Newton, Oliver Peart, Isabelle Peart, Heidi Colwell, Alana Spora and Lucy Zell.  

PEACHEY / RICHARDSON RUGBY LEAGUE & NSW NETBALL CUP IN COONAMBLE

FOOTY STARS

Congratulations to our four teams who participated in the Peachey Shield and Richardson Cup Gala Rugby League day held at Coonamble on Tuesday. No scores were kept, however all our teams were extremely competitive. Well done to the players - you were all champions! Special mention to Hannah Peart, Jack Howard, Charlie Howard and Harry Thurlow who were all chosen as the Joeys players of the day for each team. Thank you to those parents who came along to support and a big thank you to Bill Welsh for training and coaching our Year 6 team. GO JOEYS!

NETBALL STARS 

St Joeys had a fabulous day at NSW Netball Cup in Coonamble on Tuesday. The Yrs 3/4  girls team showed great improvement in skill and confidence throughout the day. In the Yr 5/6 division our Maroon team played 4 games and showed great enthusiasm and development of skills as they progressed through their games. Our 5/6 White team had a huge 7 games to play.  The girls showed fabulous teamwork, with a strong defensive game and quick pace to claim 4 wins. Congratulations to all the girls on your sportsmanship and positive attitudes throughout the day. You were fine representatives of our school. A huge thank you to ex Joeys students Sienna Marchant and Eliza Larkin for  being our umpires for the day. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Footy Stars

Netball Stars

GOOD LUCK TOM

Good luck to our super swimmer, Tom McIsaac who will be competing at the PSSA Swimming Championships today, Thursday, 11 April and tomorrow, Friday, 12 April. Tom will be competing in the Multiclass Senior 50m Breaststroke and Senior 100m Freestyle at Homebush. What a great achievement Tom and we wish you the very best of luck.

APRIL P&F MEETING

Thank you to those who came along to our P & F Meeting on Tuesday evening.  It was a very positive meeting with the P & F agreeing to contribute $2,000.00 towards our new Smartboard in the Library.  It was also reported that our Debutante Ball raised over $5,000.00 which was a fabulous effort.  Thank you again to our hardworking Ball Committee.

PORTFOLIOS

All children will take home their Term 1 Portfolios tomorrow, Friday, 12 April. We encourage all families to take the time to look at the children's work. All portfolios need to be returned to school early next term so the Term 2 work can be placed in them. 

ANZAC DAY

Our school has once again been invited to participate in the annual ANZAC Day March and an invitation is extended to all students from Years K-6 to represent our school on ANZAC Day.  St Joseph’s has traditionally had a fantastic representation at this march and hopefully as many students as possible will give up an hour or so of their time to represent their school on such an important occasion and show respect for those who served our country.  Children need to assemble in Bridge Street at 10:30 a.m. or they can come to Mass at 9:00 a.m. after which staff members will walk them down to Bridge Street.  The march will proceed down Bridge and Miller Streets to the War Memorial for the service at 11:00 a.m.  Students are required to wear full summer uniform.

POLDING WINTER SPORTS TRIALS

We wish Heidi Colwell, Isabelle Peart, Lucy Zell (soccer) and Akhiro Baker (rugby league) the best of luck when they compete in the NSW Catholic Primary Schools Polding Winter Sports Trials in Tamworth on Friday, 3 May. It is a fantastic achievement to reach this high level of competition. Congraulations Heidi, Isabelle, Lucy and Akhiro. 

TERM 2 CHANGE OF TEACHERS IN YEAR 6

We wish to advise that Mrs Haylee Barry has accepted the appointment to teach Year 6 in Term 2, replacing Mrs Jess Morrissey, who will commence maternity leave on 13 May.  Haylee’s appointment will conclude at the end of the 2024 school year.

There will be a slight change to the teaching roster.   Mrs Colwell and Mrs Schier will teach Year 6 on Monday and Tuesday and Mrs Barry  will teach Year 6 from Wednesday to Friday with Mrs Schier.

MOTHER'S DAY STALL

Thank you Morgan Adams who has again offered to take on the role of coordinator of the Mother’s Day Stall this year.  Each year parents are asked to donate gifts for the Mother's Day Stall.  The stall will be held in Week 2, on Friday, 10 May.  This may seem a long way off at the moment, but with the school holidays in between, it will come around very quickly!  Your contributions can be sent in at any time and left at the school office.  If your gifts could be wrapped in clear cellophane, that would be greatly appreciated.  The Mother’s Day Stall is a fundraiser for the P & F Association, but most importantly it gives the children the opportunity to bring in their own money to purchase a gift for their mothers and grandmothers that they have selected themselves.  Prices at the stall range from $1.00 to $5.00 and we aim to have enough gifts for each child to purchase at least two gifts.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Children may wear either summer or winter school uniform when they return to school next term. It's a personal choice, depending on the weather. 

PRIMARY SPORT - TERMS 2 AND 3

Sport for the primary students will be held on Fridays in Terms 2 and 3. Therefore all Years 3-6 students will need to wear their sports uniforms on a Friday. Infants sport will remain on Thurday. 

TERM 2 CANTEEN ROSTER

MORE HELPERS DESPERATELY NEEDED FOR TERM 2!

We are in the process of putting together the Term 2 Canteen Roster.  Unfortunately, we were short of helpers in Term 1 with some volunteers doing 3 shifts to ensure the canteen stayed open.

We would love to see some new helpers step up and offer to help for a day in Term 2.  We can put you on with an experienced helper, who can show you how it is done.

If you can help out in the canteen next term, please complete the below form.

CANTEEN HELPER DEMONSTRATION

One of our Joey's mums, Prue Starr, has offered to demonstrate how the canteen runs during her next canteen shift, on Monday, 13 May.  It would be great to see as many people attend as possible, especially new helpers, as Prue guides you through the running of the school canteen and answers any questions you may have.

ANNUAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SURVEY

The annual School Improvement Survey will be emailed to all staff, parents and students on Thursday, 2 May.  The survey can be accessed for two weeks and closes on Thursday, 16 May.

The purpose of this survey is to provide all stakeholders in our school community with a 'voice' in how our school operates.  The survey is straight forward and your responses are collected, collated and used to inform our school where we are operating well and areas where we may need to improve.  This is an important tool that all schools in our diocese participate in each year.  Data from the survey, forms and guides our annual improvement plans for the following year.  We would be grateful if all members of our school community would participate in the survey.

SCHOOL ZONE REMINDERS

A reminder to all our parents that school zones remain in place for the safety of our children and families. School zones operate on all gazetted school days, which are all the days the school is open, even pupil free days. School zones for our school will end on Friday, 12 April and will resume on Monday, 29 April. 

MERIT AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students who received Merit Awards at Assembly on Wednesday:

KINDER: Charlie Freeman for super sounding out in Story Writing, Saddler Newton for  great sorting of 2D shapes, Chase Copelin for insightful contributions to discussions about Holy Week and Eliza Hancock for working hard in writing activities.

YEAR 1: Claire Barry for wonderful work using informal units to measure mass, Lachlan Foran for fantastic work during Maths Warm Up, Bill Pagan for being a polite and cooperative student and Flynn Weston for always giving of his best.

YEAR 2: Molly Adams for being a great listener and diligent worker, Charlie Budworth for being super helpful in Comprehension Groups, Lola Newton for trying hard with her handwriting and Lisa Marie Vermeulen for reading with lovely expression.

YEAR 3: Amelia Altmann for writing an interesting report on Antarctica and Cruz Hazelton, Mary Lesslie and Liam Cosier for drawing fantastic comic strips of Holy Week.

YEAR 4: Jack Howard for working diligently to write his information report on Mercury and Regan Godber, Dusty Jordan and Mia Buckley for creating super cute bunny artworks.

YEAR 5: Neve Walker for consistently producing work that is neat and of high quality and Sophie Lacey for always reading with wonderful expression. 

YEAR 6: Isabelle Peart for great work identifying restrictive and nonrestrictive appositives, Mackenzie Skinner for applying her knowledge of 3D shapes and volume quickly and accurately and Bella Ferguson and Akhiro Baker for creating the ‘perfect trap’ for kids at The Lotus Hotel & Casino.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

Our first term of Kinder has nearly come to an end! It certainly has been very busy, filled with many special events; Kinder Welcome Liturgy, St Joseph’s Day, swimming carnival, visiting Cooee Lodge, Easter Hunt and the very successful Melanoma March! In our classroom we have been learning about so many things; Jesus and the Bible, how to read and write, listening to stories, discovering shapes and numbers in Maths and so much more! We have really enjoyed our first term together and can’t wait for more fun and exciting learning experiences in Term 2. Remember to return your child’s Portfolio next term and have a safe and relaxing holiday.
Mrs Alison Newstead & Miss Lisa  Harvey

Year 1

 Wow! Can you believe we have made it to the end of week 11 already. What a busy term we have had! This week, Year 1 has enjoyed researching Dingos in English and using our knowledge of informative texts to write a report full of facts and interesting information. In Maths, we have explored a number of activities that helped us to recognise that ten ones is the same as one ten and identified that we can use one ten when forming numbers 11 to 20. In History, we watched a very interesting video from the 1950’s and identified how family life has changed or remained the same over time? In Art, Year 1 was inspired by an Australian artist, Pete Coromer to create an artwork to support our research on the Dingo. We hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday!
Mrs Julia Jeffery & Mrs Prue Best

Year 2

It has certainly been a fun filled and action packed term and what a way to end it all with a beautiful Mass to honour Mary. Thank you Year 2 for your outstanding singing and lovely reading on Monday, it was a lovely morning. We have been busy publishing our Easter recounts, it has taken a while but our typing skills are certainly improving. During Maths we have been learning about effective strategies for counting large quantities and working on difficult number patterns. Year 2 is looking forward to showing you what they have been up to this term in their Portfolios, make a cuppa and enjoy looking at their great work. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.
Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

Many Year 3 students enjoyed the Peachy/Richardson Football and Netball Cup on Tuesday. They had a fun day and played well.  We were lucky to watch a fantastic show yesterday where the music surely moved us. In Writing this week we read some instructional texts then rewrote one of them into an easier to read format. We also used information about Emperor Penguins to write a description of this amazing bird. In Maths we used the partitioning strategy to add two digit numbers and performed calculations with money, including finding change. We thank Year 2 for their beautiful Mass for the Annunciation on Monday. The students demonstrated their knowledge of Lent and Holy Week in a short End of Unit Quiz. Have the most wonderful holiday. We look forward to seeing you next term.
Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Swade Wilson

Year 4

Congratulations to all the Year 4 students who participated in the Peachey/Richardson Rugby League and Netball NSW Schools Cup on Tuesday. It sounds like you all had a fabulous day! During Maths we have been learning to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to solve subtraction problems. In English we are looking at a multimodal text, meaning it  can be imaginative yet also informative. We are using text and digital media to research a planet and write our own information report. We have completed revision activities along with an assessment in Grammar. We have spoken about the importance of ANZAC Day and I encourage all Year 4 students to march with the school on ANZAC Day to pay tribute to our service men and women. I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday, see you in Term 2!
Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

WOOHOO! We made it to the end of Term 1. This week has been a busy week finishing off everything to start fresh next term. Congratulations to Year 2 for a lovely Annunciation Mass on  Monday. You all did a great job. We had a blast in Coonamble on Tuesday playing netball and football. We all gave of our best and worked as a team to have fun. In Grammar we learnt about collective nouns and how there are so many different words for a group of things, people and animals. In Maths we had fun building 3D objects using the centicubes. We also recapped the properties of 3D objects. In History we  played a kahoot on the Australian Government as a recap on our learning about the Australian Federation. I pray you all have a wonderful and safe holiday and look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.
Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 6

 Wow! Week 11 has officially brought the term to an end and what a busy and wonderful term it has been! We began the week with a beautiful Mass, with a focus of ‘The Annunciation’. Thank you Year 2, it was lovely! We have been very busy in the classroom wrapping up our 3D Shapes and Volume unit and completing our end of term Maths Essential Assessments. In English we have been revising all things Grammar! This term we were certainly challenged with some new terminology; such as: nominalisaion, appositives and declarative, imperative, interrogative and exclamatory sentences, which we are still revising. We look forward to applying this knowledge in our everyday Literacy where possible. We have thoroughly enjoyed finishing off our caricatures in Art and look forward to sharing with you our class display at the Gilgandra Show. We thank everybody for a wonderful Term 1 and wish you all a safe and happy holiday!
Mrs Meichelle Schier, Mrs Jess Morrissey & Mrs Donna Colwell

ALTAR SERVERS

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

GILGANDRA SHOW 

This year's Gilgandra Show will be held during the school holdays, on Friday, 19 and Saturday, 20 April. The show will be filled with all the usual spectacles of sideshow alley, super tank shows, Jurassic Jack, Outback Thunda Monstor Trucks, Jet Van Show and much more! See you all at the show!

GILGANDRA SHIRE COUNCIL'S APRIL SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM

Gilgandra Shire Council has some exciting things happening these school holidays. They would love to see lots of families & new faces at the events.