ABOUT - Term 2 Week 2 - 9 May 2024

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

“To the world, you are a mother, but to your family,

you are the world.”

Happy Mother's Day to all our Mums

VALE SISTER CATHERINE GRANT

It was with sadness that we learned of the passing of Sister Catherine Grant on the weekend.  Sister Catherine was our Community Nurse for fourteen years in Gilgandra before her retirement in 1998.  She and Sister Jenny Buckley left Gilgandra together in 1999 to take up residence in Terrigal.  Sister Catherine was tireless in her care and love for many in the Gilgandra community.  She was always most interested in what was happening in the school during her time here, with that interest still evident when Mr Muz and two representatives of our Student Council caught up with her when they attended a special Sequicentennial Mass celebrating the presence for 150 years of the Sisters of St Joseph in NSW, which was held in Baturst in July, 2022.  She was most grateful to the school for our acknowledgement and recognition of the Sisters of St Joseph and the integral part they have played in our school for many, many years.   RIP Sister Catherine.

MOTHER'S DAY STALL - Tomorrow, Friday, 10 May

Thank you to those who have donated items for our Mother's Day Stall this year.  If you haven't already done so, it's not too late, just send them to school tomorrow morning.  Just a reminder that the gifts range in price from $1.00 to $5.00 and don't forget to send a plastic bag with your child to bring home their precious gifts!

HELPERS FOR THE STALL

If anyone can spare some time tomorrow to wrap last minute gifts and help man the stall, your assitance would be greatly appreciated.  Helpers are needed from 9:00 a.m.

MOTHER'S DAY RAFFLE

All raffle tickets need to be returned to school tomorrow as the raffles will be drawn at the conclusion of the Mother's Day Stall.  We would like to thank Claire Harvey from The Rustic Burrow, Matt & Kellie Zell from Victory Lap Sports and the Gilgandra Services Club for their kind donations to our raffle.

POLDING WINTER SPORTS TRIALS

Congratulations to Akhiro Baker, Heidi Colwell, Isabelle Peart and Lucy Zell who competed in the NSW Catholic Primary Schools Polding Winter Sports Trials in Tamworth last Friday. Akhiro, Heidi and Isabelle all made the Possibles -v- Probables teams in their respective sports.  Special mention to Akhiro (rugby league) and Isabelle (soccer) who were then selected in the Polding teams to compete at the NSW state championships later in the year.  It is a fantastic achievement to reach this high level of competition.  Well done to all our sports stars!

DIOCESAN CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to all our cross country runners who competed at the Diocesan Cross Country held in Coolah on Tuesday.  Special mention to Isabelle Peart (12 years) 4th, Rose Howard (10 years) 6th and Katie Colwell (10 years) 8th.  There are over 60 competitors in these events and to come in the top eight is a fabulous achievement.  Well done Isabelle, Rose and Katie!  They will now represent the Bathurst Diocese at the NSW Catholic Primary Schools Polding Cross Country Championships to be held at Eastern Creek on Wednesday, 5 June.  Other students who finished in the top twenty were Hannah Peart - 12th and Heidi Colwell - 18th.  Well done to all our runners!

SACRAMENTAL PARENT/CHILD MEETING

A Sacramental Parent Meeting for all parents and children in Years 3 and 6 who will be receiving the sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation this year, will be held at school this evening, Thursday, 9 May at 6:00 p.m. During this meeting Fr Nam will explain the significance of these sacraments and lead parents and children in a prayer session. We will also outline the programs that we will teach at school and organise how the days will run.  All parents and children in Years 3 and 6 are welcome to attend. 

YEAR 2 LITURGY

Year 2 will celebrate a class Liturgy next Thursday , 16 May at 10:30 a.m. in St Joseph's Church. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please bring a plate to share for morning tea which will follow the Liturgy. 

WALK SAFELY TO SCHOOL DAY

Walk Safely to School Day will be tomorrow, Friday, 10 May. Objectives of the day are: 

• To promote the health benefits of walking and help create regular walking habits at an early age. 
• To help children develop the vital road-crossing skills they will need as they become mature pedestrians. 
• To ensure that children up to the age of 10 years of age hold an adult's hand when crossing the road.
• To reduce the car dependency habits that are being created at an early age and which will be difficult to change as children become adults. 
• To reduce vehicle emissions and help tackle climate change and improve air quality. 

We ask you to discuss with your child the health benefits of walking  as well as safety rules. 

FAREWELL MRS MORRISEY - WELCOME MRS BARRY

We say farewell to Mrs Morrisey tomorrow, Friday, 10 May, as she commences maternity leave.  We thank Jess for her commitment and teaching, particuarly in the Year 6 classroom, as well as stepping up and helping out in the school whenever required.  Our very best wishes to Jess and Jake as they await the birth or their fourth child.  We look forward to sharing their news in the near future.  Mrs Haylee Barry will be teaching in the Year 6 classroom for the rest of the year and we look forward to welcoming her into the Joey's family.

TERM 2 FEES

Just a reminder that the Term 2 Fees are due on Friday, 24 May.  Fee Statements will be emailed out next week.  If anyone is experiencing difficulty in the payment of school fees, please contact the office.

PROJECT COMPASSION DONATIONS

Thank you to all who contributed to this year's Project Compassion appeal. A total of $787.25 was collected this year from our school commuinity which is an amazing effort!  Thanks again for your generosity.

NEW COTHING POOL NOW OPEN!

Our new Clothing Pool, situated next door to the canteen, is now in operation.  Thank you to Mrs Morrissey and some of our Year 6 students for organising the clothing pool so well!

TERM 2 CANTEEN ROSTER

MORE HELPERS ARE STILL 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, next 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 has been emailed to all staff, parents and students.  The survey can be accessed for another week 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.

INDIVIDUAL EISTEDDFOD PERFORMERS

A timetable for those children performing an individual item at the City of Dubbo Eisteddfod was sent home today.  If anyone is experiencing difficulties finding a poem, please contact your class teacher, who will be only too happy to help you out.

ENROL NOW FOR KINDER 2025

We are now taking enrolments for our Kinder class of 2025.  If you have a child ready to start school next year, please call in and pick up an enrolment pack.

MERIT AWARDS

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

KINDER: Jackie Gronow for sounding out words accurately, Chase Copelin for reading beautifully each morning, Jazmyn Aberley for sounding out tricky words in reading activities and Eleanor Foran  for being a great classroom helper.

YEAR 1:  Duncan Semmler for making a positive start to Term 2, Tess Howard for working hard during Phonics, Ellie Merrett for being an enthusiastic member of Year 1 and Liam Mellor for working well with 2D Shapes.

YEAR 2: Parthiv Rajesh Nair for settling in to the St Joseph’s family so well, Elsie Howard for always completing her work quickly and Grace Johnston for creating a fantastic illustration of the Dubbo Waterslide.

YEAR 3: Aaron Robin for working well in a group to make a metre, Harper Wykes for writing a convincing argument about why dingoes are heroes, Allie Claire Williams for using watercolour pencils to create a fantastic dingo portrait and Ryle Walker for writing good compound sentences about dingoes.

YEAR 4:  Dusty Jordan for a sensational effort to produce neat cursive writing, Oliver Buckley for working productively in Mathematics, Archie O’Connor for always ‘Giving of His Best’  and Layla Walker for being a well mannered and cheerful class member.

YEAR 5:  Oscar Medd for writing an engaging and descriptive recount about his holiday and Jackson Towns for working hard adding the correct plural ending to words in Grammar. 

YEAR 6:  Lily Johnson-Honey for correctly identifying and applying her knowledge of adjectives, Jessie O’Connor for working hard to correctly add and subtract positive and negative numbers, Bayley Dent for working conscientiously in Maths and Indy Thomas for a great effort in reaching her Literacy Pro goals.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

This week we continued reading "Mrs Wishy Washy". The sound of the week was ‘g’ and we wrote stories about a goat. We sequenced the story of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and discussed how the caterpillar changed into a beautiful butterfly when it emerged from its cocoon.  Everyone has been doing a great job in Handwriting and we are focussing on the correct formation of numerals from 1-10. During Sport this term, we are concentrating on learning new skills in athletics such as running, hopping and relay races. We have made our mums some lovely keepsakes and are looking forward to spoiling them on Sunday.  Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Mrs Alison Newstead & Miss Lisa  Harvey

Year 1

What a lovely liturgy we had this morning to celebrate our Mums. It was wonderful to see so many Mums, Dads, Nans and Pops there. In Maths, we have been looking at the attributes of numbers and enjoyed grouping numbers according to their attributes. We realised that numbers have more than one attribute. We have watched more clips of ‘Back in Time for Dinner’, this time the 60’s and 70’s. We were very surprised at the bright colours used inside the kitchen. The record player, cassettes and telephone that you had to dial were all very unusual!  In Art we have been busy creating beautiful Mother’s Day gifts for the special people in our lives. We hope all our Mums and Nans enjoy a wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Mrs Julia Jeffery & Mrs Prue Best

Year 2

Year 2 has been preparing for our Liturgy next week. We hope some of our family and friends are able to join us to celebrate ‘Friendships’ next Thursday. Miss Dann brought in her musical instruments and gave us a demonstration of how they are played and taught us about the different types of instruments in an orchestra. We have been working hard on our Mother’s Day gift and are looking forward to spoiling our special people on Sunday. We look forward to shopping til we drop at the Mother’s Day stall tomorrow and we thank all the Mums who are giving up their time to help wrap the gifts and run the stall tomorrow. We hope all of our Mums, Nans, Aunties and special people have a lovely day on Sunday. Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

Year 3 has been busy preparing for Mother’s Day this week. We’ve enjoyed creating our Mother’s Day surprise for Mum and writing her a thoughtful card. In English we’ve continued reading "Wandi" and have learnt about the term, authorship and authority. We’ve also looked at a poster and explored how its structure supports its purpose. We then analysed the types of modal words the author used and the impact they have on the reader and used information from "Wandi" to write our own statements using different modality. In Maths we have measured objects in our classroom between 20cm and 1m. We recorded these measurements in centimetres and millimetres. We also measured the perimeter of various shapes in centimetres and converted these measurements to millimetres. Year 3 has enjoyed learning about the different parts of the Mass in Religion. Many thanks to those who have indicated they can attend our sacramental meeting this evening. If you were unable to make the meeting and would like to volunteer for a job,  please let us know.  Have a the happiest of Mothers Days.

Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Swade Wilson

Year 4

This week Year 4 has been learning about objective and subjective language. We have also looked at a variety of language devices such as imagery, hyperbole and rhetorical questions and how the writer uses these to connect with the reader. We have been pondering the question: is Ned Kelly a hero or victim? We read a story from Ned’s point of view and are now reading some newspaper reports on the same events. The children are seeing how the same event can be written from different perspectives. In Maths we are learning to use directional language and describe routes with grid maps and use scaled instruments to measure and compare lengths. We have finished our Mother’s Day artworks and are looking forward to the Mother’s Day Stall tomorrow. Happy Mother’s Day  to all Mum’s on Sunday!

Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

What a busy week in Year 5! In Text Types we are learning about discussions. We discussed the format before writing one together on the topic, ‘Rain Is Better Than Sunshine’. In Grammar we are moving on from plurals to compound nouns. We completed a task that required us to read a passage and highlight all the compound nouns in the passage. With Mrs McIsaac we completed the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge in Digi Tech which required us to answer tricky questions that made us think differently about how to answer each question. In Religion we read Luke 24:36-43 which is a spiritual account of when Jesus appeared to the disciples after He rose from the dead. We discussed what the disciples would have been thinking and feeling during this moment and how we would feel if Jesus appeared to us. Please return your Canberra excursion notes and Pentecost Sunday Mass notes as soon as possible. Have a lovely weekend. 

Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 6

This week Year 6 participated in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge Competition in Digitech which did prove to be exactly that - challenging! In Maths we began to apply strategies to multiply fractions and calculated percentage discounts of items. Adjectival Phrases is our Grammar focus this week and we continue to look at figurative language as a way to enhance our writing. In preparation for our Confirmation we are researching different saints and how they impacted the lives of others and will create a presentation to share with the class later in the term. We look forward to seeing everyone who can attend the sacramental meeting tonight and would like to wish all the mums a happy Mother’s Day on Sunday - we hope you have a wonderful day.  

Mrs Meichelle Schier, Mrs Jess Morrissey & Mrs Donna Colwell

ALTAR SERVERS

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

Influenza Vaccinations for Children 6 Months to Five Years

Click on the link below for information from Gilgandra MPS on their Influenza Vaccination Clinic to be held on Tuesday, 14 May.