ABOUT - Term 2 Week 5 - 30 May 2024

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

First Holy Communion Prayer
Come Lord Jesus, into my heart today.
Help me always to follow Your will, Your work and Your way. 

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

The excitement is certainly building for the First Holy Communion class as this special day is fast approaching.  Our school community and parish are warmly invited to celebrate First Holy Communion at St Joseph’s Church this Sunday, 2 June at 9:30 a.m.  Please keep our First Holy Communion class in your thoughts and prayers:  Amelia Altmann, Isobel Barry, Liam Cosier, Tiffany Fong, Madeleine Foran, McKenzie Harvey, Cruz Hazelton, Billy Jeffery, Charlie Jones-Copelin, Mary Lesslie, Bridie Moeris, Tom Mudford, Sterling Newton, Hannah Peart, James Riley, Aaron Robin, Ben Ryan, George Taylor, Lochie Thomas, Ryle Walker, Allie Claire Williams, Harper Wykes.

It would be fabulous to have lots there for this great occasion. 

WORKING BEE TO CLEAN CHURCH FOR FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

There will be a working bee for Year 3 parents to clean the church in preparation for First Holy Communion tomorrow, Friday, 31 May from 3:20 p.m.  We hope to see as many as possible there.

YEAR 2 PARENTS TO SERVE FIRST HOLY COMMUNION BREAKFAST

Thank you to those Year 2 parents who have offered to help prepare and serve morning tea for the Year 3 First Holy Communion class and their families this Sunday, 2 June.  If anyone else would like to assist, please just turn up on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. 

GILGANDRA FILM FESTIVAL

Congratulations to Oliver Peart, Lucy Zell, Bill Ryan and Heidi Colwell from Year 6 who entered a mini documentary film titled “This is My Life” in the 2024 Gilgandra Film Festival, which was held last weekend.  This competition is designed to encourage young, primary age students to make their own observation documentary film centred around their unique country lives and we know that our students had a great time being part of this event.  Thank you to the film festival committee for presenting our students with a DJI Mic Recording Kit, which we are sure will be used here at Joey’s in years to come.  Well done Oliver, Lucy, Bill and Heidi!

200 m HEATS IN PREPARATION FOR ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

In preparation for the Athletics Carnival, we will be holding heats for the 200 m events at McGrane Oval tomorrow, Friday, 31 May at lunchtime.  As this is a sports day, students will already be wearing their sports clothes and joggers.

PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

The St Joey’s Primary Athletics Carnival will be held at McGrane Oval on Friday, 14 June (Week 7).  This carnival involves all primary school students (Years 3-6).

We will need officials to help with the judging of the events and we will also need helpers to run the canteen. Thanks to all those parents who have offered to help.  Below is an updated roster, from which you will note that there are many helpers still required, as indicated by the dotted lines.

If you are able to assist in any way please write your name down and return the roster to school that was sent home last week.   

FLEXISCHOOLS LUNCH ORDER FOR ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

There will be a special canteen lunch order for the Athletics Carnival on Friday, 14 June.  This has been set up in Flexischools and is available for primary children (Years 3-6) to order from. Lunch order bags are also available from the school office upon request.  Flexischools orders, for the Athletics Carnival, need to be placed by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 June, so we have enough time to order food for the carnival.

INFANTS CANTEEN ORDERS ON DAY OF PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

On the day of the Primary Athletics Carnival (Friday, 14 June), infants students who would like to order their recess or lunch using the Flexischools online service, will need to use the following Flexischools services when completing  their order:

Infants Recess Order for Friday, 14 June
Infants Lunch Order for Friday, 14 June

This change in ordering is only for the day of the Athletics Carnival.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school office. 

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE - "IT'S A MAD WORLD"

Next Tuesday, 4 June at 2:00 p.m. the whole school will be attending a performance in the school hall, titled "It's a Mad World".  During this performance Per Westman will teach children the importance of matching their confidence to their skill level and keep the children engaged by using the circus skills he has acquired over the years.

GOOD LUCK ROSE AND KATIE

We wish Rose Howard and Katie Colwell the best of luck as they represent the Diocese of Bathurst at the NSW Catholic Primary Schools Cross Country Championships to be held at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney next Wednesday, 5 June.  Congratulations Rose and Katie on gaining selection in the diocesan team.

CITY OF DUBBO EISTEDDFOD

All students from Year 1 to Year 6 will be participating in the verse speaking choirs at the City of Dubbo Eisteddfod on Wednesday, 19 June at the Dubbo Regional Theatre & Convention Centre (DRTCC). The order for the verse speaking choirs is as follows:

Commencing at 10:00 a.m.

Section 5300 – Years 1/2 – Infants (we are competitor no. 6 of 6 competitors), followed by

Section 5302 – Years 5/6 – Senior Primary (we are competitor no. 5 of 6 competitors).

Section 5303 – Small Schools (1 competitor), followed by

Section 5301 – Years 3/4 – Junior Primary (we are competitor no. 3 of 3 competitors)

We would love to see many family and friends in attendance at the eisteddfod to watch our wonderful choirs perform. 

Tickets went on sale last Thursday, 23 May - see below for instructions on how to purchase tickets.

PRE-PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE EISTEDDFOD

As mentioned above, tickets to the eisteddfod went on sale last Thursday, 23 May.  Tickets can be purchased from the DRTCC Box Office or ordered online by following the below instructions:-

1.  Visit http://drtcc.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/sales (if this link doesn't work, please copy and paste it into your browser)
2.  Type in Search - Eisteddfod
3.  Select which session you wish to attend
4.  Payment of your tickets (Please note: you will have 20 minutes to complete your transaction).

We suggest purchasing your tickets ASAP to ensure that you do not miss out!

TRAVEL TO THE EISTEDDFOD

Last Thursday, we sent home a permission note with children from Years 1-6 for your child to attend the City of Dubbo Eisteddfod on Wednesday, 19 June in Dubbo and advising us how your child will travel to and from the eisteddfod.  We need this information as soon as possible so that we can organise transport.

The cost for the bus to travel to Dubbo will be $5.00 per student.  Please ensure the tear-off slip and if your child/ren are travelling by bus, the money, is returned to the school office by tomorrow, Friday, 31 May.

CHANGE OF UNIFORM FOR THE EISTEDDFOD

At this year's City of Dubbo Eisteddfod, girls are to wear MAROON TROUSERS, NOT the tunic as has been worn in previous years. 

Just a reminder that children are required to wear full winter uniform which is as follows:

Boys:  Grey trousers, blue shirt, school jumper, grey socks, black shoes.
Girls:.  Maroon trousers, fawn shirt, school jumper, brown socks, black shoes.

'OUR CATHOLIC FAITH' HANDBOOK

The Council of Catholic School Parents has released its 2024 handbook, "Our Catholic Faith", to assist parents and families in understanding the Catholic beliefs, celebrations, and prayers that form the foundation of Catholic schools. It serves as a resource for all parents, especially those unfamiliar with Catholic traditions, offering insights into the basics of Catholic beliefs, celebrations, symbols, and prayers. The handbook can be found by click on the below link.

FATHER'S DAY STALL COORDINATOR REQUIRED

We are after a new coordinator for our Father's Day Stall.  It is a relatively simple role for the new volunteer, involving organising raffle prizes, setting dates for a couple of working bees to wrap gifts for the stall and then running the stall the Friday before Father's Day.  This is a fundraiser for our P & F Association and we would be grateful for one of our parents to put up their hand and take over the running of the Father's Day Stall.  If you have any questions or would like to become the stall coordinator, please let the office staff know.

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 or phone the office and we can email a pack to you.

MERIT AWARDS

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

KINDER: Ted Johnston for always enjoying our Jolly Phonic songs, Arthur Peart for writing a fabulous story about a caterpillar, Kyro McKenzie for excellent work in Mini Lit groups and Paddy O’Connor for great sequencing of numbers from 1-10.

YEAR 1: Piper Lummis for writing a wonderful persuasive text, Lachy Foran for happily helping with class jobs, Alex Moeris for always “Giving of His Best” and Jock Cruickshank for sharing ideas in Maths.

YEAR 2: Thomas Colwell for his enthusiastic contributions to our class discussions, Isabelle Sandry for following instructions carefully to create a ‘Chinese New Year Dragon’ and Caroline Taylor for her detailed map of ‘My Place’ in History.

YEAR 3: Isobel Barry for excellent comprehension skills during Reading, Mary Lesslie for showing great enthusiasm and curiosity during our visit to the Life Education Van and Liam Cosier and Amelia Altmann for a great effort with our research task in History.

YEAR 4:  Rose Howard for working hard in Maths, Charlie Cruickshank for a great effort to use high modality words in his writing, Alice Peart for writing a strong paragraph to argue why Ned Kelly is a villain and Pearl Mudford for writing a strong paragraph to argue why Ned Kelly is a hero.

YEAR 5: Estelle Hazelton for working hard to consistently achieve a high grade on Maths Online and Braxten Towns for an improved effort in producing work that is neat and tidy. 

YEAR 6: Kellie Hutchison for consistently challenging herself during Maths and asking questions to clarify information when required, Mackenzie Skinner for always being a kind and caring friend to everyone and generously giving her time to help those in need, Andrew Standing for a conscientious effort to master adding and subtracting fractions and Thomas McIsaac for fantastic use of figurative language to describe a storm.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

Kinder has been looking at the ‘-ug’ family and the sound ‘Uu’ in phonics. We have been trying very hard to sound out 'consonant-vowel-consonant' words ( tin, mit, pan, cat, net ). We coloured in pictures that begin with the ‘U’ sound and completed a cut and paste activity to stretch words, listening for the beginning, middle and ending sounds. Handwriting practice to write the numerals 4 and 5 has seen a big improvement for many of us. In Maths, we have been looking at subtraction and using counters to model this. Talking about pets is still the topic in Science, so if you haven't sent in a photo yet, please do so by next Monday. We’ve been discussing parts of a sentence and looking at simple nouns, verbs and adjectives as we read “Shoes from Grandpa”. We are designing some bright coloured umbrellas in Art tomorrow. Please keep Year 3 in your prayers as they prepare for First Holy Communion on Sunday - let's help them celebrate this special day by attending Mass at 9.30am. Have a great weekend.
Mrs Alison Newstead & Miss Lisa  Harvey

Year 1

This week in English, Year 1 has been continuing to work on persuasive writing and wrote some very convincing letters to the bus driver and the pigeon as to why the pigeon should or shouldn’t drive the bus. In Maths, we have explored the different attributes we can measure on a variety of objects, including height, weight and capacity. In History, we continued investigating toys and we had lots of fun making our own toy from the past. During PDH, Miss Harvey helped us to identify different emotions and we talked about the best way to respond when we, or one of our friends, have big feelings. We are excited for our Year 3 friends to receive their First Holy Communion on Sunday. Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs Julia Jeffery & Mrs Prue Best

Year 2

It has been a busy week in Year 2 where we have completed some assessments in literacy and numeracy. We have been learning about seals and forming our information into a hybrid text. We began working on our eisteddfod poems with Year 1, and are still working on learning these for homework. This week we have been keeping Year 3 in our prayers as they prepare for their special day on Sunday. Thank you to those parents who are able to come and assist with the serving of food. I am looking forward to seeing lots of Year 2 children at Mass on Sunday to help make this a wonderful celebration for Year 3. During Sport this term we have been working on our running, throwing and catching skills with different exercises and games. We put our running skills to the test in the 100m heats in preparation for the Athletics Carnival.  Have a great weekend!
Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

There are only three more sleeps until we receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion on Sunday! We are very excited and can’t wait to receive Jesus for the first time.  Year 3 has been working hard to write adverbial phrases this week and our spelling list has been made up of words from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy website. These are words that we may have used in our Q and A writing task. In Maths we’ve learnt a number of strategies to solve subtraction problems and number sentences. We have learnt about the jump strategy and the compensation strategy. We used number lines and hundred charts to assist us. We also completed some revision tasks and a short unit assessment. See you on Sunday.
Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Swade Wilson

Year 4

Year 4 enjoyed a great visit to the Life Education Van last week. Josh presented us with some important practical information regarding online safety. He reminded us of the age requirements for social media accounts including SnapChat, Instagram and Tik Tok. He spoke about game rage and what happens to our brain and bodies when we experience this and ways we can calm ourselves down. Another tip he gave was to visit the website, esafety.gov.au to get factual information regarding games, apps and important privacy and parental control settings. It is vital we are all in a safe environment online. We’ve also created some lovely artworks to decorate the hall for our Year 3 friends. We know they will enjoy a wonderful celebration on Sunday as they receive this important sacrament.
Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

We are half way through the term already! Five weeks has whizzed by.  This week we have been working super hard on our hybrid texts. We have been powering through the research section of the task and are now beginning to design our posters. In Science, with Miss Harvey, we have been looking at the phases of the moon and discussing the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. In Religion we looked at the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We reflected on the sacrifice Jesus made for us and how this event is an important part of our Masses. This week we combined with Year 6 to work on our poems for the eisteddfod in Week 8. We have been working hard learning them in class and now it's time to start perfecting them. We look forward to celebrating with Year 3 this Sunday as they prepare to receive First Holy Communion. Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 6

This week in Maths we are converting measurements, exploring perimeter and area and completing assessments in number, measurement and data. We consolidated our learning of the seven sacraments and the symbols associated with Confirmation in Religion and identified passive, assertive and aggressive behaviours in PD. In Grammar we are looking at past, present and future tense and continue to write descriptive passages using figurative language. In Art we have been sketching responses to particular scripture readings. From these many sketches, the students will choose one for the inspiration for their own Christmas Art painting. During Sport we have been brushing up on our skills in shot put, long jump, high jump and discus in preparation for our upcoming athletics carnival and were happy to see some of the students sign up for the 200m heats tomorrow. We look forward to celebrating with Year 3 as they receive the body of Jesus for the first time in Holy Communion on Sunday.  We hope there are lots there to enjoy this celebration with the Year 3 students.  Have a great weekend.
Mrs Meichelle Schier, Mrs Haylee Barry & Mrs Donna Colwell

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