ABOUT - Term 3 Week 1 - 25 July 2024

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

Come Holy Spirit.
Fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to a new school term.  Hopefully everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable break and we now look forward to another exciting term at St Joey's.

CONFIRMATION - This Sunday, 28 July - 9:30 a.m.

All is ready for our Confirmation Mass this Sunday, 28 July at 9:30 a.m. The Sacrament will be administered by Bishop Michael McKenna.  This is such an important event at our school and we invite and encourage everyone to be at church on Sunday to celebrate with our Year 6 leaders. It would be fabulous to have lots there for this great occasion. Please keep our Confirmation class in your prayers: Chloe Alexander, Jocelyn Altmann, Akhiro Baker, Arabella Chandler, Oli Chandler, Heidi Colwell, Mitchell Cosier, Bayley Dent, Lottie Duffy, Bella Ferguson, Claudia Harrison, Kellie Hutchison, Lily Johnson-Honey, Connor Jones-Copelin, Keaghan Lummis, Kurt McBurnie, Thomas McIsaac, Milla Morris,  Harrison Newton, Jessie O'Connor, Isabelle Peart, Oliver Peart, Lucy Profke, Lucas Riley, Mackenzie Skinner, Alana Spora, Andrew Standing, Indy Thomas, Harry Thurlow, Archie Valler, Holly Wykes and Lucy Zell.

YEAR 6 PARENTS WORKING BEE TO CLEAN CHURCH - THIS AFTERNOON FROM 3:30 p.m.

A working bee for the Year 6 parents to clean the church in preparation for Confirmation will be held this afternoon at 3:30 p.m.  Thank you to those parents who have indicated they can attend the working bee.  It would be great if as many parents as possible could lend a hand to ensure the church is cleaned as quickly as possible.

YEARS 5/6 CANBERRA/SNOWY EXCURSION

The Years 5 and 6 students, their teachers and parents are having a sensational time in Canberra and at the snow this week.  Our travellers left at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday and visited Australian Parliament House, the National Arboretum and Questacon by Night. On Wednesday, they visited the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre ‘Mountains of Power’ Program and then headed to the snow for snow play and lunch.  Today our tourists investigated the National Electoral Education Centre at Old Parliament House, GeoScience, the National Capital Exhibition 'The Story of Canberra', Mount Ainslie Lookout, the Australian War Memorial and then Laser Tag this evening.  Tomorrow they will explore the Australian Institute of Sport, National Dinosaur Museum and Canberra Reptile Zoo. Our weary travellers will  depart for Gilgandra at approximately 1:30 p.m. with a stop-off at McDonalds in Cowra for dinner before arriving back at school between 9:00 - 9:30 p.m.  Wow!!  We can’t wait to hear about all their adventures.  We will put a notification on the Compass Portal when they leave Cowra to give an approximate time of arrival back at school.

YEAR 4 LEADERS

The Year 4 students have been doing a fantastic job as our school leaders while the Years 5 and 6 students have been in Canberra.  Well done Year 4!

NATIONAL TREE DAY

Tomorrow, Friday, 26 July, our Years 3 and 4 students will participate in Planet Ark's National Tree Day, where plants supplied and donated by Dubbo and Gilgandra Toyota will be planted at at our school.  Thank you to Natalie, Michael and Shannon from Gilgandra Toyota, who will be attending our school to assist the children in the planting.

BOOK FAIR

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair will be held next Tuesday, 30 July in the school hall from 3:30 – 4:15 p.m. Students will have the opportunity to explore the books and stationary on offer prior to the book fair and make a ‘Wish List’ to take home for parent approval.  Photographs and pricing of books was placed on Compass yesterday and we encourage you to have a look at the range available with your child.  A ‘Book Fair Invitation’ will be sent home with all students this week and orders can be sent in to school at any time.  Please encourage children to hand their orders to their teacher first thing before school commences.  Novelty items, from $1.00 to $10.00 can be purchased with cash only at lunchtime on Tuesday.  We are unable to reorder novelty items.  If books are sold out, we can order more in and these will arrive a couple of weeks after the fair.  If books are intended as gifts, please let us know on the wish list form or contact the school. Every purchase you make will earn more books for our school library. We thank you in advance for your support of this event. 

Book Fair Payment Information:  Payment may be made by cash or EFTPOS. If you would like to pay online by credit card, please visit the ‘Parent Book Fairs Payment Portal’ at www.scholastic.com.au/payment. After payment has been accepted, you will receive an 8-digit receipt number which needs to be recorded, as well as the amount paid, on the book fair invitation or wish list. Please then return this form to school.

Competition time: Children have been given the opportunity to win a voucher to spend at the book fair.  All competition entries for students in Kinder to Year 4 need to be at school by this Friday, 26 July and can be handed to the class teacher, the office or the library.  Our Kinder to Year 2 students are guessing books from part of the covers, whilst Years 3-4 students are completing a colouring competition for judging.  Years 5-6 students  completed a 'boggle' in class.   All winners will be announced on Monday.

YEARS 3-6 FANCY DRESS SOCIAL - 'I'M A CELEBRITY' - NEXT THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST, 5:30 - 7:30 P.M.

We hope you have your 'I'm a Celebrity' outfits ready because next Thursday, 1 August is our fancy dress social for all students from Years 3-6.   Come as a famous movie or television star, sporting star, YouTuber, singer or performer.  The options are endless - because let's face it, everyone's a celebrity!  The social will be held in the school hall from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. The cost is free and supper is provided - just bring yourself and get ready to dress up in your 'I'm a Celebrity' outfit! 

JEANS FOR GENES DAY - Next Friday, 2 August

Next Friday, 2 August is Jeans for Genes Day and we have decided this would be a great opportunity to help raise money to prevent childhood disease.  We are asking all students to wear jeans to school next Friday, 2 August and bring along a gold coin donation.  If you don’t own a pair of jeans, just wear a pair of casual pants.  With their jeans, infants students will wear their normal school shirt, jumper and school shoes, while primary students will wear their sport shirt, jumper and joggers.  We look forward to an enjoyable day and raising lots of money for this worthwhile cause.

WESTERN REGION ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

St Joey’s will send a strong squad to the Western Region Athletics Carnival to be held in Dubbo on Tuesday, 6 August (Week 3).  A permission note was sent home on Monday, as well as a schedule of events.  Please ensure the tear-off slip is completed and returned to school by next Tuesday, 30 July. Participating schools include St Joseph’s Gilgandra, St Brigid’s Coonamble, St John’s Baradine, St Lawrence’s Coonabarabran, St Mary’s Dubbo, St Mary’s Wellington and St Pius X Dubbo. 

PICTURE PLATE PROJECT

Last term a note was sent home to all families giving the children the opportunity to create a Picture Plate as a fundraising initiative of our P&F Association. 

If you indicated on the note that you would like your child to create their own plate at home and have not yet collected the template, please call into the school office ASAP, as completed templates and payments are due back to school on Friday, 19 August (Week 4).  Unless instructed, we would prefer not to send the template home with children, to avoid any marks or creases showing on the final design.

Those students creating their design at school, will meet with Mrs McIsaac in the library during lunchtime on Monday, 12 August (Week 4).  If your child is creating their picture plate at school, would you please call into the school office and arrange for payment ($25.00 per plate).  You can also pay over the phone via EFTPOS.

PUPIL FREE DAY WEEK 3 - ENGLISH CURRICULUM

There will be a pupil free day in Week 3 on Monday, 5 August.  Kristi Ryan, Consultant from Catholic Education Diocese of Bathurst will inservice the staff on further developing the new English Curriculum.  The staff look forward to a productive day.

ICAS ASSESSMENTS

As mentioned last term, our students in Years 3-6 again have the opportunity this year to participate in the ICAS Assessments. ICAS is an online academic competition that gives the students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in Digital Technologies, Writing, English, Science, Spelling and Mathematics.  These assessments are voluntary.  Parents can go online to order the assessments they wish their child to complete.  Full details are in the attached note.  A hard copy of this note was also given to the eldest child in each family last term.  The closing date for all entries is Monday, 29 July.

When entering the 'Parent Payment System code' of UBI626, please ensure you use the letter "I" for "Igloo" and not the number 1.

ST JOHN'S COLLEGE DUBBO YEAR 5 EXPERIENCE DAY CANCELLED

We have been advised by St John's College Dubbo that their Year 5 Experience Day, which was to be held on Wednesday, 14 August, has now been cancelled due to a teacher shortage.  They apologise for any inconvenience caused.

LUNCHTIME CRICKET PROGRAM FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS

Cricket NSW is offering our primary students in Years 3-6 the opportunity to participate in a lunchtime cricket program aimed at developing their cricket skills in a fun and familiar environment. There will be four weekly sessions that will take place each Monday during lunch at school, commencing on Monday, 12 August.  Although there is no cost to participate in the program, you will need to register your child via the following links:

Girls - https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/406c1e

Boys - https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/478ef8

NEW COMMITTEE REQUIRED FOR ST JOSEPH'S DEBUTANTE BALL

We would like to thank our current ball committee, comprising Sarah Adams, Tracey Riley and Danielle Altmann, who have put together two magnificent Debutante Balls over the last couple of years. 

They have however, decided that it is time for them to hand over the reins to a new committee.  We are therefore in need of volunteers to take over the running of the debutante ball to ensure that this major fundraiser for our P&F Association can continue next year.  If you can assist, would you please contact the ladies in the office as soon possible. 

ATTENDANCE SMS

As mentioned last term, the Catholic Education Diocese of Bathurst has implemented an automated system to notify you via SMS if your child has an unaccounted absence.  We have again attached a flyer for further information.

TERM 3 CANTEEN ROSTER

A hardcopy of the Term 3 Canteen Roster has today been sent home and can be viewed below.  As can be seen, we still have a few spots to fill, particularly Friday, 9 August, which is when the majority of our primary students are in Dubbo at the Soccer Gala Day.  It would be great if 1 or 2 of our infants parents could volunteer to help out in the canteen on this day.  Please contact the office if you can help with any of the spots requiring volunteers.

ENROL NOW FOR KINDER 2025

Enrolments are still open 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.

For those families who have already collected an enrolment pack, please ensure the relevant paperwork is returned to school ASAP and you contact the office to book an enrolment interview with Mr Gibbons.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

Welcome back everyone to another busy term in Kinder. We are very lucky to have a new student joining our Joey’s family this term and her name is Noopura Rahul. This week we wrote some fantastic holiday recounts using the time words; first, then, next and finally. We also wrote some super stories about Meg, who is the main character in the “Meg and Mog” series that we will be reading this term. In Maths we are focusing on number bonds and measuring the length of objects. Our Science unit is called “What’s it made of ?” and we enjoyed taking photos on our playground of different objects and discussing what they were made of. This Sunday our Year 6 buddies are celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation. It would be wonderful to see as many people as possible there to help celebrate this special day. Enjoy your weekend! 
Mrs Alison Newstead & Miss Lisa  Harvey

Year 1

Welcome back to Term 3. It sounds like everyone enjoyed the break. On Monday we wrote some very interesting and entertaining recounts about all the fun things we did during the holidays. In English, we started a new unit looking at the book, “A Year On Our Farm” by Penny Matthews. We discussed how our personal context compares to the context of the story. We looked at how things around us change over the year and drew our favourite season and identified something we enjoy doing during this season. We then wrote a compound sentence to match our illustration using cause and effect language. In Maths we have started the unit, ‘Data Everywhere’. We have been looking at different ways to collect data. We made a biography glyph (a picture that represents something) and have used them to collect data about our classmates. In Religion, we identified things that are precious to us and talked about why the Bible is a special part of our prayer focus. Congratulations to our Year 6 friends who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday. Have a wonderful weekend! 
Mrs Julia Jeffery & Mrs Prue Best

Year 2

Year 2 has been very busy this week and have settled straight back into hard work. In Maths we have been using the MAB blocks to help us learn trading, we have also been working on trading in our Operations. The sound focus in Spelling has been ‘ew’ words and we brainstormed all the different ways we can make the sound. During Religion we have been learning about how we can reflect God’s goodness and making an extra effort each day to show this goodness to others. Year 6 has been in our prayers as they return from Canberra tomorrow, we hope they have had a wonderful excursion and enjoy a special day on Sunday at Confirmation. This term in Geography we will be learning about special places in Australia and the world and also learning about the history of the Olympic Games. Go Aussies!! Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

Welcome back to Term 3.  In English we started off the term by reading and discussing the book, “Sonam and the Silence”, a haunting fable-like story by the well-known musician and author, Eddie Ayres, about the power of music and a young girl in Kabul, set during the occupation of the Taliban. We completed a venn diagram to compare life in Australia to life in Afghanistan, then used coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to write compound and complex sentences about life in these two countries. After reading the text we also identified any important symbols used and created similes to describe the symbol, referring to the text for meaning and context. In Mathematics we will spend the next three weeks learning about fractions. So far we have made models of fractions such as halves, thirds, quarters and eighths using paper strips and string. We used these to explore equivalent fractions. We’ve also learnt about the different ways fractions may be represented including words, numerals and pictorials. We look forward to refreshing our fairy garden by planting some new plants tomorrow to mark National Tree Day, thanks to Gilgandra Toyota.  Have a wonderful weekend and we hope to see as many as possible at the Confirmation Mass on Sunday, to celebrate with our Year 6 friends.  
Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Swade Wilson

Year 4

Year 4 students are enjoying being the senior students of our school whilst our Years 5 and 6 friends are enjoying the sights of Canberra. They are being very responsible and enthusiastic whilst completing their jobs around the school. Our Year 6 friends are also in our thoughts as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday.  Hopefully many of our Year 4 families will be able to come along to church on Sunday to support our Year 6 leaders.  In class we are continuing to read “Bindi" and have been learning about the symbolism of the Black Cockatoo and its importance to Aboriginal culture. We’ve learnt that the Black Cockatoo (‘garrall’ in indigenous language) is a vulnerable species and measures are being put in place to conserve the species.  Our new Maths unit is 'Partitioned Fractions' and this week we are modeling equivalent fractions. We are looking forward to celebrating National Tree Day tomorrow  when we will be planting trees on our playground. We thank Gilgandra Toyota for their organisation of this event. Please ensure you return the permission slip tomorrow, if you haven't already.  Enjoy the weekend.

Mrs Melinda Morris

ALTAR SERVERS

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

BREASTSCREEN MOBILE VAN

The BreastScreen NSW mobile van will be visiting Gilgandra from Friday, 6 - Friday, 27 September in the CWA carpark.  Call 132050 or book online at breastscreen.nsw.gov.au.