ABOUT - Term 1 Week 6 - 13 March 2025

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless"
~ Mother Teresa ~

CONGRATULATIONS MITCH!

Congratulations to Mitch B who was selected in the Diocesan AFL team last Friday to compete at the Polding AFL trials to be held in Newcastle on Tuesday, 8 April. Well done Mitch and we wish you the very best of luck in Newcastle!

DIOCESAN SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Congratulations to our two amazing swimmers, Darcy A and Chloe H, who competed at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Dubbo on Tuesday.  Special mention to Darcy who placed 1st in the 13 years 50m Freestyle.  Darcy will now compete at the Catholic Primary Schools Swimming Championships to be held at Homebush on Wednesday, 2 April.  Well done Darcy!

Chloe also swam extremely well, placing 4th in the Senior 50 m Breaststroke.  A wonderful effort Chloe!

ST JOSEPH'S P & F DEBUTANTE BALL

Saturday, 22 March - Only One Week Away!

Thank you to everyone who has purchased tickets in support of the St Joseph's P & F Debutante Ball, which will be held on Saturday, 22 March with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. and the debutantes being presented at 8:00 p.m.  The dress code is black tie. 

Tickets to this event are now SOLD OUT, with only a limited amount of spectator tickets available to purchase by clicking on the below link:

https://www.123tix.com.au/events/47376/2025-st-josephs-pf-debutante-ball 

DEBUTANTE BALL WORKING BEES & DONATION OF SWEETS FOR THE BALL

A working bee will be held to clean and set up tables and chairs and to hang fairy lights for the St Joseph's P & F Debutante Ball this Sunday, 16 March in the Shire Hall from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

A Helper's Roster was sent home last week and at this point in time, we only have 2 people who have offered to help at this Sunday's working bee.  If you can help out, please complete and return the roster to school tomorrow, Friday, 14 March, or phone the ladies in the office.  Many hands make light work and it would be wonderful to see more helpers at the Shire Hall on Sunday to help set up for the ball.

A further working bee to decorate the hall and set up the smoker's tent will be held next Friday, 21 March from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Currently, we only have 1 helper to set up the smoker's tent and NO HELPERS for the working bee!

We are also in need of volunteers to to help out on the night of the ball in the bar (must have a current RSA), to help finish and serve food platters and helpers to wash and clean up.  On Sunday, 23 March from 9:00 a.m. we need helpers to clean up and pull down the smoker's tent.  We need more helpers in the bar and we currently have NO HELPERS for the clean up!

We are also asking for donations of sweets for dessert at the ball.  These can be dropped to school next Friday, 21 March, or delivered directly to the Shire Hall on Friday 21 or Saturday, 22 March. We have only had 1 offer to donate sweets!

It would be wonderful to have as many volunteers as possible to help at the working bees and to donate some sweet treats.  You don't need to come for the whole time, even if you can help out for an hour or two it would be appreciated.

A further Ball Helper's Roster has today been sent home and is attached below. If you can help out, please complete the relevant sections of the form and return it to school by tomorrow, Friday, 14 March.  

YEAR 6 WRITING WORKSHOP

Today, our Year 6 students attended a 'Writing Workshop' with Anita Heiss.  Some of the focuses of the day were 'Reconciliation', the walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and what it meant for Australia and particularly Aboriginal people.  Anita also used her picture book, "Bidhi Galing" as a springboard for activity.  We hope our Year 6 leaders enjoyed their time with Anita.

ST PATRICK'S DAY MASS

All students will attend the St Patrick’s Day Mass that will be celebrated tomorrow, Friday, 14 March at 10:30 a.m. in St Joseph’s Church.  This Mass is being prepared by Year 2 and all are most welcome to attend.  Please bring a plate to share for morning tea which will follow the Mass.

Our Year 2 students are also looking forward to visiting the residents of Cooee Lodge next Monday, 17 March, to give the residents a little bit of Irish cheer!

GILGANDRA YOUTH STRATEGY RESEARCH

On Monday, a note went home with our Years 5 and 6 students, for students who are interested in participating in the Gilgandra Youth Strategy Research.

Dr Caitlin Mollica, a Lecturer in International Relations at The University of Newcastle, will be attending our school next Monday, 17 and Tuesday, 18 March to hold small group consultations, for about 1 hour, with interested students from our Years 5 and 6 classes.  

The purpose of the research is to gather young people’s views on their communities so that Gilgandra Shire Council can understand what young people want, how they view their community and what role they see Council playing in their lives. 

If your child would like to participate in this research and has not yet returned their form, please send it to school tomorrow, Friday, 14 March.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

NAPLAN ONLINE TESTING

NAPLAN will continue next week for students in Years 3 and 5 with Language Conventions and Reading on Monday, 17 March and will conclude with Numeracy on Tuesday, 18 March.

ST JOSEPH'S DAY CELEBRATIONS

We have planned a day full of fun and celebrations for next Wednesday, 19 March to celebrate St Joseph’s Day.  St Joseph is certainly a special saint for all of us at St Joseph’s and we want to honour him on this special day.  So if you would like to join us for part or all of the day, you are most welcome.  Our timetable is as follows:

12:00 noon – Mass
1:00 p.m. - Class picnics at pool
1:30 p.m. - Year 6 Synchronised Swimming, dancing in the pool, biscuit fun and a free swim. 

SKI BISCUITS AND ROPES are required for St Joseph’s Day.  As in the past, we hope to have lots of fun on the ski biscuits at the pool.  If you are able to loan us a biscuit with ropes, could you please let us know as soon as possible.

KINDER WELCOME LITURGY

Thursday, 20 March - 10:30 a.m.

We cannot wait to officially welcome our Kinder class of 2025 at the Kinder Welcome Liturgy which will be held next Thursday, 20 March in St Joseph’s Church at 10:30 a.m.  Everyone is invited to attend, especially the family and friends of the Kinder children and their Year 6 buddies.  It is a fantastic celebration where we get to learn a little more about the newest members of the Joey’s family.  Morning tea will follow the Liturgy and we ask Year 6 parents to please bring a plate.

SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

Training for the school cross country will commence next week for any students in Years 3-6 interested in competing.  Nine and ten year olds run 2 kilometres while eleven and twelve year olds run 3 kilometres.  The Joey's trial will be held at school on Thursday, 3 April (Week 9) at 9:00 a.m.  The Diocesan Cross Country will be held in Coolah next term on Tuesday, 6 May (Week 2).

SUPER SPELLERS!

Our school Spelling Bee Finals will be held during Week 8 on Monday, 24 March for Years 3 and 4 students at 11:20 a.m. and on Wednesday, 26 March for our Years 5 and 6 students at 11:20 a.m.  Congratulations and good luck to these super spellers who have qualified for the school’s finals.  The Years 3 and 4 finalists include Isobel Barry, Harper Wykes, Tiffany Fong, George Taylor, Hannah Peart, Meenakshi Binu, Caroline Taylor, Sam Luckie and Eddy Woodrow while the Years 5 and 6 contestants will be Neve Walker, Clancy Larkin, Estelle Hazelton, Caitlin Younghusband, Ryan Faulder, Jakirah McKenzie, Mia Buckley and Oliver Buckley.  Well done to you all!

GILGANDRA FILM FESTIVAL 2025

Our school has once again been invited to be part of the Gilgandra Film Festival and a 'How to Make a Documentary' brochure has been sent home with all students in Years 4-6.  Next Tuesday, 18 March, Mr Jonah Scotti will be visiting our Years 4-6 students to speak with them about making a documentary for entry in the festival.  

Students from all years are invited to participate in this year's Film Festival, not just those in Years 4-6. The brochures containing instructions and suggestions on how to put together a documentary for the festival are available for any other interested students from the school office.

2025 PARENT/COMMUNITY CHARTER

There are still a number of families who haven't yet approved the 2025 Parent/Community Charter that was sent by the CEDB to all families in the Bathurst Diocese in Week 3. 

Please follow the below instructions on how to complete and agree to the Charter through the Compass app on your mobile phone:

• Open the Compass App.
• Click 'More' in the bottom right hand corner and then click on the 'Course Confirmation' icon.
• Click on the '2025 Parent/Community Charter' (you will need to do one for each child).
• Follow the instructions on the screen, then click on 'I have read and accept the agreement above'.
• Type your full name into the box and click on 'Next'.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENT SURVEY

Tell us about your experiences as a Catholic school parent and what you'd like to know more about.

We value every parent's thoughts and opinions!

The Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) would like to know how involved/engaged you feel you are in your child's learning at a NSW/ACT Catholic school, how connected you feel in your child's school and your thoughts on how schools could enhance family-school partnerships.

This data informs the CCSP parent learning program and will provide them with valuable information about how the dioceses and schools are engaging with families.

Thank you so much for taking time out to provide  your feedback.

Please click the below link to go to the survey:

https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/survey/71

SCHOOL STUDENT BUS TRAVEL INFORMATION

Students who travel to school by bus and have not yet applied for a travel pass, need to apply or update their details as soon as possible.

Students living in rural and regional areas will receive their travel pass from their nominated transport operator. It may be issued via their school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some rural and regional operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

All students are required to comply with the Student code of conduct. The code of conduct aims to ensure the safety and well-being of school children and other passengers. It is important that parents ensure their child is aware of this, as failure to comply with the code of conduct can result in a suspension from travel.

MERIT AWARDS

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

KINDER: Adelaide Robinson for being a happy, enthusiastic member of Kinder, Charlie Haling for being well organised and a super classroom helper, Max Godber for enthusiastically singing our ‘Days of the Week’ song and Annlitta Anoop for settling into the Joey’s family so well.

YEAR 1: Ellis Starr for always listening to instructions and working hard in all tasks,  Charlie Burrell for creative pattern making in Art and Arthur Peart for determination and focus while applying a variety of spelling strategies during Phonics.

YEAR 2: Hamish Burrell for a super dooper effort to sound out words in Phonics, Alfie Mudford for always being keen to share his ideas and Duncan Semmler for completing his work with great effort and care.

YEAR 3: Aabel Anoop for settling into Year 3 with confidence and curiosity, Edward Woodrow for being a kind and thoughtful class member and Evie Adams for challenging herself with reading.

YEAR 4: Isobel Barry, Mary Lesslie and George Taylor for creative coral reef artworks, Aaron Robin for a great commitment towards reading and  Alina Anoop for settling into the Joey’s family so well.

YEAR 5: Lleyton Lummis for a great alliteration poem about himself and Charlie Cruickshank for working hard to complete work quickly and accurately.

YEAR 6: Mitchell Beaton for displaying a positive ‘can-do’ attitude and always challenging himself when opportunities arise and Mack Hutchison for a positive attitude and perseverance with tricky Maths questions.  

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

Another busy week has flown by in Kinder. We are counting down the ‘sleeps’ until our Welcome Liturgy next Thursday, so save the date and join us for a wonderful celebration. We have been focusing on the sound ‘i’ and wrote some fabulous stories about what we would see inside an igloo. During History we listened to a dreamtime story about an emu and learnt the word, ‘dinawan’ which is Wiradjuri for emu. We also painted and assembled our own dinawan. In Maths we are focusing on ordering the numerals from 0 to 5 and making groups and patterns. During Science we enjoyed programming the bee bots and watching them maneuver around the library. Don’t forget, next week sight words will be part of our homework, so remember to practise them every night.   Have a wonderful weekend and Happy St Patrick’s Day for Monday the 17th!

Mrs Alison Newstead & Mrs Julia Jeffery

Year 1

We are looking forward to celebrating a fantastic St Patrick’s Day Mass tomorrow with Year 2. In English we listed the various characters in “The Great Rabbit Chase”. Selected students were then allocated a character and asked questions to help build a mental model of each character’s personal traits. We also talked about how sentences include a subject (who), verb group (what) and prepositional phrase (where). We then deconstructed sentences from the text one at a time, to separate and discuss the subject, verb, and prepositional phrase in each. Year 1 also enjoyed reading the book, “Duck on a Bike” and writing their own entertaining narratives about an animal of their choice who took a journey to a place of their choice on a vehicle of their choice. During Maths we used informal units such as paper clips and blocks to measure length. We also explored some strategies to complete subtraction questions. We prepared for St Joseph’s Day today by practising a great dance to perform in the pool on the day.

Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Haylee Barry

Year 2

Year 2 has been busily preparing for our St Patrick’s Day Mass tomorrow. We hope some of our family and friends will be able to join us at 10:30am. Please bring something to share for morning tea. We have also been learning an Irish jig and some jokes that we are keen to share with the residents of Cooee Lodge next week. During History we learnt about ancient Egypt and Greek Gods and Goddesses. We discussed how different cultures and religions have their own creation story and belief in how the world came to be and why it is important that we respect other people’s beliefs. In PDH children discussed body parts and that parts of their bodies are private. Children are encouraged to read each night and work on their sight words. I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

What a fantastic week we have had in Year 3! We started Naplan on Wednesday with the Writing component. Everyone worked hard for the whole time limit and I'm sure wrote some very creative narratives. In Maths this week we worked with money and calculating the change when we go shopping. We also played musical chairs learning all about probability. In PDH with Miss Dann we were learning about how we can create better connections with others around us, not only at school but also in our community. We were challenged to write down ways we can better our connections with one person we know and try to achieve this over the next week. During History we completed a case study on some famous explorers that discovered new countries and cultures. We especially looked at the Polynisian navigators that used the stars and their environment to help them on their voyages. We will complete the remainder of our Naplan tests next Monday and Tuesday. Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 4

Thank you to those students and their families who attended our class Mass on Sunday. The parish certainly does enjoy when the children prepare the Mass. We have finished our class novel and we loved it! We followed the emotions of TIlly, Oliver and Mum and were disappointed when the story finished. Definitely a sign of a good book! We are finishing off writing our own narrative from Oliver’s perspective. In Religion we have been learning about Caritas and the wonderful work they do through projects like ‘Project Compassion’ to help those in need. We all agree it is definitely a great charity to support. Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

This week we continue to learn about fractions. In one task, we were asked if cutting a doughnut into eighths with only three cuts was possible. After discussing many strategies, we successfully completed the task and celebrated by eating the remaining doughnuts. Yum!  In Grammar, we practised combining two simple sentences into a compound sentence using conjunctions and identified hyperboles in Text Types. During Religion we wrote about the Junior Joey’s Program and how we can emulate Mary MacKillop in our lives. Next Wednesday, Year 5 will receive a badge and certificate as a symbol of joining this association during the St Joseph’s Day Mass. Roy Lichenstein is our inspiration for our Pop Art artwork this week. We are using a unique dot style technique to create a picture in his comic strip style of work. Tomorrow we celebrate St Patrick with a special Mass led by Year 2 and are looking forward to a fun day at the pool next week to celebrate St Joseph’s Day. Have a lovely weekend.  

Mrs Meichelle Schier

Year 6

It’s been another fabulous week in Year 6. We would like to congratulate all the students on their wonderful performance at the Senior Citizens Day luncheon. It was (again) a spectacular “Greece” rendition and thoroughly enjoyed by all! We have continued enjoying our class novel, “Stormboy” and dived further into learning about the isolated coastline of the Coorong region in South Australia, where the book is set. In Grammar we have been revising dependent and independent clauses and we have been excitedly writing our Kinder Buddy speeches. We are looking forward to delivering them next week at the Kinder Welcome Liturgy. In Maths we have continued investigating fractions through design, calculating fractions using money and calculating fractional discounts. We have lots to look forward to as the term progresses, starting with St Patrick's Day celebrations, tomorrow. What do you call a big Irish spider? Paddy long legs.

Mrs Jess Morrissey & Mrs Donna Colwell

ALTAR SERVERS

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

ART BY NATURE with Natasha Walker

A special class will be held this Saturday, 15 March from 3.00 - 6.00 pm.

Natasha is returning to Dubbo from the South Pacific to deliver an inspiring workshop, combining her clever drawing and painting skills to handprint, layer and collage works, stimulated by objects she finds in the great outdoors.

Bringing her passion for the great outdoors into the studio, she will encourage students to take time to notice the wonderful details in nature and bring it to their artwork.

'Art by Nature' will invigorate you to create beautifully inspired artworks with natural materials.

Limited places - All materials and equipment supplied.

Bring a friend … and make this a shared memorable experience!

Venue:  ArtClub Studio, 13b Bultje Street, Dubbo (next to Fast Lane Coffee)

ENROL - Art by Nature

"Art is a harmony parallel with nature" ... Paul Cezanne