ABOUT - Term 1 Week 5 - 29 February 2024

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

"What you are is God's gift to you.
What you become is your gift to God."
- Hans urs von Balthasar

KINDER WELCOME LITURGY - Thursday, 7 March - 10:30 a.m.

We can’t wait to officially welcome our Kinder class of 2024 at the Kinder Welcome Liturgy which will be held next Thursday, 7 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.

MOORAMBILLA VOICES

On Tuesday, representatives from Moorambilla Voices attended our school and held a music workshop for students in Years 3-6 as part of their 2024 Skills Development Tour.  Moorambilla Voices is a nationally awarded program that seeks to give regional students an opportunity to sing, dance and create incredible performances and tours across Australia.

During the recent workshop, our students engaged with Artistic Director, Michelle Leonard OAM, learning about music through fun, collaborative and creative activities.  Some students will be invited to join Moorambilla for their August and September Residency Camps in Baradine where they will create works which connect their community and the landscape with world class musicians, performers, composers, choreographers and visual artists.  If your child is invited to join Moorambilla, he/she will receive a letter of offer in April.  For more information about Moorambilla Voices, please visit www.moorambilla.com.

CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY

We will once again be participating in the Clean Up Australia Day campaign this year. We will be collecting rubbish in the area bordered by Chelmsford Avenue, the railway line, Warren Road and Wambion Street tomorrow, Friday, 1 March.  Bags and gloves will be supplied by the council. The school will be on the trail at 9:00 a.m. to avoid the hot weather. 

DIOCESAN AFL TRIALS

We wish Mitchell Beaton the very best of luck as he travels to Bathurst next Monday, 4 March to participate in the Primary Diocesan AFL Trials.  We can't wait to hear how Mitch goes at the trials.

DIOCESAN SWIMMING CARNIVAL

We wish our ten super swimmers the very best of luck as they compete in Dubbo next Wednesday, 6 March at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival.  Our sensational swimmers include: Thomas McIsaac, Alana Spora, Lottie Duffy, Oliver Peart, Hannah Peart, Tom Mudford, Bella Ferguson, Isabelle Peart, Indy Thomas, Claudia Harrison.

'BRILLIANT AT BEING RESILIENT' - SCHOOL PERFORMANCE

Next Thursday, 7 March from 2:00 p.m. all students will attend a school performance in the hall, titled 'Brilliant at Being Resilient'.  The performance uses stories, poetry, fractured fairy tales, illusions and loads of humour to explore the value of resilience and tolerance as well as getting across the very important message that bullying is not acceptable.

Due to the school performance, ALL students will be swimming for sport during the middle session next week, from 11:30 a.m. and return to school by 1:00 p.m.

ST JOSEPH'S DAY CELEBRATIONS

We have planned a day full of fun and celebrations for Tuesday, 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 p.m. – Mass
1:00 p.m. - Class picnics at pool
1:30 p.m. - Year 6 Synchronised Swimming, followed by 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.

GRANDPARENTS DAY / OPEN DAY

Thursday, 21 March 2024

One of our most anticipated and exciting days of the year is approaching and that is when we host Grandparents Day during Week 8, on Thursday, 21 March.  Everyone is invited from the very young to the very old to celebrate Grandparents Day with us.  The day begins at 10:30 a.m. with morning tea in the weather shed. Following morning tea the students of St Joseph’s will entertain you with a mini concert.  To conclude the activities everyone is invited to inspect the classrooms.  So, if you have a grandma, grandpa, nan, pop, an elderly next door neighbour or in fact know any person, young or old, please invite them to our Grandparents Day.  We will be needing cakes and slices etc. for morning tea, so please bring a plate to share.

NATIONAL ASSESSMENT PROGRAM - LITERACY & NUMERACY (NAPLAN)

Students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) online during Weeks 7 and 8.  This program will assess the literacy and numeracy learning of students in all Australian schools.  The results of the tests will provide important information to schools about what each student can do, and will be used to support teaching and learning programs.  Parents will receive a report indicating their child’s level of achievement.  Each student’s level of achievement will be reported against the agreed national benchmarks of student achievement.  The format is as follows:

Week 7 - Wednesday, 13 March - Writing 

Week 8 - Monday, 18 March - Reading, Tuesday, 19 March - Conventions of Language, Wednesday, 20 March - Numeracy. 

ST JOSEPH'S P & F DEBUTANTE BALL

Saturday, 23 March
Only 3 Weeks Away!
*TICKETS ON SALE NOW*

Mark your calendar & spread the word!  Get your friends together for a great night out at the St Joseph's P & F Debutante Ball.  Attending the ball is a great way to show your support in what is one of the P & F’s biggest fundraisers of the year!

The ball will be held on Saturday, 23 March with doors opening at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets are $40 per adult, including appetisers.  There will be music and full bar with EFTPOS facilities.

Tickets can be purchased from the school office, Tooraweenah Prime Lamb at 25 Miller St, Gilgandra (during business hours) or from the Shire Hall each Tuesday from 5:30 – 6.00pm.  If purchasing tickets from school, you can use the EFTPOS facilities or alternatively transfer the money directly into the following bank account:

Account Name:  St Joseph's P&F Association
BSB No:  066 781
Account No:  100008639
Ref:  Your Name - ball tickets

This event is open to the whole Gilgandra community so organise a table and come along for a great night out whilst helping raise some funds for our school!

DEBUTANTE BALL WORKING BEES & DONATION OF SWEETS FOR DESSERT

A working bee to prepare decorations for the St Joseph's P & F Debutante Ball will be held on Saturday, 16 March in the St Joseph's School Hall from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Further working bees to set up tables, chairs, smoker's tent and decorations will be held on Thursday, 21 and Friday, 22 March from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

We are also in need of volunteers to to help out on the night of the ball in the bar, the following day from 9:00 a.m. to help clean up and pull down the smoker's tent and we are also asking for donations of sweets for dessert at the ball.

It would be wonderful to have as many volunteers as possible to help at the working bees and to donate some sweet treats - many hands make light work!  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.

If you can help out, please complete the below form or alternatively speak with Heather, Toni or Veronica in the office.  

SCHOOL PHOTOS

School photos will be taken on Monday, 11 March (Week 7).  Each child has been given an envelope with full details regarding price and products available. To order your photos online go to www.advancedlife.com.au before photo day and enter our school code: 7Q9 5JT KQZ at the top of the page.  Then just follow the prompts.  You do not need to return your child’s envelope if ordering online.  You can also make payments by cash or cheque which must be returned in the envelopes provided.  A separate envelope must be used for each child.  ALL PHOTOS NEED TO BE PAID FOR PRIOR TO PHOTO DAY.  The money for photos may be returned to school at any time.  If you have more than one child at school and would like a family photo taken, special envelopes are available from the office.

PARENTS' WEBINAR

An eSafety Commissioner webinar will be held on Tuesday, 26 March from 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. This event for parents and carers is titled ‘Understanding Parental Controls to Safeguard Your Child’ and is all about different types of parental controls and how to set them on smart devices and computers, in apps and on gaming platforms, for your child’s safety. It’s suitable for parents and carers of primary school-aged students.

We hope you can join us!  Please click the below link to register.

CITY OF DUBBO EISTEDDFOD

INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES

A number of our students choose to perform an individual poem at the City of Dubbo Eisteddfod each year.  Entries are now open.  This is separate from our school verse speaking choirs in which all children from Years 1 to 6 participate. The teachers will assist any children wishing to enter the eisteddfod with their selection of a poem.  Transport to individual events must be arranged by the parents.  The proposed dates for the eisteddfod are 17 to 21 June.

KINDER/YEAR 1 NURSERY RHYMES

At the City of Dubbo Eisteddfod, Kinder and Year 1 children (six years and under) are invited to enter the singing section – Nursery Rhymes in Costume.  In the past, children who have entered have enjoyed it greatly and gained much from the experience.  If your child wishes to enter you must be prepared to take your child to Dubbo on the day and organise the costume.  Parents are to help their child select a nursery rhyme and we will then assist them practise at school. The proposed dates for this section of the eisteddfod are 11 to 12 June.

If your child wishes to participate in either of the above individual sections of the eisteddford, please click on the link below, complete the note and return it to Mrs Hodge or Mrs Fuller at school no later than Wednesday, 13 March.  Alternatively, you can send a hand written note to school with the relevant information or contact the school and we can send home a hard copy of the note. The age of the child shall be taken as at 31 December, 2024, ie, the age the child is turning this year. 

HEAD LICE

There have been reports of head lice at school.  Could you please check your child's hair and treat if necessary.

MERIT AWARDS

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

KINDER: Jack Jeffery for drawing a fabulous portrait, Kohen Walker for trying hard in Handwriting, Tessa Hamilton for enthusiastic participation during our singing of “The Lighthouse” song and Kobi Hammond for super counting during Maths Warm Up. 

YEAR 1: Hugh Meers for working hard and listening carefully at all times, Bridie Jordan for always trying her best, Lachy Foran for being an enthusiastic and cooperative learner and Flynn Weston for working well in Phonics.

YEAR 2: Evie Adams for reading each morning with beautiful expression, Charlie Budworth for brightening our classroom each day with her beautiful smile, Thomas Colwell for being a great listener and keen learner and Indiana Jeffery for typing a great description about your monster, ‘Kate’.

YEAR 3: Isobel Barry, Liam Cosier and Madeleine Foran for writing entertaining narratives and Aaron Robin for a great job using inverse operations to solve number sentences. 

YEAR 4: Regan Godber and Mia Buckley for a fantastic effort building tension within a paragraph, Liam Millstead for a fabulous effort in Maths and Katie Colwell for a lovely ‘All About Me’ artwork.

YEAR 5: Clancy Larkin for working hard identifying different clause types in sentences and Charlie Howard for confidently applying his prior knowledge to discussions in Religion. 

YEAR 6: Harrison Newton for improved expression and fluency when reading our class novel, Lucy Zell for great application and knowledge of decimal fractions, Bill Ryan for creative thinking to solve mathematical challenges and Lucy Profke for working conscientiously across all key learning areas.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

This week in Kinder we have been visiting the church with our Year 6 buddies to prepare for our special liturgy next Thursday. This is one of the proudest moments for Year 6 and Kinder so we encourage as many family and friends as possible to join us for this celebration. In the classroom we have been learning about long and short words and how to recognise them. During Science we have been exploring the weather and using symbols to represent cloudy, sunny, hot, rain and windy. Our classroom is looking like an art gallery with all the amazing art and craft that we have completed over the last few weeks. In Maths we have been using dice to represent numbers and their value. We certainly enjoyed cooling off in the pool today for sport! Have a great weekend.
 Mrs Alison Newstead & Miss Lisa  Harvey

Year 1

This week, Year 1 has been working very hard writing some fabulous narratives. Through our stories we have travelled all around the world and seen amazing sights. In Maths we continued measuring using different informal units and explored a range of strategies to solve subtraction problems involving two-digit numbers. In History we watched an interesting video identifying some of the different types of families we might see in our class and talked about how family life has changed or remained the same over time. There was much excitement on Wednesday, as the students were able to use the Chromebooks for the first time. We were very pleased with ourselves as we logged on to our own devices, performed a search for Reading Eggs and even bookmarked the page. We look forward to using the Chromebooks throughout the year. We hope you have a great weekend.  
 Mrs Julia Jeffery

Year 2

This week during Religion we read the Creation story from the Bible and discussed how we were all created in the image of God. We looked inside a special box at the most precious gift from God, we were surprised to see our reflection in the mirror. We have been learning about the water cycle during Science and things that use water. Our focus during literacy sessions has been the book ‘Peggy’, a brave chicken on a big adventure in the city. Everyone has been working hard on their homework each night, make sure your child is practising sight words at least 3 nights of the week to ensure a thorough knowledge and understanding of the words. We look forward to ‘Cleaning Up Australia’ tomorrow and doing our bit in keeping Gilgandra clean. Have a great weekend!
 Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

What a hot day it has been today. We enjoyed a very refreshing swim for Sport. In English we have focused on the long ‘e’ sound and the many different letter combinations that make this sound such as ee, ea, ie and ei. During Grammar we have reviewed the concepts we have covered so far this term. We continued our work on narratives this week and the children enjoyed writing narratives involving ‘following tracks’. We will begin our work on persuasive texts tomorrow. During Maths we’ve been learning that addition and subtraction are inverse operations and how to use different strategies to add two and three digit numbers. In Creative Arts we are studying the American artist, Keith Haring. We plan to draw our own Keith Haring inspired artwork tomorrow.
Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Swade Wilson

Year 4

Thank you to those children who attended our Years 1 and 4 Mass on Sunday. It was a lovely celebration. Today we acknowledged ‘Rare Disease Day’. This ties in with our novel, ‘The Thing About Oliver’ as we learn about the challenges faced by Oliver and his family. It also makes us more aware of those in our community who live with a rare disease. The children enjoyed a visit from Moorambilla Voices this week and had the opportunity to show their vocal talent. In Art we are working on a coral reef artwork as it fits in perfectly with our novel. Tilly, one of the main characters, is intrigued by the coral reef and knows many facts about lots of fish. She wants to be a marine biologist. Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

Year 5 have been working hard this week! We have continued to work on our descriptive writing with a focus on what our bodies are doing in different scenarios. In History we have been learning all about the Australian Government and the different levels of government we have. On Tuesday we had the Moorambilla trials, they were lots of fun! We all gave of our best and good luck to those who maybe offered a position. In Religion we looked at the story of Jesus in the desert and how he spent 40 days fasting and praying. We also looked at other stories from the Bible where God used 40 days for example, Noah was on the ark for 40 days and Moses spent 40 days, on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments. In Science we completed an experiment looking at how birds' bodies adapt to different environments. We had lots of fun learning this and even got to test some of the ways they eat. Have a fantastic weekend!
Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 6

It’s been a busy and fabulous week in Year 6. We began the week with a visit from the staff members of St John’s College in Dubbo, who talked to us all about the journey ahead and starting high school next year. We really enjoyed this visit and found it very informative. 

In Maths we have continued learning about decimals, fractions and percentages. The unit has allowed us to enjoy many hands on learning experiences and we’ve utilised the opportunity to incorporate concrete materials. In English we have been revising complex sentences, becoming stronger independent clause detectives! Can you spot the difference between an independent and a dependent clause? We have also been practising our Kinder Buddy Speeches. We are really looking forward to the Liturgy next week, where we will formally introduce our buddies and present them with their hand made buddy badges. In Religion, we have been identifying the different types of discrimination, both social and personal, in relation to justice. A great topic that has reminded us of how important it is to be aware of how our actions and our words can impact others. Remember - kindness is free! Have a safe and wonderful weekend!
Mrs Meichelle Schier, Mrs Jess Morrissey & Mrs Donna Colwell

ALTAR SERVERS

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

'COME & TRY' SOCCER AFTERNOON
A 'Come & Try' soccer afternoon will be held at Ernie Knight Oval from 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 15 March.  The afternoon is for children interested in playing soccer in the 2024 season.  If you have a child who is unavailable to attend, but interested in more information, please call Andrew on 0428 265 074 or Mark  on 0427 470 436.

LAKE BURRENDONG SPORT & RECREATION CENTRE FAMILY WEEKEND GETAWAY
Lake Burrendong Sport and Recreation Centre is hosting a Family Weekend Getaway on Saturday, 16 to Sunday, 17 March for children 5 years and older and their families. Create some wonderful memories with your family as you enjoy a weekend of fun and adventure. Some of the facilitated activities that will be on offer include paint balloon combat, archery and slip 'n' slide. You can also make use of the tennis courts, 25m swimming pool, sports hall, bushwalking trails or try your luck with land-based fishing. The weekend includes all meals and basic lodge style accommodation with all rooms having an ensuite and air-conditioning. Bookings close Monday, 11 March.  Please view the below flyer for further information and details of how to book.