ABOUT - Term 3 Week 10 - 25 September 2025

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

AMAZING SCHOOL CONCERT!

Wow! What an amazing concert we experienced last Thursday evening!  The students certainly performed their items with enthusiasm and pride as we all enjoyed a "Night At The Museum"!  They were all fabulous and what a great way to finish off the concert with a slideshow starring the Joey’s students.  It was wonderful sitting back and watching what the children have been up to at school during 2025. Congratulations to all the superstars, the students of St Joey’s.  It was wonderful to see such a big crowd turn out to watch their children perform and thank you to those who helped the children with their lines, costumes and props.  Many thanks to the talented Joey’s staff who wrote the scripts, coached, organised props, costumes, program, sound and lights.  Thanks also to Gilgandra High School for the use of their hall and helping with sound, lights and spare rooms and Gilgandra Shire Council for the extra chairs we needed.  Also, a huge thank you to our Year 6 leaders for their wonderful work backstage.  What a night!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Tomorrow is the last day of another fantastic term.  We hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday and returns to school refreshed and ready for Term 4 on Tuesday, 15 October.

PUPIL FREE DAY - Monday, 13 October

The first day of Term 4, Monday, 13 October, will be a pupil free day.  During this day staff will be reviewing the Annual Improvement Plan for 2026.

SCHOOL ZONE REMINDER

A reminder to all parents ahead of the break at the end of Term 3 that school zones remain in place for the safety of our children and families.  School zones operate on all gazetted school days, which are all days the school is open, even pupil free days.

PORTFOLIOS

All children will take home their portfolios tomorrow with samples of their Term 3 work.  We encourage all families to take the time to look at the children’s work. All portfolios need to be returned to school early next term so the Term 4 work can be placed in them.

FINAL AFL SESSION TOMORROW

Tomorrow will be the last of our AFL sessions for sport.  The students have had a great time learning all about AFL, some for the first time and some current players of the sport.  Thank you to Larissa Connolly, from Australian Football League, for attending our school during the term to hold the various sessions.

TERM 4 SPORT

Sport for primary students will revert back to Thursday in Term 4.  Therefore, next term, all students should wear their sports uniforms on Thursdays and weather permitting, we will be swimming in Week 1. All students will need to bring their swimmers, towel and pool entry fee of $1.00 if you don’t have a season ticket.

SUITABLE HAIRSTYLES WHEN RETURNING TO SCHOOL

Families are asked to keep in mind that hairstyles for all students should be neat and tidy and appropriate to the school environment. 

SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACTS ON CHILDREN

The Catholic Education Diocese of Bathurst would like to reaffirm their commitment to fostering safe, supportive, and inclusive environments in all our schools.

In light of recent media coverage on the topic of Social Media, we ask that you please take the time to read the following document, containing helpful information and resources for the welfare of our students and school communities. 

If you have any concerns, please reach out and contact us.

GOIN' TO GIL STREET PARADE

Thank you to all students who have let us know they will be participating in the 'Goin' to Gil' Street Parade on Saturday, 4 October. 

A note was sent home on Tuesday with details about the parade.  Children need to wear their summer sport uniform and school hat.  Please meet in Bridge Street, next to Mitre 10, at 12:00 p.m. where we will assemble for the parade which will commence at 12:30 p.m.

As there will be road closures in place, please ensure you allow additional time to walk your child to the assembly point.

OCTOBER P&F MEETING

The October P & F Meeting will be held during the first week back at school in Term 4, on Tuesday, 14 October at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. The meeting will be held in the staffroom at school and light refreshments will be provided.

ST JOEY'S P&F SCHOOL FETE

This year's school fete will be held in Week 2 of Term 4, on Friday, 24 October.  The fete will start at 2:00 p.m. and conclude at 5:00 p.m. with the 'Slime Run'.

School holidays are a great time to start thinking about our fete.  In particular, donations will be needed for the following stalls:

RAFFLE BASKETS STALL - Jess Morrissey is the coordinator of this stall and is asking for donations from each child for items to be placed in the themed raffle basket in their classroom, eg. Year 6 students have been asked to purchase a new gift, of any value, that relates to 'Lego'.  All items donated from each class (except Year 1) will be made into a class hamper, meaning we will have six different themed hampers to be raffled off at the fete.

The chocolate blocks from the Year 1 class basket will be used as prizes in the new 'Chocolate Toss' stall!

The themes for each year are:

At the fete, the class raffle hampers will be on display and children/adults can purchase tickets for $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00.  They then place their tickets into the relevant box for the basket/s they would like to win.  Towards the end of the fete, the raffles will be drawn and the six lucky hamper winners announced.

Donations can be brought in to school at any time between now and 17 October.  These items are to be placed in the raffle basket in your child’s class.

CAKE & PRODUCE STALL - Crystal Mudford is the coordinator of this stall and is asking for donations.  Plastic containers are available for collection from the school office at any time.  Call in and grab a few so you can start cooking and freezing your goodies during the school holidays!

STALL COORDINATORS NEEDED FOR FETE

We are still in need of coordinators for two of the fete stalls, being the Fairy Floss and Photobooth stalls.  It would be wonderful if coordinators could set up and put away their stall, as well as man the stall for part or all of the fete (depending on the number of helpers). Coordinators do not need to organise goods for their stall, as this will be done for them.  If you can coordinate a stall, please contact the ladies in the office ASAP.

CHILDREN'S FETE & SLIME RUN TICKETS ONLINE

This year, families will again be given the opportunity to pre-purchase fete tickets and slime run tickets for their children. We have set up an 'Event' through Flexischools, enabling you to purchase and pay for tickets between now and 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the fete.  On the day of the fete, all pre-purchased tickets will be handed out to the students.

This year, we also have a 'SLIME RUN, HOT DOG & POPPER COMBO' available to pre-purchase on Flexischools.  Grab yours now, so your child can participate in the slime run and dinner will be ready to eat on your way home!

FETE ROSTER

Thanks to all the families who have offered to help out on a stall at the School Fete.  We have today sent home a further Fete Roster.  We are calling for helpers to assist the coordinators man the stalls during the fete.  If everyone helps out on the day for just one hour, then all the gaps will be easily filled. 

If you can help out, please write your name in the "BLUE" box/es and return the form tomorrow, 26 September. There is also a place on the roster for helpers to set up on the day of the fete, from 11:15 a.m.  If you can help, please put your name down and return it so we know if we will have enough helpers. 

COW PAT LOTTO

At the fete each year we have a Cow Pat Lotto. How does Cow Pat Lotto work?  We erect a yard with an area of 400 square metres.  You then have the chance to purchase one or more of these one metre squares for $5.00 per square.  A cow is led around the yard and if you own the square where the first dropping lands, then you win $1,000.00!  A book of four tickets was sent home with each family last week.  If you would like more tickets, just let us know and we will send them home, or pop into the school office and collect a book. All sold tickets need to be returned to school by Tuesday, 21 October.

TERM 4 CANTEEN HELPERS

We still have many gaps to fill on the Term 4 canteen roster.  If you can assist in the canteen during Term 4, please let us know your preferred day and also any dates that you are unavailable by completing the Term 4 Canteen Helper form below.  A paper canteen helpers form was previously sent home, which can be completed and returned to school.  A Term 4 Canteen Roster will be sent home early next term.

NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH

St Joseph's Parish is concerned about child safety around the church area at school drop off and pick up.  Please DO NOT park on the driveway (including the grassed areas), from the Wrigley Street entrance, in front of the church.  The parish is happy for parents to drive through this area and drop children off, but please DO NOT park here. 

There is a carpark on the Wamboin Street side of the church, where parents may park their vehicle whilst waiting for their children to come out of school, or if parents need to come into the school.

FOOD HANDLER TRAINING LINK FOR CANTEEN VOLUNTEERS

Please click on the below link to undertake the Food Handler Training required to be completed by all of our canteen volunteers. 

www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/training/food-handler-basics-training 

CANTEEN POLICY

Please find below a link to the St Joseph's School Canteen Policy. Due to various changes with Food & Safety Handling, we have been required to update our school's policy. Would all of our canteen volunteers please take the time to read through this document to ensure they are aware of the changes that are now in force.

TERM 4 PLANNER - What's On So Far!

A Term 4 Planner is going home to each family today.  It is possible that there may be changes throughout the term, with additions or changes.  Any changes or additions will be advised in our weekly newsletter.

MERIT AWARDS

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

KINDER: Laine Anderson for showing enthusiasm when exploring volume and measuring with sand, Charlotte Melhuish for writing an outstanding and very detailed recount of her weekend and Olivia Wass for a super effort with her writing and using interesting adjectives to make it exciting. 

YEAR 1: Eliza Hancock, Paddy O’Connor and Arthur Peart for great enthusiasm while playing AFL during sport, Jackie Gronow for taking care to add detail into his creative artworks and Kyro McKenzie for working diligently in Phonics.

YEAR 2: Jock Cruickshank for improved fluency while reading and Hamish Burrell for being an outstanding student who always gives 100% effort.

YEAR 3: Grace Johnston for super work identifying the words with an accented first syllable, Elsie Howard and Edward Woodrow for fantastic work illustrating and writing the character development of Rowan and Aabel Anoop for fantastic work reaching his Literacy Pro goal.

YEAR 4: Aaron Robin for working hard to segment words in Spelling, Amelia Altmann for working diligently in Maths Operations and Meenakshi Binu for always ‘Giving Of Her Best’.

YEAR 5: Dusty Jordan for an impressive improvement completing his homework, Olivia Yates for a wonderful effort to apply strategies to Maths problems and Lleyton Lummis for working hard to complete work quickly.

YEAR 6: Sophie Lacey for excellent effort, application and expression during concert practice and Tex Mudford for better engagement in class discussions and sharing his knowledge and understanding with the class.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

Congratulations Kinder on your fantastic performance at the school concert last Thursday night. You were AMAZING! Everyone looked fabulous in their costumes and it was so great to see lots of smiling faces on stage.  It’s been a busy final week before the holidays and Kinder has worked hard on revising many sounds including ‘p’, ’j’, ‘z’ and ‘e’. In Story Writing there were some terrific recounts about the weekend and also some great stories about visiting a zoo with the Meg and Mog characters from the book we enjoyed reading called “Meg At The Zoo”. In Maths we revised grouping numbers, counting and ordering numbers to 30 and looking at items that can be heavy, light, small and big. We painted a colourful owl in Art and in Geography we looked on the world map to see where Australia is and we noticed that our country is surrounded by water. Have a lovely restful holiday everyone. Don’t forget about looking for things to put in the Kinder fete basket when you come back ready for a busy and fun term.

Mrs Julia Jeffery & Miss Lisa Harvey                                                                            

Year 1

Year 1 has had a quiet week to finish off the term. We learnt about the ‘oa, o, ow, oe, o_e’ phoneme in Phonics. We revised all the rules for adding ‘ing’ in Spelling. In Literacy we read a Readers Theatre text titled, “Peace and Quite-Ha”. We discussed the structure, purpose and audience of the text and students were allocated characters. We read through the text as our characters and experimented with phrasing, intonation and volume when reading aloud. During Maths we drew an analogue clock, ensuring correct number placement and minute numbers around the outside. Our clock had a big hand to count the minutes and a small hand to count the hours. During Religion we discussed how Jesus wants us to forgive, how we can ask for forgiveness and how we should forgive others. We also read and sequenced the Bible story of ‘The Ten Lepers’ and discussed the importance of giving thanks. We wrote about what we are thankful for and why. Year 1 enjoyed creating a fabulous frog in Creative Art. We wish Charlie Burrell and his family all the best as he leaves us. He will be missed greatly by his classmates and teachers. Many thanks to our generous families who have donated chocolate blocks for the school fete! Have a lovely holiday and we look forward to seeing you at the Goin’ to Gil Parade.

Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Haylee Barry

Year 2

The holidays are nearly here, can you believe it? It has been another busy week to end the term. During Maths we have been looking at multiplication and division, we have also enjoyed playing class Kahoots based on our times tables, everyone is making great improvements in their times table knowledge. Year 2 has continued to enjoy listening to chapters of our text, “World’s Worst Children”. We also came up with our own character name using alliteration and have been writing a narrative about ourselves as one of the ‘World’s Worst Children’. We had some reef riddles to answer in Geography based on animals on the Great Barrier Reef, where we had to solve the ‘What am I?’ questions. We also created our own and shared them with the class. Sadly, we farewell Hamish Burrell tomorrow and wish him well in his new home and schooling.  I hope you all have a fantastic holiday and enjoy some much needed rest. See you in Term 4!

Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

Woohoo! We made it to the last week of term! It really has flown by. In Maths, we started a new short unit all about area. We had so much fun working together to make a square metre out of paper and even more fun designing our dream houses on grid paper. The students came up with some extravagant houses featuring all sorts of creative and expensive aspects! In English, we began writing our alternate endings for “Rowan of Rin”. It took us a little while to get going, but our narratives are now flowing beautifully. We are hoping to finish them before the end of term, but they may sneak into Term 4. In Geography, we have been working on mapping. First, we designed a map of our school playground and then wrote directions to a specific location. During our next lesson, we’ll test each other’s maps and directions to see if they are clear and easy to follow. Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful holiday. We look forward to seeing you back, refreshed and ready for an exciting Term 4!

Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 4

Year 4 is certainly looking forward to the holidays. We’ve had another enjoyable and busy term and have made it to the end, all a little weary!  We have finished our novel and are a little disappointed that it’s over. We were excited to learn that the author has written a sequel! We won’t read it in class, but I’m sure some children will read it at home. We are typing a narrative as our last piece of writing based on this novel. During Art we are making a creation artwork to link with our Religion unit and in Maths we are looking at ‘mass’. We are all thoroughly enjoying the AFL sessions we have been having for sport. It’s been a lot of fun to learn new skills and put them into a game. Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Take care!

Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

Addition and subtraction problem solving has been our focus this week in Maths and in Science, the students created their own game using magnets and other classroom objects. We continued with our explanation presentations, which included lightning, clouds and nightmares. During Religion, we are reading the story of ‘Creation’ and discussing the activities we enjoy outside in our wonderful world. In History, the students created a fact sheet about NAIDOC Week, the Yabun Festival or the Saltwater Freshwater Festival as part of the Aboriginal Cultural Practices in our contemporary world. Congratulations to Year 5 students on your concert item last week. I was very proud of how hard you worked, your enthusiasm and your fantastic performance on the night. You have all earned a wonderful rest. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Mrs Meichelle Schier

Year 6

Week 10 is finally here! We have had a pretty uninterrupted week and been very busy in the classroom. We have spent some time finishing off portfolio tasks and look forward to sharing our work samples with our families. In English we have continued with Context and explored different situations and how simple information can completely change the ‘context’ of a situation or writing piece. In Maths we have practised identifying the properties of regular and irregular shapes and dissecting shapes to make new ones. We have also focussed on reflection, rotation and  translation and are becoming more confident when identifying transformations, especially around a ‘y’ axis. In Grammar we learnt about oxymorons and were surprised to find that we use them more than we realise. We look forward to our final AFL session tomorrow and can report that all students thoroughly enjoyed the skills sessions. We wish our families a safe and wonderful holiday!

Mrs Jess Morrissey & Mrs Donna Colwell

Science News

This term really has flown by! It has been a very busy term as we wrap up our current investigations and begin to look at next term’s topics. Next term in Year 3, we are blasting off into Space to explore Earth and our place in Space, including how people have used the position of the sun and stars to tell the time and season. Year 4 is looking forward to investigating the material world around them, looking at different types of packaging and clothing and what they are made of and if they are biodegradable. Year 5 will be exploring the different states of matter around them and investigating solids, liquids and gases and how we use them in our daily lives. Year 6 is getting ready for a bit of a shake up with their earthquakes and natural disasters unit next term. They will be looking at the different causes of natural disasters and how we can prepare for them. Keep safe over the holidays and keep asking questions!

Miss Alexandra Dann

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

GOIN' TO GIL TRIATHLON

Following on from the Goin' to Gil' festival events on Saturday, 4 October, a GOIN' TO GIL TRIATHLON will be held on Sunday, 5 October, as follows:

Colour Run
9am
Windmill Walk

Watermelon Eating Competition
10:30am
Miller Street

Coo-ee Call Competition
11:00am 
Miller Street

To sign up for these FREE events, please visit:
https://www.123tix.com.au/events/49531/goin-to-gil-festival-weekend-2025 or gointogil.com.au