WEEK 3 Term 3 2024

Dear Families,

Yesterday 8th August, we celebrated the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop with a beautiful Mass led by Stage 3.

• While most Australians know Mary MacKillop's name, many are unaware of exactly what this compassionate, devout and determined young woman achieved in her lifetime or why she remains such an inspiration to Australians and men and women worldwide.
• The co-founder of the Josephites, the Sisters of St Joseph she was a
  tireless advocate of education and schools.
• Mary's unwavering commitment to those on the margins of society constantly met with opposition. But with her strength of faith in God and her vision of a better world for all, St Mary refused to be daunted.
• Travelling extensively throughout Australasia, St Mary founded convents, charitable institutions and free schools for children in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA as well as New Zealand, at a time when most families had to pay to educate their children and only the wealthy could afford to send their children to school.
• Filled with affection and a deep love of children, St Mary radiated warmth and kindness matched with boundless energy. Charismatic, she literally could light up a room and she became an inspiration to almost everyone she met with her piety, humility and love of life.

In remembering our first Australian Saint: Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, we can learn much from her incredible vision, courage and leadership. 

The Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools has updated the procedures for monitoring and supporting schools to promote student attendance. Every school day builds upon the previous one, making it essential for students to attend regularly. Regular attendance is crucial as it fosters resilience and enables students to form vital social connections. Across all NSW education systems, the expected level of student attendance is above 95%, and we aim to support all of our students to achieve this. 

If your child’s attendance is below 90% you may receive a COMPASS communication in the coming weeks. We acknowledge that there may be many reasons for absences and you may have already provided information to the school about why your child has been away. However, this communication is to ensure all parents are aware that their child’s attendance is currently at or under 90%. 

We believe that by working together, we can ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed. Please ensure you contact the school if you would like any support with your child’s attendance. 

Earlier this year, I was contacted by Ms Kate Thomson, the Principal at McAuley Catholic College, to let me know that the Senior Students had chosen our students affected by the 2022 floods to be the beneficiaries of their fundraising Charity Ball. The McAuley students wanted the money to go towards our students' 2024 excursions. 

I attended the McAuley Senior Students Charity Ball at Grafton in May and shared our story over the last 2 years. It was a wonderful night attended by over 300 people. 

Recently Ms Thomson contacted to say the students had raised $6000 for St Joseph's. This is an incredibly generous gift from the staff, students and families and fully instigated by the young women and men of McAuley Catholic College senior school.  I immediately wrote to the students thanking them for their kindness, generosity and service to others, and let them know we would keep them posted about our excursions.  We had previously forwarded them a thank you video from the children.  In that video, Tom stated, " At St Joseph’s we are always looking to continue the Spirit of Jesus in today’s world. Our children now see you as an inspiration of the Spirit of Jesus truly alive".  THANK YOU!

The logistics of paying for the excursions proved difficult,  as time payments had already begun for Stage 2 & 3 excursions. The money raised has been put into the school fees for Term 3 for those students and the parents will be informed by email.  

This term we celebrate Book Week in Week 5 (19-23 August). Our Scholastic Book Fair has been arranged for the week. The Book Week dress-up book character parade will be held on Friday 23 August 2024.

The theme for Book Week 2024 is Reading is Magic. As part of the celebrations on Friday 23 September, we are inviting parents to join us with their favourite childhood books to share with their child,  to enjoy some games with the childrearing that has been happening. 

We look forward to you celebrating with us!

Early Learning Matters Week (5-9 August) aims to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of early learning (Birth - 8) in shaping the development and wellbeing of children.

The early years provide the opportunity to have the biggest impact on child development, and the success of each child into their future. A child will feel the impact of their early childhood experiences throughout their life.

For all children to thrive and reach their potential, we must take a whole of child focus in the early years – a focus on their physical, mental and emotional development as well as their sense of wellbeing and identity during these years are as crucial as our focus on their academic needs.

ST JOSEPH'S WOODBURN WORKING BEE

As we get closer to going home to our school at Woodburn, we are getting a lot of interest and questions about when the parents and children can see and visit the school and how they can help in some way at our school.  We now have a date to make that possible through a St Joseph's Woodburn working bee. Parents, students and community members are more than welcome to join us. 

When: Saturday 21 September 2024

Time: 9am-12 md

Please bring shovels, rakes, gloves, hoses, pressure cleaners, wheelbarrows etc.  We are working to bring our gardens to life and do any other necessary jobs around the school. 

We are grateful to a group of people from Western Australia (VERO) who will be joining us to help with the work and will financially support a coffee van, jumping castle and barbeque.  Casino Rotary has kindly offered to be chief chefs at the barbecue. 

FAREWELL TO TWO OF OUR FAMILIES

At the end of Term 2 we farewelled Hunter and Talen Prodanovic and the family as they moved to Victoria to be with family. We wish the boys and their family all the best for the future and thank them for being part of our family for the time they were with us. 

Today we said a temporary goodbye to Rita and the Murada family. They are off on an extended holiday around Australia. We wish them all the best in their travels and adventures and hope to welcome them back later next year. 

We will miss you all!

The following days have been set down as Staff Development Days for St Joseph's for 2024. We thank you for supporting us in our Professional Development/Learning opportunities.

Students do not attend school on these days

TERM 3
Friday 27th of September	New Curriculum/School Improvement

• The Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 Excursion
• Stage 3 for the beautiful Mass in celebration of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
• Parents who attended the Parent Teacher Interviews
• Our Naidoc Week celebrations
• The students' acknowledgement of World Principals Day
• Our 2025 Kindergarten Parents for choosing St Joseph's
• The Prodanovics and Muradas and your time with us. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Regards

Jeanette Wilkins

 Principal

CONGRATULATIONS

CONGRATULATIONS

The Council of Catholic School Parents is hosting a FREE parenting webinar with parenting speaker and author, Justin Coulson. This webinar will unpack:

• The root causes behind the deteriorating state of mental health, and who (or what) is responsible.
• The tools you need to reverse this trend for your children.
• Realistic approaches for managing screen time in a way that protects your child's wellbeing.
• Creating margins in your home and family life to protect and promote mental wellness.

All orders need to be on paper bags with the child's name, class and what they would like to order clearly written on them with the money enclosed. 

Hello there St Joseph’s Woodburn family, Cassie here from the Family Connect in School program. I'd like to introduce “Family Connect in Action’, a new addition to the school’s fortnightly newsletter. Each edition will give you links to information and resources to help you on your parenting journey.

My first edition is to let families know about the school Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) which can provide:

Free internet for eligible families

The Australian Government has introduced the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) to provide free internet access to eligible families. The SSBI provides internet access to up to 30,000 families with school-aged children who are currently unconnected. The free internet access will be provided until 31 December 2025.  

Am I eligible?

Eligible families:  

• have a child living at home enrolled in K-12 at a NSW school
• have not had an active National Broadband Network (NBN) internet service for the previous 14 days. Having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibility. 
• reside in a premise that can access a standard NBN service
• will undergo a suitability assessment conducted by the National Referral Centre (NRC). This is just a phone call or online application.

If you require any further information or assistance with an application, contact Cassie from the Family Connect in School program at 0427620667 or  contact the National Referral Centre – run by Anglicare Victoria – on 1800 954 610 (Monday – Friday, 10am – 6pm AEDT), or visit:  https://www.anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet/