WEEK 7 Term 3 2024

Dear Families, 

Yesterday I emailed the terrific news that the return to Woodburn will happen in Week 10 this term. As mentioned in the email, we are incredibly proud and appreciative of the results of our refurbished school and can't wait to share it with the children, our families and our community.

To assist with the transition in Week 10, we will not be running normal classes, but operating on a ‘supervision-only’ basis for children whose parents are unable to make alternative care arrangements, at the Evans Head site. This will allow staff to complete the relocation process while ensuring that our students remain in a safe and supervised environment. 

Term 4 will see the school fully operational at Woodburn. Monday 14 October (first day of Term 4)  will be a pupil-free day to allow for final modifications with technology and related systems to ensure a smooth beginning for the children. 

Classes for all students across K - 6 will resume at St Joseph’s, Woodburn on Tuesday, 15 October.

Thank you, once again, for your continued support and understanding throughout this journey. We can't wait to welcome you back to our home in Woodburn and embark on this new phase together.

The wellbeing and learning of our students are paramount for us and we are very aware that the transition to Woodburn will impact our students in different ways.  For our Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 it will be a whole new school experience, while the majority of our students, Years 3-6 are extremely excited to return to all that St Joseph's in Woodburn holds. There may still be some anxiety among the primary students. We have been working with the children for a while now to assist with the transition. Kinder to Year 2 have been watching videos of the school, their classrooms and the different spaces and having discussions and question time.  We want to ensure this is a wonderful experience for all our children and will continue to work with them in the next few weeks and throughout Term 4 to allay any fears or concerns. Don't hesitate to contact the school if you have any concerns for your child/children with the change of schools.  

This week we acknowledge 'National Child Protection Week and continue to champion the message ‘Every child in every community needs a fair go’. This message captures the essence of National Child Protection Week which aims to promote a safe and supported life for every child, now and into the future. 

To build on last year’s theme of ‘Where we start matters’, this year’s theme will be: ‘Every conversation matters’.Conversations are powerful tools to keep children and young people safe and well. Conversations can help us understand issues, craft solutions, value community knowledge, and build the brains and social connections of children and young people.

Conversations between
…children and their caregivers matter (from the very earliest days)
…children and their peers matter
…families with teachers, doctors, and other professionals matter
…friends or neighbours matter

…decision-makers and the communities they serve matter.

And, of course, conversations in the public realm and media matter…

So this National Child Protection Week we invite you to speak up – and speak together – about what needs to change for every child in every community to have a fair go.

JUNIOR JOEYS CONTINUES 

The Junior Joeys 2024 Transition Program continues for the next 2 weeks this term and there will be a further 3 weeks in Term 4 at Woodburn. Our Joeys look to be loving their time at 'big school', mixing with their future classmates and meeting many other students along the way. Next week they will be a part of the final DrumBeat session and performance with Kindergarten from 10.30am to 11am. Parents are most welcome to join us.  

Last Friday morning, we had a wonderful breakfast with our dads, to celebrate Father's Day. We thank you, dads, for spending time with us, the children loved having you here to be withand share in their games.

Thank you to the mums who helped set up, cook and serve the breakfast. A big thanks to Paul, our groundsman for being Head Chef. Breakfast was delicious!

Thank you to the Parent Forum for organising and running the Father's Day Stall.

We hope you had a wonderful Father's Day day dads

ST JOSEPH'S WOODBURN WORKING BEE

As we get very close 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 RAKES, GLOVES, GARDEN SHEARS/PRUNERS/SECATEURS, HOSES, 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 20 people from Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales. (VERO) who will be with us to help with the work and provide some financial assistance towards the day.  Casino Rotary has kindly offered to be chief chefs at the barbecue. 

A GOOGLE FORM HAS BEEN EMAILED TO ALL FAMILIES TO COMPLETE TO ARRANGE FOOD. iIt is also available on See Saw and Facebook. IF YOU CAN HELP OUR PLEASE COMPLETE THE GOOGLE FORM. 

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
TERM 4
Monday 14 October 2024	Setting up and learning  new IT and related new systems. Finalising transition and preparations

• Our refurbished School and all who have worked towards its completion.  
• The news that we are going home to Woodburn
• Our Dads
• The mums for setting up and serving at the Father's Day Breakfast
• The Paren Forum
• Paul our groundsman for cooking a magnificent breakfast for our dads.
• Stage 2 for your terrific Assembly
• Our Weekly Award Winners for guiding us

Have a wonderful weekend!

Regards

Jeanette Wilkins

 Principal

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION  23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Reading Mark 7:31-37
Jesus restores a man’s hearing and speech.

In this week's Gospel, we hear about one of Jesus’ healing miracles. The people bring a man who needs healing to Jesus. Jesus later asks the people not to tell anyone what happened. The people were so astonished by what Jesus had done. They wanted everyone to know how he had healed the man. Today we can celebrate Jesus’ healing presence in our lives. We can pray for those who are ill and ask Jesus to heal them. We can also share the Good News that Jesus loves us and offers us life with God forever.

Sacrament of Eucharist Celebrating First Holy Communion

The celebration of the Sacrament of Eucharist will be on Saturday 14th September at 5 pm in the Anglican Church Evans Head. All Welcome to attend.

The Sacrament is the final sacrament of initiation into the Catholic Church family. The students understand that upon reception of the sacrament they will receive spiritual nourishment for their life journey.

Please keep in your prayers Eva Flanagan, Katy Hull, Eliana Piccini, Isabella Salmi, Indiana Stahl and their families. We pray that their preparation time and celebration are filled with many blessings and much love.

St Joseph's SPIRIT OF JESUS AWARD

At St Joseph's we remind our students that they are the living disciples of Jesus. We also encourage our students to look for the goodness in others. Our school Vice Captains-Mission this year Aya Stahl and Cooper Bailey have been responsible for helping to acknowledge students who demonstrate the attitudes and gospel values that show the Spirit of Jesus.

If we have the spirit of Jesus in our hearts, we are kind, compassionate, welcoming, cheerful, friendly, encouraging, giving, forgiving thankful, and respectful. This week the Spirit of Jesus Award was presented to Sophie Flanagan at the school assembly.

Important Events

SCHOOL THANKSGIVING Mass: Friday 13th September:   9:30 am prepared by Stage 2. St John's Anglican Church Evans Head - ALL WELCOME

First Eucharist celebrating First Holy Communion: - ALL WELCOME on Saturday 14th September 2024 5 pm at the Anglican Church Wattle Street Evans Head

St Joseph's Coraki PARISH MASS TIMES 

SATURDAY -St John’s Anglican Church Wattle Street Evans Head at 5:00 pm

SUNDAY- St Joseph’s Catholic Church Coraki - 9:15 am

ALL WELCOME

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/