May Jesus come to bless you on your First Communion Day. May you feel His loving presence in a very special way. And as you strive to follow in His footsteps may He bless your life with many graces.

Dear parents and carers,

Last night, many of our Year 4 students made their First Holy Communion. In his homily, Fr Paul spoke about the ‘closeness’ that we have with God when we participate in the Eucharist, so the significance of this moment in the faith lives of those receiving the sacrament, is something to celebrate. As a Catholic school, we want to always find ways to be close to God, and the image we have of Him in Jesus. We speak about how we want to treat others and live our lives. As we pray for our Year 4 students today, let’s keep each other in our prayers also, as we try to be the face of Jesus to those around us.

QKR! and the Uniform Shop

A reminder to have the QKR! app loaded onto your phone. This platform is used extensively for school payments and for making purchases. One area where a great deal of work has gone into recently, is the use of QKR! to develop a system of stock control in the Uniform Shop. Thank you to Felicity and Nicole who have worked to ensure that we have an efficient and reliable service in the Uniform Shop. A key aspect of maintaining accurate stock levels, is to ensure that any purchases are done directly through QKR! Paying via the Front Office often causes issues with keeping an accurate record of sales. Please take the time to use the QKR! app to place your orders, and the items will be delivered to your child’s class within the week or can be collected from the Front Office once filled.

Carpark

Thank you to all the parents who are making use of the Drive-thru, especially in the afternoon. I am aware that this is taking a little longer at the moment, but it is still necessary. If you do choose to wait for your child of an afternoon, please ensure you do so under the trees and remain physically distanced from others. Please do not wait in the carpark and call you child across to the car.

COVID Update

In recent days, there has been further easing of some restrictions in the ACT. However, please note that schools, both government and private, are continuing to operate under tighter restrictions than those in the general public. This is due to schools currently experiencing exposures, and the reality that students under 12 years of age are currently unable to access a vaccine. Therefore, until notified otherwise, all communicated protocols remain in place in an effort to ensure the student are safe and we are able to best respond to any concerns should they arise.

8.50am Start

Last week I wrote about the importance of students arriving to school on time. This week we have actually seen an increase in the number of students arriving after the morning bell, many who enter the school unaccompanied and therefore needing to be signed in manually by the Front Office. Please, if you are running late for any reason, you still need to accompany your child into the school and sign them in on the Compass Kiosk in the Front Office. However, as we are wanting to limit the number of visitors in the school, please ensure your child is at school by 8.50am, in time for the bell.

Canteen

The Canteen will be closed all of next week, so there will be no lunches or over the counter sales. Stay tuned for information about our next Nachos Day on Tuesday 23 November.

2022 Classes

Today the 2022 Socio-gram is going home with all students in Foundation to Year 5. This is an important aspect to our planning as we begin to look at placing the students into their new classes for 2022. This is always a very carefully considered process that begins with the current teacher and what they know of each student and, first and foremost, their learning. At the same time, all social aspects of friendships and new opportunities are taken into account. On the Socio-gram, we ask you and your child to consider 3 friends that they would like to be in a class with in 2022. The intention is to ensure that each student is paired with at least one of their friends they nominate.

If there is specific information that parents would like to advise me of to assist the composition of classes for 2022, then this must be done so in writing to me either via email or letter by no later than Friday 26 November. This does not include requests for particular teachers, nor does it include considerations other than the learning needs of your child. Each year is a new start for all students, and teachers, and therefore only information provided this year is taken into consideration when putting classes together for 2022.

Supporting the School – The P&F and School Board

The P&F works to promote the role of all parents within the school, as well as support fundraising efforts to provide resources for the students. The P&F operates and oversees the Canteen and Uniform Shop, at the same time offering an opportunity for all parents to contribute to community events and the school in general.

Please consider nominating yourself to join the P&F. All parents are members of the P&F and can attend the AGM TONIGHT Wednesday 10 November at 7pm via Teams. All positions on the P&F are declared vacant each year, so any and all nominations are welcome.

Please email Cameron.tarrant@cg.catholic.edu.au to be sent the Teams link for the P&F Meeting, or to find out more about how you can support and contribute to the wider St Joseph’s community.
2022 is a fete year as well!

Likewise, the Board plays a vital role in the functioning of the school and is an extremely worthwhile avenue for parents to assist with the success of the school. The Board’s work is dedicated to enhancing all that happens for your children at our school and we endeavour to work towards our vision of St Joseph’s being an excellent school within a Christ-centred community.

Unlike the P&F, the School Board is comprised of elected members, voted in if necessary, who take on a two-year position on the Board. Members can only serve three consecutive terms. Please consider if you have particular skills and capabilities that may build on the excellent work of the current and past Boards.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact me or refer to the linked information and nomination form below. Nominations close Monday 22 November, in time for consideration at the next Board meeting on Wednesday 24 November.

St Joseph's School Board Nomination Form

Big Night In

A big push for the Big Night In… it really would be great to have a large number of families join our online games night, to have some fun and also raise some much-needed money for the P&F, which comes directly back to the students in various ways. There are also fantastic prizes to be won!

This Friday night, via Zoom. Full details in the P&F Section of this Newsletter.

TICKETS SALES CLOSE 5PM THURSDAY!

Have a great end to the week.

Yours in Christ,

Cameron Tarrant

Cameron.tarrant@cg.catholic.edu.au