Principal's Welcome Message
Dear Parents and the St Joseph’s Community,
Welcome to this week’s newsletter. A few reminders and information for the coming weeks:
Staffing
As was mentioned earlier in the term, we have been keeping Catherine Parmenter in our thoughts and prayers in recent weeks. Catherine will now take the remainder of this term and all of Term 3 off to rest and get herself well, ready for the start of Term 4 when the weather is warmer! We all miss Catherine around our school and look forward having her smiling face return to us.
Ms Linley Ellis will continue to work in the Library during Catherine’s absence, preparing for Book Week in Term 3 and ensuring the students continue to foster a love of reading. It is still hoped that the planned Seasons for Growth Program will run, but later in the year once additional mentor training is undertaken.
Carpark
It is timely to again remind all users of the school carpark that the safety of our students, as well as parents and carers, is paramount. In recent weeks there have been some very unsafe behaviours by drivers and pedestrians alike. A reminder that the drive through lane is not to be used as parking spaces before and after school. Doing so greatly increases the chances of a pedestrian not being seen when crossing at the crossing. When parking in a marked parking spot, parents and carers are asked to walk their child to / from the car via the pedestrian crossing only. We also have disabled access parking that must be left clear for those in our community who require it.
Another concern is the that some members of our school community are parking either on the grass verge at the exit of the school or on the road directly adjacent and along Boronia Drive in front of the school. These vehicles are obstructing the view of drivers leaving the school and also limiting the visibility of students using the crossing. All these areas are no parking and police will issue fines. There is additional parking at the church if necessary, allowing parents and carers to walk down to collect children from under the trees.
Thank you to most who are aware of the importance of doing the right thing and are patient when using the school carpark. I appreciate that it is busy, but for the safety of all students, parents and carers, please continue to take care and stick to these expectations.
NCCD
The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Students with Disability (NCCD) is a process that all schools must complete on an annual basis. It is designed to count the number of students who receive additional adjustments or ‘help’ at school because of a disability. This national data collection helps federal and state governments plan for the needs of students with disability. It is also the way that schools seek and receive funding to support the learning needs of the their students.
Parent / Teacher Meetings
With reports currently being written and prepared to be sent home on Friday Week 9, an important part of the shared communication between school and home is the opportunity to meet with teachers. In Week 10 there will be formal Parent / Teacher Meetings to allow teachers to provide feedback to parents about the progress of their child and to set some goals for the second half of the year. There may be meetings held between now and the end of the term that serve to have these conversations, but it is hoped that by the end of the term that all parents will ensure they do meet with their child’s teacher. This year we are using the new Schoolzine platform to book and manage the organisation of the Parent / Teacher Meetings. Please follow the two links below to access the booking process:
Link to the booking platform:
https://sjo.act.edu.au/view-session/3
Link to a guide for the booking process:
https://sjpsoconnor.schoolzineplus.com/sk-booking-guide
House Point System
Following the introduction of our School-wide Positive Behaviour Program based on our House Point System, the students have all contributed to the accumulation of points by making positive choices across the school and lending a hand to others at times. At the start of the term, each House nominated a target to work towards and a benchmark reward when they reached this target – and all Houses very easily reached their reward early in the term!
This Friday, each house will receive their benchmark reward. Students will gather as a house group from 12pm to 1pm for the activity they chose at the beginning of term.
- Lourdes - Disco
- Madonna - Free Play
- Loretto - Technology Hour
- Fatima - Movie
All students are also invited to wear casual clothes on Friday as part of recognising their efforts.
With 4 weeks remaining in the term, the current House Point leader board stands at:
- Fatima - 1873 points
- Lourdes - 1762 points
- Madonna - 1452 points
- Loretto - 1309 points
Who will our winning House be for Term 2?
Have a great end to the week.
Yours in Christ.
Cameron Tarrant
Principal