God of compassion,

Bring hope and peace to those in our community,

And across our world,

Where conflict and sadness prevails.

May we see the value of others and

Fight to uphold the dignity of all.

Amen

Dear parents and carers,

Once again we pray for all who are faced with conflict in our world. It is a sad time to see all that is taking place in Israel and Palestine, and we hope that peace and comfort comes to those who are impacted by this ongoing tragedy.

Improved Learning in Classrooms

Over recent weeks the staff have engaged in discussion and planning to better ensure that learning is maximised in the classroom. At St Joseph’s, we are blessed with an overall positive school environment and minimal significant behaviour issues. However, what is most impacting learning and overall enjoyment of school is regular ‘low-level’ behaviours.

Low-level behaviours include calling out, not listening, fidgeting, being distracted, answering back, chatting, and not attending to the lesson. On the playground it is playing rough, arguing about the rules of a game, unfriendly comments, leaving lunch boxes and jumpers where they drop, and being slow to line at the end of break time.

These low-level behaviours take a lot of time out of our capacity to engage students and reduces the opportunity to maximise learning and ensure everyone enjoys their time at school.

All staff are actively addressing this by setting high expectations of students and their behaviour and calling out the unwanted low-level behaviours in the classroom and on the playground. We are closely recording the prevalence of these behaviours and identifying students who are not meeting the expectations.

This will mean that some students require additional support from our Behaviour Management Statement of Practice, resulting in parents being contacted or sent copies of completed Behaviour Learning Forms.

Therefore, I ask all parents to support the school in our collective efforts to ensure student learning and a positive school environment are a priority. If we contact you about your child’s behaviour, or you receive copies of Behaviour Learning Forms, please actively work with your child to set them up of for success and positive engagement at school. We are happy to discuss any concerns, with a continued focus on all students meeting the expectations at St Joseph’s. Through this collective effort, everyone will thrive at our school.

2024 Classes

In preparation for organising classes for 2024, the Socio-gram was sent home with all students in Foundation to Year 5 earlier in the term – please ensure this has been returned to your child’s teacher. 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 have asked you and your child to consider 3 friends that they would like to be in a class with in 2024. 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 2024, then this must be done so in writing to me either via email or letter by no later than Friday 24 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 2024.

Representing Australia

Next week, Amani N in Year 4 is heading to Malaysia to represent Australia in an U10 international futsal competition. Amani performs at a high level across a number football teams and this is great recognition of his commitment. We wish Amani good luck and look forward to hearing all about the tournament. Well done!

Food Bank

We are all very aware of the pressures that being faced by many households across our community with the rising cost of living. As a school, this pressure is being felt by many families. Over recent years, we have supported others through our Food Bank, where it is possible for me to reach out to families to offer a little extra care when I hear that they might need a hand. A simple meal makes a big difference.

If you would like to contribute to our Food Bank, by cooking an extra meal or two for us to keep in our freezers here at school, please contact Aldona Stravopodis for more information - aldona273@hotmail.com. Thank you in advance.

School Photos

The 2023 school photos have now arrived and will be sent home with students tomorrow. We have again had all of the sibling photos printed, which are now available for purchase from the school Front Office for $15.

Kid-Free Night

Christmas edition - Friday 1 December. Bookings now open via Qkr!

This is an opportunity to drop the kids off at school for a couple of hours on Friday evening 1 December, with Camp Australia and P&F volunteers doing the supervision while parents can get some shopping done (or perhaps finding a chance to catch up with each other).