Dear Parents, families and caregivers,

Welcome back to the 2025 School Year. It is a great privilege to be leading St Joseph’s Primary School again, with this being my sixth year as Principal. It was with great excitement that I welcomed our Year One to Six students back into the school last week. Monday was also a very special day, with our new Kinder students experiencing their first day at big school. It was great to see their smiling faces along with their parents and family members.

A special welcome to all of our new students and families joining us at St Joseph’s this year.

We welcome into our St Joseph’s family our newest staff members, Mrs Claire Thurlow. Mrs Thurlow is replacing Mrs Krystal Brady as Assistant Principal Learning & Teaching this year. Ms Caitlin Williams. Ms Williams is enrolled in an Undergraduate Teaching Program through the Diocese of Lismore, and will be working with us as a Teacher Assistant. We also have a returning staff member, Mrs Ally Cameron, (previously Mrs Gwillam). Mrs Cameron will be teaching a Year 1 class this year.

Last week I welcomed back our staff, and spoke about my underlying expectations for the school, which is to be a welcoming, caring, inspiring & motivated Christ centred Catholic Learning Community, where all students leave us more curious than when they arrived, develop resilience in the face of adversity, earn the success they receive, and are given the opportunity to engage in life through Jesus.

The Staff of St Joseph’s know the importance that a strong parent partnership has in helping create positive and significant growth in your child’s life. Our staff make sure that the spirituality, social & emotional wellbeing and academic success of your child is always at the centre of a well-rounded education.

Family-School Partnership

School to home and home to school communication is vital if we are to ensure a strong and supportive partnership. As such, our St Joseph’s Facebook page, which can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/stjosephskempsey/, will remain a vehicle for positive messaging, happenings and stories from across the School. Staff email addresses are also available for you to make direct contact with your child’s teachers. These can be found on the School web site under the ‘About us/Staff’ tabs. A live School calendar is also available online. This can be accessed by clicking on ‘School Calendar’ in the upper ribbon on the Website, or through your Compass App. The Calendar contains term dates, Staff Professional Learning (pupil free) days, and other important School events and happenings.

Class teachers will shortly make contact with parents and caregivers by phone or in person, with the purpose of this conversation being to inform parents on how their child has settled into the new school year. Parents will also have the opportunity to discuss with the teacher any concerns they might have, and/or give the teacher information that he or she needs to better understand and support your child’s learning and wellbeing. Formal Learning Conversations will be occurring in March, (Wednesday 26th March). Information about this will come home closer to the Event.

School Community Group - Cyber Safety Parent Session

This year I will introduce a new forum to strengthen our Family, School & Parish Partnership. It will be called the School Community Group, and will welcome parents & carers, to partner with the School, in order to strengthen student development and learning. It will focus on authentic community engagement and include an educational component determined by the school, to build capacity amongst parents and carers.

This group will meet once a term, with our first meeting occurring on Monday, March 17^th. This session will involve a Parent presentation from YSAFE Cyber about online safety education. More information is outlined in the Flyer below.

Uniform Expectations

In order to maintain high standards and expectations at St Joseph’s, I ask you to please ensure your children present to school each morning wearing the correct uniform, which includes shoes, hair and both sports or academic uniforms. Of course, if this is not possible, a short note sent with your child explaining the non-uniform item and when it will be rectified will suffice. Please refer to the School Website, or the Compass notification, for information explaining what is, and what is not, acceptable uniform at St Joseph’s.

Newsletter & Assemblies

At St Joseph’s, we hold a whole school prayer and assembly each fortnight, on Friday at 1.05pm in the School Hall. Our first assembly will be held on Friday the 28th February. These are held in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10, and will fall on the same day that the School Newsletter is published. Families will be notified of award recipients through a Compass notification sent home to all families the Wednesday prior to each assembly.

There is a warm invitation extended to all families to attend whole school assemblies. 

The fortnightly School Newsletter containing school happenings, important school details and school information, is published on Friday of every second week. These are term weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10.

The newsletter can be accessed from our web page or can be viewed through our Compass App.

School Photos and Photo Catch-up Day

This week, our students had their 2025 school photos taken. The catch-up day for those students who may have been absent was today, Friday the 14^th February.

Parent Social Media Reminder from the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools

It is quite common for parents to establish social media groups or pages to share information or connect with other parents in your child’s class and school community. Please be reminded that it is not permitted to establish a social media presence using the School's name or logo. Any permitted social media pages/groups/accounts must adhere to the Schools and the Catholic Schools Office Diocesan Social Media Policies.

Traffic Management Procedures 

Drop-Off/Pick-Up Zone 

A reminder to all parents that student drop-off in the mornings and pick-up at the conclusion of school is to occur within the designated School Drop-off Pick-up Zone, adjacent to the Hall. In order to minimise congestion and for safety reasons, we ask that parents do not park in this zone waiting for children, it is for quick and safe drop-off and pick-up only.  Parents may park opposite the School and walk across the road to either drop off your child or collect them.

A reeminder of the importance of keeping school and community members safe by:   

• Parking safely and legally
• Always turning legally in front of the school
• Not double parking as it puts children at risk
• Not using manoeuvres such as U-turns and three-point turns
• Making sure your children use the rear footpath side door to get in and out of the car
• Reminding your child to stay buckled up until the vehicle has stopped in the drop-off and pick-up area
• Modelling calm, safe and considerate behaviour.

NOTE- BUS & DISABLED PARKING ZONES: Please be extra mindful of the bus zone and disabled parking zones outside of the School and Church. Many parents have been fined for unwittingly entering these zones outside of designated times and/or without the appropriate permit.

Road Safety is a Back to School Essential
(from the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools)

As children return to school, it is essential to keep safety in mind. Talk with your children about safely getting to and from school.

• Keep children safe getting in and out of the car. Always use the door closest to the kerb.
• Keep children safe by walking distraction-free. Expect your child to take off their headphones while walking.
• Keep children safe getting on and off the bus. Wait at the bus stop and stand at least one step back from the road's edge. Always meet your child at the bus stop. Never meet them on the opposite side of the road and call them across. Wait until the bus has gone before crossing the road.
• Keep children safe while using wheeled transport. Children must wear a helmet when riding a bike in any public place – it is the law. Foot scooter, skateboard and rollerblade riders should wear helmets and protective equipment.

Be a positive role model when you are a pedestrian, passenger and driver. Children learn from what they see, as well as what we say.

Never sacrifice safety for convenience, source: https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/.

Consider ordering free Transport NSW resources such as the:

• Road Safety Door Stickers
• Bus Safety Stickers
• Kindergarten Orientation Bags

As always, I thank you for your support in regards to your child’s ongoing learning.

Student Departure in the Afternoon

St Joseph’s has adjusted the way in which all students depart school in the afternoon at the 3:10pm bell.

All students booked into OOSH will proceed directly to the OOSH area and remain under their duty of care until parent/carer pick up.

All other students will depart the School from one of three supervised areas;

Bus Gate - This is for students catching an afternoon bus home only.

Hall Gate - This is for students being picked up from the 3:10pm bell to 3:30pm.

Oval Gate - This is for students being picked up at 3:10pm sharp. Students will not wait at this gate for late pick up. They will be moved to the Hall Gate.

Please note that all students who have not been picked up by the departure of the last bus, will be moved to Sick Bay to wait for collection by their parents/carers, and will be under the duty of care of the School Executive and or Office Admin Staff. These students must be collected from the School Foyer.

Before School Care

A reminder that the School does not open until 8:30am, and does not have any supervision/duty of care for students on the grounds until this time. Knowing that for some families an 8:30am school drop off is too late and clashes with your own work start times, our After School Care Facility (Joey’s OOSH), includes Before School Care. This service will be available from 6:30am-8:30am on school days. Due to the availability of this service, school gates will be locked in the mornings until the arrival of the first bus. As such, parents and caregivers who need to drop students at school prior to 8:30am will need to register a place with Joey’s OOSH for before school care.

Regular St Joseph’s playground supervision will begin as normal at 8:30am.

Office Request

The school requests that parents be mindful when contacting the School late in the afternoon with a message for your child/ren, such as, a change in how they are to get home. As this is a hectic time, ensuring the message gets to the student(s) in time can sometimes be difficult. Can you please give the school early notice in order for us to guarantee the message gets to your child/ren in a timely manner.

Guy Campbell
Driving Excellence in the Macleay

‘How often do we go through the motions of someone coming in with a NEW IDEA of how to do things better for better results? And all we feel is that we have been here before so many times. This could potentially have been what was facing the disciples ‘We have tried that”. But perhaps the lesson here with trust is less about just following someone blindly, but more about pivoting our attitudes to one for a positive outcome, for a grander plan even. And Fishers of Men? What does this mean? The fishermen were catching food for nourishment, for providence for stability. That was their job. For the families, for their communities.’ ‘And so, when we look to discipleship; the catching of people – we are asked here to be seeing it as the same reason why they would be catching fish. To be just as vital as food. People of nourishment, of providence and of stability. This is true community. One that gives life and sustenance for the journey of life.  
(Reflection, in part,  by Corinne Lindsell)

“Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Martin Luther King Jr

PRAYER

Jesus, help me find the richness and stability of those within my own community.

Amen.

Sourced from: https://cms.vinnies.org.au/media/esollqua/1124-spiritual-reflection-guide-jan-2025-web.pdf?folder=nsw__publications-nsw__spiritual-reflection-guides&path=esollqua%2F1124-spiritual-reflection-guide-jan-2025-web.pdf