Dear Parents, families and caregivers,

Friendships

Today we celebrated our first Whole School Assembly, where I spoke to the students about Friendship. I talked about the importance of having friends, and how it doesn’t matter if we have one or two friends, or a lot of friends, as long as we are kind to our friends and they are kind to us. I also talked about how friendships can change over time, and friends can sometimes move away from us and make different friends, explaining how this is OK and normal. I talked to the students about how our best friend is ourself, and how important it is to connect with ourselves, with our friends and with God, always remembering how lucky we are, and being thankful for all the good things we have in our lives.

Parents, there are always friendship conflicts and always will be. Learning how to manage conflict is a part of learning about how to interact appropriately in society. Our children need to learn resilient strategies to deal with conflict when it arises, as it will inevitably arise at some point in their lives. I ask you to please continue this conversation with your children, to help get them ready for challenges and create resilient and confident individuals.

Around the Grounds

Term 1 has definitely kicked off in a rush, with several sporting events having already concluded, such as our Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival, Sports Winter Trials and Zone Swimming. On our Liturgical calendar, we have celebrated grade masses, and a wonderful Opening School Mass.

All of our students, especially our new Kinders, have settled into the routine of school very quickly. I love seeing happy and eager faces walking into school each morning, and exhausted yet happy students heading home in the afternoon.

I will regularly wander in and out of learning spaces and just watch a lesson. Here I am seeing engaging lessons and engaged students every day. Our fantastic teaching and support staff are doing a great job ensuring our children are learning across all aspects of the curriculum, within a safe, supportive and inclusive environment. Here at St Joseph’s, student spirituality, social & emotional wellbeing and academic success are always the focus. We certainly have our ‘A Team’ on the field in 2025!

Excellent instruction, every day for every child is the expectation.

A Strong Parent-School Partnership

All staff at St Joseph’s continue to ensure a strong parent–school partnership is at the forefront of what we do. Most families will have been contacted by the class teacher in order to introduce themselves and talk to parents about how their children have settled into the year. Please know that parent-teacher contact is always welcome. This can occur through staff email, Compass Connect, phone calls and face-to-face meetings. Formally, we will be holding Parent-Teacher Conversations on the evening of Wednesday the 26th March. More information regarding this has been posted on Compass.

We look forward working with you throughout the year in the continued growth and progression of your children’s whole education.

Reminder to parents and families

A reminder to all parents and families, that with winter sports starting up soon, in the event that your child suffers a concussion outside of school hours, can you please advise the school of your child’s head injury. Sometimes children who have had a head injury find it hard to concentrate in school and may have a return or worsening of symptoms such as headache or nausea. They may experience fatigue and become tired much quicker. This will allow us to support and monitor your child appropriately.

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

Guy Campbell
Driving Excellence in the Macleay

In this weekens Gospel, Luke reports Jesus urging us to look inside ourselves and to not judge others. It contains some beautiful phrases and concepts. A tree will be known by its fruit – a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce sound fruit. And words are spoken from what is in the heart. We draw good or bad from what is stored in our hearts, and our words flow from this. John Michael Talbot puts this beautifully: “If our heart is cleansed, we will speak beautiful words and we will bear good fruit”. John Michael goes on to say “we cleanse our hearts through repentance”.

If our hearts are pure, clean, our Lord will be present when we open our lips to speak. Often, the kindest, most compassionate and understanding people, have emerged from experiences of significant challenges. It’s true for the tree and the fruit as well - we know that vegetation grows back healthier after a fire..
(Reflection in part by Leonie Duck)

PRAYER

Lord, help me to keep my heart clean

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