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- Message from the Principal
- SJ News Episode 7
- Mission & Learning at Joey's
- Kempsey Instrumental, Vocal, Speech and Drama Eisteddfod 2024
- Kempsey Dance Eisteddfod
- Semester 1 School Reports are now available on Compass
- Student Awards
- Sports News
- News from the Enviro Team
- LEGO Masters Competition
- NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2024
- Health & Wellbeing
- Canteen News
- St Joseph's OOSH & Vacation Care
- Catholic School Parent Australia's Free Family Engagement Resources
- Want to Explore more about the Catholic Faith?
- School Fees
- Learn more about COMPASS- School Communication Platform APP
- How to Purchase your child's School Uniform
- How to Apply for a Bus Pass
- Child Safety Handbook
- BILLBOARD
Dear Parents, Caregivers and Families,
Recently I spoke to all students about the importance of Teamwork, explaining how teamwork uses the combined effort and abilities of the team, in order to achieve an outcome.
I outlined how Teamwork helps you communicate with others, increase your social skills and self-confidence, helps you develop into a happier person, and how a good team member is a good listener, and someone who is always respectful to people around you.
In today’s highly-strung and over active world, I feel it is important to remember the basics of being ‘good’, and what ‘good’ looks like. I would love it if you could continue this conversation at home with your child or children.
IT'S BEEN A BUSY FORTNIGHT
The last two weeks of this term have been very busy at St Joseph’s. Our Primary Athletics Carnival has been run and won, congratulations to Fatima House. We raised $710.80 for this year’s St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal on our PJ & Jersey Day, entered many teams and performances in the local Eisteddfod, and celebrated NAIDOC Week with activities and a special assembly. St Joseph’s students certainly have rounded opportunities on offer. Well done to everyone who participated.
For those of you heading off on a break, have a safe and fun time with your families. For those of you staying home, enjoy the beautiful environment that our fantastic valley has on offer.
As always, I thank you for your support in regards to your child’s ongoing learning and growth, and I will see you again in Term 3, on Tuesday 23rd July.
Guy Campbell
Driving Excellence in the Macleay
GOSPEL REFLECTION
Coming Home
We know very little about the early life of Jesus, as the Gospels mainly focus on his three year ministry which began when he was aged about thirty. We know he came from a small town called Nazareth and was the son of Joseph, a carpenter. We can assume that he also followed in Joseph’s footsteps and became a carpenter, and that he looked after his mother Mary once Joseph had died. He would have been well known in Nazareth as a resident of many years but not as a teacher, a preacher, or a holy man.
Mark’s Gospel begins with John the Baptist preaching and baptising in the desert. It tells us that Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptised before being driven into the desert for a period of time. He then commenced his public ministry of preaching the Good News and gathering disciples to teach and lead. So, after much travel, teaching and healing, Jesus returns, in this weekend’s Gospel, to his home.
Coming home should be easy and comfortable. It should be your safe place where you can relax, reconnect with family and friends, and be yourself. But this was hardly the case for Jesus. The man who had grown up there was a different man that came home. When the Sabbath came, he taught in the Synagogue and shared wisdom beyond what was expected of him. They acknowledged the wisdom he shared and the miracles he had performed, but the community could only see the Jesus they knew from the past and so rejected him. He tells his disciples that, “a prophet is only despised in his own country among his own relations and in his own house.” Jesus was not deterred by this lack of faith. As Mark’s Gospel continues, Jesus continues travelling and teaching in the villages before sending out his Disciples to do the same.
I wonder whether we do much the same as the people of Nazareth did in our own families and communities. Do we really see the gifts and talents of our family members? Reflection taken in part by Greg Ryan
Prayer
Lord, help us to see the face of Christ in all we meet.
Amen
Sourced from: https://cms.vinnies.org.au/media/aeudns1a/srg_may_sept_2024_web.pdf?folder=nsw__spiritual-reflection-guides&path=aeudns1a%2Fsrg_may_sept_2024_web.pdf
With Mrs Krystal Brady, Assistant Principal, Learning & Teaching and Mrs Erin McGovern, Assistant Principal, MissionST VINCENT DE PAUL
WINTER APPEAL
Last Friday the School had a Pyjama and Jersey Day to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. Our senior students held a lucky guessing competition and sold donuts on the day. Together we raised a total of $710.80! Thank you for your kind contributions towards such a worthy cause.
1H did such a great job of raising the most money on the day, they were all treated to a hot chocolate!
NAIDOC DAY CELEBRATIONS
On Thursday we celebrated our St Joseph’s NAIDOC day. It was a fantastic day of culture, dance, art and fun! To begin our day, the whole school gathered on the playground and we had local Dunghutti Elder Uncle Graeme Quinlan host a traditional Smoking Ceremony, welcoming us to Country. It was a very beautiful and moving experience, connecting us to land and culture. Throughout the day students from Kinder to Year 6 participated in workshops facilitated by the SWR Figtree Descendants.
A big thank you to Aunty Nancy, Aunty Kristy, Aunty Kayarnie and Uncle Lionel who shared traditional dance, language, song and art with our students. We learnt the Badarr - Dolphin dance, as well as pelican and koala dances. The students were engaged and enjoyed learning language and dance. Every child also contributed to a school artwork to help ‘keep the fire burning’ into the future. It was a terrific day and we thank everyone who helped as part of the day, especially our wonderful Aboriginal Education Workers Ms Shirley Hoskins and Mr Michael Mcphillips who work alongside our students every day.
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
JOEYS IS WRITE ON
6H'S IMPROMPTU PERFORMANCE
Last Wednesday 6H performed impromptu plays at the Kempsey Eisteddfod. Small groups of students were given a topic on the day and 20 minutes to plan and rehearse before taking the stage.
There were four plays in all, with Lachie Betts, Gemma Rayward, Charlie Fitzgerald, Lara Potter and Bella Morrison taking the medal for the best impromptu play for Stage 2-3 . Congratulations to all involved in each of the drama productions with a further two equal second places and a highly commended handed out to the students from St Joseph’s, whose hard work, dedication, and talent truly shone through on stage.
We were also fortunate to be able to be an audience for students from St Paul’s who showed us a great standard to work towards in the years to come.
by Laura Lockman, Terrence Liang, Ella Orr, Jay Preston
STAGE 2 LOST THEIR MARBLES
SCHOOL EISTEDDFOD SHOWCASE
MINI OLYMPICS
To celebrate and experience the upcoming 2024 Olympics, St Joseph's will be holding a Mini Olympics on Wednesday 31st July. Students will be placed into countries and will participate in both events and ceremonies from Lunch 1. More information coming soon.
NAIDOC ON DUNGHUTTI COUNTRY 2024
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
All students performed beautifully. You all made us extremely proud.
School Group Results as follows:
| ACTION SONG IN COSUTME Kindergarten | 2nd Place |
| ACTION SONG IN COSTUME - Year 2 | 1st Place |
| ACTION SONG IN COSTUME - Year 3 | 2nd Place |
| ACTION SONG IN COSTUME - Year 4 | 1st Place |
| IMPROMPTU PLAY GROUP OPEN - 6H (Groups 1 to 4) |
1st Place |
| CHORAL SPEAKING - 1T | 1st Place |
| CHORAL SPEAKING - 3/4S | 2nd Place |
| CHORAL SPEAKING - 4T | 1st Place |
| CHORAL SPEAKING - 3T & 3H | 2nd Place |
| CHORAL SPEAKING - 5T & 5H | 2nd Place |
| CHORAL SPEAKING - 6T | 1st Place |
Wow.... what a showcase of great dance routines. Thank you to Mrs Hegerty, Miss Daley, Mrs Duff, Mrs Clay, Mrs Dawson, Mrs Pilbeam, Mrs McGovern, Mrs Brady and all those staff involved for all the hard work rehearsing with our dancers and all the behind the scene work on costumes etc. As very special big thank you also to Mrs Madi Kitchin for donating her time to teach our dancers. Results as follows:
| Mrs Hegerty's Kinder/Year 1 Team - Disney Junior | 2nd Place |
| Miss Daley & Mrs Duffs Year 2 Group - You Can't Stop the Beat | 1st Place |
| Mrs Clay Boys Group - Ghostbusters | 1st Place |
| Mrs Dawson & Mrs Pilbeam's Year 3 Dance Group - Can't the stop the feeling | 3rd Place |
| Mrs McGovern's Year 4 & 6 Dance Group - Proud Mary | Highly Commended |
| Mrs Brady's Year 5 Group - Greatest Showman | 1st Place |
Understanding the K-6 Student Report
A video has been created as an additional resource for parents to complement the information about the changes in the Report for Semester 1.
Please refer to this video link 'Understanding the K-6 Student Report - Information for Parents and Guardians Video Resource'
The new K-6 syllabuses for Mathematics and English have required new reporting guidelines (including new templates) aligned to the new requirements. In 2024, the new English and Mathematics syllabus outcomes will be reported on K-6.
In addition to the changes to align with the syllabus outcomes, other aspects of the reports have been reviewed in consultation with Assistant Principals Learning and Teaching to ensure they meet mandated requirements; are informed by current evidence; are contemporary in language; meet parent expectations, and enable school autonomy and systemness. These interim guidelines provide information on the following aspects of the Student Report for Semester 1, 2024 and will become part of the revised Quality School Educational Program Guidelines.
Please click here to learn more.
Term 2 - Weeks 9 & 10
Awards will be presented on
Thursday 4th July at 11.40am
Parents/Carers Welcome
|
CLASS |
MARY MACKILLOP AWARD Recognises Catholic attitude, behaviours & helping those in need |
ST JOSEPH Recognises positive actions witnessed within our school community |
CATHERINE McAULEY Recognises a growth mindset & effort in learning |
THE VALUES AWARD
TEAMWORK |
|
KHonour |
Adira Salmon | Charlie Lane | Rhiannon Bush | Alexander Watson |
|
KSpirit |
Mihira Prakhya | Alby Gray | Halle Passmore | Christiano Abin |
|
KTruth |
Ruby Farlow | Arlo Bannerman | Frankie Edwards | Edie Battle |
|
1Honour |
Jaxson Ylias | Casey Smee | Isla Higley | Mason Skinner |
|
1Truth |
Savannah Barker | Nickolah Dallas-Morgan |
Lucy Atkinson | Alexi Lipscombe |
|
2Honour |
Sunny Lainey | Alexa Smith | Colby Duff | Cruz Greenslade |
|
2Truth |
Alexander Pollock | Ivy Fraser | Abigail Watson | Zavier Batterson |
|
3Honour |
Magnus Johansson | Pippa Francis | Chelsea Carroll | Connor Swan |
|
3Truth |
Mayukh Prakhya | Mariano Abin | Eve Hegerty | Karstan Mahoney |
|
3/4 Spirit |
Charlotte Edwards | Evie McMurray | Carter Wade | Cohen Davies |
|
4Truth |
Nicholas Simpson | Olivia Carroll | Mia Greenslade | Liam Reynolds |
|
5Honour |
Zane Jordan | Manaia Pereira | Buddy Moorehead | Mila Tolman |
|
5Truth |
Charlette Matta | Ross Widders | Lillyan Moore | Jack Brett |
|
6Honour |
William Clarke | Lachlan Betts | Anabel Smee | Indy Hawtin |
|
6Truth |
Noah Davies | Tilley Cook | Sienna Delforce | Amy Read |
With Mr Watts
PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL (3-6)
The weather was kind to us last week as yrs 3-6 ventured down to Services Park to battle for house points at the annual athletics carnival. All children need to be commended for their participation and competitive spirit.
Thanks to all staff and volunteers for their great help and St Paul’s students who filled in roles efficiently.
Individual champions on the day….
|
Age |
Champion Boy |
Runner up |
Champion Girl |
Runner up |
|
8/9 |
Cohen Davies |
Lennox Edwards |
Francesca Tamblyn |
Eden Passmore |
|
10 |
Benji Browne |
Kieran Tolman |
Amailia Brandt |
Bella Dallas-Morgan |
|
11 |
Ryder Sproule |
Asher Higley |
Emily Scott |
Hallie Edwards |
|
12 |
Noah Davies |
Lachie Betts |
Idabelle Tamblyn |
Indy Hawtin |
|
Spirit of Sport |
Cheyanne Matheson |
Hunter McIver |
Winning House: Fatima
Well done to the Record Breakers:
Lachie Betts – 12yr 800m Time: 2.46.00
Cohen Davies – 8/9 1500m Time: 6.09.00
Noah Davies – 12yr 1500m Time: 5.41.00
ZONE ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
Zone carnival is on Wednesday 24th July at St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie. Please attend to compass consent and payment if your child has been selected.
RUGBY UNION POLDING TRIALS
Congratulations to both Lleyton Kemp and Lachie Betts who participated in the Rugby Union Polding Trials on Monday in Forbes. The boys won 3 out of 4 of their games on the day but unfortunately were not picked for the polding team. Great effort boys!
LOWER PRIMARY SPORTS CARNIVAL
New date, Friday 26th July. Friday Week 1 Term 3.
HOLIDAY TENNIS
For those interested in tennis there is a Holiday Tennis Clinic at South West Rocks. Please refer to the flyer in the Billboard section.
10c RETURN AND EARN RECYCLING
for families, you can now take your 10c drink containers straight to the High Speed Depot Drop Off at 47 South Street, South Kempsey whenever it suits you. The school office has small cards with our Crunch Account details on it to keep in your car.
Prize Box (see Mrs Hagger in the Canteen).
SUSTAINABILITY HUB
old phones, batteries, used stamps, prescription glasses, toothpaste tubes/brushes and plastic writing implements.
Please feel free to drop these into the bins located in the canteen foyer.
If you have other items that you think the school may be able to use for art/craft etc please contact us.
The SRC are running a 'LEGO Masters' competition at lunchtimes.
If you have spare and/or unused LEGO at home and are happy to donate it to the School, could you please drop it into the office at your convenience.
Thank you in advance, all donations are greatly appreciated.
The NSW Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is an initiative of the NSW State government. It aims to encourage in students a love of reading for leisure and pleasure and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student - to read, to read more and to read more widely.
This is an optional challenge that can be done at home. Students are welcome to borrow challenge books from the library during their class lessons, which our teacher librarians will identify for them. Throughout the year your child’s teacher may also log books for your child that have been read in class. Students can include any books read from the end of the 2023 challenge on their 2024 reading record. Key dates for the 2024 challenge are:
- 26 February 2024 - challenge opens for student entries
- Friday 23 August 2024 - challenge closes for student entries
- Friday 6 September 2024 - final date for coordinator validations of completed reading records.
Term 2 PRC booklists are now live - 158 new books have been added (please click booklist update to view).
In order to complete the Challenge, students must read the following number of books based on their Challenge Level:
|
Challenge Level |
Number of books you must read |
Minimum number of PRC books |
Maximum number of Personal Choice books |
PRC book lists you can read from |
|
K-2 |
30 |
20 |
10 |
K-2, 3-4, 5-6 |
|
3-4 |
20 |
10 |
10 |
3-4, 5-6, 7-9 |
|
5-6 |
20 |
10 |
10 |
5-6, 7-9 |
|
7-9 |
20 |
10 |
10 |
5-6, 7-9, 9plus |
|
3-9 (see rules on PRC site) |
20 |
10 |
10 |
All booklists |
Book lists can be found when your child logs into their account via this link; using their unique username and password. Each child has a unique username and password, if you would like this please contact your classroom teacher. Please take the time to explore the site.
If you are having trouble logging your own books online, please download the online PRC Reading Log, once complete return to school ensuring your child’s name is on the top, and we will upload the information for you. If you have any questions feel free to contact us for more information.
Happy Reading!
The Healthy Lunch Box website is your one-stop shop for recipe inspiration and information to help you add more fruit, veg and wholegrains into your child's diet to improve their health.
Lots of quick and easy recipes and snack ideas.
Informative blogs about healthy eating.
Healthy swaps.
Interactive lunch box builder that helps parents and kids plan and pack a healthy lunch box with foods they like.
With Mrs Hagger and Mrs Crowe2024 CANTEEN MENU
OFFSITE BAGGED LUNCH
This special lunch bag will be an option for any offsite events that are held locally (no hot lunches will be delivered offsite).
The Offsite Lunch Bag consists of chicken & salad wrap or sandwich, bottle of water, muesli bar, pkt plain chips and a piece of seasonal fruit for $15. Select "Offsite Bagged Lunch" from the Compass Canteen Menus.
STUDENT BIRTHDAY BUNDLES
Should you have any queries please contact our Canteen ladies, Mrs Hagger & Mrs Crowe.
We have two dedicated classrooms on the St Joseph's Catholic Primary School campus in Kemp Street, West Kempsey. The classrooms are filled with resources and games to suit children from Kinder to Year 6.
Students from all schools in the Macleay Valley and surrounds are welcome at Joey's OOSHC.
Joey's OOSHC has a proud history of providing high quality out of school hours care for than ten years. Joey's dedicated and experienced staff plan and manage programs that offer both fun and educational opportunities.
To find out more and to explore the enrolment process visit our website at https://www.joeyskempsey.org.au/
Catholic School Parents Australia has 
developed free resources to strengthen the home-school partnership! The new video workshops help guide primary and secondary parents, principals, and school staff to take a holistic approach to their children’s well-being and educational
experience.
The resources also include guides for local facilitators to run through the video workshops in collaborative sessions with principals, staff and families. Insights from experts like Andrew Fuller, John Hattie and Donna Cross inform the workshop’s research-backed strategies.
The resources can be found on the Gearing Up for Parent Engagement website.
To learn more about the COMPASS Platform please click here
About the Compass Platform
The Compass platform is a web-based system that is accessible on any modern web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome & Safari) or by using the Compass School Manager iOS or Android App.
Parents have the ability to;
- Receive notifications about school events, news and information
- Enter an explanation for absences
- Communicate with your child’s teachers,
- Update your family contact details (mobile phone & email)
- View your child’s timetable and the school calendar
- Download and view your child’s academic reports
- Book parent-teacher conferences (parent/teacher interviews)
- Pay and provide digital consent for events (No more permission slips)
- Order lunches from the Canteen
- Pay school fees
WHEN YOU HAVE A MEDICAL CONCERN - CONTACT NORTH COAST HEALTH CONNECT
North Coast Health Connect is a free (bulk billing) new service providing health support and advice from registered nurses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including public holidays. If you are a resident or visitor to the North Coast, you can speak or live chat with a nurse. The nurse will ask some questions to understand what’s troubling you and then provide advice on what your next step should be.
This may include self-care advice to help you to manage your health (or that of a loved one) from home, or the nurse may recommend a GP appointment or a consultation with a pharmacist. The nurses are able to book an appointment for you directly with a local general practice or pharmacy or if appropriate, can transfer you to a 24/7 GP telehealth service. If the nurse believes you need to attend an emergency department or see a different health service, they will let you know.
Visit https://northcoasthealthconnect.org.au/ for more info and save as a contact for when you need it
https://northcoasthealthconnect.org.au/communication-resources/ (1)
This incredible service will help families access ‘on the day’ healthcare which is bulkbilled and is a vital and important service in this area.
Currently we have 220 GP appointments each week, supported by 23 GP clinics, across the entire North Coast region to access.
Visit https://northcoasthealthconnect.org.au/ for more info and save as a contact for when you need it by visiting https://qrco.de/bdkiJm or by scanning the QR code below.
