Welcome to Term 4. I hope that all of our St Joseph’s families had a restful break and are ready for what will be a jam packed term!

We are beyond proud of Lily, Billy, Ollie and Kruz who will compete at NSW PSSA Athletics on Thursday in Homebush.  As you would all be aware our small schools relay team got gold at MacKillop Athletics last term and are now representing MacKillop at the NSW PSSA State Athletics Championships.  This is such an amazing achievement for our little school and athletes.  The team has been training most lunch times and keeping up their fitness levels at home. All of their hard work and efforts are to be commended.

LIVESTREAM - The event is being livestreamed on the school sport unit video gallery via multiple channels.

https://nswschoolsport.brightcovegallery.com

The Relay is event T67 and is scheduled for Thursday 24 October at 11.35 am.

Staff continued their Professional Development in Catalyst on the first day of Term.  All staff completed the HITP online unit – 8 Big ideas of Catalyst.

Our School Buildings are looking fantastic. Everything is on schedule and going according to plan. It has been wonderful to have the cement, retaining walls and steps finished near the weathershed. Having flat paths and areas has been a game changer just in one small section, and has seen big improvements in handball games!

Welcome to our new students who have joined the St Joseph’s community this term – Rory and Amber McCarthy – Rory is in Yr 2 and Amber joins us in Yr 5.  Our enrolments are currently at 57!

Blessings for a great week,

Kirsty Beavan

Archdiocesan Assembly 

On Saturday, Kirsty and I attended the 2024 Archdiocesan Assembly that was held across the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese and included 5 regional hubs. The Assembly focused on celebrating that Year of the Holy Spirit and explored the themes of Encounter, Discipleship and Mission. This was an opportunity for evangelisation and synodality in the life and mission of our local church and ideas for moving forward. 

Mission Month

This October, we are celebrating World Mission Month, a month dedicated to the life-giving work of missionaries around the world.  St Joseph’s is participating in Socktober for Mission Month, because there are children in Mongolia who need our support to access nutritious food, education and healthcare. For further information, please watch this link.

To celebrate Socktober, students are invited to wear crazy socks to school on Friday 25th October with their sports uniform for a gold coin donation. If students would like to make an additional donation they are welcome to bring in their coins now until Friday 25th October. We understand that economic circumstances can vary, but even a small gesture can create a significant change in the lives of these children.

Month of the Rosary 

October is a special and meaningful month in the Catholic tradition as we celebrate the Month of the Rosary. During this time, we honour the prayer called the Rosary, which consists of beads that help guide us in prayer and reflection. It's a time of reflection, unity, and growing in faith together in prayer.

Upcoming dates:

• 1st November All Saints Day Mass presented by 5/6
• 19th November Grandparents Day Mass presented by Kindergarten at 12.15pm

Many thanks,
Stacey Braun

Religious Education Coordinator

Congratulations to our relay team who came away with gold medals at the McKillop Athletics Carnival late last term! Students and Teachers cheered them on whilst watching at school!  
They now progress to the PSSA Athletics which is held this Thursday 24th October 2024.
We wish them all the best and are so very proud of their efforts! 

Literacy: Our first InitiaLit Storybook lesson back this term focuses on the story ‘All Through the Year. The children have enjoyed making connections with this book through their own lived experiences of how much they have grown, changed and learnt this year. It is hard to believe we are in the final stages of kindergarten and soon another year will end.

Maths: Kindergarten have been enjoying learning about collecting and representing data on a T-chart. The children have conducted their own surveys on popular topics such as comparing favorite foods, animals, and sports amongst peers.

Third Kinder orientation – We are excited to have our 2025 Kindergarten friends back at school this term for the final orientation days. The last Kindergarten orientation day is Tuesday 29th October. We will take some time during this last session to award each child with a certificate and goodie bag. We then look forward to seeing our new Kindy friends in 2025!

We are looking forward to hosting our Kindergarten Mass on Tuesday 19th November. Please keep an eye out on invitations to this mass which will be sent home in the next few weeks.

Dear St Joseph's families,

We have a missing navy school jacket size 10 which is brand new, lost on Tuesday.  If everyone could check there bags / jackets to see if they may have an extra one, it possibly has a name of Billy Roche on it.

Many thanks everyone for your assistance.

This term we will begin swimming sessions for sport. There are entry fees to attend and utilise the pool facilities. If you are applying for a season pass, can you please send the confirmation (receipt or card number) to the office so that the charges are not added to those students prior to the sessions beginning. This will save any confusion with charges. 

PLEASE NOTE: 

The Compass event will be sent out this week.

The event for the swimming sessions this term are a little different due to groups having to attend on different days.

3/4 - Mondays

5/6 - Tuesdays

K/1/2 - Fridays

If you have Children in different class groups, you will need to consent to each class group event.

There is a possibilty that we will extend the swimming sessions into week 9. If this is the case we will notify families and publish an extra event on Compass. 

This term we will hold a working bee to predominantly get the vegetable patch up and running (made possible through our successful Snowy Hydro grant). It would be fantastic if there are any parents within our school community with equipment and skills that could help with tasks such as levelling a pad for the garden shed, pouring a concrete slab, putting together garden beds etc. We will also do general maintenance and clean up tasks.

We will confirm a date as soon as possible! 

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

It is a requirement that Schools keep up to date and medically endorsed records for any student who has a medical condition or allergy (these include, but are not limited to, Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Food Allergies etc). If your child has a medical condition or allergy, please contact the office so we can ensure we have all the correct documentation. 

Parents/Carers are responsible for informing the school of any medical issues and keeping the required documentation up to date. 

It is imperative that we have the up to date documentation completed and returned to school.
If you need the relevant forms, please contact the office as soon as possible.

If we do not hold current documentation, parents will be responsible for providing all medical intervention.

Our School Counsellor, Lucinda, will be available Mondays during the school term. If you think your child may benefit from seeing Lucinda, please complete the online referral form by clicking this link - School Counsellor Referral Form

Any concerns or questions can be emailed to lucinda.clay@mccg.org.au or alternatively call the school office on Mondays. 

Keep up to date with events happening at St Joseph's via our electronic school calendar (please note dates can be subject to change).

Adelong Junior Cricket is starting up again and we are looking for more players. If you are a child, aged between 8-12 and keen to have some fun at cricket, join us at the Adelong Cricket Nets (at the Adelong Showground) every Thursday from 3:30.  Games are on Saturday mornings, either in Adelong, Tumut or Gundagai.

It doesn't matter if you haven't played before- all levels of ability are welcome. No gear is required as the club has lots of kits that can be used.

Check out our Facebook page or just come down to the nets on Thursdays to get involved.