Dear families and friends, 

It has been wonderful to return last week after a few days leave to see all the staff and students energised and keen to be back. The last few weeks have been a challenging time for my family. I thank you for reaching out with your thoughts and prayers for my mum’s quick recovery. I’m pleased to be able to report that she is doing well and has now returned home from hospital. I’m also very grateful to all staff who stepped up and supported each other in my absence. 

I love Term 4 as it is a time to reflect and celebrate the academic, physical and emotional growth of all our wonderful children. We have a wonderful term planned, full of learning, assessment, transition and events for the community as we prepare for transition into the 2022 school year. Please keep your eye out for upcoming events on our website, facebook and newsletter.

Congratulations to our students who received the sacraments of reconciliation, first Holy Communion and Confirmation over the weekend. The Church service was lead by Fr Dariusz and then we joined together to share morning tea and cut the beautiful cake that Mrs Veronica ah Shay made for the occasion. It was a joyful celebration with families and friends. It was lovely to see so many happy faces and families coming together.

A special thank you to Mrs Gear and Mrs Kath Newman who spent many hours preparing the students. We thank them for their time, effort and support to make this a special and memorable day for the children and their families.

School Survey Each year as a Catholic Schooling system in the Diocese of Cairns, we survey our school parents/carers, students and staff utilising the services of MYP Corporation. The survey is generic in nature with questions relating to our school services, curriculum offerings, teaching and learning and overall how we rate at educating your child. The data gathered assists us to plan for the future, guide where resources may need to be placed and gives us information to report back to our system and the government. Please be aware that each family will receive a survey link once they open on Wednesday 20 October. The survey will conclude on Wednesday 3 November.

St Joseph’s has just received our first edition of the St Joseph’s School water bottle. Once you have completed your survey, please claim your new water bottle for each student in every family from the office.

Staffing Update We are pleased and excited to welcome Chandler Connell as our full time Indigenous Liaison Officer and Stephanie Neil as our new part time intervention support teacher. Chandler and Steph will share their profile with us over the coming weeks as we showcase our staff for 2022.

We are currently making staffing and class arrangements for 2022 and if you definitely know that you will not be returning to St Joseph’s in 2022, it would be appreciated if you could let us know, as the number of class teachers is directly linked to the number of students in the school. The class structure and teaching staff will be announced, once finalised, closer to the end of term.

Expanding Classes in 2022 Each year we have high demand for Prep and our lower classes from both current and new families to our school. Although we currently have less siblings in our Prep than we did last year, we already have more than 20 siblings enrolled for 2023. We are currently expanding our lower year classes to ensure that we meet the needs of our growing school community.

As our school grows so do the resources and facilities we provide to our current students. Your ongoing support of our school is greatly appreciated, and should you know of friends, relatives or work colleagues who are considering schooling options for 2022, I ask you to encourage them to consider St Joseph’s as a preferred option. Should you or they require any further information regarding enrolment at St Joseph’s, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to meet with people to talk about what St Joseph’s has to offer.

At any stage, prospective families are more than welcome to come along, tour the school and see firsthand the calm classroom environments conducive to learning.

Class Learning Overview This week, all families will receive a letter from their child’s class teacher outlining the core content to be covered for each Key Learning Area during Term 4. This is the same process that has been undertaken throughout the year at the beginning of each term, with the purpose being to provide clarity for all families about what the learning focus is for your child in the classroom. I urge you to take some time to read this information, print it out if you find that easier, perhaps stick it on the fridge! In this way, you can engage in meaningful conversation about what your child’s day or week has been like. It is much easier to support your child in their learning journey by knowing in advance what they are engaging in. If your usual conversation around “What happened at school today?” is usually followed by “Nothing!”, then the information in this beginning of term letter will be very helpful for you! 

Parent Meetings As we enter the busy-ness of the final term, please remember that, as always, there is no need to wait until invited or contacted if you wish to discuss anything with your child’s teacher. Parents can contact teachers to arrange an appointment time at any stage of the year and in whatever way best suits their needs – face to face, email or phone. Your teacher is, at all times, your first point of call as they know your child and their learning needs best. Trying to “catch a teacher” in the morning is not advisable as they need to be focussed on welcoming the children and preparing for the day ahead, which is why arranging an appointment is advised. 

Day for Daniel The Morcombe Foundation’s ‘Day for Daniel’ is coming up on Friday 29th October (Week 4), and once again St Joseph’s will be wearing red to support this important cause. The work of the Morcombe Foundation is manifold. They provide education for children on ways to keep themselves safe through programs at school and at home but, they also provide support to families who have been affected in some way by abuse or harm. Wearing red on the ‘Day for Daniel’ is a simple but powerful gesture to show that we can keep our children safe and one that St Joseph is happy to get behind.

World Teacher’s Day Another upcoming event for Friday 29th October is World Teacher’s Day. This is a little later than the international day due to the school holidays. World Teacher’s Day is a day to recognize the great work and tireless effort of those who teach our children. Teaching isn’t always an easy job, but we do it because we love making a difference in the lives of our learners. Make sure you take the opportunity to say thank you to your teachers on Friday 29th October. If you want to learn a little more about World Teacher’s Day, you can visit the AITSL website - World Teachers’ Day - Australia 29 October 2021 (worldteachersday.edu.au)