We respectfully acknowledge the past and present traditional owners of this land on which we are meeting – the Algnith people. We also acknowledge the contributions of First Nations peoples to the education of all children and people in our country Australia, in which we all live and share together.

Congratulations to staff, students and parents on a smooth start to the school year. Despite the wet weather everyone is looking smart in their uniforms and ready for learning. Staff were here the week before engaging in professional development opportunities. Guest speakers in Essential Assessment (Mathematics) and Cyber Safety visited to ensure we continue to stay current with professional learning happening in our southern part of the Diocese. 

Our staff are simply amazing and dedicated to making sure everyone had a great start to the year. It is important for everyone to receive positive feedback, please thank them as they have been going above and beyond.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

My Leadership Team (Michelle Gear/Julie Dore (APRE’s), Melanie Turner (Diversity), Tiffany Barber (Curriculum)) are the ‘Dream Team’. They are so supportive and super organised. We have been busy organising for future events and when something doesn’t happen according to the plan, we understand and will do our best to reorganise.  Life and events can be unpredictable. Thank you ladies for your support!

STAFF UPDATES

We have welcomed Maddison Lehmann (3B), Rhiannon Bell (4) and Jamie Thomas (Tuckshop) to our staff this year. Our staff isn’t yet complete and in the next few weeks we will be advertising more positions. Please keep an eye on the Catholic Education Website under Employment Opportunities. We require two more School Officers, Indigenous Liaison Officer (ILO), Teacher and a Student Wellbeing Officer.  If you are interested or would like more information about these positions call in and I can let you know more about the roles. 

OSHC

At the end of last year, we were made aware that families needed After School and Vacation Care. We have engaged with Catholic Early Learning and Care, who have visited last week to explore the possibility of running OSHC at St Joseph’s soon. Attached to this newsletter is a link for a survey for you to fill in. They need to know interest in attendance and employment. Without staff we will not be able to run this service. Pass on the link or QR Code attached to this newsletter to those who might be interested in this opportunity. 

SCHOOL PROCESSES

The beginning of the year is always busy, and we like to ensure that we remind existing parents of processes as well as informing new parents of what happens at the school.

SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

Term Calendar to go out at the beginning of each term to let you know briefly what is happening. At times, dates will change due to clashes but we will try our best to give you as much notice so you can plan around school events. 

Weekly Bulletin will go out on a Friday to remind parents about what is happening the following week. 

Newsletters will now normally only be in weeks 5 and 10. 

Seesaw is for classroom teachers to communicate with parents internally and share classwork and photos.

Facebook will be sharing of school events and what’s coming up for the community. 

COMMUNICATION WITH STAFF

Our staff are sometimes busy in the mornings and if you have a concern, please email (or use seesaw) for an appointment time so they can give full attention to your requests. We would encourage you to email during working hours or schedule your communication for the next day if the matter is not urgent. Staff need to disconnect from work and maintain a healthy work-life balance for their own well-being. Please respect their down time. 

BEFORE SCHOOL

Students are definitely not to arrive on the school grounds before 8:00am. This is for the safety of your child. Supervision starts at 8:15am. Please help us by making alternative arrangements if you need to drop off before then. Staff children do arrive with their parent but are supervised by their parent until 8:15am and this can at times be confusing for other students. Early arrivals are to sit in the designated area for their own safety. 

UNIFORMS

The arrival of our uniform order this week has meant that everyone is close to having what they need for the year. We do have a Uniform Policy and remind parents to enforce this with your children. The main breaches are usually socks, crocs and hair ties. We will send out the correct uniform requirements again so you can double check and read through it with your children and save the arguments.  

ATTENDANCE

It is a mandatory requirement for your child to be at school. While I understand the complexities of Weipa and families wanting to book holidays around work commitments, could you help the teachers by minimising the disruption to term time learning. 

CYBERSAFETY

Susan McLean from CyberSafety Solutions visited recently and held a staff and parent session to make us aware of the dangers of online activity with our young people. While the internet and devices benefit student learning outcomes, we need you to be aware that as a parent you need to monitor what your children are doing online. Games with chat facilities are an avenue for predators to access your child. Please speak with them about the dangers of being online and chatting with unknown people.  Respect the wishes of other parents by also not sharing photos or names of students from school events on social media.

Have a great weekend.

Kind Regards

Kath Porter

• Monday 5th February- Parent Information Night- A wonderful opportunity to meet our Principal Kath Porter, staff and other parents.   

3:30-4:00pm- Principal's Welcome 

4:00-4:30pm Meet and Greet with Teachers 

4:30-5:30pm Nibbles provided  

• Thursday 15th February- P&F AGM - 7pm in the Staffroom. All parents are welcome to attend. The P&F is an integral part of our school community, but it might surprise you to learn that we are not a fundraising group, as all families pay a P&F levy as part of their school fees. Our primary focus is to foster family engagement in school life and contribute in a number of ways.

• Monday 19th February- Beginning of School Year Mass 9am – note that this is a change of date 

• Tuesday 20th February- Cross Country Training – Before school Cross Country Training on Tuesday and Thursday morning begins in Week 5, 7:45am – 8:15am meeting at the Basketball Court. 

• 13th – 20th of March- NAPLAN – Schools will be participating in NAPLAN standardised testing. Years 3 & 5 will participate in a Mathematics, Literacy and writing component. All components of the test are administered at school, online and under supervised test conditions in the classroom. 

• Tuesday 26th March- Swimming Carnival – note that this is a change of date 

• Thursday 28th March – Last day of Term 1 

• Thursday 18th April- Cross Country – new date for your calendar (Term 2 Week 1)

Parent Slips  

Please take some time to complete the two parent slips which recently came home. These will allow us to have up to date information and plan for the swimming program. 

• Updating Information Provided to the School 

• Swimming Program  

Do you need after school care or vacation care?

If you are interested in childcare or will be needing it soon, please help us by filling in the survey so we can determine attendance (school aged children) and employment.  You can access the survey via the QR Code or the link below.

Our school swimming program will commence on Thursday 15th February and continue for 6 weeks every Thursday. We are looking for any parent volunteers who would be able to assist from 9am-1pm for some or all the weeks. Please contact the school office if you are able to assist.