Term 4 - 2022 - Week 1

The picture above, located in our administration area, is titled  'The Vision'  and painted by acclaimed Brisbane artist Jan Williamson.  The Congregation commissioned the painting in 2016 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the day Mary MacKillop realised her calling and her vision to educate children.  Fr Julian Tenison Woods (to the right) shared this vision and promised to build a school for Mary in Penola. 
 

Fr. Julian Tenison Woods
The anniversary of the death of Fr Julian Tenison Woods was on 7 October, during the school holidays.  Our new Middle Years building is named after Fr Julian Tenison Woods.
Fr Julian was a man of many talents: an environmentalist, scientist, priest, explorer, and campaigner for social justice and the rights of Indigenous people, among many others.  Please see the following Youtube video to hear about the beginning of Josephite schools in South Australia and the role of Fr Julian Tenison Woods.  https://youtu.be/OXUgsNYCPCc

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

School returned this week with the commencement of Term 4.  The school holiday period provided staff and students with a well-deserved break before the busy end of the 2022 academic year.  The teachers and staff will continue to update parents and carers on special events through the school newsletter or Seesaw.  Please keep a close eye on these two forms of communication. 

St Joseph's Enrolments for 2023

The school leadership team is currently staffing and timetabling for 2023.  For various reasons, some families will not return to St Joseph's next year.  If families already know this, inviting us into that news would be very helpful!  The school expects to increase student numbers next year and the number of classes and subjects offered.  The provision of quality teachers for those subjects may vary depending on the final numbers.  Please contact the administration enrolment officer as soon as possible if your child/children's circumstances are changing at michael.gates@stjomb.catholic.edu.au.

Bus Driver

Last term, St Joseph's School purchased a 24-passenger seater bus.  (Rosa School Bus – 25-seat Duonic Auto).  We intend to use this bus for various purposes, and one is to provide families from the Mannum area with daily transport to and from school.  For this to go ahead, we need a Murray Bridge-based driver with authorisation of an LR Licence and sound driving record.  Please email administration with the following requirements below to leesa.angove@stjomb.catholic.edu.au.
For families with children travelling daily from Mannum, I will update you regularly about when our service begins.  We do hope this will happen this term, but it relies upon the employment of a suitable bus driver. 

Bus Driver Role Details

This permanent part-time bus driving position works within St Joseph's School.  The FTE will be negotiated with the successful applicant for split shifts each morning and afternoon for approximately 90 minutes on school days.  The Bus Driver will have some possible additional casual bus driving duties.

Applicants must include a complete Curriculum Vitae with relevant qualifications/licenses listed to be considered for this position.
- Working with Children Check;

- Approved Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect - Education Care;

- First Aid Certificate;

Please submit an application comprising:

- covering letter

- CV (2 pages) resume with the names of 3 current referees

- Response to the Role Details

- CESA Employment Declaration Form.  https://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/__files/f/28225/20180412_CESAEmploymentDeclaration_LP.pdf

Key dates for the commencement of 2023:

A full list of 2023 key dates will follow later this term, but to assist with planning, I inform our school community of the dates to commence the 2023 academic year:

Monday, 23 - 25 January 2023: All Teaching Staff commence
Thursday, 26 January 2023: Australia Day Public Holiday

Monday 30 January 2023:  All students commence Term 1
Thursday 16 and Friday 17 February 2023:  Pupil Free days (TBC)

In All Things Kindness

Mrs Ros Oates

School Uniform Update

We have been working with Vinnies to help improve the process for our families to either book a uniform fitting order or place an order for the new uniform. This can now be done via scanning QR codes using a mobile device such as your mobile phone.

Book a Fitting

Please see the attached Vinnies Uniform Shop Book a Uniform Fitting flyer, scan the QR code and make a booking for a suitable time. Opening hours at Vinnies in Murray Bridge are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30 – 5:00 pm. Please call the store manager Rochelle on (08) 8532 6699 if you have any questions.

Place an Online Order

Please scan the below QR code to be directed to the St Joseph’s Murray Bridge - School Uniform online order form. Once you scan the code, you will be directed to the Vinnies Shop page and will need to scroll to the bottom of the page to locate the school’s online uniform order form. There is also a link to the School’s Uniform Price List as of 13 October. This is also attached in this week’s newsletter.

SELECT READ MORE FOR THE CURTRENT UNIFORM PRICE LIST

St Joseph’s School and NDIS Family Information Session - Tuesday 15 November, 1:30-3:00pm

In collaboration with Mission Australia, we aim to assist students and their families to gain access to and engage with relevant supports and services, including the National Disability Services Insurance Scheme (NDIS). We are very excited to offer our families a Family Information Session on 15/11/22.

To learn about how St Joseph’s School is working with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to support students and what supports may be available for your child, come along to the Family Information Session Tuesday, 15 November from 1:30 – 3:00pm.

More information and a flyer to register for this session will be sent to all families soon.  

At the end of Term 3 the Year 4 classes went on an excursion to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. We split into groups and had a chance to do a self-guided tour through the old conservatory, water-lily pavilion, rainforest conservatory and bamboo garden. The other group had a tour by an educational officer who spoke about native and indigenous plant species and sustainability. After lunch we swapped over. Here are some of the beautiful plants we saw.  

Zaxton: My favourite was the rainforest because it was beautiful with all the shaded parts.

Poppy: I really loved the stepping stones because it was fun and challenging to not get wet.

Isaac: The conservatory was my highlight especially walking on the bridges through the trees.

Tui: I really liked going through the bamboo forest because it was interesting touching them and hiding in them.

Ayen: The Waterlily Pavilion was my favourite because they looked pretty in the sunlight especially with droplets of water.

Leo: I liked the glass sculpture fountain because it was cool seeing how many pieces of glass they used.

We have been researching rainforests and created dioramas. Each group used their knowledge and understanding about the 4 layers of the rainforest: emergent, canopy, understory and forest floor to create an accurate model. Students also discovered the animals that inhabit rainforests in Australia and South America. Here are some of the finished dioramas.  

We have been studying Pope Francis’s letter about Laudato Si and made some t-shirts displaying important environmental images and words.  

Both Year 7 and 8 students are busily engaged in a unit on Chemical Reactions. For students this means lots of practical work which is always fun and thanks to the school putting in a dishwasher over the holidays, there is less cleaning up afterwards.

This week, Year 8 students tested various vegetables for their catalase concentration. Catalase is an enzyme that helps our cells break down hydrogen peroxide (generated from respiration). Hydrogen peroxide is toxic and so needs to be removed. We found interestingly that green capsicum had lots of catalase, but red capsicum has hardly any. The best vegetable was potato, which produced the highest foam volume.

This term, the Middle years students have continued with their Microcredentials.

I have had the pleasure of working with Mrs McClure (former teacher at St Joseph’s and local business owner) to teach students how to decorate cakes as part of a small business plan or in order to secure work in a local bakery.

In all my time as a teacher, I have never seen students so engaged in the skills they are learning. Students are always on time to lessons, quickly wash their hands and done aprons and are ready and waiting for the demonstration.  The skill level of the student’s is also excellent, with cakes going home that could easily be sold in a cake shop.

I hope our families are enjoying their delicious treats on Wednesday afternoon!

Hello friends and families,

Select Read More 

Even though we are always very diligent regarding student safety, car-park drop-off and pick-up times are always times in which we need to be especially conscious of the safety of our children. Please, if you are parking across the road on McHenry and Florence Street, you should escort your children to the road crossing or take them across the road on McHenry Street. It is a busy time in the mornings and afternoons, and sometimes our students may forget to look for incoming traffic. A reminder to parents parking on Florence Street and McHenry Street that you are not to cover housing driveways or do a U-turn in the middle of the street. I appreciate your help in this matter.