eNews Term 1, Week 7, 2024

Dear parents, carers, teachers, and students,

Welcome to Week 7. I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. The extra break was well-timed in our term and some reprieve from the heat.

St. Joseph's School Celebration Week!

Next week, St. Patrick's Day is Sunday, March 17th, St. Joseph's Day is Tuesday, March 19th, and International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Harmony Day) is Thursday, March 21^st.

St. Joseph's School community will have a Celebration Day, highlighting our Catholic faith and Australia's rich cultural diversity.
 

Our day of celebration is Wednesday, March 20^th. To begin the day, there is a whole-school Mass led by the Year 5 students at 9:30 a.m. in the Auditorium. Students are also invited to participate in a Free Casual Clothes Day (refer to poster). To raise money for Project Compassion, families can choose to order a special sausage sizzle lunch via the QKR App. The Mass will honour our Catholic patron saints, St. Patrick and St. Joseph, while also celebrating the cultural diversity of our school community.

St Patrick
As a missionary in Ireland during the fifth century, he is regarded as the founder of Christianity in Ireland and, therefore, the Patron Saint of Ireland. When he was about sixteen, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland, looking after animals; he lived there for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as a bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked.  The colour green and the shamrock are associated with St Patrick. St Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to teach about the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

St Joseph
The Saint whom our school is named after, Our Patron Saint. St Joseph was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the foster father of Jesus. Joseph is regarded as the patron saint of workers and is associated with various feast days. The month of March is dedicated to Saint Joseph.  He is associated with lilies, often appearing in images with him and as seen in our old school logo.  Lillies symbolise integrity and reflect that Joseph was a virtuous man who was pure and obedient to God and loved and cared for his family. St Mary MacKillop was attracted to Joseph because of his humility and obedience. For this reason, the order of sisters she established with Fr Julian Tenison Woods became known as the Sisters of St Joseph – of course, the founders of our school.

Celebration Week is also a timely opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month for our Muslim families. Classes will explore the similarities between our Catholic Lenten practices of fasting or giving to others and the Muslim practices during Ramadan. Like many faiths, both Catholics and Muslims approach these periods of reflection and preparation with increased prayer and devotion. During Lent, Catholics prepare for the joyful celebration of Easter, and during Ramadan, Muslims prepare for the Festival of Eid al-Fitr.

Ramadan
A holy month for Muslims around the world. During Ramadan, healthy adult Muslims observe a daily fast from dawn to dusk. This fasting is an act of worship that strengthens their connection with God and fosters compassion for those less fortunate. It's also seen as a way to develop patience and self-discipline.
Throughout Ramadan, Muslims rise early for a pre-dawn meal called suhoor and break their fast at sunset with a meal called iftar. Mosques often host large iftars, especially for the underprivileged. After iftar, special night prayers called Taraweeh are held.
Ramadan traditions vary between cultures. Some families prepare specific dishes, while others prioritise sharing iftar with extended family. These traditions, often inspired by Islamic values of generosity, involve sharing food and inviting others for iftar meals.

Following the Lunar Calendar
The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, causing Ramadan to fall roughly 10 days earlier each Gregorian year. The exact start and end dates of Ramadan in 2024 depend on the sighting of the crescent moon, with a probable start date between March 10th and 11th. Ramadan will likely last 29 or 30 days, concluding around April 9th. Eid al-Fitr, the celebratory feast marking the end of Ramadan, is expected to begin around April 10th, with a possible variation of a few days.

HOLY WEEK - Play Performances by Year 6 Students!

In just over a week, we will reflect on the major events leading up to Jesus' death. The week includes five days of special significance. The first is Palm Sunday, 24th March, commemorating Jesus' humble entry (on a donkey) into Jerusalem to observe Passover. The next are Holy Monday, Tuesday, The Last Supper, Holy Saturday, and the Stations of the Cross.
Please join us during Holy Week as the Year 6 students present a special play reflecting on the significant events leading up to Easter.

Performance Dates:

• Monday, March 25th: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM (approx.)
• Tuesday, March 26th: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM (approx.)

Location: Performing Arts Centre

After the performance: We invite you to stay for refreshments, including coffee/tea and hot cross buns, in the Auditorium. To help us plan for seating and refreshments, please RSVP using the following survey link: 

2024 HOLY WEEK - Play Performances (office.com)

During our Science lessons, the Year 2 classes have been studying space.  We have learned about celestial objects including the planets, stars, moon and sun. We discovered that the Earth rotates to cause day and night and revolves around the sun to cause seasons.  To finish the unit we explored some visual art techniques including stencil making, blending with oil pastels and smudging with chalk. Students then used these techniques to create amazing artworks showing what they had learned about space.  

The Year 7 cohort have recently returned from their school camp to Aldinga. We were blessed to have three beautiful days of sunshine, and students had a fantastic time participating in various activities such as surfing, body boarding, beach games, orienteering and team building games. 

This year Robyn Coulter and Vanessa Jaensch are working together to run the school Library.
The library is a calm and inviting space and the children are enjoying the changing displays, stories being read and their weekly class visits.
As new books are being introduced the students are showing an excited interest in the new material and borrowing has been very encouraging so far this year.  Graphic novels have been especially popular.
Students are also enjoying coming into the library during Recess time to read or sit quietly doing mindful colouring.
There are lots of exciting fun activities planned this year so we will keep all families informed.

How to log in:

1. Type in eplatform in your web browser.
2. Click on 'Find your Library' then type in St Joseph's School Murray Bridge
3. Choose from either Primary or Secondary
4. Sign in using your computer log in
5. Happy borrowing.

Here are the links to the latest issue of you The Southern Cross newsletter and the online edition of The Southern Cross March 2024.