Principal's Message
Dear parents, carers and the St Joseph’s community,
On Saturday evening, we had 28 candidates from our Year 6 cohort and the St Joseph’s Parish make their Sacrament of Confirmation. This important and special occasion in the children’s faith journey brings them into full participation in the Church. Through this sacrament, the candidates receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Fortitude, Counsel, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. These gifts are not to be hidden or ignored but celebrated and acted upon. Through this, they bear fruit, the fruits of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. These are qualities we want to see in our children, as they grow and engage with the world around them. Please keep our candidates in your thoughts and prayers at this time.
How we speak to others
As we head into the end of Term 3, I want to reflect on a comment that has arisen in recent weeks in relation to our school. It was about the amount of racist and derogatory remarks that are made between the students on the playground. As with almost all societal challenges, our classrooms and our schools are often tasked with addressing and educating student behaviour in an effort to continue developing informed and caring young people to enter the wider world. This is a much valued and necessary role within schools. However, it is not one that rests solely on the school, and such poor language and behaviour that at times does present itself, is not condoned or ignored here at St Joseph’s. Unfortunately, our world is experiencing tremendous political and ideological upheaval, and there is a great deal of media coverage that our students become aware of directly, and indirectly. There is protest and there is solidarity, all of which our young people are trying to make sense of. To assist with this, I would ask that parents take notice of what their children are seeing and hearing and to discuss what is, and what is not, appropriate to say to others. Often there is a lack of understanding of the situation or the ramifications of hurtful comments, but together both school and home can support a message of tolerance and valuing of ‘others’.
Musical
Things are starting to come together for our upcoming musical, Dr Doolittle. Over recent months, our lead cast members have been learning their lines and rehearsing with Mrs Fletcher. It is all sounding good. Early in Term 4 we will be working on the backdrops, so please keep an ear out for calls for helpers! As we move closer to the opening performance, please keep an eye out for information from the classroom teachers about items for costumes and also the opportunity
to purchase tickets. There will be a matinee and evening performance on both Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 October.
Happy Families
A reminder that St Joseph’s is subscribed to the Happy Families School Membership!
We regularly share resources available through our membership with you, including Insight Articles and Webinars. You can also access your resources at any time using the below URL (unique to our school) and password.
URL - https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/login/stjosephs
Password – happysjps
Please make the most of this membership by accessing and perusing the great articles and past webinars. If there are resources that you find useful, please share these with other parents and let me know, so I can promote them across the school.
This week I have included the most recent Insights article on ‘Little Niggles Can Lead to Big Dramas: Why Parents Should Act Early.’
Sometimes, it’s not the big meltdowns or obvious problems that cause the most stress in family life—it’s the little things. The constant whining. The bedtime battles. That one child who just won’t listen. It’s these small, everyday frustrations that slowly wear us down.
Robo Cup 2025
Excitement filled Caroline Chisholm School on Saturday 13 September as students, teachers, and parents gathered for the RoboCup event. The event marked the end of an inspiring journey into robotics, igniting innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills for our St Joseph’s students.
The RoboCup program is a new initiative at St Joseph’s; with Years 4-6 teams competing against 83 teams from across the territory. This year’s event continues the tradition of fostering interest and intrigue for STEM fields by encouraging students to build robots from scratch. Students were continually challenged with various problems such as detecting different colours, code faults, ramps and sporting commitments but displayed tenacity throughout.
A highlight of the event was seeing children exposed to new challenges they hadn’t encountered such as navigating tight corners, speed bumps and ramps. These tasks promoted teamwork, critical thinking, and perseverance with our St Joey’s teams finishing mid-way in their respective competitions. A fantastic result for our first time competing in this area.
Behind the scenes, the RoboCup committee worked tirelessly to ensure the events success. A special thank you to Liz Mihalopoulos, Vess Groat and Michael McAllister for giving up their spare time and weekends to provide a valuable experience for our learners.
Term 3 Break
Thank you to all of the students and parents for another great term. Term 3 was once known as the ‘quiet term’, but I am sure that this is no longer the case. I hope that all families take some time during the break to rest and re-energise, ready for a wonderful Term 4. A reminder that Thursday 25 September is the last day of Term 3. Friday is a Pupil Free Day.
Tuesday 14 October is the first day of Term 4.
Have a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing the students return for Term 4.
Yours in Christ,
Cameron Tarrant