Dear Parents, Carers and the St Joseph’s Community,

Lord,
In the midst of Winter, when the days are cold and wind can pierce,

remind us of the warmth of your love.
In the midst of winter, when days are short, dawn comes late,

and dusk arrives early to remind us that in the darkness your light still shines.
In the midst of Winter, when the flowers of spring still lie hidden in the earth,

when leaves are off the trees, and the world can seem bleak
remind us that Spring, the season of renewal is but a short time away.
And when in our lives we feel as if we are experiencing a season of winter,

reach out to us with the power of your resurrection so that we may feel the warmth of your love and see your light that alone can take away the darkness of our soul.

Compass Parent Portal

As you are aware the Compass Parent Portal is now up and running. Thank you for your patience and adaptability during the transition period from Schoolzine. Compass is now our only platform for sending notifications and alerts to parents. The functionality of the Compass Parent Portal will continue to grow but at present, it is used for:

• receiving school/class alerts and notifications (including the School Newsletter)
• entering absences for your child/ren
• accessing school reports
• contacting teachers
• providing consent for school excursions and events.

Please note that NO PAYMENTS are to be made through Compass, we will continue to use Qkr! for all monetary payments until further notice.

2022 Enrolments

If you have received an email from Jenny in the Front Office regarding your Parent Commitment Agreement, can you please ensure that it is signed by BOTH parents before it is returned by Friday 23 July.

ICAS Assessments

ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence in Years 2 – 6. Students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. If you would like your child to take part in the upcoming ICAS Assessments, please click here for more information.

Rostrum

Congratulations to Kennedy W in 6 Silver, the St Joseph’s winner of the Rostrum ACT Public Speaking Competition. Last Tuesday, Kennedy went on to compete against eight other primary school students in the Quarter Final of the competition held at St Vincent’s Primary School. Kennedy was the first to present and gave a passionate and well-structured speech on the topic of ‘A Better Way’. She took a sustainability stance, talking about the impact of palm oil plantation, how plastic bags are causing harm to our marine life and challenged the audience to find a better way to combat these current crises. I spoke with Kennedy and asked her what the most enjoyable aspect of her Rostrum Journey was, “I liked listening to the other contestants and hearing how they put a different spin on the different topics”. Great job Kennedy!

Social and Emotional Learning

For the next few weeks, I will be exploring ‘Character’ as a way for students to explore their own unique qualities. Exploring character helps us to develop an awareness of who we want to be (values) and how we want to act (strengths). Values are enduring beliefs and attitudes that guide everyday behaviours both big and small. Exploring values is an important source of self-knowledge and awareness. Knowing our values and living according to them is a pathway towards a fulfilling and meaningful life. Character strengths are defined as positive traits that influence thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Character strengths are exemplified by our actions and behaviours that contribute to others’ lives and the community.   

If you have not yet, I would be grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to answer 4 quick questions in this survey  to help with future planning for SEL,

Photo Competition

Do you need some incentive for your child to head outside? Why not encourage them to take part in a photo competition run by Mrs McGee for Schools Tree Day. The guidelines are simple, take a photo of a tree! Winners will be selected in three age groups, Foundation -Year 2, Year 3 – 4 and Year 5 - 6. The winning photographs will be published in the School Newsletter and the winning photographers will each receive a prize.