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Dear Parents, Carers and the St Joseph’s Community,
Mary Mackillop Prayer
Ever-generous God,
You inspired St Mary MacKillop to live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and constant in bringing hope and encouragement
to those who were disheartened, lonely, or needy.
With confidence in your generous providence and joining with St Mary MacKillop,
we ask that you grant our request….(name your request).
We ask that our faith and hope be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit so that we too,
like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust, and openness.
Ever-generous God, hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Monday 8 August is the Feast of Mary Mackillop. As a Josephite school, the feast of Saint Mary Mackillop holds a special meaning to our school community. Mary devoted her life to caring for and educating children and it is from her dedication and determination that Catholic education in Australia is what it is today.
There are many inspirational quotes by Mary Mackillop, my favourites are:
“We have much for which to be thankful for”
“We must teach more by example than by word”
“Find happiness in making others happy”
“Never see a need without doing something about it”
I wonder if any of these speak to you?
Pupil Free Day
A reminder that this Friday, 5 August is a Pupil Free Day. Catholic Education have given all Catholic schools in Canberra two pupil free days this term - Friday August 5 and Friday September 9. Camp Australia will be running a care program on both days, for parents who may require supervision for their child/ren (bookings are essential).
Hats Back On
A reminder that as we have entered August, students are now required to wear hats during break times and when outside with their class. We will have a transition period this week before we reimplement our “no hat, no play, no fun today” policy next week. Please ensure that all hats are clearly labelled.
Unexplained Absences
Today, reminder notifications were sent via Compass for current Term 3 unexplained absences. If you have any queries regarding absences please do not hesitate to contact me or your childs classroom teacher. Most discrepancies occur when students arrive after the school bell and have not been signed in by a parent. It is imperative that any late arrivals are signed in at the Front Office. A reminder that Compass is the required method for entering student absences. Information on how to do this can be accessed here .
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you require support with any aspect of using the Compass Parent Portal.
Social and Emotional Learning - Honesty
My current schoolwide focus from the Kindness Curriculum is honesty.
Honesty is defined as fairness and straightforwardness of conduct when one speaks the truth and acts truthfully. Honesty is not just about telling the truth, it means our actions are truthful too. Honesty promotes openness, gives clarity, and empowers us to be authentic. It is essestial for creating and maintaining healthy relationships and safe environments. Being honest requires courage, realism, trust and it definitely takes practice!
Prayer and Worship
Saint Mary Mackillop Feast Day 8 August
Monday 8 August is the Feast Day of Saint Mary Mackillop. Mary was born in 1842. She was a fine teacher, the founder of schools and a religious order. Saint Mary Mackillop chose St Joseph because he was humble and got the job done. She devoted her whole life to following Jesus and helping others, especially poor children. Many people who knew her could tell she was extraordinary. Mother Mary radiated God’s love and energy to everyone she met. Mary and her companion Fr Julian Tenison Woods dreamed of a new kind of school, open to anyone whether their family was rich or poor. Children from poorer families would be provided with clothing and school supplies for very little cost or for free. They could learn enough reading, writing and maths so they could get out of poverty and have a better life.
When Mary wrote the lessons and timetable for her schools, she made sure there was time for prayers and hymns, which in those days were not written in English, but Latin. But she made sure these weren’t too long so that the children wouldn’t find prayer time too difficult or too boring. Her pupils must have been grateful for that! Her life wasn’t always easy and she had lots of problems sometimes, but she was happy because she firmly believed in God and that her true home was not here on earth but with God in heaven. She was very cheerful and didn’t want her sisters going around with frowns on their faces.
St Mary Mackillop is currently our only Australian saint. When I was in Rome a few years ago I was privileged to be taken on a tour by our own Archbishop Christopher Prowse to where Mary lived in 1873 when she travelled to Rome to meet with Pope Pius IX. Saint Mary Mackillop travelled to Rome to gain official approval of her religious order, the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. As I walked through the streets that she would have walked I could not help but be in awe of how challenging it must have been for her and how determined she must have been to make that journey at that time.
Student Prayer Focus
As we strive to deepen our St Joseph's identity, our Staff Prayer Focus in Week 2 and 3 prepares us for our St Mary Mackillop Feast Day on Monday Week 4, through a Saint Mary Mackillop Novena. A Novena is a type of prayer that consists of 9 days of prayer and is often prayed in preparation for a feast day or for a specific intention. Through praying each day of this Novena we are invited to reflect on various qualities of St Mary MacKillop. The Novena can be prayed individually or in a group each day. The aim is to prepare ourselves and our students for our St Mary Mackillop Feast Day through prayer and reflection while deepening our understanding of our Josephite Charism. You can access the novena at the following links:
Sacraments
Sacrament of Confirmation
Students in Year 6 can now be enrolled in the Sacrament of Confirmation at the link below. Please add the Sacrament of Confirmation and preparation session dates and times to your calendars.
Please enrol at http://bit.ly/sjosacraments2022
Please contact Father Paul if you have any questions about the Sacrament of Confirmation at: paul_nulley@hotmail.com
| Confirmation Parent and Child Formation (Year 6) |
5:30pm-6:30pm in the Parish Centre Thursday 25 August Thursday 8 September |
| Sacrament of Confirmation Retreat Day | Wednesday 14 September school hours |
| Sacrament of Confirmation | Wednesday 14 September @ 6:30pm |
Social Action & Justice
Next Monday on our Feast Day of Saint Mary Mackillop, we will hold a free clothes day for a gold coin donation to contribute to the purchase of plants to surround the magnificent new statue of St Joseph which has been installed at the church. Our usual market day to raise money for our Global School Partner, Riambana has been placed on hold and we will raise funds to support this partnership later in the year.
Yours in Christ,
Melanie Stratford
Religious Education Coordinator
Welcome back to a very busy Term 3 in the library.
Book Fair Week 5 and 6
This year, the St Joseph’s Book Fair will be a little different to other years due to Covid. Students will be able to browse books and merchandise at the Fair during library times. Each student will make a list of their top 3 choices and then bring their choices home to you. If you wish to purchase any items you will be able to pay for them online. Students will then bring the receipt back to the Fair and collect the books. If we have run out of copies, more will be ordered.
Book Fairs are a great way to encourage students with their reading as well as supporting the school, with 20% of book sales going back to buy more books for our library.
Book Week- Week 6
‘Dreaming with eyes wide open’ is the theme for this year's Book Week. During Week 6, we will be celebrating with a ‘Dress as your favourite book character’ on Thursday 25th August. Please remember this is to celebrate the love of books. I encourage you to use what you have at home to keep costs down for your family. More information to come.
Library days have changed, please see new Library days on table below.
|
Grade |
Day |
Maximum borrowing amount |
|
Foundation |
Monday |
2 |
|
Year 1 Purple 1 Teal |
Tuesday Wednesday |
2 |
|
Year 2 Magenta Year 2 Yellow |
Monday Tuesday |
2 2 |
|
Year 3 |
Monday |
2 |
|
Year 4 Gold Year 4 Green |
Monday Friday |
3 3 |
|
Year 5 Orange and Year 5 Blue |
Tuesday |
3 |
|
Year 6 |
Tuesday |
3 |
Book Club last orders are due on 8th August 2022 ( Monday, Week 4). Please remember that we do not take cash payments and all payments go through the website. Details are located on the back of the magazine.
Georgina Jaram
School Librarian
Hello Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Term 3.
New volunteers are always welcome, please don’t hesitate to email me on stjosephscanteen@gmail.com or pop in and say hi.
Regards
Katie Jenkin
Canteen Manager
Congratulations to the Week 3 award recipients.
|
Foundation Red |
Eloise P Christina T |
Foundation White |
Giana L Winifred W-B |
|
1 Purple |
Charlotte D Dominic O |
1 Teal |
Oliver W Max B |
|
2 Magenta |
Sebastian P Xander W |
2 Yellow |
Charles P Amari P |
|
3 Black |
Atiana B Owen H |
3 Navy |
Phoebe G Marial W |
|
4 Gold |
Bonnie P Makur W |
4 Green |
James W Natara H |
|
5 Blue |
Callum A Vasili P |
5 Orange |
Kobe P Lily P |
|
6 Lime |
Yuetsho W James A |
6 Silver |
Sienna S Maggie M |
|
Sustainability |
Eddie G Daniel A |
Happy birthday to these students who celebrated their birthday this week:
| Santiago K |
| Stella M |
| Dechen P |
| George P |
| Gianluca P |
| Benjamin C |
| Marvin R |
TRY TENNIS ST. JOSEPH'S PRIMARY SCHOOL
Tennis Canberra invites new players to trial a FREE Junior Group Training Session before the upcoming Spring Coaching Season at a North Canberra tennis venue - Turner Tennis Club & Majura Tennis Club (Dickson).
Trial Weeks - Before Upcoming Spring Season (starting August 22nd)
- August 1-6th, 8-12th & 15-20th
Venues & Days
- Turner TennisClub - Tuesday & Wednesday
- Majura TennisClub (Dickson): Monday, Thursday & Saturday
Wish to attend a trial? Email play@tenniscanberra.com.au with Contact Name, Player Name, Age, Experience (if any), plus preferred trial day and our team will get back to you with some options.
