St Joseph’s Primary School - O'Connor
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Boronia Drive
O'Connor ACT 2602
Subscribe: https://sjo.act.edu.au/subscribe

Email: office.sjo@cg.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 6248 9818
Fax: 02 6247 1792

Week 8 Term 1 2024 Newsletter

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Week 8 Term 1 2024 Newsletter

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

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    Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
    Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
    To you God entrusted his only Son;
    in you Mary placed her trust;
    with you Christ became man.
    Blessed Joseph, to us too,
    show yourself a father
    and guide us in the path of life.
    Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
    and defend us from every evil. Amen.

    (Pope Francis, Patris Corde)

     

    Dear parents and carers,

    This week was the Feast of St Joseph. Through his example, and the dedicated founding work of the Sisters of St Joseph, our school continues the tradition of being of service to others and to build a community of faith. Happy St Joseph Feast Day to all in our community.

    Office Admin

    With NAPLAN recently taking place and our sacramental programs starting in the coming weeks, it is timely to remind parents that often there is a need to provide NAPLAN results and copies of sacrament certificates when enrolling into high schools. Parents are asked to ensure they keep these important records when they are received, rather than relying on the school to source and provide copies. While we do retain NAPLAN results, we do not keep copies of Reconciliation, First Eucharist, or Confirmation certificates.

    Transitions through our2.jpg school
    This term we have made a particular effort to support the students to transition from the playground, into the courtyard, and effectively get into the classroom to start learning. Our morning transitions are going particularly well, with the students knowing the attached expectations, which sets us up for a successful start to the day. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to reinforce the expectations for all transitions into the classroom and around the school.

    Getting to school on time

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    I remind parents of the importance of having children at school by 8.50am at the latest. The impact of missing the first 5 or 10 minutes of school not only adds up to days of missed learning each year, but it means they miss important opportunities to form social connections for the day and to feel settled. Unfortunately, we have children who are late for school almost every day, interrupting not only their own learning, but the learning and teaching within their classrooms. If your child is experiencing any concerns about coming to school, it is important to let their teacher or me know, so we can offer support. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.

    Emotional Regulation

    I suspect that I will not be sharing anything that many parents won’t be well aware of, but over recent years we have seen an increase in the way in which more children are unable to regulate their emotions. It is not uncommon for teachers to lose valuable teaching and learning time, supporting students who either arrive at school in some degree of distress, experience challenges on the playground, or simply are overwhelmed by what might be happening at the time. As teachers and support staff, we take every care to know our students well and to put in place necessary and positive adjustments and supports to assist students to feel safe, heard, and valued. As a school, we are giving a lot of time and thought to how we can further build professional capacity, provide alternate play opportunities and seek open communication with parents. A key trigger, as it is at all schools, is the playground and often an over-competitiveness. Often the actual games go fine, but in the transitions back to the classrooms, we see the inability to realise it is only a game and what were little niggles, become more significant flashpoints.

    One idea we are introducing is around ‘buttons’ and how we all have buttons that others push to get a reaction. I am speaking to the children about how big they allow their buttons to be, and how they can actually control how well they manage them themselves. At the same time, I am telling them that they need to be aware of others’ buttons and to resist ‘pushing’ them to see what happens.

    I would really appreciate all parents taking up this discussion about emotional regulation with your children. We have a beautiful school, but sometimes not nice things are said and done, which is not ok… but how we regulate our emotions impacts what happens next.

    In the coming months, I will be seeking to organise some faciliated parent information opportunities for us all to learn more about supporting children to manage their emotional regulation. 

    Have a great end to the week.

    Yours in Christ,

    Cameron Tarrant

    cameron.tarrant@cg.catholic.edu.au 

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    Project Compassion

    Thanks to your generosity on our Free Dress Day, as a community, we have managed to raise over $600 to support Caritas in helping remote and vulnerable communities throughout the world. These funds will help provide assistance to those in need by providing things like;

    • Sanitation,
    • Clean drinking water,
    • Farming animals,
    • Education for children, and
    • Training for adults.

    Together we are creating a lasting change today, and For All Future Generations.

    As parents you are welcome to donate using our school QR code and students are still encouraged to bring in donations and place them in their class Project Compassion Box up until Easter.

     

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    St Joseph’s Feast Day

    St Joseph quietly lived in the shadow of greatness, yet his faith and loyalty shone brighter than any earthly crown. His silent strength, his humble service and his unwavering trust in God’s plan is something to inspire us all to embrace the challenges we face with courage, and to walk in faith, even when the path ahead seems impossible or unsure.

    In honour of our patron saint students learnt about how St Joseph is credited with ending a drought and famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages through his divine intervention. As customary in Sicily, we recreated a symbolic St Joseph’s Altar to reflect his generosity and community spirit to give to those in need. On the St Joseph Altar we placed:

    • White lilies to represent St Joseph’s virtues of holiness, obedience and
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      innocence.
    • Mini statues of St Joseph to represent his role as protector, guardian and teacher as the father of Jesus.
    • Two crosses to represent the saving grace of Jesus and our thankfulness of St Joseph’s willingness to follow God’s plan.
    • A rosary bead to represent the love St Joseph had for Mary and Jesus.
    • Baskets of fruit to represent the prosperity and generosity of communities.
    • Tools to represent St Joseph as a hard worker.
    • Bowls of Fava Beans for being the bean that saved the Sicilians from starvation during the drought.

    Fava beans are a good luck charm in Sicily and the blessed beans from St Joseph’s Day are carried around in pockets or bags throughout the year to bring the holder prosperity.

    Each child received a blessed Fava Bean to take home as a good luck charm.

     

    Holy Week Prayer Celebrations

    Next week sees us commence our celebration of Holy Week at school. It would be wonderful to see parents join us for these throughout the week at 2:15pm in the school hall.

    • Palm Sunday on Monday 25th March presented by 2 Magenta
    • Last Supper on Wednesday 27th March presented by both Year 4 classes
    • Good Friday on Thursday 28th March presented by 2 Yellow
    • Easter Sunday on Tuesday 2nd of April by 6 Lime

    Kirstie Buckley

    Religious Education Coordinator

    kirstie.buckley@cg.catholic.edu.au

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    Sustainability in Action

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    Do you want to help the earth as a change maker? If you do, here is a challenge for you.. It's the Easter Foil Competition!


    The competition goes from Monday Week 8 (Term 1) until Friday Week 1 (Term 2). All you have to do is keep your foil after eating your Easter egg and bring it to your class when you have eaten all your Easter goodies. There will be an envelope in your classroom for your foil but you have to make sure it’s flat and it cannot have any chocolate. The prize is a movie of your class's choice.


    Are you going to win that movie? Well, start collecting today to get a head start and make sure you don’t steal your siblings’ foil!!

    Sincerely, 

    The Changemakers

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    Did you know aluminium can be recycled infinitely? It is one of the planet’s most important resources! Let’s work together to preserve our precious earth.

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    "Easter is the only time it's perfectly safe to put all your eggs in one basket." – Evan Esar

    .

    Ryan McGee

    Sustainability Coordinator

    ryan.mcgee@cg.catholic.edu.au

    Congratulations to Oliver Lawton for being recognised in the ACT School Sports Excellence in Sports Awards, nominated in the 12&U Sportsmanship category. Oliver is an excellent athlete, with a wonderful attitude towards all sports. Well deserved Oliver. 

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    Over the past weekend, we had three representatives participate in the ACT U9 to U13 Championships. James, Beatrice and Adam all achieved personal best results across a range of events with Beatrice claiming two bronze medals for U10 Girls High Jump and the 60m hurdles. Well done to all involved.

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    Finally, it has been great to see so many happy runners at Friday’s running club with Mrs Valiulyte, Mrs McGee and myself. All students in grades 3-6 are welcome to join us for a run at first break every Friday. See you there!

    Stay active,

    Andrew Reynolds

    Sports Coordinator

    The Snack Shack

    Hi parents and families, 

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    A Qkr! reminder, there has been an increase in kids attending the Snack Shack looking for presumed lunch orders. 

    When ordering please ensure you have made it all the way to the end where the receipt is displayed, this will mean we have received your order. Below is a link to the Qkr! How To Guide, which is also available on our website. 

    https://sjo.act.edu.au/_file/media/355/qkr_how_to_guide.pdf

    If you have been contacted by the school to have a lunch order filled, expect a slip sent home with your child including what they have been given and how much needs to be paid. This can be paid through Qkr!

    This is also an opportunity to remind kids that forks, spoons, containers and cups are to be returned to the Snack Shack. 

    Julie-Anne

    sjo.canteen@gmail.com 

      Uniform Shop News

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      Congratulations to the Week 8 award recipients. 

      Foundation Red

      Lorcan C

      Alex B

      Eli W

      Foundation White

      Willa E

      Nicholas O-H

      1 Purple

      Ignatius O

      Lana F

      1 Teal

      Logan B-B

      Matilda S

      2 Magenta

      Lily B

      Eloise P

      Maggie H

      2 Yellow

      Grace M

      Henry W

      Thinley C

      3 Black

      Oliver W

      Wilhelmina C

      Zachary T

      3 Navy

      Lola O

      Harrison W

      4 Gold

      Daniel W

      Mia B

      4 Green

      Addison F

      Ryan L

      5 Blue

      Elena S

      Beau W

      5 Orange

      Jacob Q

      Mirabel P

      6 Lime

      Bailey S

      Mia B

      6 Silver

      Keone S

      Evelyn H

      Sustainability

      Claire A

      Happy birthday to these students who celebrated their birthday this week:

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      Ella S
      Ruby S
      Isla C
      Teilo K-J
      Scarlett S

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