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

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

that never has it been known that anyone who fled to your protection,

implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.

Inspired with confidence, therefore, I fly to you,

O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to you do I come; before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

Do not O Mother of Jesus, despise my prayers,

but graciously hear and grant them.

Amen.

For today’s prayer I have returned to my own schooling, reciting the Memorare, a prayer to Mary, that we said each day. While the prayer itself holds great importance for me, and it is actually very comforting to be able to recall it so easily, the point I wish to make is more about the ways we connect with experiences, particularly our schooling. In recent weeks we have been relearning the St Joseph’s school song, and it has been wonderful to hear it being sung at assembly. The words are important, as they recall our history, but I hope that these kinds of traditions are also imprinted in the minds of our students as a way to recall positive and enjoyable times at school.

Yesterday as a staff we reviewed the student responses for the Satisfaction Survey that students in Year 3 – 6 completed some time ago. It was very affirming to read the importance they place on St Joseph’s being a community, a place where they have friends, where they feel their teachers know them, and where they are enjoying their learning. Likewise, we read how they would like to be challenged further, to support them to be active leaders in the school, and to ensure students are being positive and respectful on the playground. The students also wanted about 4 hours of playtime!

As a school, and as Principal, there is an incredible responsibility to ensure we provide positive and enjoyable experiences for our students. At St Joseph’s we are true to our Vision, to ‘grow in excellence’, and I thank all parents and carers for the trust placed in us as we continue to work at actioning this vision each day.

Anxiety Workshop – A night for all parents

On Wednesday 23 September, Mark Holburton our School and Family Counsellor is hosting a virtual workshop for parents, focusing on supporting students who may experience anxiety at school or in other settings. Anxiety can be experienced due to a myriad of influences and can present itself in just as many ways. As parents and teachers, we might see this as difficulty wanting to come to school, separating from a parent of a morning, uncertainty on the playground or disengagement in the classroom. At home, parents may see their child find it difficult at birthday parties, or when things happen that aren’t planned, or even just feeling unsure of themselves. All of these things are difficult for parents to navigate, especially if we too become anxious. All parents are invited to join the Zoom session between 7.00 – 8.30pm. https://zoom.us/j/98555670582 Please contact the school if you have any questions.

Cheese!

School photos went home this week. I hope they have all made pride of place on the fridge or maybe even into a frame. They usually take almost 12 months in the Tarrant household to get that far. Family photos are also now available from the Front Office for $15. These are great keepsakes and are a valuable fundraiser for the school. If you would like to purchase the family photo that was taken on Photo Day, please either drop into the Front Office and pay, or you can call Jenny and she is able to take payment over the phone and the photo will be sent home with your child.

Building Update

What a difference a day makes! We started the week with scaffolding all around our new building and plenty of building materials on the site. Today as you can see, we have a much better view of our wonderful new extension and the front paving and landscaping is taking shape. Last Friday I took the staff into the new rooms so they could get a feel for the rooms and they were suitably impressed!

Have a great end to the week.

Yours in Christ,

Cameron Tarrant

Principal

cameron.tarrant@cg.catholic.edu.au

Sustainability in Action

The Great Ooshie Debate

Year 6 has taken a closer look at the recent release of new Disney Ooshies through Woolworths. For every $30 spent, customers can choose to collect a small plastic replica of a Disney character, or choose not to!

“They are terrible for the environment and kids only play with them for a small amount of time,” said Cameron J. “They will take 1000 years to break down and will just be a part of the plastic pollution,” he said.

Year 6s Bridget, Milana and Chloe have created an opportunity for students to reduce Ooshie waste by recycling them through TerraCycle. “We are going to have a raffle next Friday. Kids can get 1 ticket for every 5 old Ooshies they bring in to recycle. We don’t want them getting new ones, just the ones they have already collected,” they said.

Areesha, Alarna and Rea have written a statement about the Ooshie’s impact on the environment, as follows.

The impact of the ooshies and other collectables have on the environment?

By now I’m sure many of you have heard about the ooshies Woolies have been giving out after spending a specific amount of money you spent there. You probably also have heard about the mini-books Coles has been giving out too.

What’s the difference between them? Well, the minis books are made out of paper which is much better for the environment because it can be recycled. On the other hand, we have ooshies which can’t really get recycled. Woolies did partner up with Terracycle for a limited amount of time last year  but that was when kids used the ooshies and collected them. But when kids didn’t want their ooshies anymore, woolies didn't partner up with Terracycle. So the ooshies probably ended up in landfill or in the ocean and will be on the earth for years.

After the backlash the ooshies received, last year Woolies decided to make collectables that are more eco friendly. Which were the seeds, there were tiny seeds in a pot which was made out of cardboard. There were a variety of seeds, and they grew into fruits and veggies. Kids would still have something to collect and it’s eco friendly. This change made a lot of people in our community happy because that small change could help us change the world. Around the same time, Coles had just released their Coles mini-shops which had attracted a lot of customers. The Coles minis were practically like the stuff they had in Coles accept a mini version of it.

I know many of us adore the ooshies and the Coles minis and have been collecting them for a long time. But do we need them? Think about it! Where are all the ooshies you’ve been collecting? Are ooshies necessary?

I’m sure many of you are responsible and have kept most of them, but what are you going to do when you don’t like it anymore? The first thing you can do with all of the ones you have you could make something out of it. You could glue on some things you already have to make it decorative. Like if you have a pot plant that you don’t really like the look of, you can just glue some ooshie there to make it look more decorative. After you don’t have any ooshies left, it would be best for you, us and everyone in our community if you did not collect any more. 

We could even write a letter to Woolies about why they should stop the ooshie collections because it’s not good for the environment. We could also come up with new ideas for stores like Coles and Woolies to have eco-friendly collectables.

Remember recycling is good, but reducing is better. Your small actions will make a big change in the world, and make it safer for everyone.

-Areesha, Alarna and Rea

Ryan McGee

Sustainability Coordinator

ryan.mcgee@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Defence School Mentor News

One of the best parts of the Defence mentor role is working alongside kids as they navigate school life. This week the Foundation children read the Defence Community Organisation’s Tyler Turtle book together. We covered topics like how to cope when feeling stressed or worried, particularly during times of parental absence and deployment. We also talked about some ways for handling emotions and ways to relax.

Sally Adams

Defence School Mentor

sally.adams@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Are you looking for a summer sport?

The Joeys Phantoms have long had an association with St Joseph's and therefore we are keen to see this continue. With the call out above for younger players to play teeball, there is also a call out to new players and past players to register to play softball in the older age groups. For Joeys Phantoms to be able to enter a softball team in the 2020 / 2021 season, more players and also a coach and / or manager are needed. 

If you would like to find out more about registering to play softball, please see the Softball ACT website - https://act.softball.org.au/junior-clubs/ or contact Carolyn McFarland - carolyn.mcfarland@cg.catholic.edu.au .

Congratulations to this week's award recipients. 

Students are now receiving their Awards at Morning Gathering on Friday, but we are still unable to welcome parents to join us. 

Happy birthday to these students celebrating their birthdays this week: