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

Prayer to Mary Help of Christians Patroness of Australia and of the Military Ordinariate

      Almighty God, deepen in our hearts Our love of Mary Help of Christians. Through her prayers and under her protection, May the light of Christ shine over our land. May Australia be granted harmony, justice and peace. Grant wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens. Bless especially the men and women Of the Australian Defence Force and their families. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.    

Compass Parent Portal

Thank you to the many parents who have logged into the Compass Parent Portal. Please note that it is important that you update your password as prompted by the Compass email. As you can imagine, it is of high priority that we ensure all in the community are set up and ready to access our new communication platform, therefore reminder emails are sent to those who have not updated their temporary password provided by Compass.

If you are having difficulty finding St Joseph's on the Compass App, please ensure that when using the search option you type St Joseph's Primary School - O'Connor.

The function to submit absence notes via SZapp has now been disabled. All absentees are now required to be submitted via the Compass Parent Portal.

If you have not received an email from Compass with login details or have any questions about our new platform, please email me amy.doszpot@cg.catholic.edu.au

School Survey

In the coming weeks, we invite students, teachers, and parents to provide feedback on their school experience using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.

We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community, we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Joseph’s Primary School.

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:

www.tellthemfromme.com/xnpr9

Staffing News

Yesterday, 2 Magenta were advised that Mrs Eloise Wilson (Ms Palmer) will be taking extended leave from her position at St Joseph’s from the end of Term 2. Ellie will be travelling to Sydney with her husband Alex who is taking up a promotional position in his work for the remainder of 2021.

In baby news, Hayley Gould and her husband Dan are expecting their second child, a sibling for Pippa, later this year. Hayley will finish up at the end of Term 3.

We wish Ellie and Hayley all the very best for their exciting new adventures!   

Nacho Day

Thank you to Nichole H from the P&F and her band of helpers; Julie-Anne W, Tiffany F, Sue M, Tash G and Danni from Camp Australia for running another successful Nacho Day lunch yesterday. The day raised $970.

As you can imagine, days like this take a lot of preparation and rely heavily on parental support. To ensure the P&F are able to continue to offer these delicious lunches as a way to raise money for our school, please consider volunteering an hour or two next time around.

St Joseph’s Early Learning Centre Vacation Care (for Preschool and Foundation)

Vacation care bookings at the ELC are now open for students in Foundation. Vacation Care is available from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Please submit the attached booking form to the ELC no later than Friday 11 June.

I hope you have an enjoyable end to the week!

Yours in Christ,

Amy Doszpot

Assistant Principal 

amy.doszpot@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Mary Help of Christians

The feast day of Mary Help of Christians or sometimes known as Our Lady Help of Christians is celebrated worldwide on 24 May each year. This special feast day has been celebrated since the 17th century, and focuses on acknowledging Virgin Mary as both a mother and helper of the church. Mary is also seen as the model of the Church. In all of her actions she exemplifies the mission of the Church. She agreed to God's will to give birth to Jesus and supported and displayed her faith in her son throughout his ministry.

The feast day of Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844 but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800s. The infant Church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. In those early and mostly priestless days, it was largely the Rosary that kept the faith alive. Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary, and was the first nation to choose her, under the title of Help of Christians, as Principal Patron.

This Marian Feast Day was celebrated at school on Monday, with each class coming together for prayer that was led by 2 Yellow. The beautiful artwork below is a representation of Mary holding the baby Jesus. You can see that she has been depicted with the Australian outback in the background, and she is standing under the Southern Cross. The original artwork hangs in St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, the church named after Our Lady.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week commences tomorrow, Thursday 27 May and concludes on Thursday 3 June. Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Reconciliation Australia’s theme for 2021, More than a word. Reconciliation takes action, urges the reconciliation movement towards braver and more impactful action. Next week, students will be immersed in a range of activities in class that acknowledge and create an understanding of why reconciliation is so important in Australia.

There are a number of events and activities being held that you can attend. For more information, please visit the National Reconciliation Week website: https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/

St Joseph’s Sacramental Program

Sacrament of the Eucharist

Holy Communion is scheduled for Sunday 15 August. Enrolment in this Sacrament is for Year 4 students who have made their First Reconciliation, as well as any Year 5 or 6 students who were unable to make this Sacrament previously.

Date of Sacrament:                Sunday 15 August

Time:                                    12:00pm

Registrations:                         Opening online at the end of Term 2 on the Parish                                                    website:     

                                             https://www.stjosephsoconnor.org.au

Sacrament Retreat Day:          Tuesday 12 August (for all Year 4 students)

Sacrament of Confirmation

The Sacrament of Confirmation will be held on Wednesday 28 October. Enrolment for this Sacrament is offered to students in Year 6, who have made their Reconciliation and Holy Communion. Further information regarding enrolments and preparation for this Sacrament will be provided in Term 3.

Date of Sacrament:                Thursday 28 October

Time:                                    5:30pm

Registrations:                         Opening online at the end of Term 3 on the Parish                                                    website: https://www.stjosephsoconnor.org.au

Sacrament Retreat Day:         TBA

All enrolments and payments must be done via the St Joseph’s Parish Website (not the school Qkr! account). Workbooks will be provided to each student enrolled and are to be completed at home, with their parents.

Combined School & Parish Mass

On Saturday 5 June, we will be celebrating Parish Mass as a whole school community. This will provide us the opportunity to come together as a St Joseph’s community, and celebrate.

There will be a number of opportunities for students to be actively involved in different aspects of the mass. If you are able to attend, and you would like your child to participate, could you please email me to let me know. We would love to see as many families at mass as possible.

St Joseph’s Winter Appeal

This June, we invite you to donate non-perishable food items to our St Joseph's table. These donations will be distributed by St Vincent de Paul to families less fortunate within our local community. Food items can include: canned goods (tinned vegetables, legumes, beans), pasta, rice, long-life milk, biscuits, noodles, spreads & preserves, or cereal.

Important Term 2 Dates:

For further information or any questions regarding Religious Education and events, please feel free to contact me via email: michelle.vuli@cg.catholic.edu.au

Michelle Vuli

Religious Education Coordinator

michelle.vuli@cg.catholic.edu.au

Sustainability in Action

Lids4Kids

After putting a call out for students to use recess time to sort lids, these Eco Warriors could not come fast enough! Each earned 5 Greenie Points for their class, putting 3 Navy into the lead!

If possible, please take foam inserts out of milk lids before bringing to the collection buckets outside of the staff room. If you are unable to, please do not let that stop you from collecting lids. We will sort it out for you!

Cooking for a Cause

Years 5 and 6 enjoyed creating beautiful fruit skewers last week, and began some creative food photography to support these lessons on food waste. Cutting skills were also introduced and Joeys learned to slice and core fruit. Zero food waste was produced from this lesson, as students placed peels and seeds into compost and only took what they enjoyed. Leftovers made a yummy treat for Year 1 students.

“It was really fun learning how to cut up the apples and pears. We only put on our skewers what we were going to eat. We can make these at home too to use up our fruit before it goes off,” said Year 5 Daniel G.

“You, as a food buyer, have the distinct privilege of proactively participating in shaping the world your children will inherit.” - Joel Salitin

Ryan McGee

Sustainability Coordinator

ryan.mcgee@cg.catholic.edu.au

Ryan McGee

ryan.mcgee@cg.catholic.edu.au

Sally Adams

Defence School Mentor

Happy birthday to these students celebrating their birthdays this week:

Volunteers Needed!

The uniform shop would love to re-open to the school community for face to face service and assistance.

However we REQUIRE SOME PARENT VOLUNTEERS to do so. Our team will work with what suits your availability - morning or afternoon, any day!  We simply require approx. 30 minutes of your time once a week or fortnight.  We'll ensure you have a team member with you so you won't be doing it alone.

Be a part of the uniform team!  Get involved, meet your school parent community and make friendships along the way!

Please contact Nicole Mahar on nicole.mahar3@gmail.com

Does your child need a new

water bottle? 

The new St Joseph's water bottles have arrived, and for the first couple of weeks come with a little extra inside. The water bottles are available through the Uniform Shop on Qkr! for $12.00 and for a limited time, might have a voucher to the canteen, House Points, extra play time... or even being Principal for the day! 

Congratulations to this week's award recipients. 

Students receive their award at Friday morning assembly at 8.50am. Parents are again welcome to attend this assembly, but photos will continue to be taken each week and shared via SZapp.