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

It was wonderful to see many from our St Joseph’s School community gather together on Saturday night to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi at our first Parish/School Mass for 2021. Thank you to Ben, Pritika, Sophie, Aaron, Marvin and Layla for leading the readings and to Ashley, Adam, Annabelle and Olivia for being our welcomers.  

Semester Reporting and Parent/Teacher Interviews

This semester, student reports across all Catholic schools in the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese will consist of grades only, with no written comments provided by teachers. Reports will be made available on the Compass Parent Portal on Wednesday 16 June at 12pm.

In order to provide you with a clear understanding of identified areas of growth and areas for growth for your child/ren, we will be holding Parent/Teacher Interviews in Week 10. These interviews will run for 15 minutes. Bookings are now open on the Compass Parent Portal. Bookings will close on Friday 18 June.

Please click here for information on how to access Parent/Teacher Conferences in the Compass Parent Portal using the Mobile App or a Desktop.

Today, another email regarding logging into the Compass Parent Portal was sent to those who have not yet logged in and updated their temporary password. Please action this email to ensure you will be able to book Parent/Teacher Interviews, access student reports and submit absence notes.

Please note that from Term 3, SZapp will no longer be used to send alerts, reminders and messages. These will be sent via the Compass Parent Portal.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are having any difficulty accessing or using the Parent Portal.

Camp Australia Coordinator

We are very pleased to announce the Dani Sawell will be our full-time Camp Australia Coordinator for our After School Program. Dani has been at St Joseph's since the end of last term and will now be with us on a permanent basis. We welcome Dani to the role and to her new home of Canberra. 

Winter Woolly Day

With the plummeting temperature today, it is a timely reminder to think of those in our Canberra community who are experiencing homelessness and are exposed to the elements night after night. To help raise funds for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal we will be holding a Winter Woolly Day on Friday 18 June (Week 9). Students are invited to rug up for the day in scarves, gloves, beanies, oodies and the like for a gold coin donation. Our donations will be contributed to the fundraising efforts of members from Catholic Education who will be participating in the CEO Sleepout on 17 June.

Social and Emotional Learning 

My focus for the last fortnight has been on using our ‘N Voice’. Our N Voice is nice, normal, and neutral instead of a mean, angry, whiny or sarcastic tone. I encourage you to use the language of ‘N Voice’ at home. Perhaps you could praise your child for using their N Voice or remind them of the need to use it, especially as a way to help calm any negative emotions they may be feeling.

I hope you have an enjoyable end to the week. Stay Warm!

Amy Doszpot

Assistant Principal 

amy.doszpot@cg.catholic.edu.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.

 Michelle Vuli

Religious Education Coordinator

michelle.vuli@cg.catholic.edu.au

Cross Country

Well done to all our Regional Cross Country competitors who represented St Joseph’s last Friday at Stromlo Forest Park. They did an amazing job and ran a great race in some challenging conditions. Thank you to Mrs Fletcher for managing the team on the day.

Congratulations to Amy D, Frieda C and Leilani T, who made it through to the ACT Championships to be held on 16 June. What a great achievement!

Athletics

We held our school Athletics Carnival at the beginning of term to make the most of the beautiful Autumn weather. Preparations are underway for the Regional Carnival and students who have made it through will receive permission notes in the coming weeks.

We are offering the opportunity for students to compete in long jump on Friday 18 June at Merici College long jump pit. If your child is interested in competing please email me, koby.allan@cg.catholic.edu.au. The trials will take place between 8am - 8.45am and students will need to make their own way there and then on to school. Once we have conducted the long jump trials, Age Champions will be announced at morning assembly for 10-12 Years age groups.

Koby Allan

koby.allan@cg.catholic.edu.au

The wall outside the DSM office shows a colourful display of our Defence students here at St Joseph's. The students are proud to call themselves Defence Kids. We know that it can be challenging living the military lifestyle so it is wonderful these children can support each other on the journey.

 

 

Community News - This year, ADFA will be presenting CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, The Musical, based on the DreamWorks Motion Picture sometime in August. More info to come soon.

DCO events in July

The DCO Canberra team has been busy planning events for members and families posted to the Canberra region. Here's a sneak peek of their events for July.

Wednesday 14 July    Coffee & Conversation: Red Baron Café, Symonston

Wednesday 14 July    Dinner with a Difference: Laugh Out Loud ( child-free event)

Thursday 15 July       Healthy Eating on the Run: Cooking workshop & lunch

Sally Adams

Defence School Mentor

Thanks to our lovely new volunteers for making this possible. If you have a spare half-hour each week or fortnight and could help out please email nicole.mahar3@gmail.com

New stock in now

We've got lots of brand new stock in the shop to make sure your kids are as warm as toast.  Fluffy new polar fleeces, long pants and long-sleeve tops, warm beanies, gloves and even socks are all available now. We've also got a fresh supply of backpacks, lots of hats and PE gear too.

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. 

Happy birthday to these students celebrating their birthdays this week: