St Joseph's Primary School - Kilaben Bay eNewsletter

Dear Parents,

Water Safety

Spring has almost sprung and this Spring/Summer is actually shaping up to be quite a hot and dry season. Children’s thought will soon, if not already, be drawn to swimming in the Lake, going to the pool or catching a wave at the beach. We live in a spectacular area where have very close access to all kinds of water sports. It was great having the lifeguards here going through water safety with our students two weeks ago. This, mixed with our Year 2 swimming program, are just more ways we try to keep your children safe and give them knowledge and skills that they will keep for life. Please remember that where children are playing in or around water, you need to be present and vigilant.

Afternoon Pickup

Following complaints from the bus company, a car accident and several near misses of staff and students, we have no other choice but to return to the normal pickup where you park your car and collect your children from the front of the administration block. This decision is purely a safety decision to ensure the safety of the staff and your children. Over the coming weeks we will be investigating changes around the bus bay, most importantly Bus Only and No Stopping signage to avoid cars parking in and around the bus bay which is the main issue. When we have measures in place and followed, we will look to return to a carline pickup.

I know that the community overwhelmingly decided to have a carline pickup earlier this year, but unfortunately due to the actions of an increasing number of parents this practice has become extremely unsafe and cannot be sustained. We ask you to cooperate by reverse parking in the top car park and meeting your children at the paved area in front of the administration block. I will provide you with more updates when I can.

Uniform

Whilst it is still chilly overnight, with the imminent onset of Spring, I have noticed how quickly it is warming up in the mornings when I’m doing morning duty. We will start to transition to Summer uniform from now. Children can wear their school shorts and short sleeve shirts if they wish. Please ensure that all items are clearly marked with their name. Now is the time of year when Jumpers are lost.

Emergency Management

There have been many news stories in the last few weeks telling us how bad the Summer season will be this year, from unpredictable weather to severe bush fires. This has resulted in a couple of questions from the community regarding our emergency management. Please be assured that we have worked very closely with our Safety and Wellness Team at the Diocese, and we have all the necessary plans in place. In the event of a bushfire, our policy is leave quickly and leave early. We have arrangements in place with the local bus company who drop everything and send all available buses straight to the school, where everyone is evacuated to the Toronto Workers Club. This emergency management plan has been enacted twice in the last 25 years. The first time during the bushfires 21 years ago and several years ago during a bomb threat. The process works well and children’s safety is of paramount importance.

Take care, celebrate often, and go gently.

Brad Fuller

Principal

We love our LSA's

Our school is so thankful for the wonderful LSA’s we have here at SJKB! Today we acknowledged their kindness, commitment and dedication to the roles. We couldn’t survive without them!
Our Teacher aides work really hard all year round, and Teacher Aide Appreciation Week is here to show appreciation for them and all the hard work they do.
A big shoutout for all of our classroom heroes!

2023 Abermain Eisteddfod

This year students from Stage 2 and 3 competed in the 106th Abermain Eisteddfod. Mrs Pockran and Miss Parkes did an amazing job supporting the choir and developing their musical skills. SJKB were victorious! We were winners in both sections: Senior Primary Hymn and Senior Primary Choir.

What a great job! Congratulations!

Regards,

Courtney Porter

Assistant Principal

Mini Vinnies - Kilpatrick Visit

On Friday the 18th of August, the Minie Vinnies team went to Kilpatrick nursing home and played a fun game of HOY, which is like bingo but with playing cards, with the residents. At first we were unsure what to do as the Mini Vinnies had never played before but the game quickly turned competitive! We all would like to think we were good luck charms but that wasn't quite true (sadly). Mia was the luckiest, winning a game, a chocolate treat and marshmallows. Throughout the games you could here many “YES!” and “Aww” but no matter what, we found a way to squeeze in a laugh or two and some small talk with the residents.

I always look forward to going to visit Kilpatrick residents and I think they enjoy it too.

By Chloe, Minie Vinnies Leader

Father's Day

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday for our Father’s Day Breakfast and I wish all fathers, grandfathers and father figures in our students lives, a very Happy Father’s Day for Sunday.

Blessings,

Taylor James

RE Co-ordinator

If your child is due to receive an award, you will be emailed a few days prior to the assembly. Awards Assemblies are held each Wednesday. Please check the daily Compass diary to confirm the time (usually 2:20)

Please note, if your child is away for their award presentation, the award will be presented at the following assembly:

Congratulations to our award winners for Weeks 6 and 7, Term 3!

Mr Fuller

Welcome to a fantastic term 3 in St Joseph’s Library!

In week 6 of this term we will be celebrating

This year’s theme is Read, Grow, Inspire!

The Scholastic Book Fair was a great success, with many children buying beautiful books, posters and fun stationary. Thank you to all of those who supported the Book Fair by making purchases.

Last Thursday St Joseph’s hosted our visiting author/illustrator Leila Rudge. Leila is one of Australia’s most popular authors. She has had many successful children’s books, a number being nominated by The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) as picture book of the year.

Leila is a local author who held a workshop with each stage. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about the writing process and hearing how Leila creates beautiful picture books. Many students created some fun pictures using techniques Leila uses.

We all enjoyed our fabulous Bookweek dress-up parade last Friday 25th August.

Well done to all of the children who entered the Bookweek competitions. The winners of the What book am I from? were: Matilda B, Ruby M and Olivia S.

The winners of the Design a bookmark competition were:
Molly W; Carmel M; Crystal M. and Evanna S.
Well done to all of the students who entered the competition.

St Joseph’s has a wonderful collection of books that we encourage all students to borrow.

All students need a library bag to borrow from our Library. This helps protect our lovely books.

School Library bags are available for $14 for anyone who needs one.

Library borrowing occurs weekly for students.

Students are able to keep the books for two weeks, although most return them for new ones each week. If students would like to keep books for longer than 2 weeks, we ask that they bring them to the Library to "renew" the borrowing record in our system.

Infants (K-2) borrowing day is Mondays.
Primary (3-6) borrowing is Tuesdays.

The Library is open during lunch times on Wednesday – Friday and the children love coming in to enjoy books, chess, games and writing or drawing. It is a great social activity for them and it’s lovely to watch them interact with each other and enjoy creating. Students are also able to borrow during lunchtimes on these days.

Many parents and carers often wonder if a book is appropriate for their child. A great resource to help with this is Common Sense Media . This website

allows parents/carers to search books, games, apps, movies and websites to view whether it is age appropriate and what its content contains.

I am very blessed to have some wonderful helpers in the library. Our Library monitors volunteer at lunchtimes to help organise resources, put books away and keep the Library neat and tidy. THANK YOU to those students.

PRC

The Premier’s Reading Challenge has concluded for this year. I’m so proud of the students who have taken part in this year’s challenge. At St Joseph’s we had a total of 93 students participate – Wow!

At the end of the year these students will receive a certificate from the Premier’s Reading Challenge office to show their achievement.
At St Joey’s we also like to celebrate with a Pizza Party in Term Four for those students that complete the challenge.

Part of our St Joseph’s Library collection includes Premier’s Reading Challenge books for all ages. Any students who wish to complete the challenge are able to get all of their books from our library. I’m so proud of the students who have taken part in this years challenge.

The PRC Website can be found here:

Premier's Reading Challenge

Congratulations to the following students who have completed the PRC:

Year 1: Ollie S.

Year 2: Scarlett T

Year 4: Bodhi S.

Year 5: Abigail S.

Year 5: Mya S, Sofia M.

Sora

St Joseph’s has a subscription to SORA. Sora is an eBook and audio book Library. As part of the Australian Catholic Education Network (ACEN) member collection, your child can access eBooks and audio books through the Maitland Newcastle Diocese.
All you need to do is to download the SORA app or go to the website and sign in through the
ACEN membership, then you and your child can enjoy some terrific books on your devices at home.

One of the great features of SORA is the inclusion of a Premier Reading Challenge book section. Graphic novels, Fiction and Non-Fiction books are also available.

Log in and explore today.

If you have any questions about anything in the Library, feel free to send me an email.

Happy reading,

Leah Hannan

Teacher Librarian and ER Teacher

leah.hannan@mn.catholic.edu.au

Jump Rope for Heart is proving to be a real hit and we have some very talented skippers preparing for the great skip off in week 10. The skip off will take place in the hall at 1.45, just before the final assembly for Term 3!

Stage Three will be attending the Lakes Region Netball carnival on Thursday 7th September at Charlestown Netball Centre. They will travel by bus leaving at 8 am and return in time for afternoon buses home. This is the first time the Netball Carnival has been conducted this way and we thank the Charlestown Netball Association for their support of sport in the Lakes Region.

Anne Neems
Primary Coordinator / 3/4 Blue Teacher
St Joseph's Primary School
Kilaben Bay

We are rolling to the end of the Children's University year. All passports will need to be completed by the end of week 9 so that the accrued hours can be logged on the spreadsheet.
The next step is the graduation ceremony which will be held at the Newcastle Campus in either week 7 or 8 Term 4. There is a book week assignment available for anyone wishing to catch up their hours.

Anne Neems
Primary Coordinator / 3/4 Blue Teacher
St Joseph's Primary School
Kilaben Bay

Slushies are back! At $2.50 they are a great way to cool down. We also have Nippy's frozen cups (kids call them Ice Crushers) - still great value at $1.00.

Unfortunately, due to increases in supply prices, there has been a very slight increase in the price of some hot food items.

Here is the latest menu for your reference.

Canteen_Menu_2023_July_23.pdf

Please send any questions to admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au or call the school office on 4959 1355

Some reminders:

Pre-ordered frozen beverages

If you have ordered a drink or frozen treat for your child they will receive a "ticket" in their lunch bag. Please tell them to take the ticket to the canteen to collect their drink / frozen food.

Supply Changes

Please note that vegemite scrolls are no longer available and bacon and cheese rolls continue to be available for the moment.

Lunch Order Issues

These issues have improved. Thank you for considering your children and our staff. Uncertainty with food creates anxiety for your child on the day. We will continue to contact parents if food has not been supplied, but thankfully this has decreased.

We continue to encourage you to establish a routine and reminders (phone reminders work well) to ensure your child has recess and lunch food (either packed at home or ordered from the canteen using Qkr if Wed - Fri)

Please ensure Qkr orders are placed before 9:30 am each day.

Thank you

Volunteer Roster

Every helper is so appreciated and we extend our sincere thanks to our wonderful regulars, together with the new volunteers who are just starting out. Although a couple of new people have registered (big thanks!), we will need more people. As with any volunteer position at school you must be registered.

If you are able to offer help, please send an email to admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au and Margaret Livingstone or Susie Doran will help with your volunteer registration.

See the Roster below. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers! Your children would not benefit from all the canteen has to offer without you!!

If you are unable to make it on your rostered day, please either text Tracey or call the school office.

Term 3

Week 7

Thur 31.8.23 - Yasmin Every-Burns

Fri 1.9.23 - Jacqueline Hanson, Stefanie King, Emily Sault

Week 8

Wed 6.9.23 - Ruth Blyton

Thur 7.9.23 - Maryanne Cartwright, Lyn Moseley

Fri 8.9.23 - Jenna Lorriman, Emma Douglas

Week 9

Wed 13.9.23 - Michelle Cherniayeff

Thur 14.9.23 - Nicole Davison, Andrew Edwards

Fri 15.9.23 - Sarah Morris, Cheryl Henriques

Week 10

Wed 20.9.23 - Michelle Cherniayeff

Thur 21.9.23 - Merryn Compton, Jade Davison

Fri 22.9.23 - Sheree Williams, Ewelina Bursa

Over the Counter Sales / Recess Qkr ordering

Some healthy snack items are available for pre-order and payment on Qkr for Recess.

If you would like your child to have a recess snack, please place a comment in the "note to staff" section when selecting your item.

Small items are also available for sale over the counter on Wednesdays Thursdays and Fridays at Recess and Lunch time. If you would like your child to purchase any items, please send 50c or $1 or $2 with them on canteen days. Please check that your children are bringing legal tender to school. Children are sometimes purchasing items with coins from other countries, which we are unable to deposit to our bank. Thank you.

Children gain valuable experience and independence by purchasing at the canteen. Make sure any money sent with your child is in a purse, zip lock bag or envelope with their name on it. In case it’s accidentally dropped, the money can be returned to the owner.

Thank you

Tracey Ryan-Ward and Susie Doran

Please remember to NAME all clothing, especially jackets.

Lost property goes into the cupboard near the door to the playground in the Admin building, check here and also with your child's teacher. If the item is named it will come back to you straight away.

Some items that might be a bit more precious get handed into the office. We will put a photo of the latest goodies in the newsletter each fortnight, please send an email to admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au if you recognise something and we will return it to the owner.

Thanks

Susie Doran

School Office

How to Order

Thanks to everyone who has placed orders via the link for second hand school items (link below)

PLUS second hand uniform request

We are currently in need of size 8 girls pants, size 4 and 10 boys pants, if you have these items at home and would like to donate them to PLUS we would be extremely appreciative.

Hats can also be ordered via our system please specify new or used in the comments.

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CHILD'S NAME AND CLASS in the message as our volunteers do not have access to the different family surnames to make connections to students - therefore use your child's name first, then your name, especially if different surname. Payment is via the Qkr! app.

Thank you!

THE PLUS TEAM

Aspire_2024_Information_Sheet.pdf

Aspire_2024_Information_Sheet _pdf 1.24 MB

Aspire_2024_Audition_Sheet.pdf

Aspire_2024_Audition_Sheet _pdf 1.35 MB

The children continue to enjoy their guitar lessons so if you would like your child to learn guitar: We have a guitar group here at St Joseph's where children receive tuition from professional teachers at school. For more information, please contact Ricky direct on 0407 534 944:

Community Notices

Unless otherwise stated, the advertisements placed in this newsletter are by independent third parties who have no legal relationship with the Diocese. The activities or services of the advertiseers are not supervised or controlled in any way by the Diocese. The Diocese is not in a position to endorse the advertisers of the services provided and makes no representation about those matters. Accordingly, the Diocese cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisers of the activities or services that are the subject of these advertisements.

We have a number of students who have life threatening anaphylactic allergic reactions to all nuts and eggs. We would like to encourage families NOT to send these food items to school with their children or to ask their children to tell their teacher if they have brought them, so that they can be eaten away from affected children. We also encourage children NOT to share food at school.