St Joseph's Primary School - Kilaben Bay eNewsletter

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The teachers  have been busily finalising reports  over recent weeks. Often,  during this time  teachers  pause  to reflect on the remarkable gains  their  students have made through the year. As mentioned in previous newsletters,  we have implemented  many strategies to support student learning this year. Mrs Tuck has written below about the tremendous growth our students have shown in reading.

I am always mindful of the importance of tracking growth and identifying moments in time when we have an “ah-ha” moment. Whether we are big or small we need to embrace our “feedback loop” and reflect on how we grow in all aspects of our lives.

Then the fun part happens: we celebrate our success! Often, we move onto the next goal without taking a moment in time to identify what we have achieved and celebrate this.

During this week and next, Teachers will offer interview opportunities where we can meet together and engage in worthwhile conversations about your child’s learning and development.

Parents play a vital role in their child’s “feedback loop” and our hope is that you reiterate and celebrate their individual growth and achievement too.

With delight we Congratulate Aria and her family on the safe arrival of her beautiful little brother Ryker. We know Aria will be a fabulous big sister!

Congratulations to all our students who participated in the Regional Maths and Spelling Bees. We wish Lilly K all the best at the Diocesan Finals.

Netball Court & Playground Update

The progress on the netball courts has paused due to the amount of rain we have experienced. Once the courts and the surrounding areas have the opportunity to dry out over a sustained period of weeks, the heavy machinery will return and the resurfacing project will continue.

The new playground works are expected to commence over the holidays.

Student voice

I encourage you to read on and have a look at the student- led “Competition” and initiative. I am pleased to say as part of the response to their presentation our system leaders have approved our netball access pathway project! I am very much looking forward to sharing these details with our students and meeting with them to show the design scope.

School attendance has been affected by student sickness which is normal for this time of year. However, please ensure you record your child’s absence through Compass. We are required to follow up unexplained absences and chronic absences.

I wish our dedicated teachers a wonderful upcoming holiday break and our students and their families a joyful holiday season. As we move into the second half of the year, we will continue to focus on our school goals;

embedding a Catholic culture of care across the whole school community
improving student outcomes in Reading & Writing through differentiated teaching practices
revisiting and reviewing our existing practices to improve ‘Conditions for Learning”

With every best wish,

Nikki Norley

(Principal)

Message from the REC

Sacramental Journey

Many of our students have started their sacramental preparation journey through our St Joseph Parish Church. Preparing them for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Fist Holy Communion. Please keep them in your prayers.

Dates to be aware of:

4^th July – Naidoc Liturgy 2pm

Term 3

26^th July – Grandparents Day Liturgy in the Hall 10am

8^th August – Mary of the Cross Mackillop Liturgy led by 3/4W in the church 1:10pm

15^th August – The Assumption of the Virgin Mary Parish Mass (time TBA)

Message from the Primary Coordinator

Reading Results

SJKB has a school goal for 2024 of improving student outcomes in reading and writing. This has been a huge focus in our classrooms, and we are constantly reviewing our teaching practices to ensure that we are providing students with the greatest chance of success in reading and writing. It has also been the point of focus for our Diverse Learning Team; to increase adult density to ensure that we are using our teaching and support staff to the students' best advantage during literacy teaching time.

Reading specifically has been a focus in our data collection and analysis this year. At the start of the year, all students from Year 1 to Year 6 were assessed on their reading fluency and ability to retell a text.

Last week, we began retesting students to track reading growth. So far, we have retested most Year 3 and 4 students and the results have overall been really positive. Over 95% of students showed growth in reading fluency, and for some of these students the growth was extremely significant. Of the small group of students who did not show growth, every one of them have recently begun a reading intervention program implemented by our Learning Support Teacher. We expect that this targeted intervention will support these students in their reading and their end-of-year results will reflect this.

The teachers in Year 3 and 4 have implemented a reading fluency program this year in which students receive a text at their reading level each week, and they read this same text each day at school and at home. Their rate of words read in a minute is recorded when they receive the reading and then again after a week. By re-reading the texts multiple times, students have the chance to practice reading fluently and confidently. This continuous practice is paying off, as we are seeing in the reading results from last week!

Library News

Year 2 Old Photos

Class News

Kinder Maroon

We are nearly half way through the year and kinder are enjoying their first year at school. We are always very busy learning and having fun! Our sport this term has been AFL which is exciting as we go to the field and run around.

We are learning new letters and words every week. We are also adding and subtracting numbers. We like to play in the playroom, writing menu’s, building towers with shapes, painting and writing letters.

Stage 3 visit to Canberra

Stage 3 have recently undertaken an educational tour of the national capital. Students participated in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia's history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $20 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate Program. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the program.

DAY 1

By Eve.B

It was dark and cold as the whole of Stage Three arrived at school at six o’ clock on a chilly Wednesday morning. We were all tired and weary after waking up so early, but we were still excited for the day ahead. As we drove away on the bus, we waved goodbye to our parents. This was it. We were finally going on the trip we've been dreaming about our whole school life. When we finally arrived in Canberra and passed Lake George and the first destination was Mount Ainslie. After that we visited the Captain Cook Memorial Water-Jet than we proceeded down the drive to Regatta Point. After we visited Regatta Point, we had a lunch break and headed down to Parliament House where we were able to reenact how the government passes bills. After a long hard day of learning we headed to the motel.

DAY 2

By Audrey

We woke up bright and early on Thursday, starting the day with showers and bacon and eggs. We were rushed on to the bus and told what we were doing that day. Exited but still a little homesick, we were split into two groups (Year 5 and Year 6). Year 5 went to experience how to vote at the Electoral Education Centre and Year 6 went on a tour on the bus to see some of the embassies. We then swapped activities.

After that, we went to the National Museum of Australia and learnt all about the Aboriginal people's stories. We made our way to the outside of the museum and explored the Great Aussie Backyard.

Then we hopped back on the bus and had a drive around Anzac Parade and learnt about the miserable wars.

We drove to the War Memorial and paid our respects to the all the brave people that sacrificed themselves in war.

Soon after, we headed to the Earth Science Education Centre and learnt all about rocks and earthquakes. We went back to the motel and got ready for the Australian Institute of Sport. We came back from the AIS late at night.

DAY 3

By Lilly

Waking up realising it was our last day in cold Canberra, our spirits were fairly low, but were raised when we finished a hearty breakfast of French toast and fries and started our journey to Questacon! The excitement of the trip was building up, the moment we'd all been waiting for....

Wallets in hands, smiles on faces, the Stage 3 students proceeded into the ginormous building of science. Our first stop was the one many had been debating about: the Gravity-Drop Slide. You had to wear a special suit that made you look like a mechanic or an astronaut and your shoes had to be taken off. Climbing the stairs to reach the top, the anticipation was mounting. Chin down, you had to hold onto a high bar, looking down at your feet, holding on for 3 seconds. The drop looked so scary and many people dropped out of doing the activity. I also had to admit it wasn't the most appealing!

When I did it, it was actually really fun, but there were many other activities to do, like Lego-building, airborne foam balls that you could steer, and more.

The shop had lots of choices, and we had fun choosing different souvenirs. We watched the classic 'Johnny English' on the way home.

When we finally reached school, we were very happy to see our families again

These school holidays that are several places that have holiday programs.

Red Frogs- including Dungeons and Dragons, an interactive role-playing games where the players learn communication and collaboration skills, develop emotional resilience, and build empathy for others, all while rolling dice and having fun. School Holiday Programs — Red Frog for Families (rf4f.com.au)

The Authentic Children- drama, yoga, mindfulness and physical movement programs. The Authentic Child | Wellbeing Programs for Children. These two programs that can be accessed through a current NDIS Plan.

Awaba Art Gallery- Have several classes that focus on creativity including Naidoc Sand Art and Slither and Climb. Events - Museum of Art and Culture | Yapang (lakemac.com.au)

Lake Macquarie libraries have wide range of fun and interesting activities you can do from creative arts, to Storytimes, Lego building workshops and so much more! School Holiday Activities - Lake Mac Libraries

Wishing you all a happy and restful school holidays.

Courtney Albury (LST) together with

The Diverse Learning Team.

Gifted Education News

Competition Time!

At the start of the year, a small group of GEM students investigated a potential problem relating to the speed of vehicles travelling through our 40km/hr School Zone. They decided to take records of the speed of the cars that were entering our school at different times of the day.

To do this they went down across the road from the bus bay with stop watches and a trundle wheel. They used the trundle wheel to measure a five metre interval and marked it with sports cones.

They then waited for the cars to arrive and used the stopwatches to time how long it took each vehicle to travel from the start to the end of the five meters. They then used an App. to convert these times into speeds. Once the data was collected, they had a meeting with our Diocesan Leaders to share the project and get their advice. We received a few ideas and suggestions such as speedbumps, slow down signs, chicanes and more.

The Catholic School Office and Diocesan Leaders were surprised to learn that some vehicles were actually speeding way above the School Zone speed limit! We wonder if you can guess how quickly the fastest vehicle travelled through the School Zone. If successful, you will receive a $20 Canteen Voucher!

Watch our Video of the project :

GEM School Zone Speed Project

Record you guess on our Microsoft Form

Entries for this competition will close on Friday 5th July 2024.

We hope you can be a part of this exciting competition…good luck!!!

Audrey Tuck (Yr 5/6 Blue)

GEM STEM - Minecraft Education Edition Primary Schools Challenge

As you may aware, Audrey, Zac, Harry and Kobe from Stage 3 have been working on their entry in the Minecraft Education Edition Schools Challenge Competition for quite some time. In short, they had to design and build a community that matched a detailed set of criteria.

Our SJKB Minecraft Project has now been submitted to the Australian eSports League (AEL) for judging. We look forward to receiving feedback on our project. Watch our three minute video overview of our submission here:

SJKB NSW Minecraft Challenge Stage 3 2024

Our Stage Two Gem students, Ike (3/4W), Charlie (3/4W) and Elliott (3/4B), are currently re-constructing our Parish Church, St Joseph’s, in the Minecraft Education Edition platform. These students have had to investigate materials, spatial configurations and some architectural features in order to produce their own annotated plan of the Church before building a “walk-through” in Minecraft Education Edition. This will be a project that will take several months and will feature processes around feedback, modification and feedforward. This project will be shared with the wider school community via a short on-line video presentation late in Term 3.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education

Yams

Our students have been quietly preparing our new Yam bed in readiness for the growing season that usually starts around mid-June. We’ve created a growing medium by mixing sand, soil and horse manure together and carefully laid out our Yam seeds across the surface before covering them with a small amount of sandy soil. We did this to stop the seeds from blowing away. It will take about two weeks for the seeds to germinate.

Awabakal people, like people from other Aboriginal Nations, made the most of Yams when they could. Yams in this area were a cross between a sweet potato and a regular potato and often shaped like a pencil. The Yam flowers let Awabakal people know that yams were ready and available in season. They were not ripped out from the soil but were carefully gathered by breaking the vegetable into parts beneath the soil and replanted. This type of Aboriginal farming was very sustainable.

It's interesting to note that the Darkinjung people who travelled through William Cape’s farm north of Wyong in 1828 were astonished to find so many “giant Yams” … so much so that they took as many as they could carry en-route to the coast to celebrate the fish & whale season. William Cape, a farmer and former School Principal had received a land grant of 1000 acres in 1825 and planted fields of potatoes at his new farm. Needless to say, this caused great conflict between the Darkingjung and the white settlers.

NAIDOC Week Liturgy

Parents and caregivers are most welcome to join us for our NAIDOC Week liturgy which will be held under the COLA from 2pm on Thursday 4^th July 2024.

Chess News

On Monday 3^rd June fourteen students from St Joseph’s competed in the 2024 Interschool Chess Challenge at Avondale School in Cooranbong. As part of the Westlakes area we were up against Cooranbong Primary School, Wyee Primary School and Avondale Primary School. Some of our teams were returning competitors, while a few were competing for the first time. We were very excited to be fielding four teams this year. The players were Aidan McK, Paige S, Lilly K, Grace S, Darby D, Aylah H, Harvey McK, Henry G, Xavier S, Tobias D, Scarlett T, Meylah S, Arrabella M and Archer S (who received a small gift from Avondale as the youngest player at the tournament).

The Knights’ teams played five rounds while the Rookies’ played 7 rounds. All the teams were very competitive this year. We did well with only 1.5 points the difference between first and third (one of our teams) in the Knights section of the competition. One of our Rookies' teams was sitting in third place at one stage during the day. As to whether there is another day set for next term is yet to be decided, but when asked our competitors gave a resounding ‘Yes’ to that proposition.

Our students demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship, fantastic team spirit and were a credit to our school again this year. Well done to all our competitors and a big thank you to all those parents and grandparents who were able to assist with transport to and from the event.

Anne Tutton

Chess Coordinator

Pastoral Care

Men's Shed

Students involved in the Toronto Men’s Shed project have been busy finishing off their projects in Term 2. These projects include assembling, priming and painting pen and pencil caddies and boxes, native bird nesting boxes and a native bird feeder. We hope to have these projects completed soon so that we can prepare for an exciting new XMAS project. We are truly blessed to receive such wonderful support from the Toronto Men’s Shed!

SuperParent Powers Program

The guide for parenting pre-teens and teens

SuperParent Powers has been designed by The Kidman Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney.

SuperParent Powers is a 2h interactive training program for parents and caregivers of 10 – 15-year old children. Did you know that the most powerful thing you can do to protect your child against poor mental health is building a strong connection?

CONNECTION = PROTECTION

This program will equip you with the skills to help your child to feel heard and supported. You'll gain the knowledge to guide your child through challenging emotions, identify when they may be grappling with mental hurdles, foster their independence within reasonable boundaries, and most importantly, effectively manage your own emotions.

Please note: This is currently a Research Study. We are evaluating the SuperParent Powers training for its effectiveness and to improve quality and your learning experience. Right now, you can access the program for FREE if you participate in our research. again, participation would involve completing a short survey before the training and then again after completion and at the follow-up points after 3 and 12 months.

For more information or to sign up for this program please visit www.superparentpowers.au

Have a lovely week

Mel Dobosz

Pastoral Care Worker

Sport News

Student sporting news

Hensley and Ace had their first game of tackle football at Mc Donald Jones Stadium on the weekend in a gala day for NRL under 7's teams.

We are so proud of you Hensley and Ace.

ICAS Assessments

This year students in years 3-6 will again have the opportunity to participate in the ICAS assessments in the areas of English, Maths, Science and Writing. The competitions will be held at school during August. See below for further details and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Woollett. beth.woollet@mn.catholic.edu.au

Your school access code is: WND180

Your parent page link is: Parent access page – ICAS Assessments

What is ICAS? 

ICAS is an online academic competition that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills

Every student who participates is celebrated and recognised with a printed certificate in each subject area, and an online results report to track development each year. Top performers are eligible for one of the highly coveted ICAS medals.

To learn more about this year’s exciting ICAS competition, visit: ICAS - Leading Academic Competition - ICAS Assessments

How to participate in ICAS 

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please: 

Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: ICAS - Leading Academic Competition - ICAS Assessments
Read the Privacy Collection Statement below.
Read the terms and conditions here: 2023-ICAS-Assessments-Schools-TsCs_S2023.V6-1.pdf
Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas here: Parent access page – ICAS Assessments
Enter our school’s access code –WND180
Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment.

Please note that the ICAS subject areas shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.  

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records. 

P & F News

Please see the below information regarding our upcoming Family Movie Night.

Please note - Parents are required to stay onsite for the duration as this is an out of school hours event.

Next P&F meeting is on 23rd July at 5.30pm in the library.

Volunteering at SJKB

We regularly need volunteers for various roles within our school. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer at our school, please follow the instructions on the link below:

Volunteering link

If you have been a volunteer in the past and your WWCC has expired, you can renew it for free at Service NSW.

Once you have been cleared, you will need to come in for a site induction (approx. 40mins). We appreciate you all so much!

Our final site induction date for term 2 is on FRIDAY JULY 5TH @ 3.30pm, (no longer Friday 28th June) please email me with your attendance.

courtney.porter@mn.catholic.edu.au

PLUS

The PLUS Second hand clothing shop runs on Monday and Friday mornings from 8.20am to 8.50am during school terms.

We have wide selection of secondhand uniforms available all uniform items are $5 and jackets are available for $10. All payments can be made via QKR! after your order has been received, we will attach the amount owing to the order.

Alternatively you can order online and we will send your order home with your child via the link/QK code above.

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

Canteen News – Including Volunteer Roster

We continue to encourage you to establish a routine and reminders to ensure your child has recess and lunch food (either packed at home or ordered from the canteen using Qkr if Wed - Fri).
We will continue to contact parents if food has not been supplied. Uncertainty with food creates anxiety for your child on the day.
Qkr cut off times have been changed this term, please ensure Qkr orders are placed before 8.00 am each day.

I am seeking new volunteers to help in the canteen. We ask any new or current Parents or Grandparents if they could offer a couple of hours once or twice a term in the canteen.

If you would like to volunteer please call or email admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au