Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As we approach the end of Term 3, we reflect on a busy yet successful term, with our annual Sports Day still to come. The students are so excited, and I look forward to attending my first St Joseph’s Kingswood Sports Day!

Laser Literacy

It has been a huge term of learning for both staff and students with the implementation of Laser Literacy from Reception to Year 6.  As part of the process, our knowledgeable other, Linda Clune co-creator of Playberry Laser Literacy, has come in and modelled lessons for our staff whilst having an opportunity to discuss any queries.  Following this, staff were then observed by Linda and an opportunity for feedback was provided.  This process will continue in Term 4 as we strive for excellence and acknowledge expertise does not develop overnight. Our staff have been incredible in taking this on with such passion and energy and we have had amazing feedback from Linda about both our staff and students.  As a leadership team, we are proud of what we have achieved in such a short period and look forward to continuing this as a school wide phonics program for our school.

Lego Club

This term, three of our Year 6 students Owen, Theo and Oscar have been running a Lego Club.  These boys have been working tirelessly to get this off the ground over the past term.  This involved careful planning including a proposal to launch this initiative which was presented.  After approval, the next stage was fundraising which occurred through casual days where they raised a little over $500.  As we know, Lego is an expensive pastime, so the boys presented their proposal to the Parents and Friends committee who generously matched this allowing us to purchase more than enough Lego for our school.  The boys have been committed to running these sessions each week, a lunchtime for 3-6 and two recesses for R-2.  Each week there is a different challenge and the boys judge these and tally the scores which will contribute to an overall winner at the end.  We are so proud of our Year 6’s taking on such an amazing initiative for our school and are equally grateful to the P&F for supporting them. We will keep you posted as to who our Lego Club winners are at the end!

Maths Olympiad

Over the past two terms, our Year 3-6 students have been involved in a new initiative, Maths Olympiad.  This is a math competition that is open to all year 3/4 students and is part of our STRETCH program for year 5/6 students. The Australasian Problem-Solving Mathematical Olympiads (APSMO) is a not-for-profit, professional organisation established in 1987.  Each week our teams met on Tuesday mornings to stretch our brains and use our mathematical knowledge and skills to solve real world (extremely difficult) problems. There were four competitions to test what we had learnt, and it was remarkable to see each student grow in confidence.  We finished our Maths Olympiad journey for 2024 with a celebratory breakfast.  I would like to personally thank all of the parents who ensured their little ones were here bright and early and who supported the program in it’s very first year.  We look forward to continuing this in 2025.