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We have already come to the beginning of week 4! As a teaching staff, we have begun to think about Semester one reporting. This year, we are moving to a web-based reporting platform. This will make the process of preparing and generating reports much more consistent, and much simpler and cleaner in the back end. The finished product will still resemble our previous templates, although you will probably notice some subtle style changes. The report content will remain very much as it has been.
Last Tuesday, Mr Chris Greene, from ‘Cybersafe Families’ conducted workshops for our years 3-6 classes, as well as running a parent session in the evening. The theme of his presentation was ‘Helping children grow safely in this world’ and he covered such topics as online gaming, social media, parental controls, etc. The sessions were informative, thought provoking and in some instances a little confronting. Thank you to the families who came along to the evening session to engage in this serious and important topic. We will look to run further sessions next year and beyond. If you would like further information about what the company provides, please visit them at
Over the past two weeks, students in years 3 and 5 have been taking part in the NAPLAN. This year, for the first time, we have been undertaking the tests through an online platform. This provides a more responsive testing experience for the students, and it is believed that the final results will provide a more enhanced understanding of each child’s progress. There have been some minor technical glitches during the process - these are with the platform itself, not our local devices or networks - however we have been able to complete each of the tests so far, enacting protocols as required (e.g. allowing additional time to complete etc.).
Our Mother’s Day breakfast was a huge success and it was so nice to have so many Mums, Grandmas and Caregivers present. Our choir sang a beautiful tribute to Mums, and there is a fantastic montage of photos and music from the day, on our facebook page!
On Wednesday of this week, Dr Neil McGoran, Director of Catholic Education SA will be visiting St. Joseph’s Kingswood between 11.30-2.00pm. Students and staff have been busily preparing for this visit, and making sure we showcase the best of what our school has to offer. Dr McGoran has implemented a new framework for our work in Catholic schools, called the "Living learning Leading” framework, and we are working towards our system vision of “Thriving people, Capable Learners, Leaders for a world God Desires.” If you would like to know more about the framework, please click the link below:
http://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/about/living-learning-leading
Last Tuesday, students from St Joseph's Kingswood- and indeed all of our Parish schools - celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation, in a service led by Fr Phillip Marshall-Administrator delegate for the Adelaide Arch-Diocese. It was a very beautiful service, and a great opportunity for those young people to confirm their commitment to their faith. They are now working towards the celebration of their first Holy Communion - the Sacrament of Eucharist - later this year. Congratuations to the following students:
| Giordana Rossi | Alessandro Rossi | Oliver Cother | Tyler Harriss | Alize Warner |
| Lilia Warner | Alessia Rossi | Evie Pannell | Bailey Begg | Emma Green |
| Xavier O’Brien | Sydney Reemst | Levi Hyams | Matilda Petty | Elsie Petty |
| Isobel Harris | Olvia Grbin |
Last Friday marked our APRIM, Mrs Christine Farrugia’s last day with us, as she takes maternity leave to prepare for the birth of her second child. Mr Jamie Deverson will assume the responsibilities of APRIM for the remainder of this year.
Have a great week everyone,
God bless,
Phil
Hi everyone and welcome to Week 4. I hope all the Mothers in our community had a great Mother’s Day last Sunday. I hope your family spoilt you and let you know how much you mean to them. I told an interesting story the other day about my wife. My son got a new skateboard and we were at the skate park and my wife decided to have a go on the board. I was holding our 3-month-old daughter at the time. When she got on my life flashed before my eyes as I envisioned her falling off and breaking her wrist or something. Mums do so much for their families that I would hate to think about what would happen if she was out of action for a few weeks! Luckily, she didn’t fall and life resumes as normal. So, God bless you Mums! You do so much and I am glad we get to share your children’s education with you.As you may know, I am very passionate about ecology and making sure we are doing all we can to take care of our planet for future generations. This year World Environment Day is on Wednesday 5th June, but because a number of our students won’t be at school for that day, we are celebrating a day early on Tuesday 4th June. I would like to encourage everyone to contribute Zero Waste for one day. We are calling it ‘Zero Waste June 4 One Day!’ We are asking all children to bring a packed recess and lunch that contributes zero to landfill. Obviously, we are not counting food scraps as land fill as this waste goes into our green bins, and whilst I don’t think it necessary to go Zero Waste forever, I think it’s important to keep talking about waste and thinking about ways we can do things differently. The St Joseph's Kingswood Eco Warriors and I are working together and give families suggestions on what we can do on the day and how we can prepare for it. If you have any comments of suggestions please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Last week we held a Cybersafe Families workshop in our Multipurpose room. If you were unable to make it, I thought I would add a couple of things that I found interesting and would encourage you to consider. The first thing would be the privacy settings on your Facebook account, the presenter talked about ‘Sharenting’. This was a term I hadn’t heard of before but something we all do without thinking about it. ‘Sharenting’ occurs when something exciting happens with our children and we upload the photo or video to our Socials. Unfortunately, there are a number of people out there copying these images and saving them on a huge database or worse still, trying to find out where these children live. They also use clues in the photos to find out information about your children and try to use these to develop relationships. Scary I know, so please be aware of your settings and change them if you need to. The other tip was a website called https:/wwwwcommonsensemediaa.org/. On this website you can see the reviews for many different types of movies and video games that you might like to read before allowing your children to watch or play.
I hope you all have a great couple of weeks,
Take care,
Jamie
SAPSASA Athletics Carnival
Congratulations to the 25 students that competed in the SAPSASA Athletics Carnival on Thursday 2nd May at SANTOS Stadium. Last term students at St Joseph’s Kingswood trialled for various Athletic events including 100m, 200m, 800m, high jump, long jump, discus and shot put. These results were used to select the SAPSASA Athletics Team and will also be used to select the Catholic Schools Athletics team (to be held in week 8 of this term).
Although the conditions were less than ideal the students performed admirably with some outstanding results. Special mention to Sydney Reemst who competed at her first Carnival and finished first in both her 100m and 200m heats and 100m and 200m finals, a fantastic effort. Also congratulations to Hamish Baker for finishing first in his 100m and 200m heats and the 100m and 200m finals. Well done Mutsa Mupandawana for his first in long jump, Lawson Stevens in finishing 2nd in shot put and Joshua Fox in finishing 2nd in his 200m event.
Sydney, Hamish, Lawson and Mutsa will all compete in the Metro Carnival representing the City South District on Tuesday 21st May at SANTOS Stadium, well done!
A big thank you to Mrs Lisa Harriss for volunteering her time to officiate on the day and Mrs Annette Green for stepping up to assist with officiating during the day. Also a big thanks to Mrs Lambourne for help on Carnival day and Mrs Bridgette Brown for her assistance at lunch time trials.
SAPSASA Knockout Competitions (Year 6 students)
Year 6 SAPSASA knockout competitions will begin this term with a Soccer, Netball and Football teams all participating in the knockout format during the term. Match dates will be organised soon and hopefully we can have a team reach the final like our Netball Girls did last year! All parents with children involved are encouraged to keep an eye on the SPORTS tile on the SZapp homescreen for info.
SAPSASA Cross Country Carnival
The SAPSASA Cross Country Carnival was held Friday 10th May at Belair National Park. It was a cold a rainy day but 17 students from St Joseph’s Kingswood braved the conditions to run either 2km (10 year old’s) or 3km (11 and 12 year old’s) through Belair National Park.
A special thank you to Thomas and Emma Green's Grandmother for officiating all day in wet and cold conditions, without your help our school would not have been able to participate.
Congratulations to all the students that participated with every student finishing in the top 30 runners and completing the run. Special mention to Archie Lippis for finishing 5th and Thomas Green in finishing 4th. Both students will represent the City South District in the upcoming Metro Cross Country Carnival in Oakbank on Thursday 6th June.
School Sport Teams
Great to see St Joseph's Kingswood represented in so many Winter sports teams and for the seasons to get underway. Thank you to all the parent volunteers that make this possible and have a great season!
This year we have the following teams participate:
| Under 10 Soccer | Senior Soccer |
| Year 2 Netball | Year 3 Netball | Year 4/5 Netball |
| Year 2/3 AFL Football | Year 4/5 AFL Football | Year 6 combined AFL Football |
Also playing this term are:
| Year 2 Basketball | Year 3/4 Basketball | Year 4-7 Volleyball | Aus Kick Football R-1 students |
For anyone with boys or girls wanting to learn the basics of Netball - please download the below Net, Set, Go flyer.
CESA Student Media Consent Form - Reminder
Thank you to everyone who has already returned the Catholic Education SA Student Media consent form. In case you've lost your copy, it's loaded on the MUSIC button on SZapp, or you can download it by clicking this link-SAPOL Band visit
We were fortunate to have a visit from the SAPOL Band on Thursday 9th May and WOW, what a privilege. Performing an array of songs, covering everyone's music taste be it the Star Wars theme song, Black Eyed Peas, "Who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!", Uptown Funk, a bit of Ed Sheeren and culminating in Shake It Off by Taylor Swift - the children (and staff) took great delight in guessing each song, singing and dancing along. Through a couple of short breaks in the music, the band engaged with the students around cyber safety and that Policewomen and Policemen are neighbours, Aunties, Dads and regular people as well as doing an important role, and that they are encouraged to wave to them if they see them, and the Police will wave back. We will aim to get them back again next year and encourage any and all to come along.Introducing Steve Staben - Drum Tutor
Hi! My name is Steve Staben and I am a drum tutor new to St Joseph's Kingswood so thought I would introduce myself to the school community. I started playing the drums in year 8 1988, only because lessons were not readily available to me until I reached high school. I studied drumming and music as a subject right through high school and then after more years of studying with drummers I respected and gaining playing experience I entered the world of professional drumming and drum tuition in 1997.I teach at various schools throughout the week and have now been doing this for over 20 years. I am also active in the live music scene as a freelance drummer playing for many cover bands and also my two original music projects Squeaker and Lone Soul Syndicate, of which I am the drummer, songwriter, engineer and producer. I love all aspects of music creation and performance.
I teach drums not only to make a living or for the love of music but because I see music in general as an important tool in cognitive and social development. No matter the instrument, in my estimation it’s a crucial experience in life regardless of whether it is carried into adult life. But in most situations, it certainly is in one capacity or another, and this is enriching for the individual and our culture.Starting up, a drum kit is not necessary for the first 6 to 12 months. All students need is a practice pad, drum sticks and a couple of books amounting to an initial investment of approximately $120. Then long term interest can be gauged and a drum kit can be purchased at a later stage, ranging anywhere from $400 (2nd hand) upwards according to quality.So, if you have a budding drummer in your family, there’s no better time to start than now! I’m looking forward to showcasing the students who are learning so far and would welcome more to learn the coolest instrument in the world, perhaps even universe (but don’t tell guitarists that).All the best, Steve
Thanks for all who attended the P&F meeting on Friday 17th May, our next meeting will be held Wednesday 12th June – everyone is welcome to drop by, even if you haven't come before. Thanks to St Joseph's Kingswood and Cybersafe Families for the info sessions last week. The parent session was so informative to everyone that could come along, with lots of thought-provoking content and detail around where to go for info and how to ensure we are providing our children with cybersafe enviornments. I encourage you all to come along if there's another session at the school.
Switching gears to the social events of past and future, it was lovely to catch up with some of the St JK women at Champagnes for Mums on Friday night.
Tickets for the Disco are now officially on sale via QKR from now through til 21 June.
One more for the calendar, don’t forget to pop Saturday 24th August in your diaries for the Quiz Night- time to dust off your Trivial Pursuit box and book into a couple of dentist/doctor appts so you can flick through the trashy magazines and get up-to-date on the latest celeb news. Truly one of those events where the more the merrier, so please put the date in the diary, book the babysitter and come along.
Thank you to the families who have donated goods to our collection for the Vinnies Winter Appeal. You have until Thursday 6th June to bring in what you can, to help people who lack some of the resources and creature comforts many of us take for granted, particularly over the colder months.
Woolworths Earn & Learn is on again. From now until 25th June, collect your stickers (one for every $10 spent online or in store) and pop them either into a St Joseph's Kingswood box at Woolworths Cumberland Park or Mitcham, or bring them into school. You can either collect a sticker sheet from the Front Office or put your stickers straight into the collection box. Every bit helps get us closer to purchasing new equipment for the school, so please get involved!
