Filter Content
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Only three weeks to go before the end of term 2! I’m sure all children, families and school staff are looking forward to the mid-year break.
On Friday 7th June, St. Joseph’s Kingswood staff engaged in some professional learning around the principles and practices of Restorative Practice. Michael Lincoln-Inclusion an Learning Consultant with Catholic Education SA facilitated our session. It was a very productive day, and our staff are now looking forward to the follow up presentation later this year. I acknowledge the support of families, who managed the disruption to the school term which allowed us to have this valuable learning opportunity.
Teachers have been working productively over the past few weeks, preparing Semester one Summative Reports for the children. We assess and report student progress formatively (i.e. in an ongoing manner) in a variety of ways throughout the year. We prepare summative reports (i.e. a summary of learning progress) twice each year. You will receive your child’s summative report for semester one, on the last day of term. The information contained in the report should simply confirm what you already have a clear picture of, based on your interactions with the teacher during the first semester. Once we return from the holiday break, there will be an opportunity for you to follow up any aspect of your child’s report you want greater clarification of. For teachers, the process of preparing these reports is beneficial, as they review and re-set goals for each student, heading into Semester 2.
St Joseph’s Kingswood annual student Disco will be held on Friday 28 June, with sessions for the R-2 and 3-6 students. This is always a fun event, and our Parents & Friends group have been hard at work planning and preparing. If your child hasn’t already bought a ticket, please do so ASAP! I know the P&F are also looking for volunteers to assist on the night – if you can help out, please let us know!
There will be a number of important events happening in the early part of term 3 and I ask that you ‘claim the dates’ now. These include:
- QUIZ NIGHT – planned for Saturday 24 August. This will be one of our major fundraisers for the year, with funds going towards the ongoing playground development (see Jamie’s report below for exciting info forwards regarding that)
- VISUAL ART EXHIBITION – while students engage in both performing and visual arts in many ways throughout their day-to-day schooling, we have a whole-school focus on Performing Arts in even years (remember last year’s amazing concert?) and the Visual Arts in odd years. This year, our Visual Arts exhibition will be held on Tuesday August 13, here at school. Our theme for the exhibition is “One Small Step…” and this reflects the 50 year anniversary of the first Moon landing. We have registered our exhibition in the SALA (South Australian Living Arts) Festival, and as such we will be competing for school prizes! Our exhibition will be open to the public on Wednesday 14 August, as part of the SALA festival.
- BOOK WEEK– As we do each year, St. Joseph’s Kingswood will be celebrating Book Week, from the 17-23 August. This is always an exciting week, as we celebrate books and reading. The theme this year is Reading is my secret power.
- PUPIL FREE DAYS – During Term 3 we will have two Pupil Free Days – the first of these is Monday 22 July, and the second is Monday 12 August. We will be offering OSHC on those days, so please look out for booking information. Both days will be tied to the ongoing professional learning of the teachers.
As this edition of the newsletter goes ‘live’ our students in years 3-6 will have been competing in the annual SACPSSA (South Australian Catholic Primary Schools Sports Association) Athletics Carnival at Santos Stadium. We have done well in previous years, and I am looking forward to hearing of the team’s successes!
Last but most definitely not least, I'm pleased to share with you that Christine Farrugia (APRIM) welcomed a second daughter, Grace Marie Farrugia on Monday 10th June. Everyone is doing well, with big sister Tess suitably thrilled with the addition. Staff are looking forward to a visit from Christine and to meet Grace soon.
Have a great week everyone.
Phil
Hi everyone and welcome to Week 8. I hope you are well as we head towards the end of this term! Last week we held our first ‘Zero Waste 4 One Day’ initiative. This was such a great experience and something I think we can really build on. Thank you to all the parents and students who did something a little differently and contributed zero waste for one day.
During the process of preparing for the event I learnt that plastic soap pumps contribute so much to land fill and as you know plastics take thousands of years to break down. I thought it would be great to make some bar soaps to give to all families as a way of saying "Thank You!" for the day and to encourage people to think about not purchasing plastic soap pumps in the future. Lisa Lambourne stepped in and offered to turn the idea into reality, engaging our Eco Warriors to make the soap with her. Sincere thanks to Lisa and her team of helpers for providing each of our school families with a tangible example of how to lessen our contribution of waste. Adding to the experience, Lisa and her class also made muesli bars and damper for their lunch. I would like to thank Lisa for all of the effort and extra time she dedicated to enriching the conversation around World Environment Day.
Last week was Catholic Education week, a time when we reflect on, and give thanks for all the wonderful things Catholic schools do to support our children. I love that Catholic schools are so supportive and really go out of their way to make sure all students are supported not only in their learning, but in their wellbeing and faith development. We strive hard to do those things here and we pride ourselves of putting the needs of each individual student at the forefront of our minds and work hard to support the teachers to carry out this important work on a daily basis. As a parent of children in a Catholic school, which is a similar size to ours, I am very happy that they feel known and cared for each day. On Wednesday our Year 6 students joined St Thomas, St Therese, St Rafael’s, St Catherine’s and Mercedes students for a Regional Mass at the Monastery in Urrbrae. This was a great way to come together and share in the lived experience of being in catholic school and, with a shared recess, meeting other students that they may find in high school next year.
Speaking of meeting other students, in week 8 and 9 of this term, our Year 5 and 6 students will commence their Enrichment Program. On these days students can choose a learning experience from our school or St Thomas or St Therese. There are a number of activities to choose from, from cooking to coding. Students will mix with other teachers and students as they travel on a bus to the other schools- not just learning something new, but importantly broadening their networks of friends, some of whom they may go on to high school with, or simply find commonalities with.
On Friday Phil and I met with Jason, the General Manager from Nature Play SA, to discuss our plans for updating our play spaces in the near future. Jason was very excited to hear our vision and believes we will be able to produce a wonderful result. We have plans to meet with an architect shortly before Jason and Nature Play SA will lead a staff meeting, student workshop and parent presentation early next term. This will be very exciting and a wonderful opportunity to have your say about what you would like to see our students engaging in. More information about this process will be coming out shortly.
Take Care,
Jamie
Soccer Skills with Mr D
I'll be running my Soccer Clinic again for R-2 students, commencing next term on Fridays. More info to follow shortly.
SAPSASA Netball knockout round robin competition
On Thursday the Year 6 Girls Knockout Netball team participated in a round robin competition against three other schools in the first round of the knockout SAPSASA Netball Cup. The team played one match against Gilles Street Primary, Clapham Primary and St Raphael’s Primary at Clapham Primary School. The result were:
St Joseph’s Kingswood 39 v Clapham 14
St Joseph’s Kingswood 42 v St Raphael’s 15
St Joseph’s 30 Kingswood v Gilles Street 12
Special thanks to parents Lisa Harriss and Susie Revell for training the team on Thursday afternoons to help prepare them and coaching them on the day. Also Vicky Wilson for umpiring every match on the day.
Fantastic results by the girls and they will now progress into round 2 of the competition. Well done girls and good luck!
SAPSASA Knockout AFL Football Match
On a stunning Wednesday afternoon at Kingswood Oval St Joseph’s assembled a great looking bunch of footballers to compete in the Year 6/7 (and 5’s) Knockout Football.
SDJSA Senior Soccer Carnival
A special thank you to everyone who attended the P&F Meeting last week at The Cremorne. It was a wonderful night and a great chance to catch up with new and old friends and we covered a lot of ground in regards to planning the exciting up and coming events. If anyone would like to join us next time to have chat and a glass of wine you are more then welcome.
The initial planning for the Playground (on the Green) upgrade has begun and meetings have taken place!!! Don’t forget that all funds raised through the P&F this year will be going to the upgrade so please get involved whenever and whereever you can.
The count down to the Student Disco is on. It’s set to be a fantastic night with lots of fun and surprises for the kids. A definite memory maker for them! If you haven’t got your children’s ticket yet please do via QKR. We are still looking for volunteers for the senior disco (year 3-6) so please fill out the form on the SApp and Amanda Hyams will be in contact with you in regards to the logistics of the night.
If you've lost a jumper or not keeping up with the washing and drying and could use a back-up, we are opening up the doors and having a Second-Hand Uniform Sale on Wednesday 26th June-
Please save the date..... Saturday 24th August 2019 for the much anticipated St Joseph’s Kingswood Quiz Night. Tickets will be on sale soon, so start brushing up on that trivia knowledge and chatting to family and friends about who will be on your table. Get excited guys it’s going to be epic! All proceeds of the night will go directly to the Playground upgrade.
Thank you to everyone who joined the excursion to Wallis Mitcham for our Pupil Free Day on Friday 7th June. The students and staff all had a wonderful time.
The next pupil free day for St Joseph's Kingswood is on Monday 22nd July and we are looking forward to having a MAGICAL time, with an incursion with Steve Presto in attendance. Students are invited to come along dressed as a magical character and to enjoy the magic talents of Steve Presto and his special guest rabbit. They will be doing stunning magic tricks and all will receive a special gift from Steve. So book soon so you don’t miss out on this magical day. Please provide morning tea and lunch. Afternoon tea will be provided. We are open from 7.30am to 6pm. Cost is $65.00 for a day of action and making magical potions!! Click here to book.
Year 6 Eco Warriors
Natasha Gegenhuber and Emma Fox
This Sunday (23rd of June) will be a Special Family Mass held here at the Our Lady of Dolours Church at 9.15am. This will be a special mass as it will be the First Communion for Elsie and Matilda Petty. This is also the Petty family's farewell mass as they will leave for America shortly. We are inviting all Year 3 and 5 families, plus any other families that would like to come along and say goodbye and witness this event. If you are free we would love to see you there.
The Woolworths Earn & Learn program concludes on 25th June. Please make sure any additional stickers you have are placed in either the St Joseph's Kingswood box at Woolworths Mitcham, or bring them into the Front Office. Thanks for everyone's contributions, we look forward to providing an update later RE: what we can get for the school.
One of our very own Music Tuition Teachers, Jen Frith, is co-Director of Pelican Productions, please see below flyer for upcoming school holidays program:
