Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

We are nearly at the end of what has been a very busy and productive school term. I have been impressed with the quality of learning that has taken place during the term. I have also been delighted with the range of community events we have hosted here at St. Joseph’s Kingswood. One of the aspects of this community that makes us great is the range of opportunities afforded to our children. This term, in addition to the high quality class learning program, we have participated in a broad range of camps, excursions, celebrations of learning, sporting and musical opportunities – and at the same time being a part of a small, safe, secure environment where every child is known values and cared for.

Our year 4 students had their first taste of a school camp last week, when they participated in a ‘Zoo Snooze.’ These opportunities allow for students to have fun, learning new things and develop their resilience and independence in managing time away from family. Our year 3 students participated during the day/early evening and are looking forward to their chance next year!

Next Monday, our Catholic Schools Music Festival choir will perform at the Festival Theatre. This performance will be the culmination of a year’s hard work, and it will be an amazing experience for these young musicians. My sincere thanks to Mrs Steph Insanally for her leadership of our choir throughout the year. As they say in the entertainment business, ‘chookas’ to all involved!

This Friday, we will be hosting our Grandparents and Special Friends for a classroom visit, assembly and morning tea. We very much value the role of Grandparents and other special adults in the lives of our children, and we look forward to welcoming them. Visitors are welcome at any time during the morning from 9am, with our Assembly commencing at around 10.15am. Morning tea will follow in the parish hall.

We are excited to have received our first concept drawings of the proposed nature play development on the Eastern side of the school. While these plans are the first of various iterations and the build of the new nature play area will likely take a couple of years to complete, we are committed to breaking ground in 2020. The process so far has been consultative, seeking input from students, parents and teachers, and now that we have the initial drawings, we are seeking your feedback again. We sent a notification (click here to access the plans and feedback form) providing you an opportunity to submit feedback, ideally by the end of the week. We will be meeting with the landscape architect again next week, to continue to refine the concept plans. We will continue to keep you updated regarding the progress of this exciting initiative for our school. Click here to view the 

Two weeks ago, our Year 6 netball team participated in the Semi Finals of the SAPSASA State knockout Netball. Whilst we didn’t progress, it was an outstanding achievement to have made the semi finals, backing up from our grand final appearance last year! As with Soccer, this is a reflection of our quality programs!

Momentum is building for our very first Vacation Care program this coming holidays. If you haven’t yet booked and would like to take advantage of the excellent and affordable program on offer, please click here to book or visit the OSHC button on SZapp for more info.

A final reminder to all families that if you want to provide feedback regarding class placements, please click here to complete the form by the end of this week – 20^th September.

Lastly - please note school photo day is set for Tuesday 22nd October. All students will be required to wear formal Summer uniform (including shoulder length hair tied up, short-sleeved shirts for boys (no ties) etc.). Students will be bringing home an order form in their bags this week. 

Have a great week everyone!

God bless,

Phil

Hi all, I hope you're well as we come to the end of a very busy Term 3. It has been great to be a part of and see our students involved in so many activities over the past few weeks. Our students really are lucky to have so many opportunities provided to them and I know they all really appreciate them.

Last week our Year 5 and 6 students continued their Enrichment program. On this day students attend learning experiences either here or at St Therese or St Thomas- broadening not just some of the subjects that children can participate in but also making some early connections for familiar faces when they commence high school. It was great to see students thoroughly enjoying themselves as they joined in cooking, coding, art or a virtual tour through the streets of Italy - as well as hearing stories about their time at the other schools.

Last week we also held what was known as Apple Bite Day. Educators from around the state came to our school to learn how we integrate our Apple products into our classrooms. The feedback for the educators and Apple staff was overwhelmingly positive and our students were brilliant ambassadors for the school and very confident to share their learning.

A couple of weeks ago some of students received Communion for the first time. This was a wonderful experience and it was great to able to share in this moment with the students and their families. We hope that was an enlightening experience filled with joy.

In Week 1 of Term 4 I will join the Year 6s on their camp to Canberra. I have been a few times now and know how much of a wonderful and rewarding experience this is. Students not only learn about the history of Canberra and politics but they also mature as young men and women being away from parents and family members for a few days. This year I was able to change a couple of things on the schedule that I think the students will really like. Some of them include the AIS experience where they get to actually participate and join in some of the sports offered there as well as a trip to the observatory on one of the evenings.

I hope you have a wonderful last few days of Term 3 and a great holiday period. 

Take care,

Jamie 

The deadline for paying your school fees for 2019 is 20th November (unless you have a negotiated payment plan in place). Your prompt attention to this matter is appreciated.

Have you been waiting for tax time to make a lump sum payment? Please make sure your child’s school fees are a priority!

If you are struggling to pay, communication is essential. If for some reason you will be unable to pay by the due date, you must contact me to discuss alternative arrangements.

For an updated School Fee statement or to discuss your personal situationplease email: amstanton@stjk.catholic.edu.au

For any families that use BPAY please note that we now have a new Biller Code specific to St Joseph’s School  Kingswood.   The new Biller code is: 299057
Please continue to use your same Family Reference number.

OSHC Fees should always be paid promptly- preferably each fortnight.
Many families have an automatic payment taken out of their credit card to cover their OSHC bill each fortnight. Let Julie know if you would like this to happen for you. As per the OSHC Booking Policy, “fees outstanding may result in withdrawal of your child’s enrolment until payment has been received.”

Thank you in advance adhering to the above.

Anne-Marie Stanton – School Finance Officer

Please make sure you complete a consent form ASAP for your child to participate in school sport. We need to make sure we have enough students in teams and coaches to support them before we register. 

Students who have represented St Joseph's Kingswood in Football (or AusKick) can register for tickets for the SANFL grand final. Click here and follow the link. 

Thanks in advance.

Mr D

On Thursday September 5th, 2019, the years three, four, fives and sixes participated in the touch footy carnival along with teachers and volunteer parents who also attended and the other Catholic schools the students played against.

The carnival was held at the Touch Grounds, Greenhill Rd and Glen Osmond Rd. We went to the touch footy carnival because it is apart of our PE program and our school participates in the carnival every year. We traveled by bus to and from the Touch grounds but some kids we dropped off and picked up by their parents.

Everyone had fun and it wasn’t about the score it was about participating and going for the experience. The weather was great the rain held out and although it was muddy there was bit of sun.

Overall the students had enjoyed a day out of the classroom. It was a great day to play touch footy and I hope all students get a chance to  participate in the touch footy carnival at least once.

- Written by Amielle Saba, Sports Captain

Thank you very much to each of the parents that volunteered their time on the day so that the children could participate in this awesome experience. 

On Wednesday the 7/8/19 the students of St Josephs year 3 to 6 got to take part in the SACPSSA catholic schools cross country event held at PAC oval Bartels Rd.

The students left school at 9:00 am to go to the carnival on the bus with Mr Deverson and Mr De met everyone there with his other school St Catherines.

All the students raced against other the catholic schools in Adelaide in a 2 km course around the parklands.

Overall everyone who participated in the event had a great time cheering everyone on and having fun.

On behalf of the students we would like to thank Sarah ( Liam Sobieraj’s Mum) for being our official for the day and helping out.

- Thomas Green, Sports Captain

We are on the countdown for the Catholic Schools Music Festival Choir performance and the children are working really hard at memorising their words and learning their actions. Make sure you have your tickets for Monday 23rd September- come and support the students of St Joseph's Kingswood.

Students will get a final practise at performing in front of a group at Grandparents & Special Friends' Morning on Friday, which will be a real treat for the visitors.

Other key dates for the diary for Term 4 include:

• Wednesday 20th November - Instrumental Evening 
• Friday 6th December - Christmas Carols on the Green (whole school event)

On Wednesday September the eleventh, 3 Begg, 3/4 Connor and 4/5 Pike went on an excursion. The excursion was to the Adelaide Zoo. We went there for an excursion and just to have fun. At 12pm we got a bus to go. When we got to the Zoo a lady told us to go into one of the rooms there that was filled with interesting animal skins and fossils.

Next we were put into groups of three, four or five. In our groups we went around the Zoo, looking at all the different animal enclosures, I wrote down some notes about the meerkats on my iPad because I am working on them in class. We had a few snacks then got to go back out for a little more time. Then when we got back we had dinner. Our dinner was BBQ and I had a HUGE appetite. The BBQ was so good I had seconds!

After dinner we got to go on a night walk. One of the instructors came with us. First we went into the room we went in at the start and the instructor had a surprise for us! The surprise was a lizard, it's name was Henrietta. On the night walk we saw lots of animals. My favourite animal we saw on the night walk was the Fenic Fox. It was sooooo cute! When we got back we got to have dessert. The dessert was ice cream with sprinkles! There were lots of different types of sprinkles, chocolate and rainbow. I chose chocolate! Our experience was so good!

-Allegra Yandell, Yr 3 Begg

On the eleventh to the twelfth of September 2019 the year three fours had the opportunity to go to the Adelaide Zoo on camp and further our investigation on animal enclosures. Prior to leaving for camp we learnt about the six elements that an animal requires for happy and safe living. They are, water, food, space, enrichment, plants and safety. While we were at the zoo we learned many more things about the different types of enclosures.The year fours slept at the zoo and had a good time and looked at many different animals, they had many different needs which  their enclosures reflected. It was an experience to remember. Now we are designing a new enclosure for an animal that we think had an enclosure that was outdated and didn’t have all the elements for a happy sustainable life. We will use information that we investigated before camp and gained during our visit to Adelaide Zoo to aid our design.

- Edie Heynen, 3/4 Connor

You may have heard on the radio or read online/in the newspaper about changes for volunteers. These new laws have been introduced to help keep our children safe and they impact all people who work or volunteer with children. Moving forward, volunteers will be required to have a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC). We have simplified the process as much as possible - you will complete 3 forms, a brief online course and read an induction pack.

We will communicate with families during school holidays with links to complete the process. While all volunteers with valid Catholic Schools' Police Clearances are able to volunteer for the remainder of 2019, from 2020 volunteers will be unable to participate in reading/coaching/excursions unless they have completed and provided evidence of having obtained a WWCC. 

We encourage everyone to complete the process sooner than later - noting once you have obtained the WWCC, it is valid for five years.

What's on these school holidays - City of Mitcham

Burnside_Library_school_holiday_program.pdf