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Dear Families,
We have come to the end of another very busy year in the St. Joseph’s, Kingswood community. I look back with great pride in the many achievements and celebrations throughout the year. As a staff and School Board, we are also looking ahead to 2020, where we have many very exciting events, activities and plans! I have been in regular meetings of late, with our architects, Walter Brooke (Master planning) and Peter Semple (Nature Play) and I can inform you that we are hopeful of these two projects being completed during the 2020 school year. The Nature play space will hopefully be the first to be completed – at this stage it is scheduled for works over the period at the end of term one and the beginning of term two. The first stage of our Master Plan, which will include updated classroom, administration and private tuition facilities, will hopefully begin in the second half of the school year! Plans for both of these developments are being nuanced at present and I hope to have detailed ‘storyboards’ for display into the new year, for families to see.
This week, you children will meet their new class teacher for the 2020 school year. I am delighted to inform you of our staff profile for 2020, as follows:
Reception- Mrs Lidia Saccone
Reception- Mrs Paula Thomson
Yr 1/2- Mrs Basia Steciuk
Yr 1/2- Mrs Tania Shakleford and Mrs Kathy Hoile
Yr 1/2- Mrs Felicity Davies
Yr 3- Mrs Maria Perrone & Mrs Belinda Medlow
Yr 3/4- Mr Graham Connor
Yr 4/5- Ms Elizabeth Bello
Yr 5- Mr Josh Bratt
Yr 6- Mrs Emma Begg
Italian- Mrs Alannah Prestwich
Music- Mrs Steph Insanally & Mrs Michelle Page
Sport & Physical Education- Mr Steven DeGiovaniello
STEM- Mrs Kirstie Wicks
Learning support and teacher release- Mrs Mary-Rose Coghlan
Children will come together in their new class groups on Wednesday to meet and get to know their teachers. There is always great excitement, as well as some nerves, at this time, and our teachers are ready to welcome and support children in this transition.
Last Saturday evening our wonderful St. Joseph’s Kingswood combined choirs performed at the City of Mitcham Carols evening. It was a fantastic showcase of the musical talents of a children and a reflection of the quality of our music and performance program at Kingswood. My sincere thanks to Steph Insanally and Michelle Page for their tireless dedication to our music program and for preparing the students so well! Thanks also to Bianca Bedson for her excellent support in planning for the evening.
While on Music, our Instrumental evening on Wednesday was once again an outstanding success. It is always a delight to see the children showcase their talents – and we were treated to a special performance of "Eye of the Tiger" by our private music tuition educators! We are blessed to have them all working with your children.
The Carols on the Green was once again an enjoyable and successful community event, and the children performed beautifully! Again, the work of Steph and Michelle in presenting the performance was brilliant! My thanks also to Makella Holden, Katie Routely and all of the P&F for running the pop-up Bar as part of the evening!
I look forward to seeing all of you at tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Mass and awards presentation – please be seated and ready to start at 6pm. The doors to the church will be open at 5.30pm.
My sincere thanks to those families who took the time to complete our recent survey. It was a very affirming process for us as well as highlighting a number of emerging themes. This information has been very useful as we plan ahead for a successful 2020. Hopefully, you will see enhancements, based on your feedback!
On behalf of everyone here at St. Joseph’s School, Kingswood I wish all families a very Happy and Holy Christmas and I look forward to our continued partnership in 2020.
God bless,
Phil
Hello everyone, I hope you are well as we approach the last few days of school for 2019. I hope you have had a fantastic year this year, I know I have. There have been so many experiences that I know the children have enjoyed and I am really looking forward to celebrating all the success that has been had at our end year Mass on Tuesday night. This year we have also been blessed with the joy of a new baby into our family. My daughter, Isobel, is already developing a fun and happy personality and loves being with her big brother and sisters. This is definitely our last child so I am really trying to soak everything in and enjoy all of the things that come with witnessing a baby grow and develop. A little more sleep would be handy, buy hey, we can’t have everything!
To any family that is leaving St Joseph’s at the conclusion of 2019, I wish you and your children all the best as you start a new adventure. I know that starting high school is a very exciting and daunting time as students need to adapt to a different environment, forge connections and settle into a new school. This year I was involved with the Year 6 class as I started the year teaching them one day a week. I also travelled with them to Canberra and enjoyed seeing them mature and grow as they had to look after themselves and explore this important part of our nation. They have grown so much this year, and really developed as people and as learners. I wish all of them the best of luck for the next few years of their lives at school. I am sure I will hear about how great they have gone at high school in the near future.
On the complete other side of the scale, last week we welcomed our new Reception students and their families to our community. It was so lovely to meet everyone and see new faces filled with anticipation and awe as they eagerly await starting school. This is such a precious moment in their lives. Research has shown that the first 7 years of life are the most important as this is the time when children are coding their brains and everything is entering their sub-conscious. I am very proud of the unique way we navigate these precious beginnings of school life and know that we give these children the best start to school life and prepare them for a bright future full of the enjoyment of learning.
Recently we held our annual St Joseph’s Got Talent competition. It was great to see the amazing level of talent our school has. Some students spent a lot of time getting ready and preparing their acts. We held auditions during the week and everyone who wanted to, got an opportunity to perform their act in front of a live audience. On Wednesday of Week 8 we held the competition in our Multipurpose room. This was very entertaining and the school loved seeing the array of acts on show. I can’t wait to see what acts we get next year!
Two weeks ago, I was privileged to see our students who are involved in the Sacramental program, celebrate the first step in the journey with Reconciliation. This is a very special moment in these children’s lives as the begin being initiated into the church. As babies these children had their parents say on their behalf that they will raise them as Christians. Now the students get to do this for themselves. It was such a blessing to witness the students and their families start this process.
Thanks to everyone who came to our Carols & Picnic on the Green this year. It was great to see you there and hear about your busy lives and plans for the holidays. We have such a wonderful community here at St Joseph’s Kingswood. I always feel warm and welcomed by everyone and know that feeling resonates throughout the school community. I am very fortunate to be able to work here and share in, and be a part of, your child’s learning journey. The students who attend our school are so full of joy and wonder and it always lifts my spirits being around them and seeing them growing and having fun at school.
I wish all of the families who are continuing with us a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope all our students have a great summer holiday period and come back to school ready to be successful in 2020. We will be heading up to Renmark after Christmas and then down the coast over the long weekend before school starts again next year. I hope you might get some down time and enjoy a break with your families too.
Take care,
Jamie
This term has flown through so fast I can’t believe it’s the last week of school so I would like to mention a few great achievements we have done this term. Firstly we introduced the Star of the Day which has proved to be very popular which the children as they learn life skills and responsibilities as well as leadership they also receive a certificate for Star of the Day. Also this term we have continued our Craft Club, Reading Club, Cooking Club and recently we introduced a Sports Club on Tuesday nights which is run by Nic, our very active Educator. This is proving to be very popular and the children look forward to the activities and work stations. Also this term we have introduced our Sun Smart station which involves the children applying sun screen before snack and we display the Sun Smart UV levels so they know the dangers of getting sunburned. This is working extremely well, particularly with the use of our new mirrors. With Italian Day the children were very enthusiastic and we decorated the front verandah in red, green and white streamers and balloons as well as did some Italian craft mainly flags, ties and eye masks. A great day was had by all!
Our Vacation Care bookings are coming along well and we are pleased to say that the Picnic Day and excursion to Plaster Fun House are now full and no more bookings can be taken. We have capacity on the other days and remind families that we are in a trial phase, so if you would like for us to be able to continue to offer onsite vacation care, we encourage you to book your child/ren in. You do not have to be a student at St Joseph's Kingswood to attend - if you have other family members/friends who would like to attend, they can, just need to complete enrolment form and book. Also a reminder that your child needs to bring their hat and drink bottle every time they attend as there is a $4 hat fee if they need to use one of our spare hats.
This term has also seen us doing lots of observations of your child and these observations are on display at our front desk so feel free to ask an Educator to read about what your child has been up to in OSHC. We also have our Policies and Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) for your perusal as well as displaying a weekly policy for your information on the front attendance desk.
Lastly the OSHC team and myself would like to wish all our families a very Merry Christmas and happy and peaceful holidays and looking forward to seeing you all ove the break and in 2020! We would also like to say farewell to all the families that are leaving this term and wish you luck in your new endeavours!!
Vicky Wilson – Director OSHC
What an incredibly busy, yet amazing few weeks we have had in music!! A few weeks ago the junior and senior choirs and band filled the Mitcham Square shopping centre, with beautiful music which delighted local shoppers.
Last week the senior choir visited Japara Aged Care and performed a range of songs including some Christmas carols. The highlight was seeing the joy on the residents’ faces and having them sing “We wish you a Merry Christmas” to us. It brought a tear to the eye.
The next event was the Mitcham Carols at the Kingswood Oval. The children sang beautifully despite the wind and spots of rain- thank you to all the families who came along to the event and supported the choirs.
Then it was the Instrumental evening where over 130 students performed to a lovely large audience. This was compared by our music captains Emma Fox and Edward Welch who did a marvellous job. We heard singing, piano, drums, flutes, guitars, clarinets and saxophones – such a variety of instruments. The evening finished with a rendition of “Eye of the Tiger” from the instrumental staff – what fun that was!!
Carols on the Green was such a wonderful night to celebrate some of the work the children have been busy preparing throughout the term. Thank you to all the families who came along and celebrated the festive season with us.
All that in just a few weeks! I think we will enjoy resting these holidays!!!
THANK YOU to everyone who has volunteered their time and participated in an excurison, coached a sports team, helped in the tuckshop, listened to reading, attended the school disco, represented on the school Board.... there are so many ways to get involved and we are sincerely grateful to each and every person who gives up some of their time to help make our school great and provide our students so many opportunities.
From the very beginning of term 1, the new volunteer process must be adhered to. For people who already have their Catholic Archdiocese Police Clearance, you just need to complete a couple of forms and a brief training course online. For parents/caregivers new to the game, you need to complete the forms and online training, as well as bring in sufficient ID to obtain your Police Clearance and Working With Children Check (WWCC). Once you've completed the process, you don't need to do it again for another three years. We will send around reminders during the school holidays, as (although not the most exciting thing to do) you will hopefully have ample downtime to complete the forms and be well placed for the new year.
Should you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact the Front Office or email volunteer@stjk.catholic.edu.au.
All info and links can be found on the blue "Volunteers hub" button on SZapp or if you prefer to view on a PC/laptop - click this link https://sjkingswood.schoolzineplus.com/volunteers-hub
We are very excited to be hosting a Code Camp program at St Joseph's Kingswood in Term 1, Wednesdays 3.25-4.40pm for students in years 2-6. This program will commence on Wednesday 5th Feb and run for 8 weeks, through til 25th March. Please refer to the below flyer for more details and the link to register.
This term Apple Matt has come into our class every Friday to teach us about coding and Arduino’s. We each brought a Arduino for $25 and it came with a Arduino, a breadboard, lots of wires, four types of resisters, a servo motor, a USB cable, a battery and a few other bits and bobs and at the end of the year we got too take them home. In the first lesson Matt taught us how Arduino’s work and how all the parts work. Matt had given us a journal about things we will be learning about through out the term. We learnt how to make LED lights flash and how resisters and servo motors work. We were also given homework and we had to remember what each part of the Arduino was called. We learnt how to make three LEDs flash and some children were able to make multiple lights flash at once. We also learnt how to make traffic lights out of LEDs so every time a green and orange light came on there was also a red light on and when a different red light turned on the other red light turned off. When we learnt how to make servo motors work Matt let us make a Christmas Ornament using our Arduino. Everyone failed a lot and there was a lot of problem solving involved but eventually everyone had made something to hand up and present. Everyone had so much fun creating their Christmas Arduino.
-Kasia Szymaniak, Yr 6
CONGRATULATIONS to the Year 6 Cricket Team. The lads finished their cricketing careers at St Joseph’s by winning every game this term. There were some brilliant individual efforts but most pleasingly there was great sportsmanship and teamwork, exceptional camaraderie and a whole lot of fun! It is a super bunch of boys and has been a fantastic five years of school cricket which began way back in 2015! A huge thank you to coaches Donovan Shaw and Tom Polasek.
