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Dear Families and Friends,
Our collective strengths making St Joseph’s School Kingswood stronger as we continually strive for excellence!!
You may have noticed the wonderful woven logo on the Seafield Street fence that has been erected as part of celebrating Catholic Education Week!! This logo represents our collective strengths that are interwoven to build our amazing Catholic school.
Strengths are things we do well, often and with energy!
As part of our Positive Psychology program, students and staff are recognising what sparks each of us – our strengths.
There are 3 elements that come together to form a strength.
- Performance – being good at something.
- Energy – feeling good doing it.
- High use – choosing to do it.
When we use strengths we have success, feel good and thrive!!
Do you know your strengths? Do you know your child’s strengths? Most of our students have been working out their strengths – some call it their ‘superpower’! I wonder if you can spot your child’s strengths.
What we are working towards, is helping our students use strengths to achieve, build relationships and develop as individuals.
Sometimes we spot strengths, and can see that with support, they could use them more effectively.
There are those born to lead! They love to organise their friends, decide what to play, and construct the rules – they are in their element!! How can we help this child learn to use their strength to build relationships, to help others feel important so they can connect with their friends and thrive.
Then there is the child who is always joking, finding fun in all things, making us laugh at the wrong times!! How can we help this child thrive through using humour in learning to be creative for the good of all.
Often, we focus on what we can’t do, and how a child can be supported to improve. At St Joseph’s we are challenging ourselves to help our children use strengths to perform well. Use high energy, high will and high results to find succes
Volunteers – Thank you for sharing your strengths!!!
I special thank you to all the amazing volunteers at St Joseph’s School, Kingswood. Each and every one of you demonstrate your strengths through the way you contribute, whether it be your zest, creativity, humour, perspective, teamwork, social intelligence, kindness, bravery, perseverance or leadership (to mention a few!) – it all counts! We see you shining as you contribute, and we are grateful.
Keeping them safe
As part of our commitment to child protection I remind all volunteers of your responsibility as mandated notifiers for reporting child abuse and neglect and that the following documents are available to support you as a parent and as volunteer. Through the Szapp app you can register as a volunteer and undertake the training to help you understand your responsibilities as a volunteer in protecting children. As parents you may be interested in what is taught in the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum, which is required to be taught each year to every child.
- Reporting Harm of Children and Young People Procedure
- Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy (Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide)
- Responding to Online Safety incidents in South Australian schools: Guidelines for staff working in education settings
- Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum information for educators (Department for Education SA)
I thank all our volunteers for your support in keeping children safe at school, on excursions and in our community. Remember, if you are ever concerned, please speak to myself or a staff member as your information may help keep a child safe.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Bogan Bingo evening on the 1st of June, or you may be interested in a relaxing evening meeting families in our parish, while the children play, at Friday Family Time on 31st May at St Therese School, CLG .
Wishing everyone a wonderful week
In all things Charity,
Jodie Higgins
Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome back to another busy and exciting term ahead. I hope you have had a restful break and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather we were spoilt with.
Maths Olympiad
This term we have started a fun 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. The aim of this competition is to:
- promote and improve maths problem solving skills amongst all students.
- support teachers in developing students to understand a variety of strategies to promote flexibility in their problem solving;
- encourage creativity and collaboration in problem solving; and,
- stimulate enthusiasm for and enjoyment of mathematics.
There will be four competitions held, 6 weeks apart. Weekly morning sessions will occur as a collaborative problem solving opportunity. We look forward to seeing their confidence grow!
Playberry Tier 3 Intervention: “Reading is Rocket Science” – Louisa Moats
This term, two of our educational support officers will be engaging in Playberry training. The Playberry (Playford & Hansberry) T3 Multisensory Literacy Program is a Tier 3, intensive intervention for students with severe reading and spelling difficulties. Playberry is a highly structured phonetic instruction program emphasising the alphabetic system. It is a multisensory and sequential program. It entails ongoing repetition to the point of overlearning to ensure it is embedded into students long term memory. This level of intervention is slow and steady: no stone left unturned. Often when a child requires tier three intervention, they are already puzzled by the business of letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes). Therefore we need to slow the pace and allow for plenty of practice. The training will occur over the remainder of the term, and we look forward to introducing this as part of our response to intervention model at St. Joseph’s Kingswood in Term 3.
Inclusive Education:
This term I will provide opportunities to meet with any families who would like to review or discuss their child’s personalised learning plan. It is important to continually review these and ensure that any adjustments in place are beneficial to our students to ensure the best possible learning outcomes. Please keep an eye out for an email in the coming weeks and I look forward to continuing to work alongside of you.
Auslan:
We are thrilled to begin an exciting new initiative in our Year 2 classes. As of Week 4, Emma Penno will be teaching our students Auslan. With the inclusion of Auslan as a language option in the Census, the latest survey revealed that over 16,000 people in Australia use Auslan. This is particularly relevant in our community as we strive to provide an inclusive environment for every child. Incorporating Auslan into classrooms has many benefits for both hearing impaired and hearing children. We look forward to sharing their learning with you and allowing them to educate all of us!
Leaving with a Literacy Tip: The importance of Vocabulary (Adapted from Five from Five)
Vocabulary refers to the word’s children need to know to understand what they hear and read and to communicate. The early years are critical in building your child’s vocabulary. There is evidence that literacy success in late primary school is linked to improving vocabulary before the age of six. Adults play a huge role in developing a child’s vocabulary. This can occur through daily conversations, reading, listening to music, introducing new words explicitly and the list goes on. Young children benefit from exposure to lots of words and as they grow, we want the level of sophistication of words to increase. Below are some hints from the Five from Five website when introducing new words to your child:
- Provide a simple, child-friendly definition for the new word: “Enormous means that something is really, really big.”
- Provide a simple, child-friendly example that makes sense within their daily life: “Remember that really big watermelon we got at the fruit shop? That was an enormous watermelon!”
- Encourage your child to give their own example: “What enormous thing can you think of? Can you think of something really big that you saw today? That’s right! The bulldozer near the park was enormous! Those tires were huge.”
Lastly, keep your new words active within your house. Over the following days and weeks, use each new vocabulary word in conversation. Your daily interactions can have such an impact on your child’s literacy success, hopefully these tips can keep up conscious of this. I have linked the Five from Five website below for further information and resources.
https://fivefromfive.com.au/parent-resources/vocabulary/
As always, my door is always open if you would like some more information or to chat further.
Until next time…
Vanessa Saccardo
Assistant Principal
Hello St Joseph’s School Community
“Grace be with you all.” Hebrews 13:25.
Term 1 kept our amazing Spirit Team very busy, with many religious events that they planned, managed and presented. I commend them for their forthcoming attitude and team work and look forward to many more events in the coming terms. My favourite celebration was the St Joseph’s Feast Day Mass, when we were joined by so many family members and parishioners. On this day we reflected on St Joseph’s protective nature, on the legacy of Mary MacKillop and on the history of our school. We found many things to be grateful for.
The term was brought to a beautiful end by the Easter Mass and then the Easter Play, presented by the Year 5 and Year 6 classes and Mrs Coghlan. A big well done and thank you to the Year 5 and 6 students, their teachers and ESOs and to Mrs Coghlan who worked tirelessly all term to put together this production.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
The Sacramental Program has been progressing well, with the group of Candidates celebrating the first of the three sacraments in the program: Reconciliation, over a number of events in the past week. The program will now continue with preparation and the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation and Communion. I encourage the Sacramental candidates’ families to keep an eye out for information coming through via email, and as always, please contact me with any questions or queries’.
RECYCLONATORS! Drink Container Recycling activity.
The Eco Warriors have worked tirelessly to plan and prepare for the launch of RECYCLONATORS, which is a scheme that encourages our students to recycle 10c drink containers. The Eco Warriors came up with a clever slogan: “name it, drink it, rinse it, bin it, WIN it” that we encourage you to use with your child at home. Students are being encouraged to put their name on their drink containers and after drinking, to RINSE the container out as best as they can before placing it in the designated bin. Every week, the Eco Warriors will clean out the bin, and while doing so, will draw one of the labelled and rinsed containers, the owner of which will be awarded a $1 voucher to spend in the canteen. We hope that this initiative has a big impact on what our school sends to landfill, as well as starts to build some funds for the many projects that this group of students want to undertake this year.
![fun & (1)[38] copy](https://sjkingswood.schoolzineplus.com/_image/media/2863/fun_1_38_copy.jpg?ts=1716251942)
VINNIES WINTER APPEAL
The annual Vinnies Winter Appeal will be launching in Week 5. Please hold on to sleeping bags, blankets and warm clothing that you may be looking to declutter or give away- there is a big need for them this year. We will also be collecting non-perishable food items.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK
Last week was Catholic Education Week, and as has become our tradition, we created a project that helps us engage with the community outside the school fence. This year we chose the theme: A tapestry of our Community where the students marked their personal strengths (based on our Visible Wellbeing Program) on strips of fabric which they then wove into the school fence to form our school Crest. We talked about how we all contribute to our school through our strengths making it a Connected, Grateful and Excellent community. Please engage with this art installation: stop and have a look as you walk past.
![IMG_8692[83]](https://sjkingswood.schoolzineplus.com/_image/media/2867/img_8692_83_.jpg?ts=1716253945)
Christine Farrugia
Assistant Principal: Religious Identity and Mission
Our Volunteer clearance process is in place to help keep our school and students as safe as possible, and is a necessary step for parents and caregivers wishing to volunteer and contribute to our school. We value you, so much!
We remind people that this process is valid for a number of years and then clearances must be renewed for you to be able to continue to volunteer. The department who verify and provide clearances are experiencing a high volume expiring in 2024, so we remind people:
- You will receive a letter advising of the upcoming expiration. The school tracks dates, but individuals receive the letter directly which advises you to complete a new Working With Children Check/Catholic Schools Police Clearance application.
- As per the current Archdiocesan policy; Expired Checks = No service provision permitted
Taking action will assist with the inevitable delays in processing that will occur with DHS as they work through very high volumes of processing applications.
For those wishing to get a jump start, the initiation request (which must be completed, with the original and relevant ID docs brought into the Front Office to be sighted) can be downloaded here.
We have had a busy start to Term 2. The Junior Choir performed at our Mother’s Day Breakfast and confidently sang two pieces to their appreciative audience.
There was a buzz of excitement, as the Year 3 students met their violin, viola and cello tutor to start learning their instrument. We look forward to seeing their progress during Term 2 and 3.
Lastly, we are thrilled to have hosted the amazing JAM Band (Just Add Music) for an incursion last week. Thank you to all the students and staff for their eager participation in making the morning so fun!
Rebecca Pfitzner
Music teacher
Save the date!
Make sure you pop Thursday 7th November in your diaries for our biennial whole school musical performance. More details to follow.
Congratulations to all the year 5/6 students that competed in the SAPSASA Netball Carnival at Netball SA Stadium on Tuesday 7th May. The knockout girls team competed in the Carnival, finishing third overall. Unfortunately they did not progress to the next round but played some great netball and represented the school admirably.
The school also had 4 more teams compete on the day in a fun style Carnival. These team were the year 5 girls, two-year 5 boy teams and a year 6 boys team.
A special thanks to Mrs Poole for helping select the Knockout team and Ms Wicks for coaching the team on the day. Also, thanks to Melissa Green, Mrs Morrison, Mrs Hughes and Kylie De Giovanniello for coaching the teams on the day.
