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Dear Families and Friends,
There is quite a bit of buzz around the school with lots of new initiatives particularly involving student voice.
Student voice is more than just students 'having a say' and 'being heard'. To be successful, schools must value the perspectives and opinions of students and act on them in a way that genuinely shapes learning and decision-making at the school.
Reception Yard Project
Last term the receptions teachers and I were discussing the courtyard, I suggested to put a proposal forward. Our amazing reception teachers went straight to those who use the space to ask for ideas. I was sent and invite to meet with them to share what they thought! The 5 and 6 -year-olds had so many ideas! You may be noticing a few new resources arriving, some new plants donated and planted by Bunnings, or perhaps you are coming to the upcoming Working Bee on 16th June, where we hope to bring the student ideas to reality.
SRC and Lego
Owen and Theo in year 6 suggested forming a Lego club. Owen and Theo put forward a proposal via email, with the help of Mrs Wicks. The idea has started to come to a reality through the support of the SRC who are holding the casual days with donations going towards purchasing Lego. I have suggested that the school match what has been raised!
As well as the JP play spaces, we have been reviewing the use of spaces due to the ongoing requests I have from students to make some changes. The topic always comes up in term 2, the beginning of the AFL and Netball seasons. Students who like AFL have wanted goal posts and netballers have been keen for new goals. So, they have been heard and they have arrived!! Special thanks to the P&F for their support with netball goals and Mr D! The process of decisions making has created healthy robust discussions around the use of spaces. I have held 2 meetings with the students and classes have also held meetings as requested and passed on their suggestions. We are still in discussions and trial period, prior to making final decisions for use of spaces. What I have noticed in the trial period is new games occurring, creative uses of spaces and lots of different activities in the yard. Soccer is popular and will always be prominent in the yard at St Joseph’s. Enabling students to see that their requests don’t go unheard and that their opinions can bring about change will enable them to grow as active citizens. I only wish we had more space to enable all the amazing ideas such as Volleyball and a swimming pool!
Eco-Warriors and Spirit Team
Both of these groups are actively working on projects. Spirit Team is preparing for our annual winter appeal and our Eco- Warriors have introduced Bob!! If you haven’t heard about Bob, just ask your children. A hint… he is yellow helps our environment.
Students at St Joseph’s are valued and taking action to make a difference. The benefits of Student Voice include:
The benefits of listening to and acting on student voice include:
- increasing student's engagement in learning
- encouraging collaboration between students and their teachers
- creating and maintaining a positive environment and culture
- building respectful relationships, connections and belonging
- developing personal and social capabilities.
As winter sets in, and we near the 1/2way make of the term you will notice a few faces missing as some staff take long Service Leave to travel and follow the sun. We wish Josh, Sasha and Belinda safe travels and welcome Kate Mueller (3/4P and Year 6), Lisa Schulz (year 3/4K ) and in a few weeks Xavier Roberts and Erin Kite (2M)
Finally, I’d like to thank the P&F for their ongoing commitment to building community and to raise funds to benefit our students. The Disco was again popular the extra dance session for our senior students and the pop-up bar for parents were popular. Unfortunately I was unable to attend Bogan Bingo, but after listening to a few stories, may be it was fortunate!! Well done P&F and thank you!!
In all things Charity,
Jodie Higgins
Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
As always, there is plenty happening here at St. Joseph’s Kingswood. At the beginning of Week 4 we had a professional learning day with Bill Hansberry. Bill runs trainings and supports schools in the areas of specific learning disabilities, evidence-based teaching of literacy and literacy interventions. He is also the co-developer of Playberry (Tier 3 Reading Intervention) and Laser Literacy (Tier 1 Literacy Program). Both will begin in our school in Semester Two of this year (keep an eye out for parent workshops on this next term). This day covered a range of evidence-based instructions which help to ensure effective teaching and learning. We were lucky enough to have all our teaching and educational support staff attend to ensure a whole school approach. Once the word got out, we also had an additional 20 staff from surrounding schools join us which contributes to the strengthening of relationships across CESA schools.
In addition to this, myself, Jodie and Joshua Bennett attended a Leaders of Learning Day with all schools across CESA. This professional learning day had three knowledgeable others present: Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond, Ollie Lovell (Cognitive Load Theory: Four Big Ideas) and Tom Sherrington Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.
It was pleasing to hear much of what was echoed at our staff professional learning day with Bill. We are excited about the direction our school is heading, particularly in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy. I will continue to keep you updated as our journey unfolds and share our learnings with you all. In the meantime, below is some information for families around a key aspect unpacked on both days.
Cognitive Load Theory (Ollie Lovell and John Sweller):
Cognitive Load is the amount of information our working memory can hold at any one time. The capacity of our working load is limited and therefore students can maximise their working memory by practising a range of strategies. Research shows that strategies for reducing cognitive load can assist the human brain to learn and store knowledge, boost confidence and improve memory retention.
Further research has identified that reducing the cognitive load can reduce stress and anxiety and the feeling of being overwhelmed with tasks.
Some strategies to reduce the cognitive load for parents according to these experts include:
- Breaking down problems into smaller parts
- Helping children to understand worked examples to work out how to complete tasks.
- Encouraging your child to take advantage of auditory and visual channels in their working memory.
- Supporting them to create stories to help remember information in accessible chunks.
- Working with your child to simplify information so that they are avoiding overloading their brain with too much information at any one time.
It is also important to note that the learning environment is crucial to reducing cognitive load. Helping to create a calm environment to work in with as few distractions as possible is imperative. Turning off phones, devices, TV, music etc is crucial as this all adds strain to our working memory.
Finally, Overlearning is a thing! We want our students to achieve mastery where retrieval becomes effortless. Strengthening the retrieval pathways makes it easier to do in the future. Help and encourage your child to review information as they go along to improve their retention. This will add knowledge to their long-term memory.
Inclusive Education:
I have sent a message via Seesaw offering meetings to parents who would like to review their child’s personalised learning plan. If you have not received this or would like to meet about your child’s learning then please let me know, my door is always open.
Leaving with a Literacy Tip…. Vocabulary is Key!
In the last newsletter I addressed the importance of vocabulary. This was reinforced in both professional learning sessions recently and seems to be prominent in everything I have read or heard recently. The breadth and depth of a child’s vocabulary is linked closely to their ability to comprehend successfully. Research has shown the importance of repetition when developing vocabulary. Children must engage with a word several times in different contexts before it is learnt. Below are some more simple and effective ideas for developing your child’s vocabulary taken from Five from Five (www.fivefromfive.com.au)
Vanessa Saccardo
Assistant Principal
If you have ever frequented our Front Office space, you may have noticed a curious, round table, close to the shelf with all the information pamphlets. Atop it sits a sizable plate, decorated with plants and at the centre of this is a smaller bowl, home to a candle. If, in fact, you have noticed it, then it has fulfilled its purpose. You have interacted with our prayer bowl.
Back when we redesigned the Front Office, we wanted a prayer space that was minimalist and elegant, yet powerful. We worked with a local potter to create the ‘prayer platter’, decorated with botanical elements that are mentioned in the Bible. You will notice the Saint Joseph Lily, Cyclamen (Luke 12:27), Mint (Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42), Olives (Genesis 8:11) and Chamomile (Peter 1: 24-25) amongst others. In fact, there are so many botanical elements mentioned in the Bible that we prepared one with all the plants highlighted. It sits on the shelves close to the prayer table.
Now, if you pay close attention, you will notice that the bowl at the centre of the platter changes colour. We have a white, a green, a purple and a red centre bowl and we swap them around according to the colour of the Liturgical Calendar.
And the candle? We light it when someone in our community needs prayers.
The purpose of this design is to cause questions, because Faith is all about asking questions, and wondering, and believing without total truth. I invite you to stop by the Prayer Platter when you are next in the school’s Front Office.
Vinnies Winter Appeal
Have you felt that chill in the air recently? With the dropping temperatures, St Vincent De Paul Society register a rise in needs amongst those doing it tough in our community.
In response to this, this week we have launched the Vinnies Winter Appeal 2024. We will be accepting donations until week 10. Please see the poster attached for the list of items needed the most this year.
Many thanks for the generous support you all show this cause every year.
The Eco Warriors
It has been a big term for the Eco Warriors so far. Since the Eventful Learning excursion, the team have worked tirelessly to launch the 10c drink container recycling program. They created Bob the 10c drink container bin, and a fun competition to encourage students to use it: every week, those who name it, drink it, rinse it and bin it, are in the running to win a $1 voucher from the tuck shop and be crowned the Recyclonator of the week.
In Week 7 you may be approached by one of the Eco Warriors to respond to a survey about litter. This is to help them collect data that will help inform action towards a more eco-friendly school.
Blessings,
Christine Farrugia
Assistant Principal: Religious Identity and Mission
On 29th April 2024, we continued our professional learning in Visible Wellbeing and expanded our knowledge of teaching and using emotional management. Emotional management is our ability to distinguish between our emotional states as they arise, and make choices to manage those emotions in a way that boosts our wellbeing. Emotional management helps us get along better with other people, support other people when in need, but also puts us in a significantly better mindset to approach learning and difficult cognitive tasks. In some of our classrooms at the moment we are monitoring student’s emotions, helping them manage them and using our strengths to support this. One of the most powerful and popular ways to practice emotional management is through a whole range of gratitude practices – to find out more we recommend a read of Lea Waters on Gratitude at Work!
Our vacation care program and bookings will go live next week - with lots of popular and fun-filled activities planned including movies, AFL Max, Mad Scientist Day and much more.
We offer a variety of opportunities for children to have fun indoors and outdoors, and with the wetter weather pending we have been setting up more stations indoors. The children love them!
Huge congrats to Maggie C on being selected to represent the City South district in the upcoming SAPSASA Netball carnival on Wed 19-21st June.
Good luck Maggie!
We hope you're all well and enjoying the term so far. Term 2 has been very busy already and has flown past! Thank you to all the parents who have made huge contributions to our latest events. We are very appreciative of your efforts and time!
First and foremost, a massive thank you to everyone who attended the Student Disco! The evening was absolutely fantastic, brimming with great music, dancing, limbo, prizes, and loads of fun. It was heart-warming to see so many happy faces. The Year 6 students particularly enjoyed their special time at the end of the night! Additionally, it was wonderful to see all the parents socializing at the Pop Up Bar during the disco. This addition to the night was a brilliant opportunity for parents to catch up and connect.
Another highlight was the hilarious Bogan Bingo parent event. The laughter was non-stop, and it was great to see everyone getting into the spirit with their best bogan outfits. Thank you to all who participated and made it such a memorable evening! It will be an event talked about for long time!
Upcoming Events:
- Second Hand Uniform Shop Opening: Our second-hand uniform shop will be open on Wednesday, 26th June at 3pm. This is a great opportunity to grab some quality uniforms at affordable prices.
- Mums Lunch: Tickets for the Mums Lunch are sold out! If you missed out on a ticket or bought a ticket but are no longer able to attend, please email info@stjk.catholic.edu.au
- Next P&F Meeting: Join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, 12th June at 7pm at the Torrens Arms Hotel. It's a great chance to catch up, share ideas, and plan for the upcoming term.
- Parent Seminar – Resilience and Wellbeing: Join us for this informative seminar with the fabulous Madhavi Nawana Parker from Positive Minds Australia. Please register your attendance now via this link
We look forward to seeing you at these events and appreciate your continued support.
Best regards,
Bec and Michelle
As Winter sets in, families are reminded of the stylish and very functional St Joseph's School, Kingswood umbrellas available to purchase through Qkr! and collect from the Front Office.
Get in quick as stock is limited.
