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Dear Parents and Friends,
Hopefully the beautiful spring weather holds out for out Sports Day! As saying goes, “There is no such thing as bad weather, on bad clothes.” Don’t forget to pack your rain jackets and bring your St Joseph’s brollie, just in case there are a few sprinkles – It is ONLY water, and we will dry out. We also live in the driest city, in the driest state in the driest continent. I have quoted this fun fact for years so thought after all these years I should at least research the fact before I put it in print! Here is what I Google found…
- Adelaide is the driest capital city in Australia, with highly variable and unreliable rainfall.
- South Australia is the driest of the Australian states
- Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world; 70% of it is either arid or semi-arid land.
Fingers crossed for tomorrow!!
All the best MacKillop, Tenison and McCormack
Parents and Friends
After attending the most recent P&F meeting, I thought I’d do a little plug for the committee and encourage anyone who might like to join. It was such a relaxed meeting filled with lots of positive outcome and actions, and of course a few laughs!
As I tour with new families, so many have heard about our great community. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the members who attend twice a term for all the behind-the-scenes activity that ensures St Joseph's Kingswood is a community that has an active P&F. I would encourage others to join, new members are always welcome to come along to a meeting. You will feel welcome, and you can start off by listening and gradually join in! Thanks to those members who attend and especially to Michelle and Bec for their leadership. The next meeting is Tuesday 22nd October at 7pm at the Torrens Arms Hotel.
All the best to our Festival Choir members and Rocktopuses who will be preforming at the Festival Centre next week on Tuesday evening. Special thanks to Mrs Pfitzner and Nick (Drums tutor) for their work. Another fun fact: The Rocktopus (Percussion Group) have the youngest support act ever selected for the Catholic Schools Festival of Music!! Well done Nick and students, I look forward to seeing you on the big stage.
I’d like to offer a special welcome to Taryn Dale, our new Reception teacher. Taryn is excited to be back teaching our beautiful Rception children. Thank you to all the families and children who have made her welcome. I take this opportunity to thank Mary Aquilina for her contribution to our school in so many areas, including playgroup, student wellbeing, What’s the Buzz and the RMA class. She provided such a beautiful presence and support to many. We wish Mary all the best.
Finally, I wish you all a wonderful autumn break, and look forward to catching up with you when I return from my Long Service Leave in Week 4, Term 4. As communicated, Christine Farrugia has been appointed Acting Principal, and Vanessa Saccardo has made herself available fulltime during this period of leave. As you are all in such capable hands, I am looking forward to my break, including 3 weeks in Japan. Hopefully, I will see many of you at Sports Day!
In all things Charity
Jodie Higgins
Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
As we approach the end of Term 3, we reflect on a busy yet successful term, with our annual Sports Day still to come. The students are so excited, and I look forward to attending my first St Joseph’s Kingswood Sports Day!
Laser Literacy
It has been a huge term of learning for both staff and students with the implementation of Laser Literacy from Reception to Year 6. As part of the process, our knowledgeable other, Linda Clune co-creator of Playberry Laser Literacy, has come in and modelled lessons for our staff whilst having an opportunity to discuss any queries. Following this, staff were then observed by Linda and an opportunity for feedback was provided. This process will continue in Term 4 as we strive for excellence and acknowledge expertise does not develop overnight. Our staff have been incredible in taking this on with such passion and energy and we have had amazing feedback from Linda about both our staff and students. As a leadership team, we are proud of what we have achieved in such a short period and look forward to continuing this as a school wide phonics program for our school.
Lego Club
This term, three of our Year 6 students Owen, Theo and Oscar have been running a Lego Club. These boys have been working tirelessly to get this off the ground over the past term. This involved careful planning including a proposal to launch this initiative which was presented. After approval, the next stage was fundraising which occurred through casual days where they raised a little over $500. As we know, Lego is an expensive pastime, so the boys presented their proposal to the Parents and Friends committee who generously matched this allowing us to purchase more than enough Lego for our school. The boys have been committed to running these sessions each week, a lunchtime for 3-6 and two recesses for R-2. Each week there is a different challenge and the boys judge these and tally the scores which will contribute to an overall winner at the end. We are so proud of our Year 6’s taking on such an amazing initiative for our school and are equally grateful to the P&F for supporting them. We will keep you posted as to who our Lego Club winners are at the end!
Maths Olympiad
Over the past two terms, our Year 3-6 students have been involved in a 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. Each week our teams met on Tuesday mornings to stretch our brains and use our mathematical knowledge and skills to solve real world (extremely difficult) problems. There were four competitions to test what we had learnt, and it was remarkable to see each student grow in confidence. We finished our Maths Olympiad journey for 2024 with a celebratory breakfast. I would like to personally thank all of the parents who ensured their little ones were here bright and early and who supported the program in it’s very first year. We look forward to continuing this in 2025.
Behaviour Policy
As stated in the last newsletter, we are continuing to review many of our policies to ensure they are in line with current evidence-based practices and Catholic Education SA Safe Environments for All documents. These are available on our web page with links to all relevant policies and procedures and the Safeguarding Commitment statement for South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools. These combined policies, procedures and strategies support all CESA staff, visitors and families to safeguard our children from harm and hazard.
As a result, the leadership team have begun a thorough review of our current behaviour policy. The policy will include the Positive Psychology approaches introduced, including Restorative Practices, the Visible Wellbeing Strategy, and will include Bullying and Harassment. This is still under review and will be communicated to all as soon as it is finalised.
As always, my door is always open.
Until next time…
Vanessa Saccardo
Hello dear St Joseph’s Families,Responses at Mass
During our Monday Afternoon Prayer, students have been practicing their responses to the Mass. One focus has been the act of giving the Peace. Students are learning to exchange the peace with two people, making eye contact and saying, “Peace be with you,” with reverence.
Reverence is the deep respect we show to God and one another when we are praying or at Church. It is an outward expression of the inner love and peace we share as a faith community, reminding us of Jesus’ call to love and unity.
Friday Morning Mass
Every Friday morning at 9.15am, one class joins the parish for Mass. We are grateful to our parish community, who always look after us and prepare such a warm and meaningful experience. These Friday Masses are a wonderful opportunity for our students to connect with their faith, and we encourage families to join whenever possible.
Season of Creation
We are in the midst of the Season of Creation, a time when we reflect on God’s gift of the Earth and our responsibility to care for it. Students have been exploring ways to protect and nurture our environment as part of their faith practice.
The highlight for this beautiful Season was the Receptions Reflection Day in Week 8. The classes received a parcel from God, with a letter encouraging them to be Custodians of Creation. Each parcel contained instructions and materials to build a play habitat, that the children created together with their teacher. They reflected on ways that they can have a positive impact on Creation.
The students then attended a wildlife show by Wilbur’s Wildlife. The children had the opportunity to interact with and learn about possums, lizards, frogs and a myriad of other Australian animals. At the end of the day, the children wrote a pledge and prayed for Creation.
Families are encouraged to continue these conversations at home, reinforcing the importance of sustainability and stewardship in everyday life.
Patrons of St Joseph's
Our school is deeply inspired by the values and lives of our patrons, including St Mary MacKillop, Fr Julian Tennison Woods, and Irene McCormack. St Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint, reminds us to have courage and compassion for the poor. Fr Tennison Woods inspires us through his dedication to education and the environment, and Sr Irene McCormack exemplifies service and sacrifice for others.
This year, our sports captains powerfully incorporated the lives and values of our patrons into their team cheers, which created a strong sense of unity and pride during Sports Day. It was a beautiful reminder of how the lives of these patrons continue to inspire our students in all areas of school life.
As we come to the end of term 3, I wish all our families a well-deserved break.
Christine Farrugia
APRIM | St Joseph’s School
On Friday 13 September our Year 3 cohort shared their Strings learning journey with a wonderful performance to their families, the Year 2 and Year 4 students in the MPR.
Well done Year 3s!
If your child would like to continue learning their string instrument please fill out the Instrument Tuition Form.
We are hoping to start a string ensemble in Term 4 for those students from Year 3 who are continuing learning strings and any other students that are currently learn a string instrument. More details to come.
All the best to our Festival Choir and Rocktopuses for their performance in the Catholic Schools Music Festival on Tuesday 24th September!
Rebecca Pfitzner
Music teacher
SACPSSA Touch Football Carnival
Congratulations to the 86 students that competed in the SACPSSA (Catholic Schools) Touch football Carnival on Thursday 5th September at the Touch Football Grounds in the South parklands. Each Team participated in at least 6 matches on the day against various Catholic Schools across the state.
The year 3-6 students were well prepared for the Carnival with students from Cabra helping our 3/4 students prepare with some lessons over a 4-week block at school as well as completing a Touch Football unit during their PE lessons.
Special thanks to our parent helpers Rosanna C, Louise S, Jennifer T, James H, Matthew O, Melissa G, Melissa P and our teachers, Miss Wicks, Mrs Perrone and Mr Bennett.
Mr De Giovanniello
SAPSASA Soccer Finals -
Congratulations to our talented year 5/6 Soccer team on making the small schools Soccer finals on Thursday 12th September at Service FM Stadium, Gepps Cross. The Team played a semi-final against Pimpala School winning 2-1 and progressing to the Grand Final. Unfortunately, St Patrick’s School was too strong for the team in the final but the boys put in a strong effort and never gave up.
This was a huge achievement for our little school finishing 2nd in the state in the Small Schools division. Well done St Joseph’s Kingswood !
Mr De Giovanniello
Hi families,
Firstly, we just wanted to thank our parents and caregivers for all the positive and encouraging feedback which we have been receiving from you this term. We love knowing that the students are feeling happy and safe in the time that they spend with us at OSHC.
Over the last few weeks, we have been thinking about the planet and our environment during Creation Week. We have had lots of related activities such as still life drawing of nature, finding insects with microscopes, cloud watching, finding animals in the kinetic sand and learning about marine life.
Just a little housekeeping matter. It is essential that we have all relevant and up to date medical details and medications to keep the students safe and healthy at OSHC. We have recently contacted families that need to provide us with some updated details. Please ensure you respond as soon as possible to help us keep our records up to date.
Lastly, don’t forget to book into Vacation Care as the days are filing up quickly. The program is below if you would like to see all of the fun incursions and excursions that we have planned.
Bridget Hughes and Emma Penno
Director Educational Leader
If you were caught out on Sports Day, don't let it happen again - pop into the office to purchase you St Joseph's School, Kingswood umbrella for the reduced price of $29.
