Term 3 Week 9 - 2023
- What's on Next Week - Term 3 Week 10
- Leadership Report
- For Action
- For Information
- Congratulations - STEM MAD Competition
- Sports News
- 8. Parent Education - Keep a Balance
- What's Been Happening
- Canteen News
- Class Parent "Friendraising" Group 2023
- Community Notices
- P & F Update
- Clubs and Activities - Updated for Term 3 - Copy
Term 3 Week 10 2023 |
School Events |
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Monday 18th September |
Year 5 & 6 Library Canteen Day Guitar Lessons Dance Showcase at 2 pm |
| Tuesday 19th September |
8:30-10:30 am Uniform Shop Open Year 1 & 2 Library |
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Wednesday 20th September |
Brass Lessons Kindergarten Library 11-11:30 am Knitting Nanas |
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Thursday 21st September |
Sports Uniform Port Macquarie Dance Eisteddfod Last Day for Students |
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Friday 22nd September |
Pupil Free Day Staff Development Day |
| Upcoming Events |
Term 4 Week 1 Monday 9th October - Staff Development Day Tuesday 10th October - Students return to school Term 4 Week 2 Tuesday 17th October - Exuro - Youth Hub Term 4 Week 3 Thursday 26th October - Bravehearts Friday 27th October - Daniel Morcombe Awareness Day |
Future dates can also be found on our school website: https://sjpslaurieton.schoolzineplus.com/calendar
For more information about activities and clubs available at school, please scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for the timetable.
What a way to start the week! Congratulations to our Stage 3 team, who were declared WINNERS on a countback at Monday's Todd Woodbridge Cup Regional Finals. They will now travel to Sydney to compete in the State Finals In Term 4 (more information to follow).
Congratulations also to our Stage 2 team, who came 2nd. A great effort by all the players! A BIG thank you to our super coaches, Leanne Hyland and Bec Faddy, for all their preparation and support to the students leading up to and on the day.
On Wednesday morning, our Year 5 and 6 students embarked on an unforgettable school camp adventure at the Coffs Adventure Centre for three days! Our students had a fantastic experience during camp, filled with thrilling activities and valuable learning opportunities. From team-building challenges to outdoor adventures, they embraced new challenges, built lasting friendships, and developed essential life skills. We want to extend our gratitude to our dedicated staff who committed themselves to the event and the instructors at the Coffs Adventure Centre for providing our students with a safe and enriching environment. Our staff's expertise and guidance ensured that our students had a memorable and rewarding experience. Congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 students for their enthusiasm and positive attitude throughout the camp. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and how they represent our school.
On Thursday, all of Stage 2 headed to Port Macquarie to play in a touch gala day. Thank you to Mrs Steep, Mrs O'Neil, Mrs Hurrel, Mrs Hyland and Kelly for helping our students throughout the day. See the article below for some more photos.
Today, it was announced that our STEM MAD team was one of three in our diocese selected to travel to Melbourne to showcase our project! With such a high calibre of competition and a high number of entrants, we are very proud of our students! See below for a full write-up.
Mark your calendars for an exciting event next term! The Camden Haven Show will take place on the weekend of the 14th and 15th of October, and we would like our school to be a part of it. Our talented choir will be performing at 11 a.m. on Sunday. In addition, we will be hosting a school promotional stall from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on this day. This is a beautiful opportunity to showcase our school and engage with the local community. We seek volunteer parents to help run the activities and promote our school. If you are available and interested, please refer to the Compass notification for more details.
Best wishes from the leadership team
St Joseph's Laurieton Presents Lego Masters 2022
Voting for the 2023 Lego Masters Competition commenced today! Students, parents, grandparents and teachers are invited to cast ONE vote for their favourite entry. Voting closes Thursday afternoon, with the winner to be announced at the Friday afternoon assembly in Week 1. Lego creations are on display in the hall on the stage!
This year, we had 19 entries, with 43 participants working very hard for the duration of Term 3 to create their entries. Two winning teams will be announced- one team will receive the Popular Vote Award (as voted by our community), and another team will win the Grand Champion Award, taking home the highly coveted 'golden brick'. Grand Champions are determined by a panel of judges that will award points based on technical skill, aesthetic appeal and storyline.
Good luck to all our Lego Masters!
Mrs Fiona Hayward
Operation Christmas Child 2023
R U OK? Day
R U OK? is a public health promotion charity that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives.
The work of the foundation focuses on building the motivation, confidence and skills of the help-giver – the person who can have a meaningful conversation with someone who is struggling with life.
R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in their personal relationships and building the capacity of informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues - to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they're in crisis.
This week students have engaged with activities around the four steps of 'checking in' to see if a friend or loved one is ok. The steps are as follows:
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Ask ‘R U OK?’
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Listen
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Encourage action
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Check in
More information can be found at: https://www.ruok.org.au/
Thursday the 13th of September is the official date named for R U OK? Day for 2023. We encourage everyone to check in with those around them and ask R U OK?
Mrs Fiona Hayward
Leader of Inclusion
Lismore Mediates
In our busy world, children are bombarded at an early age with noises, stimuli, and a message to keep busy. As a result, our consistent fast pace can detract from our ability to be still and silent with God. One of the ways to regain this is by teaching students the practice of Christian Meditation. Christian Meditation is a simple way of silent prayer practised by Christians as early as the fourth century.
Although students regularly participate in short meditations as part of their classroom prayer routines, every year, the staff and students of St Joseph’s gather to participate in Lismore Mediates. Lismore Mediates is an initiative launched several years ago encouraging schools within the Lismore Diocese to set aside some time to come together to mediate. We chose Tuesday the 12th of September to participate in this event before the Year 5/6 school camp and to coincide with the planned R U OK? Day activities. The whole meditation experience ran for fifteen minutes and was a beautiful way to start our day.
Mrs Fiona Hayward
Leader of Inclusion
Attendance
Congratulations to our Year 5 STEM MAD Team! This year, Tanvika Hari, Daya Jones, Leah Hayward and Eadie Whatson have designed and developed a working prototype of an app designed to support wellbeing in school.
The STEM MAD Student Showcase is a celebration of student learning designed to acknowledge and promote STEM learning initiatives that address real-world problems and demonstrate the particularity of Catholic Schools, encouraging students to make a difference (MAD) in the world by acting for justice and the common good.
STEM MAD has been taking place in Melbourne since 2018. STEM MAD National is a celebration of excellence in Catholic education, in which the nation's best primary, secondary and 'Future is STEM' student teams, nominated by their dioceses, showcase their projects to conference participants, diocesan representatives, sponsors and affiliated organisations, school communities and their fellow students.
Today, it was announced that our team was one of three in our diocese selected to travel to Melbourne to showcase our project! With such a high- level calibre of competition and a high number of entrants, we are very proud of our students!
We would like to thank Mrs Alfina Jackson for supporting and mentoring this year’s team and, once again, congratulate the girls on their achievement.
TOUCH FOOTBALL GALA DAY
What a fantastic day we all had at the Touch Football Gala Day in Port Macquarie yesterday.
Every single student from St. Joey’s was outstanding. They all got in and had a go, especially those who were reluctant to be ‘sporty’ or think they are not!! The sportsmanship was wonderful, and with some little reminders, we were humble when we scored tries or won games. We actually have some very good touch players… both boys and girls, that I can’t wait to see develop over the next few years.
Big thank you to Mrs Hyland, Mrs O’Neil and Mrs Hurrell who could quite easily be the next Wayne Bennett, Trent Robinson or Ricky Stuart of coaching. Also, a big thank you especially to Kelly, who helped to keep a careful eye on all our students. Also, a big thank you to the wonderful bunch of parents who supported us throughout the day and helped with the teams.
We definitely need more days like this!!!
Sonya Steep
A key part of parenting is to ensure your child has a healthy, balanced life. This is also true of their engagement in the online world.
Start the conversation
- Talk to your child about their online time and the importance of taking breaks.
- Spend time online with your child to understand their games and platforms better.
- Conduct an experiment to measure their device usage throughout the day.
Thriving
- Children thrive with a balanced mix of activities. Ensure they engage in physical activity, connect with nature, bond with family, interact with peers and develop their spirituality.
- Follow Australian Department of Health guidelines for screen time limits: 1 hour per day for ages 2-5 and 2 hours per day for ages 5-17 (excluding online learning).
Practical Tips
- Create a family device agreement to set boundaries for device use.
- Establish device-free times such as before bedtime, during dinner, and overnight.
- Focus on quality content rather than quantity. Discuss and engage with what your child watches or does online.
- Provide alternative options and encourage offline activities, hobbies, and sports.
- Dedicate one screen-free day each week.
Parent Resources
Assembly
| Monday 18th Sep | |||||
| Chantal | |||||
Date |
Event |
*Further dates will be advised via CompassSchoolzine. Please contact your class parent/s for more social activity information.
Class Parent "Friendraising" Group 2023
K: Bel Davis (Will), Brooke Burgess (Edie), Emma Hockham (Benji), Justine Reedy (Mackenzie), Rachel DeVries (Johannes)
1: Katie Barker (Jasmine), Emily Fogg (Jory), Lauren McNeice (Alyssa)
2: Emma Hockham (Olivia), Katie Barker (Madison)
3: Erin Richards (Jeremy), Bel Davis (Oliver), Lidi Patrzala (Iggy)
4: Emily Fogg (Gideon), Tamara Romer (Lincoln), Rachel de Vries (Willem)
5: Michelle Latham (Zarli), Brooke Hudson (Eadie)
6: Erin Richards (Kynan), Michelle Latham (Jayla)
#Gala Day update?#