St Joseph's Primary School - Kilaben Bay eNewsletter

Dear Parents,

The commencement of this school year has brought about an atmosphere of excitement and industriousness. It's heartening to witness our students settling into their new environments, fully engaged in their learning experiences.
The initial days of a new term are inevitably charged with a mix of emotions as both students and teachers adjust to their new classes and build connections. I find myself part of this "settling in" period this year, and I'm appreciative of the time taken by students and parents to say hello and introduce themsleves.

For students, this marks a step up, with more challenging work and increased expectations, encouraging them to mature and gain independence. Each student will navigate these challenges and relationships in their unique ways, requiring our patience and reassurance as they navigate these situations. I extend my gratitude to the beautiful school community for the warm welcome. Embracing change becomes smoother with friendly smiles and conversations!

Several parents have inquired about my professional journey leading me to SJKB. This marks my 24th year in education within the diocese, with over half spent in leadership roles across seven different schools. My commitment to education extends beyond the classroom, including a Master's in Education in 2011 and ongoing coursework in the education sector. Presently, my studies involve collaborative engagements with colleagues from both the independent and systemic Catholic sectors across all of NSW. Twice a term, I actively participate in sessions held at our state CSNSW head office in Sydney, further enriching my understanding of what is evidence- based 'best practice' in the current educational landscape.

I was fortunate to be appointed to the 2024 Principal role half way through last year. This gave me time to become very familiar with all our school data sources and the SJKB 'data dashboard'. In addition to this, late last year I attended the Annual School Visit with our Head of Catholic Schools, COO and diocesan business partners. Following on from these discussions the Leadership team and I met with the School Improvement Team and Curriculum Educations Officers. We have a very clear improvement agenda for the next 3 years and I am looking forward to sharing this with you in further detail.

My school experience, coupled with educational research and student data, has shaped my core beliefs as a leader of learning, always placing students at the forefront of decision-making. Leadership involves managing conflicting priorities, policies, and compliance. My foremost priority is fostering a Catholic culture of care to ensure our students thrive. I urge you to collaborate with me in supporting this mission, emphasising the significance of our positive interactions and collaboration for the well-being of our students.

I am very mindful that there has been a number of changes to leadership over the past years and I wish to put your mind at ease. At assembly last week I had a student tell me that he is soon to have a baby brother or sister. I am looking forward to meeting our future kindergartens and hope that I can recall with delight this conversation during the first day of Kinder for our 2029 cohort!

There will be some small tweeks and reimagining of how we do things at SJKB. I know that good processes help engender school environments where students can flourish.

Recognising that challenges may arise or decisions may be made that require understanding, I encourage open dialogue. Listening to each other and working together in a spirit of collaboration and partnership yields positive results.

I eagerly anticipate working with you, your children, and the staff this year to uphold St. Joseph’s commitment to nurturing the potential of each student in a quality Catholic learning environment.

With every best wish,

Nikki Norley

Principal

Welcome back to the 2024 school year at St Joseph’s Kilaben Bay! A very special welcome to our new Kindergarten families, as well as new students joining SJKB.

My name is Courtney Porter and I am the Assistant Principal at our lovely school. You will find me in the office Monday through Wednesday and every second Thursday. When I am not in the office, I teach a 3/4 class.

I love talking with our families and getting to know our students. If you have any questions, feedback or concerns, please reach out and I would be happy to help you!

My email address is as follows:

courtney.porter@mn.catholic.edu.au

Courtney Porter

Assistant Principal

Save the date - 28th February @ 5pm

Join us for our Welcome BBQ Family Night. Please mark your calendars for this special event. It's an informal evening designed for you to connect with every member of our school community. Our dedicated teachers will be available with class information, providing you with insights into the exciting year ahead. We look forward to sharing this relaxed and enjoyable evening with you!

In the upcoming weeks, we will send out 'Meet the Teacher' profiles via compass, allowing you to get to know our staff better. Staff email addresses and working days will be confirmed in class information notes given out at our Welcome BBQ.

This term, we're excited to showcase the diverse talents and backgrounds of both familiar faces and new additions to our team.

We are in the middle of the recruitment process for additional Learning Support Assistants and an English as an Additional Dialect Teacher.

In consultation with the SJKB teachers and in response to our student data we will be reviewing our current timetable structure this term. The start and end of day times will remain the same though, we are in the process of reimaging our literacy and numeracy blocks. With the release of the new syllabus, this is timely. We are endeavouring to keep our literacy and numeracy time as uninterrupted as possible. From Monday through to Thursday, we will aim to limit disruptions by scheduling as many events as possible at the end of the week or after 1pm. You may also notice we are reimaging our Diverse Learners Team. Our aim is to increase adult density during Literacy and Numeracy time so we can better meet the needs of our learners. More exciting information will be shared with you over this semester.

As of now, Assembly will take place every Friday morning right after the first bell in the school hall. During these gatherings, we'll proudly celebrate student achievements, including class awards, and maintain our traditions with the school anthem, song, and birthday recognitions. This year we will notify parents of exceptional accomplishments, such as PBL 100's and end-of-year class awards. While we won't be individually contacting for class awards, we extend a warm invitation to all parents, caregivers, and family members to join us for these weekly award assemblies. Your presence and support contribute to the positive atmosphere and recognition of our students' hard work and dedication. Let's make our Friday assemblies a vibrant celebration of our school community's achievements!"

A very special welcome to all our new kindergarten students and families. Kindergarten have enjoyed their first few days of school with exciting activities taking place including the teddy bears picnic and a sport lesson. Congratulations for such a positive start to school!

What a fantastic way to start our year with our Primary Swimming Carnival! This Carnival was a resounding success with a very high level of student participation both in the pool and in the stands. The team spirit and sportsmanship displayed was excellent! A special shout out to our sports captains: Hayden Buko, Isabella Leslie, Martine Salem and Eve Bower for leading their sport house in chants. You were awesome!

Well done to all participants and congratulations to the following students who have made our 2024 Regional Team. Our champions and winning house will be announced shortly.

2024 Regional Team

Carys Edwards, Matilda Burrup, Bohdi Simpson, Darby Douglas, Ollie Simpson, Adelyn Fanning, Phoebe Cooper, Layla Kuzma, Molly Wilkinson, Elliette Sault, Luca Taylor, Finn Cockling, Xavier Quinn, Seth Wallace, Poppy Lorriman, Matilda Douglas, Zac Budden, Phoenix Davison, Angus Gardner, Max Gardner, Xavier Starkey, Xavier Quinn, Abigail Schmidt, Maggie Henriques, Archie Lorriman, Oliver Cocking and Eve Rozenfeld.

Our school is a Positive Behaviour for Learning School. The PBL framework assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes for children and young people.

When PBL is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:

· reduced problem behaviour

· increased time focused on instruction

· improved social-emotional wellbeing

· positive and respectful relationships among students and staff

· support for teachers to teach, model and respond effectively to student need

· a predictable learning environment where staff and students know what is expected to deliver effective practices that can be sustained over time.

Our school makes sure that all students are explicitly taught the expected behaviours and establish clear and consistent boundaries. Staff take a proactive, preventative approach to ensure all students receive the appropriate level of support to help them to be successful at school. Student outcomes are monitored so identified students can receive additional support when needed, and children who consistently follow the PBL are awarded gotchas.

This fortnight our PBL is ‘STRIVE HIGH’. On Monday mornings, this PBL is introduced to the whole school and classes engage with lessons that help children understand these important qualities.

We are meeting our Safety and Wellness Business Partners to draft a Traffic Management Plan for St Joseph’s. As part of this process we will organise for representatives from Police and Local Council to visit and review our current arrangements.

Pedestrian Safety

Please be reminded to use the pedestrian crossings in our carpark when dropping off and collecting your children from school. Ensuring the safety of your child is paramount for us. By using the crossings, you are also keeping everyone else safe.

Remember:

Always… approach the pedestrian crossing slowly.

Never… allow children to run onto, or across the crossing without an adult

Always… pay attention to the traffic as you cross. Sometimes vehicles may not stop.

Never… look down at your phone as you cross.

Never… assume traffic will stop for you, just because you are standing at a pedestrian crossing.

Always… hold your child’s hand.

To facilitate communication, we will provide staff email addresses in “Meet the teacher” notes. Given that teaching is our primary focus during the day, kindly allow 24 hours for a response. While our staff will make every effort to promptly address your questions, they may have commitments like before and after-school meetings, making immediate responses challenging.

For efficiency, we encourage you to send emails within the timeframe of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. In cases of urgent matters, changes to pick-up routines or general inquiries, please feel free to call or email the school office: admin@kilabenbay.catholic.edu.au

• Compass will continue to be our source of communication for all families for newsletters, events, whole school and stage information

• Seesaw - K-4 will continue to be a method of classroom communication (classroom updates, class reminders and shared school work and feedback)

• One note - years 5 &6 will continue to be a method of classroom communication (classroom updates, class reminders and shared school work and feedback)

• Newsletters will be every 3 weeks distributed on a Wednesday- upcoming events and save the date information will be included in the newsletter

• Week at a Glance- will be sent each Friday in readiness for the week ahead

Thanks to the Year 6 of 2023 for gifting the school a new sports flag. This arrived at the start of the year and we look forward to putting it to good use at our regional events and sports gala days.

Sports Coordinators

This year Mrs. Albury and Miss Goodhew are the sports coordinators at St. Joseph’s. Below is the website with lots of information and dates. We will communicate school dates and school specific information via Compass in the coming weeks.

Maitland-Newcastle Diocesan Sports Website

There is a Diocesan specific website for Sport that has all the dates for diocesan sport as well as general information about the sports.

The Maitland Newcastle Primary Tile allows parents to view basic information for Primary pathway sports including event information and results, the current year’s diocesan sports calendar and important notices for sports including wet weather information will now be found here.

Any further questions beyond the sport specific information on this website should be directed to your school sport coordinator.

No parent should register their child for any diocesan sport without seeing the school sport coordinator. Students must be selected at school and/or regional level before applying for diocesan sport.

Dates_to_Remember_Term1_wk2_2024_updated _pdf 130.66 KB

We regularly need volunteers for various roles within our school. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer at our school, please follow the instructions on the link below:

Volunteering link

If you have been a volunteer in the past and your WWCC has expired, you can renew it for free at Service NSW.

Once you have been cleared, you will need to come in for a site induction (approx. 40mins). We appreciate you all so much!

Our planned site induction dates are below, please email me with your attendance.

Tuesday 5th March 8.50am

Monday March 11th 3.15pm

courtney.porter@mn.catholic.edu.au

Our first P&F meeting for the year to be held on Tuesday the 20th February in the Library at 5.30pm. A warm welcome to our existing and new families.

St_Nich_OOSH_Flyer.pdf

St_Nich_OOSH_Flyer _pdf 5.55 MB

How to Order

Thanks to everyone who has placed orders via the link for second hand school items (link below)

PLUS second hand uniform request

Hats can also be ordered via our system please specify new or used in the comments.

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CHILD'S NAME AND CLASS in the message as our volunteers do not have access to the different family surnames to make connections to students - therefore use your child's name first, then your name, especially if different surname. Payment is via the Qkr! app.

Thank you!

THE PLUS TEAM

The children continue to enjoy their guitar lessons so if you would like your child to learn guitar: We have a guitar group here at St Joseph's where children receive tuition from professional teachers at school each week on a Tuesday between 1-3pm. For more information, please contact Ricky direct on 0407 534 944:

Unless otherwise stated, the advertisements placed in this newsletter are by independent third parties who have no legal relationship with the Diocese. The activities or services of the advertiseers are not supervised or controlled in any way by the Diocese. The Diocese is not in a position to endorse the advertisers of the services provided and makes no representation about those matters. Accordingly, the Diocese cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisers of the activities or services that are the subject of these advertisements.