Nikki Norley

Principal

Student Safety

As part of our compliance audits an upgrade to our alarm systems and the installation of new electric locking doors to our administration building will be taking place in coming weeks. From term 2 onwards students and parents will be asked to use the pedestrian gate (alongside the admin building) as the main entry/ thoroughfare when entering the school from the crossing entrance in the morning. At the commencement of the school learning day all gates will be locked and visitors will be required to sign in via the office.

Furthermore, if your child is late for school (i.e after the 8:43 bell) it is a system mandate that students are signed in via a parent through the compass kiosk. 

At afternoon dismissal, students will exit the same pedestrian gate to meet their parents. Please ensure your children are in your line of sight at all times as dismissal time is the busiest time in the car park area. 

I thank you in advance for ensuring and adhering to these processes to ensure our children are safe.

Communication & Office hours, booking meetings, emails

To facilitate communication, we provided 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

Classroom Meetings with Teachers

Every effort will be made to schedule a requested meeting as soon as possible. Our teachers also have stage meetings, staff meetings and professional learning commitments throughout the school week. Teachers are also planning and preparing for the day(s) ahead before and after school.
Please be mindful of their responsibilities in attending assemblies, greeting their students and beginning the learning time day on time. We value positive parent partnerships and ask that if you pop in to have a ‘quick chat’ or ‘check in’ that teacher responsibilities and accountabilities are considered, and these ad-hoc conversations do not interrupt our student’s learning day. We also wish to ensure we give important conversations the time they deserve. For these reasons we ask that for any conversations that are of length an appointment request is made.

Curriculum - A focus on Literacy and Numeracy

In consultation with the SJKB teachers and in response to our student data we have finalised our learning timetable structure this term. The start and end of day times will remain the same. You will notice a change to our lunch and recess times. This will mean lunch orders will need to be placed on QKR by 8am as of Term 2. The canteen will remain open as usual for lunch and recess. Students will have their crunch and sip at 10am, please pack this separately.

The reimagining of our learning timetable has allowed for greater literacy and numeracy block time in the morning- when students learn best! 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.

Our SJKB Improvement Journey

Our School Improvement goal in learning is to ‘Improve students’ outcomes in Reading & Writing through differentiated teaching practices’.

Before we can reach our goal, it's important to take a reflective look at how we teach and make sure we're creating the best environment for learning. That's why we are leveraging the insights from Lyn Sharratt's work on clarity in education and Michael McDowell's research on fostering effective learning environments. By using these insights and research, we're working to create classrooms where every child can thrive.

This year, we will continue with our Leading, Learning, Collaborative journey with all staff participating in Professional Learning to improve our teaching practice. This model is based on the principles of Clarity, developed from Lyn Sharratt’s research studies on student achievement, into what works best in schools to improve student learning outcomes.
This term, our focus is on the following Parameters:

1- Shared Beliefs and Understandings
14- Shared responsibility and accountability

Teachers have also been embedding the research of Michael McDowell who outlines several conditions for effective learning environments. We are linking the work of Lyn Sharratt's clarity with Michael McDowell's research in several ways. This is so we can provide the best learning environment for ALL students at SJKB because they deserve the BEST!

Clarity of Expectations and High Standards: Both Sharratt and McDowell emphasize the importance of setting clear expectations and high standards for student achievement. Parameters 14 and 1 focus on clear accountabilities and high expectations, while McDowell's research highlights the importance of establishing ambitious but attainable goals for students. When expectations are transparent and well-defined, students are more likely to understand what is expected of them and strive high to meet or exceed those expectations.

What we have done at SJKB:

• Student learning goals:

All students across our school have a learning goal that was shared with parents at our recent Term 1 goal setting meetings. This student goal is attainable and ambitious, and we encourage grit, perseverance and determination!

• Increased adult density in classrooms:

We have more adults present in every classroom during Literacy and numeracy times. This approach has helped support differentiation, enhance collaboration, improve behaviour management and increase safety.

• Prioritising learning:

We have uninterrupted literacy and numeracy time which provides a dedicated period for students to engage in meaningful tasks, which are essential for developing proficient readers, critical thinkers, problem solvers and lifelong learners. By walking straight to class after breaks we have earned an extra 1 hour and 10mins of learning! (We are very excited by this!)

• PLT’s:

Professional Learning Teams are a vital part of our efforts to ensure that every child receives the support and resources they need to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. PLT’s consist of a group of teachers who come together regularly to collaborate on improving student learning outcomes. PLTs focus on analyzing data, sharing best practices, and designing targeted interventions to meet the diverse needs of our students.

The Clarity framework and McDowell's research both centre on effective learning environments. Both emphasize the importance of clarity, high expectations, engagement and inclusivity as important conditions to create positive learning environments. Great things ahead for ALL students at SJKB!

PBL

Our Positive Behaviour for Learning focus this week is ‘Be an excellent learner’. When children are seen following this PBL value, they can be awarded with a gotcha and recognised at assembly with a PBL award. The PBL value links with our Making Jesus Real philosophy and reminds us to live and love like Jesus.

Community Partnership - Toronto Mens Shed

We very fortunate we can continue to build our community partnership with Toronto Men's Shed. This partnership is incredibly beneficial for all those involved. The students involved with the Men’s Shed are learning so many skills! Ted, David, Allan and Mick are so wonderful, and we are so thankful for you! When these volunteers come to our school, they instantly create smiles and bring joy to our beautiful school. 

Courtney Porter

Assistant Principal

Holy Week

Thank you to all of the students and teachers involved in helping our community celebrate Holy Week. Two Maroon did a great job at leading the first liturgy for Palm Sunday on Tuesday 26th March. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week and is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, to the shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”. It was a celebration, because people knew that Jesus was coming to rescue them from their sins. It’s also a reminder that no matter what might be happening in our lives, God is always with us and will never leave us.

The next day, 3/4 Maroon then did a fantastic job at leading us for Holy Thursday. Holy Thursday is the commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, when he established the sacrament of Holy Communion prior to his arrest and crucifixion.

Then we celebrated Good Friday with Stage 3. On Good Friday, God gave all of our sins to Jesus, His only son, so our sins would be forgiven forever. Good Friday is a day to remember how powerful forgiving someone is — a friend, an enemy, anyone who has wronged you. This is perhaps the biggest part of the season leading up to Easter.

After the Easter holidays, 3/4 Blue then lead us in our Easter Sunday Liturgy on the first day back at school! Telling the story of Jesus Resurrection.

Bishop Michael Visit

Last Friday, we were blessed to have Bishop Michael visit SJKB. Our School Captains greeted Bishop Michael and lead him on a tur of our school, before meeting all of the student in the hall. Where he explained his role in the Diocese and shared stories of what he was like as a student.

It was lovely for students and staff to connect with Bishop Michael and share our beautiful school with him.

Blessings,

Taylor James

RE Co-ordinator

April - Autism Awareness Month

During April, the world comes together to recognise and celebrate World Autism Awareness Month, dedicated to promoting understanding, acceptance, and support for individuals on the autism spectrum.
I encourage everyone in our school community, regardless of your connection to autism, to take the time to educate or to strengthen your understanding this April. As there's always more to learn and understand about autism and its incredible diversity.

Below are some great websites:

www. autismawareness.com.au

Aspect Australia/ Austism Spectrum Australia (Aspect)

Autism Courses and Resources - Sue Larkey

Resources in our Community

Hunter Children’s Clinic  Hunter Children's Clinics Offers multidisciplinary therapy and assessments for children. There is a team of paediatric allied health therapists. The clinic currently has availability with psychologists, speech therapist and occupational therapist.

Red Frog for Families

Red Frog for Families has a number of School Holiday Programs.

Wishing you all a happy and restful break.

The Diverse Learning Team

AEL Schools Minecraft Challenge - Neighbourhood Heroes

Our SJKB GEM Team will join other teams from over 60 Australian schools in the Australian eSports League Schools (AEL) online Minecraft Challenge competition. The AEL has partnered with Microsoft Australia to foster creativity and learning through National Minecraft Education Competitions for all school students across Australia.

The Importance of Reading 

At SJKB in 2024 one of our School Improvement Goals is to ‘Improve students outcomes in Reading & Writing’. Teachers are engaging in Professional Learning in this area, such as our VCOP training on the first day of Term 2. Teachers are also tracking and analysing whole-school student growth in reading this year. 

A students ability to read fluently and accurately can have a significant impact on the rest of the learning and engagement. As the students progress into primary school, the tasks they complete in all subjects rely more and more on their ability to read and comprehend the written word. 

So what can you do to support your child’s reading? 

The most important and impactful practice you can do as a parent is to read with your child at home. 

Research by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Victoria showed that: 

“there is an important role for parents in the development and educational performance of their children. Parental reading to children increases the child’s reading and other cognitive skills at least up to the age of 10–11. This is an early-life intervention that seems to be beneficial for the rest of their lives. The results indicate a direct causal effect from reading to children at a young age and their future schooling outcomes regardless of parental income, education level or cultural background 

Reading to children 3-5 days per week (compared to 2 or less) has the same effect on the child’s reading skills at age 4-5 as being six months older.” 

Different Reading Strategies Parents can Use 

Echo reading 

Echo reading is simply, parent reads a sentence, paragraph or page (depending on the text) and the child repeats it back. The parent reads first. The child re-reads (echoes) the sentence, paragraph or page. Continue in this way to complete the book. Echo reading eliminates the frustration and anxiety that is too often associated with reading aloud. It often happens that once the child becomes confident with the book, author’s style, and language, he or she does not stop for the parent to take a turn — ultimately, that is the goal — independence. If it does not happen that the child takes over, echo reading is effective. By ‘echoing’ your reading, the child has an opportunity to sound like a fluent reader. This is important in building a child’s sense of what it feels like and sounds like to be a good reader. The child feels confident, relaxed and enjoys the experience. It is about comprehension and having fun with a good book.  

Shared reading 

With shared reading, the parent reads, the child reads. They take turns to read. The parent negotiates with the child to read a sentence, paragraph or page depending on the book. When the parent reads, any loss of meaning, misunderstandings or mispronunciations that have been made by the child are rectified without drawing attention to the child’s miscues. When the child comes to unfamiliar words, he/she will hear it read correctly by the parent and will automatically self-correct the next time the word appears. Shared reading ensures that comprehension is maintained. Shared reading eliminates the frustration of reading because the parent is a partner in the reading of the selected text. 

Paired reading 

Paired reading is an effective support for readers who ignore punctuation, read in a monotone, and/or extremely quickly or slowly. It is also a good strategy when children choose to read their favourite book for the 55th time. Just read it together and love it one more time. Paired reading is simply reading together at the same pace and in the same place. The parent reads in a normal reading voice. It usually takes a couple of sentences for both readers to fall into sync. It might feel a little awkward until a common rhythm and rhyme are reached. The child holds the book, turns the pages and enjoys the time together. 

Taken from Parents guide to reading and writing at home (petaa.edu.au) 

Cardiff High School Aboriginal Dace Group and Cultural Presentation

On Friday, we were visit by 26 students from Cardiff High School. The high school students led our SJKB students in cultural immersion sessions, which included the girls and boys dance groups performing, and men and women’s business workshops. The boys took part in learning male dance moves, face painting with ochre and playing the digeridoo. The girls took part in learning female dance moves, face painting with ochre and weaving bracelets and headbands with raffia. The Cardiff High students helped our SJKB students deepen their knowledge and understanding in such an authentic and proud way, which was beautiful to see. Many thanks to the Cardiff High teachers for working with us to organise such meaningful event for our students.

I was also given great feedback from the Cardiff teachers, that they were impressed by how keen our students were to be involved and how respectful they were throughout the sessions.

Always great to see our SJKB values shining out to the community!

Regards,

Taylor James

Welcome to St Joseph’s Library.

Kinder have been enjoying some wonderful books from the Premier’s Reading Challenge collection.

Stage 3 are having fun with poetry and stage 2 are using the library collection to research.

I would like to encourage all students to enter the PRC, which began on
Monday February 26th.
The PRC is an initiative by the NSW Government that encourages a love of reading in students from Kinder to Year 10. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read widely and enjoy reading.
The PRC runs until Friday 23rd August.
Students who complete the challenge will have their names displayed in the library and the newsletter. They will receive a certificate to show their achievement. At St Joey’s we also like to celebrate with a Pizza Party for those who complete the challenge.
Any student who would like to participate can return their note to their classroom teacher.

Congratulations to the following students who have finished the PRC:

Kinder: Elena L

Year 4: Ike B

Year 6: Eve B

St Joseph’s has a subscription to SORA. Sora is an eBook and audio book Library. As part of the Australian Catholic Education Network (ACEN) member collection, your child can access eBooks and audio books through the Maitland Newcastle Diocese.
All you need to do is to download the SORA app or go to the website and sign in using the
ACEN membership and your child’s Maitland Newcastle username and password.
(you can get this from your child’s teacher)
then you and your child can enjoy some terrific books on your devices at home.
One of the great features of SORA is the inclusion of a Premier Reading Challenge book section.

Graphic novels, Fiction and Non-Fiction books are also available.
Log in and explore today.

If you have any questions about anything in the Library, feel free to send me an email.

Happy reading,

Leah Hannan
leah.hannan@mn.catholic.edu.au

We were very lucky with the weather as we had a fine morning for the Cross Country and Infants Fun Run! Congratulations to all the students who participated and gave it their best effort. You can all be very proud of yourselves. We are!

Our juniors (8,9,10 year olds) ran 2km, which was 4 laps of a 500m course and our seniors (11,12,13 year olds) ran 3km, which was 6 laps. Infants completed one lap of the course and were supported by Stage 3 either cheering, encouraging or running along with them. A great time was had by all with many children challenging themselves and displaying perseverance and resilience.

First, second and third place getters in each age group will be acknowledged at our school assembly. Unfortunately this doesn't mean an automatic entry into the Diocesan Cross Country to be held in Maitland next term as there are competitive qualifying times which need to be met to progress to this level.

Congratulations to the following students who met the qualifying times:
Fynn Hannigan, Alec Taylor, Luca Taylor, Molly Wilkinson, Maggie Henriques, Ellie Wallace, Nina Reed, Xinni Zhang, Lilly Kay, Carys Edwards, Olivia-Skye Sharp, Harry Woolnough, Griffin Halls, Max Gardner, Martine Salem and Matilda Burrup.

Happy running!

Beth Woollett

5/6 White Class Teacher

For any questions relating to school events or operational matters please don’t hesitate to call the school office, Susie and Linda are more than happy to answer your questions. Often a question you have is similar to that of other parents and we can address these in a timely manner. This way we can also ensure accurate and relevant information is shared with our school community.

As you would be aware ANZAC Day is approaching, traditionally the school participates in this event. The school will be taking part in the ANZAC day march again this year. We will be joining Australian Service men and women with a variety of schools and community organisations to continue to honour our Fallen heroes.

We would like as many students as possible to attend. We will meet at 10:50am in front of Toronto RSL club. We then will March to Goffet Park with the ceremony starting at 11:00am. (Thursday 25th April).

If your child/children are able to attend we ask that they are in full school uniform and if you can email Mrs Angela Fuller and let her know that you will be there on
angela.fuller@mn.catholic.edu.au .

It would be great if some of the Year 6 leaders are in attendance to carry our school flag and lay a tribute.

Hoping to see lots of children in attendance.

Yours Sincerely,

Angela Fuller

Kindergarten Teacher

The Fee Statements were sent home 2/4/24 by Head Office. 

It is important to get your payments established early in the year, so we suggest you organise your automated payments with your Bank, with whatever fee frequency you have nominated. Your Bpay details can be seen on your statement and remain the same as last year.

If you would like help calculating amounts to pay on a weekly/fortnightly/monthly basis please phone the school office and we can provide you with a Fee Calculator Report.

The payment of school fees is crucial to our ability to effectively provide quality education for our students.

To assist families with limited resources, discounted tuition fees are provided to Health Care and Pension card holders. Please contact the school office if you have not already made this arrangement..

Additionally, any family experiencing financial difficulty is most welcome to contact Mrs Norley for a confidential discussion.

Linda Garreffa
Administration Officer

P&F Meeting- Tuesday 7th May @ 5:30pm

The next P&F meeting is an AGM. Executive position nominees will be put forward.

All welcome!

Thank you for all your donations this year. We are in desperate need of small sizes, especially the girls pinafores.

Please leave any donations at the School Office.

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

SJKB have several students each year that have been diagnosed with a food allergy.

Therefore, considerations in how our school implements risk minimisation for our at risk children are as follows:

• Food may not be shared between students and washing hands before and after eating is encouraged.
• We discourage food with high risk of allergic reactions or known allergic reactions to individual students, being brought to school eg- nuts
• Food rewards are discouraged and non-food rewards encouraged.

These are just some of the ways that SJKB is working to ensure that duty of care obligations to our students are in place, to ensure all students feel safe and supported at school.

Parents are asked to please consider these obligations when sending food along to school with your child.

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:

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!

If you would like any further information please email me on courtney.porter@mn.catholic.edu.au or phone the school office.

Kind regards

Courtney Porter

We are now accepting enrolment applications for Kinder 2025.

We have a very high number of new families enquiring this year, so if you have a younger child who will be beginning school next year, please complete and submit an enrolment application as soon as possible. Please contact the office for an application pack.

Please note the diocese has implemented the following timeline for enrolments in Catholic Primary and Secondary schools this year:

In recent years the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has received unprecedented demand for school entry across our Diocesan schools.

This demand, combined with the desire to offer families a pathway for their children from Kindergarten through to Year 12, has led to the Diocese revising and adjusting the Enrolment Policy.

The Parish Sacrament program will begin in term 2. Families of children year 2 and above are invited to enrol. Please go the Boolaroo parish website

https://boolaroocatholicchurch.com/sacraments and access the form there to express your interest or by emailing torparish@mn.catholic.org.au.

I am looking forward to your child making this next stage in your Catholic faith and life journey. All families once enrolled will be contacted via email to confirm our process. Confirmation will be celebrated in this parish on 13th September 2024. Any questions please contact either the parish office on 49473301 or Fr Greg 0417321209.

Kind regards,

Greg

Vicar General and Parish Priest of Boolaroo-Booragul

The before and after school care at St Joseph’s is provided by St Nicholas OOSH, Diocese of Maitland Newcastle.  Open Monday - Friday 6:30am - 8:45 am and 2:45pm - 6:00pm.

Please contact Kristy for further information.

KRISTY MARNEY
NOMINATED SUPERVISOR | ST NICHOLAS OOSH
P 0437 664 070    
140 Wangi Rd | Kilaben Bay NSW 2283 

Email  Kristy.Marney@stnicholasmn.org.au Visit us online www.stnicks.org.au

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: