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Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been so wonderful to welcome all of our students back full time this week. The school sounds just like it should with many happy voices and lots of learning conversations in classrooms. I want to share this picture Mrs Monkley sent to me of Year 1 in the Library. She was helping another student and looked up to see this wonderful sight. I think it just shows how happy our students are to be back.
Survey on Home Learning, your thoughts matter...
As you will have seen we are currently reviewing the Home Learning Phase. All students and parents have been given the opportunity to answer the survey on Home Learning. Thank you to those parents who have already responded. We are also asking a couple of questions on communication preferences and Homework preferences, so it would be wonderful if you could take 5 minutes to answer the survey.
Sport Update
We have a number of restrictions in place in regards to the Sport we play at school as well as a number of hygiene practices in place to ensure we are protecting the students during Physical Activity. This includes the cleaning of equipment and mainly playing non-contact sports, we are focusing on Athletics this Term. At the moment there are no Regional or Diocesan sport events planned for Term 2 and our Athletics Carnival is on hold, we will certainly let you know as things change. Sports Day will remain on Wednesday for all classes.
Ukulele Lessons
Playground Planning and Improvement Group
Have a wonderful fortnight and please join me in saying a prayer for all in our community who are marginalised or suffering from hardship.
God Bless
Dont forget - Public Holiday on Monday 8th June.
See you all on Tuesday
Making Jesus Real – Values of the week
Week 7 - I walk on the concrete
Week 8 - I include others (in the classroom, in games, etc)
Prime Minister Award
‘ Being a steward of creation’, ‘trying your best’, ‘speaking with kindness’ and ‘ being a responsible learner’ are some of the qualities that teachers consider when awarding ‘Prime Minister’ at our weekly assembly. It is an acknowledgement of the student’s efforts and they have the privilege of wearing the badge with honour, of suggesting a focus the school can work on, award Gotchas to other students at lunch time as well as earning Gotchas for themselves. Congratulations to Cherry Burke and Luciana Hartley (Week 6).
MJR Awards
As part of our MJR system ,we acknowledge that the following students, Kai Macmillan has reached 100 Gotchas, Lara Prior and Dulki Hollis have reached 200 Gotchas, and Bohdy Stewart has reached 300 Gotchas. Well Done.
Welcome..............
A warm welcome to Lacey Hillman and her family to our school community. Lacey joins us this Term in Year 5. We hope you have a wonderful time at St Joseph's.
New Baby Congratulations
Congratulations to Darryl and Imogen Blanco on the birth of their baby girl "Isabella", born 19th May. A little sister for Jason, Nicholas (Yr5), Lachlan (Yr3) and Gabriella (K).
What have students been learning in Year 6?
In English we explored the changes to democratic and citizenship rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since 1900. Students were led into issues through famous Australian speeches. They explored how authors use language in creative ways to persuade and describe, and how people use written and spoken language to suit social purposes and address particular audiences.
In History, we looked at the struggles for rights and freedoms in Australia, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The students researched the history of the Stolen Generation. They examined the work that has been and is being done to reconcile all people and how we can work together.
The students would like to share their opinions and understanding of these historic events. They are very proud of their art works which show the symbolic journey of the girls from the novel ‘Home to Mother’. The students enjoyed expressing themselves through artistic avenues..........
Throughout the last several weeks, I have extended my knowledge on the stolen generation and Sorry Day. We viewed the Kevin Rudd’s Sorry Day speech and read ‘Home to Mother’ a book based on ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. I enjoyed learning about the Indigenous people’s past but I also feel sad and mournful for what happened. We need to move forward together. By Rose Nattress
The Stolen Generation was a terrible time in the history of Australia and in my opinion, never should have happened. We researched many interesting facts about this time. National Sorry Day was a way Australia could say sorry for what had happened. Kevin Rudd (the Prime Minister at the time) and all of Australia apologised for the hurt caused through the Stolen Generation, which was a sad time lacking in justice for many Australians. By Cherry Burke
Sorry Day was when Kevin Rudd said sorry to all the people who had been impacted by the actions of the stolen generation. I felt emotional and I felt sorry for all the kids who were taken from their families. By Rani Bushell
Kevin Rudd said sorry on behalf of Australia because children shouldn’t be taken from their families, I feel sorry for the families that had to put up with this. By Leyna Sheather
National Sorry Day: The video we watched of Kevin Rudd apologising, was very emotional because of the injustices that had occurred for all of those years.The Stolen Generation was sad because the kids who were different because of their race were taken legally which was very unfair. By Zarah Hillenberg
The Stolen Generation was an awful time when many Aboriginal children were taken from their families by the government. Sorry Day is the day when Kevin Rudd apologised to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the damage that they had suffered because of actions of the Stolen Generation, it was a very powerful and emotional speech. Reconciliation week is when we recognise what was done wrong in the past and we make sure that it does not happen again. By Emma Letheren and Evie O’Neill
Every year on the 26th of May we say sorry to the families who suffered because of the events of the stolen generation. Kevin Rudd said sorry to all who had been judged by their race. By Willow Doherty
The time of the stolen generation was a sad and horrible moment in Australia’s history, causing many families to be in shambles. It started when the government took many Aboriginal children away from their families. Sorry Day was a very sad and happy moment for Aboriginal people and white people alike, on the day the government and Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said sorry to all the people for actions taken. Reconciliation week is a very heart-warming week when we say that we are all in this together. By Samuel Harris
I learnt that it was a horrible time, but Kevin Rudd did the right thing and made a Sorry Day so no one will be sad because people judged them by their race. Sorry Day is held on 26th of May. By Bohdy Stewart
Sorry day was a day where the Prime Minister apologised for all the suffering of the Aboriginal people. By Oliver McCarey
We learnt that the stolen generation was a sad time for Aboriginal families because many of their children were taken. At Sorry Day, Kevin Rudd apologised for the poor decisions made by the government. Sorry Day is held every year on the 26th of May. By Mia Cole and Gabby Swierczynski
We felt that the stolen generations was interesting to learn about but shouldn’t have happened to all the children taken away because it affected their lives severely. Sorry day: when we watched the clip about Sorry Day we felt bad that they had to experience the stolen generation and some are still traumatised today. Reconciliation week: We think that it is good to have the time to respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders so it will bring us all together as one. By Winmalee Hollis, Luciana Hartley, Bailey Wilmen , Indianna Macmillan
I learnt that it was a horrible time but Kevin Rudd acted and said there would be a Sorry Day to say sorry to all the Aboriginal people who were stolen, hurt, judged by their race. Every year we hold a Sorry Day on the 26th of May. By Hunter Saunders
I learnt it was horrible for the children of the stolen generation and it was emotional. By Ashton Minns
The Prime Minister had a Sorry Day for the Aboriginal people who have been affected by the actions of the past. I learnt that horrible things had happened to many of the children, such as taken from families and treated like animals. Kevin Rudd said sorry for the actions, so now every 26th of May we have a Sorry Day. By Riley Hill.
Stage 3 Virtual Excursions!
This week year 5 and 6 participated in 2 different virtual excursions provided by the Sydney Opera House. Year 6 zoomed into a choose your own adventure style workshop where in order to solve a mystery, they needed to invent the story! The presenters/ actors from the Opera House, were in character as a newspaper editor, a witness to the mystery and a suspect. They asked many questions of the students, who made decisions that shaped their unique story, while learning the fundamentals of Improvisation, play building and storytelling.
Year 5 zoomed into a workshop where speaking, listening, and storytelling skills were built while working with a presenter to create an original story using their scavenged stimulus. The workshop explored the structure and stages of a narrative, while encouraging the development of original, imaginative story ideas inspired by their own world.
Canteen Help Wanted
Canteen will be back in operation in Term 3, however, we do need more volunteers to assist.
The canteen operates one day per week and volunteers are needed once a month for just 3 hours from 9.30am-12.30pm.
If you are available, please contact Mary in the office.
Telstra NBN Relief Offer
It is a $40/ month for 12 months concessional offer, for eligible families receiving Family Tax Benefit A or B and who have not had an nbn connection with another carrier in the last 3 months. (The offer is based on a $35 per month credit for 12 months on our usual $75/
month 500GB on nbn 25 Standard plan.)
I hope this may be of interest to families with school-age children you are assisting who do not have the internet at home.
As you may be aware, NBN Co has recently launched a COVID-19 Education Assistance Package to help families on limited incomes with school-aged children connect
to the NBN for the first time.