St Joseph's, Tara - Term 1 Week 4 2022 Newsletter

From the Principal

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome to the 2022  school year

The school is alive once again with all students returning and many new families joining St. Joseph's School after the delayed start. Altogether we have thirty-eight students. Parents are to be congratulated for ensuring their children are neatly dressed in the correct uniform each day. The classrooms are buzzing with learning conversations and in the playground you can hear the gurgle of laughter as old and new friends enjoy eating and playing together.

Over the holidays the school was freshly painted. The bright colours always make me smile and the student, parent, staff, visitor and local community response has been extremely positive. In 2022 we are working towards new carpet and storage and improving the grounds.

For me it has been a real joy to connect with so many families  over the last two weeks. Thank you once again for  your patience with the Covid 19 situation and for supporting the Covid safety measures  that are in place. Rest assured I will continue to keep you updated with the latest information via email. If there are any changes to your details please inform administration.

All teachers have worked closely with the students to establish clear expectations for learning and wellbeing. Year 3-6 are leading the way with their attitude to learning and quality behaviour. It won't be long and the Year 3-6 students will be presenting their leadership speeches. On enrolment parents agree to support school rules and expectations.

I would like to wish the year sixes a truly wonderful last year of primary school and I look forward to seeing how you develop as leaders in 2022. 

A warm welcome to all our new Prep students. The new Preps are settling into the routine of school life and being a learner. Fun is always part of the learning plan. I encourage parents to connect with your child's teacher about your child's wellbeing and learning on a regular basis. Through collaboration and consultation, we can do great things together for all learners in our school.

2022 Annual Action Plan

In 2022 we will continue to embed and deepen the use of effective and expected high impact teaching strategies and personalised learning approaches across all key learning areas to maximise learning success for all students. Together with your support we will be able to maximise learning for all students. 

Camp

At this stage we are still hopeful that we will be able to go on Camp in the last week of this term. We will be having a Coloured Clothes Day on Friday 25 February to raise funds towards our camp costs. Please bring $2 per child on the day. So everyone join in and dress up in your favourite/craziest coloured clothes.

Fee Support Funding

All families received a large and early Christmas present to help with your school fees at the end of last year. Thank you to those families who continued to pay off any remaining fees over the holidays. Families will receive a credit for the first two weeks of school whether you attended school or  stayed at home.

Barunggam

The Tara area's on country language is Barunggam. If you are on facebook keep an eye on our page for the students  sharing their Barunggam language and cultural learnings.

Learning Super Powers 

In the first two weeks it has been wonderful to see students using their Learning Super Powers. Throughout 2022 we will teach and reteach the St. Joseph's Learning Super Powers and embed them into our ways of learning and and daily school life. 

P & F Meeting (AGM)

The P & F executive invite you to attend their annual general meeting this Friday at 3 p.m. 

Volunteer Induction

If you have an official green immunisation tick, I encourage you to attend one of the Volunteer Induction sessions so you can support the students by volunteering. Any parents attending camp will be required to complete their 2022 volunteer induction.

Thursday  17 Feb at 8.30 a.m. with Mrs Porter

Monday 21 Feb at 8.30 a.m. with Mrs Whelan

2022 Spotlight on Staff  

I would like to introduce our wonderful school and parish personnel.

     Cleaner: Annette Stapleton

     Groundsperson & WHS Officer: Craig Riddiford

     School Officers (Learning Assist): Peta Harwood, Leeanne Carden-Smith, Dorene Warwick

     School Officers ( Administration & Finance): Monica Moran, Suzanne Whelan

     IT: Karen Draper

     Teachers: (3-6) Ann Smith, (P-2) Ashley Stoker & Tara Fisher (returning from maternity leave                               24 June) & Sam Fraser (relief teacher)

     Teacher Librarian: Marg Bowman

     Counsellor: Susan Rodd

     Learning Support, Teacher and Deputiser: Greg Smith

     Principal, APRE & Curriculum: Mary Porter

     Senior Education Leader: Paul Murphy

     Parish Priest: Fr. MacGinley

May your school year be one full of blessings.  

Mary Porter
Principal                                                         

'Love one another ' 2 John 1: 5     'Do all you can to assist and love one another.'  Mary MacKillop 1890

From the APRE

MAKE ROOM IN YOUR HEARTS FOR ALL

Gather: Sign of the cross

As we start the school year as one community, it is important to pause… to pray that each one of us may open our heart to all to learn and grow with and from each other.

Jesus and Mary MacKillop showed us how to do this. May our everyday words and actions welcome and include as we open our hearts to all.

Listen: Let us listen with our hearts to the readings about Jesus opening his heart to all.

 Reading 1. Make room in your hearts for all. A reading from Matthew 7

Jesus  says: In everything you do, only do to others what you would like them to do to you.

Reading 2.  Make room in your hearts for all. A reading from Matthew 19

The little children were being brought to Jesus so he could bless them and pray for them. The disciples told to go away and not to bother Jesus. Jesus firmly said to the disciples “Let the children come to me. Do not stop them. For the kingdom of God, being loved, belongs to children as well.”

Reading 3. Open your hearts to all. A reading from Luke 6

Please listen to what I tell you. Love your enemies, do good to those who dislike you. Bless and pray for those who say and do mean things to you. Speak firmly your truth and then forgive them. Remember do only to others what you would like them to do to you.

Mary MacKillop learned from Jesus. Mary MacKillop was the very first sister of St. Joseph’s, the founder of our St. Joseph’s school and she is the very first Australian saint. Mary McKillop followed Jesus’ example of making room in your heart for all. She too opened her heart to make room for all those in need. Let me tell you a story about this.

Mary MacKillop was opening school for isolated country children where there were no schools and where they could not learn about God’s love. The St. Joseph’s schools she opened were open to all, especially the poor and needy. Mary MacKillop valued everyone in her schools, as one family discovered.

Mr Daly was on the board of Catholic Education in Adelaide. His father-in-law was the leader of South Australia. When his son Phillip was ready to start school, he wanted him to go to Mary’s school.

Mr and Mrs Daly brought Phillip along on the first day. Mary MacKillop placed his desk in the middle of the classroom surrounded by children from poor families. Mr and Mrs Daly objected and wanted his desk moved away from the other children with a screen  between him and the other children. Mr and Mrs Daly thought Phillip was more important than the other children. Mary firmly spoke her truth, that in St. Joseph’s school, everyone was equally  important and special. If they wanted Phillip to stay he needed to be learning and playing with all the other children and that Mr and Mrs Daly needed to open their hearts to all children.

At first the Daly’s were disappointed, but came around to Mary’s way of how things are at St. Joseph’s school. They too learned to open their hearts and make room for all the children in St. Joseph’s School.

Response:

I wonder how you can make room in your heart for all just like Jesus and Mary MacKillop…

Think of one thing you can say or do for someone in the school community.

Make a heart shape with your hands you have thought of something.

Go about your life:

Prayer:  May God bless you and help you as you open our hearts for all. Sign of the cross. Amen.

Photo Time

A big welcome to the newest members of our school community.

HOW DO YOU LIKE OUR NEW LOOK?

Everyone has commented on how wonderful the school looks after our facelift.  Vibrant, crisp and clean are just some of the comments we've received from around the community.

From the Parish

St Mary Of The Angels - Tara
Mass Times

Tara: Friday: 9am
Saturday: 6pm

Moonie: Sunday: 9:30am
on the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Sunday of the Month

Meandarra: Sunday: 7:30am
on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the Month

Glenmorgan: Sunday: 9am
on the 4th Sunday of the Month

Parish Priest: Fr Jack MacGinley
Presbytery: 4665 3401 (Tara)

Father Jack's Message

Father Jack is enjoying a lovely holiday and will be back with us on the 19 February.

Term Dates

2022

*Term 1 2022 – Tue 25 Jan (Public Hol 26 Jan) - Fri 1 Apr

*Term 2 2022 – Wed 20 Apr - Fri 24 Jun

*Term 3 2022 – Tue 12 Jul - Thurs 15 Sep

*Term 4 2022 – Tue 4 Oct - Thurs 1 Dec

Wellbeing

Have fun with the daily activities on our Happiness Calendar. See how many you can achieve.  We will also be focusing on a different Key to Happiness (below) each fortnight. 

Our Seventh Key to Happiness is - Resilience. 

Active coping

We can’t always predict or control what life throws at us, but there is always something we can try, even if it’s tiny. Active coping involves acknowledging the difficulties we are experiencing and finding something constructive to try to make today or tomorrow slightly better, rather than avoiding our problems.  This act of trying in itself, doing something rather than feeling there’s nothing we can do, helps us to cope, find and maintain hope and to feel effective. It helps us to feel we at least have some control, even if what we do seems inconsequential.

Having a sense of control is essential for our wellbeing. When we experience difficult times we can feel powerless but whatever the situation, there is nearly always something we can try – whether that’s an external action or something internal. As psychiatrist and concentration camp survivor, Dr. Viktor Frankl famously said “Everything can be taken from a [person] but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” 

Active coping isn’t about ignoring our problems or struggles but taking constructive action despite them. All of the 10 Keys to Happier Living have actions and ideas that can help during difficult times. Importantly, remember you don’t need to struggle alone. Reaching out and asking for help when you need it, whether from people you know well or in your local community or from specialist help organisations, is being resilient. Keep in mind that everyone has difficulties sometimes and when someone helps us it has wellbeing benefits for you both. 

Try it: Reflect back on a challenging or difficult time in your life. What helped you cope and come through it? How could that help you today? 

Investing in our Resilience

Regularly taking action to boost and maintain your happiness and wellbeing is an investment in your resilience too. It can mean you are more able to cope and deal with stressful or challenging situations when they happen. 

Nurturing your relationships with others, knowing who you can turn to for support when you have difficulties and exercising and taking care of your body in other ways like getting enough sleep, eating properly and not numbing ourselves with alcohol or in other ways, are especially vital. 

Noticing good things that happen, however small; cultivating a sense of realistic optimism or a hopeful outlook, even in dark times; trying out new things and being clear on what really matters and is meaningful for you – are all important sources of resilience too.  
 

Reflection: What actions help you maintain and build your resilience? Who are people you can turn to when you are struggling? How do you maintain and nurture your connections to them?

LEARNING AT ST JOSEPH'S

St. Joseph's Awards

Students Of The Week

Kaileigh McChyrstal, Karlos Partridge, Jasmine Wood and Zak Phillips

Student Safety

                                                        THE 2021 STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS:                                                                                                                                          Sue Whelan                                                                                                                                                                                      Mary Porter                                                                                                                                                                        Susan Rodd (Counsellor)

STUDENT SAFETY INFORMATION

EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE

From the Counsellor 

Separation Anxiety

While the intensity and timing of separation anxiety can vary tremendously from child to child, it’s important to remember that a little worry over leaving mum or dad is normal, even when your child is older. With understanding and the right coping strategies, your child’s fears can be relieved—and should fade completely as they get older.

What to do

Make sure they are on time so they can meet up with friends and go into class together.

Develop a quick “goodbye” ritual. 

Leave without fanfare. Tell your child you are leaving and that you will return, then go—don’t stall or make it a bigger deal than it is.

Follow through on promises. For your child to develop the confidence that they can handle separation, it’s important you return at the time you promised.

Consistency in who collects them from school, make sure they know who is picking them up. Making sure they know if it changes you will let the teacher know.

Try not to give in. Reassure your child that they will be just fine—setting consistent limits will help your child’s adjustment to separation.

At St. Joseph’s if there are any problems, we will call you.

P & F News

Welcome all to 2022. It’s been lovely to see all the new happy faces in and around the school. 

Everyone is welcome to this Friday's General Meeting - 18th February - 3pm.

Could Parents/Carers please return their volunteer forms by tomorrow so we can plan the tuckshop roster.
The first Volunteer Induction session will be this Thursday (17^th of Feb) at 9am. The second will be held on Monday the 21^st at 9am. If unable to make these sessions, please contact the school office and another day can be accommodated.

Tara Show is coming up on the 5^th of March, our P&F run a Flavour Fusion food stall every year and are needing volunteers. We rely on Tara’s major events i.e. The Tara Show and Camel Races to raise money for the school so any help will be appreciated in any form.

A list of tasks we need help for is:

• Meal prep (4^th and 5^th)
• Transporting food
• Setting up and breaking down the stall
• Serving at the show

A notice will be going home today with more information and a checklist for food donations.

Tuckshop

ROSTER

We are in urgent need of helpers for tuckshop duty on Thursdays. We would love to see everyone joining in. It usually works out that you're rostered on twice a term. But with 'More hands making light work' it would certainly be less. Without your help tuckshop will not be able to continue.

Due to all volunteers being unavailable for tomorrow's tuck shop there will be a revised menu. The notice went out this afternoon.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT