Dear Families
Welcome to Term 3!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with opportunities with your children, family, and friends. I am excited for the term ahead and the continued growth and success of our students.
I am fortunate to be supported by our exceptional leadership team, including Grace Vassallo-Wakefield as APRIM, Toni Benci, our Inclusive Education and EALD coordinator, and Aimee Caruso, our Leader of Learning. Each leadership member brings a wealth of skills in curriculum development and student wellbeing, and we look forward to collaboratively supporting our school community in the term ahead.
WELCOMING OUR NEW STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
This term we are delighted to welcome our new mid-year Reception students and their families to our St. Joseph’s Memorial family, along with other new students across the school in Years 1, 2, and 4. We are all looking forward to getting to know you and helping you to thrive and learn at St. Joseph’s Memorial.
PARENT AND CAREGIVER SURVEY
All families have received invitations via Audiri to complete a survey we are currently conducting about our school climate through the Catholic Education Living Learning Leading Survey.
This is an important opportunity for you to let us know how things are going for you and your child/ren. Please be assured that your feedback will be anonymous and confidential. CESA and school staff will use the data to identify strengths and areas to work on and build upon as part of our continuous improvement.
You can easily complete the online survey at www.NSIPartnerships.com.au and enter the code SJMSPCNLLLP in the start questionnaire field. It only takes 3–5 minutes. The closing date for the survey is Friday, 23 August.
LEARNING CONVERSATIONS WITH TEACHERS
A reminder to families to please schedule an appointment to meet with teachers next week to discuss your child’s learning development and goals.
STEM LEARNING SHOWCASES
Last week our Year 3 & 5 students invited their parents to attend a showcase in the Performing Arts Studio of their STEM sustainable farm creation projects. The students were able to share their work pertaining to how they planned and constructed their prototypes using coding and 3D printing.
Today a group of our students presented their sustainability projects for the Catholic Schools 'STEM MAD' competition held at the University of South Australia.
COMMUNITY SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVITIES
After the generous donations of our whole community last term, our staff worked together during the staff retreat day to carefully construct full backpacks. The staff group heard from Rachael from Backpacks 4 SA Kids, who shared her amazing story of how she started and grew an amazing charity to support children in need within our State. Last week, our social justice leaders passed on the 20 backpacks. What an amazing collective community effort that will result in a positive impact for others in our State.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION SCHOOLS EAST REGION STAFF CONFERENCE
On Monday of week one, our staff attended a conference that gathered and connected all schools in the Eastern region together to learn about the future of education and how we provide our students with agency in their learning. I was involved in the organising committee for the conference, and we were delighted to have presentations from the chair of the South Australian Commission for Catholic School, Mr John Neate, the Executive Director of Catholic Education, Dr Neil McGoran, and a range of international speakers, consultants, and teachers in the region. The conference was an opportunity for our staff to collaborate with other teachers in the region to reflect on their practice and provide students with a voice in their learning. Thank you to our APRIM, Mrs Vassallo-Wakefield who led a shared prayer for the conference with the APRIMs from each school.
YEAR 5/6 CAMP
This week our Year 5 to 6 students attended camp at Mylor. This was an opportunity for the students to learn outside of the classroom to build stronger connections, develop collaborative group skills, try new things, build resilience, and learn in new ways. Thank you to the incredible teachers for leading the students through the activities and ensuring each student had valuable and enriching time away.
GRANDPARENTS: GRAND FRIENDS DAY
On Tuesday of this week, we held our annual Grandparents: Grand Friends Day Mass and Morning Tea. It was wonderful to see so many people in attendance, and as always, it was heartwarming to see the pride of each student showing their grandparents and grand friends their classrooms and their learning.
NEW SIMPLY SPORTS SOCCER SESSIONS
For the first time in SJMS history, the Bridge Street Reception to Year 1 students were able to participate in the kickstart Soccer program run by Simply Sports. The students were able to enjoy learning and acquiring new soccer skills.
BRIDGE STREET POTATO OLYMPICS
The junior primary students and teacher have been getting into the true spirit of the Olympics Games and as a group they held their own opening ceremony and events. They used potatoes to decorate athletes and design new flags.
AWARDED EXCELLENCE IN STUDENT VOICE
Once again our school has been recognised for enabling our students to undertake the 'student voice postcard' project run by Commissioner for Children and Young People. This is an important aspect to provide our students with agency and advocacy in our school.
APPLE EDUCATION COMMUNITY SUMMIT
Over the holiday break, I was invited by the Apple Education team to lead and facilitate sessions at the Apple Education Community Summit. During the summit, I was able to connect with fellow Apple Distinguished Educators to discuss how schools are preparing students for the future and how we can redefine learning opportunities for students using technology. A key highlight was the opportunity to have a tutorial and experience of the new Vision Pro Googles, which showed the exciting, yet also eye-opening, direction technology is moving as we head into the future.
Here is a wonderful photo that captured the joyous moment the Year 5/6 Basketball team sealed victory in their grand final.
Adam Slater
Principal