News & Events

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Reflections on Term Three

It seems as if the third term has come and gone so rapidly. However, as we approach the end of Term Three, I reflect back on what has occurred:

• Whole School Mass for St Mary MacKillop and 150th Anniversary of St Joseph’s Memorial School, Bridge Street site
• Reception and Year 1s '100 Days of learning'
• ‘Learning, Living, Leading’ (LLL) Surveys for parents, staff and students
• Book Week (including fabulous Parades at both sites)
• Student Pulse Wellbeing Check-In
• Commencement of work on the Nature Play Area at William Street
• Father’s Day Liturgy and Morning Tea
• Father’s Day Stall
• Music Incursion
• Student Disco
• School Assemblies
• Class Masses and Liturgies
• Cross Country Carnival
• Religious Education Literacy Assessment Tool (ReLAT) Test for Year 4s
• Year 6 Camp
• Festival Choir

Season of Creation

We are currently half way through the Season of Creation. In our Catholic Church, it is a time when the Church through dialogue, offers us the opportunity to renew our relationship with God, our Creator and with creation itself.

The Adelaide Archdiocese is encouraging every person to embrace the Laudato Si’ Action Plan and adapt it to respond to our local reality by:

• Recognising our duty to care for and protect the Earth as a common home for God’s creatures, including for the generations to come;
• Encouraging all Catholic and Catholic institutions to develop Laudato Si’ Action plans as a vehicle for ecological conversion; and
• Promoting initiatives which promote and defend human life, especially for those who are most vulnerable.

As part of the Season of Creation 2022 initiative in the St. Ignatius Parish, a reminder that families are invited to:

BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS

BORTHWICK PARK, THORNTON STREET KENSINGTON

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2nd 2022 at 11.30am

[A Prayer for Our Earth - St. Malachi Parish]

Festival Choir

Next week is the Catholic Schools Music Festival, occurring most nights at The Adelaide Festival Theatre. St Joseph’s Memorial School is participating on Tuesday night, where we have Year 5 and 6 students representing our school as part of the Festival Choir. I congratulate all the children on their dedication in preparing for this event and wish them the very best when on the ‘big stage’. A big thank you to Ms Oriana Radman for preparing and organising the students since the beginning of this year.

NAPLAN 2022

This week, Parents and Caregivers of students in Years 3 and 5 would have received their NAPLAN results from testing earlier this year. I would like to congratulate all the students for their wonderful results. Well Done!

2023 Preschool Enrolments

Is your child ready to start Preschool in 2023 and Reception in 2024?

Places are filling fast for children born in 2019. January start if they turn 4 years of age by 30 April. July start if they turn 4 years of age between 1 May and 31 October.

Check the dates and tell your family and friends to avoid disappointment.

Pupil Free Day – Term 4

Just a reminder that Monday 18 October is a Pupil Free Day for SJMS. OSHC will be available on the day for families that require the service - a reminder to please book your child/ren in early to avoid disappointment.

On this day, the staff will be involved in a Faith Formation Day on, ‘Giving Witness to Mary’s Work Today’, spending the time with some of the Sisters of St Joseph sharing their wisdom.

As we head into the mid-semester break, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a well-deserved break. The students have all worked hard this term and it will be lovely, to not have that mad rush in the morning to get ourselves ready for school. For families who are travelling over the break, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Dear Parents and Caregivers

~ SPRINGTIME ~

Season of Creation

Spending time in my garden last weekend, I was amazed at the colours that were everywhere:  beautiful pinks from the peach and nectarine trees, the deep red that is appearing on the roses, the bright white colours of the apricot trees and the green colours of the leaves as they begin to appear on the vines and trees. Even the greens of the grass, and the weeds, from all the rains we’ve had. 

The colours reminded me that of course we have left behind the bareness of winter and are now in the season of Spring, the season of creation. Although given the weather conditions of late, one might be forgiven for thinking that we are still in winter.  Spring is the season between winter and summer and often marks the time when we emerge from ‘hibernation’. It is a time to clear the clutter, sometimes called ‘spring-cleaning’ and fields become a hive of activity as hay is cut and harvesting occurs. It is also a time for planting and reflecting on how we are caring for our environment – our small part of God’s creation in the universe.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II declared St Francis of Assisi to be the Patron Saint of the Environment.  Here we were, in all our modern sophistication, turning to a person who lived in the 13th Century, seeking his guidance and inspiration to deal with our global pollution and the collapse of our planet’s eco-systems.  What would St Francis have known about matters such as these?

Certainly, he would not have been familiar with the terminology but St Francis held a very strong belief that God was present in everything around him so that wherever he encountered nature, in its many expressions, he encountered God. For St Francis the world around him drew him to God, and everything around him was an expression of God’s love. His attitude to nature was a humble one in that he realised that all of us are reliant on the environment for our survival.

Psychiatrist, Becky Headmaun, who assists people who have been abused, talks about how nature connects us to God when she says, “When we go hiking in the bush, we are surrounded by all of God’s creation: the trees, the animals, rocks, birds, water. There is a sense of holiness about it. If you just stop and listen and close your eyes, you can almost feel a part of everything that is going on around you. When I am in the great outdoors and think about the complexity of it all, I am overcome with a sense of wonder and awe.”

Pope Francis was so inspired by St Francis that he took his name when he was elected Bishop of Rome. As he says in Laudato Si (On Care for Our Common Home)10, “I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast.  He loved and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.”

The guidance and inspiration that St Francis and friends give to parents and their children, is a reminder that we are part of nature, part of God’s creation and gifted with privilege and responsibility. To restate this in a natural setting, we might borrow these words:

“Your mind is a garden,

Your thoughts are the seeds,

The harvest can be either

flowers or weeds.”

(Author Unknown)

How Well Do We Know Our School?

Another beautiful area of our school is pictured above.

Have you seen it before, do you know where it is?

Sacramental Program 2022

If you have any questions about the program for next year or; if you are considering starting your children’s Religious Journey with the Sacrament of Baptism, please contact Franco Canil at the School Office or email fcanil@sjms.catholic.edu.au.

This Week’s Sunday Readings are:

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:2-3,2:2-4

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14

Gospel Reading: Luke 17:5-10

Also, as a quick reminder that Mass times at St Ignatius Church, Norwood are:

Saturday: (Vigil) 6:00pm

Sunday: 8:30am, 10:00am, 5:00pm

“We are all a reflection of God’s love”

Franco Canil

Acting APRIM

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Child Protection Week

Last week was National Child Protection Week, concluding last Sunday, 11 September with Safeguarding Sunday. Prevention of abuse of children is a commitment and priority in our Church and school community.

The Catholic Church in Australia marks Safeguarding Sunday (formerly Child Protection Sunday) on the second Sunday of September - at the conclusion of National Child Protection Week. Safeguarding Sunday seeks to acknowledge the immense damage caused by the sexual abuse of children and adults at risk, including by priests, religious and lay people within Catholic contexts. It makes a commitment to practices and protocols that create and maintain safe environments for all people. It invites people to pray for those harmed by abuse directly and indirectly.

Andrea Musulin, the Perth Archdiocesan Safeguarding Office Director said that while there are still challenges faced in this area, “we have to empower children to talk about abuse when it happens and for the wider society to embrace the voice of the child and to value children.”

Parishes across Australia were also being encouraged to celebrate Safeguarding Sunday on 11 September, focussed on the theme – ‘Every Child in Every Community Needs a Fair Go’. An important aspect of empowering and protecting our children is to support them in identifying five people they trust: a trusted network. In schools, this is a non-negotiable aspect of the Child Protection curriculum for each Year level and is reviewed frequently throughout the year. Networks should include people that the child feels they can trust as well as age appropriate outside agencies like Kids Helpline or Headspace. Parents and teachers should check in regularly with children to discuss their trusted network of people and encourage children to keep this list in a handy place for easy access if or when it may be required.

In the New Testament, Jesus often preached about HEALING. Not only the physical but also of the spiritual self. Healing of the deaf and mute man, the healing of the woman at the well, the healing of Zacchaeus the tax collector, the healing of the blind man, and I could go on with many other examples in scripture. This is the place where the Church is at the moment with all that is happening. At this time, we pray for the healing power of the Spirit of God and for the victims that have been affected.

The more we can do to listen and empower children and the vulnerable in our communities the more we create a world of love and caring, and the best way to prevent abuse of any kind is to turn ourselves into a strong society in which social justice, love and compassion are prevalent where violence becomes a distant memory. The God we see imaged by Jesus; the Good Shepherd, wants to embrace all. May we realise this is our call to be interconnected and to share compassion and peace.

A Prayer For Children

Loving God, we thank you for the care and affection of Jesus, who placed children in the very centre of his community. We pray for children, created in your own image and likeness, dwelling places of your Spirit, each one called to experience the freedom of your daughters and sons. We pray for all children – those in our family homes, those in our community of faith, those in the wider community, those in our global village, those with plenty and those who struggle to survive. We yearn for the day when all children may know safety and freedom and protection from violence and abuse, when they may bask in constant love, safe from any harm, where they may flourish and be all they can be. God of all goodness, we hope in you. Inspire us to surround others with gentleness and love and empower us to build a world that no longer knows abuse and violence. Grant us courage to speak out and act when children need protection, care and shelter. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

How Well Do We Know Our school?

Another beautiful area of our school.

Have you seen it before?

Do you know where it is?

Sacramental Program 2022

The Sacramental Program has concluded for this year with the Sacrament of Reconciliation being celebrated on Thursday 8/09/2022 in the Church. Congratulations to all the candidates.

If you have any questions about the program for next year or; if you are considering starting your children’s Religious Journey with the Sacrament of Baptism, please contact Franco Canil at the School Office or email fcanil@sjms.catholic.edu.au

This Week’s Sunday Readings are:

First Reading: Amos 8:4-7

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-8

Gospel Reading: Luke 16:10-13

Also, as a quick reminder that Mass times at St Ignatius Church, Norwood are:

Saturday: (Vigil) 6:00pm

Sunday: 8:30am, 10:00am, 5:00pm

“We are all a reflection of God’s love”

Franco Canil

Acting APRIM

Dear Parents and Caregivers

It is difficult to believe that as I write this, we are quickly approaching the end of the term. As you would be aware, the Prime Minister has announced that a National Day of Mourning will be observed for the passing of Her Majesty, The Queen, and that a National public holiday will be recognised on Thursday 22 September 2022. Please note that SJMS school and OSHC services will be closed on this day.

As well, I would like to remind you that there are 2 Pupil Free Days on:

• Friday 30 September for Reception to Year 6 students (Preschool will be open on this day).
• Monday 17 October for all students from Preschool to Year 6.

Please note that OSHC Pupil Free Day bookings will be available on these days.

Child Protection Week

Last week was Child Protection Week. This campaign focuses on engaging and educating all Australians to understand the have a part to play in keeping children and young people safe.

The core message for the week was, “protecting children is everyone’s business”.

On Monday evening the school hosted a ThinkUKnow session for parents and caregivers with a focus on keeping children safe whilst online. As parents and caregivers we have an important role in helping to care for our children when using devices in the home.

Three strategies that support children to be safe are:

1. Be engaged, open and supportive.
2. Set some rules.
3. Use technology and get information.

I urge all parents and caregivers to take the time to visit the eSafety Commissioners website and read some of the helpful information they have to help keep children safe. Just click on the link below:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/skills-advice/online-safety-basics

Class Groupings 2023

Early next term, the class placement process for 2023 will commence. This is a complex jig-saw as we work to develop the right mix of students and the best possible fit in terms of both class size and class structure.

Our teachers aim to keep abreast of the needs of every child through the course of the year and in their discussions with parents. Please understand that we take into consideration a range of factors including learning styles, academic achievement, gender, previous class history, friendship groups, social and emotional issues, siblings/relatives and so on. However, there is no doubt that some families will feel the need to write to me regarding placement.

If you feel you must write, please base your request on educational issues that you feel we do not currently hold and that is crucial to a successful placement occurring. This is not about ‘selecting a teacher’, but is an opportunity for you to provide information that will help us with the process. I must stress that letters of requests for certain teachers will not be considered. Please ensure all requests are forwarded to me no later than Friday 30 September.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Photo: Progress on the William St Nature Playground

Dear Parents and Caregivers

It is hard to believe that it is almost 2 weeks since celebrating St Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day and the Sesquicentenary of our Bridge Street campus. It was wonderful to see so many Parents, Caregivers and Friends come along and help us enjoy the day. As well, we were blessed to have some of the Sisters of St Joseph join us and help us celebrate such a significant event. They particularly enjoyed the historical presentation by the students of life and learning in our school across the decades and visiting the classes at Bridge Street.

I would like to thank the staff in their support for the preparation of the day and Mr Franco Canil and Mrs Megan Pollard in their role putting together the Liturgy and performance. As well, I would like to thank the wonderful parent volunteers from our P&F who helped to coordinate the Morning Tea for our guests, parents, and staff at Bridge Street.

P&F fundraising

Our small and dedicated P&F Committee have worked hard to raise money to support out school. I would like to thank them for their efforts in helping to raise so far this year $5529.81. If anyone would like to join this small band of parents in the work they do, please email me and I will forward on your details.

Book Week

Next week many schools across Australia will celebrate Book Week. I know that many of our students are eagerly putting together their Book Week costumes for our parade this Monday at 11am. Our Student Leaders have also helped prepare the students this week by spending some time reading the Short-Listed Books to the Students from Preschool to Year 3. This has been a wonderful way of sharing the love of reading across the school.

Screen Time Dilemma

I came across a great Facebook post by Mark LeMessurier, an Adelaide based teacher, counsellor, author and public speaker and South Australian Senior of the Year. He works in private practice as a mentor to children and adolescents, and as a coach to parents. His post refers to screen time and the impact it is having on families which is a global issue for many families. I encourage you to click on the link and have a read of what he has to share.

https://www.facebook.com/1262555484/posts/pfbid0H9ocNszXgSBQKxAwcnUNwNNwDxegVSn2XP2ze98nrj5ejPE1vZACwzW4EZE78UEml/?d=n

Enrolments, 2023

Next week you will receive a letter asking you to fill in details about the 2023 school year. Such information is very helpful for future planning. We kindly ask for the respective details to be returned by Friday 9 September 2022.

COVID-19 update

As per SA Health guidelines, a reminder that close contacts (those who have someone in their household who is COVID-19 positive) and who are over 12 years of age (and who do not have a mask exemption), should be wearing face masks. Also, please ensure that you keep your child home if they are not feeling well, and to get tested for COVID-19 if they are experiencing any symptoms.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Saint for all Australians

August 8th

More than one hundred and fifty years ago in Penola, March 1866 St Mary of the Cross MacKillop and Fr Julian Woods began the order of the Sisters of St Joseph. Mary was the first Sister and there was one school. By June 1867, both Julian and Mary had moved to Adelaide. At this time three more women became Sisters of St Joseph and four years later, there were 127 Sisters teaching in 43 St Joseph’s schools and managing four charitable institutions. 

As their numbers increased, Sisters of St Joseph made foundations in Queensland, New South Wales, New Zealand, Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria.  At Mary’s passing in 1909 there were more than 600 Josephite Sisters, with teaching their main work. From the time of their foundation, the Sisters reached out to children without access to education especially those on the fringes of society: the poor, the alienated and those in remote areas especially those in Aboriginal communities.

From very small beginnings but large dreams Mary and Julian’s wonderful legacy continues today with Josephite schools all around Australia and New Zealand.  St Joseph’s Memorial School at Bridge St, Kensington being one of them having been established 150 years ago. This coming Monday on her feast day – 8th August – we as a school and community celebrate 150 years of this positive influence that Mary has entrusted us to continue with a Liturgy and a Performance in the Performing Arts Studio at William St. We will then process to Bridge St for the 150th formalities and a special treat for recess and lunch. We extend an invitation to all our community to attend these celebrations.

In reflecting on the life of Saint Mary MacKillop to write my Newsletter article I started to think about how Mary MacKillop would have responded to the plight of refugees in our country and the world today. I feel sure she would have prayed and then acted, becoming one of their strongest advocates. She would have visited them in the detention centres, set up places for them to live in, made sure they were looked after in the community and probably would have met or written to the politicians who make the decisions about how Australia responds to refugees. She would have given the same energy and determination that she gave to the poor over a hundred years ago.

Sirap Publications put out an Educator’s Journal for teacher’s to use each year. Included in the Journal are notes and ideas for teachers to use in their classrooms around particular topics. I would like to share with you some of the insights they have included about Mary MacKillop from those who knew her.

One of Mary’s siblings: “Mary, you were always our ‘big’ sister; the one we looked up to for guidance and reassurance, especially when our parents were unable to provide a home in which we felt safe and secure. Thank you for sacrificing your youth in order to provide for us.”

Fr Julian Tenison Woods: “Mary, you were a true gift from God for me. Your vision to serve God through serving the poor and forgotten ones, and bring Catholic Education to rural Australia, matched my own dream. We made a great team!”

Student at Mary’s first school in Penola: “Mary, I loved coming to your school in that old stable in Penola. You gave all of us there the opportunity to learn so much. Without you, we would never have had that experience. What sticks in my mind, though, is what you taught us about God’s love for us, and about His Son, our friend and brother, Jesus. Thank you Mary.”

An ‘Aussie battler’: “Mary, you always had a special place in your heart for those ‘doing it tough and living rough’. You could see past our grubbiness, despondency and despair, always offering your hand to help us repair our lives. God’s love shone through you to us.”

An indigenous brother/sister: “Mary, you had a special love for our people. In your many travels through the heat and dust, you connected with our spirituality – the spirit of this great land we share. There were no boundaries between us. You became a special, Wise Woman to us, and our sister.”

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop’s motto through life is one that we all could try to live by:

“Never see a need without trying to do something about it.”

How Well Do We Know Our school?

Another beautiful area of our school. Have you seen it before, do you know where it is?

Sacramental Program 2022

The Sacrament of Reconciliation program has commenced with a very good number of children, and their families, turning up last Tuesday night for the first Meeting. The second meeting will be on Tuesday 6th September, Week 7 in the Parish Hall at 7pm. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be held on 8th September in the Church.

If you have any questions about the program or eligibility or; if you are considering starting your children’s Religious Journey with the Sacrament of Baptism, please contact Franco Canil at the School Office or email fcanil@sjms.catholic.edu.au.

This Week’s Sunday Readings are:

First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19

Gospel Reading: Luke 12:35-40

Also, as a quick reminder that Mass times at St Ignatius Church, Norwood are:

Saturday: (Vigil) 6:00pm

Sunday: 8:30am, 10:00am, 5:00pm

“We are all a reflection of God’s love”

Franco Canil

Acting APRIM

Dear Parents and Caregivers  

As we come to the end of the first two weeks of Term 3, I cannot believe how quickly we have come to this point. There is no easing into a term, we just take off at full speed! Thank you to all the parents and caregivers who have come in for Learning Conversations this week. If you did not book in and would like to still meet with your child’s class teacher, please email them to coordinate a time that suits you both. These conversations are vital in the home / school partnership we have.  

St Mary MacKillop Feast Day / Sesquicentenary of Bridge Street 

Last week you would have received an invitation to our celebration which will be held this Monday in our Performing Arts Studio. We look forward to seeing many of you at this celebration. St Mary MacKillop was an inspirational woman whose vision for all children to access a Catholic Education resulted in the start of many schools across Australia including our school on Bridge Street. More significant for our community was that St Mary MacKillop in the time she lived in Norwood and Kensington visited the students at this site so our connection to her is almost palpable.  

Book Week 2022 

In Week 5 we celebrate Book Week. The theme for this year is ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open.’ As in previous years there will be a Book Week parade which will be held on Monday 22 August. In preparation for this event, some of our Year 6 Leaders will be reading the shortlisted stories to our Preschool – Year 3 classes in the week leading up to Book Week. Further information related to this event will be sent out in the coming week.  

Live, Lead, Learn Parent Surveys 

Next week, parents will receive information to participate in the Live, Lead, Learn surveys. We encourage all parents to participate in the survey as this information will help us: 

• Prioritise school improvement efforts 
• Rate the school performance and 
• Provide a framework for engaging in cyclical performance. 

The survey will be open for parent input until Friday 26 August.  

Nature Play / Grounds – William Street 

Many of you may have noticed that shortly we will be commencing works at our William Street site for both the Nature Playground and the re-orientation of our Basketball / Netball courts. This work should be complete by mid-term 4. I would like to thank the staff, students, and parents for their patience over the past year with all the building works and interruptions to the play space. I know that we will soon be rewarded with wonderful grounds and play spaces for our community.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Dear Parents and Caregivers

It is hard to believe that we have come to the end of Term 2. I cannot remember a time in my teaching career when Term 2 has been as cold or as wet as what this term has been!

Because of COVID restrictions earlier in the year, it was this term that parents were allowed back on school sites for the first time since last year to attend Liturgies and Assemblies. For some of our parents and caregivers, this would have been the first time allowed on our sites. We hope that parents and caregivers continue to join us at these events as they happen throughout the year.

Community Events

In the final fortnight of the term, we were fortunate to be able to come together as a community on 2 occasions. The first was our Quiz Night. A special thanks to Charlotte Hutchesson for coordinating the event and to the small band of volunteers who supported Charlotte and the P&F Committee on the night. There was lots of fun and laughter that night and I think everyone had a great time.

Sports Day was the second event which brought the community together. This year, we were fortunate to have St Ignatius Oval available for us and even though it was the middle of winter, we were blessed with a perfect day. I would like to thank St Ignatius Junior School for allowing us to use this facility. As well, I would also like to thank Mrs Didyk for coordinating a successful day as well as all the staff, students and volunteers for their support. To all the parents and caregivers on the day, thank you for joining us. It was a great end to a very long term.

A final reminder of results for the day:

John Partington Memorial Shield – Tappeiner

Spirit Cup – Joseph

Parent and Teacher Learning Conversations: Term 3, Week 2

Parent and Teacher Learning Conversations will be occurring face-to-face, in your child’s classroom next term from Tuesday 2 August until Thursday 4 August. Book your child's Learning Conversation by clicking on the link below and selecting your child's class.

 https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/4a9nz

If you would prefer to have a phone conversation instead, please advise your child’s class teacher, so that a suitable time can be arranged.

I would like to extend to all families my wishes for a safe and happy 2-week break. I look forward to seeing you all on your return on Monday 25 July.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield