NEWSLETTER Week 11 Term 1 12 th April 2017 P.O. Box 86 Peterborough SA 5422 T: (08) 8651 2449 E: info@stjopet.catholic.edu.au IMPORTANT DATES WEEK 11 WEDNESDAY 10 TH APRIL Playgroup Expo - 2:45pm School Board Meeting 7pm THURSDAY 11 TH APRIL Last Supper Presentation 9:30am (R/1/2 Class) Stations of the Cross 12pm (5/6/7 Class) Early Finish 1pm FRIDAY 12 TH APRIL Good Friday HAPPY EASTER & SAFE HOLIDAYS WEEK 1 TERM 2 MONDAY 1 ST MAY First Day of Term 2 FROM THE PRINCIPAL EASTER Soon many Christians around the world begin their most solemn holy days, which begin on Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday. Over these three days there will be special times of prayer as our Lenten journey ends and we receive new hope with Jesus resurrection. Lord, thank you for the gift of hope. You sent us Your Son Jesus so that we could all experience hope through his Resurrection and in the Good News of the Gospels. We pray for all people who struggle to have hope in their lives. May they experience the gift of hope and be transformed to be beacons of hope for others. Amen. SPORTS DAY The school community enjoyed a wonderful day for Sports Day in Week 9. The day was celebrated in good spirit with lots of encouragement and support given to the students. I was also impressed with the student s eagerness to barrack for not just their fellow team mates but also those from others teams. However, there was still a competitive edge to the day as all the students tried their hardest. Well done to all the students for their involvement. Thanks to the staff who supported the students in preparation for the occasion. Staff spend lots of time rehearsing and helping the students get ready for the main event. We also appreciate all the volunteers who cooked the BBQ, served food, judged events, scored and other helpers on the day. Please see later in the newsletter for a more some photos of the day and the final results.
STAFFING FOR TERM 2 As you may be aware Bec Fahey will be away next term while she takes on the Acting Principal role at St Joseph s Renmark. We wish her all the best with this wonderful opportunity to lead another school community for 10 weeks before we welcome her back at the beginning of Term 3. While Bec is away Kylie Wells and I will be teaching in the 5/6/7 class. Kylie will be in the class for 3 days and I will be in the class for 2 days. Furthermore, Kylie will be replacing Bec in her religious role as Acting Religious Education Co-coordinator for 1 day a week. This will compliment Kylie s current role and all the good work she has started as Chaplain. I thank Kylie for taking on these extra roles for Term 2. Finally, Colleen Adriaanse will be on leave for the first two weeks of Term 2. We wish Collen and her husband, Wally, all the best as they travel overseas to visit their son in the United States of America. Colleen will return to school at the beginning of Week 3. STUDENT LED CONFERENCES IMPORTANT Over the past two weeks students and staff have been very busy conducting the Student Led Conferences. We put great value on these meetings and you can learn a great deal about the growth, achievements and challenges that your child is having at school. Therefore, these meetings are very important and your attendance and contributions to them are essential. It has been a little disappointing when parents/caregivers have not turned up for their meeting without letting the teacher know. Therefore, teachers have stayed at school for many hours longer than normal only to be stood up. Please be sure that when you are given another time slot early next term that this does not happen again. After all, we believe that it takes a village to raise a child and therefore it is a concerted and joint effort between home and school. It s not something either party can do on its own. Thanks for your help with this matter. EARLY FINISH REMINDER Please note that school finishes at 1:00pm on Thursday. Students who normally catch a school bus will need to make other arrangements to get home as buses won t be running at this time. Please contact the school if this present any issues for you. PARENT SURVEY The end of the term is an opportune time for us to collect data on the effectiveness of our school. We are interested in learning more about your thoughts, feelings, and attitudes towards your child s school. You can complete the survey online at the following link. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/cc7vjct (simply type this link into your internet address bar). Thanks for your time and support. PLAYGROUP Thank you to the families who have attended and supported our playgroup this term. Playgroup will not run in the holidays but will recommence early next term. Please keep an eye out on our Facebook page to stay up to date with what is happening. CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK Catholic Education Week will begin on Friday May 12 th through to Friday May 19 th (Week 3). The whole of Catholic Education South Australia will be celebrating this event. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all of the great things that happen within our schools. Keep your eyes peeled in next term s newsletter and on our Facebook page for information about the celebrations that will be happening throughout the week. HOLIDAYS I thank all the students, parents/caregivers and teachers for a busy but productive term. We have set the standard for the rest of the year and I look forward to achieving great things in our school community throughout 2017. I hope you all have a safe holiday break. A BLESSING FOR SCHOOL HOLIDAYS Sustaining God, caretaker of life, you are always present. You live in us. Watch over our students and their families during the break, and keep them safe in your watchful gaze. Bless our school community as we celebrate our holidays. We make this prayer through Jesus our guardian. Amen. - Damian Smith
FROM THE APRIM HOLY WEEK This past Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday, which reflects on Jesus triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week as we move closer to the death and resurrection of Jesus. On Thursday we celebrate Holy Thursday or The Last Supper. This was Passover and for Jesus and his disciples it was to be the last meal that they shared together. It is at this meal that Jesus broke bread, gave thanks and blessed it before sharing it amongst the disciples. He then did the same with the wine. This significant moment is replicated and celebrated during the Eucharist in the Mass. Jesus also took this opportunity to wash his disciples feet, something that at the time was deemed as below him. Pope Francis repeats this tradition each Easter when he visits prisoners in jail and washes their feet, giving them an opportunity to cleanse their sins and begin again on the path to righteousness. Friday is Good Friday, Jesus Crucifixion. After the last supper Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, it was here that Judas betrayed him and gave him up to the Romans who placed him in the hands of Pontius Pilate to decide his fate. Pontius Pilate washed his hands of any decision and left it to the crowds to decide. They cried out Crucify him! Crucify him! consequently Jesus was then stripped of his clothes, whipped, given a crown of thorns and a cross to carry through the streets and up to Golgotha where he would be nailed to the cross and at 3pm would die for us and our sins. Holy Week Celebrations On Thursday you are invited to attend a presentation of The Last Supper by the R/1/2 Class at 9:30am in the Hall. We will then have a presentation of the Stations of the Cross by the 5/6/7 class (starting on the walking path by the chook shed) at 12pm. This is a great opportunity to take some time to pause and reflect on the journey that Jesus took in order to save us from sin. PROJECT COMPASSION Thank you for your support of Project Compassion this year. The support by purchasing pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, fish fingers from our Kids Café Fish Friday s and individual collections at home is wonderful. I ask that families return their boxes to school by the end of term; these can be left at the front office or given to classroom teachers. Project Compassion donations so far: $500 THANK YOU Lastly I would like to thank everyone in the school community for their support and well wishes as I take on the Acting Principal role at St Joseph s Renmark for Term 2. I am looking forward to this opportunity but will certainly miss everyone. I will be back, I promise! - Bec Fahey
SCHOOL NEWS SPORTS DAY RESULTS Marching Shield: 1st Place Lonergan 46 pts 2nd Place MacKillop 45 pts 3rd Place - Norton 43 pts Team Spirit Award: MacKillop Overall Scores: 1st Place Lonergan 1685 pts 2nd Place - Norton 1390 pts 3rd Place - MacKillop 935 pts Champion Boy: Brodie Poltoraski Champion Girl: Bianca Wilkin & Clarissa Wilkin
LITERACY CORNER Spelling is one aspect of literacy that can cause concerns for parents. Over the years I have been asked many times about the best way parents can support their children as they develop skills in spelling accurately. Learning weekly list words is one strategy we use but it is not the only one. With over 250,000 words in the English language if we had to learn each word individually it would take a lifetime! Finding patterns and rules that apply to groups of words is an efficient strategy, however as the English language is very complex there are many different rules and patterns to learn. I recently found this poem that illustrates some of the complexities of English that our children grapple with as they learn conventional spelling. Read it and enjoy it but also take a moment to consider how these quirks of the English language can make learning to spell accurately tricky for your child. Our Crazy Language We ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes; But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes. Then one fowl is a goose, but two are geese, Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese! You may find a lone mouse or a whole nest of mice, But the plural of house is houses not hise! If the plural of man is always called men, Why shouldn t the plural of pan be called pen? If I speak of a foot, and you show me your feet, And I give you a boot-would a pair be called beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, Why should not the plural of booth be called beeth? Then one may be that and three be called those, Yet hat in the plural would never be hose. And the plural of cat is cats, not cose! We speak of a brother, and also of brethren, But though we say mother, we never say methren! Then masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim! So English, I fancy you all will agree Is the funniest language you ever did see! Overleaf are some great ideas you may be able to use at home to support your child s spelling development. Always try to be positive about their attempts to spell accurately and focus on the parts of the word they have spelt correctly rather than the parts they have misspelt.
PETERBOROUGH ART PRIZE As with each year we encourage all of our students to put an entry in the Peterborough Art Prize. We love supporting this fantastic community event. This week each of our classes have visited the Peterborough Town Hall to view all the pieces of art on display. 5/6/7 CAMP Last week the 5/6/7 class travelled to Iron Knob to Errappa Camp. The camp engaged all the students in a variety of team games and activities. The highlight of the camp was the high ropes course and the laser skirmish. All the students showed tremendous amounts of courage in climbing up to 12 metres in the air (while be strapped into a harness of course!). They encouraged and supported one another. Well done to Miss Fahey and Mrs Wells for organising a great camp. You can see several videos of the students experiences on our Facebook page. As a school, we really value and appreciate the opportunities that camps and excursions provide for all children. We look forward to continuing these experiences with all year levels for the growth and development of all students.
PARENTS & FRIENDS NEWS KIDS CAFÉ Thanks to our wonderful volunteers for organising and running the Kids Café this term. Your work and commitment is very much appreciated. KYTONS A big thanks to the P&F for organizing the Kyton s order again. The delivery will arrive at school on late Wednesday afternoon. You can pick up your order anytime on Thursday. Thanks also to all the people who support this fundraiser and made a purchase. COMMUNITY NEWS SCHOOL FACEBOOK PAGE Don t forget that you can also keep up to date with what is happening in our school by liking us on Facebook. Our Facebook page is regularly updated with useful information, photos, videos, etc. Simply click on the following link or type it into your web browser https://www.facebook.com/stjosephsschoolpeterborough JPFC Minis & Sub-Minis Jamestown Peterborough Football training for the minis and sub minis are now Wednesday from 4.00