St Joseph's Primary School South Grafton eNewsletter

From our Leadership

Welcome

During the holiday break we will enter Holy Week; may this be a time of prayer and profound gratitude for the gift of Christ as we prepare to celebrate Easter, the pinnacle of our Catholic faith.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our entire St Joseph’s community for a wonderful Term 1. It has been an excellent term all round, and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together—through learning, faith, and the strong spirit of community that makes our school so special. Your continued support, dedication, and involvement make St Joseph’s a truly remarkable place.

We wish you all a safe and Holy Easter—may you enjoy the break and cherish the time with your family and friends. School returns on Monday, 28 April.

Farewell to Maree Hickson

Maree has informed us that she will not be returning to Joey’s after her long service leave. She has decided to hand off the baton to someone else. Maree has given the joy of music to so many Joey's kids...many who would not have been able to afford it elsewhere.

Maree has set high expectations of students, yet allowed them to have fun. Maree also managed our Junior Joeys program in the past and encouraged many students as a teacher assistant during her many years with St Joseph's.

We are grateful Maree!

Easter Holy Week Presentation

Holy Week is the most sacred time in the Christian calendar, marking Jesus' final days on earth and his ultimate sacrifice for humanity. It is a time of deep spiritual reflection, reminding us of his journey of love, suffering and redemption.

Please join us on Wednesday evening as we come together to celebrate Holy Week. Students in all years will be participating in the performance.

The presentation will commence at 5.30pm. We look forward to celebrating this Holy occasion with you.

End of Term Mufti Day

This Thursday, the last day of term for students will be a mufti day. Please bring a gold coin donation and come dressed out of uniform.

Cup cakes will be on sale for $2:00.

All money raised will go to Project Compassion - our Lenten Charity.

Tell Them From Me Survey

Early in term two, we will be inviting students, teachers and parents to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.

We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Joseph’s Primary

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using a link we will share with you early next term.

Bullying and Friendships

What is Bullying?

At the heart of Catholic Education lies a commitment to the wellbeing and safety of every student. Over the next few weeks we will share with you some information and support resources focused on building friendships and bullying. We will start this series with unpacking the term ‘bullying’.

Understanding bullying helps us to distinguish between regular conflicts and actual bullying. This helps avoid confusion and ensures that the right help is given when needed. It can also empower you as parents to engage in prevention efforts proactively. By teaching your children about respectful behaviour, empathy, dignity, courage, and inclusion, parents can help prevent bullying from occurring in the first place.

Bullying refers to the unwanted, repeated and intentional use of words or actions against a student or a group of students to cause distress and risk to their wellbeing.

Bullying means behaviour that has three (3) key features:

It involves the intentional misuse of power in a relationship;
It is ongoing and repeated; and
It involves behaviours that can cause harm.

Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:

Mutual arguments and disagreements;
Not liking someone or a single act of social rejection;
A single episode of hurtful words or actions; and
Isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation and/or violence

Indirect bullying (also known as covert bullying) is not always immediately observable and acknowledged as bullying. Indirect bullying can be discreet and anonymous, and the person experiencing the bullying behaviour may not realise it until after it has occurred. Examples of indirect bullying include:

Spreading rumours: Sharing false or harmful information about someone to tarnish their reputation.
Gossiping: Engaging in negative discussions about a person without their knowledge.
Social manipulation: Encouraging others to exclude or reject a person from social groups.
Cyberbullying: Using digital platforms to harass, intimidate, or spread harmful content about a person.
Stealing: Discreetly and repeatedly stealing personal belongings.

When we as parents have a greater understanding of what bullying entails, we can effectively communicate with our children about their experiences at school, in the community and online. By using the correct terminology and understanding the dynamics of bullying, parents can encourage open dialogue and provide the necessary support.

By using the correct terminology and understanding the dynamics of bullying, parents can encourage open dialogue and provide the necessary support. Here you can watch

Bullying and Conflict – What’s the Difference? | PACERTalks About Bullying (youtube.com).

Student Toilets

We kindly remind all parents and visitors that the bathroom facilities in the student areas are for student use only. For health, safety, and privacy reasons, parents and visitors are requested to use the bathroom located in the office/administration building. We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for all students. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

year of schooling
category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional

This information assists schools to:

formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with a disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with a disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy

(https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au). If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

Starting Kindergarten - After School Meltdowns

It's completely normal for children to have a meltdown or two when they start school. Here are some ideas to help.

Principal-Danny Rankin

Assistant Principal-Anne Forwell

Leader of Learning - Brooke Donoghue

Leader of Evangelisation - Matthew Green

Sport Coordinator - Caitlin Crispin

Diocesen Soccer trials

On Friday, 4 April, Henri and Noah participated in the Diocesen Soccer Trials in Grafton. Well done to both boys who tried their hardest and made our school proud.

Zone Cross Country

The Zone Cross Country will be held on Monday, 5 May at McAuley Catholic College. Please keep an eye out on Compass for the event. Those who finish in the top 3 in each age group from 8/9 years above will qualify to represent our school at the Clarence Zone Carnival. (8/9 years compete against each other in the same race). Please note that there is a time cut off for each age group to qualify for the Clarence Zone Cross Country.

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

Ginnagay Ngujawiny - Hello You Mob,

This term Stage 1 have been learning about families and the role that each member plays, dreamtime stories and songlines.

This week I introduced songlines and what they are in Aboriginal culture.

Stage 1 has learnt that songlines are the responsibility of the Aboriginal people. Songlines connect the Aboriginal people with the Dreamtime and how they believe the world was created.

Songlines tell the story of the landscape. It is believed in the Dreamtime, Ancestral Spirits created songlines also known as ‘Dreaming Tracks’ to create routes through the landscape.

The songlines relate to landscapes, landmarkers, animals, plants, stories, songs, dance, sky and paintings. Through these creations the bond between Aboriginal people, dreamtime and songlines are sacred and strong.

One of the songline dreaming track stories is ‘The Bush Plums.’

The bush plum dreaming story is a big story that spreads right across the Western and Central Deserts from Lajamanu and Warlpiri country to the Utopia homelands. These homes are at the top end of the Northern Territory.

In the Utopia region, the bush plum story is about how the winds blow from all directions carrying their seeds. The first bush plum grew, bore seeds, then the wind blew seed droppings around the desert. This is how the bush plums grew all over the region.

In Warlpin country, their bush plum dreaming is about when a girl falls in love. When she falls in love she has to talk to her female elders and they instruct her on how to attract the man she loves. So, on the advice from her elders, she has to weave a belt out of hair, while singing Yilpinji songs. This makes the belt magical. Then, when the man approaches she entices him with her charms. She reveals the belt and places it around his waist. This causes the man to fall in love with her. To ensure their love is real, they have to go to the bush plum bushes and eat the plums together. Other family members also follow them to eat bush plums and ask questions, to ensure they are suitable for each other. Once the families recognise their relationship, they are acknowledged as a couple and become married.

Stage 1 loved this story but some of the boys said ‘No way, that ain’t happening.’

Instead of making a magical belt we coloured in bush plums.

Attached are a couple of videos and paintings about songlines and artists painting bush plum stories.

https://youtu.be/33O08xrQpR8?si=I1VPsR8tbFA3rPFr (Rhoda Roberts songlines)

https://youtu.be/33O08xrQpR8?si=I1VPsR8tbFA3rPFr (Aboriginal art and culture in the NT)

https://youtu.be/52RQjExE2o8?si=4qUmPPaJ8zVReEEg (Aboriginal artist Polly Ngala painting Bush plums)

Darrundang Ngiinda - Thankyou

Miss Liz Hegedus - Aboriginal Education Worker

SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

Please be advised our School Office is open between 8.20am and 3.20pm daily.

UNIFORMS

The school uniform is available to purchase through the Compass app.

Orders will be sent home with your child, please advise the Office you would prefer to collect it.

Uniform collection times are Tuesday and Thursday between 8.30am - 8.45am & 2.30pm - 3.00pm.

MEDICATION

If your child is currently taking medication at school, parents are now required to complete the Medication permission form available through the Compass app.

If you have previously provided a paper copy, you will need to complete the online form to meet the new 2025 requirements.

ABSENCES

Only full day absences are to be entered into Compass, for partial absences - arriving late or leaving early please phone the School Office to notify.

Late arrivals - Parents are reminded to accompany your child to the Office to provide the reason for your child's late arrival.

Change to afternoon travel arrangements may be emailed to the school if before 12.00pm sjpgraf@lism.catholic.edu.au

After 12.00pm please phone the School Office on 6642 2899 with any changes.

Please notify the School Office if your child will be absent for an extended period of time, Principal approval may be required.

SCHOOL FEES

BPay is the preferred payment method for school fees.

Scheduled payments can be set up using BPay. The Biller Code and your personal reference number can be found on your Fee Statement.

Paying through BPay ensures that your payment goes directly to your account. Any enquireies please contact the School Office.

2025_MCC_Open_Night_Flyer.pdf

Uniforms

Uniform_Price_List_2025.pdf

Merit Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Merit Award.

ES1: Ivy, Kyla

Stage 1: Joseph, Lily, Zoey, Sarah

Stage 2: Meliah, Ana, Gurkirat

Stage 3: Aaliyah, Kendall, Noah, Kevin

School Calendar

TERM 1 2025

Week 10

Tuesday, 8 April - School Cross Country

Wednesday, 9 April - Easter Presentation for all families 5.30pm to 7.30pm

Thursday, 10 April - Last day of Term 1

Friday, 11 April - Staff Development Day (Pupil free day)

TERM 2 2025

Week 1

Monday, 28 April - Students return

Week 2

Monday, 5 May - Zone Cross Country at McAuley Catholic College

Thursday, 8 May - Kindergarten attending Mass at St Patrick's Church 9.15am

Friday, 9 May - School Assembly 2.15pm

Canteen

Canteen Open every Wednesday and Friday

Canteen orders are placed through the Compass portal prior to 8.30am. Our menu has been updated and the following new items are now available to order: