Term 1 Week 3
Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are enjoying a positive start to the 2025 school year. Today we coordinated and participated in the Manning Region Swimming Carnival, and I am grateful for the leadership of Mrs Jones for this event. Congratulations to our swimmers for your positive participation on the day. The courage to stretch yourselves, the sportsmanship and humility demonstrated when you won events was very much in the spirit of our Josephite charism.
Kindergarten 2025
Something else to be grateful for was the start that our Kinder 2025 class have had in this first year of formal schooling. The students have been settled and are off to a fantastic start. I’m sure they are already exhausted from all the energy used to learn about new places, people and ways of being and doing, but the Kinder teachers are very experienced and have prepared a fabulous space filled with awesome opportunities for learning through play. Our Year 6 buddies were excited to be part of their first week at school and enjoyed the time of Friday to continue to build these relationships.
Parent Information Sessions
In Week 4, on Wednesday 19th February at 3.30pm and repeated at 4.00pm, we have our Parent Information Sessions. These short meetings are an important part of the beginning of each year. They provide parents with a chance to connect early with their child’s teacher and begin to build the relationships that are foundational to a successful year of learning for each child. Parents also learn about how the class runs, the overview for the term and have an opportunity to ask any questions they may have. You can also use this time to make sure you are accessing Compass and See-Saw for your child’s class and to troubleshoot any problems so that you are set-up for the year. We are so serious about trying to have as many families as we can present that we are throwing a Sausage Sizzle to help you out on a busy afternoon. Please come along!
Student access to Technology
At the end of last week nearly 70 new devices arrived at the school for students to access during learning. We are excited that we are getting closer to our goal of one-one device accessibility for students in Years 2-6. In 2026, when this is achieved, we will shift our expectations for students in the digital technology space to ensure they are prepared for the future in this ever-progressive digital world.
One of the areas we focus on at the beginning of every year is Cyber Safety and the approriate use of the digital technology that students access at school. This is part of our Diocesan procedure and an important step in explicitly teaching students everything from the safe handling of these precious resources, to keeping themselves safe online and managing challenges should they occur. Each classroom teacher works through some safety lessons with students from the e-safety commissioner website and other sources to ensure students understand the ‘why’ of our expectations. We also work through a document with students called the ‘Cyber Safety User Agreement for Primary Students’ and require that our students commit to these agreements prior to accessing technology at school. It is this document that we may respond to if there is ever a breach at school, together with our School Community Code of Conduct. I have attached both of these documents to this newsletter and ask that you familiarise yourselves with them so you can help us to reinforce the points made with your children. We no longer send home a hardcopy for parents to sign but we do ask students to sign if they are able or keep a list with the teacher of the students present when we went through the agreement with students in class. We take Cyber safety seriously and treat it like all other learning for our students K-6. Thank you for your support in acknowledging the positive behaviours with your child/ren.
Communication with our administration staff
The start of each year is a great time to remind parents and carers of the best way to communicate with the school for different reasons to maximise our efficiency. Please take note of the points below that our administration staff and I have discussed.
- It is best if parents and carers log all absences via the compass app. You don’t need to call the office unless there is a major concern, i.e. chicken pox/something highly contagious or an accident that requires the student to have a large amount of time off.
- 2025 fee statements will be going out soon. If you have any problems or require fee assistance, please contact Kara Schilt in the office (Tuesday to Friday). Please note that previous fee agreements don't automatically roll over into the next year. A new application needs to be submitted and handed to the office. If you need to complete an application for fee relief, please contact Kara for a form. All fees need to be finalised by 30/11/2025 unless a fee agreement is in place. Kara will be making phones calls to debtors throughout the year. In your conversations with Kara, you need to be courteous and respectful at all times. Any disrespectful behaviour from parents and carers will be formally addressed in regard to the School Community Code of Conduct.
- When picking students up early, please call the office in the morning of early pick up. This allows office staff sufficient time to advise the class teacher and eliminates disruptions in the classroom. It can be very time-consuming trying to find students, so we appreciate your help in this matter.
- All correspondence to our office should be sent to admin@tareesj.catholic.edu.au or individual staff member email addresses.
Playground regeneration
Work will commence this week on the big ovals as a temporary fix to a much bigger problem regarding the maintenance of our sporting ovals. The oval will be scraped and new dirt spread so that the surface is even and safe for students to play on throughout the year. This does mean that our access is limited during term 1, however, this is best given the heat and the increase in use during the winter months for football and rugby league. In the coming years, the Diocese will support our school through the Building Levy funds to install a whole new drainage system to ensure the ongoing maintenance of our grounds.
School Garden Program
Mrs Bennett, one of our Learning Support Assistants, was very busy last year creating a functioning garden space and applying for grants to improve this area of our school. So many students love this program and will now benefit from the new garden beds, shade structure and hot house. Well done and thank you Mrs Bennett!
Have a wonderful fortnight!
Yours sincerely,
Brooke Stephens
Assistant Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week, our students and staff have returned with great energy, and it has been fantastic to see so many smiling faces as our school community reconnects after the long break. The excitement in the classrooms and playground has set a positive tone for the year ahead, with students quickly settling back into routines and engaging in their learning. It has been heartwarming to witness friendships rekindled and new connections forming, creating a strong sense of belonging across our school. A wonderful start to 2025—we look forward to an exciting and successful year ahead!
Attendance
As we begin a new school year, we have a fresh start and a shared goal: for all students to achieve a minimum 90% attendance rate across the school year. Regular attendance is crucial to student learning, social development, and overall success at school. We are committed to working closely with each student and maintaining open communication with families to provide support if attendance becomes a concern at any point.
If your child is absent, parents are required to explain the absence through the Compass application on the day or no later than seven days. After this period, the absence will be recorded as 'unexplained' and will lead to our close monitoring process. We appreciate your support in ensuring consistent attendance and working with Catholic Schools Maitland-Newcastle to provide a quality education for all students.
For more information about attendance expectations or other areas of our school, I have included the link to the CSMN Policy Library.
Policies | Catholic Schools Maitland-Newcastle
Compass
At St Joseph's Primary School, we value strong communication between home and school to ensure the best outcomes for our students. I would like to take this opportunity to remind all families that our primary communication platform is Compass, and it is essential that all families regularly access their Compass application. Through Compass, you can stay up to date with school news, events, and important messages, as well as record student absences and provide permissions for excursions and events.
Attached, you will find a link to the 'Compass Guide for Parents and Families', which has simple instructions on how to access and navigate Compass. If you need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly office staff—we are always happy to help.
A guide for parents & families | Compass Education AU
We look forward to a fantastic year ahead and to working in partnership with our families.
Kia May Wall
Assistant Principal
Religious Education Coordinator
Opening School Mass and
Commissioning of School Leaders
On Wednesday, 12th February at 12pm, our school community will come together in our school hall for our Opening School Mass. This special occasion will mark the beginning of our school year, bringing us together in prayer as we reflect on our commitment to living out our vision - Living, Loving, Learning for Life.
A key part of the Mass will be the badging ceremony, where our school leaders will be officially acknowledged and commissioned in their roles. Our Captains, Vice Captains, Sports Leaders, and Committee Leaders will receive their badges as a symbol of their responsibility to serve and inspire their peers throughout the year.
In addition to our elected leaders, all other Year 6 students will be presented with their Senior Student Badge, recognising their important role in the school community. At St Joseph’s, we believe that every Year 6 student can lead through their actions, setting an example for younger students and contributing to the life of our school through service and kindness.
We look forward to sharing this important milestone with our school community.
Sacramental Program
Keep an eye on our upcoming newsletters, Compass, and Facebook for important updates about this year’s Sacramental Program.
If you are interested in having your child participate, please take a moment to fill out the form below by using the QR code — it would greatly assist in our planning.
We are excited for the year ahead and look forward to the opportunities the new Religious Education curriculum will bring for our students, using the Encounter Pedagogy to deepen their understanding and appreciate the beliefs and opinions of others. Our student formation days will provide meaningful experiences for students to grow spiritually and reflect on their journey. We also look forward to welcoming families to our many liturgical celebrations throughout the year, where we can come together in faith and community.
Anthony Hunt
Religious Education Coordinator
Primary Coordinator Report
PB4L - Positive Behaviour for Learning
Our 3 schoolwide expectations at St Josephs are;
We are safe
We are respectful
We are learners
The idea of ‘we’ rather than ‘be’ demonstrates our awareness of the need for all our school community members, students, staff and parents to display these attributes. These 3 expectations are the foundations of our behaviour matrix.
This year our focus is on maximising the learning time, whether the students be in the classroom, library or music room. All staff are working towards the goal of using very consistent language and specific feedback to provide our students with positive reinforcement of effective learning attributes.
Having consistent language that refers back to our 3 expectations helps students learn the expectations and they will begin to understand how their words or actions impact our learning environment. Students will also experience consistency from teacher to teacher or class to class. The goal is to have very low variation, so students will know what is expected of them whilst they are in our setting.
As we all settle into new classrooms for 2025, the first area we are teaching explicitly is classroom routines and expectations. Giving the students time to practice routines and procedures now is an investment for the rest of the year! This will maximise learning time.
Loretta Riddiford
Primary Coordinator
K-2 Pedagogical Mentor report
What an amazing start for our new batch of Kinder students, hardly a tear in sight!
The students started the year so well. They came into the Successful Foundations play space so confidently that all the staff were surprised at how quickly they settled and waved goodbye to their families.
We put a lot of time and effort into being prepared for the children by making sure the spaces and activities were inviting, getting to know them via any notes taken in enrolment conversations and using our observations during the vital transition period in term 4 last year.
The students have started the process of learning the school and classroom routines already and these will continue to build.
The year 6 buddies came over for lunch and played with their new little buddy at lunchtime on Friday, I’m not sure who was more excited, the Year 6’s or the Kinder kids.
This week marks our first full week of school, so I dare say the teachers and students will be exhausted by the end of it.
Loretta Riddiford
K-2 Pedagogical Mentor
Kindergarten's first days
Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer
I am delighted to provide the following letter of introduction from our newly appointed Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer, Terri Cornish-Allen, who will work with our staff, students and families during 2025. The letter speaks for itself, and we are very lucky to have such experience and talent added to our staff team. Welcome Terri!
Letter from Terri Cornish-Allen
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am excited to introduce myself as the new Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer working with St Joseph’s Taree In this role, I will be supporting teachers, students, and families to enhance learning opportunities for High Potential and Gifted (HPG) students, ensuring they are challenged, engaged, and able to reach their full potential.
In this role, I will work closely with teachers, students, and families to help identify and support students with high potential, including those in the Virtual Academy. I will ensure that Virtual Academy students receive personalised support, resources, and strategies to thrive in their online learning environment, while also providing enrichment opportunities that challenge their abilities. Whether learning in the classroom or virtually, the goal is to create engaging experiences that are tailored to each student's strengths and needs.
I am passionate about ensuring that all HPG students—including those from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds—have access to the support and opportunities they need to thrive. I also value strong partnerships between schools and families, as working together is key to fostering student success.
I look forward to getting to know the St Joseph’s, Taree community and working with you to support our High Potential and Gifted students. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to learn more about the programs available.
Looking forward to an exciting year ahead!
Yours sincerely,
Terri Cornish-Allen
Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer
Sport Coordinator
Welcome to another exciting year of sport at St Joseph’s! I am thrilled to continue fostering a love of physical activities and events, teamwork, and sportsmanship among our students in 2025.
ASPIRE EVENTS
ASPIRE is an amazing concept in our Diocese that has extended to include many opportunities for our creative students to engage with. These opportunities are a fabulous way for students to connect with like-minded peers and extend their abilities. Below you will find some of the opportunities coming up for students.
Canteen Menu
Taree Panthers J.R.L.F.C
Manning Valley Netball Association
