Term 2 Week 8 - June 18th, 2025
From The Principals Desk
Dear Parents and Carers,
St Joseph’s Community Group meeting tonight 5-6pm!
All are invited and welcome to join us for the community group meeting tonight as expressed by the students in the above invitation video!
This meeting will be an important one for us to establish the desired purpose and function of the group, as well as providing informative insights about attendance and pastoral care at our school.
The meeting is scheduled for 5pm and will finish at 6pm in time for everyone to get home and cheer on the NSW Blues!
Athletics Carnival
What a great day we had at our School Athletics Carnival last Friday. My sincerest congratulations goes to all of our students for their positive participation in the day. Such camaraderie, sportsmanship and pride in their efforts. Well done to the champions on the day! Certificates and acknowledgements will be presented at this Friday’s assembly
St Joey’s Mini Vinnies Walkathon next Friday - come join us!
We have our walk-a-thon next Friday along the rail trail. All are invited to join us on this fun and purposeful activity. Our last walk-a-thon was an enjoyable success, so come along and be a part of the fun. All details are in today’s newsletter.
Public Speaking Competition - Stage Finals Monday 30th June 9-11am
We congratulate all of the students who are busily preparing their public speaking presentations for our annual Public Speaking Competition. All students will present in their classes over the next week and a half to determine who will proceed to the Stage Finals on Tuesday of Week 10. Families are welcome to join us at our Stage Finals Tuesday 30th June 9-11am. Approximate times are as follows:
Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 - 9am
Stage 2 - 9.40am
Stage 3 - 10.25am
Student Progress Reports will be made available to parents via Compass on Thursday 3rd July.
Have a great week! Go the BLUES!
Peace and blessings,
Jason Clarke
Principal
Sharing the Gospel
Stage 3 Liturgy and Homework Showcase Invitation
Families are warmly invited to join us for our Stage 3 Liturgy and Homework Showcase on Thursday 26th in the assembly room, beginning at 2 pm.
Our Liturgy will be a time of reflection and celebration, led by our Stage 3 students. Immediately following the liturgy, students will proudly present highlights from their recent homework projects, showcasing their creativity, learning and effort across a range of subjects.
We hope you can join us for this special occasion to support and celebrate our students’ achievements.
GOD MOMENT
When Noah & Chayse were excellent supports for the teachers at the carnival. Thank you for using your manners and communicating with respect.
Grandparents Day
Our Grandparents' Day was a heartwarming celebration filled with joy, connection, and a touch of modern magic! It was truly special to see our students proudly sharing their 'tech' knowledge and skills with their grandparents. The big question is: who had more fun – the children teaching or the adults learning? Judging by the smiles, it was a close call! We also came together for a beautiful liturgy, led by our Year 2 students, celebrating St. Joachim and St. Ann, the grandparents of Jesus, and showing the deep love we have for all our grandparents. A truly memorable day for all!
"S.O.L.E Superstar" Awards
Week 6 Term 2
Absent: Jayli Walsh
Week 7 Term 2
Curriculum News
~Cylone Traise Visits Kindergarten~
This term in Science, Kindergarten has been exploring materials with both Mr M and Mrs Traise. They were tasked with constructing a building that could withstand the wind of Mrs Traise! What a task it was!!! Kinder had lots of fun putting their creative science hats on!
Well done Kinder
Sports News
1500M SCHOOL RACE:
Leading up to our School Athletics Carnival, the 1500m race took place on Thursday 5th June after school. We had a fantastic turn out of students ready to give it their best! Due to time restraints, we can not run this event on the day of the School Athletics Carnival. Results and participation points were recorded and added to the house point score / age champion point score ready to continue on the day of the carnival. It was fantastic to see so many students ready to earn a point for their house and supporting their peers as they finish!
Congratulations to the following students who were presented with their ribbons for 1st, 2nd & 3rd in their age group:
An extra special congratulations to the following students for breaking the record for their age division!!
Ali 9Yrs
Kobe Robinson 10Yrs
These students will receive their record breaking certificate this Friday at assembly!
1500m ZONE RACE:
Congratulations to the following competitors who progressed onto zone for this event. This race took place yesterday afternoon at St James oval Banora Point. Results did not come through in time for this week’s newsletter so we will report full details in the following newsletter. We hope the following competitors had a great experience and enjoyed representing our school in this competition:
Junior Boys: Ali & Kobe Robinson
Junior Girls: Sierra Casagrande & Delilah Cleak
11Yr Boys: Sam Stovold & Kaeden Jandura
11Yr Girls: Pippa Bourke & Esther Cambridge
Senior Boys: Misha Reed & Nakoha Heterick
Senior Girls: Lyla McMahan & Imogen Rudman
SCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL:
Last Friday our school enjoyed a beautiful day at Murwillumbah Highschool competing in all things Athletics! As always, the outstanding school spirit and sportsmanship was clear to see which made the day all the more enjoyable! Mrs. Hughes is double checking the points score and will announce the Champion House at assembly this week. It is so close that even two points allocated in the wrong direction may change the result! Thank you Mrs. Hughes for taking so much care to ensure we award the deserving House!
Congratulations to the following students for winning Age Champion and Runner Up Age Champion:
These students will receive their certificate at this week’s assembly
An extra special congratulations to the following students for breaking a school record for their age division!!
Delilah Cleak: 8Yr Girls 800m
Ali: 9Yr Boys 1500m
Kobe Robinson: 10Yr Boys 1500m
Sierra Casagrande: 10Yr Girls 200m & Long Jump
Will Polson: 10Yr Boys 100m & 200m & Long Jump
Jayli Walsh: 8Yr Girls 100m, 200m, Shot Put & Long Jump
These students will receive their record-breaking certificate this Friday at assembly.
To progress onto Zone, the 8Yrs, 9Yrs & 10Yrs are combined and are classified as the “Junior Age Group”. The top two times progress onto Zone in the following categories: Junior, 11Yrs & Senior. The 100m event is the only event that takes the top three place getters in individual ages ie; 8Yrs, 9Yrs, 10Yrs, 11Yrs & 12Yrs. I will send out a list of events showing who is competing in what events for zone before the term breaks up.
** Students in the 11Yrs or 12Yrs who received a 1st or 2nd ribbon for their events are straight through to zone or received a 3rd for the 100m are also through to zone.
** Students who competed as a 8yr, 9yr or 10yr and received 1st, 2nd or 3rd for 100m are straight through to zone. I will need to identify the top two in the Junior events for all other events (800m, 200m, Long Jump & Shot Put).
SCHOOL HOLIDAY RUNNING CLINIC AND ATHLETICS WORKSHOP:
The amazing athletics and running coaches (Jack and Courtney) are putting on a fantastic holiday workshop for any interested students these holidays! Please see the attached flyer for full details. A great way to fill in time over the holidays and prepare for the up coming athletics season / Zone / Diocesan and beyond!
Library News
~ BOOK AN ADVENTURE~
Our students are in for some amazing library adventures! For the rest of this term and next, we're diving headfirst into this year's special CBCA Short-listed books. These aren't just any books; they're chosen by the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) because they're super fantastic and help us learn about Australia and Australian authors. The CBCA has been giving out awards since way back in 1946 – that's even older than your grandparents!
Our first exciting stop was with "One Little Dung Beetle" by Rhian Williams. If you've ever wondered about tiny creatures that do big jobs, this rhyming book is perfect! It's a wonderful way to meet different kinds of beetles and see how important they are in our world.
Guess what cool stuff we learned about beetles?
- Beetles are world travellers! You can find them almost everywhere, except for super-duper cold Antarctica. Brrr!
- Some Australian Dung Beetles are really picky eaters! They only like to munch on kangaroo and wallaby poo. I know, eww! But someone's gotta do it to keep our environment clean!
- And get this: a Rhinoceros Beetle is like a tiny superhero! It can lift up to 860 times its own weight. That's like lifting a small car! Wow!
After the story, we became mini-explorers! We got to look at our awesome insect kit that contains around 90 different insects. We even got to hold and carefully check out some of the beetles from our story, like the strong Rhinoceros Beetle, the cool Stag Beetle, the bouncy Click Beetle, and of course, our star, the Dung Beetle. Don't worry, they were super clean!
A beautiful introduction for budding entomologists into the amazing and diverse world of beetles!
General News
FOUND
Last friday afternoon after Grandparents Day a NAB bank card was found outside the front of the school. If anyone is missing the card, please contact the office.
Canteen News
We're excited to welcome Debbie Lowe to our school in Term 3 as our Canteen Manager. Some families may already know Debbie through her catering and cakes business, as manager of the Murwillumbah Primary School canteen, or as owner of the former Dabelle's cafe in town. She will operate our canteen as part of her business.
As well as a new expanded menu including some delicious locally made and home made items, there will be a few changes to our canteen- Place orders on the morning of canteen with cash in an envelope or eftpos at the canteen counter. Thursday will be our new canteen day, with the aim of a 2nd day in the future. You'll notice menu prices will go up, but they will be very reasonable and in line with other schools' canteen pricing such as Mt St Pats.
We still very warmly welcome volunteers on Thursdays, as Debbie takes over the running of the canteen, and we acknowledge all our parent canteen coordinators who have volunteered many hours managing rosters, menus and orders.
Welcome Debbie, to our school community!
Compass Help for Parents
Compass absence notes
Parents can let the school know of student absences in advance through the Compass app using the shortcuts icon at the bottom of their homepage.
Parish News
Thursday 19 June 8:00 am - Mass
Friday 20 June 8:00 am - Mass
9:20 am - 2:30 pm - First Holy Communion Retreat Day
9:30 am - Legion of Mary | Parish Meeting Centre
Saturday 21 June 9:00 am - Rosary
4:30 pm - Rosary
5:00 pm - Vigil Mass with First Holy Communion
Sunday 22 June 8:30 am - Rosary
9:00 am - Mass with First Holy Communion
Health & Wellbeing
Parent News
Year 6 families...
Headspace is holding a FREE movie afternoon at Coolangatta Cinebar for the young people of the Tweed and Gold Coast. This will be held on Wednesday June 18th – a screening of ‘Lilo and Stitch’ for 12 – 15 year olds.
Attendees don’t need to be clients of headspace Tweed to attend! All tickets are FREE and include a popcorn and drink!
Places are limited-see poster and rego below for more details.
~JULY VACATION CARE~
Community News
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