NEWSLETTER

Catholic Identity

Throughout his ministry, Jesus often used parables (stories) to help explain his teachings. Many parables involved the use of images of vegetation known to the region at the time. The parable of the Mustard Seed is one such example. The message Jesus portrays is that from little things big things grow. The mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds grows to become the largest of all plants. Here at St Joseph’s School, we are entrusted with supporting our parents as they nurture their children to grow and become the best they can be in whatever direction they choose to take in life. At St Joseph’s School we focus on the education of the whole child, intellectually, morally, emotionally, spiritually, religiously, physically and socially, providing many varied learning opportunities and experiences in the process.

Curriculum News

I have included two mathematical tasks which you might like to have a go at with your child/children.

This week’s Mathematical tasks:

Reception to Year 3

Draw a clock and show on it the time you go to sleep each evening.

What are some things you do each day between 7:30am and 9:00am?

Years 4-6

The time is now 45 minutes after 10 0’clock. Show this time in as many ways as you can.

A round of golf takes 4 hours and 15 minutes to complete. What might be suitable starting and finishing times? List as many possibilities as you can.

Happy inquiry.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

This year many of our children have once again taken up the opportunity to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The challenge closed on Friday September 6 with children needing to have their Premier’s Reading Challenge Student Reading Record forms handed into the front office by this date.

Later this year Premier’s Reading Challenge medals and certificates will be presented to all children who participated in the challenge as part of our whole school assembly.

Happy reading.

Father’s Day Breakfast

On Friday August 30 we held our annual Father’s Day breakfast adjacent to the Parent Centre from 8:15am. APRIM Simon McCullough, and I prepared a bacon and eggs breakfast for all dads and granddads to enjoy before heading off to work. It was great to see so many of our fathers and grandfathers on the day.

Touch Rugby Carnival

On Thursday 5 September, 36 of our children had the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Catholic Schools Touch Rugby carnival. Specialist PE teacher Daniel Nguyen has been preparing children for the event. Our children enjoyed the experience.

Catholic Schools Music Festival Choir

30 of our children have been preparing since Term One for the upcoming Catholic Schools Music Festival Choir to be held at the Festival Theatre on Tuesday September 24. Choir coordinator Janine Meyer has spent many hours working with the choir throughout the year in preparation for the event. The Catholic Schools Music Festival Choir is held during the last week of Term Three each year. It is a wonderful advertisement for Catholic Education in South Australia. A big thank you to Janine Meyer for all her efforts in preparing our children for this year’s event.

Water the Original Cool Drink

Soft drinks, fruit drinks, cordial, flavoured mineral waters, sports drinks, energy drinks and fruit juice all contain water. But they also contain sugar and sometimes caffeine, so they are not good choices for kids to have everyday.

If kids regularly drink these sugar sweetened drinks instead of water it may cause tooth decay and they could put on excess weight. So limit sweet drinks and choose water instead.

Water, as a drink is good for:-

• Your teeth - most tap water in South Australia has added fluoride and that helps to prevent tooth decay
• Your budget - tap water is free.
• Your health - replacing some sugary drinks with water reduces overall kilojoule (calorie) intake and helps to avoid excessive weight gain

We know that plain tap water as a drink is healthy and free and important for our bodies to function, but what other healthy drinks can we try? Some ideas include:

·         Add slices of cucumber or mint leaves to water jugs for a different flavour

·         Plain milk contains calcium which is good for teeth and bones and important for growing children

·         Add ice or straws to water for crunch and fun

To learn more about how you can support the Social and Emotional Learning and Wellbeing of your child visit Be You (formerly Beyond Blue) https://beyou.edu.au

Kiss and Drop Zone Speed Limit 10km per Hour.

A reminder that the school Kiss and Drop Zone along Rosewater Terrace has a speed limit of 10km per hour. Please ensure you observe the speed limit when using the Kiss and Drop Zone as this is an area where children are entering and exiting the school in large numbers.

A reminder also that the school Kiss and Drop Zone is not a place to park your car if you need to enter the school grounds as this holds up all incoming and outgoing traffic. It also leads to children 

exiting their cars on Rosewater Terrace and having to manoeuvre between traffic, raising further safety concerns. If you need to come into the school grounds, parking is available along Rosewater Terrace and on Ina Avenue.

Thank you in anticipation of your support with these important safety matter.

Audiri App

To keep up to date with what is happening within our school along with upcoming school events why not download the AudiriApp from the App Store on your mobile phone. Once downloaded simply search St Joseph’s School, Ottoway and add to your Audiri page. Many of our families currently use the Audiri App to keep up to date with what is happening across our school.

Diary Dates

Term 3 Concludes - 3:00pm Thursday September 26.

Friday September 27 is a school directed non-teaching day. OSHC is available for children requiring care. See Mieke to make a booking.

Term 4 Commences - 8:45am Monday October 14.

May God continue to bless all our families throughout Term 3.

Working in partnership with you.

Shaun O’Leary.

Multicultural Celebration

A group of our students, staff and parents have organised a multicultural celebration which will be held in Week 9 on the 17^th and 18^th of September. The timetable is:

Tuesday 17^th September 11:30am - African Drum and dance performance.

Wednesday 18^th September - 11:30am performances and celebration followed by shared lunch. 2pm visiting Philippines Dance

Please Note - the canteen will be closed for lunch orders on 18^th September

A special assembly will be lead by the students, and this will be followed by a shared school community lunch. We are inviting students to wear national costumes or colours from their family’s country of origin. You are most welcome to do the same. 

We hope you might be able to join us for this whole school family event.  

We would like to share in a picnic in the school grounds and ask that you consider if you would like to prepare and cook some food to share for this.  Children should still bring or order their lunch. The shared food will be available to all, but it is hard to predict how much we will have to share.

The rules for preparation of food off the school site are listed below. It is essential that all food is prepared in the correct way and labelled clearly with all ingredients that have been used. This is important so that we can keep all our students who have food allergies safe.

Please read the following guidelines below if you are bringing food to share.

Kind regards

Simon McCullough

Safe food handling and labelling rules

Clean -- Wash hands and surfaces often  

Separate  --  Don’t cross-contaminate 

Cook - Cook to proper temperatures. 

Chill- Refrigerate promptly 

Storage 

• Always refrigerate perishable food within two hours (one hour when the temperature is above 90?. 

Preparation 

•  Always wash hands before and after handling food 
• Don’t cross -contaminate. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish and their juices away from the food.  After cutting raw meats, wash hands, cutting board, knife, and counter tops with hot, soapy water. 

Cooking 

• Cook ground meats to 160?; ground poultry to 165?. 
• Beef, veal and lamb steaks, roasts and chops may be cooked to 145?; all cuts of fresh pork, 160?. 
• Whole poultry should reach 180? in the thigh; breasts, 170? 

Cook Thoroughly 

Cook food to a safe internal temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. 

Serving 

• Hot food should be held at 140? or warmer. 
• Cold foods should be held at 40? or colder. 
• When serving food at a buffet, keep food hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays.  Keep food cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice or use small serving trays and replace them often. 
• Perishable food should not be left out more than two hours at room temperature (one hour when the temperature is above 90?). 

Serving the Food 

When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter.  Don’t put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry.  Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food.  In hot weather (above 90?), food should never sit out for more than one hour. 

Halal Hotdogs

We would like to inform you that Halal hotdogs are now available on Tuesdays.

Dear Parents and Caregivers.

Welcome to Week 8, Term 3, 2024 in OSHC.

Children are in a safe supervised environment; learning happens while children play, have fun, and make new friends.

Please feel welcome to visit.

Morning care in OSHC is available, 6.30-8.30am.                                          

Afterschool care in OSHC is available 3.00-6.00pm, 2.45-6.00pm Tuesday.

Please remember to make a booking when you need OSHC.

All bookings can be made by ringing or messaging the OSHC mobile on 0437 863 067.                                               

If there is no answer leave a message on the service. I will call or message you back.                            

Making a booking helps us keep the child/educator ratio in line with legislation.                                                                                          

24 hours’ notice is necessary when cancelling a booking or charges will occur.

All parents using OSHC will need to check their myGov app to check for messages.              

When you attend OSHC casually.     

Please remember check your myGov app and Centrelink for messages.                                                                                                                                      

When parents use OSHC casually you won’t automatically receive CCS (Childcare Subsidy).

Follow the prompts-confirming that you used the OSHC service.

Centrelink is just confirming that you are using the service.

Parents/caregivers are welcome to read the OSHC Policies, feel welcome to ask and I will make copies available for your perusal.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Mieke   

OSHC Director   

2^nd -  School Photos

18^th -  Multicultural Week Performances and Celebrations

26^th - Term 3 Concludes 3:00pm

27^th - PUPIL FREE DAY

OSHC available - see Mieke to make a booking