Week 4, Term 3 2024

Dear families and friends,

I have returned this week following my Long Service Leave to find the school term in full swing. I am very grateful to Ruth Taylor, the school leadership team, and the whole of staff team for ensuring Term 3 has started wonderfully.

Strong communication and partnerships between families and school are vital for student success and I am hopeful that all families took advantage of the opportunity for a formal learning conversation with teachers earlier this term.  Please be reminded that, should you have any concerns or require clarification at any time regarding your child’s learning and wellbeing, teachers are more than happy to make an appointment to meet with you for a conversation.

There has been much to celebrate about our school over these past weeks, particularly the feast day of our founder, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop which was celebrated with a whole school Mass and feast day stalls and activities organised by each of the classes. It is awesome to think that our school exists today because of the vision and determination of Australia’s first and only Saint, Mary MacKillop.  It is important for our students to understand and appreciate the commitment, hard work and challenges that she, and the Sisters of St Joseph faced and conquered, to ensure they have access to quality education.

This week our SRC students, along with our Indigenous students, will embark on a project to create a new friendship bench for our play space.  This project, supported by a grant from CESA, will be facilitated by Aboriginal artist, Nikki Carabetta, who began with us earlier this week.  The bench will be painted under Nikki’s guidance, to incorporate themes of Reconciliation, friendship and connection and we look forward to this opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal culture and Reconciliation through this project.  Many thanks to our Aboriginal Education focus teacher, Antoinette Di Paolo for coordinating this project.

Thank you to our administration staff who have taken on additional duties following Maria Apostolou’s resignation. We know we can never replace Maria, however we are carefully looking at how best to move forward in relation to staffing, particularly in the areas of marketing, communications and ICT. Misty McGuire, our Students Services Officer, has this week taken on the task of preparing the newsletter whilst learning and implementing the new format and I remain very grateful for the ‘can do’ attitude of all our wonderful staff here at St Joseph’s School.

Wishing you a wonderful week.
Marianne Farrugia

Principal 

Prayer

Loving God, when you created the world and all the people in it, you gave us a special person called Mary MacKillop. We thank you for her life and the example to live as Jesus did. We ask you to bless us and the needs we name.

For all the people in the world who are suffering and without food and clothing, we ask you through Mary MacKillop to send kind and generous people to help them.

God our Father we pray for families, help us all to love and care each other.

For all the people who are poor and have no one to love them, we ask that you help us all to find ways of giving our love and help to them in any way we can.

God of friendship, we pray for all those children who are different from us and feel left out, give us courage to be a friend to them.

It is with great joy that we warmly congratulate Orlando on his recent celebration of the Sacrament of First Reconciliation. This meaningful event highlights his commitment to his faith and his acceptance of God's grace and forgiveness.

Orlando’s dedication in preparing for and taking part in this sacrament demonstrates his deepening understanding of spiritual growth.

As Orlando continues on his faith journey, may the grace he has received through the Sacrament of First Reconciliation inspire him to live with compassion faith and love.

“Let no obstacle deter us from proceeding with courage.”
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop  

On Thursday, August 8, our school community came together to celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop with a day of meaningful and joyous events. The day began with a Whole School Mass, led by Father Santhosh and our enthusiastic Year 1/2 Team. Our Mass was a beautiful reflection of our faith and a fitting tribute to Australia’s first saint, whose courage and compassion continues to inspire us today.

God Bless, 
Seva Maitianos  

Leader of Religious Education

This term as a part of our Visible Wellbeing learning, we are focusing on attention and awareness. Attention and awareness are defined as skills and practices that allow us to choose what we pay attention to, and how to maximise the limited selective attention spans that we have. Did you know that, even as adults, we only have an attention span of around 35 minutes!

Skills in attention and awareness help us to choose what we would like to pay attention to and, when necessary for our wellbeing, shift our attention to things that bring us joy and energy rather than something deflating or anxiety-inducing.  If you are interested in integrating some attention and awareness activities into your family life, mindfulness is a great way to start, and the opportunities are almost unlimited!  You may want to try apps like Smiling Mind or Headspace or take the family out for a day of mindful walking in a nature reserve near you!

This term, we welcome Nikki Carabetta, an Aboriginal Art & Cultural Educator, who works with people of all ages to teach about Aboriginal culture, with a focus on art. 

We are very fortunate to be able to work with Nikki this term to support and guide our school’s SRC representatives to design and paint our (newly purchased) ‘friendship’ & ‘healing’ bench. This of course, will be achieved through the lens of Aboriginal Art which will visually communicate the following underlying themes through drawing, design, and painting; reconciliation, respect, belonging, inclusivity, and acceptance.

This project links in well with our school’s current Visible Health & Well-Being project and Anti-Racism focus this year.

The students will be part of the entire process from start to finish, i.e. planning and transferring the design from paper to the bench, then painting the design and dotting the background, depending on the design the students come up with.

We are very much looking forward to the students’ collaborative efforts, so we can permanently fix our school’s ‘friendship’ & ‘healing bench’ in a prominent space within our school grounds for students to value and utilise when needed.

Charlotte Seacombe has welcomed a new baby sister, Harper Maisy Secombe.  Congratulations to Charlotte and Grace, and parents Brandon and Jennifer.  God has blessed you with the gift of Harper's love and life!

At St Joseph’s Hindmarsh, learning is co-constructed and dynamic.  Learners are encouraged to IMAGINE, DISCOVER and CREATE and to make meaningful connections with their world.  

As capable learners they are given opportunities to develop capabilities that build their confidence and skills to engage with the curriculum and ACHIEVE excellence.

• 56 Albemarle Street, West Hindmarsh SA, Australia
• 8424 6400
• info@sjsh.catholic.edu.au