Behaviour Audit

Last week the staff conducted a Behaviour audit, as we do each term. We gather information from students either via a digital or hard copy survey to identify individuals that may be repeatedly behaving unfairly towards them either in person or online.  We also seek information as to what that behaviour looks and sounds like. Staff then follow up with students after evaluating the responses. This is one means we keep track of student wellbeing and inappropriate behaviour that needs to be addressed.

To help students identify unfair behaviour, we use visuals and descriptions like the ones below. The term ‘bullying’ is often not helpful when we are trying to ascertain what type of behaviours are occurring. We try to teach the children to use the correct language to more accurately describe specific behaviours so they can be dealt with appropriately and so that students can have a deeper understanding about why these behaviours are unfair and how they impact others. 

Senior Unfair Behaviour Chart

We have been tracking our data for some years now. We are pleased to see that the vast majority of students do not identify anyone as behaving repeatedly unfairly towards them. Interestingly, sometimes the results show that some students always name someone or several people which may indicate more about themselves than the others they are naming. We try to work with these students also. We actively discourage children from holding a grudge about things that have happened in the past and to give others who make a mistake a fresh start, not only because this is consistent with the Gospel values we promote but also for the sake of their own mental health and wellbeing.  Information we receive about inappropriate behaviour online is always shared directly with parents.     

SRC News

One of the points of discussion at our recent SRC meetings has been the school playground. While the SRC said they feel safe on the playground and are really happy with the new equipment, they think some of our playground rules should be clarified and made more explicit and some new rules made. They pointed out that some activities that students are doing with sticks are dangerous. They are working on creating a slideshow to clearly explain the playground rules to all. It is a pleasure to work with such a responsible group of students who identify problems, discuss and generate solutions in a collaborative manner.  

We also discussed that staff have noticed that at Recess time there are a lot of students in the Senior area.

The students agreed that another teacher on duty in this area at recess would be a good idea so we have altered our practice to accommodate this.  

Fair Work Act: Right to Disconnect

From 26 August 2024, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) will include provisions to give employees a workplace right to disconnect from communication received outside of their designated working hours, where reasonable. This includes communication from parents, students, colleagues or others within the school community, where reasonable.  Please see The Right to Disconnect Information Sheet which provides further information relating to these changes. Right to Disconnect

Please also refer to the school’s COMMUNICATION / EMAIL / SEESAW POLICY  for more information.

Digital Assessment Library

Our school, along with all schools in the Diocese of Sale, has registered to utilise a new online assessment platform – the Digital Assessment Library (DAL).

The DAL has been established by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and offers high quality, online classroom assessments that are designed to provide teachers with meaningful and timely information about student learning progress. The DAL is for use in classroom settings and contains assessments that are validated and aligned to the Victorian Curriculum F-10. The assessments on the DAL will be progressively released by the VCAA and will be across a number of learning areas, including English and Mathematics.

The DAL is freely available to our school and the assessments are able to be used optionally by our teachers to support their teaching and learning in the classroom.

Please note that to facilitate assessments being undertaken on the DAL, our school and student data has been uploaded to the DAL. The VCAA’s privacy policy can be found online.

Please advise your child’s teacher if you have any concerns about your child completing assessments on the DAL.

Joanne Coldebella

Principal

Director's Message

‘We love our Catholic Schools because..’

Well done to our award winners who were presented with their certificates at our last assembly, congratulations.  

During the last 2 weeks in 1/2 we were very lucky to have parents from Belgium and Poland come and share their culture with us. It was very entertaining and we learnt a lot about Europe and some of their traditions.  The 1/2 students were also treated to an African Drumming incursion from Odai where they were able to participate, they had alot of fun!

1/2 Team

                                                Moonlit Sanctuary

On Monday the 13th of May we visited the Moonlit Sanctuary in Pearcedale.

Our names are Chloe Hamilton and Daisy Maurizio and we will be writing about our fantastic excursion to Moonlit Sanctuary!

We spent the whole day there and there were a lot of fun activities to do during the day. Everyone was filled with excitement as we all came into the same classroom to talk about some basic rules and the order our classes were doing things. The bus ride was approximately 45 minutes from Wonthaggi, our home town, to Pearcedale. It didn’t feel as long as it sounded as we all sat and chatted with our friends, some bringing entertainment and others just sleeping, playing games like Chinese Whispers and some making bracelets too! Others just talked!

We arrived around about 10:00 am. We had morning tea when we arrived, sitting with our classes on big group tables. About 10 minutes later the tours started!

3/4T did a “Feathers and Fur” tour as our first activity. We walked over to the wedge tail eagles first and around to other areas too. My class got most pumped up when seeing the spotted tail quolls and the Tasmanian devil. We all had an amazing time during this tour, joking about how the dingos looked as if they were dogs and some people tried to get the cockatoo to talk! I got it to say “Hello Child” and everyone began laughing! 

3/4F started with a “Wallaby Walk”, where we walked around feeding wallabies, kangaroos and ducks. We also got to see a few different types of eagles, including wedge tail eagles and peregrine falcons. It was all very fascinating, but most people liked the wallabies! There was one big kangaroo, but it was a very calm kangaroo. This  kangaroo was very muscular but a lot of people enjoyed feeding it and patting it. After a while, we went to get some lunch for about 10 - 15 minutes, then our next tour.

The feathers and fur tour had Australian animals. My class walked around for a bit looking at all the different types of cockatoos, koalas and wombats. We walked around for about 15-20 minutes and then we had a little snack and it was finally time for our last tour!

The wallaby walk was everyone's favourite by far! We split into duos of  two people per group,. We lined up in a single file line to get our kangaroo food, after waiting for our pellets we started to feed the wallabies and the kangaroos. Our kangaroo was one of the softest animals I had ever felt. In fact she was the smallest and youngest there. We continued to pet and feed the kangas until our session was over.

We also went to the reptile encounter. We sat on some benches as we started to talk about what type of reptiles they had and the textures, species and appearances. We got to feel the textures of their backs compared to a pinecone. After a while of more talking we switched the topic to snakes. Then we got the opportunity to touch the back of a python. It was squishy and also rough. It was very fun.

All of the 3/4s had such an amazing time at the Moonlit Sanctuary!

Effective communication

Communication is the exchange of information, ideas and thoughts so that mutual understanding can be reached.  Communication occurs between staff, students and parents, playing an important role in building clarity, collegiality and a positive school culture.  Effective communication strengthens partnerships and networks within the school community to enhance student learning.  Communication can be verbal, non-verbal (actions) and/or written and electronic.  All communication should be safe, respectful and appropriate.  

Effective communication is:

• Clear and concise
• Safe and appropriate, in line with the school’s expectations
• Actively listening and undertaking appropriate actions to demonstrate understanding
• An open, honest, tactful and genuine interaction between staff members, students and families
• Consistent between verbal and nonverbal messages
• Carefully considered, controlling the use of tone and demeanour
• Being able to plan for and adjust communication, as appropriate for participants and context
• A respectful, reciprocal and collaborative process between students, staff and families
• Encouraging constructive feedback across the school community
• Directly teaching effective communication skills through personal, social and emotional learning
• Encouraging and expecting students to respectfully express their views and contribute to the life of the school

Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Co-ordinators

Trish Martin and Kylee Bertacco 

Last Tuesday the whole school competed in our annual Cross Country event. The Grade 6’s ran one lap of the school with their buddies which is 1 kilometre.  It was really fun and the buddies enjoyed it.

The Grade 1/2’s ran 1 kilometre, Grade 3/4's also ran 2 kilometres and the Grade 5/6’s ran 3 kilometres.

It was great to see everyone trying so hard and even when they wanted to stop, they kept going!

Thanks to all the parents who came to help and cheer us on!

Congratulations to everyone who competed in our school Cross Country and good luck to the students who came 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th, they'll be competing at Division Cross Country this week!

Nate

On the 10th of May, 11 girls and 12 boys went to the Rec reserve to represent St Joseph’s school in District Soccer. We played three games of soccer. Our first game was against Cowes Primary School. At the end of the game Cowes got 3 goals and we got 2 goals.

Then we played against Bass Valley. They beat us by seven points! At the end of the game, Bass Valley got 8 points and we got 1 point. Our last game was against Wonthaggi Primary School. Amy and Caitlin, the goalies stopped plenty of goals, yet just a couple of goals went in at the end. We got zero and Wonthaggi primary got 2 points.

We didn’t win any of the games but we had lots and lots of fun and every game we improved. We were all happy to be there and our coach Mr Mckechnie was very happy to coach the girl’s team.

Isabelle and Amy    

On Friday the 10th of May the St Joseph's boys and girl’s soccer teams went to Wonthaggi recreation reserve. The boys played 3 games against Bass Valley, Wonthaggi Primary School and Cowes Primary School. Our first match was against Cowes Primary. It was a great experience for the team. They were tough opponents but we tried our best and managed to kick 2 goals.

Our second match was against Bass Valley even though they were our toughest opponents we kept our heads up high and put up a contest. Our third match was against Wonthaggi Primary and even though we didn't manage to get a goal we didn't let them get many goals either.

At the end of the day we went back to school not feeling sad but proud that we all tried our best and had fun.

Heath and Nino

Just a reminder that Communion presentation Masses, will be held for candidates receiving the Sacrament of Communion this weekend on Saturday, June 1 at 6.30pm and on Sunday, June 2 at 10.30am at St Joseph's Church.

The Sacrament of Confirmation will occur on Saturday June 15 at 6:30pm at St Joseph's Church.

In 2024, St Joseph’s is offering students the opportunity to participate in the International Competition and Assessments for Schools (ICAS), in the areas of English, Writing, Mathematics, Science, and Digital Technologies. 

The assessments measure the students’ skills associated with each of these curriculum areas and are open to students in Years 3-6. ICAS is developed by UNSW Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of New South Wales, with over 35 years’ experience in educational assessments.

ICAS is designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, and Digital Technologies. 

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition. Every student will receive a certificate and an online result report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised. 

The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.

ICAS Assessments are now online, a move that reflects a sector-wide transition to computer-based assessment. This allows greater accessibility for students and faster delivery of results. 

Learn more about ICAS here: unsw.global/ICAS

Payment and Permission Information 

If you wish for your child/ren to undertake an ICAS assessment or assessments, you must register and pay online through the parent portal:  

https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Our schools uniques access code is: NQS609  

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

1. Read the Privacy Collection Statement below.

2. Read the terms and conditions here: (icasassessments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-ICAS-Assessments-Schools-TsCs_S2023.V6-1.pdf) 

3. Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas here: (shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps)  

4. Enter our school’s access code – NQS609  

5. Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment.  

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.  

Online payment will close on  22nd July 2024

An ESO and or a teacher will be present to supervise the students sitting the assessments.

2024 ICAS Subject and Pricing Information

We are excited to announce that St Joseph’s children can now access an OSHC Program hosted at Wonthaggi North Primary School run by an independent Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) provider called TheirCare.

TheirCare provides a stimulating & safe environment where children develop life skills, friendships, confidence, and creativity.

Parents are asked to register their children on the Theircare website. 

Children will be required to take a one minute bus ride to the service at Wonthaggi North Primary School on the Harley’s Buslines Wonthaggi township bus  ($1.50 per trip to be paid to the bus driver), where an educator will greet them from the service.

For further information, visit www.theircare.com.au or call our support office on 1300 072 410.  Further information regarding the program can be viewed via the links below.

Program Information Flyer - TheirCare

How to Enrol

CCS Flyer

Parent Handbook

Please find attached a fact sheet regarding the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on School Students with Disability for your information.

NCCD Parent Fact Sheet

Friday, June 7 will be a school closure day for staff professional development.

Monday, June 10 is the King's Birthday Public Holiday.

Thursday, June 27 Final day of classes for students, school finishes at 3:25pm.

Friday, June 28 will be a school closure day for staff professional development.

Applications for enrolment are now available for Prep 2025.  Tours for all prospective 2025 Prep families can be made by contacting the school office for an appointment time. Enrolment applications are to be submitted by Friday, June 26, 2024.

Orientation sessions will be held for all incoming Prep students beginning in August.

Enrolment information can be found on our website.  Email us at info@stjwonthaggi.catholic.edu.au or call the office on 5672 1052 for further information.  Click below for our school enrolment pack information.

Website Enrolment Information

Dear Parents

This week the Allan Labor Government announced a $400 School Saving Bonus for all school students in government schools regardless of income, but only for Health Care Card holders in Catholic schools.

This is deeply unfair.

We believe the payment should be means tested for all students or apply to all students.

It should not be based on which school you attend.  

This policy punishes families for choosing to send their children to a Catholic school.

Our school, St Joseph’s Wonthaggi and the peak body, the Victorian Catholic Education Authority, are working hard to oppose this policy and we need your help.

We need to show the Victorian Government that punishing families who choose a Catholic school is unacceptable.

Please consider contacting your local Member of Parliament to express your concern.

Our school’s local MP is Jordan Crugnale and they can be contacted by calling (03) 5672 4755 or by emailing Jordan.Crugnale@parliament.vic.gov.au

Template letters are available to assist you with making your voice heard.  Template Letter for parents to send to MPs

Thank you for your time in reading this and for advocating for your family and our school.

Yours sincerely,

Joanne Coldebella

Principal

Weekday Masses:

Tuesday Our Lady Star of the Sea, Inverloch 11:00a.m.

Wednesday 9:30am  St. Joseph’s Wonthaggi

Friday 9:30am St. Joseph’s Wonthaggi

Weekend Masses Our Lady Star of the Sea, Inverloch Sunday 9:00am

St. Joseph’s Wonthaggi Saturday 6:30pm, Sunday 10:30am

PLEASE PRAY FOR; Recently Deceased: Kath Taylor
Anniversaries: Pauleen Hayes, John Ryan For the deceased clergy of our diocese.
Confirmation: Students preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation

Parish Office will be open on Wed & Fri 8.30am-4.30pm. All items for the bulletin or Mass intentions to be received by 5pm on Thursdays.

Prayer Group: will be held at Wonthaggi Church on Mondays at 1.15pm. All Welcome

Prayer Shawl Group: Will next meet in June. Plenty of wool is freely available and newcomers are always welcome.  For enquiries : Maureen Maartensz 0407 055 447 Philippa Warby. 0408 331 340

Rosary Beads for sale $10 each. Available at 10.30am mass on Sunday in Wonthaggi. Please see Carole Gow.

Bishop Greg urges everyone to give generously to the May 2024 Appeal by donating. Those wanting a receipt for Taxation purposes are asked to use the envelopes available in the church OR https://sale.cdfpay.org.au/details/?id=622462

Our Parish is committed to the safety, well-being and dignity of all children, young people and adults at risk. Find out more at: catholic.org.au/childprotectionsunday and www.catholicregligious.org.au/safeguarding

St Joseph’s Wonthaggi Cuppa after Mass held on 1st Saturday & Sunday of the Month

Our Lady Star of the Sea—Inverloch Cuppa after Mass held on 1st Sunday of the Month

Reminder all signed Code of Conducts to be returned to the Parish Office as soon as possible. Thank you

If you are concerned about any form of abuse, or believe that someone is at significant risk, you should immediately raise your concerns with one of our Parish Safeguarding Officers. Contact the Parish Office: 03 56 721 111 or St. Joseph’s School Safeguarding Officer 03 56 721 052.   Take care, we are here to help.                  

If you are in need of urgent assistance, please phone either Father Darren Howie 0356 722 923 or Ann on 03 56 72111 or 04999 15 784.

Father Darren Howie                                                              Ann Hemming  
Parish Priest                                                                          Parish Secretary
                               St. Joseph’s Parish Wonthaggi