Week 4, Term 2 2025

Dear Families,

As I write this, I am into my third week of extended personal leave due to a back injury. Whilst the pace at home is providing an opportunity for me to rest and heal, I find myself yearning to be back at school and immersed in the everyday life of the St Joseph’s School community. Working alongside passionate educators, students excited about their learning and achievements, and families who work with us to bring about the very best for their children, is both life giving and enriching.  It is my hope to return to school next week after three weeks at home.  I would like to particularly thank Rita Garreffa and Josh Rouse who have stepped into the Acting and Assistant Principal roles as well as performing their own roles in the school.

Next week we welcome several new families and children into our school community as transitions visits begin for Mid-Year Preschoolers and Mid-Year Receptions. Maria Coppola, who has been appointed as our Mid-Year Reception teacher, has this week been visiting upcoming Receptions in their Kindy environments in preparation for welcoming them into her classroom next week.

Transitioning to a new environment can be a challenging time for children who often thrive in an environment where they have predictable routines and well-known adults and children around them. Parents and caregivers can assist their children by speaking positively and encouragingly about upcoming transition visits as well as acknowledging and validating their nervous or worried feelings. Our Preschool educators, Emily and Samantha, and our Mid-Year Reception teacher, Maria, will focus on building positive connections and developing simple routines during the transition visits.

Following the long weekend coming up in a few weeks, our teaching staff will attend a professional learning session, along with staff of several other school, to showcase our success stories from the Visible Wellbeing project. This will be the last formal professional learning our staff undertake in Visible Wellbeing which we continue to embed in the everyday life of the school.  Watch in our upcoming newsletters for some of the positive changes we have made throughout our classes. 

OSHC services will be available for the Pupil Free day on Tuesday 10 June.

As winter approaches, I wish you all wellness and warmth for the coming weeks.​

Marianne Farrugia
Principal 

At St Joseph’s, we’re committed to giving every student the best possible learning experience, every single day. To help us do this, myself and Celine Grandioso (EALD Leader) are currently taking part in a project focused on High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS).

These strategies include setting clear learning goals, using effective questioning, providing timely feedback, and designing lessons that support deep understanding. A key focus of this work is on full participation—ensuring that every student is actively involved in their learning.

Teachers are using a range of strategies to support full participation, such as:

• Using “think-pair-share” to encourage all students to contribute ideas
• Non-volunteers (in a supportive way) to invite a range of voices into discussions
• Using mini whiteboards or hand signals so every student can respond
• Checking for understanding regularly to make sure all students are on track and supported

As education expert John Hattie says, “Engagement is not just about being on task—it’s about students actively and meaningfully connecting with what they’re learning.”

Celine and I are leading our teaching staff through regular in-school training sessions and supporting them to apply these strategies in their classrooms.

We’re already seeing the benefits—teachers are trying new ways to get students more involved, give clearer instructions, and support every child to do their best.

We’re proud of our teachers’ dedication to growing their skills and grateful to our school community for supporting a culture of learning and improvement at St Joseph’s.

What an exciting week it has been with our very first participation in the Times Tables Rock Stars – South Australia Rocks competition! It was fantastic to see students from across the school getting involved with such energy, enthusiasm, and determination. The buzz around the classrooms and playground was electric, with students keen to jump online and battle it out, all while improving their multiplication and division skills.

The competition generated high levels of participation and excitement, and it has proven to be a wonderful way to introduce the Times Tables Rock Stars platform as a powerful tool to strengthen number fact fluency and confidence in maths.

Competing against 65 schools across South Australia, we were thrilled to finish in an impressive 10th place overall, and even more proudly, we were the highest placed Catholic school in the competition!

Within our own school, things were just as competitive. The top spot changed hands several times, with 4/5T taking an early lead on Friday. Year 3N surged ahead shortly after, but in a dramatic last-minute comeback, Year 6 claimed victory right at the finish line! Congratulations to all classes for their fantastic efforts and team spirit throughout the week.

A big shoutout to our top three individual scorers:

• Sebastian S (3N)
• Lila (6DG)
• Jaswant (4/5BM)

An amazing achievement!

Presentation of certificates will occur at an upcoming assembly (date to be confirmed), recognising student participation, dedication, and success.

Well done to everyone on such a brilliant result in our first year – we’re already looking forward to rocking it again in 2026!

This week all of our students took part in the National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) 2025, which took place on Wednesday, 21 May at 11:30 AM.

This beloved annual event, organised by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), brings together children across the country to read the same book at the same time, fostering a love for reading and community connection.

The Truck Cat has been recognised for its heartfelt narrative and beautiful illustrations, making it an excellent choice to inspire kindness and compassion in young readers.

Rita Garreffa
Assistant Principal Learning and Wellbeing

We welcome Pope Leo XIV as the new leader of the Catholic Church and pray that he continues the ministry of Pope Francis. Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, is passionate about social justice and cares deeply about education, with his father being a teacher. 

This historical moment has proved to be a valuable learning experience as this is the first time any of our students have lived through a new Pope, and will likely be the only time in their schooling life that it will happen. The uniqueness of the event led to a beautiful Pope-themed Community Prayer by 3N last week and has led to rich conversations and learning opportunities across the school. 

Last week we had two beautiful Community Prayers led by 1/2BR (R-2s) and 3N (Yr 3-6s).  These were well attended by family, friends and members of our community. 1/2BR led our prayer theme on May, the month of Mary, where the children showed courage to speak in front of a large group, many of whom were doing so for the very first time. They concluded with a beautiful action song, I Sing To Mary by Andrew Chinn. As mentioned above, 3N led us in prayer welcoming the new Pope and taught us the process of electing a new Pope. They also shared their learning in Religion around sacred texts, sharing some they had written themselves. These celebrations were reverent and powerful, and we thank both students and staff for their time preparing such wonderful liturgies.

I pray that you all have a wonderful week.

God bless.

Josh Rouse
Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission

On 26 May, we celebrate ‘National Sorry Day’. It is a day of healing for the Stolen Generations, their families, and communities. ‘Sorry Day’ marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week in Australia, held annually from 27 May, marking the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum in Australia, to 3 June, recognised as Mabo Day.

The National Reconciliation Week 2025 theme is Bridging Now to Next, which is a call to all Australians to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.

On National Sorry Day (Monday 26 May) our school leaders will be reading a prayer to the school over the PA. On Wednesday 4 June at 9am, students will gather for a whole school assembly, led by 1/2RR. This will be followed by a walk around the block as a show of solidarity. Students will be invited to wear the colours of the Aboriginal Flag (black, red and yellow) on this day. We will also welcome local Aboriginal artist, Nikki Carabetta, who will be working with various classes throughout the week. Further details of National Reconciliation Week to come via Audiri.