Week 7, Term 1 2021

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Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s amazing to think we have reached half way through term 1. I hope you enjoyed the long weekend break and were able to get out and about enjoying this wonderful autumn weather.

Building Update
As you would be aware, with the completion of the Master Plan last year, we have been working hard behind the scenes to start Stage One of the plan. You may recall this stage involves the building of a new adventure playground and refurbishing the heritage listed Parish Hall. I am hoping this project will start in the middle of this year with completion by the end of the school year. The School Board and the Steering Committee are all committed to this new and exciting venture as it will certainly improve our play space and gathering space for the school and the parish.

Building relationships
It has been lovely getting to know your children this term and also meeting parents and caregivers, particularly in the morning and afternoon when I have duty. I look forward to getting to meet more community members as the year progresses.

Project Compassion
Thank you for your generosity this Lent with Project Compassion. If you would like to look at some of the ways that your generosity makes a difference to others you can visit the Project Compassion website (lent.caritas.org.au) where you can see real life stories about how sharing what we have with others can support with education, access to water and improving ones quality of life.

200 years of Catholic Education
To celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia the Catholic Education Office has given prayer cards to every child enrolled in a catholic school. This prayer card will come home with your child today.

Catholic Identity Survey
Today you will receive an email for a survey regarding the Catholic identity of our school. All the information you need will be in the email and as a thank you for participating anyone completing the survey will have their family name entered into a draw to win a $100 gift voucher. The survey will close 1st April 2021.

1st Reconciliation Parent/Child Workshop Reminder
The parish is hosting the second workshop for parents and children on Tuesday 16th March at 5.45 pm in the Church. Please contact Anne Dudzinski anne.dudzinski@bigpond.com if you have any queries.

The year of St Joseph
Pope Francis recently announced that this year is the Year of St Joseph. We will be celebrating the annual Feast Day of St Joseph on Friday the 19th March with some fun activities and taking the time to reflect on how St Joseph can be an example of how to live a life of  ‘respect’ and ‘love’.  The children are invited to wear their house colours for this special day and to bring a gold coin donation for Project Compassion.

All classes started the year by connecting with the learners as Mathematicians. They have read the 'Story of Mathematics' which talks about how Mathematics is the science of patterns, rules and relationships. It is organised into 5 Mathematical Drawers which are accessed using the Thinking Keys. It has been exciting to see learners develop a deeper understanding of what Mathematics is and use a shared language from Reception to Year 6. Classes have started creating their own visual representations of the 5 Drawers and the Thinking Keys to refer back to as they explore each drawer in more depth.

Lisa-Jayne from the Primary Mathematics Association has been working with teachers at St Joseph's Tranmere to develop their yearly overviews. Through this planning process, teachers have considered how each piece of Mathematics is best learnt whether this be integrated into other learning areas as a series of Mathematics learning sessions or as part of everyday routines. Two examples of pieces of Mathematics that are best learnt through everyday routines are time and data. Here are some snapshots of how these have been explored in different year levels.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Children’s University Australasia’ (CUA)

St. Joseph’s School Tranmere has been involved with the Children’s University Australasia over the past few of years.

The Children’s University Australasia offers an opportunity for students to extend their learning beyond the classroom and have fun along the way while exploring and learning new activities.  It provides high quality, voluntary educational experiences for children aged between 7 and 12 years, (Yrs. 2 – 6).  

A reminder that the Easter Raffle flyer & tickets went home with students last week.

What to do:
Please bring along an Easter Egg or Easter themed item to donate to the raffle prizes.

When:
By Friday, 19th March.
Bring in your donation and place it into the baskets provided in your child’s classroom.

Tickets:
Tickets are sold at $1 each, with each child being given one book of 5 tickets to sell.
More ticket books are available at the front office and will be on sale until Friday, 26th March.

Return Tickets:
Return all tickets and payment by Friday, 26th March via class office boxes in an envelope marked Easter Raffle. 

Prizes:
Various sized Easter Baskets.

Raffle Drawn:
Wednesday, 31st March 2021.

Wednesday 24th March 8.20am-8.45am in the Middle Yard.

The Second Hand Uniform stall is a very simple system that benefits our school community by offering quality products at a reduced price.  It has been very successful in previous years.

We have introduced a couple of guidelines this year to ensure only quality items are offered for purchase to ensure our students always look smart and well presented in their community.

The P&F will operate the stall once a term in 2021.

What items can I offer for sale at the Second Hand Uniform Stall?
All sale items must be in excellent condition for eg. no stains, rips, or missing buttons

Sale items must be from the School Uniform shop (No Target, Kmart shorts)
All items need to have the current logo (which is the school emblem on the polo tops)
No hair accessories, hats or school bags can be sold at the second hand uniform stall

What do I do with items I would like to sell?
Place each item into a large clear plastic zip lock bag with your full name, contact phone number and price you would like for the item (whole dollars only)

Drop your items into the office by Monday 22nd March 2021
Once your items have been sold a staff member will contact you to collect your money from the office.

How do I purchase Second Hand Uniforms?
Simply come and visit us at the stall!
All sales are CASH ONLY
No change will be available at the stall so please bring gold coins and small notes to make a purchase

If you choose to purchase an item you remove that item from the zip lock bag, place the nominated monies into the bag and give it to a P&F member at the stall.

If you have any further questions please contact the P&F on parentsandfriends@stjotran.catholic.edu.au

Thank you for your support.

Did you know that you can register a student absence on our website? Complete and submit the form on our website to submit your child's absence.