Joey's News - Week 2 - Term 3

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Families,

Literacy Success 

This year we have a focus on literacy and improving reading has been our goal.  Last week our Leader of Learning & Teaching – Amanda O’Brien and Acting Leader of Diversity Stacey Edmonds provided feedback to teachers the early success they are achieving with your children through their hard work and effort. This week I would like to share some of the data presented for the Prep – Year 2 classes.  For brevity, in coming weeks I will share learning data for the Year 3-6 classes. 

I thank the Junior Teachers and Diversity teachers for their ongoing efforts. 

Prep – Vani Woods & Indi Earle 

Yr 1 – Lindsay Baker, Ellen Graham & Judy McAvoy 

Yr 2 – Briony Langler & Julia Kearins 

Diversity – Kirsty Malsem, Gerry Herwig & Katharine Hanna 

My thanks also to all the LTAs who support the teachers in their Habitats. Additionally, to all the parents who attended our Multilit Information Night and those parents who trained as volunteers and are assisting in the Habitats– it certainly takes a village to raise a child. 

With Christ, we live, love and learn

James Roberts 

Principal

Celebrating Learning Progress in Prep - Yr 2

At St Joseph’s the students in Prep – Year 2 have their reading progress monitored through two assessments. These are:

DIBELS - A screener that indicates possibility of reading risk.

Key to understanding the data:

• Blue range – highly likely to be achieving at grade-level
• Green range – likely to be achieving at grade-level
• Yellow range – likely to be achieving below grade-level
• Red range – likely to be achieving well below grade-level

InitiaLit Cumulative Review – Termly opportunities for students to demonstrate their mastery of the content taught. Have our students ‘caught what we’ve taught’?

Key to understanding the data:

• Red – 0% - 59%
• Yellow – 60% - 79%
• Green – 80% - 100%
  

CELEBRATING PROGRESS 

We have been implementing our new reading programs (InitiLit & MiniLit) for two terms. Our teachers continue to implement the program with fidelity and with the support of our families we are excited to share with you some of our progress data to date.

• Beginning DIBELS screener indicated that 84.6% of our students were at a high risk of achieving well below grade level.
• Through consistent explicit instruction during InitiaLit we have 65.9% of our students who have ‘caught what we’ve taught’ and reaching the expected benchmark at this point in time

AMAZING RESULTS PREP!

• Beginning DIBELS screener indicated
• 59.6% of our students were highly likely/likely to be achieving at grade level
• 40.4% of our students  were likely to be achieving below/well below grade level
• Through consistent explicit instruction, re-teaching to address misunderstandings and participation in MiniLit intervention during Semester 1 our data indicates:
• 74.5% of students are at or above grade benchmark.
• 17% of students are slightly below benchmark (some students are only 1%-5% below benchmark).
• 8.5% of students require additional support!

FANTASTIC EFFORT YEAR 1!

• Beginning DIBELS screener indicated
• 32.5% of our students were highly likely/likely to be achieving at grade level
• 67.5% of our students  were likely to be achieving below/well below grade level.
• InitiaLit data in Year 2 is monitored through 2 assessments: Spelling & Reading Comprehension.
• Spelling Data has indicated to our teachers that there is a need to reteach some of the content from Semester 1.
• Reading Comprehension data indicates that our students are able to read fluently and comprehend what they have read.

WELL DONE YEAR 2!

Highlights of the Week

NAIDOC Prayer & Smoking Ceremony

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NAIDOC Dance Showcase

Upcoming Events

Plastic Free August

Our very passionate Stewardship Mercy Leaders, Aila, Zoey & Ava would like to promote a 'Plastic Free August'. From Week 4, we are encouraging all members of our Joey's community to make a big effort to reduce the amount of plastic packaging they currently use. For example, take a look at your lunchbox to find one thing you can swap out for a reusable alternative, such as a container instead of gladwrap, small container instead of individual plastic bags, no poppers etc. The Mercy Leaders have lots of incentives for students who have reduced plastic in their lunchboxes. We are also looking at ways we can further reduce our plastic at school, including its use in our Joey's cafe. Look out for our tips in Joey's News each week!

Under 8's Day

Book Week - August 18-22

From the JCC

St Joseph's School Fete - A Family Picnic Evening

This year, instead of our usual full school fete, we’re hosting a Family Picnic Evening – a relaxed night of fun, food, and community on Friday, 15 August from 5–8pm. There’ll be rides for the kids, food vans, and space to unwind together – so bring a picnic rug or chairs and join the fun!

To keep things simple and sustainable, we've made the thoughtful decision to hold the major fete every second year, with more casual events like this picnic in between.

Our fundraising this year focuses on a new school playground, as well as fresh signage and a community mural – exciting projects that will benefit our whole school.

For more information on how you can get involved, please refer to the parent slip sent on Wednesday 23 July.

Presale Armbands

Presale armbands are available for $45 via the link below:

Second Hand Uniform Shop Open Days

• Friday 8 August (8:00am - 8:45am)
• Monday 18 August (8:00am - 8:45am)
• Friday 5 September (3:00pm - 3:30pm after the Father's Day Assembly)
• Tuesday 16 September (8:00am - 8:45am)

2026 OSHC Re-enrolments and New Enrolments

2026 Instrumental Music Program

The school is commencing the recruitment and selection process for the 2026 Instrumental Music Program. The Instrumental Music Program is a wonderful opportunity for your child to learn a musical instrument through the school and to participate in the school ensembles, including the Concert Band and String Ensemble. As the program is popular and places are limited to the teaching time allocated to the school, entry into the program is done via a selection process. Limited places are available on the following instruments:

Over the coming weeks, students in Year 2 (for places in the String Program) and in Year 3 (for places in the Woodwind, Brass and Percussion Program) and any other interested students, will undergo some in class testing to determine their suitability to learn an instrument. The school also looks at ensemble balance along with other selection criteria, including classroom music results, academic progress, effort, behaviour, ability to work independently and reliability to determine the students best able to succeed in the program. A selection of students will be shortlisted for physical testing on available instruments. At this point, parents of students selected for testing will be informed via a letter sent home. Permission and extra information will be sought from parents before students are tested for physical suitability on the available instruments

For any further information, please contact Mr Chandler – w/wind, brass, percussion - (mchandler@cns.catholic.edu.au), Ms Marnane – strings - (cmarnane@cns.catholic.edu.au), Ms Tobin - piano (ntobindonn@cns.catholic.edu.au) or Ms Connors – guitar (tconnors1@cns.catholic.edu.au).

Sporting and Educational Opportunities