Week 1 Term 1 2023

Welcome to 2023

Greetings to all as we begin the 2023 school year. A special welcome to students and families new to our community. I trust the holidays were an opportune time for re-energising and connecting with family and friends. We are immensely looking forward to this year – learning, developing, and maintaining relationships, and of course enjoying ourselves along the way!

Staffing, 2023

We welcome the following staff members new to St Joseph’s Payneham: Donny Calabria (Yr. 1 teacher), Shana Phillips (Yr. 1 teacher), Brontè Platt (Yr. 3 teacher), Charlelie Kalz (Yr. 6 teacher) and David Shinn (Music and Performing Arts teacher). I also congratulate Emma Burke, who has won the role as OSHC Assistant Director. Below, I provide a list of St Joseph’s Payneham, 2023 staff:

Leadership Team
Principal – Simon Mechis
Deputy Principal/APRIM – Ingrid Douventzidis
Leadership Support and Student Wellbeing – Michael Musolino
Inclusive Education Coordinator – Marie Polvere (0.5)
Leader of Learning, Literacy – Sonia Vernillo (0.2)
Leader of Learning, Numeracy and Curriculum Development – Vanessa Saccardo (0.4 – commencing in Term Two)

Preschool Teachers
Anna Garimella [Joeys and Kanga groups]
Jess Vreugdenburg [Koala group]
Nicole Baans [Possums group]

Reception Teachers
Joyce Nero
Lucy Martino
Jen Mastrangelo
Rebecca D’Amico

Year 1 Teachers
Maria Prestia
Donny Calabria
Shana Phillips
Tayla Carosi

Year 2 Teachers
Tania Melfi
Shendelle Watters
Caterina Musolino (0.5) and Adriana Graziani (0.5)

Year 3 Teachers
Sonia Vernillo (0.8) and Alicia Matikulas (0.2)
Margaret McConnell
Brontè Platt

Year 4 Teachers
Bernardette Robinson
Rosanna Parrella (0.8) and Sara Altobelli (0.2)

Year 5 Teachers
Yvette Vingelis
Angela Scarpantoni

Year 6 Teachers
Michael Mastrangelo
Charlelie Kalz

Specialist Teachers
STEM – Nicholas Polvere
Physical Education – Adrian Mastrangelo
Music and Performing Arts – David Shinn
Italian – Emily Parrella

School Counsellor
Andrea de Dezsery (0.2, Fridays)

Front Office
Administration / Reception – Josie Colangelo
Enrolments Officer, Marketing and Admin. Support – Lanette Burke
Finance – Josie Ferragamo and Helen Crosato
ICT Technician – Barb Cole
WHS – Dora Cavuoto

Educational Support Officers (ESOs) – Early Years
Tania Cardone
Giovanna De Meo
Maria Lupoi
Shima Safari
Celesta Seal [Occasional Care]

Educational Support Officers (ESOs) – Curriculum
Rachel Armstrong
Olivia Barbaro
Milena Belperio
Emma Burke
Anusha Chaudry
Manuela Ciniglia
Giovanna De Meo
Tina Hoffman
Linda LaBella
Laura Parletta
Leah Tregenza
Julie Ward
Mitchell Wells

OSHC 
Director – Karina Forte
Assistant Director – Emma Burke
Before School Care Coordinator – Josie Nicolescu

Canteen Manager
Josie Nicolescu

Grounds and Maintenance
Fernando Belperio

Parent Information Evening, Wed. 8 Feb.

The Parent Information Evening will occur next Wednesday 8 February. Whilst most of you met with your child’s class teacher/s last week (as part of ‘Meet the Teacher/Family Day’), the Parent Information Evening is a further opportunity for you to hear and learn about the year ahead from your child’s teacher/s. The session is for parents/carers only.

The evening will have the following format, in your child’s respective classroom:

• Reception to Year 2, starting at 6:00pm until 6:40pm
• Year 3 to Year 6, starting at 6:45pm until 7:25pm

Additionally, on the evening, there will be a complimentary sausage sizzle (in the piazza, near the Front Office). Please pop by, say hello, and grab a sausage (for catering purposes, please RSVP to info@stjopayn.catholic.edu.au by 3pm, Tuesday 7 Feb. if you intend on having a sausage).

Seesaw….

The Seesaw app. will be used for sharing your child’s schoolwork, as well as a communication tool. If details have not been shared already, information will be coming home soon from class teachers.

Building work update

Over the holiday period, work on the two-level, eight classroom (with added facilities and amenities) structure has continued. It is exciting to see the development that has taken place.

COVID-19 Update and Volunteering

We all have a part to play in keeping our school community safe and minimising the disruption to learning that can occur when illness circulates at school.

Therefore, students/staff who are unwell should stay home if they have cold or flu-like symptoms and get tested for COVID-19. If students/staff have COVID-19, please advise the school as soon as possible, and stay at home until all acute symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, cough and fever) have cleared.

Further, as highlighted late last year, there is an update and change in relation to the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy as implemented by Catholic Education South Australia (CESA). The amended Policy has adopted a ‘personal responsibility’ approach that strongly encourages vaccination, but does not require it to work and volunteer in most CESA workplace settings (except a few ‘high-risk’ settings where up-to-date vaccination will be required).

This outcome means that volunteers who are approved by the school to provide support at St Joseph’s Payneham, including attending excursions, now need only to comply with the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools (SACCS) Policy for Volunteers. In short, volunteers need to have signed the school’s Volunteer Declaration and hold a current Catholic Working With Children Check. Ongoing volunteers also need to have completed the free 2 hour online Mandatory Reporting (RRHAN-EC) training.

We are grateful for your continued support of our students, particularly in volunteering for different events and activities.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

This year’s St Joseph’s School Payneham AGM will be held on Wednesday 1 March 2023, commencing at 6:30pm. Further details will be provided in the coming week.

Parking, road safety, driver etiquette and being friendly to our neighbours

School drop-off and pick-up times are busy for everyone. The aim is for this to happen in a safe and courteous manner. Please demonstrate consideration and patience, as well as travelling slowly around the school, especially where marked (no faster than 25 km/h).

As a result of the busyness at drop-off and pick-up, finding a car park next to the school gate can be tricky. An idea could be to find a park a little further away from the school, where you will not only find it easier to locate a parking space, but also opportunity for some exercise with your child/ren, and an extra chance to ‘connect’, as you walk your child to and from school. You could even plan to meet with another family at a designated point, and then walk the 5-10 minutes.

Moreover, please be considerate of our neighbours, which includes not parking or standing with your vehicle in their driveways. Lastly, kindly ensure your child(ren) are keeping out of residents’ gardens. Thank you for your anticipated attention to the above.

Supervision

For children who arrive at school before 8:30am, they will need to go to Before School Care, as there is no supervision in the yard until this time. Likewise, after school, any child who is not collected from 3:25pm, will be taken to After School Care. Also, if your child is being collected early from school, they need to be signed-out at the Front Office.

Supervision at After School Sports Training and Clinics

A reminder that any siblings of children attending after-school sports trainings or clinics, need to be supervised by yourselves (or a caregiver i.e., a grandparent). If this is not possible, please ensure any children not directly involved in the after-school training or clinic are booked into OSHC. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

School Uniform News

The students are looking very neat and professional in their uniforms. Wearing the correct uniform brings a great sense of belonging to the community as well as pride in one’s appearance. Let’s work together to ensure it is sustained. A reminder, students are to wear their school hats during Term One and from 1 September. Wearing the sport uniform is only to occur on the allocated days.

Additionally, from 2024 St Joseph’s Payneham will be endorsing a new school uniform. The Uniform Committee, together with the School Board have been working through this process during 2022. There will of course be a transition period from the current uniform to the new. Further details will be released in due course.

Nut allergies

St Joseph’s Payneham tries very hard to create a ‘nut free’ environment. There are a number of students across the various year levels in our school who will suffer an extreme adverse reaction — life threatening in some cases – if they come into contact with any food product containing the slightest trace of nut substance! For that reason, we ask parents/caregivers to avoid sending nut products to school. When classes have ‘shared lunches’, parents will need to be mindful that the plate of food that is being sent to school is ‘nut free’. We appreciate this could be an inconvenience as some children love peanut paste, Nutella and other nut-based spreads. This inconvenience though is nothing compared to the extreme consequences that may result, and we therefore ask for your understanding.

Food allergies

Incidentally, in a typical classroom at least one student is likely to be affected by food allergies, and the number of children with food allergies is increasing. A food allergy is an adverse immune system reaction that occurs soon after exposure to a certain food. As children get older, allergen avoidance becomes complex as they desire to fit in with peers and navigate social activities. Therefore, the rest of the school community needs to be vigilant, to ensure that all children are not placed in awkward situations whereby they may experience a severe reaction. For that reason, we discourage students sharing food and touching other people’s food.

Head injuries at school

Our school’s current procedure for managing ‘minor’ student head injuries i.e., ball impact to the head, bumping into another object, etc., is for students to be assessed by a Senior First Aider in the Front Office. If students are identified to be well enough to continue their day at school, the child’s ‘first emergency contact’ is telephoned to alert that a minor head injury has taken place.

Newsletter format in 2023

Lastly, the Parent Newsletter will be circulated three times a term this year – in Weeks 1, 5 and 9. Other relevant messages will of course be communicated as required.

Wishing you well!

Simon Mechis

Beginning of the Year Mass

A prayerful start to every new year is an integral part of who we are as a Catholic school. Our first Whole School Mass, celebrating the opening of the school year will focus on our spiritual theme, Share the Light of Jesus.

The Mass will take place this Friday, 3rd February at 9:15am in our Church.

Class Masses at Church

Each year, classroom teachers prepare liturgical celebrations with their students. Students have an opportunity to celebrate the Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist through attending class mass and liturgies.

Every class prepares for and attends at least once per term. Masses are held in the Church at 9.15am on Fridays and Liturgies are celebrated by the Receptions to Year 2 students at 10.15am in the Church.  Families and members of the Parish and school community are always welcome to attend these celebrations.

Whole School Masses

Whole School Masses are celebrated during the year.  Special masses are celebrated in accordance with the Liturgical Calendar and the school community is welcome to attend.

Masses and Liturgies Timetable Term 1

Week 1: Friday 3 February - Beginning Year Whole School Mass 9.15am Mass
(Year 6Mm hosting)

Week 3: Friday 17th February - 10.15 Liturgy (Year 2s)

Week 4: Wednesday 22 February - Ash Wednesday 9.15am Whole School Mass – (Year 6CK hositng) 

Friday 24 February - 9.15 Mass (Year 3s)
10.15 Liturgy (Year 1s)

Week 5: Friday 3rd March - 10.15 Liturgy (Receptions)

Week 7: Monday, 20 March St Joseph’s Day - 9.15  Whole School Mass R-6 (Year 5s hosting)

Week 8: Annunciation - Friday 24 March 9.15 Mass (3-6s attending) - (Year 4s hositng)

Week 10: Holy Week starts

Commissioning Mass

On Sunday 19 February, at 11am Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, our staff will be commissioned, by Fr. Michael Romeo. At the Commissioning Mass the message of Jesus, who is the teacher of God’s love, the teacher of life, to all parts of our school community; the message of living life to the full will be proclaimed. Our families are warmly invited to attend this Parish Mass in support of our staff community.

Let us pray……

Dear God Thank you for the gift of education. As our children start this new year may confidence be their foundation, may grace be their guide and may hope be their compass. I pray that they have eyes to see those in need and a heart to love well. May they face each day with positivity, knowing that whatever comes their way, they do not have to face it alone.

Amen

Child Proctection

Child protection and safety is extremely important at St Joseph’s. We have a focus on relationships and social and emotional learning at the beginning of our new year. Returning to school, for all of us after our holiday break, means returning to routine, stability, consistency. For all of our students returning to school should mean that they are returning to a safe place where they matter, they thrive, and they are nurtured. As well as our social and emotional learning focus, all students will be engaged in the Child Protection curriculum, taught in all classes throughout the year, learning about strategies to keep themselves well and safe.

Walking Home

If your child/ren are going to walk home from school this year, please discuss the responsibilities associated with walking home with them and complete the Walking Home Permission form. This not only helps to educate your child about appropriate behaviour when walking without an adult, but also gives the school a list of walkers to help us track the students at pick up time. Remember walking home permission means the child/ren walks home from school to home and does not include walking to a side street or Tarcoma Avenue so that you can pick them up from there.

Each child will be given a Permission Card which they can show the teacher on duty indicating parents have signed a permission form.

Walking Home Permission forms are available from the Front Office. 

Bring Your Own iPad

Bringing technology into the classroom is the best way to provide a 21st century learning environment. Devices are increasingly being incorporated at St Joseph’s because they boost students’ capabilities of learning anytime, and anywhere. Online access in classrooms significantly broadens the scope of the learning experience allowing for creative thinking, communication, and collaboration

When your child enters Year 3, they will be using a device in their daily learning for tasks involving research, creativity, word processing, comprehension, coding and much more. BYOD Program helps to  promote positive digital citizenship for all students. When thinking ahead for your child’s future school years, please note that all high schools in the Eastern region have implemented a ‘Bring Your Own iPad’ for Year 7 and beyond.  

Student Participation Agreement:
All parents and students are required to sign the student agreement. Please ensure the agreement is explained and discussed with your child. Then sign both forms and return to their classroom teacher.

Your child will not be disadvantaged in the classroom if they do not own an iPad. However, the iPad will be an effective tool to assist your child with a wide scope of learning opportunities. Students without iPads will have access to a school owned iPad with other peers (one between two students), but it will be beneficial for students to bring their own iPad as it can be tailored to their needs. Borrowed iPads remain at school at all times.  

School Wi-Fi:
Our ICT Support person, Barbara Cole will connect the BYOD iPads to the school Wi-Fi and install a c-filter, which will monitor all devices connected to our network. 

Classroom Use:
The amount of time that students will spend on their iPad each day will vary from year level to year level, class to class, student to student and even day to day. Students will participate in a balance between iPad tasks and pencil/paper tasks. It is the responsibility of the student to bring a charged iPad each day.  

Please note: We want to be very clear that we view the BYOD program as another tool for learning. It will not replace pen and paper, nor will it replace quality teaching. These devices provide fast and easy access to information and enable students to explore concepts more independently, to explain their thinking, to create presentations and other multimedia products and to share their learning and understandings.  

We hope you share in our excitement about the BYOD program as a way of ensuring we are meeting our obligations to our students in preparing them with the digital literacies they require.  

For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact the school office. 

Regards

Ingrid Douventzidis