St Joseph's Primary School Molong eNewsletter

Our Vision and Mission

Vision Statement

With Jesus Christ as their role model, all children can and will achieve.

Mission Statement

Inspired by Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop and in partnership with parents, our Parish and the wider community, we aim to impart a holistic education on all children in our school. We endeavour to live by the values of our school motto.

Learning, Understanding and Peace.

St Joseph’s is distinguished by a great sense of belonging, where each person is valued and where learning is enjoyable.

Prayer of the day

Colossians 1:15-20. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord – Ps 99(100):2-5. Luke 5:33-39.

Let us be enlivened by our faith

One of the joys of engaging with Christian converts is listening to what drew them to belief in Jesus. Often they’ll talk about faith with a refreshing enthusiasm and energy. For those of us who grew up with faith, it might come across as a little off-putting at first, but when we listen to them with open hearts we might find our own faith enlivened.

In today’s readings, we get a sense of what it was like for the disciples to hear the Good News from Jesus. It wasn’t a tradition passed down for thousands of years to them, but something fresh and new. What excitement they must have had. How enlivened must others have felt when they listened to them.

Today, let’s pray that we might hear the Word of God and be enlivened as if it were born anew again in us.

SCHOOL NEWS

St Joseph's Music Concert

On Wednesday our school was treated to a very special Music Assembly hosted by Gabe Middleton. The afternoon was filled with music, energy, and an incredible display of student talent.

We were so proud of the children who stepped onto the stage and performed in front of such a large audience. It takes a great deal of confidence and courage to stand up and share your gifts, and each student rose to the occasion beautifully. Every performance was a celebration of creativity, hard work, and joy.

Gabe Middleton’s guidance and encouragement helped our young performers shine. A big thank you to Gabe for hosting this special event, and teaching our students how powerful music can be.

On Thursday our school choir proudly represented us at the Orange Eisteddfod. The students performed two contrasting pieces – A Million Dreams and Riptide in front of a packed audience.

With nine other competitors in the section, our choir sang with confidence, energy and joy. The children worked hard in rehearsals and it was so rewarding to see their efforts shine through on stage. Their teamwork, enthusiasm and beautiful singing made us very proud.

Participating in the Eisteddfod was a fantastic opportunity for our students to showcase their talent, learn from other schools, and experience the excitement of performing in a formal competition.

We congratulate all of our choir members on their courage and commitment, and thank our staff and families for supporting them on this musical journey. I have attached the feedback from the adjudicator. We were only one point away from being highly commended.

Fathers Day

Today we celebrated Fathers Day with bacon and egg rolls, and games in the playground. Thankyou you to all the Fathers and Grandfathers and everyone who came.

Today students and staff at St Joseph’s wore Jerseys to increase awareness of Organ Donation. Jersey Day began in a way to honor Nathan Gremmo, a thirteen year old who died in 2015, but became an organ donor, saving six lives. The event, observed annually in Australia, encourages people to wear sports jerseys and to have a conversation about organ donation to raise awareness and encourage others to register as donors and to share their wishes with their families. We were lucky to have Mr Grahame Statham from St Raph’s in Cowra speak to the children. Grahame’s sister, Cathy, had a heart transplant 8 years ago, after having a heart attack.

Bishop Michael

Today, Bishop Michael visited St Joseph’s. Bishop shared morning tea with staff and visited all classrooms where he fielded questions about his role as Bishop, his love of being Bishop and how long he has been Bishop. Bishop Michael also prayed with all students in their classrooms. We are grateful for Bishop’s visit and the time he gave to both students and staff.

Support Staff Appreciation Week

This week is "Support Staff appreciation week". A massive thankyou to all of our support staff for everything you do for our students here at St Joseph's.

Grandparents Day

Student of the Week

JOEYS COOKING CLUB

Cooking Club

In Week Seven, the cooking club used freshly harvested kale from our kitchen garden, thanks to Jane Shannon.
At first, we weren’t sure how many students would be willing to try the crunchy, salty kale chips—but we were pleasantly surprised! Most of the school gave them a try and many even came back for seconds.
It’s always wonderful to see the children open to new experiences and enjoying the variety of recipes we create using our homegrown produce.

CRAFT CLUB

Craft club is still motoring along with some dedicated crafters producing some creative pieces out of timber and cardboard.Special mention this week goes to Lachlan who has been working on making a fish over this last term. He chose and cut out the fabric, used the sewing machine to stitch its shape. He stuffed it, hand stitched the opening and stitched the buttons on. We think it looks fantastic. Well done Lachie!

FROM THE REC

Father’s Day

This Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day, a special time to honour the dads, grandfathers, and father-figures in our lives. We give thanks for the love, guidance, and strength they provide, and for the many ways they reflect God’s care for us.

The late Pope Francis reminded us that fathers are called to be “signs of the Heavenly Father,” showing love through patience, encouragement, and protection. At St Joseph’s, we are especially inspired by the example of St Joseph, who cared for Mary and Jesus with faith and humility.

We pray in gratitude for all fathers and father-figures in our community. May God bless them with wisdom, joy, and peace, and may they continue to guide their children with love.

On behalf of our school community, we wish all dads and father-figures a very Happy Father’s Day!

A Prayer for Fathers

Loving God,

We thank You for the gift of our fathers, grandfathers, and all father-figures.

Bless them with strength, patience, and joy as they guide and care for us.

May they follow the example of St Joseph in showing love, faith, and protection.

Keep them safe in Your care, and let them always know how deeply they are loved.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Year 2 Religion

Year 2 has been learning about The Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:25-37

Jesus was asked by an expert in the law, what he must do to inherit eternal life?

He answered “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.

This expert persisted by asking “And who are my neighbours?”

Jesus then told the parable of “The Good Samaritan” to answer his question. It was clear that the neighbour figure in this parable was the one who showed mercy on the hurt man, namely the Samaritan.

Year 2 spent a lot of time discussing who their neighbour was. Through the parable we learnt that our neighbour is not necessarily the person we look up to, or think is important. We discussed all the types of people Jesus liked to spend time with and we learnt that our neighbour can also be a person who hurts our feelings, a neighbour can be from another nation or culture, a neighbour can have different beliefs from us, a neighbour could be someone who needs God’s love. We learnt that we should never be a bystander when someone is being teased, we should reach out to the lonely and we should forgive those who hurt us.

We really enjoyed deep diving into this parable.

This is a great link that retells the story: The Good Samaritan - Saddleback Kids

Attached are examples of how we retold The Parable of the Good Samaritan in our own words.

Upcoming Masses:

Primary Mass & Classroom Visits - Wednesday, 10th September 2025 9:30am WEEK 8

Infants Mass - Wednesday, 17th September 2025 9:30am WEEK 9

Miss Woodhouse

Religious Education Coordinator

STUDENT WELLBEING

A Snap shot of Resilience lessons in week 7

Kindergarten

Kindergarten have been exploring how compassion and empathy go hand in hand, especially when working as a team. Through a activity where the children had t work together to achieve a common goal, they learned that they need to practice concentration, communication and observation to be an effective team member.

Year 1

A Gratitude lesson for Year 1 students who learnt about the people in their school community and explored different ways to express gratitude towards them. Through interactive activities and reflective discussions, students discovered how expressing gratitude can foster a sense of appreciation and kindness within the school community.

Year 2

An Emotional Literacy lesson where Year 2 students explored how emotions are signals from our body telling us an important message. Through videos and hands-on activities, students learnt the purpose of our emotions.

Year 3

A Gratitude lesson for Year 3 students where they will explore how people live in a range of different conditions, and how comparison to others can result in feeling less or more content with what we have. Students learn that practising gratitude changes the way we feel about what we have and is likely to lead to more happiness.

Year 4

Year 4 students explored gratitude through the lens of giving and receiving gifts. Students were introduced to the idea of gifts as being more than just objects and are given the opportunity to experience the benefits of giving to others.

Year 5/6

A Mindfulness lesson for Year 5 and 6 students where they experience a breathing meditation using deep belly breathing. They explored informal breathing exercises by tracing shapes to relax and calm themselves. Students also created their own breathing shape for their peers to try.