24 May 2023

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

Welcome to Week 6 as we pass the halfway mark of the Term.

It was great to celebrate our Children’s Mass with the Parish last Saturday evening.  Father Bill was lovely with the children as he really spoke to them while breaking open the Word during his homily.

Thanks to Mrs Carter for organising the mass and also to Mr Carter for cooking the wonderful BBQ.  It was wonderful to see the children singing together and socialising with other families after mass.

Excitement is ramping up for the school disco this Thursday evening, with efforts being made to make the night an enjoyable but safe experience for all. 

As a part of this, we need to ensure that parents are staying at the disco and ensuring that their children remain inside the Multi-purpose Area for the disco.

The disco will commence at 5:30pm with the focus for the initial 45 minutes being on music and games tailored to the lower school students.

At approximately 6:15pm we will be judging the Prep – Year 3 best costumes while the Year 4-6 class has their Pizza.

At 6:30pm with the junior classes getting their pizza while we award the best costumes for Years 4-6.

After this time the tone of the disco will change slightly with dances and music being aimed more towards the older students until the disco finishes at 7:30pm.  Hope to see you there in your best 80’s gear.

The old Skoolbag App has been updated and has changed name.  The app is now called Audiri.  Please check that you have the updated version so that you are getting up-to-date push notifications and the newsletter from the school.  At the moment, Leadership are unable to post to the app on the fly from our phones as we were able to previously.  We have been assured that this feature will again be added.  Until this time, we will be sending important information out via text as well.  Please ensure that the school has the most up-to-date contact information for your family.

The school has quietly launched our new official Facebook page last Term.  Thanks to Leonie Mooney and Ann McCutcheon for helping develop our new page.  Please be aware that this page is where we will be posting messages and student award images from now on.  I will no longer be posting to the Joey’s Families and Friends page as this will be phased out.

If you have not already done so, please search for the new Facebook page called St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Park Avenue.

Last week we had a number of students not bring the gear needed to take part in Friday afternoon interschool sports.  In the past it has been our procedure that students with no gear or who are too unwell to take part will not travel to offsite venues if they are not participating in some way.

This will still be the case this year.  Both hockey and rugby league require students to have mouthguards to participate.  Both of these sports also require students to wear long maroon football socks with two white stripes at the top.  Correct uniforms, including school hats, are even more important when traveling away from school. Please help your children in making sure that they are prepared for Friday sport with all of their appropriate equipment.

Our school community will be celebrating a special Feast Day mass for Our Lady Help of Christians this Friday morning. We will be celebrating with the Parish community by sharing the 9:00am morning mass.  All parents who wish to attend are more than welcome.

Finally, Year 5 delivered a beautiful song during their Prayer Assembly on Friday.  The lyrics of the song challenge us by saying;

‘Gotta keep it real simple,
Bring everything back to ground zero.
Cause it all comes down to this,
LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE.’

A great message that would make a tremendous impact if we could all strive to LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE.

Don’t Forget….

• Emmaus Day 30^th Year Celebration. Thursday, 25^th May
• School Disco. 80’s theme. Week 6 – Thurs May 25^th
• Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day Mass. Friday 26^th May @ 9:00am in OLHC Church
• State of Origin – Game 1. Wednesday 31^st May
• Field Events Day @ SJPA Oval Monday 5^th June (Week 8)
• Track Events Day @ Emmaus Brosnan Oval Tuesday 6^th June (Week 8)
• Rockhampton Show. 14^th – 16^th June
• Rockhampton Show Holiday. Thurs 15^th June
• Semester 1 Performing Arts Assembly. Monday, 12^th June @ 8:35am in MPA
• Deadly Day Out for Year 6 Indigenous Students. Tuesday 13^th June @ Dreamtime Cultural Centre.
• Children’s Mass. Saturday 17^th June @ OLHC 6:30pm
• Semester 1 Academic Awards. Monday, 19^th June @ 8:35am in MPA
• State of Origin – Game 2. Wednesday 21^st June
• Semester 1 Report Cards posted to Parent Lounge. Wed 21^st June
• SJPA Under 8’s Day. Thursday 22^nd June
• Term 2 concludes. Friday 23^rd June
• Term 3/Semester 2 commences. Monday 10^th July
• Challenge Cup. Wed 12^th – Fri 14^th July @ St Brendan’s Yeppoon.

Kindest Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
Principal - St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Park Avenue

St Joseph’s 2023 School Improvement Priorities:

• Prayer Life
• Learning Dispositions
• Increased Learning Gain & Achievement

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

The Ascension of the Lord

Jesus sends forth the apostles with the promise to be with them always.
Matthew 28:16-20

Living the Gospel – You will be my witnesses

A witness in a court of law is called to give evidence about a matter; to ‘testify’ to the truth of what they have seen or what they know to be true. Some people are very good at being a ‘witness’ to their faith by testifying to others about what they believe. Many others provide witness to their faith by simply living what they believe. Living a life based on Christian principles, including regular prayer and worship in your life, working for justice in the world and taking time to celebrate the beauty of everyday life is a powerful witness to others.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

OLHC Mass

A big thank you to all the families who joined us for Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians’ church last Saturday night.  It was great to see the children participating in our parish Eucharist.  The BBQ after warmed tummies and allowed for the opportunity for members of our extended community to catch up.

Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day

May 24^th is the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.  As the patron saint for our church and the patron saint of Australia, this is an important date in our Liturgical year.  This Friday, May 26^th, we will celebrate this feast as a whole school at 9:00am Mass. Caregivers and other members of our Joeys community are most welcome to join us too.

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

*SJPA – St Joseph’s Park Avenue
*OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church (next to St Joseph’s, Park Avenue)
*HF – Holy Family Parish Centre (next to Anthony’s School)
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

St Joseph’s Learning Spaces

We often have people ask us how our rooms operate and why we do what we do.  Over the term, I will share with you the reasons why we love our teaching and learning spaces and philosophy.

Reason Number One: Small group workshops allowing for target teaching according to need.
Reason Number Two: Our rooms enable students to move regularly. 
Reason Number Three: Our learning spaces enable regular collaboration opportunities. 
Reason Number Four: Our learning spaces help build positive relationships. 
Reason Number Five: Increased level of engagement.
Reason Number Six: Teacher Expertise.
Reason Number Seven: Pastoral Check Ins with students.
Reason Number Eight: Consistency of messages and content delivery.
Reason Number Nine: Choice of seating. 
Reason Number Ten: Short, direct lessons allow for extra time to be dedicated to student-directed exploration and practice of content/skills.
Reason Number Eleven: Extremely organised and structured.
Reason Number Twelve: Allows teachers to work to their strengths and learn from each other.  As professionals we never stop learning and, therefore, it is a huge advantage to teach the way we do as we have the opportunity to see other people teach everyday and learn from each other. 

ICAS

St Joseph’s is offering ICAS assessments again this year.

What is ICAS? 

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling and Digital Technologies. 

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

We encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year.   

How to participate in ICAS: 

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please: 

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas) 
2. Read the terms and conditions here: (icasassessments.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2023-ICAS-Assessments-Parents-PPS-TsCs_final.pdf)
3. Go to Parent Portal to purchase tests here:

4. Enter our school’s access code –  FPT347
5. Enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment. 

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records. 

Table 1: ICAS sitting windows per subject. 

Cut off dates to order tests are:

If your child is away on the testing day, there is some flexibility for them to sit the assessment, but it must be in the same week as the scheduled date and fit in with the availability of staff trained in the implementation of ICAS assessments.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is an annual state-wide initiative for state and non-state schools and home-educated students up to Year 9, as well as children attending early childhood centres. Since the program’s inception in 2006, more than 20 million books have been read, and in 2021 alone, 168,000 school, early childhood and individual readers participated in the challenge reading more than 2.39 million books throughout the PRC reading period.

The challenge is not a competition but aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read widely for pleasure and learning. Students can participate in the challenge within their school or as individual readers (home-educated students or students whose schools are not participating in the program).

For a student to successfully complete the challenge they must read or experience the allocated number of books for their year level during the reading period. Students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised through the receipt of a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier of Queensland.

Why read? Literacy skills are vital to ensuring children have the best chance to succeed in their schooling and life. The PRC is an opportunity for students to be enthusiastic about reading, writing, authors and illustrators. Reading a variety of books builds vocabulary and knowledge, improves spelling and comprehension, can improve confidence and is also a great way to relax.

To successfully complete the PRC, students must read or experience the number of books indicated on the reader record form.

Please see the link below for the reading record form if your child is interested in participating.  All forms need to be returned to the office by 25^th August to be eligible for a certificate.

Under 8s Day

Our annual Under 8s Day will be celebrated on Thursday, 22^nd June.  If you know of anyone who might be interested in setting up a display with some activities on that day please let either Mrs Senini or Mrs Mooney know.  More information about the day will come out closer to the date.

Other Competitions:

• Farm safety calendar competition. This is run by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.  Students are invited to draw and colour a picture to illustrate one of these farm safety messages:

Electrical Safety

• Overhead powerlines are dangerous. Don’t play, park equipment, operate machinery, or plant trees or crops under them.
• Safety switches save lives – ask an adult to get them fitted on all electrical circuits and test them regularly.

Animal Safety

• Make sure you are properly trained and understand animal behaviour before entering a stock yard.
• Always wash your hands after touching or playing with animals as they carry diseases that can make people very sick.

Tractor and machinery safety

• Have a safe, fenced play area to keep children safe from machinery and water hazards.
• Don’t have passengers on farm vehicles unless there is a designated seat and seat belt for them.

Quad bike safety

• Children under 16 should never use an adult sized quad bike.
• Always wear a properly fitted helmet when you ride a quad bike.

Water safety

• Stay away from flood waters – there can be hidden dangers like strong currents, logs and other rubbish.
• Always have an adult with you when playing near or in dams, creeks and rivers.

Health and wellbeing

• Make sure you’re ready to help out on the farm by eating healthy meals and getting plenty of sleep.
• Stay sun safe when you’re outside – wear a hat, drink water and take rest breaks in the shade.

This competition is now open and closes on Friday, 23^rd June.  Please see Mrs Senini for more information.

 The Independent Education Union (IEU) annual competitions are now open:

• 1. Award for Excellence in Art Design invites entries from preschool, primary and secondary school students and teachers in non-government schools throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory. Entries close: 21^st July.
• 2. Queensland’s longest running literary competition, the QIEU Literary Competition invites Queensland and Northern Territory students and teachers to share their literary prowess by submitting either poetry, short stories or non-fiction prose. Entries close: 16^th June.
• 2023 Premier’s Coding Challenge Students in years 3-10 are invited to enter the 2023 Premier’s Coding Challenge. The challenge aims to inspire the coders of the future. This year the theme is #digitalinnovationqld. Students are invited to help create change by examining real-world problems and responding with an innovative digital solution. The challenge in 2023 is to develop an interactive digital solution to create change in your local community or beyond. Students can develop an app, game or website and they must also submit a short video to explain and evaluate their entry. 
  

Please see Mrs Senini for more information if you are interested in entering these competitions.

Regards,
Mrs Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW OVERDUE

School Fees for Term 2 were due for payment on Tuesday 16^th May. These are now overdue and requiring attention.

Please ensure that you check your email or log into Parent Lounge to check your School Fees on a regular basis. If you now have another child at the school you may need to increase what you are currently paying so as to not get behind with Fees.

If you have a means tested Concession Card and have not yet given a copy to the Finance Secretary, please do so as soon as possible.

If paying by Direct Deposit, please use your Account Number as the reference instead of names (this is the 6-digit number on your Fee Statement).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Nadia R (Yr 1), Elizabeth G (Yr 4), Oliver M (Yr 1) and Mrs McCutcheon (Yr 6).

Have a great day.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Happenings in Year 3 – Term 2.

•  We are continuing to foster a classroom of kindness this term in which every student feels comfortable sharing their thoughts, taking risks, asking questions and confronting challenges in their learning with a positive attitude. 
•  Learning Dispositions - each week we will focus on one of our school's Learning Dispositions of Persistence, Collaboration, Resilience, Creativity and Independence.
•  We participate in Christian Meditation daily to still our minds to be best be prepared for our learning. 
•  Our next Prayer Celebration is on Friday of Week 9 this term.
•  Under 8’s day is in Week 10 on Thursday. Year 3 will introduce the day with a prayer celebration. All are welcome.

From
Mrs Gabriel, Mrs Tennyson, Mrs Watson and Mrs Lavender and the Year 3 students

DISCO

Grade 6 is excited to be holding a whole school disco THIS Thursday the 25th of May from 5:30pm - 7:30pm.  The theme for the disco is 80s.

All food and drink for the disco can be ordered through Quickcliq - you can order pizza, chips, lollies, soft drink, poppers and chocolate.  Orders need to be in before 8:45am Wednesday 24th May. QuickCliq is the preferred way of ordering for the night, but there will be limited cash only sales for food and drinks on the night, in the tuckshop.

The entry fee for the disco is $2. Everyone is welcome to attend the whole disco from 5:30pm - 7:30pm but music will be more suited to 5:30pm - 6:30pm prep - year 3 students and 6:30pm - 7:30pm years 4-6 students.

We hope to see you there in your best 80’s costume.

DRAKES SUPA IGA

Drakes Fundraiser for St. Joseph's Cathedral

I thank you for your support of this project which has raised over $40,000, of which the school community has played an important role.  Please continue to support the Cathedral by shopping at DRAKES using your key tag and receiving the benefits.

If you have not been part of this fundraiser you are invited to get a key tag from your local School or Church and shop at your local Drakes, one cent in every dollar you spend will go to the Cathedral.  No Fuss, only benefits.

Hoping to see you at Drakes 
Stay Safe

Shirley Hopkins,
Co-ordinator, Drakes Fundraiser for St Joseph's Cathedral