18 October 2023
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents & Guardians
Welcome to Week 3
This week marks a third of the way through the term.
I would like to begin this week by expressing my gratitude to our P&F Association for hosting the wonderful movie night last Friday evening. A great community event was had by all with wonderful Mario Kart creations on the night.
Well done to our past students who were recipients of Academic Awards at TCC last Friday evening and Emmaus last night. It is wonderful to see so many of our students being rewarded for their academic efforts in their secondary studies.
In regard to academic growth, it was wonderful to see our school’s NAPLAN results. For many years now, our results having been trending in the right direction culminating with our very positive 2023 results. In 2023, both our Year 3 and Year 5 results have been very favourable when compared to Queensland, National and similar profiled schools. Well done to Mrs Senini and our dedicated staff along with the parents and students for their continued commitment to our school communities’ educational philosophy.
Mrs Senini will be providing greater details about our NAPLAN results in the Curriculum section of this newsletter.
Tomorrow, we host our Prep Orientation Day to welcome our new students and their families. I look forward to welcoming all the new students to Joey’s in 2024 and working with their parents while also emphasising all the wonderful attributes of our lovely little community.
Don’t Forget….
- Prep Orientation Day. Thursday 19th October
- Professional Goals PD. Tues/Weds 24th & 25th October
- SJPA Swimming Carnival. Thursday 26th October
- Day for Daniel/World Teacher’s Day. Friday 27th October
- Semester 2 Performing Arts Assembly. Monday 20th November
- Presentation Night/Christmas Concert. Thursday 23rd November
- Semester 2 Academic Awards. Monday 27th November
- Year 6 Graduation Mass. Wednesday 29th November
- End of Year Mass/Term 4 concludes. Friday 1st December
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
28th Sunday Ordinary Time
The parable of the wedding banquet.
Matthew 22:1-10
Have you thought? – Inclusivity
This gospel parable reflects the inclusive way in which Jesus lived his life. In many ways, Jesus was a scandal in his society because he didn’t obey the social boundaries. He was very clear in being inclusive and attentive to those who were normally shunned. Today, those boundaries are just as clear and easily identified but the methods of excluding people have perhaps become a bit more subtle. Who are the ‘shunned’ and ‘left out’ in our society today? Where do the boundaries lie? Who would Jesus be reaching out to and seeking to include in today’s society?
@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter
Children’s Mass
This Saturday evening, the children celebrated again with the parishioners at Our Lady Help of Christians’. What a wonderful gathering it is each month. A very special thank you to the families who committed family time on Saturday night to come along to Mass. It seemed everyone went home with full hearts and full tummies. Keep an eye out for our next Children’s Mass on 25th November. This is the last weekend of term, and it would be beautiful to see lots of families gathered for the last time this year.
Socktober – Crazy Sock Day
Catholics and in fact, all global citizens have been called by Pope Francis to answer God’s invitation to love him and our neighbours.
Catholic Missions gives us the opportunity to answer this call and to be a community of missionary disciples, people of action. October is Mission Month in the Catholic church and this year, Joeys is actively supporting this initiative.
If your family is able, you can donate using the link below:
Crazy Sock Day is planned for October 27 and will be our culminating activity for Socktober. On this day, which is also Day for Daniel, students can wear red as well as their craziest socks for a gold coin donation.
Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up
WEEK | DAY | DATE | EVENT | TIME | PLACE |
Week 3 | Fri | 20th OCT | Year 1 at Mass | 9:00am | OLHC |
Week 4 | Fri | 27th Oct | Crazy Sock Day | 9:00am | OLHC |
Week 5 | Wed | 1st Nov | All Saints' Day – |
9:00am | OLHC |
*SJPA – St Joseph’s Park Avenue
*OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church (next to St Joseph’s, Park Avenue)
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)
PARISH NEWSLETTER
Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education
CURRICULUM NEWS
Maths Competition
Congratulations to Ella Coughlan, Nate Barber and Tom Compagnoni who represented St Joseph’s at The Queensland Association of Maths Teachers Math Quiz Regional Finals at Heights College on Wednesday, 11th October.
The quiz is an opportunity for students to engage in and experience a fun and challenging team activity. It is a fast moving competition in which teams of 3 compete in a series of mathematics questions. The questions asked depend largely on the students being quick thinking, having a general knowledge of mathematics, an ability to concentrate and work individually and in a team, and use skills in calculation, estimation and interpretation.
The Joeys team demonstrated great focus and determination through all rounds of the quiz, never giving up even when the questions were quite tough. I congratulate them on a job well done. Our team has been training all year during lunch breaks. Thanks to their hard work, they achieved second place at this competition for the Capricornia region.
Thank you to Mrs Catherine Farr and Mrs Alice Wayman who have prepared the team throughout the year.
NAPLAN News and Survey
If your child participated in NAPLAN testing this year, you are invited to participate in a short survey regarding the timing and new results format for NAPLAN. If you’d like to provide feedback, please use the following link:
While on the topic of NAPLAN, last term I shared the positive news that we had improved our NAPLAN results. I now have been provided with a couple of visual charts which shows our achievement compared to QLD, Australia, the Rockhampton Diocese and SSSG CEnet (all schools in the CEnet Dioceses of a similar size and socio-economic advantage). When you view these charts, it is clear that the performance of the students at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Park Avenue is well and truly on par with the other points of reference, especially our year 3 students who have been immersed in our open classroom learning spaces for most, if not all of their schooling.
YEAR 3
YEAR 5
This is something to really celebrate. Our teaching and learning processes here at Joey’s are certainly making a positive difference for our learners.
Kind Regards
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum
DAY FOR DANIEL
Next Friday, 27 October, is Day for Daniel. Students and staff are encouraged to wear red.
This is a day that is annually recognised throughout Australia, honouring the memory of Daniel Morcombe. All Australians on this day are asked to Wear Red, Educate and Donate. A day where schools, early learning centres, businesses and the community come together to raise awareness of child safety issues.
Educators, parents and carers are encouraged to start a conversation about personal safety with children and young people. At Joey’s, in-class students will be working through safety lessons.
This year, Joey’s will not be collecting money on this day; instead, we will be raising awareness by wearing red.
Please follow the link below to the Daniel Morcombe website for access to fabulous free resources:
CLASSROOM NEWS
Yr 6
And so the end begins…
Year 6 are starting to get ready for their end of primary school journey. We have achieved so much in the past three terms and Term 4 brings with it a mixed bag of emotions. Our students are looking forward to leaving Joey’s and starting their high school years but they are also worried and nervous about the same thing.
Here are some of our ‘last times’ we’ve had over the last few weeks...
Our last Science Week at Joey’s.
Our last Book Week at Joey’s.
Our last time doing self-defence lessons at Joey’s.
Our last R U Ok? Day at Joey’s.
Our last Student Vs Teacher Basketball game at Joey’s.
Our last Student Council announcements on assembly.
Our last Year 6 award announcers. (Year 5 have taken over)
And many more lasts to come over the next few weeks. But also, so many ‘firsts’ to in the months ahead, we look forward to seeing these young people blossom and grow.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Congratulations to the following students & staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Georgia W (Prep), Leah Z (Prep), Sachin S (Yr 1), Flynn K (Yr 5), Joanna NJ (Yr 4), Koby N (Yr 5), Ava B (Yr 3) and Mrs McDonald (we miss you) (Yr 5).
Have a great day.
JOEYS GALACTIC ENCOURAGEMENT AWARDS
This week, the Encouragement Awards for Joey’s Touch goes to the following students: Marshall B, Olivia K, Blake M, Amelia J, Isla H, Sophia C, Libby G, Bibi G, Jackson L, Jimmy F, Blake R, Carter V, Theo R, Khloe P, Harper C, Charlotte H, Layla W, Oliver M, Carter C, Harper S, Flynn K and Thomas H.
Congratulations to all these students.
IMPORTANT OSHC INFORMATION- SERVICE CLOSURE FRIDAY 27 OCTOBER 2023
Hello Families,
Due to staffing OSHC will be closed Friday 27 October 2023. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind Regards,
The SJPA OSHC Team
BOOK SALE
Preloved Books
Sunday 12 November
St Joseph’s Cathedral (outdoor shelter)
10:30am – 1:00pm
Bargain prices – Great Christmas Gifts
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
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