18 March 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 9.

St Joseph’s Day/Grand Parents Morning Tea will be held this Friday, 22^nd of March.  The day will commence with our St Joseph Feast Day mass in Our Lady Help of Christians at 9:00am with the Grand Parents' Morning Team then being hosted in the school Multi-Purpose Area at approximately 10:00am.  The morning tea will finish with the drawing of the Year 6 Easter Raffle before the students breaking for lunch at 11:00am.  Please remember that parking will be at a premium, even with staff parking on the oval for the morning.  Those parking in the mall, do so at their own risk.  Please be aware that this event has traditionally also been a hot day so water bottles may also be a good idea.  The P&F would also welcome any help they can muster to help with food on the day.  We will also be handing out the 2024, Spirt of St Joseph Award at the end of mass.  Hope to see you all there.

NAPLAN testing for Year 3 and 5 students concludes this week with the ‘Conventions of Language’ test on Monday and ‘Numeracy’ test yesterday.  For those students who may have missed one of the tests either last week or over the last few days, Mrs Senini will be running catch-up sessions today and tomorrow.

As you are reading this, I will be away attending the Diocesan Principal’s Conference which runs from Tuesday through to Thursday then away with the Year 6 students at the Year 6 Camp at Chaverim in Bundaberg for all of next week.  I will be available via email in an absolute emergency, but Mrs Senini will be Acting Principal in my absence during these days.

Don’t Forget …

• NAPLAN, 13^th-25^th March
• Emmaus Year 7 2025 Enrolment Interviews. Tues 19^th – Thurs 21^st March
• School Board meeting, Wed 20^th March
• Diocesan Principal’s Gathering. Tues 19^th -Thur 21^st March
• St Joseph’s Feast Day Mass/Grand Parents Day, Fri 22^nd March
• Palm Sunday, Sun 24^th March
• Year 6 Camp, Mon 25^th – Thurs 28^th March
• Term 1 finishes, Thurs 28^th March
• Holy Thursday, Thurs 28^th March
• Good Friday, Fri 29^th March
• Easter Sunday, Sun 31^st March
• Easter Monday, Mon 1^st April
• Term 2 Recommences. Monday 15^th

Have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
Principal
St Joseph’s Catholic School, Park Avenue

St Joseph’s 2024 School Improvement Priorities:

• Christian Virtue – Dignity
• Increased Learning Gain & Achievement
• Learning Dispositions

CURRICULUM NEWS

ICAS

Once again, St Joseph’s will be offering ICAS assessments for students who wish to participate.  ICAS continues to lead the way in international academic competitions. Over 10 million school students from 16,000 schools across 41 countries have been inspired, celebrated and challenged since the annual event began over 40 years ago.

ICAS recognises academic performance in a way others celebrate achievements in sport or the arts. Students can sit up to six literacy and STEM papers including English, Mathematics, Science, Digital Technologies, Writing and Spelling Bee. The questions are engaging and fun and have been designed by psychometricians, education measurement experts and experienced teachers to push students to their academic limits, as well as test higher-order thinking and problem-solving abilities.

More information on these assessments can be found at icasassessments.com

Purchases must be made before Monday, 29^th July

To sign your child up for any of these assessments and to pay for the assessment please log onto the following link and use the below school access code:

Your school access code is: WSO834
Your parent page link is: 

NAPLAN

This week we will be continuing NAPLAN in Years 3 and 5.  Please see the schedule below:

Regards
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

5th Sunday of Lent
Jesus fortells of his death and resurrection.
John 12:20-33

Part of growing older is learning how to accept the experiences of loss in our lives, and to have hope in the experiences of growth and new life to come.

Experiences of loss could be felt when moving to a new town, after a breakup of a close relationship, or after the death of a friend or relative. Experiences of growth and new life could include meeting new friends in a new town, having a different but honest relationship with someone you care about, or feeling peacefulness in your heart with the memory of someone who has died.

What are some experiences of loss in your life that have been followed by experiences of growth or new life?

@Liturgy Help – by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart

FEAST OF ST JOSEPH

St Joseph was a man of complete faith and a model of selfless love.

Over and over, he showed his unwavering commitment to his role as the guardian of his legal Son, Jesus, and of his wife, Mary. His life was spent providing for them, protecting them, and offering them a father’s heart.

On his feast day, I pause to reflect, especially, the early years of his marriage and the raising of his small son, Jesus. Consider his fatherly commitment to care for, provide for and protect his little family. We all must seek to imitate Saint Joseph’s virtues by protecting the dignity of all, by honouring the presence of presence Christ within our own hearts and in the hearts of our family and friends.

We know that fathers, grandfathers, husbands, and men who guide our young, are as crucial in the lives of families today as they have ever been, and they offer servant leadership in more ways than ever before.

The Feast of St. Joseph is the perfect opportunity to renew our prayers for men in our lives in a very special and specific way and to ask St. Joseph for his powerful intercession.

As head of the Holy Family, St. Joseph is also the patron and guardian of every Christian family. The family is the primary place of formation, guidance in prayer, and the teaching of virtues, ethics, and moral values. And yet it often can be difficult for men today to meet the demands being placed on them.

St. Joseph, pray for families and the men who love them!

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)
*STM – St Mary’s Church (next to St Mary’s School)
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 5

Hello from Year 5. What a busy and productive term we have had so far!

This term, we have been studying the poetic narratives of Jackie French and Bruce Whatley’s natural disaster series. Recently, students have analysed the poetic picture book, ‘Cyclone’ and are now writing their own versions. Here are a few excerpts from our fabulous stories.

Cheers and parties all across the town. Christmas Day’s tomorrow but dark clouds howl out at sea. Spiralling, howling skies weep grey.
“But Mum! Santa’s sleigh is on it’s way!” Lola cries.
“It’s okay dear, how can wind hurt on Christmas Day?” Mum replies.
- Aria

From the darkness hands grasp me pulling me up to my feet. Shivering with shock and fear. Dad’s small torch is the only light in the dark holding back the night. Outside a giant groans and growls or so it would seem. The reality is a wind that’s battering, shrieking and howling.
- Spencer

Outside, dogs are barking and howling while the wind screams. Cracks were forming throughout the storm. The house’s texture was just like paper, it would not hold anything. Screech, our roof starts to rip, cracking and lurching. Cracks everywhere. Our roof starts to peel off. Our decision was made, we have to flee.
- Olivia H

We all crawl across the floor trying to make sense of it all. We feel and touch the walls, trying to find help, trying to find shelter. Slashed and bitten by debris was just about all I could feel. In some way, in some how my dad found our brick barbeque. We all huddle up tight. Dad crouches to protect us too as we all pray and hope it could all just end. Hoping we would see the day ahead.
 - Jimmy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Chloe B (Prep), Blake R (Yr 4), Ryder T (Prep), Olivia G (Yr 5), Ayla S (Yr 2), Isabella H (Yr 2), Charlotte H (Yr 6), Tasharn B (Yr 6), Mrs Jones (IC – for yesterday) and Miss Noake (Yr 1).

Have a great day.

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