24 April 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 2 of Term 2.

The School Board have been working on a new Engagement & Wellbeing Framework over the last year.  The new document will replace our current Behaviour Management Policy helping us better support and cater to the needs of our community.

The Engagement and Wellbeing Framework at St Joseph’s aims to demonstrate the virtues of Dignity, Responsibility and Respect through compassion, reconciliation, and justice for all. Part of this Framework will be implementing a new Behaviour Support Process. This process will involve establishing a room to provide a safe and caring environment to support student regulation and their ability to return to learning within the classroom successfully. To assist in this process, the school specialist lessons in PE and the Arts will be moved from Tuesday and Wednesday to Wednesday and Thursday. Students currently participating in PE/the Arts on Wednesday will remain the same, and those participating on Tuesday will move to Thursday.

PLEASE NOTE:  
The new PE / Arts days will be as follows:

Wednesdays: Years 3, 4, 5, Prep
Thursdays: Years 1, 2, 6, Prep

Year 6 students to wear their sports uniform shirt on Thursdays and senior shirt on Fridays.  Years 1 and 2 students, if laundering of sports uniforms is problematic, please prioritise the wearing of the sports uniform on a Thursday for the PE lesson.

The Reflection Room will replace students sitting in the office when they have been issued with a consequence for behaviour requiring them to be removed from the classroom, as the office often carries negative connotations and isn't always equipped to provide the support required.  This room will be a safe and supportive space for students to reflect upon their actions, de-escalate, make amends when necessary and become ready to re-engage in their classroom learning.  It will be manned at all times (on a rostered basis) by a member of the leadership team or a member of the inclusive curriculum team. 

The Reflection Room processes are only one small part of the entire Framework document.  The Framework still has a substantial amount of prayer, work and reflection needed with the School Board throughout this year.  When completed, the Framework will be presented to the school community. 

Well done to all of the students who took part in the Cross Country last Friday.  It was wonderful to see and hear the students cheering on the competitors as they ran in their events.  We were quite lucky to have a clear, but very hot day for the event.  Congratulations the students who were awarded Age Championship medallions at our Monday Morning assembly.  Students who were selected to represent the school at the Rockhampton District trials were also presented on assembly and we wish them the best of luck as the compete at the next level.  Thanks to Mrs Rachael Duncan and the staff for all of the preparation leading up to the event.

Students who will be marching in tomorrow’s ANZAC March are asked to meet at Alma Street alongside Target with plenty of time to be organised for a 9:57am step off. 

Students are required to wear full school formal uniform (Preps wear their normal uniform) including hats.  We have been advised that the protocol for participants wearing family medals is that they are to be worn on the right side.

The March route follows Archer Street, Victoria Parade and continues along Quay Street.

The March will disperse down Lower Quay Street.  We ask that you collect your children from there making sure that a staff member is made aware.

As they did last year, the P&F will have some ANZAC biscuits and small water bottles for the students to enjoy after the march.

Hope to see you there.

I know this list is quite large list for a newsletter, but I have included most of the important Joey’s community dates here for the remainder of Semester 1.

Don’t Forget …

• Parent/Teacher interviews. 22^nd – 26^th
• Prep Vision Screening. 23^rd – 24^th
• ANZAC Dawn Service @ Rockhampton Botanic Gardens Cenotaph. April 25^th 4:00am for 4:27am start.
• ANZAC March @ Archer & Alma Street intersection. April 25^th 9:15am for a 9:57am Step Off.
• Commencement of Student Reflection Room (Engagement & Wellbeing Framework). Mon 29^th
• Week 3 – Permanent change of Tuesday PE & Arts lessons to Thursdays.
• Beef Week. 5^th – 11^th
• Labour Day Holiday. Mon 6^th
• P&F Meeting. Wed 8^th May in Library @ 6:00pm.
• CQ Capras Challenge Rugby League Gala Day. Friday, 10^th May @ Kele Park.
• Mother’s Day. Sunday 12^th
• School Photo Day. Monday the 13^th of May.
• Mr Mike Kelso Term 2 visit. Tues 21^st
• OLHC Feast Day Mass. Fri 24^th May in OLHC @ 9:00am.
• Children’s Mass/Sacraments Celebration. Sat 25^th May in OLHC @ 6:30pm.
• 10^th Anniversary Mass of Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Michael. Wed 29^th May 10:00am @ St Joseph’s Cathedral.
• Athletics Field Events Day. (9-12yrs) Mon 3^rd June @ SJPA Oval.
• Athletics Track Events (Whole school) Tues 4^th June @ Emmaus Brosnan Oval.
• Semester 1 Cultural Assembly. Mon 10^th June in MPA @ 8:35am.
• Show Holiday. Thurs 13^th
• Children’s Mass. Sat 15^th June in OLHC @ 6:30pm.
• Semester 1 Academic Awards. Mon 17^th June in MPA @ 8:35am.
• Semester 1 Academic Reports posted to Parent Lounge. Wed 19^th
• Under 8’s Day. Thurs 20^th
• Semester 1 Concludes. Fri 21^st

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

Free Tutoring Opportunity

Please see the attachment to this newsletter titled ‘Flyer for students – Griff Linc reading research’ for information regarding an upcoming research project run through Griffith University.  The researchers are looking for students to be part of this reading project.  If you are interested or have any questions, please contact the researchers directly on the email provided on the flyer.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews are on this week.  Students are encouraged to attend their interview.  Please note that there is no supervision provided on these nights.  This year we are offering ‘in school time’ interviews on some days so as to assist teachers get through all their interviews without having to run late into the evenings.  Classes who have interviews booked during class time will be rotating through activities run by the Leadership Team during these sessions so that class teachers can give their full attention to parents. Please let the office know if you can no longer make your interview.

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:

Regards
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

4^th Sunday of Easter

The Good Shepherd.
John 10:11-13

Historical Context – The GOOD Shepherd?

The John gospel writer’s use of the image of Jesus as the good shepherd would have been a confronting image for the initial audience. Shepherds in first century Palestine were far from the idyllic pastoral image that we generally associate with the image. They occupied one of the lowest steps on the social ladder – men of such poor reputation that they could only be trusted to herd sheep; they certainly couldn’t be trusted around other people! Jesus’ use of the image cut two ways: it was a confronting image for the audience; but it was also a challenge to those leaders who had been charged to ‘shepherd’ their people and behaved no better than thieves – Jesus was giving them an image of what it means to be a good shepherd.

@Liturgy Help – by Greg Sunter

A Prayer for ANZAC Day

God of Life, In this season of Easter,
We rejoice in the New Life your Son the Risen Jesus gives us.
You offer us hope. You offer us peace.
We thank you for this treasured land of ours,
Today as we remember the ANZAC soldiers who fought to protect our country,
Help us to strive for peace in all we do.
We make our prayer in the name of our Risen Lord.         AMEN

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 4

Hi, our names are Kiara, Sophia, Gracie and Maisie. 

In Religion we are learning about the miracles that Jesus performed. We are grateful to be learning the great miracles that Jesus did for us. Also, we have been learning to convert time into different units in Maths. In HaSS, we are currently learning about the first fleet and how convicts had survived the journey. Learning about different materials in Science has helped us to understand what exact material to use while creating things. We’ve been learning about writing descriptive language about our surroundings in English. In the year 4 classroom we always show Kindness, Resilience, Persistence, and we treat people the way we want to be treated.

Year 4 is responsible for the bins, to tell the lower grades what colour bin to put the rubbish in. Year 4 is so happy to be responsible for bins. There is a group of people on bin duty each day. 

We are very grateful that we can even come to school because some other kids either don’t have enough money or have to do jobs all day to survive. We are happy to help those people to give them the education that they deserve. We are enjoying this year with great teachers that make our learning fun! Thank you for reading our year 4 Newsletter!

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

ROCKHAMPTON DISTRICT REPRESENTATION

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected in Rockhampton District Teams to compete at Capricornia Trials:- 

Lilliana & Logan (10 Years Rugby League) and Jimmy (10-12 Years Tennis)

CROSS COUNTRY 2024

A big thank you to those students who competed in our Cross Country events held last Friday.  A group of students have qualified to compete at the Rockhampton District Trials held Tuesday 7^th May.

Congratulations to the following 9 -12 year students who placed in their race.  The 10-12 year placings have been chosen to represent St Joseph’s at the trials.

9 YEARS BOYS
1st Reuben (Age Champion)
2nd Bailey
3rd Declan

9 YEARS GIRLS
1st Addison (Age Champion)
2nd Willow
3rd Laylah

10 YEARS BOYS
1st Theo (Age Champion)
2nd Orlando
3rd Lachlan
4th Cooper
5th Logan

10 YEARS GIRLS
1st Kiara (Age Champion)
2nd Gracie 
3rd Maisie
4th Katie
5th Sophia
6th Elizabeth 

11 YEARS BOYS
1st Hudson (Age Champion)
2nd Jimmy
3rd Tasharn (absent from photo)
4th Nate
5th Tayte

11 YEARS GIRLS
1st Emily-Rose (Age Champion)
2nd Gabby
3rd Audrey
4th Kaeli

12 YEARS BOYS
1st Rhyver (Age Champion)
2nd Koby 
3rd Jaison
4th Nate
5th Callum
6th Thomas 

12 YEARS GIRLS
1st Paige (Age Champion)
2nd Amelia
3rd Madeleine
4th Emily (absent from photo)
5th Ella

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following Staff and students who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Mr Tennyson, Mrs Wason, Mrs Wayman, Poppy W (Prep), James W (Yr 6), Shriranj I (Yr 4) and Laythen S (Yr 4).

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