8 May 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 4 of Term 2.

Congratulations to our inter-school mathematics teams who travelled away and competed against other Primary schools last week.  We had another wonderful result with our Year 5 team placing first overall and our Year 6 team placing third overall.  Well done to Mrs Farr and Mrs Wayman for the preparation of these teams and also to the students who have given up their time to prepare.  All the teams who travelled away represented our school with great spirit.

Last week the entire school community would have received emails from a company named MYPCorp who will be conducting and collating surveys for our school.

All parents, staff and students from Years 4 – 6 should have received an email with their own personal login details.

Please note that if you currently have older children at either TCC or Emmaus, they are currently going through the same process. I believe that TCC’s surveys close this week and Emmaus’ surveys are open during the same time frame as ours.

Your parent email from the school detailing why our Catholic schools are conducting these surveys would have contained the following information:

As part of our ongoing commitment to continuously improving the school, we believe it is critical to seek each parent and guardian’s opinion on a range of issues relating to St Joseph’s Park Avenue. Your feedback is very important to us as we continue to build a successful school and strengthen our reputation as an ‘educator of choice’.

As such, we have engaged the professional services of MYP Corporation (MYPCorp) to undertake a strictly private and confidential School Results Survey on our behalf. The survey should take approximately 10 - 15 minutes and will need to be completed online between Wednesday 8^th May and Wednesday 22^nd May. There are no right or wrong answers and we ask that you respond honestly to each statement.

Please note that this survey will be confidential. No member of the leadership team at St Joseph’s Park Avenue will have access to your individual responses. We will be provided with a summary of collated results only.

MYPCorp will undertake the following process to ensure anonymity:

1. Parents and guardians will be emailed individual survey logins.
2. Results will be collated externally.
3. A summary of collated results will be provided to the school leadership team.

On the survey start date, survey instructions and a personalised login link will be emailed to all parents. You will continue to be sent friendly reminders during the survey period until you have submitted the survey.

If you do not receive your survey instructions on the survey start date, please check your spam and junk email folders before contacting St Joseph’s Park Avenue.

While we strongly encourage you to participate, the survey is not compulsory. If you decide that you do not want to complete the survey, simply click ‘Unsubscribe’ in the instruction or reminder email.

Thank you for your assistance in helping to shape the future direction of St Joseph’s Park Avenue.

The surveys will be open for two weeks commencing on Wednesday, 8^th May.

Students from Years 4, 5 and 6 will also be emailed their login details and will be provided time within their school day to complete the survey.

Good luck to our senior rugby league team who take part in the CQ Capras Challenge this Friday at Kettle Park.

PLEASE NOTE: 

The new PE / Arts days will be as follows:

Wednesdays: Years 3, 4, 5, Prep

Thursdays: Years 1, 2, 6, Prep

Don’t Forget …

• Beef Week. 5^th – 11^th
• Labour Day Holiday. Mon 6^th
• St Joseph’s Post Enumeration Audit. Wed 8^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.
• School Board Meeting. Wed 15^th May in Library @ 5:30pm.
• 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 Performing Arts 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

Maths Competition

Last Thursday we had five teams compete in the Queensland Association of Mathematics Teachers Capricornia Maths Team Challenge.  These students have been training for this event at lunch times with Mrs Farr and Mrs Wayman.  This year we were very successful with a Year 6 team achieving a third placing and a Year 5 team coming first place.  Congratulations also to Ella Coughlan for achieving a perfect score on her individual speed test.  Congratulations to all the students and to Mrs Farr and Mrs Wayman.  There was a lot of excitement upon the students’ return to school.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

I am delighted to invite all students to join in the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC).

The PRC is not a competition but a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability and record books read during the reading period, from 7 May to 23 August. Attached to the newsletter is a reader record form to tally books read throughout the challenge.

To complete the challenge:

• Prep to Year 2 must read or experience at least 20 books
• Years 3 and 4 must read at least 20 books
• Years 5 to 9 must read at least 15 books.

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2024 challenge is to encourage students to make time to read. Last year saw more than 110,000 children from around the state participate.

Book suggestions are available on the PRC website: 

Every student who completes the challenge, and returns the completed record reader form, will receive a Certificate of Achievement. I look forward to seeing as many of our students as possible take part in the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge.

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 NEWS

6^th Sunday of Easter

Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples.

John 17:11-19

Have you thought? - Love

There is a wonderful line from the musical Les Miserables when the hero, Valjean, is told, ‘To love another person is to see the face of God.’ As Christian people, we believe that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. To look upon another person with love and compassion is to see the face of God revealed. When we are called to love, we are called to recognise that every single person is worthy of love and every single person is made in the image of God – even ourselves!                                                               @Liturgy Help – by Greg Sunter

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CATHOLIC SCHOOL TODAY?

As an Assistant Principal for Religious Education, I am constantly challenged by what it means to be a Catholic school. How can Catholic schools continue to be Catholic when society has changed to such an extent that many people struggle to understand what being Catholic means?

I have been studying and reflecting a lot on this question. The Enhancing the Catholic School Identity Project offers four Possible Responses.

1. All over, Red Rover - Secularise
   This view believes being Catholic is outmoded (at best) or downright evil (at worst). Let's give up now. Catholic Schools should be good schools, and religion should be kept out of it in favour of responsible citizenship.
2. Church vs World - Reconfessionalise
   Some believe being Catholic means standing against society and going back to the basics of the Catechism. Other faiths or world views are not considered or valued.
3. Make it relevant - Lowest common denominator
   Being Catholic is just being a good person. We all like social justice, love, world peace, the environment...We even like the same music. All faiths and world views are valued.
4. Make meaning - recontextalise
   In our lives, we constantly make sense of our Catholic story in new ways as part of a dialogue with others who might think differently. This is the view we prefer.
   Pope Francis's call for dialogue inspires recontextualisation in our Catholic School context.
   "Identity and dialogue are not enemies. Our own cultural identity is strengthened and enriched as a result of dialogue with those unlike ourselves."  Pope Francis

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)

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 5

What have we been learning in Year 5?

Writing

In English this term we have been reading a book called One Minute’s Silence and it’s by David Metzanthen and Michael Camilleri. It’s about World War 1 based at Gallipoli and how Australia was fighting Turkey. It shows what Gallipoli was like for both countries fighting. We are writing diary entries from the point of view of the Turkish and Australians. I like the illustrations that the illustrator has done. The author has used a lot of descriptive words to describe what happened in the war. – Koby

Reading

In grade five we have recently been reading a book called Runt. We absolutely love the book and find it really interesting! In the book the main character is named Runt who is a dog, and his owner is named Annie. The author, Craig Silvey describes Runt as an agile and swift creature who loves Annie more than anything else in the world. Otherwise, Annie is mainly shy, and people think she's weird. They want to win the World Dog Agility Championship to help save their family farm. Well, let’s wait and see! - Layla

Religion

In religion this term, we have been learning all about Mary and the virtues that she showed. We are learning to explain images of Mary and we learned that Marian prayers are prayers all about Mary. We have discussed other inspiring women in our lives that show the virtues of Mary in their actions. - Ruby

Maths

In year 5, we are learning how to do lots of hard and interesting types of maths. How? By using Maths Pathways. In this maths programme students complete modules, or lessons. In around a fortnight students get tested on the modules they’ve completed. To work on Maths Pathways your chrome needs to be fully charged, you need headphones to listen to video presentations to help you, a red pen, ruler, sharp pencil, and a red lined book. Every time I do a module I learn something new. I’ve learned how to do timelines, decimals and much more. I like Maths Pathways because it’s a fun way to learn. - Rahnie

Science

In science we are learning to identify different states of matter and how they change states. We are also learning how to classify a non-Newtonian fluid, which is something that cannot be classified as just a solid, liquid or gas. This is because the particles in a non-Newtonian fluid act like a solid when you apply pressure, but if you release it, it will act and flow like a liquid when you let go. - Siarra

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following staff and students who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Grace L (Prep), Isabella A (Yr 6), Ailey-Ahna B (Yr 3), Harper S (Yr 2), Mrs Paap (Prep), Mrs Shaw (Prep) and Mrs Roberts (Library).

Have a great day.

National Walk Safely to School Day

This Friday, May 10, is National Walk Safely to School Day. In its 25^th year, this annual event encourages primary school children to walk and commute safely to school. It is a Community Event promoting Road Safety, Health, Public Transport and the Environment.

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