5 June 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 8 of Term 2.

With our Athletics Carnival this week, our Performing Arts Assembly in Week 9 and our Academic Awards Assembly in Week 10, we will not have a normal Monday Morning Assembly again for the remainder of the term.  We believe that both of these special assemblies held in the second last and last week of the semester respectively are important events on the Joey’s calendar with an opportunity to celebrate both the creative and academic talents of our students each semester.  If your child qualifies for an academic or effort award, you will receive an invite via the school office before the event.

With Semester One Reports being posted on the final Wednesday of the Term in Week 10, please ensure that you have your login details for Parent Lounge sorted.  We, like most other schools, no longer mail out physical reports.  Our reports are posted on Parent Lounge and can be accessed from here for up to three years after students graduate from Joey’s.  Parent Lounge is also a wonderful tool to have quick access to your children’s attendance as well as school fee accounts.  If you are having difficulty accessing Parent Lounge, please contact the school office as soon as possible.

I will begin this week by reminding our existing families that 2025 Prep interviews are happening right now.  If you have a child looking to enter the Joey’s Prep intake for 2025, please fill out all of the enrolment information online and book an interview as soon as possible.  Please note that even if you have an existing child at school, it is still a Catholic Education policy to have an interview with all incoming students including younger siblings.

Congratulations to our staff and students who hosted Bishop Michael, Miss Leesa Jeffcoat, Mr Mike Kelso and Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Balvo at school last week.  The students were great hosts, and our six student leaders were excellent ambassadors and hosts.  We were quite privileged to be the only primary school in Rockhampton to host His Excellency during the Rocky leg of his Diocesan tour.

Thanks to Mrs Rachael Duncan who and all of the staff that helped organise and run our Athletics carnival days this week.  It was great to see our students get out and compete for house pride and enjoy the competitive nature of the day.  Well done to our Age Champions who will be acknowledged in next week’s newsletter.

Our gratitude also goes to our wonderful P&F Association that helped organise food on the day as well as many other elements behind the scenes.  Both days were events that many students, parents and staff will have fond memories of.

Don’t Forget …

• Semester 1 Performing Arts Assembly. Mon 10^th June in MPA @ 8:35am.
• St Joseph’s Kindy Open Afternoon. Wed 12^th June 3:15pm – 5:00pm
• Show Holiday. Thurs 13^th
• 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

Mass of Thanksgiving for Leesa Jeffcoat AM
Diocesan Director Catholic Education

Bishop Michael McCarthy invites all school communities to attend a Mass of Thanksgiving for Leesa Jeffcoat AM who, after 23 years of faith-filled service, will shortly conclude her time as Diocesan Director of Catholic Education. The Mass will be held in St Joseph’s Cathedral on Wednesday, 12 June commencing at 10:3Oam.

All are welcome at the Mass to thank God for the gift that Leesa has been to the Ministry of Catholic Education in this Diocese and to pray that God will bless her in abundance into the future.  

For those unable to attend in person, the Mass will also be live streamed via the following link

CURRICULUM NEWS

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: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Regards
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

RELIGIOUS NEWS

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Jesus took bread, broke it and shared it.
 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

Gospel Focus – Words of Institution

The words of the gospel passage in which Jesus takes bread and wine and blesses them will be familiar. They are the words used at the consecration of the bread and wine during the Mass. The words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper are regarded as instituting the celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus took an act that was familiar to the Passover meal and gave it a new meaning and a new significance for his followers. What had been a memory of escape from slavery in Egypt became an ongoing reminder of Christ’s continued presence in the Eucharist and in the Eucharistic community.

@Liturgy Help – by Greg Sunter

The Virtues Project calls us to Honour the Spirit.

When we Honour the Spirit we acknowledge the dignity of each person, including ourselves.

Taking time to Honour the Spirt encourages us to make time for mindfulness, physical health, wellbeing, reflection and reverence. It is expressing what it meaningful in our lives. This might be participating in the arts, honouring special life events, spending time in nature or sharing our stories with one another.

When we Honour the Spirit we spend time doing what brings us joy. What brings you joy?

Caritas Australia’s Papua New Guinea Landslide Disaster

Remote communities in Papua New Guinea have been devastated by a catastrophic landslide that struck at 3am on 24th May. The timing of the landslide meant most people were sleeping at the time of the disaster, with little time to escape.

Thousands are feared dead. Although the initial estimate from the United Nations was that at least 670 people may have lost their lives, this number could climb dramatically from recent reports. The total population of the entire affected ward is near 4,000 people, but this number could be higher due to an increased number of displaced people who have been living in the area in recent times.

The ongoing search and rescue operations are facing challenges due to the hazardous terrain and the continuous threat of landslides. As rescue efforts continue, those who have lost their homes urgently need our support now, and in the weeks and months ahead.

Please act now.
You can donate online at www.caritas.org.au/png or phone 1800 024 413

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

*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)

Click here to access the Rockhampton Catholic Communities Newsletter

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 3

Greetings from Year 3!

What an exciting and busy term! Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Heritage Village.  We rode in vintage cars, played games and explored old homes, experiencing what life was like many years ago.  The volunteers of the Heritage Village enjoyed watching the students' faces when they put on the “air-con” in the car… that is, the driver tilted the bottom panel of the windscreen to let in the air as we drove around the Heritage Village!

The students were particularly amazed at what classrooms were like (no technology!) as they explored using slate boards to write on and were taught about boys getting the cane and girls getting the ruler across the knuckles when they misbehaved.  The students all expressed how grateful they were to live in modern times where teachers no longer hit children as punishment

Our visit to the Heritage Village provided us with a deeper understanding of our learnings in HASS.  The students were able to clearly describe changes to our local community and discuss the causes of these changes.

We are very proud of our Prayer Celebration last Friday where we celebrated Reconciliation Week.  With only one week's practice, we all sang and did sign language to “We Are Australian”, as we recognised the errors of our past and continue to work towards building a united Australia.  The whole class put in a huge effort and sang beautifully. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following staff and students who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Kaiden S (Yr 1), Shauna WD (Yr 2), Madelyn L (Yr 5), Miss Hitchen (Yr 6), and Mrs Hancock.

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