17 July 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 2 of Term 3.

Dear Parents & Guardians

Welcome to Term 3 and a brand-new Semester in which we encourage our students to renew their commitment towards their studies.  Please remember that if you need to book a time to discuss your child’s academic progress, please do not hesitate to email the classroom teachers to organise a suitable time.  Meeting with class teachers to address any concerns you may have does not have to wait solely until Parent/Teacher interviews later in the Term.

Congratulations to Year 1 teacher, Amanda Wilden who celebrated her wedding over the holiday break.  I am sure you will all join me in congratulating Amanda and her new husband during this very exciting time in their lives.

Amanda was pleased to let me know that she will now be known as Mrs Cowley within the school community which I am sure will take the Year 1 students a little time to adjust to.

Last Tuesday I was fortunate enough to attend the Rockhampton Catholic school’s NAIDOC Mass at Holy Family church with our Indigenous staff and students.

The mass was a wonderful celebration of the traditions and culture of our First Nations people.  Well done to Mrs Rebecca Duncan, Mrs Jessinda Ivers and all of the students for their wonderful behaviour and participation in the mass.

As you would be aware, our tuck shop will be closed for at least the first couple of weeks this Term.  In in next couple of days I will speak with Mrs Debbie Rooney regarding the situation and communicate further details to the school community via the Audiri app.  Again, thank-you for your understanding in this matter as we continue to support the health and wellbeing of our staff during this time.

Last week our senior rugby league and netball students travelled to St Brendan’s College Yeppoon to compete in the annual Challenge Cup carnival.  Over the three days, every Catholic primary school in our diocese competed in netball and rugby league for individual Challenge Cups in both sports and an overall larger Challenge Cup for the school with the best results across both sports.  The three days were a great success with both teams winning their pool games and progressing to the semi-final.  Both teams then won their semi-final to progress to the championship final on Friday.  I am proud to say that both teams played very well representing the Joey’s community with the netballers winning our first ever Netball Challenge Cup and our footballers placing second in an extremely hard-fought final.

With the 1^st in netball and 2^nd place in rugby league, our Joey’s teams were awarded the Overall Challenge Cup Trophy as top school within the Diocese for the first time ever.  This is a tremendous achievement as both teams went into the carnival ranked 15^th in total enrolment size.  For our little two stream school to compete and be successful against schools that are far larger, is a testament to the preparation, skill and commitment of the staff and students who took part.  Well done to all who were involved.  The following students were presented with their Challenge Cup awards on Monday’s assembly.

Netball Awards

• Best & Fairest: Ella Coughlan
• Coaches Award: Kelsey Kinlyside
• Player’s Player: Paige Toby

Rugby League Awards.

• Best & Fairest: Koby Nowland
• Coaches Award: Nate Oliffe

Don’t Forget …

• Prep Interviews for 2025 continue
• APC Appraisal. Thurs 18^th July
• New Diocesan Director, Mr Michael McCusker School Visit. Thurs 18^th July
• Emmaus Musical Final Dress Rehearsal. (Year 5 & 6) Thurs 18^th July
• Emmaus Musical. 18^th – 21^st July
• Catholic Education Week. 21^st – 27^th July
• Children’s Mass. Sat 27^th July @ 6:00pm in OLHC
• Rockhampton Athletics Carnival. Mon 22^nd – Tues 23rd July
• Catholic Education Week Mass. Wed 24th July
• St Joseph’s NAIDOC Day. Thurs 25th July
• Rockhampton (students born 2014 & 2015) Capras Cup. Sat 27th July
• St Mary MacKillop Feast Day Mass. Fri 9^th August
• 2025 Prep Offers Sent Out. Friday 16th August
• Children’s Mass. Sat 17^th August @ 6:00pm in OLHC
• Week 7. National Book Week & Book Fair. 19^th – 23rd August
• Joey’s in Jamas. Tues 20^th August
• Book Week Parade. Thurs 22nd August
• Season B Sport Grand Final Day. Fri 23^rd August
• Pupil Free Day. Friday 30th August
• Parent/Teacher Interviews. 2^nd – 6^th September
• RU OK Day. Thurs 12th September
• Term 3 Concludes. Fri 13th September

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

Literacy Club News

Last term Mrs Hancock’s lunch time Literacy Club learnt how to write engaging sizzling starts for narratives.  At the end of the term, the students were invited to compete in a Joey’s competition to try to write the best Sizzling Start.  Congratulations to the winners:

Year 2 Winner – Georgia McDonald
Year 3 Winner – Willow Beal
Year 4/5 Winner – Paige Brydon

Book Week and Science Week 2024

The theme of Science Week 2024 is ‘Species survival: more than just sustainability’.  This year we have decided to celebrate this theme a little bit differently and instead of having a day in the official week of Science Week, we will spend most of the term learning about endangered animals on assembly and then as part of our Laudato Si Learning Day at the end of the term, the learning will culminate with a variety of activities on that day.

The theme for Book Week this year is ‘Reading is Magic’.  Our annual Joeys in Jamas night will be held on Tuesday, 20^th August and our annual dress up day will be held on Thursday, 22^nd August.  More information to come about these two events.

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 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus sends out the Twelve in pairs.

Mark 6:7-13

Have you thought? Sent in pairs.

It is interesting that the disciples were sent out in pairs. It is indicative of the fact that such ministry is difficult to accomplish alone. When we are engaged in ministry it is important that we seek and provide mutual support. Whether it is a hospitality ministry at Sunday Mass, visiting the sick, or a street ministry to the homeless, we will feel more confident and willing to reach out to others if we know that we are sharing that ministry and are supported by others. It is important to invite others to join in our ministry but it is also important to make sure that we support them as they enter into it.

                                                                        @Liturgy Help – by Greg Sunter

Change to Saturday Vigil Mass at OLHC

We have been advised that the weekly Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians’ church at Park Avenue will now be at 6 p.m. This is a welcomed change, allowing families to attend this Eucharistic celebration.

Our first Children’s Mass will be Saturday 27 July at 6pm. Please add this to your family calendars, it will be great to see lots of families support this.

Friday Mass and Prayer Celebrations

Beginning this term, you will see a change in our Friday Religious Life of the School celebrations. These are included, usually three weeks ahead, in the Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up table at the end of the APRE contribution to the Newsletter (see below).

Moving forward, Prayer Celebrations will not be held each week. Prayer Celebrations will be a way for us to authentically acknowledge important dates in the Catholic Liturgical Calendar and secular occasions such as Remembrance Day.

Each class joins our Parish at Friday morning Mass at least once a term. This allows the staff and students to develop a Sense of the Sacred and to Celebrate Liturgy and the Sacraments, which are important elements of the Religious Life of our Catholic School. Parents and other community members are most welcome at these Masses. The students will actively participate in the ministries at Friday Mass each week. They may proclaim the readings, lead the congregation in a hymn or present some other creative element.

It is hoped that these changes will allow the students to be part of more meaningful experiences that enhance the Religious Life of the School and their understanding of the rituals and traditions of the Catholic faith.

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)

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

Challenge Cup 2024

Congratulations to all our students who represented Joey’s at Challenge Cup.

Netball – 1^st

Ella (Best & Fairest), Kelsey (Coaches Award), Paige (Players Player)

Rugby League – 2^nd

Koby (Best & Fairest), Nathaniel (Coaches Award)

Overall Challenge Cup Winners

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 2

Welcome back to Term 3.

In science this term we are looking at a range of materials.  Last week we investigated how different materials can be mixed together to make playdough.

Later in the term we will be investigating how to make a bag out of recycled materials. 

In Religion, we will be learning about ‘Forgiveness’ and what this looks like, feels like and sounds like in our school and home community.  

Our students are very excited for this term as we will be participating in Book Week, Science Week and NAIDOC Day.  With all these events happening this term, it is going to be very helpful to learn about time in our math workshops. 

TOUCH FOOTBALL

Registration for Junior Touch is now open.  Nominations are due via the google doc form by Friday 2nd of August at 6pm. The season starts SATURDAY 31st AUGUST.

The cost is $75 per Junior and payable directly to Rockhampton Touch Association once you have been advised of your child’s team.  You must submit a form for each child’s nomination. 

The TFA have increased their component to a yearly fee of $52 per person. This will be paid on Mysideline before you register. You can play in as many teams/events as permitted with no extra charge from TFA till after 30th June 2025.

Fair Play Voucher

If you are wanting to register using a fairplay voucher, please select Fair Play Voucher on the below form.  Once your child has been placed into a team, you will be asked to email the signed voucher to admin@rockytouch.com.  Please do not complete this step until you receive a team confirmation email.

Parents, carers or guardians can apply for a voucher valued up to $200 for their child, which can be used towards sport and active recreation membership, registration or participation fees. There is a limit of 1 voucher per child per financial year.  All Queensland residents with a current Medicare card are eligible for a Fair Play Voucher.  To apply or to find out more information please see (note that the Option is Medicare Fair Play Voucher) Applying for and using FairPlay vouchers | Recreation, sport and arts | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au)

3rd Child Free on Fri/Sat

If you have three or more children from the same family registering for our junior competition, the third child will be free. 

In the junior comp, players can play in more than one team (not in the same division and as long as they meet the age requirement) with one registration fee – eg 10 girls/ 10 mixed / 12 girls.  This is only for age 8 and above.

Please Note:  The competition is run by the Rockhampton Touch Association, and no money is to be paid to the school.  While we have allowed the school name and logo to be used for these teams, this is not a school organised sport.  There is no school supervision for students at the venue before or after the games and parents are responsible for the supervision of students at competitions and training days.    If a child’s behaviour while wearing the uniform at such an event is not appropriate, then permission for that child to wear the uniform on weekends may be reviewed. 

If you have any questions regarding touch registration, please contact Leah Benson on 0409633154 or via email leahmaybenson@gmail.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following staff and students who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Penni H (Prep), Khloe P (Yr 1), Trinity T (Yr 3), Theo R (Yr 1), Carlo S (Yr 5), Hudson R (Yr 5), Jake B (Yr 6), Rhyver M (Yr 6), Saxon M (Yr 6), Hunter C (Yr 4), Ayva P (Yr 2), Roland B (Yr 5), Chevy B (Yr 6) and Mrs Mooney (Inclusive Curriculum).

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