21 August 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 7.

Well done and good luck to our Season B teams taking part in Grand Finals this Friday.  With two Senior netball teams and our Senior rugby league team making Grand Finals we wish those teams and their coaches the best of luck.  Let’s Go Joeys!

Important Front Gate Procedures.

Just a friendly reminder to please ensure the front school gate is closed after you enter and when exiting the school site, no matter what time of the day.

This process is to meet safety procedures for our students.

Currently, our gates are locked between 8:35am and 2:50pm for these reasons. 

Of an afternoon, from the end of duty at 3:20pm, the front gate is closed but not locked as the Outside School Hours Care service needs to be accessed by parents collecting their children up till 6:00pm.

Again, please ensure that when you open the gate to gain access or exit the school site, please close the gate behind you, at all times.  I know that this process may seem trivial and inconvenient, but this process is in place for the safety of all of our children.

Thanks for your cooperation in keeping our children safe.

Last week we were blessed to have our new Diocesan Director visit our Joey’s community.  Mr Michael McCusker visited all of our classrooms and even met ‘Buddy’ in the library as well as cuddling one of our guinea pigs, ‘Wombat’ when visiting with our Prep students.  Michael’s visit was lovely, as was his interaction with the staff and students.  Michael emailed me after his visit letting me know, that he thoroughly enjoyed his time with us and that he witnessed ‘a great atmosphere that you should all be proud of and that this is only the result of everyone working together.’  Thanks to all of the school community who made the new Director’s first visit such as memorable one.

Our 2024 Book Week Character Parade will be held in the Multi-Purpose Area on Thursday the 22^nd of August at 8:40am.  We are holding the event at this time so student costumes are as fresh as possible in the morning and any community members who wish to attend can do so when they drop off their children in the morning. 

Please ensure that there is no parking in the flowthrough zone as this must remain a 2-minute drop-and-go zone.

Semester 2 Parent/Teacher interviews are just around the corner, scheduled for Week 9 of this Term.  Even though these interviews are held in 15-minute blocks, as always, if you require more time to discuss your child’s progress, please email your child’s classroom teachers to book additional time at a mutually beneficial time.

Have a wonderful Week 7.

Don’t Forget …

• Week 7. National Book Week & Book Fair. 19^th – 23^rd
• Book Week Parade. Thurs 22^nd
• Season B Sport Grand Final Day. Fri 23^rd August
• Pupil Free Day. Friday 30^th
• Father’s Day. Sunday 1^st
• Parent/Teacher Interviews. 2^nd – 6^th September
• RU OK Day. Thurs 12^th
• Term 3 Concludes. Fri 13^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

Book Week

This week we celebrate the joy of reading.  Last night we held our annual Joeys in Jamas night.  It was lovely to see so many families join us for a nice family night full of sharing books and games.  The guinea pigs were kept very busy with lots of cuddles. I bet they slept well Tuesday night!

Students and staff are invited to come along to school dressed as their favourite book character on Thursday, 22^nd August.  Due to this being a PE day for some classes, we will hold the parade first thing that morning.  If your child has PE on that day, please ensure they can remove their costume to be able to participate in their PE lesson. The parade will start as soon as all classes have arrived to the MPA court and are ready to begin. 

Please note that weapons are not acceptable parts of costumes on this day.

Congratulations to the following students who have won a voucher to spend at Book Fair this week for efforts recognised by their teachers:

Prep – Poppy Wilson: for always being ready and engaged during reading groups.
Year 1 – Violet Oliver: for showing a love of reading and persevering even when it gets tough.
Year 2 – Isla Stevenson: for reading with fantastic expression and providing a detailed retell.
Year 3 – Lucas Hodgson: for the improvement he has shown with his comprehension skills.
Year 4 – Eli McGregor: for the hard work he has put into improving his reading.
Year 5 – Myka Waters: for the enthusiasm and passion she brings to reading.
Year 6 – Remee Horstman: for her genuine love of reading.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

If you participated in the Premier’s Reading Challenge this year, please make sure you hand in your reading record form to the office so that you can be recognised for your reading efforts.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews are now open through parent lounge for bookings.  Interviews will be held during Week 9.  Please note that each class will be allocated a certain amount of ‘in school’ time to conduct interviews, as a way of supporting our generous teachers who make themselves available to attend up to 56 interviews throughout that week.  There will also be spots available outside of school hours for parents who cannot attend during school time, however, if you are able to book an ‘in school’ time slot, please consider doing so as a way of supporting our teachers. Bookings will be open until 5pm next Wednesday, 28^th August. 

As always, I encourage you to consider having your child attend their interview.  This is an important step in them realising the partnership between the school and home as well as them taking ownership of their learning and behaviour.  Please reach out if you have trouble booking an interview.

Regards
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

RELIGIOUS NEWS

The 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Whoever eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ will have eternal life.

John 6:51-58

Living the Gospel – You are what you eat

In a world that is obsessed with health and fitness and yet, ironically, also experiencing an ever-increasing overweight and obese population, what we eat has come under greater scrutiny than ever before. ‘You are what you eat’ has become a catchcry for healthy eating but Catholics have known the truth of this statement for centuries. When we participate in the Eucharist, we not only receive the body of Christ; we become the body of Christ. The people who make up the Church in the world are indeed the body of Christ. In the words of St Teresa, ‘Christ has no body now but yours!’

@Liturgy Help – by Greg Sunter

Children’s Mass last weekend.

A big thank you to the families and staff who joined us at Our Lady Help of Christians’ church last Saturday. It was a beautiful celebration of the Eucharist. Considering the gospel of the day, it meant a lot to share in the body and blood of Christ at Mass as a school community.

The children who were part of the ministries were again, reverent and proclaimed the scripture and prayers of the faithful meaningfully.

The BBQ helped us live the message of sharing a meal to build community, and the burgers were delicious!

See you at our next Mass which will not be until Term Four.

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

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 6

This term, our students have explored the stories of people who migrated to or sought refuge in Australia. They've used these historical experiences as the basis for their writing, enhancing their narratives with literary devices such as alliteration, repetition, hyperbole, and rhetorical questions. This approach has not only deepened their understanding of history but also strengthened their writing skills. We’re excited to share their imaginative work with you.

European trade ship – Harper C

I’m sailing my ship across the vast ocean, my crew carrying the goods around my ship trying to secure them in time. My body faced against the ferocious winds. I climb high. I see ten, twenty, thirty even. Bodies pushed under the waves, my crew trying to fight the current. All fail. I look around, fighting the beastly winds. “Land, it’s land,”

I shout to the remaining few, Maarten climbs up with me but then, the ferocious winds push us down into the treacherous waves.

The treacherous currents are too strong, I’m too tired, I can’t fight it much longer. I get pushed under, lose my breath and pass out.

I wake up, the sun’s burning my skin. As I start to open my eyes, the sun shines brightly, partly blinding me. I roll onto my side, open my eyes once again and push myself into a sitting position. 

Once sitting up properly, I see the glistening water, sparkling from the bright sun. The shiny water distracts me from my thirst and hunger until I see fish swimming around in the water and my stomach starts to growl. I come back to reality and try to stand but I’m too weak, I collapse, thinking about what happened. Was it hours ago, days ago, a week ago?

I push myself up and try to catch the slippery slimy fish. Too weak to catch any, I pull myself up to the sandy beach and lay there still until I look around and see the debris from my ship. “No one’s here, are they all dead? They can’t be dead!”  I mumble to myself.

I look up at the angry clouds asking myself what I did to deserve this. Until I hear a noise…

Captain Charles – Koby G

Strong winds knocked us off course. Waves crashed against the sides of the ship; people were screaming. I tried to steer us back on course, but the wind was too strong. My job as the captain was trying to calm everyone but it didn’t work.

I looked around, my mind blank on what to do, I climbed up into the crow’s nest even knowing we were in trouble, but there, a green line lay on the horizon. I yell, “Everyone calm down!” They don’t listen. “There is a small island on the horizon.” People questioned how we’d get there. I say, “We can launch our small wooden row boats.” While still figuring out how to bring all the wool, coins, and cloth.

“We will have to bring small portions of our cargo in row boats.” I heard someone say, “What about the muskets?” I completely forgot about them. I knew that they were pretty heavy also with all of the powder charges, patches, metal balls and ram rods. I wondered “will we make it?” The bright scorching sun burnt us until we were deep red. We had five small wooden row boats with sails.

It took hours but we finally loaded our last rowboat and some passengers decided to stay on the ship including Marteen, his wife and more people while we set off to reach the island.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following staff and students who will celebrate their birthday this week.  They are: Poppie L (Prep), Eugenie N-M (Yr 6), Gracie S (Yr 4), Kelsey K (Yr 6), Mason McL (yr 6), Harriet O (Prep), Nate B (Yr 5), Abigail F (Yr 5) and Miss Black (Well Being).

Have a great day.

CARTOON WORKSHOP

Please see the below attachment for the upcoming September holidays

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