4 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome back to the start of the 2016 school year, with our first newsletter.

Following a short week, it has been a very settled start to the year with most of our new and familiar faces settling in well to the school routines.

A very special welcome to all of our new families; we trust that you will feel part of the community in no time at all. Similarly, we welcome a couple of new staff this year – welcome to Miss Kirsty McLeod (Prep M), and Mrs Amanda Evans (2F) as classroom teachers.

Unfortunately we start the year with some sad news as on Monday evening we learnt of the passing of Bernard Fitzgerald's father. I would ask that you keep Bernard and his family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

Don't forget that this Thursday, 4th February, we will be having a Welcome Barbecue in the Multi-purpose Area, commencing at 5.30pm and hope to see as many families as possible – new and returning – come along for a chat and a bite to eat. If you have not yet brought back your note for catering, just drop it into the office, as we'd love to see you there.

In Week 3, on Wednesday 10th and Thursday, 11th February we will be holding Parent Information Nights for Year 1-6 parents; each approximately one hour in duration.

Wednesday, 10th

• 5.00pm Yr 1 & Yr 6
• 6.00pm Yr 5

Thursday, 11th

• 5.00pm Yr 2 & Yr 3
• 6.00pm Yr 4

It is important for parents to attend these sessions, where possible. Information regarding both school and classroom procedures will be addressed, along with the distribution of new parent handbooks, discussions around behaviour, uniform, sacramental programs and the like.

I would like to congratulate everyone on the conscious effort students and parents have made at the start of the year to have the correct school uniform. Just a reminder that appropriate sports shoes are white shoes (base colour), with white laces. Shoes to be worn with the formal uniform are to be all black and this does not include black runners with thick white soles, which some students have chosen to wear. It would be appreciated if this could be addressed as soon as possible.

A reminder that our Opening Mass for the school year is this Friday, 5th February commencing at 9.00am. We would love to have parents and friends come along and help celebrate the start of the year in prayer.

Coming up in Week 3 we have our first P&F Meeting for the year. This will take place on Tuesday, 9th and will commence at 6.30pm in the staffroom. Whether you are new to the school or a returning family, everyone is welcome and I look forward to seeing you there.

Hopefully every family received a school wall calendar earlier in the week and we hope this will assist parents in planning for upcoming events throughout the year. If you didn't get yours, please call into the office and ask for one.

Have you ever considered joining the School Board? We are looking for a new member and if you are interested please contact me at the office for further details.

Don't Forget …

• Thu 4/2 - P&F Welcome Barbecue @ 5.30pm;
• Fri 5/2 - Opening School Mass @ 9.00am;
• Tue 9/2 - P&F Meeting @ 6.30pm;
• Wed 10/2 - Parent Information Night;
• Thu 11/2 - Parent Information Night;
• Wed 17/2 - School Board Meeting @ 5.30pm;
• Fri 19/2 - Bishop's Inservice Day – Pupil Free Day;

Have a great week!

Alan

CURRICULUM NEWS

ICAS

The University of New South Wales will, once again, be running the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) in 2016. These competitions are open to any children in Years 3 to 6, and some of the competitions allow the year 2 children to participate, (Science, English & Mathematics). Those children wishing to be involved can participate in the areas of Digital Technologies, Science, Spelling, Writing, English and Mathematics.

Dates and costs associated with the competitions are as follows:

These competitions are a great way for students in our school to compare their academic achievements against students in other schools around Australia. If you would like more information please visit the UNSW website: www.eaa.unsw.edu.au

It would be appreciated if anyone wishing to enter any of the competitions could return the permission slip (sent home this week) to the office, along with entry fees by Monday 21st March (beginning of Week 9 - Term 1).

CHILD SAFETY

As part of St Joseph's commitment to child safety we will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum program across the school throughout Semester One. This Safety Curriculum has been mandated by our Diocesan Office and must be taught in all Catholic schools across the Rockhampton Diocese. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

This program will be implemented across all year levels by myself on a Tuesday for Prep – Year 2 and 3A and on a Wednesday for Year 4 – 6 and 3T. This Safety Curriculum will form the Health compartment of HPE for Semester One.

The program will commence this week. The first key safety message of the curriculum is recognise. Recognise is about being aware of your environment.

Children, young people and adults can all learn to take notice of what is happening around them to help keep themselves safe. Everyone can use clues, such as the things we see, hear, smell or feel to help protect us from harm and keep ourselves safe. Clues can be simple things that warn us about a danger, e.g. hearing a fire alarm or seeing smoke, that prompt us to react. We can also use clues to prepare for potentially unsafe situations, e.g. if we are walking alone at night, then we try to use a well-lit route and avoid secluded lanes or parks.

When we recognise that there might be a safety problem we can take steps to move away or reduce the risk or develop strategies that can help keep us safe. For instance, if you are at a local event where there are big crowds, you might consider what you and your child could do if you became separated. Strategies could include: going to a highly visible pre-determined meeting spot; writing your phone number on a card and placing it in your child's pocket; identifying who your child could approach if they become lost, e.g. police, staff at a booth.

Week 2 focus:

Prep – Year 2

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• explore what safe and unsafe means

Year 3-6

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• develop a definition for 'safe'
• gain an understanding of situational awareness using environmental clues

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at

I encourage you to talk to your child(ren) about the week's session to re-enforce the important message of being safe.

If you have any questions about the program please feel free to come and see me.

Literacy Corner

Have you ever wondered how we teach children to read and spell at school? Literacy Corner is a place where I will be explaining one reading and one spelling strategy each week in the hope that it will assist parents in helping their children with their reading and spelling at home.

Reading:

Learning to read involves children learning skills in comprehension, fluency, accuracy and expanding on their known vocabulary. This week's skill comes under the heading of Accuracy.

Strategy – Use pictures, illustrations and diagrams

Yes it is ok for children to look at the picture to help them work out a word. It is a common misconception that looking at the picture is 'cheating'. At Joey's we actively teach this strategy to the students and encourage them to use the picture to help provide clues to what they are reading.

Illustrations give clues about the meaning of words and text. Paying attention to the pictures may also confirm the meaning of words. Students learn to cross check which means asking themselves: do the pictures match what I think the word means and does it make sense?

Spelling:

At Joeys we use the program Words Their Way as a resource to support our spelling program. Each class participates in a variety of word sorts several times in a given week. As well as sorting words, students manipulate their words in many ways. Throughout this year I will be explaining some activities which you can use with your child to help consolidate their spelling pattern for the week.

Strategy – 3D words. Use play dough or clay to sculpt your spelling words. This strategy provides children with another way of seeing their words which will hopefully help them to visualise the words when they are writing.

Regards,

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

Prep M & Prep W

What an exciting start to 2016 in Prep it has been. From all of the smiles that walked through the door on Wednesday morning we knew that we were going to be in for a fantastic year. It was great to see old friendships reunited and new ones formed.

We begun our first day off with a tour of the school grounds, here we met some of the special people in our school and visited some of the important places in our school such as the library, tuckshop, Multipurpose Area, the office and most importantly the adventure playground. We were extremely excited to finally be able to have a play on the playground. It was fantastic to be able to mingle with peers from both classes and show our teachers our special talents on the flying fox and monkey bars. We then went to the Multi-purpose area where we shared our lunch with the whole school and met some of the other teachers.

It has been great to see the routines of the classroom met with ease. We have all participated in activities in an enthusiastic manner. We have all been very eager and excited to get to work, with some of us even asking for homework already. We have been busy in the classroom doing lots of drawings and fine motor activities where we were able to cut, colour and glue. Everyone is more than welcome to visit the Prep classrooms to see all of our work from our first week of school.

We cannot wait to continue our prep journey with our friends and discover our many talents along the way.

The Prep Team

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Matari Tanner (PW), Alan Broome (6B), Calan Gear (5T), Mia Bolck (PW), Laine Hockings (2H),Zachary Wilson (4M), Simone Gilson (6B), James Sandilands (5T) and Miss Agius.

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Counselling is a tool that is commonly used to assist people who are experiencing a transition, change, or difficulty in their life. Counselling enables someone to talk about a problem or difficulty with someone who is trained not to be biased or judgemental. Most people who go to a Counsellor find that they do most of the talking, because they are the person who is the expert in their life. The Counsellor does the listening and helps you to work out what your problem is and how the issue may be resolved. A Counsellor may be helpful if your child is experiencing depression, anxiety, changes within the family, grief and loss issues or even problems related to their school life such as bullying, relationship issues, homework, teacher or separation anxiety.

Camelia Perkins is the School Counsellor at Saint Joseph's Park Avenue this school year. If you would like to make an appointment to see her or talk to her in relation to your child, please contact the school (in person or by telephone) by speaking to one of the Administration Officers or Mr. Barker at the school.

TUCKSHOP NEWS

New Tuckshop menus were sent home this week with the eldest in the family. Please discard your old one. There is also one attached to this Newsletter.

SCHOOL BANKING

School Banking will start again this week. Banking will be Thursdays. We thank Pip Mundy for once again donating her time to this.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN 2016

Are you wanting your child to learn a musical instrument in 2016? All interested students can pick up an information note at their school office.

Copies of these forms are also available at

New and existing students must enrol for 2016 and a $10 enrolment fee is payable at time of enrolment, either in a sealed envelope with the child's name and INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC, or directly to Emmaus College (either campus).

Enrolment forms will not be accepted at your school's office – all enrolments after must be online, or handed to Reception at Emmaus College, Yaamba Rd campus.

PLEASE GO ONLINE NOW TO REGISTER FOR INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC 2016

DRAKES SUPA IGA

Drakes Community Dollars for St Joseph's Cathedral.

Please remember to use your keytag each time you shop. Keytags are available at your local Church, school or any Drakes Supa IGA Supermarket.

VOLUNTEERS INDUCTION SESSIONS

WPH&S Volunteers Inductions are necessary for the safety of your children. Therefore we ask that all parents who generously volunteer their time to the school, either in a classroom or in the tuckshop, attend a very brief induction regarding maintaining a safe environment for the children of St. Joseph's.

These sessions only take about five minutes and are available after assembly on a Monday morning with Deanne Senini, or with Ray Carrington on Friday mornings at 9.00 am. Tracy Wren will also be conducting induction sessions in the tuckshop, if you are helping out in there.

Thanks,

Ray Carrington

UNIFORM SHOP

Our uniform shop is run by VOLUNTEERS of the school and is open

Monday morning from 8:15- 8:45 and
Tuesday afternoon from 2:45 - 3:15
Friday morning 8:15 – 8:45

Please feel free to drop by any uniforms you no longer need to sell. Proceeds can go back to you or you can donate it back to the P & F.

FRIDAY PIZZA

Meatlovers, Chicken and Aioli and Hawaiian Pizza are available every Friday for $1.50/slice. Please have your order in a Brown Paper Bag with your name, class and order on it, with the money in side.

Please use a brown paper bag with child's name and class written on the front.

TUCKSHOP IS UNAVAILABLE ON FRIDAYS

KEYBOARD

Enrolment forms for Keyboard with Leanne Voss are available from the office. These lessons are held every Thursday at school. If your child is interested, please come in and pick up a form.

PIANO

Piano lessons are available during school times on a rotational roster (different lesson time each week so the student doesn't miss the same class lesson). Please contact Lynette Anstey on 4933 3661, 0419 358 485, anstey.family@bigpond.com for further information.

TENNIS

Rockhampton Junior Tennis Association's 2016 season will start on Saturday, January 30, with fixtures ($10/session) held from 8.00 – 11.00am Saturdays, and from 4.00 – 6.00pm Tuesdays.

Coaching ($12/lesson) will also begin on January 30. Register any Saturday at Rockhampton Regional Tennis Centre, Victoria Park, or by phoning (07) 4927 1436. Qualified coaches and experienced supervisors are employed.