25 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

It was wonderful to see so many of our students and families join staff and parishioners to celebrate the Children’s Mass last Saturday evening. These are important celebrations for us, as we gather as a Catholic community and I would encourage you to mark the upcoming masses throughout the year on your school planner and attend whenever possible.

Children’s Mass Dates:

• Term 2, 16th April & 21st May;
• Term 3, 30th July & 20th August;
• Term 4, 22nd October & 19th November

A reminder that our School Fete, ‘The Country Fair’, is fast approaching and will take place this coming Saturday week, 5th March. A huge thank you to all of the families who have donated something to their child’s grade stall and to all the parents who continue to work tirelessly in regards the organisation of the day. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Don’t forget that we are currently selling ‘unlimited rides vouchers’ for $25, both in the Office and in the mornings at Tuckshop. Why not grab yours now so you don’t have the expense on the day?

Anyone who has purchased a ride voucher before assembly on Monday morning will go into the draw to win back the cost of their ticket and so, get theirs for free. But that must be purchased before next week’s assembly! We are still looking for some helpers on the day, so if you can help out for even 30 minutes on Saturday 5th we’d be most grateful. Just let your child’s teacher know or grab one of our hard-working P&F committee members.

Tomorrow the Year 6 students will be hosting their first fund raising event for the year and this is in the form of a Free Dress Day. Any money that the students raise throughout the year helps assist parents with the cost of camp and is refunded at the end of the year. Each of the grades has selected a different theme to wear and we would ask that children participating bring along a gold coin donation.

Don’t Forget …

• Thu 25/2 - Free Dress Day
• Wed 2/3 - Board Pre-Service;
• Thu 3/3 - Craig Fairbairn – Assistant Director Schools Rockhampton visiting;
• Sat 5/3 - School Fete.

Have a great week!
Alan

APRE REFLECTION

Jubilee Year of Mercy 2016

Pope Francis says, "We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.

At times we are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives. For this reason I have proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a special time for the Church, a time when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective.

At Joey’s, our school theme for the year, ‘How can we be Good Shepherds?’ is based on the image of Christ as the Good Shepherd taken from the icon that will be travelling throughout the Diocese this year. This image and theme serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of God who asks us not to judge or condemn but to offer love and forgiveness instead.

Throughout 2016 we will be constantly challenging our students and school community to not only identify the needs of others and feel compassionately towards them, but to act as ‘Good Shepherds’ and help those around us who are less fortunate than ourselves.

I hope you have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Prayer Assembly

Grade 3T will be leading us in Prayer this Friday at 11:40am in Our Lady Help of Christians Church. The Grade 3’s will be focusing on taking on the responsibility of looking after our environment and thanking God for the wonderful gift of creation.

Hope to see you there.

Children’s Mass

Thank-you to all staff, parents and students who were able to attend our first children’s mass for the year last Saturday evening.

With a bit of déjà vu being experienced before mass as a large storm arrived in the late afternoon just as it did last year as TC Marcia made her presence felt, we ended up having a wonderful celebration as both parish and school communities came together to celebrate as a single faith community.

Please remember that we have a couple of Children’s Masses each Term and it would be wonderful if you could mark these on your calendar as the mass in which you choose to attend that weekend.

The Sacrament of Confirmation and Eucharist 2016

If you wish your child to participate in the Sacrament of Confirmation/Eucharist in 2016 there will be a second ‘Parent Information Night’ tonight being held in the Holy Family Church Hall.

Wednesday, 24 February at 6:00pm (for a 6:30 start)

Children are asked to not come along, but one parent/carer must attend, as this is an important part of the programme.

Families who participated in the 2015 Penance programme should have received an email last week.

If you have not received the appropriate paperwork please contact Bernard Fitzgerald through the St Joseph’s School office.

For further information, please contact the Parish Office
(4928 2800) or berylmills18@gmail.com

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

NRL Skills Development PE Lessons

Over the next five weeks. Preps to Grade 6’s will be having Mr Dominic Draper from the NRL come in and teach both rugby league and team building skills while promoting physical fitness during PE lessons. It is wonderful to see the NRL as well as many other national bodies come in and give back to grass roots development at a primary level.

I am sure all Grades enjoyed Dominic’s first week of lessons.

Rockhampton District Selection Trials

I have received details about Rockhampton and District Trials for the following Primary School sports. If your child has the prerequisite skills and you wish for them to trial in the following sports you will need to contact me through the school office to obtain the appropriate trial forms.

• Golf – Boys & Girls (10-12yrs)
• Tennis – Boys & Girls (10-12yrs)
• AFL – Boys (10-12yrs)
• Soccer – Boys (10-12yrs)
• Basketball – Boys & Girls (10-12yrs)

Please be aware that for your child to attend these trials as a 10 year old student that they would need to be exceptional and will be competing against students up to 12 years of age.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA APRE

Friday Sport 26/02/2016

OZ TAG

Girls Pool B 12:45pm
St Joseph’s PA Maroon v Crescent Lagoon on Field 8

Girls Pool C 1:35pm
St Joseph’s PA Blue v Berserker on Field 5

Boys Pool A 12:45pm
St Joseph’s PA Maroon v Frenchville Blue on Field 6

Boys Pool B 12:45pm
St Joseph’s PA Blue v Berserker on Field 4

Mixed 1:35pm
St Joseph’s PA v Glenmore on F8

Due to the number of teams nominated this year, games will be played at the Saleyards fields on the Southside (off Gladstone Road), and at Rockhampton Grammar School. When I just have a field number, these games are played at the Saleyards.

SOCCER

Yr 5 12:40
St Joseph’s PA v Mt Morgan @ Norbridge 2
St Joseph’s PA 2 v St Marys @ McLeods 1

Yr 6 1:35
St Joseph’s PA v Mt Morgan @ Norbridge 2

AFL

12:30
St Joseph’s PA v Glenmore SS on Field 1

1:30
St Joseph’s PA v Frenchville SS on Field 1

Games are played at Kele Park, which is off Western Street on the Southside

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates

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 last week) to the office, along with entry fees by Monday 21st March (beginning of Week 9 - Term 1).

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM

Weeks 5 and 6 focus:

Prep – Year 2

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• identify a range of ‘body clues’
• recognise that ‘body clues’ may help to identify unsafe situations

Years 3-6

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• identify relationships between rules, lays and safety
• discuss how rights, rules and responsibilities can all play a role in our ability to stay safe
• consider if and when people should take responsibility for their own actions

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum .

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

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 Expanding Vocabulary.

Strategy: Tune into interesting words and use new vocabulary in speaking and writing

A good way to increase a child’s vocabulary is to ask them to point out some interesting words from the passage or book they are reading. Have a discussion with them about what the words mean and different sentences/contexts they can be used in and encourage them to try to use those new words in their everyday speaking and writing.

Spelling:

Strategy: Colour the vowels.

This strategy involves students writing out their words. They then choose their favourite colour and write over the vowels in that colour. This strategy is worthwhile because it helps younger children learn their vowels and it reinforces to the older students that each syllable has at least one vowel which is a very important spelling rule.

Regards,

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

Term 1 Fees were DUE Friday 19th February 2016

If still unpaid, your account is now overdue for payment.

If you are unable to settle your account, your immediate contact with either Alan or Megan is requested to advise when the account will be settled.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Year 6

The Start of Year 6

We have had an exciting start back to school. Each student has received a MacBook in the 1-1 computer program and has spent much time learning their way around them. So far we have done podcasting, created presentations in Keynote, explored Photoshop and are becoming more familiar with Google docs.

Being a member of Year Six is a demanding role in our school. Not only are we the leaders, we have now many extra responsibilities and commitments. Each Friday we gather pizza bags, collate the slices, count the money and ensure every student receives their pizza order. On a Friday afternoon after school we sell icy cups and slushies from the tuckshop. Some members of our class will have made the icy cups earlier in the week ready for sale on Friday.

Two Year 6 representatives visit every classroom in the school each week to collect student awards. We spend time during the week practicing reading the awards, as it can be daunting speaking in front of the entire school and families who attend an assembly.

This term we are organising the Free Dress day and an Easter raffle. The ideas for these events come from Year 6 students. Our aim is to host at least one fundraiser each term. Once the raffle tickets go on sale, it is our responsibility to set up stalls daily to sell the tickets.

Looking ahead, we have our sights set on CAMP. It is less than four weeks before we board the bus and drive off on our adventure to Chaverim (Bundaberg.) However, before we go to camp there is still plenty of learning to be done in and out of the classroom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Jayda Gyemore (3T), Kaileb Cory (5C), Antal Atkinson (2H), Amarli Batchelor (1N) and Mia Jahnke (3A).

FREE PARENTING SEMINAR

Free Triple P – Power of Positive Parenting Seminar with Professor Matt Sanders

Ever wondered: ‘why does my child do that?’ Find out how to get more of the behaviour you like – and less of the behaviour you don’t like!

Thursday March 3 – 6.30pm Central Queensland University, CQIRP Conference Centre, 361 Ibis Avenue, North Rockhampton

Come early for tea and coffee – seminar starts promptly at 6.30pm

FREE DRESS DAY

Tomorrow Thursday (25th February) we are having a Free Dress Day.

This Free Dress Day will involve your child bringing a gold coin donation and coming dressed as your grades choice of theme.

Themes for Year Levels are as follows…

Prep – Fairytales (Life itself is the most wonderful Fairytale)
Year One – Nursery Rhymes (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Year Two – Heroes (I think a hero is any person)
Year Three – Sporting Colours (It never gets easier, you just get better)
Year Four – The Colour Yellow (You’ve Gone Bananas)
Year Five – Movie/ TV Character (May the force be with you)
Year Six – I’M A CELEBRITY, GET ME OUT OF HERE!! Come as your favourite celebrity/ Pop Star.

P & F FAIR COMMITTEE

Don’t Forget your unlimited wristbands!

• Unlimited ride passes are available from the Office, the tuckshop and the Uniform Shop.
• Help is needed on the day, notes went home yesterday. If you can spare 30 mins please fill out the form and return it this week. We would love to see you!
• Don’t forget to check with your class to see what they need to get their stall ready for the Fair. There is a Pizza Party for the year that can raise the most funds in their stall
• Fair Meeting at 3:15 in the Library every Wednesday
• Can you donate a prize or know someone that can? Drop them into the office for the Multi Draw Raffle on the day!
• Raffle tickets are being sent home this week….1st Prize is a SKYDIVE and Accommodation at Cool Waters Holiday Village!

Let’s make this a day the kids will never forget!

Attachment St Joey’s Country Fair

CAPRICORN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

We have been advised by CER that the Write & Wipe Folders that were on your child’s booklist are unavailable until late March. The supplier has run out and they are not available in Australia at this point. CER will notify us once they are in stock.

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

CASSEROLE CLUB

For a number of years, we have had what we call a Casserole Club at school. What happens here is we ask parents to cook dinners (Casseroles, spaghetti bolognese, mild curry dishes etc) and freeze them. We keep them on hand and distribute to families in need. Families don’t ask for the meals, but are very appreciative of receiving them, and we are appreciative of the families that donate them. Takeaway dishes are available from the tuckshop, so pop in and see Tracy and grab one or two.

YR 7 2017 EMMAUS INFORMATION EVENING

SPORTS & HEALTH EXPO

The CQ Health 2016 Sports and Health Expo is a community event aimed to encourage the Rockhampton Regional community to get involved in physical activity, healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. It is an holistic initiative to help boost participation in sport, recreation and health within the Region.

On Sunday 28 February 2016 at the Rockhampton Showgrounds from 9am to 1:30pm there is loads to see and do, including free amusement rides, come and try activities, giveaways and much more! Entry is Free so head on down.