4 May 2016

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Last week at St. Joseph's we were blessed with a visit from the Queensland Directors of Catholic Education on Thursday morning and Principals from the Cairns Diocese on Friday afternoon.

Both sets of visitors were excited to see the wonderful steps Joey's has made with our building upgrades, but also were keen to see how our new Flexible Learning Spaces were operating in Years 4, 5 & 6.

All of our visitors were very impressed with the work our students have been doing but were also extremely complimentary of the vision shown by Mr Barker and level of commitment and professionalism exhibited by the staff in making these learning areas successful.

Special thanks to teachers Bernadette Brennan and Ray Carrington for presenting to both sets of visitors and explaining how the 18 month journey has culminated in the fantastic learning spaces we now have.

I am sure all of the visitors over the last week will return to their educational centres with great praise about what is being achieved at St Joseph's Park Avenue.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA
Acting Principal

APRE REFLECTION

A PRAYER FOR MOTHERS

Loving God,
as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children,
so you watch over your Church.
Bless all Mothers,
that they may be strengthened as Christian role models.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honour them always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Have a great week especially all the Mothers in our community.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Prayer Assembly

Prep W will be leading us in Prayer this Friday at 11:40am in Our Lady Help of Christians Church. The Preps will be looking at the special role that Mothers and Grandmothers play in our lives ahead of Mother's Day this Sunday.

All are welcome to attend.

Hope to see you there.

The Sacrament of Confirmation and Eucharist 2016

If your family is taking part in the Sacrament of Confirmation and First Eucharist Sacramental program please be aware of the following dates.

• Wednesday, 4th of May – Parent/Child Confirmation Workshop held in the Multi-Purpose Area at St Joseph's Park Avenue beginning at 6:30pm.
• Saturday, 7th of May – First Eucharist Rite of Enrolment held during 6:00pm mass at Our Lady Help of Christians Church.

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

Icon of The Good Shepherd at OLHC Church

Each year at Joey's we select a religious theme that we as a school community will focus on. As 2016 is the Jubilee Year of Mercy we selected the theme of The Good Shepherd with the challenge being; 'How can we be Good Shepherds?'

In conjunction with the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Bishop Michael has commissioned an icon of the Good Shepherd that is touring to all Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Rockhampton throughout the year. Last week the Icon was present in Our Lady Help of Christians Church.

It was wonderful to have a visual representation of this year's theme to show the students and remind them of Jesus' own words, "Love one another as I have loved you."

As we draw to a close for the Easter season, maybe we too can reflect on how we can improve and be 'Good Shepherds' to those around us.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

Friday Inter-school Sport – Season B

With the conclusion of Season A sports last week we now need to turn our attention to nominating in Season B sports for Terms 2 & 3. Every student aged 10 years and above would have received a sport selection note last week that needed to be returned to their classroom teacher by today. Season 2 sports will commence during Week 6, on Friday the 20th of May.

Save the Date – St Joseph's Park Avenue Athletics Carnival.

This year's Athletics Carnival is fast approaching. Students aged 9-12 will take part in field events rotations of high jump, shot put, relay practice and ball games on Monday the 6th of June at St Joseph's.

On Tuesday the 7th of June, all students will be involved in our school track events day at Emmaus College. A note about the carnival with all the relevant information will be sent home in the next few weeks.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

CROSS COUNTRY

Last Thursday, 28th of April, 30 students represented St. Joey's at the Rockhampton District Cross Country carnival held at Kalka Shades. While the weather was patchy at best, our athletes competed very strongly in what is traditionally a very challenging event.

Our team comprised of Curtis Seierup, Jordan Semple, Nicholas Jahnke, Charlie Harris, Lucas Anderson, Seth Carpenter, Hana Salam, Macy Gray, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Lorilee Lancaster, Kasey Pont, Ariana Upton, Lachlan Huntly, Jai Cass, Sam Farrow, Marko Bird, Telia Rewald, Shakira Austin, Annabell Ramm, Isaiah Dale, Gabe Druery, Luke Carter, Blake Svensen, Lachlan Davies, Ethan McLaughlin, Aaliyah Brown, Emma Harkin, Emylia Stjernqvist, Imogen Fitton and Dakota Wren

In huge races of between 100 and 120 students, our athletes performed very well. The 10 year olds ran 2000m, with the 11 and 12 year olds running 3000m. Special mention to these runners who finished in the top 40:

Thanks to all the supporters who managed to come along on the day, for your help setting up and packing up, as well as your encouragement of our athletes. Thanks also for bringing your child/ren along early for each of our training sessions. Thanks to all of our wonderful athletes for your dedication to training and your massive effort on the day.

Congratulations everybody,

Mr Hosie and Mr Fitzgerald

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates

UNDER 8s MORNING – SAVE THE DATE

St Joseph's annual under 8s morning will be Thursday 26th May. This year it will take on a slightly different format than it has done in the past. The day will begin at 8:40 with a short liturgy led by 3T in the MPA. The students will then rotate freely through various activities until first break. We are hoping to have some sort of performance for the whole group to watch in the middle session. The final session of the day will be in classrooms as per normal. More information about the day will be sent home as the date draws closer however if you would like to offer your assistance for that morning session please let your class teacher or myself know.

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM

Week 4

Prep – Year 2

Students will:

• Reflect on recognise, react, report safety rules knowledge
• Review safety strategies and consider future applications
• Role-play safety strategy options

Years 3 – 6

Students will:

• Plan avoidance or exit strategies that can be used to keep themselves safe
• Revise the concepts of Recognise, React and Report

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 – Strategy – use dictionaries, thesauruses and glossaries as tools

When readers don't understand a word they should be encouraged to use tools such as dictionaries, thesauruses and glossaries to help them. Children don't normally use these tools. As a first port of call they are more likely to ask an adult to tell them what the word means. These are great tools and important for your child to be proficient with using them so encouraging them to use one before you tell them the answer will be a good way to assist them in expanding their vocabulary.

Spelling:

Strategy: Hopscotch words

Make up a hopscotch board on a path with chalk. Write letters instead of numbers in the boxes. You then get to HOP your words.

Regards,

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEES were due on Tuesday 3rd May

Fee Accounts for Term 2 were due for payment on Tuesday 3rd May.

If your account still remains unpaid please contact Megan to advise when it will be settled.

CLASSROOM NEWS

1M

Wow, what a great start to term 2. We are now all trying our hardest to be independent workers. Nearly all of us are changing our books each morning without being reminded and setting ourselves up for the day. We have been working with 1N with our word studies. We are getting more and more confident with reading our words. We have enjoyed finding awesome adjectives to describe ourselves, words like – awesome, epic, beautiful and amazing.

We are looking at prayers in religion and hopefully by the end of this term we will be writing our own prayers. Please come in and look at our gorgeous pictures of God's creation – our natural world. Thank you to all the 1M students who joined us at the ANZAC day march.

We will keep having fun with our learning and will update you all at the end of the term about our prayers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Sorcha Smith (6Bl), Thomas Lawson (5C), Gabriella Halil (PM), Star Loader (1N) and Deakin Payne (6Br). Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

2016 Biennial Catholic Schools P and F Conference

I am so proud of the pictured bunch of ladies that gave up their long weekend to attend the 2016 Catholic Schools P and F Conference. This year's conference was on Parent Engagement and what we can do as parents of our children, to support staff and engage more in our children's learning. It was an eye opener personally for me, as I dedicate so much of my time at the school being a 'warm body'...... someone that fills the gaps on jobs that need doing etc. I spend very little time focusing on my children's learning. Something I have promised myself to become better at after attending this conference.

People from all over Qld were so impressed at our schools attendance at the conference, and again I applaud the ladies for their commitment to this weekend.

I hope we can all work as a great team to establish new grounds on which we walk in regards to Joey's.

SPECIAL THANKS to Deanne Senini who is currently an extremely busy APC with Alan being away. It was great to converse with Deanne in a relaxed setting, to discuss ways in which we can improve parental engagement in our school community.

FROM THE SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

What are boundaries?

Boundaries can often be referred to as providing limits of an area or dividing a line of what is safe or unsafe. In parenting, boundary setting often refers to what is acceptable or not acceptable behaviour. For children and yes, even adults, boundaries can help promote safety and emotional wellbeing. Creating and establishing boundaries can help maintain peace, order and predictability in our lives. Children feel safe when they know what the boundaries are and what is expected of them at home, school or even on the soccer field. Focusing on what behaviours we expect as opposed on focusing on behaviour we don't want can influence the way we talk to children. Using positive language to have clear boundaries can set an environment for children to excel and succeed in.

Here are some ways we can establish boundaries:

Be consistent: establishing clear expectations can help foster predictable behaviour in children.

Communicate rules clearly: if you have rules in the house, it is important for children to know what will happen if they choose not to listen to a rule.-Often times this may be referred to as consequences. Maybe this miss out on TV time if they do not do their daily chores. It is always important to let them know the consequences of their behaviour.

Be positive: There is nothing more rewarding than being praised for doing the right thing, especially when we least expect it. Calling on a child's strength when they are not expecting it can really help encourage that behaviour to be replicated time and time again. The more positives we focus on, the more ways children know what we are expecting from them.

For more information please go to:

YR 7 2017

Emmaus College is finalising enrolments for Year 7 2017. Very limited places remain for this intake, please contact the office or visit the link below to access an enrolment package.

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 Thursday afternoons from 1:30pm - 3:30pm. 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

DRAKES SUPA IGA

Simply scan your Drakes Supa IGA key tag and the checkout with your groceries, and automatically 1 cent of every dollar you spend goes to the Cathedral Conservation Fund.

Key tags are available from the office, local church or Drakes stores. Put it on your car keys so you remember to use it.

Key tags can be used at any Drakes Supa IGA supermarket in Queensland. Currently in our Diocese Drakes stores are located at

• Glenmore (North Rockhampton) - Gladstone
• Emu Park - Toolooa Street
• Calliope - Sun Valley