7 September 2016

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Many thanks to the parents, friends and staff who attended our Trivia night last Friday. It was a fun-filled evening and one enjoyed by all. Particular thanks to the ladies of the P&F who worked tirelessly on the night, along with preparations beforehand. Thank you also to Bernard Fitzgerald who paired up as quizmaster for the night.

This year we have had quite a number of visitors to the school interested in what we are doing in our flexible learning areas. Importantly, I would like to offer my thanks to the staff and students of Years 4, 5 & 6 for welcoming visitors and openly sharing what is happening with the teaching and learning. A great deal of interest is currently being generated around the concepts of flexible learning environments, connected and collaborative classrooms, with many schools investigating the option of implementing this initiative. Next week, on Monday and Tuesday, we have the opportunity to view what is happening in similar schools in the Parramatta Diocese. Earlier this year Mr. Greg Whitby, Executive Director for the Parramatta Diocese, addressed the principals' conference following which an invitation was made for a number of staff and DCEO personnel from the Rockhampton diocese to visit. As such Erin Tranberg, Brooke Black and myself will be making school visits at the beginning of next week. I trust this will prove to be reaffirming of what we are doing, insightful and assist us with our future planning and continued direction.

Today, all students in Year 4, 5 & 6 would have received a letter about Season 3 Interschool Sport. Please take the time to read this letter as there are some important changes explained; changes that will directly impact your child next term. If you have any queries arising from this, please contact either Bernard Fitzgerald or myself and we will try to assist you.

A reminder also that our final P&F meeting for the term is on tomorrow afternoon, Thursday 8th September and will commence in the library at 3.30pm. We love to see you there!

Don't Forget …

Thu 8/9 - P&F Meeting;
Fri 16/9 - Last day of Term 3.

Have a great week!
Alan

APRE REFLECTION

Last weekend Mother Teresa of Calcutta was declared a saint of the Church by Pope Francis. Her example gives us pause to reflect on the many people in our community who, like Mother Teresa continue to show God's mercy to people in their workplaces, homes, schools, aged care facilities and many other places. We especially recognise those who work among the poor of today as we offer this prayer in gratitude;

A Prayer to Honor the Work of Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by mercy:
Let we in your Church and School community,
be your visible face in the world,
so we may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
Bless our volunteers of mercy who work in your name,
bringing you to so many who are ill or frail,
we give thanks for their witness to the mercy of God.
Amen

Have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Week 9 Prayer Assembly

4M will be leading us in Prayer this Friday in OLHC Church at 11:40am.

Grade 4 will be focusing on the parts of the mass and the importance of celebrating the Eucharist. All are welcome to come along to celebrate with the school community.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

A reminder to all parents with children taking part in the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 2016. The children will be singing the song 'My Shepherd' during this Saturday evenings 6:00pm mass at Our Lady Help of Christians Church.

Peer Support – Week 1

Our whole school will be starting Peer Support sessions this week. The children will be participating in a new module, Moving Forward which focuses on resilience. The experiences in the module help children to identify their qualities and strengths, develop skills, respond with a range of strategies and seek support when faced with challenges. In this session, the children will establish connections with the other members of their group and develop their group agreement to enable them to work well together. The children will discuss an example of a challenging situation and some resilient and non-resilient responses.

You might like to discuss with your child what they can do to help them take an active role in Peer Support.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

CURRICULUM NEWS

Self Defence

Over the last 4 weeks students in Years 3-6 were offered the opportunity to participate in self-defence lessons. The aim of the lessons was, as a follow on from the Daniel Morcombe Curriculum, to teach the students ways of getting out of a variety of situations where they may be unwillingly grabbed. The sessions were conducted during Health lessons by Mrs Ashleigh McNae. Ashleigh holds a III Degree Black Belt in Taekwon-Do. I would like to thank Ashleigh along with her helpers – Danielle, Michelle and Mr McNae who each week taught and supported the students in leaning these important safety skills. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and were all presented with a certificate of completion from Ashleigh.

Hygiene and Food Safety Lessons

During weeks 9 and 10, Environmental Health Officers from the Rockhampton Regional Council will be visiting St Joeys and presenting lessons on hygiene, hand washing and food safety. These sessions will occur during the children's regular Health lessons. During week 9, information will be presented on bacteria, viruses and germs and how they can spread. Week 10 will focus on food safety at home and in the classroom. Age appropriate information will be presented in a fun, engaging manner. If you wish to discuss this program further please don't hesitate to contact 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 accuracy.

Strategy – Skip the Word, Then Come Back

When students come to words they don't know they can skip over the word until they come to the end of the sentence or passage. Then readers back up and read the sentence again, using the first letter or letters of the skipped word and their context clues to decode the unknown word.

Spelling:

Activity: Words without vowels

Write your spelling words in a list but replace all the vowels with a line. Then go back to the beginning of your list and see if you can fill in the correct missing vowels.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Karen Messmer (4M), Cooper Anderson (PW), Liahna Cook (2H) and Max Vickery (5T). Have a great day.

CLASSROOM NEWS

YR 4

What's Happening In Year 4?

This term in Year 4 we have moved to the next stage of our flexible learning and are now planning our own timetables with some guidance from Mr Hosie and Mrs Mooney. We have had a very busy term and are now in the midst of completing a number of assignments including making some very exciting table top games in Science. In Geography we are designing and creating Awareness Posters about an environmental issue of our choice. In History we are investigating stories of the First Fleet. We are excited about retelling these stories using design and/or digital technologies. 4M will be presenting Liturgy on Friday and we would love to see you all there.

Year 4 Team

TERM 3 FEE ACCOUNTS

TERM 3 FEES were due on Tuesday 2nd August

Fee Accounts for Term 3 were due for payment on Tuesday 2nd August.
If your account remains unpaid, these are now 5 weeks Overdue.

If paying by Direct Deposit, please use your Account Number (6 digit number on your Fee Statement) as the reference.

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.

CASSEROLE CLUB

We are in need of some frozen meals for our Casserole Club. These meals can be Stews/casseroles, mild curries, Spaghetti Bolognese, etc – whatever can be made, frozen, defrosted and heated.

We distribute these meals to families who are finding things a little tough from time to time. And as little as a frozen meal for dinner goes a long way. If you could help us out, please see Sue in the Tuckshop for some containers for the meals to go in. We do ask that you put the name of the meal and the date that it was cooked on the lid. Your help is greatly appreciated by all who receive.

Thank you

VACATION CARE

Please find attached the September Holidays Vacation Care Program and Booking Form. If you are intending on sending your child/children along, please be sure to book them in. The program is packed full of exciting things to do. You can reach Vacation Care on 4921 4922 or 0408 703 482.

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. Sue Clarke 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 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