12 October 2016

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

On Monday of this week the parish bid farewell to a long-time parishioner and supporter of Park Avenue in Mrs Schwarten, mother of Robert and Stephen Schwarten, who have also been great supporters of our St. Joseph's Catholic School. Many of our Year 6 students represented the school, in what was a fitting tribute to Mrs Schwarten, and I would like to commend and congratulate them for their respectful participation in some difficult circumstances.

Don't forget to mark on your calendar that our Pupil Free Day is in Week 3 on Monday, 17th October. This is an opportunity for professional development for the teachers, who will be focussing on faith development for the day. We are fortunate this year to welcome Mr Joe McCorley, a previous Rockhampton Catholic Education Director, to address and work with the staff.

Next Thursday, 20th October is our Prep Orientation Day, when we will be welcoming our new Prep students and their families. For families involved, a letter outlining details has been sent home. Please contact the office if you should have received a letter and have not yet done so.

Next Friday we have our Meal Deal day for the term and if you would like to participate I would encourage you to get your order in as soon as possible.

At the end of next week, Saturday, 22nd we will celebrate the first of our two Children's Masses for the term. Mass will be at 6.00pm. Please mark it on your calendars.

I would like to wish our Senior Netballers all the very best as they travel to Ipswich this weekend to participate in the Samsung Netball Carnival. Additionally I'd like to thank the parents for their support of this endeavour and Mrs Tranberg, Miss Agius and Mrs Agius for their time and commitment to making this event a reality for the girls.

In closing this week I'd like to take the opportunity to wish everyone in the community a productive and happy end to the school year. As per the letter that was sent home on Monday, on medical advice I will be taking leave through the remainder of this term, though certainly hope to be back on deck at the start of the school year, all going well. I will be finishing at the end of this week and accompanying the girls to the netball carnival on Friday. During my absence Mr Bernard Fitzgerald will take on the role of Acting Principal, whilst a temporary appointment to the APRE role will be announced shortly. Should you have any matters of concern arise please feel free to come in and see Bernard, as I'm sure he would be only too happy to meet with you.

Don't Forget …

• Fri-Sun 14-16/10 - Netball Carnival;
• Mon 17/10 - Pupil Free Day;
• Tue 18/10 - Diocesan School Board inservice;
• Thu 20/10 - Prep Orientation Day;
• Fri 21/10 - Meal Deal Day;
• Sat 22/10 - Children's Mass;

Have a great week!
Alan

APRE REFLECTION

A Prayer for St. Joseph's Catholic School Park Avenue

Lord Jesus,

Gracious God,
You are so holy, so amazingly wonderful.
Be praised forever!
Thank you for caring for us so deeply.
Thank you for calling us to work with you.
NO act of kindness no matter how small, is ever wasted!
Help us hear your voice urging us to reach out to others.
Give us courage to offer random spiritual acts of kindness as you direct us.
Give us peace to receive random spiritual acts of kindness when we are in need.

Amen

Have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Prayer Assembly

3A will be leading us in Prayer this Friday at 11:40am in Our Lady Help of Christians Church. The Year Three class will be focusing on the theme of Reconciliation as many of the students in the Grade level are currently taking part in the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Penance.

All are welcome to attend.

Hope to see you there.

Peer Support Week 3

This week in Peer Support children will discuss skills and how to communicate their feelings and needs to others.

The children will discuss skills they use when participating in a variety of activities. When children understand they already have many of the skills needed to succeed, they can feel more confident when trying something new. The children are asked to identify events which trigger different feelings.

Encourage your child to remember the skills they have used in one activity when trying something new. Also encourage your child to communicate their feelings and needs.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's PA APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

Joey's has a State Champion!

Congratulations to Lillian Yarrow from Grade 6 who, as a part of the Girls 11-12 Years Capricornia Rugby League Team, travelled to Ipswich over the holidays to compete in the State Championships. Capricornia made the final and defeated Met West in an extremely close final to become State Champions. Well done Lilly.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph's Park Avenue APRE

CURRICULUM NEWS

Welcome back to what is sure to be a very busy term. I hope everyone had a wonderful break shared with family and friends.

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 comprehension.

Strategy – Summarise Text

Summarising is taking selections of text and reducing them to their bare essentials: the gist, the main ideas and the main points that are worth noting and remembering. The reader captures the most important parts of text but expresses them in a shorter version in their own words so the text is more easily remembered.

Spelling:

Activity: Keyboard Practice

Type your words on the computer. This will help you learn to spell your words as well as help you become aware of the keys on a keyboard.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

YR 6

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are:

Last week - Nate Barron (4M), Riley Roser (2F), Jorja Hallam (1M) and Sarah Clarke (3T) – This week – Shaun Ransome (6Br), Jack Sutton (6Br), Kate Svenson (6Bl), Miranda Brunton (3T) and Isabelle Fuary (2H). Have a great day.

SAMSUNG CUP NETBALL HIGH TEA

Thank you very much to everyone who came to our Netball High Tea to raise funds for the Samsung Primary Schools Cup. 120 people attended our event, enjoying champagne, tea, lovely treats, raffles, fashion parade and each other's company.

The event proved to be a very successful, raising enough money to cover all costs of attending the carnival in Ipswich this weekend.

Our St Joseph's Samsung Cup team have been training hard and are really looking forward to competing against schools from all over Queensland.

A big thanks also goes out to all the volunteers who helped to make this event run so smoothly.

Thank-you again for your support, it is greatly appreciated!
Erin Tranberg

OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE

OSHC will be operating on Monday the 17th, which is a PUPIL FREE DAY. They are open from 7:30am to 6:00pm. If you are requiring care, please call Chelsea on 0408 703 482. Thanks

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

SCHOOL COUNCILLOR

As this week is Mental Health week, it is timely to think about ways that we foster emotional and mental well-being in our children and students. Every child and family's circumstances are different, but here are three simple tips that you may find helpful to build your child's resilience:

Talk about feelings: Let them know it is perfectly normal to feel upset or angry sometimes. As a parent, you can be an emotional role model for your children by showing them how to behave when you're frustrated or upset –although we know this isn't always easy!

Have fun & relax! Make time for fun and "down time" with your children to help keep some balance. This is also a great opportunity to enjoy some time listening and playing with your child.

Learning Opportunities: Allow your child to learn from their own mistakes with support. Giving them age appropriate freedoms will help them learn their own limits, and show you trust them to make appropriate decisions.

Get advice and support – if you're worried that something has changed with your child, talk to you a trusted friend, GP or one of the staff at St. Joseph's. Chances are if they are unable to help, they will be able to link you with the right people. If you would like to read more on resiliency and mental well-being please check out the following links:

On resiliency:

Child and Youth Health:

Camelia Perkins
School Counsellor
Direct: (07) 4923 5700
Fax: (07) 49235 716
Emmaus College & Saint Joseph's Park Avenue: Tuesday to Thursday
Email: Camelia_Perkins@emmaus.qld.edu.au

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
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.

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

HIGH TEA FOR MND

WHEN: Sunday, 23rd October 2016 (2-5pm)
WHERE: The Kevin Castles Conference Centre, 143 West Street, Rockhampton
TICKETS: $30ea

Available at The Catholic Education Office – 145 West Street, Rockhampton or by contacting Katrina Caton – 0400130204, katrina_caton@rok.catholic.edu.au.

Grab some friends and make up a table of 6 or just come along and meet new friends.

Please see attachment for more details