10 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL

SR&I parent surveys opened last Monday and will remain open until Friday, 19th of May. I ask that you please take the time to partake in this short survey that will become an integral part of our School Review and Improvement process.

Please be aware, as highlighted in my email invitation to participate late last week, that all information is confidential and externally collated by MYPCorp before a summary of the results will be provided to the school leadership team. For all those whom choose to take part, thank you for your assistance in helping to shape the future direction of St Joseph’s Park Avenue.

As you may be aware, our Years 3 and 5 students will be taking part in NAPLAN numeracy and literacy testing this week. As we are trying to ensure that we give our students the best possible chance to perform to the optimum of their abilities, we will be limiting the amount of noise and movement around our school during these NAPLAN testing times.

This weekend, Sunday 14th May, we will all celebrate Mother’s Day. This is the day in which we acknowledge the special role our mother’s and grandmother’s play in our lives. Mother’s Day is a time in which we remember and appreciate all of the things they have done for us and thank God for the special bond between a mother and the unconditional love for her child.

To all of the women in our Joey’s community, have a fantastic Mother’s Day with your families.

Just a reminder that all of our students should have brought home their individual MSP Photography photo envelopes last week. These envelopes will need to come back to school with the students on Monday, 22nd of May.

Finally, please keep the following Joeys community members in your prayers;

• Father Chris Schick
• The Hunt family
• The Farr family

These past and present Joeys community members are doing it a bit tough at the moment and throughout the week all of our students will be taking part in whole school prayers for their wellbeing.

Don’t Forget …

• NAPLAN Year 3 & 5 Testing, Tuesday the 9th – Thursday the 11th May
• NRL Development Cup Gala Day, Friday 12th May
• Mother’s Day, Sunday 14th May
• P&F Meeting, Tuesday 16th May

Have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA Acting Principal

Federal Government changes create uncertainty for school funding

Over the last week you will have heard significant discussion in the media about school funding and Catholic schools in particular.

The funding package announced by the Prime Minister and the Education Minister includes a number of changes that should be of concern to us as a Catholic school community.

While the package includes a base funding increase beyond what had previously been proposed by the Federal Government, it also alluded to a number of changes to the existing funding system which may impact on the overall level of funding to Queensland Catholic schools.

The Catholic education sector is concerned the Federal Government has, to date, been unable to provide the necessary detail to allay concerns about potential funding reductions.

Some key points of concern include:

• The absolute failure of the Federal Government to consult with the Catholic sector before announcing its proposed changes
• The lack of detail and so a heightened sense of uncertainty about our future funding position
• Proposed changes to the funding model which target Catholic school systems and which will potentially reduce our funding and impact on fee levels in schools.

The Catholic education sector has urged the Federal Government to urgently meet Catholic education representatives to provide more detail about how the proposed changes will impact on schools, teachers and parents and to negotiate an acceptable outcome.

Please click on the below link to view the Federal Funding Q&A document for further detailed information on this important matter facing Catholic Education.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA Acting Principal

APRE REFLECTION

Generosity Stretches far and Wide

We recently received a collection of letters from the Islamic School of Canberra. Many students from the school, across all age groups, wrote letters expressing their concern at our hardship associated with the recent cyclone and flooding in Rockhampton. There was a variety of letters, poems and drawing in the parcel. Some of the messages included in their writing were:

• never give up and stay strong
• thinking of you during this hard time
• have patience, trust yourself and stay strong
• keep a strong feeling
• I hope you have a wonderful life
• I wish we were there to help you
• always be positive

These letters, written from the children remind us that compassion and empathy is great in the wider Australian community. These children hold many values, which align with our school values and have worked hard to try and “Be the someone to some one in need. The photos show a small portion of the students letters.

Have a great week

Bernadette Brennan
Acting APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Year 1M Prayer Assembly

This Friday 12th May, Year 1M will be leading the prayer assembly in OLHC church at 11:30am. The year 1 students will be presenting a special Mother’s Day themed assembly. Parents, families and friends of the school are all welcome to come along and share this prayer celebration.

Children’s Mass Next Week

Saturday 20th May at 6pm we will be celebrating our next children’s mass in Our Lady Help of Christians. Notes will go home soon to determine numbers attending and helpers for this celebration. All families at SJPA are welcome to join these special celebrations in our school calendar.

Sundays with Fr. Matt

To view Fr. Matthew’s message from last Sunday, click on the link.

Northside Catholic Community Mass times

Weekday

Tuesday 9.00am Holy Family
Wednesday 12.00 Noon St Mary’s
Thursday 8.00am Emmaus College (Yaamba Rd)
Friday 9.00am Our Lady Help of Christians

Weekend

Saturday – Vigil
6.00pm Holy Family
6.00pm Our Lady Help of Christians
Sunday
7.00am St Mary’s
9.00am Holy Family

Bernadette Brennan
Acting APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

NRL Development Cup Gala Day

This Friday, seventeen of our rugby league players are participating in the NRL Development Gala Day at Victoria Park. This is the second time the Gala Day has been held and we have proudly entered our team in this high level competition to compete against teams from much larger schools. The teams will play a round-robin competition, and the winners of the day are awarded the Jake Granville Cup. Mr. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Brennan will be attending the Gala Day. We wish our Development Cup team all the best and hope they have a great day of league.

Interschool Sport Season B

Next Friday, 19th May season B interschool sport commences. The students have been placed in teams and will play in those teams throughout the season. Season B continues into term 3 and concludes with finals on 25th August.

All students must have the appropriate equipment, water bottle and school hat with them before leaving the school for sport. Where possible, the draws for Friday sport will be published in the newsletter. Otherwise, if the draws are received after publication of the newsletter they will be posted on the Skoolbag App.

Equipment required:

Hockey: mouth guard, shin pads and football socks
Rugby League: mouth guard, football socks and football boots
Netball: maroon bike pants/briefs (should not be longer than dress)

Congratulations Seth

Well done Seth Carpenter on your selection in the Capricornia U11 Rugby League team. We wish Seth the best of luck at the state championships in June.

Looking forward to a great term of sport

Bernadette Brennan
Acting APRE

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates – Term 2

ICAS

Term 2 and 3 is when ICAS competitions will take place. If your child has nominated to participate in any of these competitions, they will receive a copy of a previous test which they can use as a practice. These practice tests will be sent home as each test gets closer. They do not need to be returned to school – they are merely a way of helping your child prepare for the ICAS competition they have nominated for.

NAPLAN

This week our Year 3 and 5 students will be participating in NAPLAN testing. These tests are important as they provide the school with an overview of which Curriculum areas students are proficient in and which areas we need to put more focus on. I recommend that all students who are participating in the testing ensure they get a good night sleep and have a nice healthy breakfast in order to help them perform their best. I would like to wish all the students luck with the testing and I look forward to seeing how well they have done.

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 – 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

CLASSROOM NEWS

PW

It has been a very busy term so far in Prep W. We have been continuing our very exciting learning journey. This term has seen us begin our Literacy Rotations where we are learning how to read our home readers.

In Geography we have been studying the book Rosie’s Walk. We have been discussing positional language used throughout the book. We then went on our very own walk around the playground where we discussed positional words and how we could use them on the playground. We then took turns at giving directions using positional language.

In Science we have been discussing how things move. We went on a scavenger hunt around the school looking at how things move and why they move. We discussed different things in the classroom, outside the classroom and at home. We have been discussing the different motions and what we can do to make things move. In the weeks to come we will be using our technology skills to go outside and take photos using the ipad of things that move.

This week we are looking forward to sharing a very special Mother’s Day Picnic on Friday for our lovely mum’s. Here we will be participating in lots of fun crafty activities and celebrating how special our mum’s are.

We look forward to a very busy Term 2.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Gabriella Halil (1F), Star Loader (2H), Emma Clarke (1M), Wyatt Currie (2F), Isabella Currie (4W), Peppa Davey (1F), Ryan Munster (3T), Aliana Fitton (PM), Hugh Everingham (5C) and Noah Kostuch (6B).

Have a great day.

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS

Fee Accounts for Term 2 were emailed and posted out on Monday 24th April.

Payment for Term 2 Fees was due Monday 8th May 2017.

If you have not received your Fee Statement, please contact Megan for a copy.

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

If you have an outstanding amount and are unable to make any payment, can you please make immediate contact with Bernard or Megan to advise your current situation?

PHOTO DAY MONDAY MAY 22ND

School Photo envelopes will be sent home this week. These can be returned to your child’s teacher. Please also see the attached letter from the photographer, as this may answer any questions that you may have.

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, and on Tuesday afternoons from 2:30pm - 3:00pm. Sue Clarke will also be conducting induction sessions in the tuckshop, if you are helping out in there.

Thanks

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 any uniforms you no longer need so they can put out to sell. Proceeds can go back to you or you can donate it back to the P & F.

The Uniform Shop has quite a lot of good second hand uniforms. Please feel free to pop in (at the opening times above), and have a look.

There are second had Emmaus uniforms also.

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)
• Emu Park

TCC RACE DAY

Please see the attachment regarding The Cathedral College Race Day “Party at the Park”, to be held on Saturday the 13th May at Callaghan Park. If you are free, grab a group and head to the races.

ROTARY HIGH TEA

The Rotary Club of Rockhampton Fitzroy are holding a Birthday High Tea at Athelstane House, Ward Street, Rockhampton on Sunday the 4th June, 2017.

Tickets are $35 per person. Tickets must be prepaid by the 29th May. Please contact Bernadette Cross for bookings and dietary requirements on 0403 504 844.

Grab a group and make a booking.