24 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL

Long-standing staff member, Mrs Leonie Mooney will commence maternity leave from the 19th of June. I am sure that we all wish Leonie God’s blessings as she prepares for the arrival of a new addition to her family. Thank you Leonie for all you have offered to our Year 4s and we look forward to seeing you back in the not too distant future.

Due to Leonie’s impending maternity leave, we will be welcoming Mr Geoffery Joyce, who has been appointed to teach Year 4 in the Flexible Learning Area from the same date. I take this opportunity to thank Geoff for his willingness to take on this new role. Geoff is no stranger to the St Joseph’s community having previously completed contracts in both Year 3 and Year 1 in recent years while also having been a regular presence in the Year 4-6 Flexible Learning Areas on a relief basis. Personally, I have observed Geoff as a very professional, community based staff member and know that he continually displays our school gospel values of self-worth, mutual acceptance and personal responsibility in all that he does.

Last Thursday, our school hosted a Block Grants Authority application meeting.

During this time, we made the initial application to upgrade some of our older classrooms and our Learning Support facilities. The process is very competitive as there is 129 million dollars’ worth of applications and only 70 million dollars in available grant funding. In saying this, the meeting went very well and I thank all who contributed to our presentation from both our school community and the Diocesan Office.

Thank-you to all who completed their SR&I survey over the last two weeks. I will take this opportunity to highlight some of the suggestions that are already underway such as research into a cashless tuck shop and upgraded adventure playground facilities. Thank-you again for all of the valuable feedback and your ongoing participation in the future direction of our great school.

Just a quick reminder, as student protection is such an integral part of our school practices that I must remind all visitors to the school beyond normal morning pick up and afternoon drop off times that they must sign in and out through the school office. Similarly, all students collected or dropped off during the day must be done so through the school office and not directly from their classroom.

I must also mention that parents should not use the children’s toilets in the MPA and in the lower eating area. We are currently in the process of resigning and changing the lock on the single toilet in the MPA. This along with the toilet in the administration block should be the only toilets used by visitors or parent volunteers. Thank you for your consideration in these matters.

In an effort to support the Farr family, the P&F will be conducting another Meal Deal on the 21st of June in Week 10 later this Term and a Farr Family Fun Free Dress Day tomorrow, Thursday 24th May. We are asking that the community donate anything that they can to help the Farr family during these challenging times.

This Friday we will be holding a 9:00am shared mass in OLHC church to celebrate Our Lady Help of Christian’s feast day. During the mass we will acknowledge the important role that Mary played in the life of Jesus and reflect on the special bond between Mother Mary, and her son Jesus. We also acknowledge the care and compassion shown by Mary as a patron saint and how she is a great example of how we can ‘be the someone to someone in need.’

All are welcome to come along and join us.

Don’t Forget …

• Board Meeting, Wednesday 24th May 5:30pm
• Farr Family Free Dress Day, Thursday 25th May
• OLHC Whole School Mass, Friday 26th May 9:00am

Have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA Acting Principal

APRE REFLECTION

Our Lady Help of Christians

The infant church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. No priests were sent to the colony in its early days and Mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820. It was largely the Rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive.

The Australian Catholic community remained faithful to Mary and Australia was the first nation to choose her under the title, 'Mary Help of Christians' as principle Patroness. Australia also became the first country to have a cathedral dedicated in Our Lady, Mary's name. Here at Park Avenue, we are fortunate to be able to celebrate in our own Our Lady Help of Christians church.

Enjoy the week
Bernadette Brennan
Acting APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Our Lady Help of Christians Mass this Friday

This Friday, 26th May we will celebrate the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians (OLHC) at 9:00am with a whole school mass. All members of the school and wider community are welcome to join us.

Bishop Michael

On Friday 9th June, Bishop Michael is coming to OLHC to celebrate the 9:00am parish mass. This will be a whole school mass, instead of the scheduled prayer assembly. Families and friends are welcome to join us.

Confirmation and First Communion weekend

This year, 13 St. Joseph’s students are participating in the Confirmation/Eucharist sacramental program. Bishop Michael will confirm these candidates at Holy Family on Friday 9th June at 6:00pm. On Saturday, 10th June, many of the students will make their First Communion at OLHC with the community during the 6pm mass. All members of the community are invited to join the children and their families as they receive these sacraments.

Family Workshop for Eucharist

This Saturday, 27 May at 5:00pm at Holy Family our theme will be “The Road to Emmaus”.

This is an important part of the program, so attendance is vital. For further information, please contact the Parish Office (4928 2800) or berylmills18@gmail.com

Children’s Mass

Last Saturday, we celebrated Children’s Mass. The children represented themselves extremely well and witnessed a baptism. Fr. Matthew involved all the children as he invited them to come to the front of the church and he explained the significance of the symbols throughout the sacrament. The children were truly engaged during the baptism and received a special blessing from their parents to ‘listen’ to the Word of God.

Bernadette Brennan
Acting APRE

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

Friday Sport 26/05/2017

Hockey

1pm

St Joseph’s PA 1 v Stanwell on Turf 4
St Joseph’s PA 3 v Heights 5 on Grass 1
St Joseph’s PA 5 v Heights 3 on Turf 3

1:20pm

St Joseph’s PA 2 v Crescent Lagoon on Turf 4
St Joseph’s PA 4 v Heights 6 on Grass 1
St Joseph’s PA 6 v Heights 4 on Turf 3

1:40pm

St Joseph’s PA 1 v Heights 3 on Turf 1
St Joseph’s PA 3 v Heights 1 on Turf 4
St Joseph’s PA 5 v St Joseph’s Wandal 3 on Grass 1

2:00pm

St Joseph’s PA 2 v Heights 4 on Turf 1
St Joseph’s PA 4 v Heights 2 on Turf 4
St Joseph’s PA 6 v St Joseph’s Wandal 4 on Grass 1

All Hockey games are played at Kalka Shades

Netball

Junior D 1:50pm
St Joseph’s PA v Frenchville on court 5

Senior B 1:50pm
St Joseph’s PA v Berserker on court 1

Junior C 1:10pm
St Joseph’s PA v Frenchville on court 6

Junior B 12:30
St Joseph’s PA v Berserker on court 9

Senior D 1:10pm
St Joseph’s PA v Waraburra on court 1

All Netball games are played at Jardine Park

Rugby League

Year 6 A’s 12:45pm
St Joseph’s PA v St Anthony’s @ Colts

Year 5 A/B’s 1:45pm
St Joseph’s PA v St Anthony’s @ Colts

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.

Questacon Science Circus

On Thursday the 1st June, the Questacon Science Circus will be visiting St Joseph’s. They will present three different interactive science sessions – one for Prep and Year 1, one for Year 2 and Year 3 and one for Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6. As part of this visit, each child receives a complimentary ticket for free entry to the Shell Questacon Science Circus’ public exhibition. This exhibition will be at CQU Community Sport’s Complex on Sunday, 4th June from 11 am – 4 pm. Admission for this event is adult $6, students/concessions $5, family $18, children under 5 free.

Save the Date - Under 8s Day

Our annual Under 8’s Day morning will take place at St Joey’s in Term 3 on Thursday 10th August. This is a day where we celebrate the learning and development of our younger students. The day will begin with a short liturgy in the multi-purpose area. Following the liturgy, the children will be free to investigate the various hands on activities prepared by our Prep – Year 3 teachers. Parents are most welcome to attend this part of the day. After first break students will head back to class where they will complete activities with their class for the rest of the day. Students in Prep to Year 3 are invited to come along to this day in free dress. It is essential that this free dress consists of clothing which is sun safe (no sleeveless shirts), a school hat and fully enclosed shoes. If you are able to assist your child’s teacher on the day, please let them know as soon as possible. If you have any questions about this day, please don’t hesitate to see me.

Self Defence Lessons

As many of you would know, last year we employed Mrs Ashleigh McNae from McNae’s Taekwondo to provide our Year 3 – 6 students with a 4-week self-defence course. This activity was a huge success with the students learning simple yet effective ways of getting themselves out of unwanted arm grabs and shoulder grabs. This course complements the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum which talks about staying safe and being able to exit from unwanted and unsafe scenarios.

This year has seen our school develop a plan to implement the new Australian Health Curriculum. As part of that whole school planning we have invited Mrs McNae back to St Joseph’s to implement her self-defence course with all Year 4 and Year 6 students. Our hope is that this will continue into the future and all students when they are in Year 4 and Year 6 will be offered the opportunity to learn and practise these protective life saving skills.

This year these sessions will occur during normal Health lessons in weeks 2-5 of Term 2. A note will go home this week with all Year 4 and Year 6 students. Please complete the permission forms and return them to school as soon as possible. If you have any questions or concerns about this activity, please come and see me.

Big Book Swap

Every second year during book week we have a big book swap morning. This is when we ask students to bring in an unwanted book (in good condition) and swap it for another pre-loved book. This activity has been very well supported in the past and I’m hoping it will be again this year. The aim is for every child to go home with a new pre-loved book. Any leftover books are distributed to classrooms and used as classroom readers. Although this event won’t be happening until next term (22nd August) it takes time to collect the books so if you would like to donate a book (or multiple books) for this event please drop them to the library to Mrs Roberts who will place them aside for our big book swap.

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 – Use beginning and ending sounds

When reading a word, students should be using the sounds at the beginning of the word as well as at the end of the word. Often children will look at the beginning letter or letters and guess a word that may fit in the sentence without looking at the rest of the word. They may not even know there is an end to a word. It is important that children slow down enough to be able to look at the whole word before making a guess. They would then cross check the word to make sure it makes sense with the pictures and the rest of the sentence.

Spelling:

Strategy: Match Up

This strategy involves writing each of the spelling words on two different index cards. Turn all the cards face down and mix them up. Lay out all the cards in rows (like Concentration or Memory) and flip over two cards at a time. Read each card aloud to see if they match. Keep them if they do or flip them over and try again.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

YR 2H

What do 2H learn about?

I wonder what the symbols of Baptism are?
What is a Chromebook and how do we use it?
I wonder how people and places are connected?
I wonder how to write a narrative with a sizzling start?
I wonder what GoNoodle is?
I wonder how our school has changed over time?
I wonder how to fill a bucket?
I wonder what happens when I push and pull things?

2H have spent much of their time so far this term answering these very interesting questions. Please ask us what we discovered - the answers might be VERY interesting! We will fill you in at the end of term on what we learned about these things.

Mrs Hannah and 2H

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Angelina Swadling (6B), Ella Wren (4M), Brooklyn Tselepis (6B), Keely Brook (2H), Seth Carpenter (6F), Madalyn McKay (4M), Charli Thorn (2H), Bronson Wall (1F), Lacey Holme (4M), Isobella Horton (5C), Renae Palmer (4W), Max Harris (1M), Zac Joyce (4W), Mrs McCutcheon and Mr Joyce.

Have a great day.

JOEYS ANGELS

Joeys Angels are in need of more frozen meals. If you could help out in any way, that would be fantastic. Containers for these meals can be collected from the tuckshop. Can we please remind you to put what the meal is and what day it was cooked on the container somewhere, preferably before they are frozen. These meals can be mild curries, bolognaises, stews, casseroles, savoury mince etc. We thank you in advance for your help.

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

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.

TENNIS

Tennis Rockhampton is a non-profit organisation that offers junior and senior coaching 6 days a week. We cater for all ages and standards with group, squad and private lessons available.

If you join this term we are also offering a free racquet, t-shirt and water bottle for all new juniors.

If you would like any more information on any programs we offer or would like to book a spot please phone Glenn on 0407 693 900 or Paul on 0431 229 146.

ARCHER PARK RAIL MUSEUM - FAMILY FUN DAY

DATE: Sunday 25th June 2017
TIME: 9AM – 1PM
COST: $2 ENTRY – 14YRS AND OVER
$2.50 – TRAM RIDES OVER 18 MONTHS

Come along and enjoy the displays and market. Ride the Purrey Steam Tram, see the Diesel and Steam engine and heritage rail carriages.

There will be morning tea and sausage sizzle, vintage, classic and ford cars, military museum stall, live music, rail memorabilia, exhibits and lots more.