1 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL

I am truly astounded by the display of effort and generosity within our school community that culminated in our wonderful school fete last Sunday. To see so many people pull together and give freely of their time over the last 12 plus months to create such a wonderful community event is very humbling. In a time where events such as these are disappearing from school calendars, the efforts of the Fete committee, the dedication of our staff, the generosity of our sponsors and the hundreds of collective hours put in by volunteers to make such an event happen is truly wonderful. I know the fete raised money for the P&F but I assure you the driving force behind the organisers was to provide a family friendly, community-building event. I knew the event was a success as I moved around on the day hearing students laughing and enjoying time with their friends and family. If quality community building time is a true indicator of success, than this event was immensely successful. Finally, I thank you, your families, your neighbours and friends for coming along and giving so generously, to what was a terrific day.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Catholic Education Office. At the end of last year, schools were notified that nearly all of the iPads that we use in our classrooms would soon cease to be supported by apple. With this in mind, we had to order 70 new iPads along with the scheduled replacement of over 50 student Chromebook devices for 2018. I have recently found out that CEO has helped cover the cost of these purchases. This is just another example of the wonderful support our school and our children’s educational journey receives from the Catholic Education Office.

Next week our Year 6 students will be taking part in their Peer Support training. This has always been seen as a right of passage for our oldest students as they explore skills in leadership, organisation and communication among other things in order to effectively lead their Peer Support groups later in the year. Please be aware that these students will be on site but working under a different timetable while they complete their training.

As mentioned last week, our school has begun to prepare for our change over to the new National Broadband Network, we have been informed that we will have to be issued a new phone number for the school. This is no small matter, as I believe the school has had the same phone number for well over 30 years. We do not yet know what our new number will be, but as soon as we do, we will begin multiple forms of communication to make our community aware, including changing information on our school letterhead.

Please stay tuned to upcoming information regarding this matter, as it will be imperative to know the new number in order to contact the school by telephone in the future.

Finally, I have had so many people complement the school about our participation in the ANZAC march last week. After looking at photos of the event, it was great to see how much pride was evident in the 180 or so staff and students who marched on the day. I am delighted that this also made such an impact on people who saw our school march and took the time to comment on the efforts of our school.

Don’t Forget…

• District Cross Country, Wed 2nd May
• Labour Day Holiday, Mon 7th May
• Yr 6 Peer Support Training, Tues-Wed 8th & 9th May
• NRL Development Cup Gala Day, Fri 11th May
• Mother’s Day, Sun 13th May
• NAPLAN Yr 3 & Yr 5 Testing, Tues-Fri 15th – 18th May
• Season B inter-school sport begins, Fri 18th May
• School Photo Day, Mon 21st May
• Installation of new Adventure Playground, Week 6
• National Sorry Day, Sun 26th May
• Athletic Field Events @ SJPA, Mon 11th June
• Athletics Track Events @ Emmaus, Tues 12th June
• Prep Enrolment Forms for 2019 due by end of term

Have a great week.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
St. Joseph’s PA Acting Principal

APRE REFLECTION

Many countries celebrate the first day of May with rituals to ensure good crops and plentiful harvest in the agricultural field. Other countries associate May Day with honoring the labor movement. In 1955, Pope Pius XII established the feast of St. Joseph the Worker to also be celebrated on May 1st. All these customs are associated with great works and this week we recall that we are God’s great work.

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

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Year 2F Prayer Assembly

This Friday 4th May, Year 2F will be leading the prayer assembly in OLHC church at 11:30am. The year 2 students will be presenting an assembly about St Joseph the Worker. Parents, families and friends of the school are all welcome to come along and share this prayer celebration.

ANZAC Day

Last Wednesday’s march was a huge success and it was wonderful to see about 130 students and staff turn up to represent the school. The students marched eagerly and proudly through the streets of Rockhampton. Thank you to the parents and caregivers who waited patiently on the sidelines and cheered as we marched past.

SPORTING MATTERS

No Interschool Sport this week

Season B interschool sport commences on Friday 18th May.

Bernadette Brennan
Acting APRE

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates – Term 2

NAPLAN

NAPLAN tests will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of Week 5 for Year 3 and 5 students. Teachers have been preparing the students for these tests and will continue to do so until week 5. NAPLAN tests are important for our school as it gives us a good ‘snapshot’ of the areas we are doing well in and also the areas where we as a school need to focus on in the future. The staff at St Joseph’s do our best to make this time as stress free as we can for the students. If you have any concerns about your child sitting the NAPLAN tests please see me before the end of Week 3. I recommend that all students who are participating in the tests have a good night sleep the night before each test and a good hearty breakfast each morning of the tests.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

This week (week 3), we will be holding the first of our parent teacher interviews for the year. I hope that everyone has logged on to parent lounge and booked an interview. It is a great opportunity to touch base with your child’s teacher and see how your child is progressing with both their academic goals and their attitude towards their learning. If for some reason you cannot make your scheduled appointment, please let the office or your child’s teacher know.

SELF DEFENCE LESSONS

As part of Health lessons and as a follow up from the Daniel Morcombe Safety Curriculum taught during Semester One, Year 4, 5 and 6 students are invited to take part in a 4 week self-defence program. 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 self-defence program has been running at St Joseph’s for the past 2 years and has proven very enjoyable, practical and educational for our students.

A note with more information was sent home with your child early this week. Please complete all the relevant forms and return to school by Tuesday 22nd May.

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 Fluency.

Strategy – Voracious Reading

Readers become more fluent by increasing the amount of reading they do. The more a child reads the better they will become at reading. Encourage your child to read as often as possible. Please make sure that they are reading good fit books (books that are not too easy or difficult for them).

Spelling:

Strategy: Highlight Words

Write your words. Read each one and highlight any chunk, which may be difficult for you. This strategy is important as it allows students to deconstruct words and think about the sections they find difficult and need to focus more attention on.

Regards,

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

Fee Accounts for Term 2 were emailed and posted to Parent Lounge on Monday 23rd April.

These are due for payment on Monday 7th May.

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.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 3F

What do you like about being in year 3?

Cooper: We get to have our own computer! We are being very responsible for our laptops. Our teachers are great to learn with.

Hanna: I like learning about Math. I think I am getting better and better every workshop we do. I also like how the year 3 students are nice to me.

Alfie: I get to see my friends every day and I enjoy playing with them. I like learning about different things every day in our Math and English rotations.

Jorja: I like our teachers. Miss Ferguson is funny and nice. All the students in year 3 are nice too. I like learning about melting things in Science!

Anikah: We have the best teachers! We get to do fun things like play sentence games on our laptops and play class games like pass the bomb!

Adyn: I like it how we all get a Chrome Book each. We have great teachers that look after us. I like learning about fractions in Math.

A very big thank you to all the parents who donated Scupey and who helped to sell earrings and necklaces at the fete!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Evelyn Boswood (PM), Jacob McLean (2F), Kaidyn Stuart (2J), Matilda Ballinger (1F), Monica Bartsch (1F), Charlie Vidler (5) and Mrs Paap (Yr 2)

Have a great day.

SCHOOL BANKING

School banking has started up again on Thursdays. Please send your child’s banking book in so they can place it in the grey classroom-banking bag.

ST STANISLAUS COLLEGE

On Saturday the 5th of May, there will be a Mass and morning tea to celebrate 60 years since St Stanislaus was opened. Please see the below invite.

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 don’t take long and are available after assembly on a Monday morning with Deanne Senini, and on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30pm - 3:00pm. Debbie Rooney will also be conducting induction sessions in the tuckshop, if you are helping 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 hand 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

PUMPED SPORT

Pumped Sport will be running a Champion’s League multi-sport program this term on Thursday’s after school at school. The program introduces children to a different sport each week. An 8-week program ($100) will commence Thursday the 26th April from 3.15 to 4pm. Please register at the link below.