6 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Catholic Education’s St Patrick’s Race Day will be held at Callaghan Park on Saturday, March 16th. Books of raffle tickets will need to be returned to our school office, sold or unsold for collection by Tuesday the 12th of March. Proceeds from this event are distributed to all the Catholic schools in the Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast area. Details on where you can purchase race day tickets as well as other relevant information can be found on the promotional poster displayed in the office.

Next week Miss Black and I will be taking part in Safeguarding Children & Young People Intensive Study run in conjunction with the Australian Catholic University. Brooke will be commencing her second year of study and I will be beginning my first. As you will be aware, the safety and wellbeing of our students is always our top priority and taking part in these studies is a commitment to improving our school’s student protective practices.

This week, I will continue to call for Prep enrolments 2020 by posting notices on our LED sign and school app. It is crucial for us to know of any siblings within the current school community that may be enrolling in Prep next year so we are aware of the available spaces we will have to offer. Even families that have been at the school for some time still go through an interview process for each new child who joins our community. Please, if you have a child that is due to begin Prep next year, or you know someone who has, please urge them to visit the school office for the appropriate enrolment forms as spaces have been very limited in the last few years.

Don’t Forget…

• Safeguarding Children & Young People Intensive Study (Mr Fitzgerald & Miss Black) March 14th–17th
• St Joseph’s Grandparents Day Mass, Friday 15th March @ 9:00am in OLHC
• National Anti-Bullying & Non-Violence Day, Friday 15th March
• St Patrick’s Race Day, Saturday 16th March
• Classroom Profiling Training, March 18th-20th (Mr Fitzgerald, Miss Hamilton, Mrs Mooney & Ms McLeod)
• St Joseph’s Cross Country/Fun Run Day, Tuesday 19th March

Have a great week.

Regards

Bernard Fitzgerald
Principal - St. Joseph’s Catholic School Park Avenue

APRE REFLECTION

What does hope mean to you?

Where do you see hope?

How can you show others you are hopeful?

For the past 55 years Caritas Australia has worked together with our neighbours in Australia and around the world helping those most in need.

Lent begins today with the marking of ashes; this sign reminds us to live the way Jesus wants. It is the beginning of our preparation for Easter when Jesus dies on the cross and rises from the dead. Lent is a special time when we stop and think about how we can play our part in God’s hope for a world that is fair, just and peaceful. Through prayer, fasting and almsgiving we take the focus from ourselves and instead focus on our relationship with God. We also think about giving all of ourselves to be God’s love and mercy in our world as we look to give Lent 100%.

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
5.00pm Holy Family
6.30pm Our Lady Help of Christians

Sunday
7.00am St Mary’s
9.00am Holy Family

Bernadette Brennan
APRE

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Liturgical Celebrations for Term 1

*OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church – next to school
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)
*LOW – Liturgy of the Word

St Joseph’s Feast Day/Grandparents Day Mass – 15th of March

Our annual St Joseph’s whole school Feast Day Mass followed by our Grandparents Morning Tea will be held next Friday, the 15th of March commencing with the mass in OLHC Church at 9:00am followed by the morning tea in the MPA until 11:00am.

Families are asked to contribute to the morning tea and celebrate this very special day as a whole community.

• eldest children in Grades 3 – 6: plate of sandwiches to share
• eldest children in Prep to Grade 2: plate of biscuits, cakes or other sweet to share.

Hope to see you there.

Project Compassion

With the commencement of the liturgical season of Lent today, we have distributed Project Compassion donation boxes to classrooms. Project Compassion is Caritas Australia's annual Lenten fundraising and awareness-raising appeal. Millions of Australians come together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. Each week of Lent, we will provide links to the profiles of another person who always gives 100%.

Bernadette Brennan
APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

Rockhampton District Selection Trials

Term 1

Below are the Rockhampton and District Trials (RDS) for the following Primary School sports happening in Term 1. If your child has the prerequisite skills and you wish for them to trial in the following sports, you can contact me through the school office to obtain the appropriate trial forms. Alternatively, the forms can be downloaded in the Parents Notes section of the Skoolbag App.

Please be aware that for your child to attend these trials as a 10-year-old student that they would need to be exceptional as they will be competing against students up to 12 years of age.

Run4Fun / Cross Country

Only two weeks to go until the School Run4Fun. How are you tracking towards your fundraising goal? Hopefully students have been raising funds using their Sponsorship Form together with online fundraising through the link below. Don’t forget, the more sponsorship donations you receive the better prize you can choose.

Sporting Success

Capricornia Selection

Congratulations Jorja on her selection in the U10 Capricornia Swimming Team. Jorja will compete in Brisbane later this month.

Rockhampton District School Sports Selection

Congratulations to the following students for their selection in the Rockhampton teams. They will all be trialling for Capricornia selection in the upcoming weeks.

Friday Sport

Soccer

Yr 5 boys St Joeys Navy v Berserker SS @ Glenmore SS 1 (12:40)
Yr 6 boys St Joeys Maroon v Berserker SS @ Glenmore SS 1 (1:35)
Yr 6 girls St Joeys v The Hall SS @ Norbridge Park 6 (12:40)
Yr 6 Blue (mixed) St Joeys v Park Avenue SS 5 @ PASS (1:35)
Yr 5 White (mixed) St Joeys v Park Avenue SS @ PASS (12:40)

Softball/Teeball

St Joeys Navy v Berserker 1 on 1
St Joeys White v RGS 2 on W2
St Joeys Maroon v Mt Archer on 1C
St Joeys Blue v Frenchville on 3A
St Joeys Gold v Mt Archer on 2A

Softball/Teeball games commence about 12:30

CURRICULUM NEWS

Write4fun Competition

The 2019 Schools Writing Competition is now open. Write4fun encourages students to read and write through fun competitions. School students across Australia battle it out for the great cash and prizes on offer. First prize is $500 cash for the winning student and $500 cash for their school plus their choice of an Apple iPad 32GB, Xbox One X, $500 Rebel Sport Gift Card or a Playstation 4.

To enter this competition you need to write either a Poem consisting of 16 lines or less OR a short story consisting of 500 words or less. You can choose any writing style and any topic. The competition is open for any student in Kindergarten through to Grade 12.

For more information and details on how to enter please visit www.write4fun.net.

Entries close on Sunday 31st March 2019.

Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum

Throughout Semester One, our school will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in all year levels. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

The Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum has been mandated by our Diocese to be actively taught in all of the Rockhampton Catholic schools each year. In 2019, classroom teachers will teach these lessons on a Friday morning as part of the Health Curriculum.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this program please don’t hesitate to contact either Mrs Senini, Mr Fitzgerald or your child’s classroom teacher.

More information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at:

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 - Cross Checking

Do the pictures and /or words look right? Do they sound right? Do they make sense?

Cross Checking is a strategy for ensuring the words (and sometimes pictures) make sense and match the letters on the page. When a word doesn’t make sense in the sentence, students cross check the word with the pictures and look at the letters and sounds in the word. This concept is usually used for beginner readers.

Spelling:

Strategy: Definitions

Knowing and understanding the meaning of a word is an essential part of any spelling program. Whether your child looks up the word in a dictionary, asks you for the meaning, draws a picture to illustrate the meaning or writes out the meaning, it is important that they understand what their spelling words mean. They can then confidently use any new words in their speaking and writing.

Mental Computation:

Knowing strategies to assist students to recall number facts quickly is essential for success in mathematics. Each year level will be focussing on particular number facts strategies throughout 2019. Please contact your child’s teacher to find out the strategy your child should be practicing this week.

Game – Cards

• Using a pack of cards, turn over two cards and race your child/ren to mentally calculate the sum of both cards. This game can also be used for subtraction, multiplication and division. You could also extend the game by using more than 2 cards.

Regards,

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

Fee Accounts for Term 1 were due Tuesday 19th February. If these have not been paid they are now 2 weeks overdue and need your URGENT attention.

If you have not received your Fee statement or are unable to make any payment, can you please make immediate contact with Bernard or Megan to advise your current situation?

Fee Accounts are now being published to Parent Lounge and will no longer be posted out in hard copy. You will need to Login to Parent Lounge to access your Fee Statement.

Please remember to update your Concession Card if it has expired, as you are unable to get the Concession without a new card being presented.

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

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 5

So far in Year 5 we have been learning about Science, Maths, Religion, Spelling/Sound Waves and we have been reading the book Wonder in Novel Study. In Science we have been learning about Matter and Particles that make up the world, we have also been learning about solids, liquids, gases and non-newtonian fluids.

In maths we have been learning decimal addition, decimal subtraction and factor trees.

In religion we have been learning about all different types of prayers and how they are said and or done.

In spelling we have been learning about sounds in different words and how they are said or pronounced.

In library we have kindy buddies on Tuesdays and Thursdays to teach the kindy kids how St. Joey’s library system works, so they know how to do it next year if they come to prep.

In PE we are training for the athletics carnival including high jump, long jump, shot put and ball games.

In music we have been learning about all of the parts of music e.g. rhythm, beats and dynamics. All the things we have been learning in year 5 have been very fun, educational and entertaining.

This year we have had the privilege to receive a Macbook Air each and most of our work will be done on these devices, later on in the year we will be able to take these devices home with us each day. When we were setting up our macbooks one of the teachers that helping us was Miss Agius and we are very sad to say that last Friday the 1st of March she left us to go to Emmaus. She will be missed and hopefully we will see her if we go to Emmaus.

Written by
Nicola Dobbs, Grace Lloyd-Jones and Rayna Andersen
Year 5.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Abby Druery (Yr 6), Thomas Lil 9Yr 5), Breanna Gear (Yr 6), Charlotte Lambert (2M), Noah Barnes (Yr 4) Estelle Hunt (Yr 5) and Koby Goody (1C).

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Sorry for the confusion in last week’s newsletter, but the P&F are absolutely needing help this Saturday 9th March from 7am to 9am to help prepare salad rolls for the Rugby League 10-12 year old selection trials. If you can spare a couple of hours this morning to come along and help us make rolls in the tuckshop, please let Amanda Conway know, or the lovely ladies in the office. The school receives a large donation for providing this service, so we’d appreciate your help.

Members of the P&F and Mr Fitzgerald attended the Catholic School Parents Mini Conference at the weekend and found the presentations very informative and snippets will be shared with everyone throughout the year. Remember, everyone is automatically a member of the P&F, just by being associated with our school.

Coming up in just over a week we celebrate our annual St Joseph’s Feast Day, or Grandparents Day on Friday 15th March, with Mass in the church at 9am, followed by morning tea in the MPA afterwards. We are getting in early to ask for donations of sweet (biscuits, slices, cakes, scones, etc etc) and savoury (sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiches, scrolls etc etc) treats and help to assemble our wares in the library before school. This is really a wonderful morning for families, and your support in this would be greatly appreciated.

Reminder:

Thanks, and have a great week

Joeys P&F

EASTER RAFFLE

This term the Year 6 major fundraiser is an Easter multi-draw raffle that will be drawn on Grandparent’s Day (Week 7 – Friday 15 March). Tickets are $1 each and to be sold before and after school in Weeks 5, 6 & 7:

* before school - in the undercover area
* after school - outside the Year One & Learning Support rooms

Thank you for your support, it is always a great event!

PARENT LOUNGE

Changes to your address, phone number or work phone number can be made in Parent Lounge. Simply log in, go to the Parent Details tab, make your changes, and then submit.

ABSENTEES

Absentees can be done through the Skoolbag App. Click on our School Logo, eforms and then Absentee Form.

All notifications from the school are done through this app. Our weekly Newsletters are also posted to this app.

Please make sure that you have downloaded it.

SCHOOL BANKING

School banking happens every Thursday.

If you wish to start school banking, you need to open a Youth Saver Account at the Commonwealth bank, make no deposit and they will provide you with your banking book and details.

Please send your child’s banking book in so they can place it in the grey classroom-banking bag.

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 do not 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 conduct 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 and Wednesday afternoon from 2:45 – 3:15.

Please feel free to drop any uniforms you no longer need so they can be 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 inside.

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