15 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 4 of Term 2.

I would like to begin this week by mentioning how much I appreciate all of the well-wishers and the offers of support in regard to my health over the last few weeks. I also need to thank my staff, in particular my Assistant Principals who picked up my responsibilities as well as maintaining their own. If you didn’t already know it, I assure you, both are hugely capable educators as well as being fantastic school leaders whose level of commitment to our school allowed me the extra time I needed on the road to recovery.

As you may have noticed, we have had surveyors at school over the last couple of weeks. This is in preparation of our long-awaited capital works at St Joseph’s. CEO has made a major commitment to refurbishing and replacing a lot of our buildings that are well due for an upgrade. With so much projected work, upgrades will need to be made in stages over the next 18 or so months. I will continue to pass on more information as it come to hand.

Congratulations to everyone involved with our St Joseph’s Kindy who were recently involved in their accreditation process. Over the weekend, I was made aware of the results and I am elated to let you know that our Kindy achieved ‘Exceeding National Quality Standards’ in all seven rating areas. This is a huge accomplishment that not very many services achieve. This of course means that our Kindy received an overall rating of ‘Exceeding National Quality Standard’ which is a fantastic accomplishment. Well done to everyone involved with the Kindy and the appraisal process.

As detailed in the last few newsletters, the first ever NAPLAN testing in an online format is still in progress throughout this week. To help our students perform to their optimum, we are trying to limit movement and any other type of distractions. Any help you can provide in helping our students do their best will be greatly appreciated.

A reminder to all families that may have younger siblings and are looking to enrol at Joey’s for Prep in 2020, I strongly encourage you to drop into the office and pick up an enrolment package as soon as possible. In the last few years positions have been very competitive and with this in mind we need to know the number of siblings in order to properly prepare of the enrolment interview process that will begin in early Term 3. Please be aware that even if you have a child or children currently at St Joseph’s, we still follow school enrolment policy and interview all possible new students to the school.

Term 2 School Fees have been sent out a few weeks ago and are now due. Please see our Finance Secretary, Mrs Megan Crosthwaite as soon as possible to make payment arrangements or book a time through the school office if you need to meet with myself. A friendly reminder that if school fee payments are unable to be met, parents must meet with myself every 12 months in order to review the situation. Thank-you in advance for your consideration in attending to this matter.

Finally, I hope all of the mothers and grandmothers in our community had a lovely day last Sunday. Your unconditional love, nurturing and commitment to our students is imperative to both their education and development.

Don’t Forget …

• NAPLAN Yr 3 & Yr 5 Testing, Tues-Fri 14th – 17th May
• P&F Meeting, Wed 15th May @ 6:30pm in the Staff Room
• NRL Development Cup, Fri 17th May
• Children’s Mass, Sat 18th May @ 6:30pm in OLHC
• Season B Inter-school sport begins, Fri 24th May
• Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day Mass, Fri 24th May @ 9:00am in OLHC
• Bishop’s North side Parishes visit, 25-26th May
• National Sorry Day, Sun 26th May
• Rockhampton Show Holiday, Thurs 13th June
• School Photo Day, Monday 17th June
• Prep Enrolment Forms for 2020 due by end of term

Have a great week.

Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald
Principal - St Joseph’s Park Avenue

APRE REFLECTION

I Give My Sheep Eternal Life

John 10:27-30

Jesus said:
‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life;
they will never be lost
and no one will ever steal them from me.
The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,
and no one can steal from the Father.
The Father and I are one.’

Shepherds in the first century did not have a particularly good reputation. Whilst the task itself was a responsible one, it was usually undertaken by hired help – usually young men or even boys. Being hired help, they had little allegiance to the flock and were generally regarded as basically untrustworthy and often accused of illicitly selling off the sheep’s milk and even the occasional lamb. They lived for months at a time out in the hills with the sheep; often risking their lives in defence of their flock, yet still regarded with suspicion. Shepherds were held in such low regard that they could not appear in court as a witness. Yet, despite this grim picture of shepherds, Jesus described himself as the Good Shepherd. With that one word, he acknowledged the reputation of shepherds but utterly dismissed it by describing himself as a shepherd – but a good shepherd. He chose to describe himself as the worst of all occupations but raised the status to unimpeachable heights.

Have you thought? Why John?
You may have noticed that during the Easter season, we have been hearing exclusively from the gospel of John. But aren’t we in Year C of the liturgical cycle – the year of Luke? Well, yes, but … The gospel of the year is predominantly proclaimed during Ordinary Time. However, there is no Year of John. This gospel is read during the Easter season and at other specific feasts and seasons. As the synoptic gospels focus on the life and ministry of Jesus, the theological and metaphoric nature of John’s gospel is much more suited to the post-resurrection season of Easter.

@ Liturgy Help

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

What’s Coming Up in Term 2

Prayer Assembly Time Change to 10:30am

You will notice the prayer assembly times above have changed. In the interests of less disruption to the curriculum and to maintain optimum productivity in classrooms, the decision has been made to bring the prayer assembly times forward to 10:30am. This change allows Friday lunch times to remain the same as the rest of the week and those students involved in interschool sport an opportunity to prepare for sport and board buses in a timely manner.

Bernadette Brennan
APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

Sporting Calendar

JOEY’S Merchandise for sale

The following items are available for sale from the office. Please note: Caps do not replace the formal school hat and at not to be worn to and from school.

These items can be purchased for: Umbrella $45, New Cap $12, Old Cap $5, Visor $10

Congratulations Girls

At the recent Rockhampton Athletics trials, our team of girls were successful in bringing back to Joeys the B Schools Girls Aggregate trophy. Great Job girls!! Well done to all the members of the athletics team and good luck at the Greater Rockhampton Athletics trials in Farnborough in June.

Athletes

Season B Training

This Friday, all students will train in their chosen sports for the upcoming season of interschool sport. To enable this to be a valuable training session, students are required to bring all the necessary equipment. The rugby league training will be held at Colts oval.

Rugby League: training clothes, football boots, mouthguards, headgear (optional)
Hockey: mouthguards, and shin pads and football socks
Netball: netball shoes (optional)

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates – Term 2

NAPLAN

This week the Year 3 and 5 students are participating in NAPLAN testing. This year, along with all other Catholic schools in our region, these tests will be taking an online format. The only paper-based assessment this year will be the Year 3 writing test. The teachers have been preparing the students for these assessments through good quality teaching of the curriculum as well as test taking and keyboarding skills.

The testing timetable for St Joseph’s Park Avenue is as follows:

If your child is involved in the NAPLAN assessments, please make sure they have a good rest each night, have a substantial breakfast on the mornings of the tests and are at school on time. I wish all the students well in these assessments and look forward to receiving the results to assist us in planning our future curriculum focus areas.

WOOLWORTHS EARN AND LEARN

St Joseph’s has registered to participate in the 2019 Woolworths Earn and Learn program. This program runs from 1st May through to 25th June. In the past, thanks to this program, our school has been able to order a large variety of resources to support our students in their learning. If you are purchasing groceries from Woolworths, please start collecting the stickers. There is a collection box in the office as well as a box at the Parkhurst and Stockland Woolworths stores.

UNDER 8s MORNING

Our annual Under 8’s morning will take place at St Joey’s this term on Thursday 20th June. 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 or know of any organisation who might like to set up an activity for the morning, please don’t hesitate to see me. Thanks to the generosity of the P&F, students will be provided with a sausage on bread for first break.

ICAS ASSESSMENTS

Students are invited to participate in ICAS assessments in 2019. This year the ICAS assessments have moved to an online format and are occurring later in the year. These assessments are designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. The assessments are based on the curriculum for each relevant year level. These assessments are designed to allow students to demonstrate a deeper, integrated and thorough level of learning.

If you’d like to participate in the 2019 ICAS Assessments, please complete and return the sheet which went home with students earlier this week, along with the payment to the school office. Orders for these assessments will close Friday, 2nd August.

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITY

Opera Australia will perform Puccini’s popular opera Madama Butterfly at the Pilbeam Theatre in July. Young local singers (aged 10 to 14) have the opportunity to be part of the local children’s chorus in this production for the Rockhampton performances. Group auditions, conducted by choirmaster Julie Layt, will be held on 29th and 30th May. For more information and to register on line, visit the link below.

STRATEGY 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

CLASSROOM NEWS

YR 2M

2M Sizzling Starts

This term Grade 2 students are engaging with the ‘Seven Steps to Writing Success’ to create texts, drawing on their own imagination and experiences.

We started focusing on ‘Sizzling Starts’, a dynamic and engaging way of starting a story. A Sizzling Start is vital to engage the reader. In books and movies, writers use the opening scene to capture their reader’s attention. In the classroom, we are encouraging students to apply the same principles, starting their writing with sound effects and action.

Here are some of 2M ‘Sizzling Starts’ writing, using the image below as a stimulus.

• ‘We were scared… there was a wobbly bridge. We didn’t know what was on the other side… we were trapped’. (Ryan Hallam)
• ‘One deep dark night I had this dream. Even worse, I was trapped in it. I was lost in the middle of nowhere.’ (Ava Semple)
• ‘CRACK! BOOM! I take a step… BANG! There goes a plank of wood! (Jack Hayward)
• ‘HELP ME!!! Dinosaurs are coming! AALLT! (Cooper Lee)
• ‘As I stepped onto the wobbly unstable bridge, I heard a CRACK! (Monica Bartsch)
• ‘Yesterday I was lost. I didn’t know where I was…’ (Maggie Wooler)
• ‘Shshsh! Pppppp! I saw a big crocodile! I ran! (Indiie Lanton)
• ‘Woosh! I was scared…there was lightning right in front of my eyes as I stepped onto the wobbly old bridge.’ (Patrick Farr)
• ‘Whoosh! Whoosh! My heart beats fast. The bridge wobbles under my feet.’ (Xavier Boswood)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Aliana Fitton (2M). Lilly Payne (Yr 5), Tyla Barnes (Yr 6), Bentley McClintock (PG), Isabelle Paap (2M) and Miss Crane.

Have a great day.

FINANCE NEWS

Fee Accounts for Term 2 have now been emailed and/or posted on Parent Lounge.

All new families would by now have received your Parent Lounge Login details.

If you have not received these, please contact Tracey or Megan in the office.

If paying by Direct Deposit, please use your Account Number as the reference

(This is the 6 digit number on your Fee Statement).

P & F NEWS

We trust that all the Mothers in our Joeys community had a wonderful day on Sunday. Whether they be our helpers, our staff, or our support behind the scenes, our Mothers all help to shape our school to be the best it can be. With National Volunteer Week being next week (May 20-26), and a fair portion of our helpers being Mothers from the school, it’s a perfect time to say thank you for everything you do!

Under 8’s day is just over a month away on Thursday June 20th and the P&F will be looking for helpers to help make this day a success. The P&F will be providing a sausage sizzle for lunch and are looking for help from parents and friends to cook and serve on the day. If you are a parent or friend with a child in Prep to Grade 3, please see your class teachers if you can help on the day with class activities or with lunch prep/service or see Amanda Conway. It’s a wonderful morning with games, crafts, special visitors and loads of fun, and your help makes the day one to remember for the kids. Mark it in your calendar.

Our next meeting will be this afternoon, and it’s open to one and all to come and have a chat and see what’s on the cards for our school. There’s lots of exciting items on the agenda as it’s been a while since our last meeting, so we hope to see you there in the staffroom at 6:30pm.

Reminder:

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Parent help is needed for Brekky Club on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings (8:10 – 8:35), along with normal tuck shop Monday to Thursday (8:30 – 11:30), or whatever time you can spare. Many hands makes light work. Please see Debbie.

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.

Changes coming to Parent Lounge will be that you can submit your child’s absentee days thru here (but only for the current term). It will be similar to the way you do this on the Skoolbag app. Once accepted our end (when we log into our computer), this will be entered straight onto our system, and saves the double handling

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