22 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 5 of Term 2.

NAPLAN is done and dusted for another year. Our school staff will review the NAPLAN data when we get it back and begin formulating some specific improvement targets for 2020 and beyond whilst remembering that we are still trying very hard to improve our overall writing results with a specific emphasis on improving the use of paragraphing in our written texts.

I visited the Year 3 and 5 classes before they commenced the tests this year and reminded them that all we require from them, is to do the best that they possibly can. Congratulations to Mrs Senini and the staff that administered the tests last week as it was well very organized and delivered across the week. It was also wonderful to see all of the smiling faces our students were able to maintain throughout what can be a very stressful week.

In relation to school routines and student safety I appeal to your help with a couple of items. I ask all families to ensure they have the most up to date contact details for parents and emergency contact details if parents are unavailable. A number of times this year we have had incidents at school and have been unable to reach either parent for some students and then find out that we have inaccurate or in some cases, no emergency contact details. Please hop onto the school app or come into the school office to update family contact details.

My second request is that we adhere to our school start and finish times. In a recent Government audit, we were questioned about the legitimacy of a few of our enrolments due to their daily late arrival for morning roll call. Our school day begins at 8:35am and I reemphasise the importance of being on time. When a child is constantly late for class, they are missing valuable learning time as well as becoming a disruption to the class routine and the learning opportunities of their fellow classmates. Every minute of every day counts in your child’s education. I ask that you please give both of these requests’ serious consideration.

Through the week you would have noticed that I posted our school Student Protection Contacts on the app. While our school website is being redesigned, important information such as this can be found on our official school app. If you were unaware, our school Student Protection Contacts are;

As a part of our ongoing School Review and Improvement processes, parents, staff and students will be asked to take part in community satisfaction surveys. The last time we undertook a venture like this was in 2017 when we were congratulated by CEO for our wonderful results. The reason we will survey again is to ensure that we are in touch with the views of our school community and have relevant data to draw upon when formulating school improvement initiatives in the future. I will keep the whole community posted when more information comes to hand.

Well done to our Development Cup rugby league team that contested the Division 1 School’s Jake Granville Cup last Friday at Rugby Park. I was only able to see their first contest, but in doing so saw some them compete with great skills, teamwork and comradery. All attributes that we value here at Joey’s. Thanks to Miss Hamilton and Mrs Brennan who prepared the team to face tough opposition keeping in mind our school was by far the smallest enrolment wise competing in Division 1.

Year 6 teacher Ms Hannah Hamilton will be taking some time from school to attend to a medical issue. We wish Hannah all the best for a speedy recovery.

As you would be aware, our car park pick-up zone is in a state of disrepair at this current time. Maintenance on the car park was both budgeted for and scheduled for early in 2019, however, due to upcoming capital works, CEO has advised me not to outlay any major capital expenditure until we have a clearer idea of what our new Master Plan will look like. This is in an effort not to waste valuable resources and money on an area of the school that may be refurbished in the near future.

We do however realise that the school needs to remain safe, so in conjunction with CEO we will take action to temporarily fix this area with plans to undertake major restoration as a part of the future planned capital works at St Joseph’s.

On a slightly better note, the P&F have been in consultation with the Rockhampton Regional Council and have successfully lobbied for official school zone speed signs to be erected on Haynes Street. We now expect 40km signs with the appropriate school times before and after the Kindy as well as 50km signs further along Haynes and Main Streets as you approach the area. Thank you to Claire Morrison for her diligence in this matter that will ultimately clear up acceptable speeds around our school and increase safety for our community.

Thank you for your understanding in these matters and if you require any additional information, please contact me through the school office.

Finally, this week is National Volunteer Week and I would like to take the time to thank everyone in our community that donate their time to the school. Our volunteers do a wide variety of things that make our school run smoother and provide increased opportunities for our students. Thank you again to our Joey’s volunteers, you are much appreciated and definitely worth your weight in gold.

Don’t Forget …

• 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 Northside 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

Jesus issues a new commandment, love one another
John 13:31-35

Have you thought? Love
I love my dog! I love your hair! I love that new song! I absolutely love chocolate! We throw around the word ‘love’ so casually today that it has almost lost its meaning. The decision whether or not to say ‘I love you’ in a relationship has become a major dilemma – or alternatively, just the formula that has to be said to get what you want! Jesus did not use the word so casually or so inappropriately. He spoke of love very deliberately and very specifically. Jesus calls us to share in the selfless love that he modelled and to follow his example.

Greg Sunter @ 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

Children’s Mass

As a faith community, we celebrated a wonderful evening together last Saturday night at our Children’s Mass. The children who formed part of the ministries for the evening did a great job. After mass, everyone stayed on for a chat and a sausage sizzle.

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.

Project Compassion

The final collection has been completed and the donations counted. As a school we raised $468 for Project Compassion. This money can provide educational resources and teacher assistance for a child in Vietnam living with a disability so they can attend school for a year. Great effort Joeys.

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

Development Cup

Last Friday, we took a team to participate in the Rugby League Development Cup. Our boys were nominated in the Jake Granville Cup which is the A Grade competition on the day. The boys were unsuccessful in making it to the next stage but played in the spirit of the game and did Joeys proud. Great effort to all the players. Jacob Murphy was named our most improved player of the day.

Friday 24th May

Netball

Junior E @ 1:50pm
St Joey’s v St Peter’s on grass court 13
Junior B @1:10pm
St Joey’s v Mt Archer on court 6
Senior E @ 1:50pm
St Joey’s v Heights White on court 8
Senior C @ 12:30pm
St Joey’s v Berserker on court 11
Senior B @ 1:50pm
St Joey’s v Berserker on court 3
Senior A @ 12:30pm
St Joey’s v RGS on court 4

Hockey

1:00 – 1:15
St Joey’s Blue v Lighthouse Christian 1 on grass 3
St Joey’s White v St Peter’s 1 on grass 4
1:20 – 1:35
St Joey’s Gold v Lighthouse Christians 2 on grass 3
St Joey’s Maroon v St Peter’s 2 on grass 4
1:40 – 1:55
St Joey’s Blue v Frenchville 3 on grass 2
St Joey’s White v Frenchville 5 on grass 3
2:00 – 2:15
St Joey’s Gold v Frenchville 4 on grass 2
St Joey’s Maroon v Frenchville 6 on grass 3

Rugby League

Yr 5 C 12:45pm
St Joey’s v Parkhurst @ Colts
Yr 5 A/B 1:45pm
St Joey’s v Parkhurst @ Colts
Yr 6 A @ 1:45pm
St Joey’s v St Anthony’s @ Victoria Park Top

Bernadette Brennan
APRE

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates – Term 2

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is an annual state wide initiative for state and non-state schools and home-educated students up to Year 9, and children attending early childhood centres. Over the past 14 years, more than 12 million books have been read, and in 2018 alone, 181,000 school, early childhood and individual readers participated in the challenge with more than 2.46 million books read throughout the PRC reading period.

The challenge is not a competition but aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read widely for pleasure and learning. Students can participate in the challenge within their school or as individual readers (home-educated students or students whose schools are not participating in the program).

For a student to successfully complete the challenge they must read or experience the allocated number of books for their year level during the reading period. Students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised through the receipt of a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier of Queensland.

Why read?

Literacy skills are vital to ensuring children have the best chance to succeed in their schooling and life. The PRC is an opportunity for students to be enthusiastic about reading, writing, authors and illustrators. Reading a variety of books builds vocabulary and knowledge, improves spelling and comprehension, can improve confidence and is also a great way to relax.

To successfully complete the PRC, students must read or experience the number of books indicated in the table below in English or additional languages. The requirement for Year 5 through to Year 9 students to read 15 books acknowledges that older students are likely to select longer, more complex books that may take them longer to read.

If they have time, students are welcome to read more books than the challenge requirements. They just need to record them on another reader record form. All books will go towards Queensland’s total PRC tally.

The following activities can be counted towards the challenge:

• reading independently
• shared reading
• being read to (Prep – Year 2 for books written in English; and all year levels for additional languages).

The following literature forms can be counted towards the challenge:

• printed books
• e-books, virtual books and digital publications
• graphic novels and comic books
• audio and braille books
• newspapers, magazines and recipe books
• books in additional languages (other than English).

Your child should have received a reader record form. This is not a compulsory school activity, however, if your child would like to participate, please complete this form as they finish each book and return it to the school office once completed. It would be appreciated if these forms can be returned by Friday, 23rd August.

NAPLAN

Well done to the teachers and students in Years 3 and 5. We have now completed our NAPLAN testing for 2019. The new online process was very new to us and we successfully completed the process with only minor hiccups. We now 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 comprehension.

Strategy – Retell the Story

A story retelling usually includes characters, setting, problems and solution or the main ideas of the text. It involves telling what is important in the story without telling too much. Retelling helps readers recall what is happening in the story, develop a sense of story structure and become more accurate in monitoring their understanding. They can transfer this knowledge of story structure to their own story writing.

Spelling:
Strategy: Letter Writing

Write a friendly letter to a teacher or a friend using at least 10 of your spelling words. Underline the spelling words that you use. This activity is useful as it allows the student to use their spelling words in context. It will allow them to think about the meaning of their words.

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

Prep G

It is amazing how quickly time has flown by, we cannot believe we are halfway through term two. It has been a very busy start to the term for us, participating in our first athlete’s carnival and celebrating our beautiful Mums/Grandmas/Aunts/Carers in our lives with our ‘Mother’s Day Picnic’.

In the classroom it is great to see the children settled into school routine and participating confidently in classroom and specialist programs each week. The children have been working hard revising their sounds/letters, reading new books and learning about a variety of maths concepts. To assist with their transition from pre-school to school our classroom program includes Play Based Learning activities three times a week, linking play with literacy and maths.

In religion, we are learning about prayer, the different types of prayer, when we can pray and where we can pray. To help us explore the different types of prayer we have a Prayer Bear. Our Prayer Bear is very popular and very helpful to us when we pray.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Ayla Davey (Yr 6), Kalani Ivers (PG), Ella Wren (Yr 6), Keely Brook (Yr 4), Madalyn McKay (Yr 6), Charli Thorn (Yr 4), Bronson Wall (3M), Renae Palmer (Yr 6) and Mrs McCutcheon (Yr 4).

Have a great day.

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW OVERDUE

Fee Accounts for Term 2 are now overdue. These were due on 14/5/19.

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?

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

This week (the 20th to 26th of May) is National Volunteer Week, and this year also marks the 30th Anniversary of Volunteering Australia. Please take the time out to thank a volunteer that you see or know, whether it be in the Joeys community, or the greater community. Volunteers are becoming a dying breed due to the demands of everyday life, and here at Joeys we’re grateful for each and every one of our volunteers. Whether you’ve ever helped in Brekky Club, Tuckshop, classroom reading/help, driven a bus, cooked a BBQ, served a lunch, manned a stall, or helped in any other way, we say a massive THANK YOU, and we couldn’t do what we do at Joeys without your help.

Did you know that the Library also has parent books that can be borrowed? The P&F have donated a set of “Fathers and Daughters” by Madonna King, and we’re also in the process of purchasing a set of “Anxious Kids” by Michael Grose and Dr Jodi Richardson. These two ladies spoke at the recent P&F Mini Conference and were fantastic. They are great literary tools that we feel may be beneficial to both the student and parent body and are worth checking out. Pop in and see Michelle in the library for any other information and to simply have a look at the books. It’s just another way that the P&F are supporting the Joeys community.

Reminder that Under 8’s day is fast approaching (Thursday, 20th June), so please see your child’s teacher (Prep to Yr 3), if you can help on the day, or Amanda Conway if you can help cook and serve the BBQ lunch for the school.

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

FROM THE SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Building skills in children, growing them and shaping them is your busy full-time job. And busy it is, days packed with work, meal preparation, lunch packing, washing and numerous other tasks filling each day.

Sharing experiences with and our choice of words can help grow your little person each day to become more independent and explore their world, build skills, expand their thinking and grow their capacity. As busy parents, time pressures often mean we sometimes do things for our children, as it feels that waiting for them to do it, or learn it might take extra time we don’t have.

A powerful tool in your parenting toolbox is your language – the words we use can help still do what needs to be done, just to prompt different thinking and learning from our children and build their skills.

Some examples might be:

Instead of “You need to do your homework” could be “What is your plan to do your homework today?”

“Unpack your schoolbag and put your lunchbox on the bench.” Could be “What are your things you need to do when we get home?”

In the morning you might have packed the lunches, perhaps rather than you packing your child’s school bag for them, maybe you could suggest

“Maybe you could try practicing packing your school bag today?” or “I wonder how your Lunchbox and drink bottle are going to be packed into your schoolbag today?”

As our children grow and learn they develop skills and become problem solvers. It can be how they learn to do things for themselves, that they are capable of doing that builds their confidence, independence, resilience and sense of mastery. Each day a new task can bring celebration or a high 5 for being able to try something new with a “you can do it”, or “you did it” J

I found a wonderful article to share about this, which has 12 examples and ideas to help build your language to support building children’s independence and resilience.

And you can sign up for the free quick read parenting blogs – from Dr Michael Grose – Parenting Ideas.

Meet yourself where you are with kindness J

Language of independence building

Michelle Hoffman
Counsellor
Direct: (07) 4923 5700

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