4 June 2019

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL

Many of you would be aware of the recent confirmed Dengue Fever cases in the Park Avenue area. I have been working closely with the Rockhampton Regional Council to be proactive in protecting staff and students. Last weekend the council came through the school and sprayed all classrooms and the school grounds as a protective measure.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, each school or college conducted by Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton (CEDR) progresses through a five-year cycle of review and improvement.

Throughout the five-year-cycle, schools and colleges systematically review their achievements in the four Dimensions of the School Improvement Framework (Catholic Ethos and Identity, Effective Teaching and Learning, Pastoral Support and Wellbeing and Leadership Partnerships and Resourcing), utilising prescribed self-review documents, in preparation for an External Validation Visit.

As part of the external processes used by CEDR, community satisfaction surveys of staff, parents and students are conducted by an external agency in year two and year five of the five-year cycle of review and improvement. It has now been two years since we last surveyed our community and will be looking for feedback from our students, staff and parent bodies.

The survey will become live on Friday, 7th June and will close on Sunday, 23rd June. Parents will be emailed with a link to access the survey using their provided email address. If we do not have an up-to-date email address, please see our office staff as soon as possible. Students will complete their surveys during school time.

We encourage you to complete the surveys which will be sent via email. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office. It’s important to note that the surveys are anonymous and participants are not identified in any way.

As you would be aware, Mr Fitzgerald underwent minor surgery last week. Mr Fitzgerald’s surgery has gone well and he is at home recovering. We wish Bernard all the best for a full and speedy recovery. If you have any school related concerns during Bernard’s absence, please feel free to make an appointment to discuss them with either myself or Mrs Bernadette Brennan.

Don’t forget:

• Thursday, 13th June – Rockhampton Show holiday
• Monday, 17th June – School Photo Day
• Thursday, 20th June – Under 8s morning
• Monday, 24th June – Semester One Academic Awards Assembly
• Tuesday 25th June - Reports on Parent Lounge
• Friday 28th June - Prep Enrolments for 2020 due 

Kind Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

APRE REFLECTION

Why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus has been taken into heaven.

Acts 1:1-11
&
While blessing them, he was taken to heaven.
Luke 24:46-53

The author of the gospel of Luke is also recognised as the author of the Acts of the Apostles. The works are regarded as originally being intended as a two-volume single work sometimes referred to as Luke-Acts. Their separation occurred in the development of the canon of the Bible. In today’s gospel and first reading we get the very end of the first volume and the very beginning of the second volume of the Luke-Acts work – the very point of intersection between the two books. The gospel of Luke is the only one of the four gospels that describes the Ascension of Jesus and, to reiterate it, the writer begins with the same event at the beginning of Acts.

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

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

Friday 7th June

Netball

Junior E @
St Joey’s v Parkhurst on Grass 13 @ 1:10pm
Junior B @
St Joey’s v Berserker Court 11 @ 1:50pm
Senior E @
St Joey’s v Gracemere on Court 10 @ 1:10pm
Senior C @
St Joey’s v St Mary’s on Court 2 @ 1:50pm
Senior B @
St Joey’s v St Paul’s on Court 8 @ 12:30pm
Senior A @
St Joey’s v St Mary’s on Court 2 @ 1:10pm

Hockey

1:00 – 1:15
St Joey’s Blue v St Joseph’s Wandal 4 on Grass 4
St Joey’s White v St Joey’s Maroon on Turf 1

1:20 – 1:35
St Joey’s Gold v St Joseph’s Wandal 5 on Grass 4

1:40 – 1:55
St Joey’s Blue v Glenmore 3 on Turf 2
St Joey’s White v St Joseph’s Wandal 2 on Grass 2

2:00 – 2:15
St Joey’s Gold v St Joseph’s Wandal 1 on Turf 2
St Joey’s Maroon v St Joseph’s Wandal 3 on Grass 2

Rugby League

Yr 5 C 12:45pm
St Joey’s v Berserker @ Colts
Yr 5 A/B 1:45pm
St Joey’s v Berserker @ Colts
Yr 6 A @ 1:45pm
St Joey’s v RGS @ Rugby Park 1

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.

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 Prayer Assembly in the multi-purpose area. Following Prayer Assembly, 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 should have made it home with students, along with the payment to the school office. Orders for these assessments will close Friday, 2nd August.

BIG BOOK SWAP

Next term, during book week we will be holding our bi-annual big book swap. The way the big book swap works is that families go through their reading books and donate any books no longer needed. Students then get to choose a pre-loved book from the donations to take home. If you have any books which you’d like to donate to this year’s big book swap, please bring them to Mrs Michelle Roberts in the library.

Kind Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW OVERDUE

Fee Accounts for Term 2 are now overdue and need your Urgent Attention.

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?

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 2F

This term has seen a big focus in the Science and Design Technologies in year 2.

First we designed and made 3D robots in Math.  After numerous experiments, testing why some materials and objects float and others don’t, we have designed and made our own rafts. The design brief was; our rafts had to float, but they also had to hold the most marbles before sinking.

This week also has us practicing our first prayer assembly,  which is about how we need to make choices to be the best version of ourselves and how the choices Jesus made can be our guiding light.

We are all looking forward to having Miss Madeline Fletchett, our CQU Prac Student with us for the final 3 weeks of term.

Thanks from all in 2F

WHAT IS JOEY’S DOING???

In Year 4 this term we are looking at Stewardship of the Earth. We want to make our Earth the best place to live. Soooo - we need to educate everyone on how we can do our bit. We have proposed a change to the way we do rubbish here at school. Firstly, let us show you the type of rubbish we collected from one bin over the space of one lunch.

We have learnt that by simply recycling and sorting our rubbish we can reduce the number of bins of rubbish our small school sends to the landfill. If we can do it at school, you can then start to do the same at home. Over the next few weeks we will be posting in the newsletter different educational snippets for you to look at with your parents. But today, let’s see what we have planned for our lunch times.

Year 4 Eco Warrior Plan

We will be sorting our lunchtime waste into 4 bins

Organic – food scrapes that can be eventually composted or for now fed to the chickens and Mrs Brennan’s pigs.

Soft Plastics – these will be collected and taken to Woolworths or Coles to collect in their Redcycle project. Anything scrunch-able can be turned into garden furniture.

Poppers and Milk containers – These small items are what is going to eventually buy our recycle bins. We will be taking them to the Change for Containers business and receive money for our rubbish.

General Rubbish – The last leftover bits we can’t recycle. Let’s make this our smallest bin.

Let’s make this school a role model for every other school. Let’s decrease the need for general rubbish bins in our school first and then challenge other schools to do the same. We can become the poster children for change.

Joeys are on the way to be the next Stewards of our Earth.

A big thank you to the P&F for supporting us with this initiative.

BOOK CLUB

Our last Book Club order for Term 2 will be due on the 10th of June, to allow time for the orders to be received before the June holidays.

Just a reminder that St Joseph’s Book Club has changed to CASHLESS orders, meaning that that all orders are now placed online, via the SCHOLASTIC PARENT LOOP.

Visit the link below for more information on how to order, as well as how to earn FREEBIES with consecutive LOOP orders!

Happy reading!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Henry Timms (3T), T’ahnee Lawton (Yr 4), Talei Bolaqace (3T), and Madelyn Lynam (PG).

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Under 8’s day is fast approaching, so if you haven’t already, and are able to help, please see your P-3 class teachers. They’ll love you for it. If you can also provide assistance cooking the BBQ lunch and helping to serve, please also let Amanda Conway know.

To help celebrate QLD Day on Thursday June 6, the P&F will be providing a QLD themed Brekky Club. Come on down and check it out if you’re free and see how popular Brekky Club is.

Reminder:

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Did you know Queensland is turning 160 years old on Thursday, 6th of June? In celebration, Frozen Yoghurt will be on sale for $2. Tuckshop will also have homebake of lamingtons and cupcakes for sale for $1 during over the counter sales. Limited supplies available.

PHOTO DAY 17TH JUNE

Please see the attached piece from MSP, our school photographers.

In preparation for School Photo Day, please refer to the below excerpt from our 2019 Parent Handbook regarding uniforms and hairstyles.
"All hairstyles must have a conventional, gradually blended style of cut.  Longer hair adjacent to shorter shaved hair is unacceptable, as is the use of artificial colours or streaks."

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 to Parent Lounge are that you can submit your child’s absentee days through 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 at 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

RELIEF SCHOOL CROSSING POSITION

Please find attached a brief outline of the Relief School Crossing Supervisor position which is available. If you are interested, please contact Rosy at Transport & Main Roads on 0477 364 224.