26 June 2019

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

A reminder that our Semester One report cards are posted onto Parent Lounge instead of being sent home as a physical document. Reports should be available for you to view, download and print at approximately 3:00pm this afternoon. This also means that you will now always have access to your children’s reports when you need them.

Thank you to all of the families that took part in our School Satisfaction Surveys that closed on the weekend. A third party will now collate the data and deliver it back to the school’s Leadership Team early in Term 3.

We hosted our Semester 1 Academic Award Assembly on Monday morning and it was wonderful to see so many Navy – Outstanding Effort Awards presented. It is also pleasing to see a much-increased number of Maroon Academic Awards. When we looked at the award criteria, we did not envision that this award would in some ways become the most difficult to achieve. To achieve an A/VHA or B/HA in all subject areas is a true testament to consistent achievement across the entire curriculum. A few Gold, Silver and Bronze Academic Awards were also celebrated on the day. At the end of the assembly I spoke to the students about challenging themselves in an effort to obtain even greater results in Semester 2.

Please remember though, Academic Award or no Academic Award, I am super proud of the students at Joey’s and the way they are welcoming and treat the people in our community is second to none.

With Prep interviews just around the corner I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the changes to the process that have been put in place this year. In the past I have conducted all of the interviews myself as the Principal. Even though this has been very enjoyable, hosting 80 plus interviews has sometimes meant that I am essentially unavailable for the normal every day running of the school for 3-4 weeks. To try and shorten this window as well as give Mrs Senini and Mrs Brennan greater experience in the enrolment process, I will be hosting all of the interviews with new families to the school while my Assistant Principals will be hosting slightly shorter enrolment meetings for the siblings in our existing families. I would definitely love to meet all of our new students, however, I am sure you would agree that this new process will be of far greater benefit to the school in general.

Finally, Mrs Leonie Mooney will be taking the first two weeks of Term 3 for some well-deserved Long Service Leave. I am sure you will all join me in wishing Leonie well and hope that she has a lovely time with her young family.

Don’t Forget …

• Term 3 commences – Monday, 15th July
• NAIDOC Mass – Tuesday, 16th July
• Challenge Cup – Wed – Fri, 17th – 19th July
• 2020 Sibling Prep interviews, Weeks 1 – 2 of Term 3
• 2020 New Families Prep Interviews, Weeks 3 – 4 of Term 3

Have a great week and a wonderful mid-year holiday break.

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

APRE REFLECTION

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Luke 9: 11-17

Jesus Feed the Five Thousand

HISTORICAL CONTEXT - In 1st Century Palestine, who you shared a meal with was a very political act. Your status in society was judged by who you kept company with and particularly with whom you shared food. At times, Jesus broke these rules and practised open table fellowship – sharing meals with people of all stations in life and often being criticised for his actions by the Scribes and Pharisees. Part of Jesus’ open table fellowship meant that he also ate with dignitaries and religious leaders, but he used these occasions to remind them of the inclusive message of God that they were ignoring.

We pray, that those who hunger
in mind or body will be
nourished and satisfied by Christ.
Amen

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 3

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

No Friday Sport this week.

Bernadette Brennan
APRE

CURRICULUM NEWS

ACADEMIC AWARDS

One Monday, we celebrated the academic achievements of our students for Semester One. It’s wonderful to see the increase in the number of effort awards given out. This tells us that our students are working really hard across all Key Learning Areas. Congratulations to all our award winners.

VISUAL ARTS

Last week saw the first of our art lessons. Welcome to Mrs Thorne who has done an amazing job setting up the art room and from all reports, the students really enjoyed their first art lesson. We look forward to seeing and celebrating the artistic talents we have here at Joeys.

UNDER 8s MORNING

Our annual Under 8’s morning took place last Thursday. It was a wonderful morning filled with learning, exploration, fun and smiles. A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make this day a success. Special thanks to Mrs Amanda Conway and the P&F for helping organise some of our special visitors and for organising and cooking the sausage sizzle. Thank you also to the Joey’s staff who organised and ran the wonderful engaging activities for the morning.

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. Last week’s count had us with 31 620 points. This initiative has now finished so if you have any stickers at home, please bring them in this week so that we can do a final count before the holidays.

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 (Week 6) 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.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable break.

Kind Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW OVERDUE

Your immediate attention is required if your Fee Accounts for Term 2 are still outstanding. They are now 6 Weeks overdue and you need to make contact with Bernard or Megan to discuss this.

These were due on 14/5/19.

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

Prep

Term 2 has been packed with excitement and activity and seemed to fly. During this term the children continued to make connections with their prior learning as they participated in whole class and small group numeracy activities discovering numerical properties. The children have also enjoyed participating in our small reading groups each week providing the children the opportunity to develop their reading/writing skills and strategies. We also have started our Visual Arts lessons this term which our preps are very excited about. Most of our preps also experienced their first Under 8’s day. With the theme ‘Celebrating Diversity’, our children certainly had the opportunity to do that with many activities including face painting, dot painting and bubble blowing just to name a few. As always, it was a day to remember for us all.

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday period.

Yr 1

Hello from Year One.

What a busy term we have had. Here are some of the things we have worked on:

• We loved Under 8’s Day and had a blast with lots of creative activities and play-based fun things to do for the morning.
• We celebrated Mother’s Day with our Mums and special ladies in our lives. We held a pamper party for them and gave them massages, a new hairdo and a decorated cookie. It was heaps of fun!
• In Religion lessons we have been learning about Levi the tax collector and how we can be more like Jesus.
• In English we have read and innovated on folktales. We’ve loved retelling stories such as the Gingerbread Man and the Three Billy Goats Gruff.
• During Mathematics we have learned heaps about the Australian currency. We still need lots of help, but most of us can recognize the coins by value and size.
• During Science lessons we have been investigating changes to materials and enjoyed making observations on spaghetti, chocolate, popcorn and ice cubes.

We wish everyone a happy break and look forward to learning more next term.

Mrs Hannah, Mrs Chapman and Year 1 students

Yr 2F

Semester 1 Highlights

Connor B – I like Math because I learnt how to measure.
Ethan – I like reading because I like sounding out new words.
Liam – I like Math because I learnt how to skip count.
Charlee – I like making the marble run because we got to measure how far the marble went.
Matilda – I like writing my stories because we can type them up on the chrome.
Emma – I liked paper planes because I never knew how to make one and now I do.
Harper – I like writing because I learnt how to write stories.
Lachlan – I like Math because I learnt new sums.
Slater – I like the marble run because it gave me a challenge how to build it.
Maycie – I like Math because I learnt how to use my grid book.
Olivia – I like writing because it helps me write better.
Ava – I like seeing how far we could jump in Math.
Tyler – I like Math because we get to go on the chromes and learn how to use our keyboard.
Jacob – I like the marble run because we can learn how to work in a team better.
Marty – I like the paper airplanes because we learnt how to make them.
Tom – I like making the paper airplanes because it gave me a chance to see if I could make a paper airplane properly.
Gustavo – I like Matific because it make me learn how to read the instructions.
Ryder – I like Matific because you get to solve tricky math problems.
Tempi – I like measuring how far our paper planes flew.
Connor F – I like Matific because I got to solve different problems.

From Mrs Farr and the students of 2F

Yr 2M

From the students of 2M

Yr 3M

We’ve finally made it to the end of term two! This term flew by for 3M. We were busy still settling into our classroom routines, then we participated in NAPLAN which was online this year.

No sooner did 3M finish NAPLAN did we then need to prepare for under 8’s day and prayer assembly which were both in the same week! Miss McGinley and 3M brainstormed some great ideas for under 8’s day eventually coming to the decision to do bubble blowers. These were a great success and lots of fun.

As soon as under 8’s day activities were finished we were straight into our last-minute practice for our Prayer assembly. Our theme was The Holy Trinity, showing our fellow students and families that the Holy Spirit is all around us and although we may not be able to see it, it is always there with us.

Miss McGinley was extremely proud of how well 3M performed and especially how well they all read. Two terms down, two to go!

Have a safe and happy holiday from 3M.

Yr 3T

We have shared lots of learning this term in 3T and we have had a bit of fun along the way. We would like to share a couple of photos from this term.

We would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday break.

Mrs Tennyson and the students of 3T.

Yr 4

So as we once again say hooray to a term, Year 4 reflect on a job well done.

Week 1 saw an amazing number of Year 4’s participate in the sports days and our ANZAC day march. Our Joey’s pride was on display for both occasions and the discussion after was how satisfying it was to join in.

Week 2 again we had a number of our students participate in the District Cross Country, Patrick, Cooper M, Sam & Preston did us proud.

Week 3 we had Logan, Charli, Cooper M, Patrick and Egan represent us at the District Athletics. Boy do we have some great stars in Grade 4.

Week 4 saw the start of our Self Defence Lessons – wow haven’t we taken to it like a duck to water. Nothing better entertaining for Mrs Mooney and Mrs McCutcheon watching Mr Tennyson be the Guinea pig for the Self Defence teacher.

Week 5, 6, 7 & 8 took us through assessment weeks and finishing off projects in the class, lots of visitors to the room and some wonderful experiences in the Church for both Mass and Assemblies. We also had a visit from the Arts Council giving us an entertaining view of the early history of Australia. We also celebrated some of our students who completed their Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation.

Week 9 – We are well on our way to Greening our school. We’ve helped to reduce our bins by halving the amount of rubbish going to the tip. We are so excited that we’ve even earned money towards our environmental fund. A pat on the back for Yr 4.

And here we are starting off Week 10 with academic awards. Congratulations to all who received an award on assembly on Monday morning. We are very proud of each and every student in year 4 who try their hardest. Last week we had Kobe present a slide show about his holiday and a few weeks ago Keely got up and presented an amazing slide show about her pet. This is the type of initiative we applaud in Grade 4.

Have an amazing holiday and enjoy the rest (we will be).

Mrs McCutcheon, Mrs Mooney & Mr Tennyson

Yr 5

Year 5 have had a very busy term two.

In week 4 the students sat the NAPLAN test and demonstrated great application and determination when completing the test. The students’ presence within the schooling community has been quite high throughout this term.

In week 6 the students presented an inspirational prayer assembly, delivering the message of Reconciliation week to the St Joseph’s community. The week demonstrates significance within the Australian community. It focused on setting aside cultural differences and coming together to work toward building a bigger and brighter future. This gave the students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of their cultural heritage. Our presence in the school community has not stopped there.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the visit from the Arts Council, we had many class members take the stage to become part of the show.

This term in Digital Tech we have been building EV3 robots and upon their completion we will code them to do a variety of manoeuvres. Mr Rayner from head office has been visiting us each week for Design Tech lessons. The students have been planning and designing a piece of furniture for a doll house and this week will start to construct their items of furniture.

In Science we have been looking at various Biomes, adaptations and features of animals. The students have designed their own super creatures and will start to build models of them this week.

Yr 6

Wow, what a term!

• Sports Carnival
• ANZAC Day March
• Season A Sport finals
• Peer Support sessions
• Ten Pin Bowling in PE and our excursion
• Season B Sport
• Free Dress Day for State of Origin 1
• Arts Council
• Visual Arts Program beginning with Mrs Thorne

A term full of many learning opportunities and great memories. We look forward to many more in Term Three.

Have a happy and safe holiday from the Teachers & Students of Year 6.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and who will celebrate their birthday this week and over the holidays. They are: Jaxon Field (1C), Cruz Roberts (3M), Slater Robertson (2F), Matilda Walker (Yr 5), Landon Atkinson (PM), Mackenzie Da Silva (3M), Denzel Dougan (Yr 5), Adyn Slater (Yr 4), Harper Spencer (PG), Tyler Ivers (2F), Slade Carey (3M), Jacob Baker (2F), Freya Schoneveld (PM), Cairon Smith (3M), Maiya White (3T) and Isabel Harth (3T).

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Thanks to all the Parents, Staff, the State Emergency Service and the Police Force for coming along and helping to make Under 8’s day another day of fun. Thanks to our BBQ masters and tuckshop helpers also for feeding the troops. You guys are legends!

A sample of our Parent Collection of books from our Library was on display after the Academic Awards assembly. If you missed out on seeing this, and would like to know more, please see Mrs Roberts in the library.

There’s lots of fun things happening in Term 3, and we’re always in need of Brekky Club and Tuckshop helpers. If you’ve ever thought about being involved in the P&F, or helping around the school, we’d love to see you!

Reminder:

Thanks,
Have a great holiday break.
Joeys P&F

VACATION CARE FOR JULY HOLIDAYS

Please find attached the Vacation Care Booking form and Program for the upcoming holidays. If you have not already booked your child/ren in and are wishing to do so, please fill out the Booking form and get it into Chelsea to secure a spot.

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Change is everywhere in our lives and navigating this can be tricky.  As adults and as parents helping our children through this sometimes needs some extra supports.

There is a free peer program available in Term 3 2019 for your little one if they have experienced some changes they need help understanding.

There are also parent sessions.

Check out the Seasons for Growth Program available for children aged 6 years – 12 years. If you are interested - register your interest on the website.

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