28 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

This Thursday we will celebrate NAIDOC Day. Our day will commence with a prayer assembly in the church at 9:00 am. Following this, we have many visitors coming to share culture with our students. The day will involve arts, crafts, sports, storytelling and much more. Many thanks to the P&F who are supplying a BBQ lunch for all the students. Children are required to bring a plastic or recyclable bag along for the day to pop their art and craft creations in. To finish off the day, the students will join together in their Peer Support groups for the final session of Living Positively (Optimism) Peer Support.

Recently, a letter went home to all families addressing car park issues. While the afternoon car park congestion has improved significantly, I’d like to highlight the key considerations:

• teachers are on pickup duty until 3:20 pm. Please consider delaying your pickup by a few minutes to avoid the 3:01 pm rush
• those who arrive early should fill the car park spaces not the 2-minute pickup zone
• cars exiting onto Main Street and Haynes Street must turn left
• children will be standing in the marked yellow boxes to wait for pick up. Cars should move to the children rather than children moving to the car
• if a child needs adult assistance to buckle up; this should not be done in the 2-minute pickup zone. Please park and walk across to collect your child

We have also recently been contacted by community members showing concerns for students. These are students who are dropped off outside the school grounds and making the dangerous dash across Main Street during peak traffic times. It’s reassuring to know that the Park Avenue community is taking responsibility for our children and their safety and wellbeing. The safest drop off and pickup points for our students are in the school car park on Main Street or the car park in Lauga Street.

While some of these issues may be slight inconveniences to families, the safety of all our children is paramount and the reason we have these measures in place.

Parent-Teacher Interview bookings are currently open and will remain open until 5 pm on Sunday 1st September. Parents are invited to log in through Parent Lounge and book an appointment to meet with teachers. These meetings help to stay well informed about academic progress, learning goals and participate in an open discussion about your child’s learning. Parent Lounge can be accessed through the Skoolbag App. If you are having any problems accessing or logging into Parent Lounge, please contact the office for some assistance.

The Grower, The Heartbeat of Australia and The Grower, The Roots of Australia are two beautiful books the school received through a generous donation from John Nicoletti. John’s vision is for the next generation to connect with where their food and fibre comes from and to inspire farmers of the future. To make the donation possible, the Rotary Club of Rockhampton Fitzroy organised for these books to be freighted to us. They are beautifully photographed by Al Mabin and give an informative insight into Australia’s rural industries, and the passion farmers maintain during even the most challenging hardships.

Finally, the girls in our Qld Primary Schools Netball Cup team that will be travelling to the Sunshine Coast in week 9 are holding their final fundraiser. This fundraiser is to assist with transport, accommodation and registration costs. On Thursday 5th September, we will have a Team Colours Free Dress Day. Students are invited to wear their team colours, be it favourite international, national, state, regional or local team and make a donation to support our girls who have been training for this carnival since February. Please consider sun safety when selecting clothes and students must wear closed-in shoes.

• Thursday 29th Sept – St. Joseph’s NAIDOC Day celebrations
• Sunday 1st Sept – Father’s Day
• Sun 1st Sept – Sat 8th Sept – National Child Protection Week
• Thursday 5th Sept – Free Dress Day for Qld Primary Schools Netball team
• Monday 9th Sept – Friday 13th Sept – Parent Teacher Interviews
• Friday 20th Sept – Last day of Term 3

Enjoy your week
Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

APRE REFLECTION

This Thursday we celebrate NAIDOC Week. This year the theme is Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s Work Together for a Shared Future. We celebrate the invaluable contributions the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made – and continue to make – to our communities, our families, our rich history and to our nation. We pray that we may continue to work together so that all people feel listened to, valued, respected and accepted.

Loving and gracious God, who created all people equal,
we thank you for indigenous people
who have given so much to our country and our culture.
We pray that we listen to their voice
as they speak of their desires, hopes and dreams for their lives and the life of this nation.
May we all commit ourselves to seeking justice for all people
and show a willingness to find positive solutions that include all.
We ask this prayer in Jesus’ name.
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 Happening in Term 3

Prayer Assembly Time Change

Prayer assembly times have changed to 10:30 am before lunch instead of 11:30 am.

Bernadette Brennan
APRE

SPORTING MATTERS

Hockey

1:00 – 1:15
St Joey’s Blue v St A’s 1 on Grass 8
St Joey’s White v St A’s 3 on Grass 5

1:20 – 1:35
St Joey’s Gold v St A’s 2 on Grass 5
St Joey’s Maroon v St A’s $ on Grass 6

1:40 – 1:55
St Joey’s Blue v Heights 4 on Turf 4
St Joey’s White v Heights 6 on Grass 1

2:00 – 2:15
St Joey’s Gold v Heights 5 on Turf 4
St Joey’s Maroon v Heights 7on Grass 1

Meet the Australian International Hockey Teams!

The Australian Men's and Women's Hockey teams will be at the Frenchville Sports Club Monday 2nd September for a meet and greet signing from 5.15pm-6.15pm. It’s free, no tickets required just come down and meet these amazing teams. Bring the kids for a once in a lifetime opportunity and then kids eat free! Right here in Rockhampton the Australian Kookaburras and Hockeyroos will be playing against NZ in the Oceania Cup 4th-8th September. Come and watch these incredible teams play in our backyard. Buy your tickets now at the link below:

Season B Sport

As Season B comes to a close with grand final day for Rugby League and Netball this Friday, we are now asking for all netball dresses and rugby league shorts to be washed and returned to school. We have no rugby league or netball teams playing in grand finals this week so these students will remain at school. Hockey teams continue their round robin competition this Friday 30th August.

Season C commences week 1 Term 4. The sports on offer are OZ Tag, T20 and Basketball. Preference notes will be coming home in the next week.

Sporting Dates

RDS Cricket Selection

Congratulations Zac, Joshua and Isabelle on being selected in the Rockhampton and District Cricket teams. Good Luck at your Capricornia trials.

Interschool Gymkhana

The annual interschool gymkhana is fast approaching. Please see the attached flyer. For nomination forms please see Mrs Brennan in the office.

Bernadette Brennan
Sports Co-ordinator

CURRICULUM NEWS

BOOK WEEK

Last week we celebrated book week with a dress up day and the Big Book Swap. Both events were extremely successful with nearly every student and staff member dressing up for our parade. We also had an enormous amount of donations of books for the big book swap with every child in the school taking a book home. Thanks to everyone who supported both these activities. Thank you to Gayle Evans and Renae Baker for giving me a hand on Wednesday morning with the Big Book Swap. Your help is greatly appreciated.

FREE WRITING AND ART COMPETITIONS

The 2019 Schools Writing Competition is now open. Write4fun encourages students to read and write through a fun competition which is easy to enter. School students across Australia will battle it out for the great cash and prizes on offer.

You can choose to either write a poem of 16 lines or less OR a short story of 500 words or less. You can write on any topic you like. More information can be found on the write4fun website and the poster displayed on the drama room windows.

If art is more your thing, you can now also enter an art competition through the write4fun website. Students are invited to enter an original art piece to be in the running for fabulous cash and prizes. There is no theme for this competition. Entrants are encouraged to let their imaginations run wild and get their creative juices flowing to come up with a masterpiece: painting, drawing, photography, collage, charcoal art, computer designed original art etc. Please no 3 dimensional pieces. For more information please see the write4fun website or the poster displayed on the art room door.

You can enter either or both competitions online at the link below with entries closing at 5pm on Friday, 30th August.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

During week 9 we will be holding our second round of parent teacher interviews. Parent lounge is now open for parents to book their interviews. Bookings will close on Sunday 1/9 at 5pm.

ICAS ASSESSMENTS

If your child has enrolled to complete any of the ICAS online assessments, you can download practice questions from the following website to help them prepare for tests:

Kind Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM MYTHBUSTERS

What sets a St. Joseph’s Park Avenue classroom apart from the rest?

How does teaching and learning at our school vary from the standard?

We are a creative school that is embracing the concept that all children love to learn, (it’s a natural thing) and we are trying to create ideal learning environments that cater to each individual student. Education is shaped by the needs of the industry the learners will encounter as workers. Our students will encounter industries that demand collaboration, organisation, self-discipline and many more learning dispositions.

When a class of students is given a new problem to solve, they may approach the task in many different ways. Some might ask for help, others may look for step by step instructions, one might just start testing theories and checking the results. This variation in problem solving skills and approaches suggests that our students are unique individuals that can’t be standardised. At SJPA we appreciate the individual learner and create learning environments that aren’t entirely standardised. Our learning spaces make allowances for personal learning styles, and the fact that not all students learn at the same level at the same age.

Our Classroom News for the rest of the year will highlight some of the creative ways our learning spaces are engaging students and creating capable, rigorous and self-directed individuals.

1H are showing initiative when taking control of their learning and leading classroom discussions. They are equipped with strategies to reach their own decisions and take action during rotations and group work. When reading in groups, sometimes learners have to take risks and have a go even when success isn’t guaranteed. Sometimes our learners need some time out to reflect and think about the methods they’ve tried and analyse both the successes and the failures. Meditation is a great form of reflectiveness. 1H are collaborative learners that willingly work in groups to form new ideas.

1H are a creative group of thinkers and learners that stand apart from a standard classroom.

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 3 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW OVERDUE

Fee Accounts for Term 3 are now three weeks overdue. These were due on 5/8/19.

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).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Ella Bath (Year 6) and Ava Semple (2M.)

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

NAIDOC Day is tomorrow, Thursday August 29 and the P&F will be needing helpers as we will be providing a sausage sizzle lunch for the school. Help is only required for a couple of hours in the morning from 9-11, so if you can spare anytime, please message Amanda Conway. We appreciate any help, no matter how short a stint.

Our annual Trivia Night is also fast approaching. The theme for this year is “90’s” and will be held on Saturday September 7th in the MPA with doors opening at 7:00pm. Please see the attached flier for further info. The Trivia Nights are such a fun night for parents and friends to have a night out with lots of laughs. Fliers will be sent home, and there’ll be fliers in the office to share with family, friends and workmates. Spread the word to friends and family, as there’s only one week left to book. Dust off your 90’s memorabilia and have a great night with us.

Reminder:

Thanks,

Joeys P&F

PARENT LOUNGE

Changes to your address, phone number or work phone number can be made in Parent Lounge. To do this, log in through the Skoolbag App, go to the Parent Details tab, make your changes, and then submit.

Changes to Parent Lounge are the submission of your child’s absentee days (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.

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