11 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

We have once again nominated Joey’s to participate in the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. We will be celebrating the day on Thursday 19th of March. Students will be taking part in age appropriate activities to support this important cause and continue to educate our children in respecting, loving and caring for each other just as Jesus did.

I have also included one of my favourite posters that I use to speak to our students about Bullying. You may wish to share and discuss this message with your children.

We will have our first Year 6 Whole School Disco later on that evening.

Bring your Bunny Ears because the theme is EASTER. This year's Easter Raffle will be drawn at the disco. There will be raffle tickets on sale on the night as well as before and after school leading up to the event.

The gates will open at 5:30pm and the disco will finish at 7:30pm. The cost of entry is $2 per person. Pizza will be available for $1.50 per slice. Pizza orders must be in by Wednesday, March 18.

Catholic Education’s St Patrick’s Race Day will be held at Callaghan Park on Saturday, March 16th. Raffle tickets for this event will now just be sold at the event this year.

I would like to show my appreciation to the Roser family who donated a $100 VaVoom voucher as a spot prize for the day on behalf of St Joseph’s. Thank you, this gesture is much appreciated.

As we are not sending out Raffle tickets to the community, we will be holding a Free Dress Day tomorrow Thursday 12th March. We would like to encourage students to wear something green to be in the spirit of St Patrick (feast day Tuesday 17 March). We would ask all students to bring in a gold coin donation with all proceeds from this event being evenly split between CARITAS and the Catholic schools in the Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast area.

School Fee reminders were sent out last week and would now be overdue by three weeks. Can I please ask that this is dealt with as a matter of priority and have this sorted before the end of Term. If this will not be the case and you are experiencing some form of difficulty with fee payment, contact should be made with myself through the school office as soon as possible.

Don’t Forget …

• Teacher Profiling Training. Tues 10th - Wed 11th March
• P&F Meal Deal Day. Wed 11th March
• P&F Meeting. Wed 11th March @ 6:30pm in Staff Room
• Free Dress Day (St Pat’s Theme) Thurs 12th March – Gold Coin Donation
• St Patrick’s Race Day. Sat 14th March.
• School Board AGM. Wed 18th March @ 5:30pm in Staff Room
• National Day of Action Against Bullying - SJPA. Thurs 19th March
• Rescheduled 2019 Non-Government School Census Post Numeration Exercise Visit. Thurs 19th March
• Year 6 School Disco. Thurs 19th March ‘Easter Theme’
• St Joseph’s Feast Day Mass. Fri 20th Mar @ 9:00am in OLHC
• Fun Run/Colour Explosion - Cross Country Trials. Wed 25th March.
• St Mary’s Grandstand Classic Race Day, Saturday 4th April

Have a great week.

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

APRE REFLECTION

Second Sunday of Lent

"The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. "
(Pope John Paul II)

Twenty-seven-year-old, Phany lives in a village in western Cambodia. Struggling to earn a living as a rice farmer, she was forced to leave her daughter behind in the village, to take up construction work in the city. In 2016, Phany joined the Upholding Community Dignity Together program, run by Caritas Australia, in partnership with the Environment Protection and Development Organisation (EPDO). Phany learned new farming techniques, such as a drip irrigation system, which enabled her to get a better yield from her vegetable crops, and to conserve water for drier periods

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

Mass times

Weekday

Tuesday 9.00am Holy Family
Wednesday 12.00 Noon St Mary’s
Thursday 8.00am Emmaus College (Yaamba Rd)
|riday 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

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Project Compassion

Each classroom has a donation box for students and families to contribute to. Your fundraising efforts contributes to programs in Australia and overseas providing communities with the tools they need to transform their lives. With your help, we can continue to empower vulnerable women, men and children and strengthen the communities around them. Let’s Go Further Together!

Catholic Identity Surveys
Surveys are still open and we need your help

We have sent home a second round of PINK survey notes this week in the hope to catch some more opinions. Thank you to the 40 families who have responded. If you are one of the 14 families that have started your survey and not quite finished, log in again and once completed send your pink form back to redeem a thank you gift and for your ticket in the survey raffle.

We need to constantly plan to further enhance our Catholic Identity for the future.

The survey period is open until Friday 03 April 2020.

It’s best to finish the survey in one shot, without having to come back later.

As an added incentive, when you have completed the survey, please return your pink form to claim a thank you gift and for your ticket in the survey raffle.

Liturgical Celebrations for Term 1

*OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church – next to school

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

SPORTING MATTERS

Rockhampton District Selection Trials

Term 1

Below are the Rockhampton and District Trials (RDS) for the following Primary School sports happening in Term 1. If your child has the prerequisite skills and you wish for them to trial in the following sports, you can contact me through the school office to obtain the appropriate trial forms. Alternatively, the forms can be downloaded in the Parents Notes section of the Skoolbag App.

*Forms must be returned to Mrs. Brennan, at least one day before the trial for processing*

Please be aware that for your child to attend these trials as a 10-year-old student that they would need to be exceptional as they will be competing against students up to 12 years of age.

Capricornia School Sport

Congratulations Jorja on your selection in the Capricornia U12 Swimming Team. Good luck at the upcoming state titles later this month.

Friday Sport 13/03/2020

Bernadette Brennan
Sports Coordinator

CURRICULUM NEWS

Parent Teacher Interviews

Semester One parent teacher interviews have been scheduled for Week 9 of this term (23rd March – 27th March). Parent lounge is now open for parents to book an interview. If you wish to book an interview with your child’s teacher please book through Parent Lounge before 3pm on Friday, 20th March.

Competitions

Literary Competition:

Students in Years 5 and 6 are invited to enter the 2020 Independent Education Union literary competition. To enter this competition, you need to write a poem or short story. If you are interested in entering this competition, please see Mrs Senini for more information. This competition closes on Friday, 19th June.

Art Competition:

Students from Prep – Year 6 are invited to enter the 2020 Independent Education Union Awards for Excellence in Art Design competition. The task is to produce a piece of artwork that best reflects the theme: Perfect Places. If you are interested in entering this competition, please see Mrs Senini for more information. This competition closes on Friday, 24th July.

Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum

Throughout Semester One, our school will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in all year levels. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

The Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum has been mandated by our Diocese to be actively taught in all of the Rockhampton Catholic schools each year. In 2020, classroom teachers will teach these lessons as part of the Health Curriculum.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this program please don’t hesitate to contact either Mrs Senini, Mr Fitzgerald or your child’s classroom teacher.

STRATEGY CORNER

There are many ways you can assist your child to progress with their literacy and numeracy skills. Over the year I will be providing ideas you can use to assist your child to progress in the areas of Reading, Spelling and Maths Facts.

Reading:

Learning to read involves children learning skills in comprehension, fluency, accuracy and expanding their vocabulary.

Strategy – Read good fit books

To help develop a student’s fluency it is important that they are reading books which are a good fit (not too easy but not too difficult). If a book is too easy for a child they are not coming across new words or getting the opportunity to practise a variety of reading strategies however if a book is too difficult they will be constantly stopping to work out unknown words which will then make fluency very difficult to achieve. It is therefore important that what they read is a good fit for them.

Spelling:

Strategy: Dots game

Make a square of 4 rows of dots with 4 dots in each row. Before taking a turn, the player must spell a spelling word correctly. If the word is correct, the player can connect two dots. When a player forms a square by connecting dots, he/she can write their initials in the box. The player with the most squares at the end of the game is the winner.

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 2020. Please contact your child’s teacher to find out the strategy your child should be practicing this week.

Game – Yahtzee

Yahtzee is a great game to practice maths skills as it involves adding multiple numbers. Helping your child find ways of adding these numbers quickly is a worthwhile activity.

If there are any curriculum related concerns or questions you may have throughout the year, please don’t hesitate to book a time to discuss these concerns or questions with me.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 3

It’s been a very busy but productive time in year 3 so far. Week two saw us starting our combined workshops which give us the opportunity to work closely with our teachers in a small group environment.

In our math workshops we have been learning to identify odd and even numbers, conduct chance experiments, telling time to the minute and much more.

In our reading workshops we have learnt how to activate our prior knowledge, to find an author’s purpose and how we can find the main idea of a text.

In our writing workshops, we have explored what modal verbs are and how we can use them in persuasive texts. We have studied persuasive language in narrative texts, which is now helping us to begin our persuasive writing on why McDonalds is better than Red Rooster. It is certainly a hot topic in year 3 at the moment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week.

They are: Alexis Lyons (Prep), Koby Goody (Yr 2), Lachlan Bragg (Yr 1), Tyson Arnold (Yr 1), Heidi Nembach (Yr 4), Blair Andjal (Yr 4), Hudson Steffek (Prep) and Miss Sloan (Prep).

Have a great day.

FINANCE NEWS

Fee Accounts for Term 1 were due for payment on Tuesday 18/2/20. These are now 3 weeks overdue and require your immediate attention. Reminder letters have now been sent.

Please ensure to check your Junk Mail if you do not receive your Statements via email and have a Hot Mail Account.

All new families should 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 instead of names (this is the 6-digit number on your Fee Statement).

P & F NEWS

Have you set up the online fundraising profile for your child for the Cross Country/Run4Fun Colour Explosion yet? It’s quick, easy and the perfect way to fundraise amongst friends and family near or far. Head to the link below to register your child. Notes will go home next week showing the program for the run. Remember all funds raised go back to our wonderful school. It’s all very exciting and make sure you’re getting your whites ready!

Next Tuesday 17th March, we will be running a St Patrick’s Day themed Breakfast Club. Donations of food related items such as green fruits and veg, green baking, rainbow decorations etc will be much appreciated. We might even spot a pot of gold….?

Thanks to everyone for supporting the Meal Deal today. We hope to run these each term throughout the year.

Our next P&F meeting will be this afternoon Wednesday 11th March in the Staffroom at 6:30pm. There’s always plenty to discuss, so we hope to see you there.

Have a great week!

Reminder:

Thanks,

Joeys P&F

JABBERING WITH JOEYS

This week we’re profiling our hard-working office ladies Tracey Brosnan and Megan Crosthwaite. Not only do our kids interact with these two on an almost daily basis, but they put in an immense amount of work behind the scenes, to help keep our school running smoothly. Did you know they also score at our sporting events, help run our presentation nights and formal school events, and even give up their time out of hours for our fundraising functions.

They’re more than just the ladies the kids see when they feel sick or bump their head.

Name: Tracey Brosnan
How long have you been at Joeys?: I commenced at Joeys in 2007 as a Teacher Assistant, then moved to the office in July 2012
Favourite Food: Rissoles and Vegies or Crumbed Steak/Crumbed Chicken and Salad and I love love love homemade Jam Drops
What did you want to be when you grew up?: Air Hostess (secretly I still do), or a Nanny
Favourite Music: A bit of Country and most of the 80’s stuff
Coffee or Tea: I love a Chai Latte, but also like a tea every now and then.
Favourite subject at school: Home Ec – I like to bake, but definitely can’t sew
Hobbies outside of Joeys: I like to read, and being with friends
Favourite book/movie: Book: Bridges of Maddison County and Movie: Ghost (I still cry in it after seeing it probably 30 times)
Favourite colour: Red
Best “Dad” joke: What’s big, red and looks like a truck – Yep, a big red truck.
Favourite thing about Joeys: Watching the kids grow, and most of them don’t forget you once they’re gone. They see you and go “Hey Miss”.

Name: Megan Crosthwaite
How long have you been at Joeys?: 5 years (I commenced in May 2015)
Favourite Food: Thai, especially Chicken and Cashew
What did you want to be when you grew up?: Hairdresser
Favourite Music: The 80’s
Coffee or Tea: Coffee (Hazelnut Latte or Mocha)
Favourite subject at school: Art and History
Hobbies outside of Joeys: I love all things Craft. I do a lot of Scrapbooking. I’ve just learnt to do Book Folding
Favourite book/movie: I love James Patterson books
Favourite colour: All shades of Purple, and grey
Favourite thing about Joeys: The Community Spirit around the school

DISCO INVITATION

On Thursday, March 19 in week 8 Year Six is hosting a disco.

Bring your Bunny Ears because the theme is EASTER. This year's Easter Raffle will be drawn at the disco.

There will be raffle tickets on sale on the night as well as before and after school starting in week 6.

At the disco we will be selling:

• Soft Drinks for $2
• Chips for $2
• Lolly Bags for $2
• Poppers for $1
• Water for $2
• Small glow sticks for 50c

The gates will open at 5:30pm and the disco will finish at 7:30pm.

Entry is $2 per person.

Pizza will be available for $1.50 per slice. Pizza orders must be in by Wednesday, March 18.

The Disco is being held to raise money for the Year Six Camp.

We look forward to seeing you there.

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 the link below:

• Glenmore (North Rockhampton)
• Emu Park

PIANO

There are vacancies for Piano lessons (Keyboard to practice on will suffice). Please contact Lynette Anstey on 0419 358 485 or email – anstey.family@bigpond.com