25 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Last Wednesday evening our School Board AGM was held. Congratulations to George Hunt and Brooke Black who were nominated and accepted as Board Chair and Board Secretary respectively for the 2020 school year. I would also like to appeal to our Joey’s community in that we need new Board and P&F members to remain an educational institution with strong future directions. Please consider if you can contribute to our school community in this way.

Thank you to the Joey’s P&F who provided our students with more than a few smiles on what was a very eventful day last Friday. The P&F provided ice blocks to the school community as a small way of commemorating St Joseph’s Feast Day in these trying times.

It was great to see our students dressed in orange to mark National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence last week. Thanks to the many staff who put in the extra time to provide our students with such a positive experience and emphasising such an important message for us all.

We welcomed Sarah Macdonald this week as she begins the role of our new Indigenous Education Support Officer. Even though Sarah will be introduced to our students this week, she will be working closely with Jess Ivers in order to get up to speed and hit the ground running for the beginning of Term 2. I am sure you will make Sarah welcome while also adhering to your social distancing protocols.

It is with great please that I let you know that we passed our 2019 Non-Government School Census Post Numeration Exercise audit with flying colours. Congratulations to Lesley Donohoe, Brooke Black and Tracey Brosnan for their diligent work leading up to the audit. I would also like to acknowledge CEO’s Inclusive Curriculum Regional Coordinator, Katrina Caton who has always provided our Joey’s students with tremendous support in accessing the curriculum. Well done to all who were involved in achieving this great result.

Last week Queensland’s Minister for Education, Grace Grace announced that all of the States and Territories Education Ministers decided that due to current events, NAPLAN testing has been cancelled for 2020 and will resume again in 2021.

Bishop Michael’s Pastoral Letter was emailed out to the Diocesan community suspending all public liturgies and masses including all Holy Week celebrations until further notice. The letter also details the cancellation of all sacramental programs for 2020.

Bishop Michael will be saying Mass each day at 12 o’clock midday in St Joseph’s Cathedral, Monday to Saturday and 9:30am on Sunday. We have all been invited to join in prayer with him from home or school by accessing the following online link.

We will be diligent in providing up to date information regarding alternatives to regular Holy Week celebrations as soon as they come to hand.

Finally, it is with great sadness that I inform you that our Parish Priest, Fr Marcel’s mother passed away in India last Sunday. Please keep both Fr Marcel and his family in your prayers as he is unable to return home during these very difficult times.

Early this week, I reached out to Father to offer our condolences on behalf of the school and as a community we will be offering some special prayers for Fr Marcel and his family this week.

Current school related events cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19….

• Year 6 Camp, Chaverim. Mon 30th Mar – Thurs 2nd April (postponed)
• Fun Run/Colour Explosion - Cross Country Trials. Wed 25th March (postponed)
• 2020 ANZAC March/Memorial Services (cancelled)
• St Mary’s Grandstand Classic Race Day, Saturday 4th April (cancelled)
• NAPLAN 2020 (cancelled)

Don’t Forget …

• Parent/Teacher Interviews. Mon 23rd – Fri 27th March (Proceeding with COVID-19 protocols)
• Enhancing Catholic School Identity surveys close. Fri 3rd April

Have a great social distancing week.

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

APRE REFLECTION

Fourth Sunday of Lent

"We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community." (Dorothy Day)

Meet Sakun from India

Sakun, 32, is a Gond indigenous woman living in a village in central-east India. She developed polio as a child and has difficulty walking. Until now, she has been isolated in her community, unable to earn a living and with no knowledge of support schemes that could help her. With Caritas Australia’s help, she learned how to access the disability support she’s entitled to and has set up her own thriving business. Her income is growing, along with her confidence. Sakun now participates in village decision-making, her progress motivating other community members to reach for their goals.

Meet Sakun from India

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

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

Time is running out

If you are one of the families that have started your survey and not quite finished, please log in again and finish it off to help us out.

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

The survey period is open until Friday 03 April 2020.

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.

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

NAPLAN 2020

As per the recent decision from the Australian Government, NAPLAN 2020 will not go ahead.

SEMESTER ONE PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Parent teacher interviews for Semester One have commenced. It’s great to see so many parents taking this opportunity to touch base with teachers and have a formal discussion about their child’s learning progress. At Joey’s we value the relationship between school and home and look forward to working with all parents to ensure the best educational experience for our students. If this week is not a convenient time for you to attend an interview or you haven’t yet booked an interview, please arrange a more suitable time with your child’s teachers.

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.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

NCCD – Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability

Every year, in August, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability.

It is now a legislative requirement for the school to inform you if your child will be included in the NCCD. Your child’s teacher will discuss this with you during your Semester One parent / teacher interview.

If you would like to access other information about the NCCD, this is a link to the NCCD Portal

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact Inclusive Curriculum.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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

They are: Charlotte Hopkins (Yr 2), Skylah McLean (Yr 1), Cooper Wedel (Yr 5), William Bates (Prep), Jack Burnham (Yr 4), Zaeleigh Hannah and Alfred Timms (Yr 5).

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Thanks to everyone for their efforts in promoting the Cross Country/Run4Fun Colour Explosion. We’re hoping that in the future we’ll be able to hold this event as it looks like something that would provide a lot of joy to the kids and get them active.

Let’s all be as supportive of each other as we can in this time, and the P&F is always there for our wonderful school, the hard-working staff, and our generous community.

Have a great week!

Reminder:

Wash your hands!

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

JABBERING WITH JOEYS

Time to profile another of our hard-working leadership team; our APRE Bernadette Brennan.

Name: Bernadette Brennan
How long have you been at Joeys?: Long enough to see the Priest’s house, two storey building and Parish hall be removed.
Favourite Food: All things cheese
What did you want to be when you grew up?: an agricultural scientist
Favourite Music: country
Coffee or Tea: Tea before breakfast, then coffee all day
Favourite subject at school: mathematics
Hobbies outside of Joeys: gardening, when Bunnings has plants available
Favourite book/movie: Bryce Courtenay books and the movie Sweet Home Alabama
Favourite colour: white
Best “Dad” joke: Q. Did you hear about the cheese factory that exploded in France?
A. There was nothing left but de Brie.
Favourite thing about Joeys: The culture. Happiness at school is something we all create.

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST BULLYING

On Thursday 19th March Joey’s took part in The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. It was an important day in our school calendar to join with other schools across Australia to say ‘Bullying. No Way!’

The students participated in school wide activities to raise awareness and stand against bullying. Everyone was invited to wear something orange in recognition of the day.

During the lunch break play times a pop-up activity space was created in the Upper School precinct where the students could take part in a selection of Anti-Bullying / Choose Kind activities.

As a final part of the day classes joined together making friendship bracelets and participating in classroom activities.

Please enjoy some photos of the fun!

VACATION CARE

Please see below the attached Vacation Care program.

If you have not yet booked your child/ren for these holidays, please use the booking form, also attached. You can email form to Chelsea on sjpa_oshc@rok.catholic.edu.au. or choose to drop it into her.

Thanks

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.

SCHOOL BANKING

No School Banking until further notice.

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