20 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

The capital works are getting to the exciting stage as each week we see fantastic progress, and the initial handovers are getting closer. As was to be expected throughout such a massive project, we are noticing some challenges arise with the car park. We need your help to reduce congestion.

Pick-up and Set-down procedures – summary

Key points

Main Street Car Park

• Pick-up and Set down remains a 2-minute zone
• If you arrive before 3 pm, park in available spaces, not the 2-minute zone
• Pick-up stations have been reduced to three
• Pick-up and set down at a numbered bay
• If you need to hop out of the car and assist your child, this should not be done in the 2-minute zone, please park and walk across to collect your child
• Teachers are on duty until 3:20 pm, please consider delaying your pick-up time as the congestion has passed by 3:10 pm

Once the stormwater work has completed in the temporary car park, we will be moving back to using it for pick-up and set down. During this time, the Main Street car park will become unavailable, and so the challenges continue until the end of the term. I ask for your patience as we endure this stage of the project.

The project will then move to stage 2 works, which will commence with asbestos removal and significant demolition of Year2, Year 4, temporary office and staffroom, library and canteen. The upcoming June/July school holiday period has been identified as the most appropriate time to carry out the required asbestos removal, and demolition works. Due to the extent and nature of these works, it has been decided to close St Joseph's OSHC – Vacation Program for the period from Monday, June 29 through to Friday, July 10, 2020. Normal OSHC operations will commence from the start of term 3, Monday, July 13.

For St Joseph's Park Avenue OSHC families, alternative Vacation Care Programs will be offered at the following school sites.

• St Anthony’s OSHC. 390 Feez St, North Rockhampton. Phone 0417 009 706
• St Mary’s OSHC, Nobb St, Nth Rockhampton Phone 0412 565 518
• St Joseph’s Wandal OSHC,7 Herbert St Rockhampton Phone 0429 316 543

We are looking forward to the return of our remaining Year 2 to Year 6 students next Monday following the announcement by the Premier last week. As all students return to school, we will continue to maintain the current procedures to reduce the risk of infection. These procedures include general hygiene practices, effective hand hygiene and restricting visitors to the school. We continue to ask parents and carers to abide by the physical distancing of 1.5m at all times. Parents and carers should not gather in areas around the school, such as car parks and at the school gate. We request all families use the stop, drop and go method for set down and pick-up. We will continue to meet students at the entrance in the mornings and distribute hand sanitizer as they enter the grounds. It remains essential to keep your child at home if they are unwell. If a child is experiencing signs of illness at school, parents and carers will be contacted for immediate collection per the Queensland Health Directive.

In celebration of our students returning to school next week and to acknowledge the great efforts of those families learning from home, we invite all students (at school and home) to participate in Crazy Hair Friday. Students can come to school, join their last Zoom meetings or post to SeeSaw with wild and wacky hairstyles. Please note coloured hair and hair sprays are not permitted.

Upcoming dates:

• Crazy Hair Day (no coloured hair) - Friday, May 22
• Year 2 – 6 return to school – Monday, May 25
• Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day - Monday, May 25
• Reconciliation Week – Wednesday, May 27 – Wednesday, June 3

Have a great week, and we look forward to having everyone back next week.

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

APRE REFLECTION

Sixth Sunday of Easter

John 14:15-21
I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate.

Jesus often spoke about himself and his significant relationship with his disciples, saying things like, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches’, ‘I am the Resurrection and the life’, ‘You are the light of the world’, ‘You are the salt of the earth’, ‘I am the Good Shepherd’.

When a significant relationship is healthy, it has a positive impact on the life of the people involved. That is a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work.

Do you ever talk to your close friends about your relationship with them? Why or why not? The Spirit has several names: Paraclete, Advocate, Counsellor, Helper. But the most simple one to remember and understand is Love. God is love. The Spirit of God is love.

It has been said that it is easier to ‘love the world’ than to actually love your next door neighbour or some of the people in your family. What is meant by that? Do you agree with that? Why or why not?

If love is so simple to understand, why is it so complicated and difficult to share?

by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart @ Liturgy Help

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates:

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

All students are invited to participate in the Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge again this year.

Reading plays an important part in students’ lives during their school years and beyond. It allows children to actively engage their imagination and opens up a world of educational opportunities.

Last year, 168,000 students from 937 schools took part in the challenge, reading an astounding 2.31 million books. What an incredible result.

The reading period for the 2020 Premier's Reading Challenge commences on Monday 11 May and closes Friday 28 August.

This year the Premier has invited all state and non-state school students to take on the challenge:

• Prep to Year 2 should read or experience at least 20 books,
• Years 3 and 4 should read at least 20 books, and
• Years 5 to 9 should read at least 15 books.

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2020 challenge is to engage more students reading more books than ever before.

Every student who completes the challenge will receive a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier. Students who participate but don’t complete the challenge receive a Certificate of Participation from the school.

Attached to this newsletter is the form to be used to record the books read during this period. Once completed, please send this form back to the school office.

For more information about the Premier’s Reading Challenge, please visit: readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au

You can play a big part in your children’s future by encouraging them to be part of this positive initiative.

I look forward to seeing as many of our students as possible take part in the 2020 Premier’s Reading Challenge.

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.

ICAS COMPETITIONS 2020

St Joseph’s Park Avenue will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS Assessments again this year. ICAS is developed by UNSW Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of UNSW Sydney, with over 35 years’ experience in educational assessments.

ICAS is designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling and Digital Technologies.

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition. Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online result report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.

I encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year. The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.

ICAS Assessments are now online, a move that reflects a sector-wide transition to computer-based assessments. This allows greater accessibility for students and faster delivery of results.

In 2020, students have the opportunity to participate in the following subjects:

Cost per test: $15.95 including GST

In 2020, all payments for the ICAS tests are to be made by parents online. These assessments will take place during the school day as per the above schedule. If you would like your child to participate in any of the subjects listed above, please visit the new online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to UNSW Global. The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments.

Our school’s unique access code is: XRM723
Online payment closes Friday, 17 July 2020.

IMPORTANT: Please enter your child’s name accurately into the System as it will appear on their ICAS certificate.

Privacy notification

UNSW Global stores, uses and modifies the ICAS Assessments data in order to generate reports, conduct research and analysis, and improve its products and services. UNSW Global will not hold or use ICAS Assessments data that constitutes personal information for longer than 15 years. As the parent or guardian of a student who intends to sit ICAS Assessments, you consent to the school collecting the ICAS Assessments data that relates to the student, disclosing it to UNSW Global and to UNSW Global’s use of it in the manner outlined above. You also consent to the school assigning this consent to UNSW Global.

We are proud to partner with UNSW Global in offering the ICAS Assessments and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year.

Learn more about ICAS here: unsw.global/ICAS

Please do not hesitate to contact me on deanne_senini@rok.catholic.edu.au if you have any questions.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS

Fee Accounts for Term 2 have now been emailed and posted on Parent Lounge.

If you have a Means Tested Concession Card and have not yet provided a copy, please send this through to Megan in the office for verification.

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).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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

They are: Bentley McClintock (Yr 1), Kalani Ivers (Yr 1), Hamish Taylor (Prep), Keely Brook (Yr 5), Charli Thorn (Yr 5), Bronson Wall (Yr 4) and Mrs McCutcheon (Yr 4).

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Last week we had our first P&F Meeting via Zoom. It was a brief meeting for our executives, so we’re sorry for the late notice on this one. Our next meeting may still be via Zoom and will be in the first weeks of June, right before the end of Semester 1. More details will be made about this one closer to the time. These meetings are a great way to voice any ideas or visions you may have for our school, and at the moment, they can be joined from the comfort of your own home.

We look forward to seeing all our children back on school grounds from next week.

Have a great week!

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

JABBERING WITH JOEYS

Jabbering with Joeys

The next few weeks we head back to Year 1 and first up is our newest member to our Year 1 classrooms Mrs Paula Roati.

Name: Paula Roati
How long have you been at Joeys?: This is my first year at Joeys, however I’ve been part of the Joeys community for a few years now.
Favourite Food: Thai
What did you want to be when you grew up?: Police Officer.
Favourite Music: I enjoy all genres of music.
Coffee or Tea: Coffee
Favourite subject at school: Art and science
Hobbies outside of Joeys: Painting & sewing
Favourite book/movie: Kids picture books/The Lion King or Grease
Favourite colour: Pink
Best “Dad” joke: Why do we never tell jokes about pizza? Because they’re too cheesy.
Favourite thing about Joeys: Our supportive and welcoming Joeys community.

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

FRIDAY PIZZA

Due to the current situation we have had to change the way we run pizza and icy cups on a Friday. The following changes have been made:

• Pizza and Icy Cups to be ordered and paid for from outside the Year 6 room in the morning from 8:15 – 8:35am.
• Brown bags not required for pizza – students simply bring their money ($2 per slice) and tell the Year 6 students what you would like to order.
• Pizza slices will be delivered to classes in provided brown bags in tuckshop boxes at lunch time.
• Icy Cups will be delivered to the classrooms at approx. 2:55pm ready for home time.

Please note: There is a pizza order form available if you think this will be helpful to assist your child with the ordering process. Also, Icy Cups can sell out, so it is first in best dressed when ordering in the morning.

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