5 August 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

I will start by saying a big thank-you to all of the parents who have be utilising the laminated name visors at the pick-up zone. If you have not seen your set of laminated visors, please check in your child’s school bag as they were sent home late last week.

Our students all sat and took part in the live streaming of the Catholic Education Week mass last Wednesday. Due to COVID restrictions, each school was only allowed a couple of students to attend in person. Hugh Ballinger and Angus Turner from Year 6 attended the mass at St Joseph’s Cathedral with me. Both students were beautifully behaved, representing Joey’s with pride. Many of the students back at school let me know that they were very excited to see Mr Fitz on YouTube.

This week we will be celebrating the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Mrs Brennan will be sending home details on how parents can join us in our celebration.

At the request of the Student Council, I have been asked to include this raffle information.

Sunday, September 6th is Father's Day! Year Six is having a Raffle where you can win some amazing prizes for your Dad. From the 17th of August until the 3rd of September, Year 6 will be selling raffle tickets for $2 each before and after school outside the Year 6 classroom near the pick-up zone. Some of the amazing prizes your dad could enjoy are; 174-piece tool kit, jerseys, sports clothing and sporting goods. Winners will be drawn on Thursday 3rd of September and prizes will be distributed. All proceeds will go toward our rescheduled Year 6 Camp fundraising.

It is also my pleasure to announce that Mrs Rebecca Whiting will be joining us at Joey’s for the remainder of the school year. Rebecca will be with us three days a week delivering some specific programs to support the Prep – Year 2 students. Rebecca is a long-time parent at the school, and I am sure she will be an asset to our staff and students. I am all sure you will make Rebecca feel welcome.

I have added a list of upcoming significant events at Joeys as we have done in the past.

Don’t Forget….

• Prep interviews for 2021 are now taking place
• Mary MacKillop Feast Day Liturgy. Friday, 7th August
• Student Protection Team Inservice. Wednesday 12th August
• Combined P&F and Board Meeting. Wed 12th Aug in ICE room @ 6:30pm
• Rescheduled Show Holiday. Friday, 14th August
• Bernard Fitzgerald Safeguarding Intensive Study 1. Thurs 27th & Fri 28th September
• Bernard Fitzgerald Safeguarding Intensive Study 2. Tues 1st & Wed 2nd September
• 2021 Prep Offers Emailed Out. Thursday, 3rd September
• Pupil Free Day. Friday, 4th September
• Father’s Day. Sunday 6th September

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

Happy every day. Learning every day.

APRE REFLECTION

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus feeds five thousand
Matthew 14:13-21

Before Jesus meets up with this crowd, he is actually trying to get away and be by himself, because he has just heard about the death of John the Baptiser. But as soon as his boat reaches the shore, thousands of people are waiting there for him.

What do you think Jesus’ immediate thoughts are upon seeing this huge crowd?

Why do you think the disciples suggest to him that he make all the people go away to find something to eat?

Why do you think Jesus insists that the crowds be fed and not be turned away?

The disciples start with only five loaves and two fish. Five thousand people are there, not counting the women and children. Yet everyone eats their fill, and the leftovers fill twelve baskets.

What is your attitude about leftovers? Do you see leftovers as an aged meal whose flavours have had more time to blend and improve? Or do you see leftovers as food that should have been thrown away?

If you were poor and hadn’t eaten a meal for two days, would your attitude toward leftovers be different? If so, how?

REFLECTION by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop feast day Saturday, 8 August

Mary MacKillop is not only the first Australian to be recognised by the Church as a Saint, she is truly a very Australian saint. She characterises the spirit of the Australian mythology. She was a prodigious hard worker who put the needs of others before herself. She exhibited something of the larrikin spirit: constantly in dispute with authority but pressing on, regardless. She used the strengths of others but also didn’t tolerate those who were not genuine. Her commitment to the schooling of children from poor and rural communities established a model of Catholic education that continues to today. A Saint for and of Australia!

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates:

SEMESTER TWO PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

At this stage we are planning on having parent teacher interviews in their normal format, however, we will make a final decision based on updated health advice and direction from the Catholic Education Office as the date for interviews (Week 9) draws nearer. More detailed communication will be sent out to the school community in due course. If you need to speak to teachers before the Week 9 formal interviews, please make contact with teachers via email to arrange a suitable catch up time and method.

SCIENCE WEEK

St Joseph’s will be participating in Science Week again this year, however, due to COVID rules and restrictions and due to the added issue of our current building works, Science Week will look different to normal. Students will be doing extra science activities in class during Week 6 as a way of celebrating science.

BOOK WEEK

St Joseph’s Book Week is normally scheduled for Term 3, however the National Book Week dates have been changed to October with the hope that COVID restrictions might have eased more by then. This year we will hold our annual Book Week activities in line with the new National Book Week dates. More information regarding our Book Week celebrations will come out next term.

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 at the link below.

To download a reading record form click on the following link:

Interactive school reader record form (DOCX, 941KB)

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.

Thanks for your continued patience and understanding of changes in processes during this extra difficult time at St Joseph’s. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

Prep

Hello from Prep

It is amazing how quickly time has flown; we cannot believe we are half way through the year. In Prep we have been settling into the new lower prescient. We are back in the routines of learning with some wonderful new play spaces. We are exploring our new dress up area, playhouse (complete with BBQ and table setting) and our outdoor learning space. Last Week we celebrated Catholic Education Week– 175 Years in Education, by opening up the new paints and creating a class mural, as well as painting pictures of how we celebrate Prayer.

This term in English, we are focusing on fairytales such as 3 Billy Goats Gruff, 3 Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. Through this literature we will investigate language and develop our writing skills. In Maths, we are continuing to build on our numeral knowledge by exploring concepts including simple addition, sharing, measurement and ordinal sequencing.

From Prep Teachers and Students

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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

They are: Lani Duncan (Yr 4), Lilly McLoughlin (Yr 5), Delany Andrews (Yr 3), Nate Bidgood (Yr 2), Luke Bowman (Yr 1), Egan Cass (Yr 5), Chelsea Holden (OSHC) and Mrs Senini (APC).

Have a great day.

TOUCH FOOTBALL

After discussions with the leadership team this week, it has been decided due to COVID safe requirements and the current stage 2 capital works that are underway at the school, St Joseph's Park Avenue will not be able to nominate any Touch Football teams in the upcoming Saturday Morning competition this year.

With the season set to start in early August, (if restrictions permit) you may wish to nominate your own team not affiliated with the school in any way or contact the below clubs to see if they have any teams that need players.

Magpies – magpiesrocky@gmail.com
Rebels – Andrew_pratt@emmaus.qld.ed.au
Crushers – dkels5@eq.edu.au

If you do have any questions or concerns regarding this decision, please contact the leadership team – Bernard Fitzgerald, Bernadette Brennan & Deanne Senini.

Thanks
Michelle Smith

SCHOOL BANKING TERM 3

Banking for Term 3 has recommenced.

Please remind your children to put their bank books in the grey banking bags, which is in their classroom.

Thanks
Megan Crosthwaite

P & F NEWS

Our next P&F Meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday evening August 12th at 6:30pm in the Inclusive Curriculum room. If you hit the new library - you’ve gone too far. There is lots to chat about since our last meeting two months ago, so all are welcome to attend. Even if you would just like to check out the new rooms, sit and listen and enjoy some food, that’s more than fine.

If there is a question or an idea you have sitting at the back of your mind, come along or pass it on to one of our executives or members. Especially if you are in the lower school, particularly the P-3 cohort, we’d love to get the chance to meet and see some newer faces. These discussions and plans are helping to shape your school, so all the more reason to come and be a part of the process.

We’d love to see you there.

Reminder:
Wed Aug 12th: P&F Meeting 6:30pm in the Inclusive Curriculum room

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

Jabbering with Joeys

Our patient librarian, Michelle Roberts is up this week. No doubt she’s loving her brand new library, and we can’t wait to see how her creativity helps to make the space her own.

Name: Michelle Roberts
How long have you been at Joeys?: We joined the Joeys community in 2012, when my eldest child started Prep. I began working at Joeys in 2016.
Favourite Food: Spaghetti bolognaise and anything Lindt dark chocolate!
What did you want to be when you grew up?: A vet and a famous dressage rider.
Favourite Music: Fairly broad taste with anything from Metallica, Bon Jovi to Linkin Park to whatever is being played on the radio. Anything “catchy” really. The song that makes me smile every time I hear it would have to be “The Chicken Dance”.
Coffee or Tea: Coffee during the day but I do love a tea in the evenings, especially in winter.
Favourite subject at school: English and Science. Pathophysiology was my favourite at uni.
Hobbies outside of Joeys: Uber Driver for my children for their various social and sporting commitments. I’m a fairly “arty” person, so any personal downtime usually involves doing something creative.
Favourite book/movie: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is by far my favourite series. I have also read all 7 of the Narnia books to my children, multiple times over recent years. I highly recommend them to everyone young and young at heart!
Favourite colour: Cornflower blue.
Best “Dad” joke: I just saw a car being driven by a sheep in a swimsuit…. It was a lamb bikini.
Favourite thing about Joeys: We originally moved from another town in 2011 to come to Joeys. I have always been drawn to how supportive and family oriented the school is. The core values remain a strong focus, and both the staff and students are a pleasure to work with.

FRIDAY PIZZA

• 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