26 August 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 7 of Term 3.

Last week the first part of our car park was handed over to us in an effort to ease our current traffic congestion issues. This carpark has currently been opened to staff parking. The reasoning behind this decision is centred around the fact that there is no direct access through to the school from this carpark and that staff will generally park in these spaces all day not needing their cars again until the end of the school day. Due to this, the temporary carpark on the corner of Lauga and Haynes Streets will now be available for parents and visitors who need to access the school.

If you are finding the flow through zone difficult in some way or you need to exit your car for whatever reason, please use this facility and walk your children to the Multi-Purpose Area. This will ensure that the flow through zone can continue to work as efficiently as possible. For those hopping out of the car to collect children of an afternoon, I am happy to use the walkie-talkies to call for your children to come and meet you on the inside of the fence from where I stand.

As the afternoon pick-up process has become more streamlined, I have asked the teachers to cease their scheduled duties at the normal time of 3:20pm and I will take over the remaining students by myself. After 3:30pm, I will also cease duty and any students left after this time will need to be physically collected from outside the new office block. To do this, parents will need to park in the temporary carpark and enter the school to collect their children. Thank-you for your understanding and patience in this matter.

Parent/Teacher interviews will be held in Week 9 of this Term. Parents will need to access Parent Lounge to book a time to see their children’s classroom teachers. This is also a great time to catch-up with the teachers to see if there are any little areas of concern that may need some extra attention before the final Semester 2 Report Card is completed in Term 4. Regular, positive communication with your children’s teachers in regard to their ongoing educational journey has been proven to be one of the strongest ways that parents can support the growth of their learning outcomes. Home supporting the school and school supporting the home.

I will also ask for your ongoing patience as the teachers will have to remain 1.5 metres away as per social distancing requirements as well as a brief time to wipe down and sanitise surfaces between interviews for your safety and protection. I am sure you will understand as this has become common practice in 2020.

If I could also offer a little bit of advice; If you are a parent of a child who is in our new Lower Precinct or year 4, your child’s Parent/Teacher interview will be a great time to be able to come on site and see our wonderful new facilities in person. Just a thought.

If you are unable to come during Parent/Teacher interviews or your child is a little older and you would like to come and see the current progress, we will be holding a parents only Open Night in Week 10. Stay tuned for an exact time and date in the coming weeks.

Kaitlyn Brosnan finishes up with us for 2020 this week as she begins her maternity leave. We wish Kaitlyn all the best for a safe delivery of the new arrival to the family. We also wish Mrs Brosnan well also, as I am sure she too is very excited about the imminent arrival. All the best Kaitlyn and we look forward to hearing the good news of the arrival of another ‘Joey’ and welcoming you back on staff in 2021.

Last week, the Year 5 students held a Prayer Assembly in the Multi-Purpose Area that centred around the theme of being kind to others and how this can contribute to the happiness of those around us. This was quite touching for me as over the last few weeks as we have welcomed more that 60 new families to our school through the Prep Enrolment process. I mentioned the great St Mary of the Cross MacKillop quote that hangs in my office and see every day. It reads; “Find happiness in making others happy.” These are great words to reflect upon and promote with our children, especially in a world where more often than not, people are encouraged more and more to follow pursuits that centre around just our own personal happiness. Promote volunteering, promote kindness, promote giving, promote respect, promote faith, promote hope and most importantly, promote love with our children and they will be all the better for it.

During the assembly I also brought Abby and James Eyles to the stage and as they stood nervously in front of the whole school, I asked them to tell the school the few words that they say to me each morning that always brightens my day. They both answered; “Good morning Mr Fitzgerald, I hope you have a great day.”

Many of our students use great manners each day but I thought it relevant to mention that these two students have wished me a ‘great day’ every morning for at least the last seventeen weeks of school. Ultimately, I am in control of whether I gave a ‘great day’ or not, but I must say, it always seems to be a little bit better when I am greeted with a welcoming smile and some well-wishing words each morning. Thank-you to all of the parents who promote the use of manners with their children. A smile and a greeting cost nothing, but to the people who receive them they are absolutely priceless.

Taking a leaf out of James’ and Abby’s book, I hope you have a great week.

Don’t Forget….

• Bernard Fitzgerald Safeguarding Intensive Study 1. Thurs 27th & Fri 28th August
• 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
• Parent/Teacher Interviews. Week 9. 7th – 11th Sept.

Kindest Regards

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

Happy every day. Learning every day.

APRE REFLECTION

21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Jesus asks, “Who do people say I am?”

Matthew 16:13-20

key to the house

The question that Jesus asks the disciples is a question he asks of all of us. How we answer that question reflects our relationship with Jesus. But more importantly, how we answer that question reflects the way we live our life in response to who we believe Jesus to be. If we truly say that we believe in Jesus as the son of God, then how do we live our lives in such a way that we act on that belief? The gospel shows us that an inadequate answer to that question leads to missing the point of all that Jesus is.

@Liturgy Help

Coming up this term:

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates:

SEMESTER TWO PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Parent Lounge is now open for parents to book an interview. Bookings are open until 5pm this Sunday, 30th August. Interviews will be held in classrooms during Week 9. There will be no supervision for students during interview times. Students are welcome and encouraged to attend their own interview, however, if this is not your wish, please arrange alternate care for your child during the interview time. This is especially important this year due to the current Capital Work being undertaken around the school as well as OSHC needing to utilise the court and play areas. Please be aware that due to COVID regulations, teachers need to sanitise the interview area after each interview, so please be patient if the start of your interview is delayed.

SCIENCE WEEK

Last week was Science Week. I hope you enjoy the following run down of the many different activities undertaken during the week. Thank you to the Joey’s staff for the effort they put in to providing such engaging science activities to celebrate National Science Week.

Prep:

Science Week in Prep has been filled with experiments and investigations.

• We investigated materials to determine if they are natural or manmade.
• We examined the materials of The 3 Little Pig’s houses and what they are made of before we embark on constructing our very own out of cardboard.
• We have predicted if items will sink or float.
• We watched celery transform in colour and Skittles make a rainbow.

Check out some of our exciting moments!

Year 1:

In year 1, we’ve been learning all about the weather. For science week, we investigated rain clouds by making a rain cloud in a jar. As the coloured water fell from the shaving cream cloud into the water underneath, there were cheers of excitement and lots of us were keen to try this experiment again at home. We continued with our weather theme and made a snowstorm in a jar. We were all fascinated by the paint rising through the oil with the carbon dioxide making it look like it was snowing. We finished off science week, by watching flowers change colour, and visiting the Year 5 science expo.

Year 2:

We learnt about oceans through Google Earth and various videos. We discovered that there are a range of different marine life that rely on the ocean to survive and that human interaction and pollution is destroying their habitats and killing the animals within. Through experiments, we discovered that saltwater is denser than fresh, meaning that fresh water will float on top of saltwater. We added various different human pollutants to our water to see how it affected the water and then strained it, noticing that even though we can remove the visible pollution, the water behind is still dirty and contaminated.

Year 3:

Year three had a great Friday engaging in some Science Week experiments. We set up three experiment stations: making a lava lamp, inflating a balloon with baking soda and vinegar and making a growing rainbow. The students spent some time predicting and exploring at each experiment station, having a lot of fun along the way. They then explored the theme for this year’s science week: Into the Blue. The students looked at pollution in our oceans and how it affects our animals. They then needed to come up with a tool that could help reduce the pollution in our ocean. Once they’d created their poster or presentation slides, they presented to the class their idea. All in all, year three had a great day exploring different experiments and coming up with some awesome tools to help reduce rubbish in our oceans. We may have some future scientists on our hands!

Year 4:

The theme for this year’s science week is Deep Blue: innovations for the future of our oceans. This is all about our oceans, the economy (costs) around keeping our oceans clean and safe, the environmental sustainability and pollution.

This week we looked at water just to get an idea about how water reacts to different things.

SURFACE TENSION:

Have you ever seen a water-strider or small spider appear to balance on the surface of water? This is possible because of something called surface tension. The surface tension of water causes its surface to behave like a stretched elastic skin. Year 4 experimented with different objects usually thrown in the bin or at times on the ground; objects that would normally sink and we attempted to balance them on top of still water using surface tension alone!

EXPO 2020

We were also lucky to be invited to the Year 5 Science Expo on Friday afternoon. Lots of great questions and answers. A great way to finish our 2020 Science Week.

Year 5:

Year 5 enjoyed a fun filled week of science.

Science Week in Year 5 saw us start the week designing and building bridges in teams using spaghetti, sticky tape and blue tac.

We then explored static electricity using balloons – a ‘hairy and water bending experience’.

We finished Science week in style with our Science spectacular expo showcasing over 40 mini experiments. The students worked in small groups and demonstrated their experiments while explaining the science behind them. These experiments covered topics including chemical reactions, fizzing explosions, absorbing, colouring flowers, volcanoes, lava lamps, oobleck, non-Newtonian fluid, edible slime, dancing gummy worms, hydro-dipping, surface tension, static electricity, air propelled boats, bouncing eggs and much more. Thank you to all of the students and parents who joined us for our Science Expo.

Year 6

This week in year 6 we have used our knowledge on persuasive texts to make our classroom aware of what we can do to save the ocean. We have created presentations on what issues are happening and how we can help change them. We have researched, learned and reflected on how we can do our part to restore our ocean back to all its glory.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

The Premiers Reading Challenge closes this Friday, 28th August so please start sending in your forms once they are complete.

Regards,

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

In Year 3 this term we have been learning about the different states and territories of Australia, focusing on their natural and man-made attractions. Last week we asked the students where they would like to visit and why. It definitely looks like Year 3 will need to start saving because they have the travel bug.

Mrs. Mooney, Miss McGinley and Year 3

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 3 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW OVERDUE

Fee Accounts for Term 3 are now overdue. These were due on 17/8/19.

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?

If you are the holder of a means tested Concession Card and have not provided a copy to Finance, please do so.

If paying by Direct Deposit, please use your Parent Account Number as the reference and not a name. (this is the 6-digit number on your Fee Statement). This makes it much easier for receipting purposes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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

They are: Miss Hamilton (Yr 6), Nate Bolck (Yr 1), Abigail Farr (Yr1), William Littleboy (Yr6), Jacob Murphy (Yr 6), Caitlin Thompson (Yr 3), Meilah Downie (Prep), Ava Semple (Yr 3), Miss Black.

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Now’s about the time we again start to discuss plans for our next Fete. However, in order to do this, we need a strong volunteer basis to form what essentially will be our Fete Committee. The old saying “many hands make light work” couldn’t be truer when it comes to organizing large scale events like these, so if you’re interested, we implore you to speak up and let our P&F know. Events like these simply can’t be held without volunteer numbers, and we’ll be gauging interest through various forms this term. We will be running opinion polls through our Facebook page, so keep an eye out to have your say.

Reminder:

Wednesday September 9th: P&F Meeting 6:30pm in the Inclusive Curriculum room

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

Jabbering with Joeys – Issue 21

This week we chat with another long term member of our Joeys teaching staff, Leonie Mooney, who’s also parent to a student here, and can operate a mean walkie-talkie.

Name: Leonie Mooney
How long have you been at Joeys?: 13 years
Favourite Food: Sweet- chocolate, savoury- lasagne
What did you want to be when you grew up?: An Au Pair
Favourite Music: 80’s hits
Coffee or Tea: coffee
Favourite subject at school: home economics
Hobbies outside of Joeys: baking, socialising
Favourite book/movie: The Faraway Tree Series
Favourite colour: purple
Best “Dad” joke: What did 0 say to 8? Nice belt
Favourite thing about Joeys: The supportive community- it truely feels like home.

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