27 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

WELCOME BACK, WE MISSED YOU!

As we welcomed back our remaining Year 2-6 students on Monday, please be aware that for our student’s ongoing protection, we still have limited adult access into the school. It has been great to see the developing independence of our youngest students as they are having no trouble finding their classroom and getting ready for the school day. This has been, and will continue to be, the perfect time to address any separation anxiety concerns.

A big thank you to all of the parents, grandparents and guardians for all your hard work in continuing the educational journey of our students and having the courage and commitment needed to tackle the challenging aspects that the last few months have presented.

As a staff, we will be committed to easing into the next few weeks being fully aware that some students have been away from school for as much as 10 weeks. Due to this, staff will be approaching this week the same way as we would the first week of school for the year by re-establishing routines and reminding them that Joeys is a safe, supportive environment, providing quality educational opportunities that are essential for their ongoing growth. We are fully aware that our students will be excited to see their friends again but will also be very tired as they settle back into their regular timetables.

I urge you to please continue to be patient, kind and understanding for the second half of the Term as we also deal with our Capital Works. Our builders and the contractors conducting civil works along Haynes Street, are working as fast as possible under very difficult circumstances.

I am going to use the phrase that I have heard so often from many parents in our community, it will be a classic ‘short term pain, for a long-term gain’ scenario.

Finally, I have included the Bishop’s Letter from last weekend which addresses the re-opening of our Churches and the challenges that lay ahead in terms of our liturgical celebrations. There is also a lovely ‘Entrustment Prayer Card’ about Our Lady Help of Christians. In line with these processes, I must remind the community that we will continue to not have Monday morning, whole school or class led Prayer Assemblies for the remainder of the term. As a team, we are also working on how we will be conducting Prep 2021 interviews in Term 3. We will continue to keep you posted.

Kindest Regards

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

Happy every day. Learning every day.

APRE REFLECTION

The Ascension of the Lord

Jesus sends forth his disciples with the promise to be with them always

Matthew 28:16-20

A witness in a court of law is called to give evidence about a matter; to ‘testify’ to the truth of what they have seen or what they know to be true. Some people are very good at being a ‘witness’ to their faith by testifying to others about what they believe. Many others provide witness to their faith by simply living what they believe. Living a life based on Christian principles, including regular prayer and worship in your life, working for justice in the world and taking time to celebrate the beauty of everyday life is a powerful witness to others.

CURRICULUM NEWS

Important Curriculum Dates:

SEMESTER ONE REPORTING

Earlier today a letter was emailed to all parents and put on the school app regarding changes to Semester One reporting. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take some time to read that letter as Semester One reports will be issued at a date later than normal and will look a little different than normal due to the significant disruption to learning in Semester One.

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 the link below:

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

Please note: The ICAS writing test is not being offered in 2020.

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.

The web link is:

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 were emailed and posted on Parent Lounge last week.

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: Elizabeth Goodsall (Yr 1), Max Harris (Yr 4), Izaiah Savage (Yr 3), Chloe Bragg (Yr 5) and Kade Scott (Yr 3).

Have a great day.

P & F NEWS

Last week was National Volunteers Week, and we are grateful for all our volunteers here at Joeys, whomever they be. We hope you had the chance to thank a volunteer, or better yet, thought about being a volunteer yourself.

This week we welcomed all students back to the classrooms for the remainder of the term. Again, a big thank you to all the staff and parents for their efforts over the past five weeks. Fingers crossed we’ll be in the classrooms for the remainder of the school year.

With the return of our full cohort, comes added pressure at pick up and drop off times. We again thank the families for their patience. Short term pain, for long term gain we believe a wise person once said!

Following on from the notice on the app, please disregard the emails you may have received regarding the Run4Fun Colour Explosion. We hope to have some developments regarding this in the near future, so keep your eyes and ears peeled.

Have a great week!

Thanks,
Joeys P&F

JABBERING WITH JOEYS

This week we get to know our two Year 1 Education Support Officers, Madelein Paap and Michelle Smith.

Name: Madelein Paap
How long have you been at Joeys?: This is my fourth year
Favourite Food: Steak and prawns
What did you want to be when you grew up?: Something in tourism or a hairdresser
Favourite Music: Mostly country but a bit of everything
Coffee or Tea: Both, I have a cup of tea when I wake up and then a coffee on the way to school. Ready for the day
Favourite subject at school: Primary school was Maths and High School was Home Economics
Hobbies outside of Joeys: Baking, running and camping
Favourite book/movie: One of my favourite movies is The Castle and I like to read Australian outback romance novels
Favourite colour: Navy blue
Best “Dad” joke: Why did the scarecrow receive an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.
Favourite thing about Joeys: The supportive and caring staff, the many parents that volunteer their time to help out in so many different ways and seeing all the beautiful Joey’s kids everyday.

Name: Michelle Smith
How long have you been at Joeys?: This is my 4th year at Joeys.
Favourite Food: Lasagne
What did you want to be when you grew up?: Interior Designer
Favourite Music: Rock
Coffee or Tea: Neither
Favourite subject at school: Art and PE
Hobbies outside of Joeys: Netball
Favourite book/movie: Forrest Gump
Favourite colour: Blue
Best “Dad” joke: What happens when you throw a rock in the water? It gets wet.
Favourite thing about Joeys: It is such a supportive school.

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Domestic violence in our community is unacceptable. Everyone has the right to be free from harm and to live without fear of violence or abuse. All victims need compassionate and highly responsive support.

The Help is Here campaign provides information on support services available to anyone affected by domestic and family violence, to help them access the support they need, when they need it

In an emergency call 000 Police or DV Connect – 1800 811 811 (24 hours)

You can also contact a FREE online counselling service 1800RESPECT.

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