26 May 2021

Newsletter Articles

ATTACHMENTS

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 6.

You may have noticed that the following information detailing our main three school improvement priorities for 2021 has been present below my newsletter inserts each week. We as a school community have been investing a tremendous amount of human resourcing and professional development into these following areas to provide greater guidance and opportunities for our staff, parents and students in these areas. Over the upcoming weeks we will be detailing some of our increased efforts in these identified areas in which we are striving for improvement. For those who may have missed them, our three priorities for 2021 are:

St Joseph’s 2021 School Improvement Priorities:

• Parent Engagement
• Writing
• Social Emotional Learning

Congratulations to the families of students that took part in the Sacrament of Confirmation over Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings last week. With over 150 children taking part this year, Mrs Brennan, Beryl Mills and the rest of the Sacramental Team have been working extremely hard to provide this very important experience for those participants by strengthening their link to the Catholic community and their faith experience.

We have begun our Laudato Si’ week with the planting of our final ‘mature’ tree in the centre of the school. We will have a special plaque made to commemorate the ceremony. We also have two other plaques that we will be putting next to the other two trees in our new courtyard area. The two other trees that have already been planted before this week were actually gifts from the Year 6 classes of 2019 and 2020. These plaques will be put down as soon as we finalise the edging of our gardens. I am sure that our Laudato Si’ Expo will be a huge success with a tremendous amount of time and effort being put into the event.

This week was also marked with a very special mass being held in St Joseph’s Cathedral for Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day. The Student Council along with Mrs Brennan, Miss Black and myself were in attendance with a number of our students watching via live stream back at school. The mass is also the main celebration within our Diocese as 2021 marks 200 years since the first Catholic school was founded in Parramatta, NSW. I am sure you will all agree that it is a wonderful achievement of 200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia with St Joseph’s Park Avenue being a part of that journey for the last 92 years being established in 1929.

To mark the celebration, the Rockhampton Catholic Education Office created this student led rendition of John Burland’s ‘Mary Help of Christians.’ I am providing the YouTube link below for you to have a look at it.

I will be away for a couple of days LSL for the remainder of the week. During this time Mrs Bernadette Brennan will be Acting Principal until my return next Monday.

Please click on the following link to hear a message from the Prime Minister.

Have a great week.

Don’t Forget …

• Laudato Si’ Week. Mon 24th – Fri 28th May
• Laudato Si’ Expo. Thursday 27th May
• Athletics Field Events. Monday 31st May @ St Joseph’s
• Athletics Track Events. Tuesday 1st June @ Emmaus Oval
• Rockhampton Show Holiday 10th June
• R’ton District Athletics 14th – 15th June
• Semester 1 Reports posted to Parent Lounge. Wednesday 23rd June
• All Prep enrolments for 2022 submitted online before the end of Semester 1

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

St Joseph’s 2021 School Improvement Priorities:

• Parent Engagement
• Writing
• Social Emotional Learning

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

Pentecost Sunday

The Spirit will guide the Apostles to all truth
John 20:19-23

Living the Gospel – Come, Holy Spirit

‘Come, Holy Spirit’, or its Latin, Vene Sancte Spiritus, has become the basis of countless prayers and hymns over many hundreds of years. To this day, it remains a powerful invocation that can be used in prayer or meditation. Three simple words convey a wealth of meaning. The invitation for the Spirit to ‘Come’ indicates recognition of the need for the Spirit’s intervention and openness to accept the guidance that the Spirit brings. It is a powerful, simple prayer that can be used at the outset of any significant undertaking or whenever you find yourself in need of inspiration.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

*OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church – next to school
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

Laudato Si’ Week

As members of the Catholic Earthcare network, we are called to care for creation. This year we are celebrating Laudato Si’ Week. Laudato Si’ is an encyclical letter (a papal letter) written by Pope Francis on ecology and climate. This letter is about “Care for our Common Home.”

Pope Francis is reminding each one of us of our role in the Plan of the Creator.

We want our school community to unite for a more just and sustainable future. Everyone is invited to attend our Laudato Si’ Expo. The expo will feature class stalls selling a variety of goodies from seedlings to upcycled items. There is a variety of displays from external agencies and games galore all promoting Care for the Common Home. Children are welcome to bring along some money to shop at the stalls and take a chance at the games to win prizes.

Athletics Carnival

Due to the upcoming installation of the new upper school playground we are holding off on installing our new long jump pit. This means the students will compete in Long Jump at Emmaus College on Tuesday. Mr. Fitzgerald will be taking a rotation on Monday to practice for relays and have some fun relays to fill the Monday time slot.

MONDAY @ St Joseph’s Park Avenue

Commencing @ 9:00am

TUESDAY @ Emmaus College

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN SCIENCE WEEK

National Science Week is celebrated during the week of 15th – 21st August, which for us, is Term 3, Week 6. The 2021 theme is: Food: Different by Design. This year we are going to celebrate Science Week by organising an expo of displays for our students to engage with.

We are hoping to get some experts to volunteer their time to teach our students something interesting about Science or Technology (if that sounds like you or you know someone who might be interested, please let me know).

As well as these professionals from our community, we’d love for some of our own students to run a display. It doesn’t have to match in with the theme but simply be something to do with Science or Technology that they are interested in.

If your child is interested in running a display, and you are happy to help them learn about their topic and put together an engaging display / activity, please fill in the form attached to the newsletter (this form should have also made its way home to you) and return it to the office by the end of Term 2 so that I can begin to organise the logistics of this event and check that the display/activity fits in with our workplace health and safety requirements.

Some ideas:

• Teach the community about the importance of bees and how they help us
• Explain how a volcano erupts
• Show how to filter dirty water
• Become an expert on a natural disaster and teach the community what you know
• Teach the community how to make soap
• Show off your coding skills with a robotics display
• Design a solar powered vehicle

Please note, this is not a competition but simply a way of celebrating Science by sharing our knowledge and passions. Also, parents don’t need to be present on the day as long as the student can talk to their topic and their display.

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer your expertise and time, please contact me through the office or via email: deanne_senini@rok.catholic.edu.au.

UNDER 8S MORNING – SAVE THE DATE

This year we will be celebrating Under 8s Week with a morning full of fun activities for students in Prep – Year 3. This morning will be held in Week 10 on Thursday, 24th June. More details will be communicated as the day gets closer.

ICAS

St Joseph’s will be offering ICAS assessments again this year. These assessments are online assessments designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. The assessments are based on the curricula for the relevant year. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of knowledge. New ICAS assessments are developed annually for each subject in every year level. This is to ensure an engaging and beneficial experience for all students.

ICAS offers the following assessments:

Please note that your child may miss out on their PE or Arts lesson if the ICAS assessment is scheduled for that time. If your child is absent for the scheduled assessment, there is no opportunity for a catch up assessment and you would need to speak to ICAS directly to try to organise a refund.

To purchase an ICAS assessment for your child please log on to our ICAS parent page at the following link and using the following access code:

Your school access code is: XWG624

ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BY SUNDAY, 25TH JULY.

If you have any questions or concerns about ICAS, please let me know.

ART COMPETITION

Students are invited to enter the 2021 Independent Education Union’s Awards for Excellence in Art Design competition. All students from Prep – Year 6 are eligible to enter.

Design Task:

• Your task is to produce a piece of artwork that best reflects the theme: Our World.
• You may include a statement or caption to reinforce your visual image.
• You may use a variety of media (paint, crayon, pencil, ink etc). It must also be suitable for exhibition purposes.

Entries close: Friday, 23rd July. Cash prizes of $100 - $350.

Please note: All entries must be posted to the appropriate address in time for it to be received by Friday, 23rd July. Parents are responsible for posting their child’s entry.

Please see Mrs Senini for an official entry form if you are interested in entering this competition.

ST JOSEPH’S TEACHING AND LEARNING FRAMEWORK

Throughout 2019, the staff assisted me to develop a teaching and learning framework for our school. It has since been endorsed by the Rockhampton Catholic Education Office and is currently being implemented across our school. Each week in this newsletter I would like to share a section of this framework with the school community so that everyone is aware of what teaching and learning looks like at our school.

This week we will begin looking at Part 3 of the Teaching and Learning Framework – The School Pedagogical Model. This section is broken up into 5 sub sections: Preamble, Virtues, Principles of Practice, Mindset Priorities and Learner Dispositions.

Virtues

A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself or herself.

The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his/her sensory and spiritual powers; he/she pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.

(#1803 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994)

All teaching and learning at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Park Avenue is infused with virtues in the Catholic tradition.

We encourage all in our school community to love God, love others and model virtues. Virtues are acquired through education, deliberate acts and perseverance (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994).

Members of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Park Avenue community are encouraged to reflect upon, model and nurture seven virtues in the Catholic tradition:

Kindness, Independence, Perseverance, Faith, Justice, Diligence, Zeal

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

YEAR 2 SUPERSTARS

Wow what an amazing Term 2 we have had. Here are some of our highlights:

• We finished last term with a Science Day where we were fashion designers, architects, engineers and furniture designers. Using only the supplies available to them. Students had a blast designing everyday items and explaining why they used the materials they used.

• A great turn out for our ANZAC Day march. Congratulations to all who marched and proudly represented St Joseph’s Park Avenue.

• We have been very busy with our Maths and English workshops. Working out how much money we need to purchase our ‘wants’ and building our way towards creating reports about Australian Animals.

• We’ve been very lucky to have Mrs Boaler join us weekly for extra learning times. We also used her crafty side to create our Mother’s Day cards. How beautiful were they Mums?

• A huge welcome back to Mrs Tickner who will be with us for the next 4 weeks. This is her last placement before she graduates as a teacher.

Laudato Si’:

Many hands make light work has never been truer during our preparation for the Expo being held this tomorrow afternoon. Between the collection of clean bottles to the foraging for plants and wooden spoons, we are pleased to announce we are nearly ready for our Year 2 Stall.

Mrs Tennyson has been gently creating some beautiful, bottled plants for sale (Mrs McCutcheon is not allowed to touch the plants). We’ve had some amazing Mums join her in gathering plants for this. A particular thank you goes to Mrs Corry and Mrs Bolck for their help.

Mrs Boaler’s craft abilities have come in handy here too. She has taught students to make birdseed bags from old paper bags from Woolworths.

When you see our beautiful plants, you’ll notice the tags are made from recycled bottle caps. Mrs Tennyson spent many an hour melting these down so the students could write on them.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Expo.

Year 2

YR 6 FUNDRAISER

Year Six are conducting a Krispy Kreme fundraiser to help raise money for school camp. You can order your donuts through the link below. Order options are:

Original Glazed Dozen: 12 of Krispy Kreme's Signature Original Glazed doughnuts

Fundraising Assorted Dozen: 2 x Choc Iced, 2 x Choc Iced Sprinkles, 2 x Strawberry Iced, and 6 x Original Glazed doughnuts.

Pick up will be Thursday, 24th June from 2pm – 4pm outside the Year Six Classroom (no alternative pick up times will be available). Orders close on the 9th of June. Thanks for your support!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Keely Brook (Yr 6), Charli Thorn (Yr 6), Bronson Wall (Yr 5), Elizabeth Goodsall (Yr 2), Max Harris (Yr 5), Harrison Mooney (Prep) and Izaiah Savage (Yr 4).

Have a great day.

TCC MUSICAL

Please see attachment for the upcoming TCC Musical – The Addams Family, playing at the Pilbeam Theatre on Friday the 11th June and Saturday the 12th June.

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

FROM THE SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month is held during May each year to raise community awareness and promote a clear message that domestic and family violence will not be tolerated in our communities. Not now and Not Ever. Overwhelming violence in the home is affecting women, and harming children and can happen to anyone. And anyone living in violence needs support, we can all play our part. We can shine light on violence not silence.

You or someone you know might be living in abuse or feel unsafe at home. It is important to be able to ask them if they are ok or need help and listen with an empathetic and non-judgemental ear.

If you are feeling afraid or unsafe in your relationship, or you want to help a friend, you can seek confidential advice from the DVConnect Womensline service on 1800 811 811 - 24 hours, seven days a week.

The DVConnect Mensline service can also be contacted on 1800 600 636 from 9am to midnight, seven days a week.

If you are in immediate danger contact police on Triple Zero (000) to seek assistance right away.