16 June 2021

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Week 9.

Just a reminder that next Monday we will be holding our Semester 1 Academic Awards Assembly instead of our usual Monday Morning Assembly. During this assembly we will celebrate our student’s academic achievements through the first half of the year by presenting our Gold, Silver, Bronze, Maroon and Navy awards. Due to the length of the assembly and being the only group that do not have official academic awards, our Prep class will not be involved in this assembly and will head straight to class at the 8:35am bell.

If your child will be receiving an award on Monday, you will be notified before next week’s assembly. If this is the case, please remember that we like these awards to be a surprise for the students receiving them.

Here is a list of the awards that will be presented, and the requirements needed to achieve them:

EFFORT AWARD (KLA – Key Learning Areas, O – Outstanding Effort)

Navy Certificate – Effort Award minimum 4 O’s (All KLA’s from 4 and beyond where the student obtains an ‘O’ will be listed)

ACADEMIC AWARDS (KLA – Key Learning Areas)

Maroon Certificate – Academic Award (A/VH or B/H for all KLA’s)

Bronze Certificate – Minimum of 4 A/VH’s across all KLA’s (At least 1 must be in RE, Maths or English & a passing grade required in all KLA’s)

Silver Certificate – 5 A/VH’s (At least 2 must be in RE, Maths or English & a passing grade required in all KLA’s)

Gold Certificate – 6 A/VH’s (At least 3 must be in RE, Maths and English & a passing grade required in all KLA’s)

Report cards will be posted to Parent Lounge on the final Wednesday of Term. These reports are a very important part of the communication between home and school regarding your child’s academic progress. These particular reports are also very important for Year 5 families as Semester 1 reports are integral in the enrolment process for High School.

Best of luck to Year 6 teacher, Anna Young who will be taking part in the Primary School Netball State Championships this week. Anna was selected as the 2021 Queensland coach and, if not for COVID, would have been selecting a Queensland team to take to this year’s National Titles. We wish Anna all the best with this week’s State Titles.

Have a great week.

Don’t Forget …

• Semester 1 Academic Awards Assembly. 21st June @ 8:35am in MPA
• Semester 1 Reports posted to Parent Lounge. Wednesday 23rd June
• All Prep enrolments for 2022 submitted online before the end of Semester 1
• Term 3 recommences. Monday 12th July
• Prep Enrolment Interviews for 2022 commence Monday 12th July

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

St Joseph’s 2021 School Improvement Priorities:

• Writing
• Parent Engagement
• Social Emotional Learning

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Parable of the mustard seed
Mark 4:26-34

This week we return to Ordinary time in our liturgical calendar. We are past the seasons of Holy Week and Easter. During Ordinary Time we hear from Mark about the work and day to day teachings of Christ. Our prayer tables and prayer spaces will feature a green cloth.

Gospel Reflection

On the surface the parable is about the kingdom of God starting from very small, humble beginnings and growing into something great. However, immediately prior to this kingdom parable, Jesus has reminded us that the community makes a living out of growing grain crops like wheat for bread, etc. His parable about the mustard seed describes a tiny seed that grows into a great shrub ‘so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade’. A farming community that was growing grain crops would be greatly alarmed at the thought of actually attracting birds to their fields or even nearby. Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God is that it is actually disruptive and invasive. The kingdom brings unrest and disquiet to the predictable. The kingdom of God is unsettling. This is a much more challenging parable than it appears from a literal reading.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

Children’s Mass Date Claimer

It has been a long time coming, but we are going to return to having a regular children’s mass next term. Saturday 31st July @ 6:30pm, will be our first Children’s Mass since the pandemic closed our churches. A Children’s Mass is led by the children, with children’s hymns, children reading and singing and is targeted at their level of understanding. Please add this date to your calendar and more will be posted next term. This will be a great way to celebrate the end of Catholic Education Week for 2021.

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

*OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church – next to school

*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

Bernadette Brennan
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

UNDER 8S MORNING

All students from Prep – Year 3 will be participating in a variety of activities to celebrate Under 8s week. This celebration will be held on Thursday, 24th June. Students are invited to wear free dress on that day. Please ensure their clothing is sun safe, enclosed shoes are worn and the school hat is also worn. Please also bring a re-usable bag for the students to keep their creations in.

The day will begin with a short prayer assembly led by the Year 3 class in the MPA at 9am. After the prayer assembly, the students will be free to wander around the activities which will be set up around the Prep/Year 1 classrooms and across the oval. The students will be provided with a sausage on bread for first break. Please make sure they have enough food for the rest of the day. Thank you to the P&F for donating the sausages and bread as well as their time to cook the food.

After first break, the students will return to their classrooms for normal teaching and learning until the 3pm bell.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

All students in Prep – Year 6 are invited to participate in the QLD Premier’s Reading Challenge. Significant details were included in last week’s newsletter for your reference.

To successfully complete the PRC, students must read or experience the number of books indicated below in English or additional languages.

Prep – Year 2 students are required to read or experience 20 books
Year 3 – Year 4 students are required to read 20 books
Years 5 and 6 – Year 5 and 6 students to read 15 books

A reading record form can be downloaded from the following website:

or collected from class teachers. Once completed, please return the form to school. The challenge finishes on 27th August. Please have forms returned to school by this date.

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 that came home last week 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.

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.

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 will look at Learner Dispositions which forms part of our Pedagogical Model.

Learner Dispositions are ways of engaging with the learning process

The term 'learner dispositions', sometimes called 'habits of mind', refers to the way in which learners engage with and relate to the learning process.

Learner dispositions affect how students approach learning and therefore the outcomes of their learning.

Various research identifies different dispositions but there is consensus about the importance of learner dispositions in developing skills, influencing engagement and promoting deep understanding (NSW Department of Education, 2018).

The learner dispositions St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Park Avenue uses come from the You Can Do It program.

At St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Park Avenue, we focus on the following learner dispositions:

1. Growth Mindset: When I work hard and try different things to be successful, I get smarter.
2. Setting Goals: I set goals to help me achieve my personal best.
3. Accepting Myself: I accept myself no matter what happens. I am proud of my strengths and differences.
4. Thinking First: When people treat me unfairly or I don't get what I want, it's good to take time to think about the best way for me to behave.
5. Taking Risks: I want to be successful, but I don't always have to. It's important to try new things even if I make mistakes or are not successful.
6. Time Management: I make sure that I'm on time. I plan enough time to get things done. I keep track of my assignments and I make sure I have all my materials ready to work.
7. I Can Do It: I can do things that are very hard. I can stay positive when learning is difficult. I can keep calm when someone is being mean.
8. Accepting Everyone: People I don't know, are different from me or behave badly are not totally bad people. All people have positive things about them. Everyone deserves to be treated respectfully.
9. Giving Effort: My success comes from trying hard. It's not because I'm lucky or what I'm doing is easy.
10. Being Independent: I want people to like me, but they don't have to. It's important to me to say what I think even if other people disagree.
11. Working Tough: I want things to be fun and exciting, but they don't always have to be. To be successful, I sometimes have to do things that are hard or boring.
12. Following Rules: By following important rules at home and school, we can live in a world where everyone is safe, feels free to say what they think and enjoys learning.

Learner dispositions can be practised, modelled and discussed within multiple learning contexts. Aspects of learner dispositions and related skills can also be explicitly taught.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 2 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW 4 WEEKS OVERDUE

School Fees for Term 2 were due for payment on Tuesday 11/5/21. These are now 4 weeks overdue for payment and require Urgent Attention.

It is recommended that all families ensure that you regularly log into Parent Lounge and check your Account balances. Although you may be making Direct Debit payments you may need to amend the amount you are paying or make a one-off payment to catch up on the fees so that the outstanding balance does not get too high.

Please contact Tracey or Megan in the office if you require your Parent Lounge Login details.

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 have a means tested Concession Card and have not yet given a copy to the Finance Secretary (Megan), please do so as soon as possible

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Charlee Dixson (Yr 3), Lily McDonald (Yr 5), Charlotte Mills (Yr 1), Jack Wade (Prep), Lachlan Wedel (Yr 4), Olivia Roberts (Yr 6) and Mrs Gray.

Have a great day.

DRAKES SUPA IGA

Drakes Fundraiser for St. Joseph's Cathedral

I thank you for your support of this project which has raised over $40,000, of which the school community has played an important role. Please continue to support the Cathedral by shopping at DRAKES using your key tag and receiving the benefits.

If you have not been part of this fundraiser you are invited to get a key tag from your local School or Church and shop at your local Drakes, one cent in every dollar you spend will go to the Cathedral. No Fuss, only benefits.

Hoping to see you at Drakes
Stay Safe

Shirley Hopkins,
Co-ordinator, Drakes Fundraiser for St Joseph's Cathedral