10 December 2021

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL – Bernadette Brennan

Welcome to Week 6.

Tonight is the Parents & Friends Annual General Meeting. Our P and F actively organise social events like this week’s Movie Night, fundraise on and off similar to last week’s Meal Deal that raised money for new soccer goals, and participate in the teaching and learning of our school community. While the P and F does need an Executive Committee, the workload on these people can be greatly reduced if shared by many.

If you have an idea that may improve and benefit the life of St Joseph’s community, feel free to turn up to the meeting and share. The meeting will be held in the Library at 6:00pm.

Presentation Night is just two weeks away. Classes have commenced learning songs and rehearsing. If your child is going to be absent on the night, please inform the teachers to ensure the best preparation is possible. Keep an eye out for communication from your teachers regarding costumes or clothing requirements.

Yellow Confirmation of Enrolment notices we sent home last Friday to all families. EVERY FAMILY IS REQUIRED TO COMPLETE AND RETURN these as soon as possible. These forms not only ensure families receive their discounts, but they also inform the school which families are returning in 2022. If you plan on leaving St Joseph’s at the end of the year, please complete the form and return it as there are waiting lists for many year levels.

Looking forward to The Grinch on Friday night.

Calendar Dates – as listed in Events on Skoolbag

Term 4 2021

Week 6

• Wednesday 10th NOV P&F AGM in the Library @ 6:00pm
• Friday 12th NOV Movie Night in the MPA and gardens 6:30pm

Week 7

• Monday 15th NOV TCC Year 7 Orientation Evening. 5:00pm – 6:30pm
• Tuesday 16th NOV Mike Kelso, AD Schools Rockhampton Term 4 Visit

Week 8

• Monday 22nd NOV in MPA @ 8:35am Semester 2 Cultural Assembly.
• Thursday 25th NOV Emmaus Year 6 Orientation Day
• Thursday 25th NOV Presentation Night in MPA @ 6:00pm

Week 9

• Monday 29th NOV Semester 2 Academic Awards in MPA @ 9:00am
• Wednesday 1st Dec Semester 2 Reports posted to Parent Lounge
• Wednesday 1st DEC Year 6 Graduation Mass in OLHC @ 6:00pm
• Wednesday 1st DEC Year 6 Graduation Meal @ RLC
• Thursday 2nd DEC Year 6 Fun Day
• Friday 3rd DEC @ 9:00am End of Year Mass & Leadership Change Over.
• Friday 3rd DEC 2021 Office Closes @ 3:15

Term 1 2022

• Monday, 10th January 2022 Office Reopens
• Thursday afternoon, 20th January 2022 (1:30 – 3:30) Resource Drop-off Day
• Monday, 24th January 2022 Term 1 Commences

Regards
Bernadette Brennan
Acting Principal - St. Joseph’s Catholic School Park Avenue

St Joseph’s 2021 School Improvement Priorities:

• Writing
• Parent Engagement
• Social Emotional Learning

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The widow’s mite.
Mark 12:41-44

Living the Gospel – Hyprocrisy

Throughout the gospels, what Jesus appears to abhor more than anything else is hypocrisy. His harshest condemnation of the scribes and the Pharisees is that they are hypocrites. In this passage, whilst Jesus hates the scribes’ parading around and claiming honour that is not their due, what really sees him condemn them is their mistreatment of widows ‘while making a show of lengthy prayers’. We cannot praise God in prayer while at the same time mistreating our neighbour. That is hypocrisy! Our actions are an extension of our prayer. We cannot celebrate the Eucharist on Sundays and fail to live it the rest of the week!
@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

What a celebration we had on Saturday night at our last Children’s Mass for the term! It was fabulous to see so many families and children join us. The parishioners loved having lots of little people around and many commented on how well we all joined in with the many different parts of the Eucharist.

The BBQ after made sure that everyone had full tummies and delicious, sweet snacks were donated by some of the parishioners; these were very popular!

Thank you very much to everyone who helped in any way with Children’s Mass. I was super proud of you all.

Vinnie’s Christmas Appeal continues this week. We hope to continue the tradition of Joey’s generosity by helping less fortunate families through this appeal again.

Each week, the students will be asked to donate a specific item type.

WEEK 6 – Drinks
WEEK 7 – Tins
WEEK 8 – Christmas

When you donate, consider what your family likes to enjoy at Christmas, this is usually what other families would like too! This appeal is a great way to live the lesson we can learn from the widow in the Gospel from last Sunday’s Mass. Let’s give generously!

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

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

PARISH BULLETIN

Elizabeth Carter
Acting Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

Report Cards

Teachers are busily finalising assessments and completing the Semester Two Report Cards. Report Cards will be able to be accessed through Parent Lounge from Wednesday, 1st December. Please ensure you can access Parent Lounge before that date. If you have misplaced your log in details, please contact Tracey in the office.

Booklists

Booklists have been sent home with students this week. They will also be put on the Skoolbag App for parents to access. We have made the decision to move away from our previous online supplier due to several issues we have had over the last two years. This will mean that parents will need to source the equipment themselves. Capricorn Educational Resources is once again our preferred supplier. CER have agreed to supply all our booklist requirements, especially the textbooks. There is a box in the office where you can drop your list. It will then be collected by CER and filled. Otherwise, you can drop it to CER yourself or source the equipment elsewhere. I would like to thank our P&F who have once again generously purchased several items for our classrooms. This has significantly reduced the cost of booklists for parents.

Life Education Visit

Liz and Healthy Harold will be at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Park Avenue from Monday 15th to Friday 19th November 2021. We can’t wait to meet our old friends and make new ones too. We’ll be learning about healthy lifestyle choices and having lots of fun along the way.

Head to the parent and carer hub at the link below to have a look at the modules that your children will be working through. You will find detailed overviews of the modules and fact sheets with 'conversation starter' ideas so that you can carry on discussing the lessons at home.

Classes will be accessing the following module titles:

Prep – My Body Matters
Year 1 – Ready, Steady, Go
Year 2 – Growing Good Friends
Year 3 – Harold's Diary
Year 4 – Mind Your Medicine
Year 5 – BCyberwise
Year 6 – Relate, Respect, Connect

From Liz and Harold

Liz is also offering a parent information session where she will explain more about the program and answer any questions. This session will be held in the Life Education Van on Monday, 15th November at 9am straight after assembly.

If you don’t wish your child to participate in this learning opportunity, please contact me via email (deanne_senini@rok.catholic.edu.au) before 15th November and advise me of this decision.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 4 FEE ACCOUNTS DUE FOR PAYMENT

Fee Accounts for Term 4 are now 2 Weeks Overdue

Term 4, 2021 Fees were due for payment on Monday 25th October. These are now two weeks overdue and reminder letters will be sent out. If you foresee difficulty in paying Fees, please see Bernard or Megan to discuss this as soon as possible.

If you have a means tested Concession Card and have not yet given a copy to the Finance Secretary, please do so as soon as possible. When your card expires, please remember to present your new one to Megan so that you continue to receive the discount.

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).

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 1

We have had a busy term and we all can’t believe how quickly it is passing us by.

This term in Religion we have been learning about Baptism. We’ve had lots of fun with our class baby and pretending to be the priest, parents and godparents.

Recently we had a visit from the Queensland Fire Department. We’ve learned about the importance of safe and unsafe fires and how to evacuate safely from our home and communicate with our parents about a safe meeting place such as our letterbox.

Last week we watched the Melbourne Cup. This was quite an unfamiliar event for our Year 1s and they loved cheering on all the horses and enjoying the atmosphere while the horses raced down the straight.

Mrs Hannah, Mrs Roati, Mrs S and students

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Willow Beal (Prep), Declan Roati (Prep)Maisie Duncan (Yr 1), Izabella McGilvray (Prep), Trinity Jones (Yr 5) and Cooper Pettett (Yr 3).

Have a great day.

KEYBOARD LESSONS

Leanne Voss will continue to offer Keyboard lessons in 2022 for interested students in grades 1 – 6.

Lessons are of 30-minute duration and will be conducted weekly at school on a rotating timetable so that students do not miss the same lesson each week.

Students will be required to have access to a keyboard for practice, and purchase a music tutor book and theory book. Lessons will generally be given to groups of 2 or 3 students with some individual lessons available when it is not possible to match students of similar musical ability. The lessons will focus on using a chord bass with an emphasis on utilising keyboard features such as different tones and rhythms.

Playing keyboard is an excellent extra curriculum activity to develop not only musical skills, but creative thinking, hand-eye coordination, concentration and commitment to task.

Enrolment forms are available from the office and in the newsletter for both new and continuing students.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC in 2022

Enrolments are now being accepted for new and continuing students to learn the following instruments at St. Joseph’s Park Avenue.

FLUTE, CLARINET, SAXOPHONE, TRUMPET, TROMBONE, VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, GUITAR & VOICE.

Instrumental Music provides so many benefits to a child – please watch the attached link to a fantastic video about Music and the Brain: Instrumental Music Learning and Brain Fireworks

Please see the attached information letter for details on required year levels for each instrument, and a downloaded version of the enrolment form.

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