22 September 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

It was lovely to see so many students and their families at our Children’s Mass last Saturday evening. We have only had one Children’s Mass over the last 18 months. In recognising this, I am very appreciative of the Parish for allowing us to share in the vigil mass and in accommodating the processes we have had to put in place in order to take part in the mass.

Well done to the children who had specific roles in the celebration and for our parishioners who took care of the music. It was truly wonderful to be able to get back to our marvellous, school led celebrations in our beautiful little church.

Our updated School Uniform Policy will soon be available on both the school website and the Skoolbag app. The policy will have updates regarding school socks, skorts and options for long sleeve sports shirts.

Regarding jewellery, please remember that:

• No rings of any kind should be worn by students.
• Small gold or silver cross/religious medallion on a suitable chain.
• Plain small gold or silver sleepers or studs. One earing permitted per ear lobe.
• No other body piercing permitted.
• Medical alert bracelet or necklace for medical reasons.

Regarding the new skorts that are an option for the sports uniform, they must be the new maroon skorts that can be purchased from Wearico/Wearitto. At the moment we have some of our students in plain maroon skorts which are not actually a part of our uniform. When the new skorts become available, the two acceptable options will be the official embroidered maroon school shorts or the similar new skort option. Thank you in advance for your co-operation in this matter.

The P&F Association have provided me with the link for the SJPA Secondhand Uniform Facebook Group –

Last week we had our first P&F and School Board meeting via a combined Zoom format. For the remainder of the year our meeting dates will go back to their normal times. These being:

• P&F meetings are the second Wednesday of the month in the library. All are welcome to attend.
• School Board Meetings are the third Wednesday of the month in the library. If you wish to be a part of the School Board please contact me.

The next meetings will be on the 9th of March for the P&F and the 16th for the School Board.

Finally, some parents have contacted me about fees regarding the delayed start the 2022 academic year due to the Government mandates around COVID. Fees statements that are usually sent out at the end of Week 2 were instead scheduled for the end of Week 4 and were made available by last Friday the 18th of February.

At this point, there has been a systemic decision from DCEO that the fee schedule for 2022 remain the same as what was prescribed late last year. This means that this will be the case for all Catholic Schools across the entire Diocese. If you are experiencing troubles meeting your fee commitments due to COVID related circumstances, we have certain processes in place to help families. If this is the case for you, please contact Megan through the office to make a time to come and see me.

Don’t Forget….

• Ash Wednesday, 2nd March (Students will celebrate in Year Levels)
• Early 2:50pm Pick-up processes are in place till at least the end of Week 6, Friday the 4th of March.

Kindest Regards
Bernard Fitzgerald

Principal - St. Joseph’s Catholic School Park Avenue

St Joseph’s 2022 School Improvement Priorities:

• Prayer
• Family Partnerships
• Increased Learning Gain & Achievement

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Love for Enemies
Luke 6:27-38

Scriptural context – Compassion

The compassion of God is a very strong theme that runs through the Gospel of Luke. Throughout the gospel, the compassion and mercy of God is emphasised, and a defining feature of the gospel is the number of healings and parables that relate to people who were regarded as the outcasts of society.

In this gospel, Jesus is the embodiment of God’s compassion. Jesus wants all people to experience first-hand the abundant love God holds for them. This Sunday’s gospel passage is a reminder that when we experience God’s compassion, we are also called to show it to others.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

I heard Saturday night was a great celebration and thank all of the families who came along to Our Lady Help of Christians. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend as I am following Qld Health directives for CoVid 19 Close Contacts. A big thank you to Mr Fitzgerald who stepped in for me at the last minute, to Lani Duncan who demonstrated why she was awarded with a Student Leader role and to all the students who played a role in our Children’s Mass with our Parish Community.

A last call for families who wish for their children to be part of the Northside Parish Sacramental Program for 2022. If your children have been Baptised and will be 7 years of age by 15 March 2022 they are able to join us to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist. Please contact me via email if you would like more information.

For those parents who have already indicated they wish to join the program, please see below a link to the site the Sacramental Team have prepared for us all. It is a wonderful resource and has all the information we need, including the dates for workshops and Sacraments.

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

• SJPA – St Joseph’s Park Avenue
• OLHC – Our Lady Help of Christians church (next to St Joseph’s, Park Avenue)
• HF – Holy Family Parish Centre (next to Anthony’s School)
• MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

PARISH BULLETIN

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

SPORTING MATTERS

Rockhampton District Selection Trials

Below are the Rockhampton and District Trials (RDS) for the following Primary School sports happening in Term 1 & early Term 2. If your child has the prerequisite skills and you wish for them to trial in the following sports, you can contact me through the school office to obtain the appropriate trial forms. Alternatively, the forms can be downloaded in the Parents Notes section of the Skoolbag App.

Please be aware that for your child to attend these trials as a 10-year-old student that they would need to be exceptional as they will be competing against students up to 12 years of age.

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

Congratulations to our Week 5 Excellence Award winners:

Prep:

Harrison Moffat
Baylee Horstman

Year 1:

Harrison Hardy
Emelia Evans

Year 2:

Blake Reading
Logan Gudgeon

Year 3:

Harper Spencer

Year 4:

Jaison Henaway
James Eyles

Year 5:

Jacob Baker
Lilly Beal

Keep working hard to achieve your goals.

MEDICAL UPDATES

Please remember to hop onto Parent Lounge and check that your child’s medical details are up to date. It is extremely important that we know about any changes so that we can keep your child safe at school. If you have an action plan which needs updating, please arrange to get this done by your doctor as we are legally required to have up to date medical plans.

LEARNING DISPOSTIONS

As a staff we have been working on our school Learning Dispositions. These are skills which we are hoping all our students will develop while they are with us at Joeys. Over the year you will be hearing more about these dispositions and our hope is that the students will be able to recognise when they need to use each disposition to help them in their learning. In the coming weeks, teachers will be breaking down what each disposition would look like for their particular year level and sharing these with their students. We are also in the process of developing visuals for each disposition which you will hopefully see around the school in the near future.

Below is a general description of each Learning Disposition:

Resilience

The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties

Persistence

Continuing on a course of action in spite of difficulties

Independence

The state of being strong and not having to rely on anyone else

Creativity

Using imagination and critical thinking to create something or solve a problem

Collaboration

Working with other people in order to achieve something

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

Fee Accounts for Term 1 have now been sent out

Term 1, 2022 Fee Statements were emailed and posted to Parent Lounge on Wednesday 16th February. These are due for payment on 2nd March 2022.

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.

All new families should have received your Parent Lounge Login details.

If you have not received these, please contact Tracey or Megan in the office.

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

Wow! A couple of weeks have gone by and boy we have been working hard now that we are in year 1. Most of us have adjusted well to the expectations of Year 1 in our independence and responsibility for our learning and behaviour.

Some things we’ve loved so far in year 1 are English and Maths workshops and use of the iPad to show our understanding. Year 1 is a big step up from Prep and we’ve been working towards our class learning intentions and success criteria which we display on our wall and look at often. We’ve also welcomed a final year student, Mrs Armstrong into our class for the first 4 weeks of this term. Mrs Armstrong is loving her time at Joey’s and will be back later in the year to complete her internship.

From The Year 1 Team

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday last week as well as this week. They are: Ella Perry (Yr 1), Gabriel Maker (Yr 6), Raven McKenzie Weeding (Yr 2), Benn Martin (Yr 4), Noah Wale (Yr 2), Adalyn Cann (Yr 2), Mace Downie (Yr 5), Sophie Lawrence (Yr 1), Jax Maas (Yr 4), Makenzie Cavanough (Yr 3), Katie Hayward (Yr 3), Siarra Robertson (Yr 3), Avah Pope (Yr 3), Laylah Thomas (Yr 2), and Cooper Bosel (Yr 3).

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