25 May 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

I begin this week with a reminder that we will be hosting a Launch Party in the school’s MPA tomorrow evening from 5:00pm till approximately 6:15pm.

From 5:00pm there will be a free sausage sizzle while the P&F Association will be selling drinks out of the tuck-shop.

Classrooms will be open from 5:00pm for parents to have a look around and a catch-up with teachers if needed.

At 5:45pm, rooms will close, and we will all begin to gather in the MPA for the world premiere launch of our new school song film clip on the big screen.

Josh Arnold from Small Town Culture will be our special guest at the event. Song creator, Josh has also graciously said that he will bring his guitar along and perform a ‘live & interactive’ rendition of the song with the attending community. I hope to see you all there.

I have been asked to request that the parking directly outside the Kindy be reserved for Kindy parents. I am aware that our carpark can be very tight for spaces of an afternoon and during special events, but if we can try and keep these spaces for Kindy families as they are quite often picking up 4 or 5-year-old children, sometimes with even younger siblings present.

For those parents with children at both Kindy and Joeys, with the whole school pick-up time now back to the normal 3:00pm, please prioritise the collection of Kindy children before school age children as the Kindy licence officially finishes for the day at 3:00pm and collection from Joey runs from 3:00pm – 3:20pm.

If our whole community could please keep the safety of our youngest students in mind, that would be appreciated.

Prep enrolments for 2023 are open and applications need to be completed online. Interviews for 2023 will begin shortly so if you are thinking of enrolling your child in St Joseph’s, even if they are a sibling, please make completing your application a priority. If you know of anyone in the community that has a child that will be eligible for Prep next year, please pass on this information.

Our Laudato si’ Expo was a tremendous success last Thursday with the wet weather taking a break for the day. It was great to see all the smiles, laughter and attentive students. Well done to Mr Tennyson, Mrs Carter and the entire staff for the great work that was put into creating a wonderful experience for our community.

A Channel 7 interest segment was run on the evening news with a few of our students and staff making prominent appearances and even offering some advice for the viewers. If you were unable to catch it, I have included the link below.

I am sure you will all agree that our Laudato si’ Expo in part, certainly answers the call from the Vatican, ‘to care for our common home.’

Bishop Michael joined us yesterday to celebrate Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day mass. It was great to celebrate together with the Bishop and the Parish community for such a special day.

Don’t Forget….

• New School Song Launch Party. Thurs 26th May in MPA. 5:00pm – 6:15pm.
• New School Video Filming. Wed 1st June
• SJPA Athletics Day @ Joeys. Mon 6th of June
• SJPA Track Day @ Emmaus. Tues 7th of June
• State of Origin Free Dress Day - Gold Coin Donation. Wed 8th June
• Rockhampton Show Holiday. Thurs 9th June
• Under 8’s Day. Morning of the 23rd of June
• Emmaus Musical, Beauty and the Beast. 22nd – 24th July

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

Teacher Assistants - Career Assistance Program (CAP)

Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton (CEDR) has partnered with Central Queensland University (CQU) to develop an innovative Career Assistance Program (CAP) to mentor pre-service teachers in high quality education settings. The long-term vision of the CAP is to build the capacity and capability of classroom ready teachers through tailored, high calibre training.

We are now calling for applications for the pilot of the CAP, due to commence at the beginning of Term 3, 2022. Successful applicants will be employed as Teacher Assistants (Level 3) in Catholic primary schools in the Rockhampton region, in a 0.6FTE capacity. This will enable successful applicants to maintain a full commitment to their Education studies while engaging in relevant, supportive employment focused on training and development.

To check eligibility, inclusions and for further information enquire today at www.rok.catholic.edu.au or phone us now on 4994 8000. Applications close 30 May 2022.

Here is the link below

Positive COVID Case Notification

St Joseph’s Catholic School Park Avenue wishes to advise you that, during the past week, we have been notified of positive cases of COVID-19 in our school community.

St Joseph’s regularly consults with the Catholic Education Office and relevant authorities and continues to follow the advice of Queensland Health regarding cleaning requirements.

Queensland Health has advised that no quarantine of students or staff is required.

As COVID-19 remains active in our community we ask you to continue to monitor your child’s/children’s health and if they develop any flu-like symptoms:

• Keep your child/children at home
• Seek a PCR or Rapid Antigen test where it is recommended and notify the school of positive results. Please be aware, a negative COVID test does not change the requirement to be symptom free to attend school.
• Follow the advice of Queensland Health

As we continue to navigate the pandemic, please remind your child/ren to:

• maintain good hand hygiene at all times
• cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of their elbow and dispose of tissues in the bin immediately.
• practice social distancing from others where possible
• wear masks when required

We will continue to work closely with health authorities to keep our school community informed of any developments and advice. Thank you once again for your ongoing support.

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

6th Sunday of Easter

Jesus leaves peace as his farewell.

John 14:23-29

Historical Context – The time of absence

At the time of writing of the Gospel of John (during the last decade of the 1st Century), the community of believers were beginning to come to terms with the continued absence of Jesus. In the earlier gospels, particularly Mark, there is a feeling of expectation evident in the writing – an expectation that Jesus’ promised return was imminent. By the time of John’s community, there was an acceptance that the glorious return of Jesus still lay some time in the future. They wrestled with keeping alive the memory and message of Jesus when there was no end in sight.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

This week the families undertake the first workshop in preparation for Confirmation. An important Sacrament of Initiation, this sacrament asks the candidates to ‘confirm’ the promises that were made on their behalf by parents and godparents at their Baptism. Understanding the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is an important part of this sacrament and families will explore how these gifts bring opportunities to live a life full of the promises of the Gospels.

A reminder that the link to the important dates for families and other information about the program can be accessed using the link below:

WHY MASS ON A SUNDAY?

Sunday Eucharist – also commonly called Mass, is the centre of the Church’s life; it is where Catholics meet each other; not so much as a social event, but rather as a faith filled encounter.

Coming together in faith gives members of the Church the opportunity to worship God, to provide for those who are in need; to comfort those who are suffering and to encourage those who are weighed down by life’s challenges and difficulties.

Sunday Mass is a time to give thanks to God for all that has happened in our lives and it is a time to call out to God, asking for help in all the things that are about to happen in our lives.

At times it is all too easy to find yourself caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life where work becomes a burden, relationship are overly complicated and family life is chipped away. In the Catholic tradition Sunday has long been a day of prayer and rest.

The celebration of the Mass on Sunday reminds us that God is the centre of our lives and by rising from the dead Jesus Christ makes all things new.

PEER SUPPORT

Types of friends is the focus in Peer Support this week. Children will explore what encourages them to form friendships with different people (common interests, admirable qualities etc). Through various activities children will identify that their friends can fall into the categories of ‘best friends’, ‘friends’ and ‘people we know’. Children will also discuss the fact that friendships can change over time for various reasons.

Discuss with your child the different friends they have in their lives and how friendships may change. Some friends may be more important at different times in their lives.

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)
*STM – St Mary’s Church (next to St Mary’s School)
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

PARISH NEWSLETTER

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 2

Last week in year 2, students enjoyed doing a range of activities at our Laudato Si Expo. The students participated in making the St Joey’s bottle top collage as well as helping to decorate the giant wooden cross with Mrs Hoffman.

In the classroom, the children designed a bottle cover to warm up a cold bottle during science. They chose 3 different materials to suit an outer layer, middle layer and inner layer according to the desired properties of each layer. These were photographed and posted on Seesaw.

For Mathematics, we have been looking at analogue time and using the terms: quarter past, half past and quarter to, when telling time. Students have also been practising to partition single digit numbers when adding, to make 10.

During Religion, we have discussed some ways that some Jewish people live out their relationship with God today. Some examples include celebrating Shabbat with their family on Friday evening, eating kosher foods and wearing special garments during prayer times.

In English, students practised taking notes on the Giant Pacific Octopus in preparation for writing their own information report on an Australian animal this week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Nadia Reading (Prep), Elizabeth Goodsall (Yr 3), Max Harris (Yr 6), Oliver Mackie (Prep), Harrison Mooney ((Yr 1) and Izaiah Savage (Yr 5).

Have a great day.

NCCD

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability

Every year, in August, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about the support provided to students with disability.

It is now a legislative requirement for the school to inform you if your child will be included in the NCCD. Your child’s teacher would have discussed this with you during your Semester One Parent/Teacher Interview.

If you would like to access other information about the NCCD, this is a link to the NCCD Portal .

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact Inclusive Curriculum.

GALA CONCERT

WONDER RECYCLING REWARDS

Calling all students, parents, grandparents, neighbours, and friends!! St Joey’s will be participating in the Wonder Recycling Rewards program! By collecting your BREAD BAGS for school, we can earn points for new sporting equipment.

What kind of bread bags are we collecting?

The rule of thumb is that if it has contained bread of some sort and is a soft plastic, then it's a bread bag that we can collect (all brands). lf it hasn't contained bread, then it's not a bread bag we can use.

How clean do the bags have to be?

Bread bags should be free from crumbs to ensure no contamination during the recycling process but they do not need to be washed.

Are we collecting bread TAGS too?

No, at this stage we are not collecting bread tags, but you can still recycle them!

When do we start collecting?

NOW!! We can start collecting our bread bags while we wait for our official collection boxes to arrive.

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