1 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

Today we have our promotional video team here filming all the wonderful aspects of our school. Once this video is completed, I will be posting it to our school website and making links available to the community. The video will be a celebration of all the great characteristics of our school while also providing information to families that may be wishing to seek a Catholic education with us.

Our Launch Party was a great event with plenty of laughter and opportunity to catch-up with teachers and fellow Joey’s community members.

Besides the sudden thunderstorm and the big downpour of rain the night was a huge success. I hope you enjoy our new song as much as I do, and we will most certainly be hearing a lot of it in the not too distant future.

The YouTube link to song is:

Our athletics days are fast approaching, and the P&F are already organising food for the Track Day at Emmaus on Tuesday, 7th June. A note was posted on the school Facebook page last week and the Skoolbag app on the weekend.

Please also be aware that the day will finish at approximately 2:30pm and all students will need to be picked up from Brosnan Oval at Emmaus. The access to this venue is the laneway between the College’s Yaamba Road campus and the North Rockhampton Cemetery.

It is also important to note that transport to ASC after the carnival, will either be by bus or staff cars, depending on numbers.

As reported earlier in the Term, Year 6 are busy organising the first school disco in nearly three years. Unfortunately, we have run out of suitable dates in Term 2, and we will be scheduling it in early Term 3. Watch this space.

Diocesan Director, Miss Leesa Jeffcoat has distributed a letter regarding Semester 1 Academic Reporting for all Catholic Education families. I have included the letter for your perusal as an attachment below.

Last Friday, we enjoyed some ice blocks supplied by the school as a way of celebrating a lovely OLHC Feast Day mass with Bishop Michael and a successful Launch Party for our new school song. It was also to commiserate our 10-12 years students on another lost week of sports and an attempt to keep spirits up.

Hopefully we get to play some sport this week.

Don’t Forget….

• 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
• Semester 1 Cultural Arts Assembly. Mon 13th June
• P&F Meal Deal Day. Wed 15th June.
• Semester 1 Academic Awards. Mon 20th June.
• Sem 1 Report Cards. Posted to Parent Lounge. Wed 22nd June @ 12:00pm
• Rockhampton Catholic Schools Gala Concert. Wed 22nd June @ 6:30. Pilbeam Theatre
• 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

Survey of Bicycle and Scooter use in Schools

Dear Parents, Guardians and staff

In partnership with Arup and Zwart Transport Planning, the Department of Transport and Main Roads is gathering insights from parents/ carers and staff about bicycle and scooter parking at schools across Queensland. The Queensland Department of Education and Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton has granted permission for schools to be involved in the research.

If you would like to contribute your experiences and assist in improving bicycle/scooter parking at schools, we invite you to complete the following online survey by Friday, 24 June 2022. Click on the link below to take part in the survey.

Bicycle and scooter parking at schools survey

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

7th Sunday of Easter

The Ascension of the Lord.

Luke 24:46-53

Gospel Focus – A message for all people

One of the defining features of the Gospel of Luke is the fact that the message preached and practised by Jesus made salvation available to all people. At times in the gospel some of the Jewish audience became quite angry at Jesus because he said that pagans and gentiles were also included in the salvation he promised – something they regarded as exclusive to the ‘chosen’ people. The two accounts of the Ascension make very clear that the message and ministry of Jesus are to be carried to all nations – even to the ends of the earth!

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

This week the families undertake the second workshop in preparation for Confirmation. Families are encouraged to explore the remarkable lives of our saints. Saints are the heroes of our Catholic faith. Many of these saints showed enormous courage and were persecuted simply because of their faith. Today, saints serve as examples for all Catholics, showing us how to lead a more satisfying, more spiritual life.

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

THE IGNATIAN EXAMEN

To conclude our day, each class will take time to pray the Ignatian Examen. This is a contemplative form of prayer that encourages us to reflect on our day and to look forward to the promises of the new day still to come. The Examen is an ideal prayer for the end of each school day. It invites us all to deepen our awareness of God’s loving presence.

The Ignatian Examen was created by Ignatius of Layola in the 16th century but still has remarkable relevance today.

This prayer asks us to:

1. Become aware of God’s Presence
2. Reflect on the day with gratitude
3. Pay attention to your emotions
4. Choose one feature of the day on which to pray
5. Look forward to tomorrow with trust and hope.

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

CURRICULUM NEWS

ICAS

St Joseph’s is offering ICAS assessments again this year.

ICAS Assessments are online assessments, designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. Students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.

The assessments are based on the curricula for the relevant year. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of knowledge. Our team of expert academics develops new ICAS Assessments annually for each subject in every year level to ensure an engaging and beneficial experience for all students.

Benefits of ICAS:

Provide objective ranking of performance
Encourage students to attain greater academic success
Require students to think beyond the classroom
Recognise student success through medals and certificates

If you would like your child to participate in ICAS this year, please see the table below for prices and the year levels eligible for each assessment. You will then need to log into the ICAS Parent Portal through the link below to make your order. The school will receive notification when an assessment is ordered by a Joey’s parent. Orders close on 1st August.

Your school access code is: ZOV299
Your parent page link is:

If your child is away on the testing day, there is some flexibility for them to sit the assessment, but it must be in the same week as the scheduled date and fit in with the availability of staff trained in the implementation of ICAS assessments.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is an annual state-wide initiative for state and non-state schools and home-educated students up to Year 9, as well as children attending early childhood centres. Since the program’s inception in 2006, more than 20 million books have been read, and in 2021 alone, 168,000 school, early childhood and individual readers participated in the challenge reading more than 2.39 million books throughout the PRC reading period.

The challenge is not a competition but aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read widely for pleasure and learning. Students can participate in the challenge within their school or as individual readers (home-educated students or students whose schools are not participating in the program).

For a student to successfully complete the challenge they must read or experience the allocated number of books for their year level during the reading period. Students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised through the receipt of a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier of Queensland.

Why read? Literacy skills are vital to ensuring children have the best chance to succeed in their schooling and life. The PRC is an opportunity for students to be enthusiastic about reading, writing, authors and illustrators. Reading a variety of books builds vocabulary and knowledge, improves spelling and comprehension, can improve confidence and is also a great way to relax.

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

The requirement for Year 5 through to Year 6 students to read 15 books acknowledges that older students are likely to select longer, more complex books that may take them longer to read.

Please see the link attached to this newsletter for the reading record form if your child is interested in participating. All forms need to be returned to the office by 26th August to be eligible for a certificate.

Under 8s Day

Our annual Under 8s Day will be celebrated on Thursday, 23rd June. If you know of anyone who might be interested in setting up a display with some activities on that day please let me know. More information about the day will come out closer to the date.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 6

Written by Kiara and Kaidyn:

This term in Year 6 we have been busy doing lots of fun things like Peer Support and Peer Support Training. For Peer Support we work with groups from all year levels that we meet with on Thursdays and discuss building friendships with our peers.

We participated in Laudato Si’ which is about caring for our common home. We made and sold recycled fire starters and hand painted affirmation rocks.

We have also learned all about PSDE, where we talked about changes in our bodies.

In Science, we have been learning about states of matter (solids, liquids and gases.)

We are learning different versions of The Our Father Prayer and when it first originated in the Bible in Religion.

In Math we are learning about decimal addition and subtraction.

In English we are working on persuasive texts.

We finally get to play Friday sport again, which we are all excited about.

Congratulations to Gabe, Quinn, Tauryn, Heidi, Blair, Peppa, Abbielee, Kiara, Izabella, Elle, Hayley, Halle, Lucas, Lani, Gabriella, Abby, Cairon and Kyiah who are the first group of students to receive their pen licences.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Harrison Brady (Prep), Kade Scott (Yr 5), Elizabeth Compagnoni (Yr 3), Cassius Austin (Yr 6), Walker Currie (Yr 4), Abby Eyles (Yr 2) and Henry Timms (Yr 6).

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.

FREE DRESS DAY

Free dress day next Wednesday (8th June 2022). Come dressed in your team colours for the State of Origin.

Gold coin donation to help support year six fundraising.

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