8 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

Thanks to Mrs Carter and all who contributed toward the two days of a successful Athletics carnival earlier this week. I am greatly appreciative of the P&F Association and their work to ensure there was food and water available at Emmaus as well as the beautiful new tents that were supplied by them this year. The tents look absolutely fantastic.

Well done to all of the students who competed over the two days and good luck to those who will be going on and representing Joeys at the Rockhampton & District Athletics Carnival.

The filming of our new school promotional video last Wednesday was a huge success. The team will be returning soon to wrap up a few more images and set interview pieces at a later date. As soon as the video arrives, I will be sharing it with the community.

It is great to see that there is lots of Maroon and a little bit of Blue at school today. Our State of Origin free dress day is a camp fund raiser for our Year 6 students.

Please remember that it is the Rocky Show Holiday tomorrow but a normal school day on Friday which includes Friday Inter-school sport.

Enjoy the game tonight. GO THE MAROONS!

Don’t Forget….

• 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

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

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

Pentecost Sunday

Jesus promises to send the Spirit.

John 20:19-23

Have you thought? The Spirit

We can sometimes regard Pentecost as the day the Holy Spirit came into the world. However, the Spirit had long been active in the world before this event. In fact, even the second verse of Genesis Chapter 1 tells us that the Spirit hovered over the waters. The Old Testament is filled with references in which ‘The Spirit of God came upon (him) with power’ and the Spirit was evident at Jesus’ baptism and throughout the gospels. Jesus is frequently described as being ‘filled with the Spirit’. So, from the very beginning of creation the Spirit has moved in the world and continues to energise it today.

@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:

FRIDAY MORNING MASS AT OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS

Each week, one of the classes from Joeys joins the parishioners at OLHC in celebrating Mass. We are very excited that children from the class will be involved as readers at these Masses. We are also part of the musical ministry at these Masses and will be leading the congregation in a hymn at the conclusion of Mass. We would love it if you could all join us for these occasions. They offer a wonderful way for us to be part of not just our school community but also our parish.

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. Prep – Year 3 students are invited to wear free dress that day. Please ensure the clothes they wear are sun safe with fully enclosed shoes. Please also send a shopping bag with them to keep the things they make on that day. Students will be provided with a sausage on bread for first lunch. They will still require their own food for second break.

Self Defence Lessons

Next term as part of PE, students in years 4-6 have the opportunity to participate in a 4-week self defence program where they will learn basic skills to assist them to escape from various holds. These students should have received a note regarding this which included a double-sided permission note. This double-sided sheet needs to be completed and returned to school by the end of this term please. Without this permission, the students will not be able to participate in the course.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

Yr 3

We have had a very busy term in grade 3. In Religion, we are exploring the Gospels and how Jesus is represented. We have been learning how to add and subtract money in Maths. In Science, we have been learning all about the Earth, the Sun and the Moon and their relationship with each other. In English, we have been writing narratives and reading interesting stories together. Mrs Walton has been coming in and teaching us robotics with the Dash robots. In HASS, we are looking at the history of Rockhampton then and now.

Some of the things that we are loving in Grade 3 this Term…

Lilliana: Learning about money in maths and doing think metals, maths strategies.
Avah: Leaning about number patterns.
Spencer: Doing maths.
Lachlan: Learning about the Earth, the Moon and the Sun in Science.
Tyson: Getting up to date with all my work.
Cooper: Religion, learning about what Jesus did when he was alive.
Taylarni: Religion.
Siarra: Everything!
Kalani: Every day is great day in grade 3!
Libby: I love Fun Fridays.
Imarni: I love having kind teachers.
Theo: I love doing sums in maths.
Zane: Fun Fridays!
Paige: Learning in grade 3 is so much fun.
Corben: Extension maths with Mrs Wayman.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Shauna Wason-Duncan (Prep), Robert Larkin (Yr 5), Madelyn Lynam (Yr 3), Jaxon Stevens (Yr 1), Blake Fulwood (Yr 3), Abby O’Sullivan (Yr 6), Lilliana Littleboy (Yr 3), Remee Horstman (Yr 4), Quinn Rooney (Yr 6), Mrs Brosnan (Office) and Mrs Hancock.

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