St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Park Avenue
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Main St, Park Avenue
North Rockhampton QLD 4701
Subscribe: https://sjparok.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email: school.information@sjparok.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 07 4994 8205

10 August 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

We acknowledged a very special part of our school’s Catholic Identity last Monday morning as we celebrated the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. St Mary as we know is Australia’s first Saint and during her life, she dedicated her life’s work to God’s call and the service of others.

Without a young Mary working with her Priest Fr Julian Tenison Woods to begin her first Catholic School in Penola, South Australia in 1866, there would most likely be no St Joseph’s Park Avenue that we love and cherish today.

We also welcomed new Year 1 teacher Mrs Sophie Noake after Monday’s liturgy. Sophie is a past teacher at Joeys and will be taking Michelle Hannah’s Year 1 position full time until the end of the year. It will also be very sad to farewell Mrs Hannah this week as she begins her new role at St Joseph’s Wandal next week.

Congratulations to the first lot of St Joseph’s students who celebrated their First Eucharist in Our Lady Help of Christians Church on Saturday evening.

It was great to witness those students and their families take another significant step in their faith journey.

Last Saturday’s Capras Cup competition for 9-10 years rugby league was contested between several Rockhampton schools and capped off with a tightly contested final between tradition rivals, St Joseph’s Park Avenue and St Anthony’s with Joeys getting the victory 14-6. Congratulations to Ms Hamilton and Miss Brosnan for preparing the team and Mr Hallam for running the water.  Joey’s will now compete against the Capricorn Coast winner in the Rockhampton District Final as a curtain raiser before the final Capras home game at Browne Park on Saturday, 27th of August. Let’s Go Joeys!

It was great to hold our first whole school disco in nearly three years last week. The night was a huge success with much fun and laughter to be had. I sent vision of the final song of the night, ‘Let’s Go Joeys!’ to Josh Arnold who wrote and produced the song for us, and he was chuffed at the response from the kids. Even though the night was a great success, we will still review the event to streamline processes even more for the future. Pizza delivery was very late and out of our hands and getting everybody in the disco while also keeping the area safe has always been a challenge. Thanks to the community for supporting the event so well.

With National Science Week just around the corner, information will be coming home about how we will be celebrating our budding scientists.

We have locked in a date for our Colour Explosion/Fun Run with information coming home this week. We have scheduled the day for the final day of this Term being Friday, the 16th of September. All the details on what is required and how to fundraise have been sent home to all families by P&F Treasurer, Mrs Mooney. Keep an eye out for the details as it looks like a fun day.

Remember the P&F’s Disney themed Trivia Night is fast approaching on Saturday, August 27th. It will be a great event to come dressed up and have a laugh together. I am sure many people have been studying up by watching Disney+ with our Quiz Master, Leonie Mooney thinking of some tricky questions. Hope to see you there.

As a last point, I will be on LSL during Week 6 so if you have any questions or concerns during that time, please contact Mrs Senini who will be Acting Principal for the week.

Enjoy Week 5 as we near the mid-point of the Term.

Don’t Forget….

  • Mr Fitzgerald - Long Service Leave. 15th – 19th Aug
  • National Science Week. 15th – 19th Aug
  • Rescheduled Year 6 Camp @ Chaverim. 22nd – 24th Aug
  • Season B Sport Concludes. Friday 26th Aug
  • 2023 Prep Offers Emailed Out. Fri 26th Aug
  • P&F Trivia Night. Sat 27th Aug
  • Mr Fitzgerald’s Principal Performance Appraisal. Tues 30th Aug
  • SJPA Book Week. 29th Aug – 2nd September
  • Book Fair. 29th Aug – 1st Sept
  • Joey’s in Jamas. Wed 31st Aug
  • Book Week Dress-up Day. Thurs 1st Sept
  • Pupil Free Day, Fri 2nd Sept
  • Semester 2 Parent/Teacher Interviews. Week 9, 5th – 9th Sept
  • National Child Protection Week (NAPCAN). 4th – 9th Sept
  • R U OK? Day. Thurs 8th Sept
  • Colour Run Day. Fri 16th Sept
  • Last Day of Term 3. Fri 16th Sept

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
19th Sunday Ordinary Time

Be as servants, wide awake at the return of their master

Luke 12:32-48

Have you thought? – Stewardship

Jesus responds to Peter’s questioning the gospel in a roundabout way by speaking about a steward acting either faithfully and with wisdom or alternatively irresponsibly and recklessly. A steward is one who stands in the place of the master during the master’s absence – taking on the duties, responsibilities and authority of the master. That’s exactly what Christian people are called to do: become stewards who act in the place of Jesus as we await his return. As the prayer of St Teresa of Avila says, Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

ST MARY OF THE CROSS

This week, we celebrate the Feast of Australia’s only saint; St Mary of the Cross. Our liturgy on Monday gave us an opportunity to take some time out and reflect on this remarkable woman, a woman whose work led to the founding of our beautiful school. Mary MacKillop was a person who spent her life reaching out, giving and connecting. God’s presence was a dominant feature of her life. We are challenged to witness the way Mary embodied our Catholic Social Teachings. We are called as a nation to respond in our every-day life. God is with us in it all, good or challenging.

I want to share this reflection I found that highlights the importance of this woman in the history of not just our faith but also our nation.

Mary MacKillop, a woman ahead of her time, continues to be an exemplar of fearless action and a strong protector of the welfare of women. Samela Harris emphasises Mary’s courageous stance in her writings.

Mary MacKillop, aka St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, is not just a saint, she is a feminist icon.
She was out there setting up women’s refuges a century before the #metoo movement.
She was a woman who stood up for women when women were oppressed or victims of domestic violence.
She was a woman who educated girls when the system discriminated against them.
She inculcated them in science as well as the Word of her God.
She was a woman who stood up against paedophilia in the Church, a century before it was a public issue.
She was a woman who stood up against the bullying patriarchy of the bishops and who was excommunicated for it.
She was a woman who dared to go to Rome to put her cause to the Pope in person.
She was a woman who rounded up other women, be they educated or lost souls, and gave them a purpose.
She was a woman who wished to leave no child without an education.

– Samela Harris, Southern Cross, 11 December 2018

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

Congratulations to those children who made their First Holy Communion last weekend. This important occasion was celebrated at Holy Family and Our Lady Help of Christians churches on Saturday. I was fortunate to be able to attend both occasions. This weekend will see the last of our students receive this sacrament. Please keep these children and their families in your prayers. I especially pray that they will continue to attend Mass so they are able to regularly receive Jesus at Holy Communion.

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

Northside Sacramental Program

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

WEEK

DAY

DATE

EVENT

TIME

PLACE

Week 5

Fri

12th AUG

Year 2 at Mass

9:00am

OLHC

Year 5 Prayer Celebration

10:30am

OLHC

Sat

13th AUG

1ST Eucharist

6:30pm

OLHC

Week 6

Mon

15th AUG

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Fri

19TH AUG

Year 3 at Mass

9:00am

OLHC

Year 6 Prayer Celebration

10:30am

OLHC

*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

https://rok.catholic.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Rockhampton-20220807.pdf

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

Science Week

This year to celebrate Science Week, we will be holding a ‘science day’ on Thursday, 18th August. On this day each class will set up experiments / displays for students to visit and interact with. This will take place during school time on this day. Students are invited to come in free dress on this day with a science theme if possible. Perhaps they might like to dress like a scientist or get creative with a different idea which is science related. The theme for Science Week 2022 is ‘Glass: More than meets the eye’.

Book Week

This year, Book Week will be celebrated a week later than normal due to a clash with Year 6 camp. Joey’s in Jamas will be held on Wednesday, 31st August in the library. Our annual dress up day will be held on Thursday, 1st September. Both these events are generally very well supported by our community so I look forward to seeing everyone at Joey’s in Jamas and seeing the wonderful creative costumes at the dress up parade. The theme for Book Week 2022 is ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’.

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.

Year Level

Number of Books

Prep – Year 2

Read or experience 20 books

Years 3-4

Read 20 books

Years 5-6

Read 15 books

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.

All reading record forms need to be returned to the office by 26th August to be eligible for a certificate.

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

CLASSROOM NEWS

Year 5 Science Experiments

We have been exploring how light behaves through a range of experiments. A few of the students have reported on their findings.

Rainbow Reflections - Maycie, Elie, Delany

When you place a mirror into a tray of water you can create a rainbow. It was hard when you had to line the mirror up to the sun and then angle it so that the sun would reflect off the mirror to the piece of paper. Then a rainbow would appear on the piece of paper.

Adding colours

You get three torches and stick coloured laminating sheets across the bulb. You then turn on the torches and shine them on to the wall. Different colours would appear on the wall, you could shine the torches at the same place to get different colours. It was hard to get the laminating sheets on to the torches.

Light Rays - Samson, Jack, Marty

For the reflected rays we had to create a ray maker. To make it, first we had to get some paper and cut a hole shaped as a rectangle, then used tape to put a comb over the hole. We had to bend the card edges so that it could stand up freely. We then secured a mirror with a small piece of blue tack about 10 cm away from the paper and card. We then placed a torch behind the mirror and then shone a torch through the comb into the mirror to see what the reflection looked like. The challenge were bending the piece of paper right so it would stand up and the other one was getting the torch at the right angle to make the reflection in the mirror. What happened to the reflection is that the patter from the comb reflected off the mirror onto the table in front of it.

Water reflections, Cliff Hanger - Aliana, Maggie, Tom

The name of this experiment is Cliff Hanger. For this experiment you will need a torch, a plastic cup ⅓ filled with water and a box or tray. We placed the cup clightly hanging over the edge of the box or tray and we placed the torch under the cup with blu tack attached to the bottom so that it didn’t move. We turned on the torch and the light travelled through the cup making a reflection on the roof. The challenging thing about this experiment was positioning the cup over the side of the tray or box.

Mirror Reflections - Charlotte, Monica, Ava B

When we did the mirror reflection we had to cut a piece of paper in half through the words on the paper, the piece of paper had the words BOX, FOX, and COOKIE. After that, we put the mirror at the edge of the paper where we cut the word in half. The rest of the word was then reflected in the mirror so that you could see the whole word.

Maths Competitions and practices

Finn, Ethan, Connor

In the Maths Teams Challenge, we’ve been learning a lot of different new extension maths concepts, such as estimation, advanced word problems, multiplying and dividing fractions, speed tests and working together as a team. We’ve been learning Math using Problemo which is an online website that has problems where we need to use different maths strategies. We have been giving up play twice a week to get ready for our upcoming competitions.

SJPA SUSTAINABILITY

As a school participating in the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton - Waste Watch Project, we have created a short introduction to some of the sustainable practices we currently have in place here at St Joey's. The project involves schools from all over the Dioceses collaborating together to reduce waste going to landfill and improve current systems in place.

As a school, our goal for taking part in the Waste Watch Project is to provide more environmental education through student-led videos. So stay tuned for more videos to come!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UINCtZfzFs8

STEM

Students have been busy working with Mrs Walton on technology projects for STEM this year.

Prep students have been programming Blue Bots to drive around obstacles. Through play, they have been learning simple coding, problem solving and collaboration skills.

Year Two students have been working on Stop Motion animations. They have learnt to animate using whiteboards, classroom objects and toys.

Year Three have been working with Dash robots, learning about problem solving with code and the Design Process. They will eventually make an accessory for Dash that will help solve a classroom problem like carrying messages or cleaning up the floor.

Year Four are going to be creating digital resources that teach others about recycling and sustainability. They have been learning how to use our green screen to change backgrounds.

Year Five spent some time coding a solar system model with moving planets, and now they are working on designing and creating interactive Maths quizzes.

Year Six learnt about binary code and pulled apart a PC to learn about hardware. They are about to start designing a digital resource that could give a community information about a natural disaster.

Through our focus on STEM, we are all learning 21st Century skills and having lots of fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students and staff who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Hudson Stewart (Yr 1), Jack Williams (Yr 1), Thomas Harth (Yr 4), Mrs Kylie Farr (ESO), Mr Way (Groundsman)

Have a great day.

UNIFORM SHOP

Our Uniform Shop will be reopening Friday Mornings from 8:00 – 8:45am commencing 5th August. The Joeys and Friends Facebook page will still have what is available for sale.

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 ( https://www.nccd.edu.au )

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

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