7 September 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents & Guardians

I hope that the Fathers and Grandfathers had a great day last weekend. Prep and Year 1 will be holding their Father’s Day BBQ this Friday morning, the 9th of September due to the pupil free day last Friday. Hope to see plenty of Fathers attend to have brekky.

Well done to Mrs Farr and our Maths Challenge Team who placed second in Rockhampton last week. What an awesome effort! It is also great to have so many budding mathematicians at Joeys.

This week is a big week with Parent/Teacher Interviews scheduled before and after school each day. Please ensure, if for whatever reason you are unable to make your scheduled interview time, you contact your classroom teachers so that they are not waiting around needlessly.

For those who are able to make their interview times, this is a great opportunity to work in partnership with your classroom teachers before Semester 2 reports are issued in Term 4.

This week is also National Child Protection Week with a number of activities scheduled around the theme of, ‘Every child, in every community, needs a fair go!’ The week will culminate in R U OK? Day tomorrow and a community BBQ from 8:00am.

R U OK? Please make sure you take the time to check with your friends and family to ask them if they are OK.

Our Colour Explosion Fun Run raising is going very well with our event scheduled for the last day of school this Term. Have you heard that the highest fundraising boy and girl in each Year Level will have the chance to throw colour run materials at Mr Fitz as he runs the course? I believe my caring staff are preparing a special shirt for me that has a target printed on it to help with those children aiming at me on the day. More information about what each child needs will be coming home in the next few days.

Finally, a big thank-you to Mrs Senini and Mrs Roberts for the wonderful Book Week and Book Fair activities. We held Book Week one week later this year as we did not want our Year 6 class missing out on their final book week due to their rescheduled Year 6 Camp.

Don’t Forget….

• 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
• Father’s Day BBQ Prep & Year 1 Fri 9th Sept
• Colour Explosion Fun 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
23rd Sunday Ordinary Time

Disciples must renounce all possessions.

Luke 14 25-33

SEASON OF CREATION

A common thread that runs through this week’s readings is the passing of time. We are told that God’s intentions transcend and outlast ours, that our lives are short and our bodies dust. But none of this is cause for worry so much as a reality check, a reminder that we are all Created Beings living within a wider Creation. An elderly St Paul speaks of deprivation ‘for a time’ before turning his attention to human relationships and eternal hopes, reminding us that the Resurrection for which we hope is Creation renewed in Communion in Christ.

While we are celebrating the Season of Creation, such Scripture therefore also reminds us that Creation’s ‘season’ is eternal. This helps us make sense of this week’s seemingly troubling Gospel passage where Jesus speaks of ‘hating’ loved ones, even ‘hating’ our own lives, and His insistence that we give up all our possessions. Jesus’ point is that our relationships with people and things should be part of a bigger, longer picture, and that our approach towards Creation should not be possessive. Your mother is God’s Creation. Your life is God’s. Your possessions really belong to God. Which then begs the question: Do you approach Creation unselfishly?

@Liturgy Help – Nick Brodie

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

Year 5/6 Maths Teams Challenge

Congratulations to Slater Malone, Max Harris and Tom Compagnoni who represented St Joseph’s in round 2 of the Maths Teams Challenge. The boys placed second on the night which is a wonderful achievement. Well done and thankyou to Mrs Catherine Farr for training the boys for the event.

Book Week

Last week we celebrated book week with our annual Joey’s in Jamas family night, book fair and dress up parade. Thank you to everyone who participated in these events. There was a buzz of excitement throughout the week and a real sense of community.

Joey’s in Jamas / Book Fair

Thank you to Mrs Roberts for all the work she put into book fair and setting up the library for Joey’s in Jamas. The library looked amazing.

Please enjoy the photos of Joey’s in Jamas

Dress Up Parade

Thanks to everyone who dressed up for book week. It was lovely to have our Kindy students as well as numerous parents and friends join us for the parade.

Congratulations to our winners:

• Kindy: Billie McDonald, Charlie Towner
• Prep: Finn Jarrett, Hadley Emerson
• Year 1: Olivia Coleman, Jack Wade
• Year 2: Noah Wale, Harpah Schukking
• Year 3: Jackson Toon, Olivia Hewitt
• Year 4: Lucia Jarrett, Jacob Wall
• Year 5: Marty Wehlow, Indiie Lawton
• Year 6: Maiya White, Bronson Wall

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews will be held next week. If you missed out on booking an interview through parent lounge, please make contact directly with your child’s teachers. Students are encouraged to attend their interview to be part of the conversation regarding their progress in their learning. If you can’t make your booked appointment, please let the teachers know, so that they aren’t waiting around for you.

Regards

Deanne Senini
Assistant Principal Curriculum

RU, OK? DAY

Thursday 8 September

You’re Invited!!!

Community Breakfast Sausage Sizzle

In building awareness and growth as a mentally healthy community, we will be promoting RU OK? Day at Joey’s. We will join together from 8 am as you enter the school to enjoy a sausage sizzle (provided by the school) and the great company of those in our community.

Free Dress Day (we are raising awareness, not money)

Students are encouraged to show their support during the day by wearing a RU OK? Day, kindness or yellow shirt. Hats and enclosed shoes are expected.

Student and Staff Wellbeing
Brooke Black

CHILD PROTECTION WEEK

This year National Child Protection Week will continue to focus on the message:

“Every child, in every community, needs a fair go”.

This year shines a light on children growing up safe and supported. Children and young people thrive when they grow up in environments that support them according to their needs, now and into the future.

During classroom activities this week, the students will share their ideas and feelings about how they can feel safe and supported at school, at home, and in their communities.

For children to thrive in a safe and supported community, it should include:

• feeling loved and safe
• having a positive sense of identity and culture
• having material basics
• being healthy
• learning
• participating.

On Tuesday, all classes participated in Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson.

This is a national live event developed by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

At Joey’s, we continue to learn how to Recognise, React and Report as part of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum.

The students have had the opportunity to create SJPA Community Supporters flags.

The flags are an excellent way for others to see that we support them and are part of a team. A team working together towards the same goal. This is an out-of-class activity during playtime and afternoons; while families are here for parent-teacher interviews, the students and their families are invited to create a supporter’s flag. There is a workstation outside the Staffroom at these times.

Have a great Child Protection Week, being a part of making life great for all kids!

Brooke Black
Student Protection Contact

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Ava Buckenham (Yr 5), Aleeya Horstman (Yr 2), Phoenix Thorn (Yr 5), Blake Jones (Yr 4) and Xavier Boswood (Yr 5).

Have a great day.

UNIFORM SHOP

Our Uniform Shop is open Friday Mornings from 8:00 – 8:45am. The Joeys and Friends Facebook page will still have what is available for sale.

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.

FINISHES THIS FRIDAY 09/09/2022

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