St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Park Avenue
PDF Details

Newsletter QR Code

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

22 February 2023

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL

St Joseph’s Learning Spaces

We often have people ask us how our rooms operate and why we do what we do. Over the term, I will share with you the reasons why we love our teaching and learning spaces and philosophy.

Reason Number One: Last week we shared the first reason: small group workshops allowing for target teaching according to need.

Reason Number Two: Our rooms enable students to move regularly. We know that students (and adults) need to move their body in order to help maintain attention and focus. This is known as self-regulation. The way we have set up our rooms with the varied learning spaces, workshops and furniture, allows for regular movement from workshop to workshop. This is like a brain break for the students and assists with their ability to transition from lesson to lesson and retain their focus and concentration.

Student Clubs

Starting this week, we are introducing student clubs. Students have been placed in clubs based on their preferences. On a Thursday afternoon, between 1:30 and 3:00, these clubs will operate. Students will swap to a different club for Semester two, therefore, allowing each student to experience two different clubs throughout the year. Below is a quick outline of the different clubs on offer.

  • Junior Joeys: Students will learn about Mary MacKillop and plan activities for the school based on the teachings of Mary.
  • Sustainability: Students will learn to care for our common home. They will be involved in activities including looking after our worm farm, compost bins, weeding and gardening, growing and caring for seedlings and plants with the vision of creating school gardens.
  • Choir: Students will have the opportunity to learn a variety of songs which then can be performed at various school events.
  • STEM: Students will collaborate to solve real-world problems through experimenting with a range of robotics and STEM equipment.
  • Lego: Students will have the opportunity to be creative and bring their ideas to life through lego.
  • Genius: Students will learn by actively engaging in real-word and personally meaningful projects and investigations.
  • Indigenous Culture: Students will learn about the indigenous culture and participate in cultural activities. This club is open to all students.
  • The Arts: Students will have the opportunity to try new skills in art, music, drama and dance.
  • Intergenerational: Students will have the opportunity to engage with the elderly so both generations can learn from each other.

Our hope will be to hold some sort of showcase event towards the end of Semester One and Two, so that students can share what they have learnt during these clubs.

Access to School

We have had quite a few occasions this year where students have tried to leave the school grounds. As I'm sure you can appreciate, this is a serious safety issue, especially with such a busy road at the front of the school. In order to keep our students safely inside the school, all gates around the school have been padlocked. All gates at the back of the school will remain permanently locked. The gates at the front of the school will be unlocked in the morning when the first staff member arrives at school, relocked once the school day begins and unlocked again at approx 2:45 of an afternoon.

Parents are welcome to enter the school at any time of the day. When the gates are locked, all students and parents should enter the school through the office as per our normal procedures.

Of an afternoon, parents/caregivers are welcome to enter the school to collect their child. We just ask that adults don't linger around outside classrooms, as this can be very distracting to the students.

There are plenty of tables around the school where parents and carers are able to sit and wait for their children to be released at 3pm. Please be aware, however, that at 3pm the MPA court area legally becomes an OSHC space and you will be asked to vacate this area. Prep and Year 1 students will continue to be walked up to the pick up area, as this is also done for the safety of these younger students.

Thanks for your understanding of this important safety precaution we have put in place.

Upcoming Events:

  • Ash Wednesday: 22nd February
  • Year 6 Camp Parent Information Evening: Rescheduled to Tuesday, 28th February
  • Board Meeting: Wednesday, 1st March
  • St Joseph’s Feast Day: Mass at 9am followed by Grandparent’s Day morning tea in the MPA. Drawing of the Year 6 Easter Raffle. 17th March
  • NAPLAN: 15th March – 24th March
  • Year 6 Camp: 27th March – 30th March

Regards,
Deanne Senini
Acting Principal

St Joseph’s 2022 School Improvement Priorities:

  • Prayer
  • Family Partnerships
  • Increased Learning Gain & Achievement

RELIGIOUS MATTERS

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Turn the other cheek.

Matthew 5:38-48

Living the Gospel – Love your enemy.

Jesus tells us that it’s easy to love those who love us – anyone can do that. The test of Christian love is to love those who seem unlovable or even seek to make themselves appear unlovable. It’s easy to stop saying hello to the person who never returns your greeting. It’s easy to avoid the person whose disability makes you uncomfortable. It’s easy to hate the person who’s nasty to you. But Jesus says that it’s these people whom we must love. If we are only polite, pleasant, and hospitable to our friends then we are failing to follow the footsteps of Jesus.

@Liturgy Help – Greg Sunter

Sacramental Program

Please refer to the notice that went out on our SkoolBag app calling for expressions of interest for our 2023 Sacramental Program. This program is open to children who will be 9 years of age (or older) in 2023.

Your family's journey through the Sacraments allows you and your children to develop a deep sense of belonging to our Catholic faith community and a richer relationship with one another and with our God.

We would love to have you join us. If your family would like more information, please use the QR Code below:

Please note that enrolments for this year’s programme need to be finalised before the 19th of March 2023.

We gathered for our first Children’s Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians church on Saturday. It was so wonderful to have families come to this community-building event. Especially wonderful were the Preppies who joined us for their first-ever Children’s Mass as students at Joeys.

The BBQ was delicious, and we all had a great time catching up after Mass with Parish community members. A big thank you to Fr Jomon, who celebrated the Eucharist for us for the first time. We look forward to getting to know Fr Jomon as he continues to serve us as Associate Pastor in our Parish.

Lent Begins

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Catholic church’s Lenten Liturgical Season. This is a time of reflection and preparation for Catholics and so for us here at St Joseph’s. On Ash Wednesday we will take time in our classes to pray for our upcoming Lenten season and to ask for strength and compassion during the time leading up to Easter. Students will be marked with the sign of the cross on their foreheads which has a long historical tradition. This tradition can be traced back to the ancient Jewish action of dusting oneself with ash as a sign of saying sorry for poor choices or wrongful actions. It was a way of publicly acknowledging the wrong and of making a commitment to turn one’s life around; to try to not make the same mistake again. Today, a sign of ash on our forehead remains a public declaration that during Lent, those who wear the cross of ash are going to attempt to turn around their lives and re-focus themselves more fully on God.

Liturgical Celebrations Coming Up

WEEK

DAY

DATE

EVENT

TIME

PLACE

Week 5

Wed

22 FEB

Ash Wednesday – Lent Begins

Fri

24 FEB

Year 4 at Friday Mass

Year 5 Prayer Celebration

9:00am

10:30am

OLHC

OLHC

Week 6

Fri

3 MAR

Year 3 at Friday Mass

Year 4 Prayer Celebration

9:00am

10:30am

OLHC

OLHC

Week 7

Sat

11 MAR

St Joseph’s School Community Mass (Saturday evening)

6:30pm

OLHC

Week 8

Fri

17 MAR

GRANDPARENT’S DAY @ JOEYS

Whole School Mass

SOLEMNITY OF ST PATRICK

9:00am

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)
*MPA – Multipurpose Area (Basketball court)

PARISH NEWSLETTER

https://rok.catholic.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Rockhampton-20230219.pdf

Elizabeth Carter
Assistant Principal Religious Education

CURRICULUM NEWS

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM

All classes have begun teaching the mandated child safety curriculum. The Curriculum consists of classroom lessons across three phases of learning: Prep—Year 2, Years 3—6, and Years 7—9. The Curriculum, available to all Queensland schools, aims to develop student knowledge and skills to recognise, react to and report unsafe situations.

Teachers use various materials, including interactive whiteboard activities, worksheets and safety books, to deliver the Recognise, React and Report messages. Developmentally appropriate scenarios are also used to explore and discuss safety situations that children and young people may encounter in their home or school environment.

One of the first lessons involves discussing private body parts. Please be aware that this is an essential and extremely important lesson. Some students can feel uncomfortable during this lesson as correct anatomical terms are used to name private body parts. Reinforcing scientific language at home means that when discussing private parts, there is no confusion.

There are some great safety resources for families on the Daniel Morcombe website:

https://danielmorcombe.com.au/

VOLUNTEERS

In 2023, we look forward to welcoming volunteers back to school. There are various ways you can volunteer at Joey's. If you’d like to volunteer in the tuckshop, please get in touch with the office or catch up with our tuckshop convenor – Mrs Debbie Rooney. If you’d like to volunteer in your child’s classroom or perhaps another classroom, please approach the class teacher to see what activities are available to assist with.

Before beginning your volunteering, you must complete a volunteer induction; this will happen in the office before you start. Even if you have completed an induction before, the induction must be done every year. If you are a grandparent or community member, please pop into the office and see Tracey or Megan to collect a Volunteer Blue Card Application. For this process, you will require a copy of your driver licence certified by a JP or someone similar.

We look forward to welcoming many volunteers to Joey's this year.

MEDICAL DETAILS

With the start of a new school year, please ensure your child/ren’s medical details are up to date. To check this information, log on to parent lounge and check the medical tab. Please update if necessary. If your child has a medical action plan, please ensure it is current. If it is due for renewal, please drop a copy of the updated plan to the office or upload it to the medical section for your child in Parent Lounge. The school needs to have updated medical details on file. Your cooperation with this request is appreciated.

Regards,
Brooke Black
Acting Assistant Principal Curriculum

FINANCE NEWS

TERM 1 FEE ACCOUNTS NOW 2 WEEKS OVERDUE

School Fees for Term 1 were due for payment on Wednesday 8th February. These are now 2 weeks overdue and requiring attention.

Please ensure that you check your email or log into Parent Lounge to check your School Fees on a regular basis. If you now have another child at the school you may need to increase what you are currently paying so as to not get behind with Fees.

If you have a means tested Concession Card and have not yet given a copy to the Finance Secretary, please do so as soon as possible.

If paying by Direct Deposit, please use your Account Number as the reference instead of names (this is the 6-digit number on your Fee Statement).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their birthday this week. They are: Mackenzie Cavanough (Yr 4), Katie Hayward (Yr 4), Siarra Robertson (Yr 4), Avah Pope (Yr 4), Laylah Thomas (Yr 3) and Miss Brinley (Prep).

Have a great day.

YR 6 EASTER RAFFLE

This term the Year Six major fundraiser is an Easter multi-draw raffle that will be drawn on Friday 17th March 2023. Tickets are $1 each and to be sold in Weeks 5, 6, 7 & 8. Students will be selling tickets from just inside the gate each morning so please send your child/ren money to purchase tickets.

If you think you might be able to sell a book of 20 or 50 tickets within your workplace or at your sporting club etc please reach out to the year six teachers and we can arrange to get a book of tickets to you for selling. The contact email address is;

SJPA_Year6Teachers@rok.catholic.edu.au

Thank you for your support, it is always a great fundraiser for our year six students.

YR 7 EMMAUS COLLEGE 2023

ENROLMENTS FOR Year 7 2024 CLOSE – FRIDAY 3RD MARCH

Applications for Year 7 2024, close very shortly. We invite interested families with students in Year 6 this year to enrol to join our Emmaus College Community. Enrolment Interviews commence on Tuesday 14 March 2023. Interviews will only be guaranteed for families who have completed their enrolment application by Friday 3 March 2023.

To apply visit our college website from the link below or for more information, contact our college Enrolment Officer, Sonya Acutt, via phone 0749235758 or email enrolments@emmaus.qld.edu.au

https://emmaus.qld.edu.au/enrolatemmaus/

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC in 2023

Enrolments are now being accepted for new and continuing students to learn the following instruments at St. Joseph’s Park Avenue.

FLUTE, CLARINET, SAXOPHONE, TRUMPET, TROMBONE, PERCUSSION, VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, GUITAR & VOICE.

Instrumental Music provides so many benefits to a child – please watch the attached link to a fantastic video about Music and the Brain: Instrumental Music Learning and Brain Fireworks

Please see the attached information letter for details on required year levels for each instrument, and a downloaded version of the enrolment form.

Enrolment is available online at

https://emmaus.qld.edu.au/co-curriculum/instrumental-music/

KEYBOARD LESSONS

Leanne Voss will continue to offer Keyboard lessons in 2023 for interested students in grades 1 – 6.

Lessons are of 30-minute duration and will be conducted weekly at school.

Students will be required to have access to a keyboard for practice and purchase a music tutor book and theory book. Lessons will generally be given to groups of 2 or 3 students with some individual lessons available when it is not possible to match students of similar musical ability. The lessons will focus on using a chord bass with an emphasis on utilising keyboard features such as different tones and rhythms.

Playing keyboard is an excellent extra curriculum activity to develop not only musical skills, but creative thinking, hand-eye coordination, concentration and commitment to task.

Enrolment forms are available from the office and in the newsletter for both new and continuing students.

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