Term 4 Week 7 Newsletter
From the Principal
Dear Parents/Caregivers
It is hoped the communication sent out yesterday afternoon, informing the school community of Justen Orford’s resignation, signals a new beginning for the school and brings some sort of closure to what has been a very difficult and challenging time. This resignation enables Townsville Catholic Education and our school community to look to the future. The recruitment of a new Principal will take place in early 2022, and I will remain as acting principal until this appointment is made. As mentioned in yesterday’s communication, Townsville Catholic Education remains committed to ensuring the leadership at St Joseph’s Catholic School Mundingburra allows our students, staff and community to be confident of the ongoing success of the school.
While I am continuing in the acting principal role for as long as necessary in 2022, my offsider for the past two terms, Mrs Clare Plant, will finish in the acting APRE (Assistant to the Principal Religious Education) role at the end of this school year. Mrs Plant has been a part of the St Joseph’s Mundingburra community for the past 37 years. Her experience and knowledge of the school and its routines have been invaluable in assisting me in my acting position, as well as supporting staff over the past six months. We are indebted to Clare for her wisdom, support, sense of humour and ability to see the positives in all situations. Her genuine nature and willingness to assist has been greatly appreciated by all in our community. Thankfully we can say thank you, but not goodbye to Mrs Plant, as she will be back with us in 2022 as Chaplain once again.
While we are sad to see Mrs Plant step down as acting APRE, it is with much pleasure and excitement that we announce the appointment of Peta Taylor as Acting Assistant Principal - Religious Education at St Joseph’s Catholic School, Mundingburra commencing in January 2022 for Semester 1. Peta has been teaching with Townsville Catholic Education for the past sixteen years and is currently teaching Year 3 at Ryan Catholic College, Kirwan. She has previously held various leadership roles including Leading Teacher Christian Meditation at Ryan Catholic College and Acting Assistant Principal - Religious Education at both St Joseph's Catholic School, Mundingburra and Ryan Catholic College, Kirwan. Peta is an active member of the Ministerial Region of the Good Shepherd Parish, Kirwan. Please join me in congratulating Peta on her appointment.
Have a wonderful week.
God Bless
Tracy
APRE News
Welcome to Week 7!
On Thursday 11th November, as a school, we observed one minute silence at 11am. The whole school joined in a Remembrance Liturgy in the afternoon. It was a time to remember those who have fought in wars around the world to defend our freedom and to give thanks to God for living in a free country. We were fortunate to have a representative from the Australian Defence as a guest. Lt. Colonel Virginia McDougall spoke of what Remembrance Day means to her. Thank you.
Thank you to Ms Di Bella for directing the choir in a beautiful rendition of “In Flanders Fields”. Silence was observed as the whole school stood for the Last Post and Reveille. It was a very special and solemn prayer time and thank you to the whole school for the reverence you observed throughout the Liturgy. Thank you to 5B for delivering it so thoughtfully.
Remembrance Day Liturgy
On Monday, we had a special liturgy for the commencement of the SVP Christmas Appeal. Thank you 4A for leading the liturgy so well. On Tuesday morning, Mrs. Nuttall accompanied a small group of Yr. 6 students to the Diocesan Appeal which was held at St. Benedict’s Catholic School.
At this time of the year parents are often stretched with many demands and appeals, however we do encourage you to donate an item of non-perishable food, gifts or money to your child's class SVP Basket. The baskets will then be presented to a representative of SVP at the Assembly on Monday 29th November . Thank you for your generosity.
On Monday 22nd November our Morning Liturgy will be a Thank You to all those wonderful people who volunteer their time to help in our school. Sadly, on account of Covid, our volunteers have not had the freedom to access the school quite as easily but we would like to thank all those who are constantly available when needed. Please join us for our Liturgy on Monday 22nd November at 8.40 am in the Covered Area, followed by Morning Tea.
Throughout the year The Breakfast Club has been open on a Wednesday morning. Thank you to Mrs. Linda Pether and her trusty band of Yr 6 helpers for filling the Covered Area with delicious smells of warm toast. Over the past few weeks a group of Yr. 5 students have been in training … great to see. Thank you to all who have volunteered to help with the toast making and serving. The Breakfast club will be closed for the remaining weeks of this term.
This Thursday will be the final morning for Meditation which is held in the Library at 8.00am
I hope you have a safe week.
God Bless
Clare
Save The Date
Information for Families
Term 4 School Fees were due Thursday 11th November.
Your prompt payment to settle all overdue amounts is most appreciated.
Library News
Students borrowed their last books for the year from the Library this week (Week 7), due to our library being closed in Week 8 this year for book preparation and resourcing. Please be aware all books need to be returned next week, especially overdue books not yet returned. Please don’t hesitate to contact the library if you have any concerns regarding these.
Specialist lessons will continue next week with Miss Di Bella and other specialist teachers.
This week is the last week for the successful lunchtime ‘Let’s Talk about Books’ and our increasing group using the ‘eBook Hub’. These lunchtime programs will resume in 2022.
Have a great week! Happy Reading!
Star Students
P & F News
Congratulations to our first two winners of our 9 Days of Reindeers raffle.
Day 1 was the Adams family in Year 1
Day 2 is the Dunn family in Year 3W
A BIG thank you to the below business for their very kind donations to our Christmas Raffle. Without your support we would not be able to do this.
Please use the following link to RSVP and order pizzas for our Carols by Torchlight evening. Orders close Friday 19 November. Any orders after this date cannot be accepted.
Crazy Camel Update
Many thanks to those of you who made a purchase as part of our P&F Crazy Camel fundraiser. It was our biggest year yet and together we have raised a little over $1800 which will go towards supporting our tuckshop. The distribution of the products purchased occurred today via the classroom teacher.