Term 4 Week 9 Newsletter

From The Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Last night our Year 6 students and their families came together with staff to celebrate the Year 6 Rite of Passage. It was a night to give thanks to God for the journey of our 2021 senior leaders, most of whom began at St Joseph’s in 2015 as Prep students and along the way have welcomed many and said goodbye to others. The evening began with a Liturgy led by Father Joshy and the Year 6’s, followed by reflections, gift giving and a faith statement by our senior students. The night ended with a ‘guard of honour’ by staff, the cutting of the Rite of Passage cake and a shared supper. It was a beautiful and memorable evening, where the special bonds developed between our Year 6 students, families, school and parish were remembered and celebrated. Thank you to Mrs Luton and Mrs Hutchison for their considerable contribution to the success of this special end of year event. Thank you also to the staff who attended and our Year 5 parents who assisted.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Year 6 students for all they have contributed to St Joseph’s Mundingburra in the time they have been students at the school. They have been our dedicated servant leaders for 2021, demonstrating the Joey’s Way and living out the school motto, ‘Love is Service’. In the short time I have known them, I have noticed many solid friendships built on respect and care for each other. Such relationship building qualities are ones which will stand them in good stead as they move onto the next phase in their lives. 

As well as farewelling our senior students, we also farewell some of our longstanding families. These families have made significant contributions to our community and their absence will leave a large ‘hole’. I thank them for their positive influence and dedication to St Joey’s. We also sadly say goodbye to staff members, Bridget Horton (1B teacher) and Gyan Russell (school officer). Both of you will be truly missed. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours and please don’t be strangers.

Christmas time is fast approaching, and with it our eagerly anticipated holiday break. The promise of peace, goodwill and a growing sense of excitement and expectation, makes this time of year very special indeed. It is certainly a time for celebration with those that we love and hold most dear. The challenge presented by Pope Francis is whether we welcome into our hearts those who are not immediately considered a part of our own story, those on the periphery. 

The message Jesus Christ brings to the world is one of unconditional love and acceptance. He welcomes all human beings in all their great variety as ‘Children of God’. He believes in their essential goodness and loves them all. This love is not held back or reluctant, it is spontaneous, unquestioning and all embracing. It is my hope those in our school community are abundantly blessed with this type of love in their lives, and if they are, it is shared generously with all whom they come into contact with.

In closing, I would like to wish each and every member of our school community the peace, happiness and joy that is so much part of this Advent and Christmas season. May it be for each of us a time of rest, reflection and joy. May you have the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of God’s love this Christmas and always.

Have a wonderful week.

God Bless

Tracy

APRE News

Week 9   Term 4 2021

Here we are in Week 9 and the end of Term 4 and the school year for 2021.

Advent
Sunday, 28th November was the first Sunday in Advent. The season of Advent marks the beginning of a period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ, our Saviour, at Christmas. During the season of Advent we are encouraged to reflect and prepare for the coming of Jesus .
We can mark this season by making an Advent Wreath.   The wreath reminds us, by it’s evergreen circle, of God's endless love for us and God’s life in us.  The wreath is made of three purple, one pink and one white candle.The three purple candles remind us of longing,waiting and preparation for Jesus’ coming at christmas. The first candle that was lit on Sunday was a purple candle,  the Prophet’s candle or the candle of Hope. The hope that the coming of Jesus will bring light to our world.
The rose candle reminds us of the joy and hope that will replace our longing.   It is also known as the Shepherd’s candle.
The white candle is lit on Christmas Eve and reminds us of Jesus’ birth.

This light and hope for the birth of Jesus was wonderfully evident on Thursday evening when the Prep children had their Nativity Play.  There was so much joy and peace in the performance of Jesus’ birth.   Thank you to all the Prep children and the teachers and staff who were involved in this very simple but moving story.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal

Thank you to all the families for your wonderful generosity in the donations for the SVP Christmas Appeal.  It has been a great way to involve our students in a real act of service to others and reminds us all that Christmas is a time of giving to others.

On Monday, at the Nativity Play, representatives from SVP were delighted to accept the kind donations. Geraldine and Christine look forward to sharing these gifts throughout the community.  Thank you for your wonderful generosity.

Thank you to all the P&F for organising an enjoyable Christmas Carols evening on Sunday and especially for all their hard work in organising the Christmas Raffle and the wonderful prizes.  Congratulations to all those lucky winners.

Reef Guardians

Thank you to Ms Lazzaroni and all her willing helpers who participated in this year's Reef Guardians group.  You have done a wonderful job throughout the year and thank you for your last onerous task of  "de-blu taking" the school walls.  Keep up the good work and look after our environment.

Rite of Passage

Yesterday evening the year 6's celebrated their Rite of Passage.  Thank you to Mrs Luton and Mrs Hutchison and all the year 6 students for a memorable occasion.  It was a thoughtful and reverant liturgy and we hope you take many happy memories of your time at St Joseph's with you.

Friday Final Liturgy

Parents and families are invited to join us for our final liturgy for 2021 on Friday 3rd  December at 11.00am  in the school’s Covered Area.  This is an opportunity for us to gather as a community to pray for the blessings and gifts of the year. It is also a chance to wish students, families and staff leaving the school all the best in their new adventures.

This will be my final piece in the Newsletter.   I would like to thank everyone for welcoming me back to St. Joseph’s Mundingburra.   It has been quite an experience but despite everything very enjoyable.   Thank you to the wonderful staff who have put up with all my mistakes and faux pas...there have been quite a few!!! To all the students and parents who have helped to make the job so much easier. Thank you. 

Many best wishes to all the students and families who will be leaving. 

I wish all the staff, students and parents of St. Joseph’s Mundingburra a very peaceful and holy Christmas and I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year.

Best wishes for 2022.

Clare

Year 6 Rite of Passage

Joey's Idol

Week 9 Reminders

Information for Families

Students are welcome to wear coloured clothes for the final day of 2022 on Friday.   Please ensure that clothing is sun safe, school appropriate and that closed in shoes are worn.

Don't forget your  school hat for morning tea play.

School Fees

A final reminder to families to settle your school fee account prior to the end of term.  Please contact the office for your balance and for payment options.  

Instrumental Music Enrolment Forms

These are available from the front office until 12pm Friday or on our website.  Please complete and return to the office before end of term or they can be downloaded and emailed to

enquiries@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au

2022 Information

Booklists for 2022 can be found on the school website under the Enrolments tab. For your convenience school stationery can be purchased from:

1.  The School Locker – 161 Duckworth Street, Garbutt – Ph. (07) 44308500; Email: townsville@theschoollocker.com.au

2.  Progress Book World - 15 - 17 Hammett Street Currajong – Ph. 47252640; Email: admin@progressbookworld.com.au 

The 2022 school year commences on Monday 24 January.

Families are welcome to drop school books in to the school classroom on Friday 21 January between 2pm and 3.30pm.

Library News

e Book Christmas  Holiday Borrowing Can Continue Over the School Holidays……so don’t stop reading!

Even though physical borrowing has ended in the library for this year, Christmas borrowing through our eBook app will continue.  Please continue to borrow ebooks through our exciting eBooks app link Sora. 

You can access our eBook app through the Destiny Discover Link on our school library site or the Sora app.  When you open the Sora icon, choose the ACEN Member Collection from the drop down menu.  Then explore and borrow the thousands of ebooks and audio books and read on your laptop and tablet during the Christmas holidays.  With our amazing Sora collection you will never be without a book to read! 

Over the holidays families can also enjoy our Story Box Library collection of Christmas stories and other amazing stories by the famous authors who write them!

Story Box Library           User name SJMB            Password Joeys

And don’t forget to visit your local Citilibraries and checkout their Christmas activites or as I always do, take in the ambience of wonderful books and reading!

Thank you for your wonderful support and may we take this opportunity to wish you all a blessed Christmas with your family over the festive season.

Happy Holidays! Happy Christmas Reading from us all!

P & F News

9 Days of Reindeers Raffle Major Prize Draw

Huge congratulations to Aimee Wockner who was the winner of the major prize at the Christmas carols on Sunday.  Enjoy your prize Aimee.  Once again thank you to all the businesses who made this possible.  

Community Events