Term 1 Week 8 Newsletter 2022

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, Staff and Students
 
I have just returned from the Interschool Swimming Carnival feeling very proud of our St Joey’s Swimming Squad and the staff who are there supporting them. It was great to see the number of parents and carers at this event after a long period of absence due to COVID restrictions. The atmosphere was certainly enhanced by having them poolside cheering the team on. With regards to swimming, it was wonderful to see the way students not only tried their best but also wanted their teammates to achieve their best. This was evident by the cheering and congratulatory comments made by staff and students alike. COVID still managed to impact our participation, with eight events we could not provide a swimmer for. Despite this, St Joseph’s came fifth in the overall tally count. Swimming Squad staff and students were treated to a sausage sizzle, cold cordial and lollies on their return to school. 
 
Recently the service team from Townsville Catholic Education, who supports St Joseph’s Mundingburra, visited the school for our annual meeting where the school’s Annual School Improvement Plan was discussed. This team is called the Blue Team and comprises of:
 
Education Consultant - Stephanie Giorcelli
Religious Education Adviser - Lee-Ann Barton
Curriculum Adviser - Kate Sargent
Indigenous Education Adviser - Janelle Knack.
 
We had a number of staff contribute to this meeting besides myself and Mrs Taylor. Our Learning and Teaching Adviser, Cathryn Cornish, and our Inclusive Practices Teachers, Therese Lane and Diane Engert, presented information on initiatives the school is implementing in their respective areas to improve learning outcomes for all students. The full Annual School Improvement Plan will be shared with the school community in the coming week, however I have included below some of the improvements taking place with our facilities this year:
 
Groundsmen’s shed and school storage. Work has commenced.
Refurbishment of C Block
New Prep and Year 1 Playground
Master Plan for the school to be developed 
 
Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day, and Year 6 students will be painting shamrocks on the cheeks and hands of students for a coin donation. All funds raised will go to Project Compassion. The following day is our St Joseph’s Feast Day and a number of celebratory activities have been planned. We will start the morning with a Liturgy during which our Year 6 seniors and Student Representative Council members will be inducted. All are welcome to join us for this special Liturgy.
 
God bless
Tracy

APRE News

Open Your Heart
Be a Gift of Love and Compassion for One Another Mary MacKillop

"Those who are gracious to the poor lend to the Lord, 
and the Lord will fully repay them."
PROVERBS 19:17

2022 Lenten Message
As we celebrate the 1st Sunday of Lent. Bishop Tim Harris has released a Lenten message to the community.

Bishop Tim's Lenten Message

St Joseph’s Day - March 19th

Saint Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Joseph was a just and compassionate man, and protected Mary from shame when he discovered that she was pregnant, even though he did not understand that her unborn child was the Son of God. We see evidence of Joseph's deep faith when he changed his plans in response to messages from God. (Saint Mary’s Press)

The spirituality of St Joseph’s Mundingburra is based on the spirit of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, the traditions of the Sisters of St Joseph and the faith of the community. Mary MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph responded to the needs and challenges of her time in ways that respected the human dignity of all by being deeply compassionate, reaching out to others and fostering resilience. 

On Friday,18th March, we will celebrate the Feast of St Joseph (March 19th) with a whole-school Liturgy in the Shelter Shed at 9:00am. All are welcome to join us.

Like Joseph, prayerfully seek to discover the will of God in the difficult situations you face.

St Patrick’s Day - Thursday March 17th

To celebrate St Patrick’s day, there will be shamrock face painting available.  Students wishing to have a shamrock painted on their face or hand need to bring along a gold coin donation.  Money raised will go to  Project Compassion.

Project Compassion 

Project Compassion is Caritas Australia’s annual fundraising appeal which is held during the six weeks of Lent each year.  The theme of Project Compassion 2022 is ‘For All Future Generations’.  It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long term solutions to global issues. With our theme of Open Our Hearts, we are encouraging students to reach out to others in need and to find ways to enrich the lives of those around them. Project Compassion is a wonderful way to do this. 

Last week each family was provided with a project compassion box for donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at:  lent.caritas.org.au

Caritas Australia

This week through Project Compassion we learn about Biru who lives in a rural village in India’s east. He lost mobility in one of his legs, after contracting polio as a child. Biru worked as a shepherd, looking after other people’s cattle, to support his wife and four daughters. Keeping up with the cattle was a challenge.
Biru taught himself how to repair bicycles by watching other people, but he never dreamed of using those skills to start his own business. With your generous support, Biru was able to access an entrepreneurship and livelihoods training program, run by Caritas Australia’s partner, Caritas India. He gained the support and skills he needed to start his own bicycle repair business. Now, Biru earns enough money to support his family.
Watch a short film about Biru’s story here.   Photo: Sameer Bara/Caritas Australia

Assembly
Assemblies take place in the Shelter Shed on Monday mornings at 8:40am. All are welcome to attend.  Week 9- 5B, Week 10 No Assembly instead we will be holding Holy Week Prayers: Monday 3B, Tuesday 4B, Wednesday 2B and Thursday 3A.

Christian Meditation 
Christian Meditation will not take place this week as Mrs Plant is away. It will take place next Thursday morning at 8:00am in the Library.   Meditation is a form of sacred and silent prayer, known as prayer of the heart.  It is a lovely way to start the day!  

Sacramental Program

The Sacramental Program will commence in May. There will be a note sent home early next week about this. Please keep an eye out for it. 

May God’s blessing be with you all, Peta

Diary Dates

From the Office

School fees were issued via email on the 17th February.  If you have not received your invoice, please check your junk/spam folder and contact the office.  Your payment is due 25th March.  Your prompt payment of any outstand fees is most appreciated.

Instrumental music fees are also now overdue.  

Parents are reminded to notify the office of all student absences. An email to the teacher is also welcome, however the office requires these details so that correct information is recorded and unnecessary text messages are sent out regarding absence. You can notify us of absences via:

• absent@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au
• phoning 4779 1651 and selecting absent and leaving a message
• noting the student's absence on COMPASS

If parent's have any information they would like included in our fortnightly newsletter, please send items to newsletter@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au

Townsville School Sport

2023 Enrolments

Feast Day and Leader's Induction Liturgy

Library News

March has been an amazing month, celebrating famous authors, like Dr Seuss.  The survey into St Joey’s favourite Dr Seuss book was analyzed, with ‘The Cat and the Hat’; the ‘Top 10 Winner’ again this year, with ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ a close runner up. Our own Australian author… Mem Fox is being celebrated in our amazing library this week, with students engaged and energized with revisiting and reading new books by Mem, with our wonderful Library Teacher, Mrs Luton. All cultivating literacy skills and a wonder and love of books!!

New ‘St Joseph’s library enquiries’ support email has been created 
Have you an enquiry about your child’s misplaced library books? Or you would like some assistance with a book from the collection. A new designated email address for library enquiries has been created for easy access to parents.  All enquiries will be directed to a specific  library email where your question will be acknowledged and sent direct to Mrs Harrington.

email address:    library-enquiries@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au

eBook Hub in the Library 
Students have been enthusiastic and eager to learn and use our amazing Sora Education, where students can borrow ebooks and audiobooks anytime and anywhere through our school site and Sora apps!  Join the eBook hub Thursdays lunchtime, 1.10 – 1.30 pm. 

STORY BOX LIBRARY 

As usual the Story Box Library have some wonderful March story releases.  Why not inspire your children with some fantastic stories from Story Box Library :

•    Over 400 diverse stories, with new stories added regularly
•    Meet Gabrielle Wang, children’s book author and illustrator, and the new Australian Children’s Laureate for 2022-23!
•    Inspired by the bushfires that have affected many Australians, Fire is a moving and sensitive story of a natural disaster as seen through the eyes of a cockatoo. Written by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley and read by Alexandra Schepisi.
•    A charming tale of family love, traditions and tea time friends, Ash Invites Her Friends to Tea is created by Fu Wenzheng and read by Gabrielle Wang.
•    Read by Gabrielle Wang, Tiny Wonders is the story of a small child trying to bring wonder back to her town through the language of flowers, from creator Sally Soweol Han.
•    Stories about STEM Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics.

Meet Gabrielle Wang, children’s book author and illustrator, and the new Australian Children’s Laureate for 2022-23! 

Story Box Link

Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge 2022 is an annual reading challenge to encourage school students from Prep to Year 9 to read.  Students have 3.5 months to read an assigned number of books for their year level.

A great way to boost student’s literacy skills and a love of books! 

The challenge commences in Term 2, 2022.  If you are interested in the challenge… 

Link:  https://readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au/

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB:

Issue 2 will need to be finalised by Thursday, 17 March, so place your favourite book choices on the LOOP ordering system before it closes.

Loop Ordering Link

UPCOMING EVENTS IN TERM 2:

Simultaneous Story time 25 May 2022

Readers Cup 14 June 2022

Happy Reading, Mrs H.

In the Library

Bimbi Wadja

This term we are studying the creation story of Gabul the snake. We have made many snakes in our lunchtime activities with different art items. We have pasta Gabuls, spiral Gabuls and this Thursday we are making bubble wrap Gabul's.  The children have been enjoying escaping from the heat to the art room to do these activities and learning about how the Hinchinbrook channel was created.
As well as bubble wrap Gabul's this Thursday we will also be making cards for our friends in South East Queensland  who were caught up in the floods. These will be sent to the Brisbane Catholic Education office.

Star Students

Guess the lollies for Caritas

P & F

We have booked in the following P&F Functions for the year.  Please save the date however these may change due to unforeseen circumstances.

Term 2
Mothers Day Stalls                              5th - 6th May
Mothers Day Function                         14th May
School Disco                                        27th May
Term 3
School Disco                                        2th August
Fathers Day Stalls                               31st August & 1st September
Fathers Day Function(Trivia Night)     10th September 
Term 4
Christmas Carols                                  27th November

Community Information