Term , Week 8 Newsletter, 2023

Acknowledgement of Country

We respectfully acknowledge the past and present traditional owners of this land on which we stand, the Wulgurukaba and neighbouring Bindal people who are the custodians. We pray that we can walk together to a better future.

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, Staff and Students

There has been ‘Athletics fever' at St Joseph’s this week. Classes have been coming out to the school oval to practise high jump, long jump and shot put. Runoffs for sprints have been taking place at the nearby soccer field. Monday afternoon saw the 9 - 12 year old students do their sprint runoffs to determine heats, while on Tuesday it was the 6 - 9 year old students’ turn. 

The Inter House Athletics Carnival will take place on Monday 19th June at the Townsville Sports Reserve commencing at 9 am. It is set to be an action packed day, and we look forward to seeing parents and carers present to support our students as they compete in a variety of events. We welcome volunteers to assist with the smooth running of these events, and volunteering for a short amount of time at your own child’s event is encouraged.

Yesterday we welcomed the Backflips Against Bullying team to our school. Their presentation was high energy and engaging as they delivered a very important message to our students. In amongst backflips, cartwheels and other gymnastic moves they made it clear that ‘Bullying doesn’t make you tough’. Throughout their performance they touched on, Empowering the Bystander, Exit Strategies for the Victim, Deliberate Social Exclusion and The Consequences of Retaliation. It was great to see all of our students participating in the performance and taking on board the messages being shared. It was also quite a spectacle to see both Mr Feaver and Mrs Plant at different times lying flat on the ground behind two rows of four students while the Backflips team performed flips over them.

On Tuesday 20th June Semester One Report Cards will be available through the Parent Portal on COMPASS. Michael Grose, one of Australia's leading parenting educators, notes that student reports bring mixed feelings for parents. Pleasure and pride if they are performing well but considerable angst when children are not progressing as hoped. Reports can mean anxious times for children too. Kids of all ages take their cues from their parents, so your reaction to their school report can affect the way they see themselves as learners and as people. A few tips from Michael around reading Report Cards include:

• Focus on your child’s strengths - focus on strengths even if they are not in the traditional 3Rs or core subjects.
• Take into account your child’s effort and attitude to learning - If the report indicates that effort is below standard, then you have something to work on. If your child is putting in the required effort, then you cannot ask any more than that, regardless of the grading.
• Discuss the report with your son or daughter, talking about strengths first before looking at areas that need improvement. Ask for their opinion about how they performed and discuss their concerns.
• Broaden your focus away from academic performance to form a picture of your child’s progress as a member of a social setting.  How your child gets along with his or her peers will influence their  happiness and well-being. Also, the skills of independence and co-operation are highly valued by employers.

Have a wonderful week.

God bless

Tracy

APRE News

Blessed to Serve

Bear with one another, help one another, and ever strive to serve God in a generous spirit. ~Mary MacKillop

Holy Trinity Sunday

Last  Sunday we celebrated Holy Trinity Sunday, this is the first Sunday after Pentecost. On this day, we celebrate the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Although we cannot understand the depths of God, and how God can be three persons in one, we share in God’s life and are called to reflect something of who God is.

Year Level Masses 

Today we held our Year Level Mass for students in Years 1,2,4 and 6. Thank you to parents and family who were able to join us. 

Next Wednesday we will hold Mass for students in Year Prep, 3 and 5. Parents and family are welcome to join us. 

Assemblies

Our assembly is held on Monday morning at 8:45am in our Shelter Shed. Parents, families and friends are all welcome to join us.  Our next two assemblies will be: 

Week 9: Week hosted by 2B

Week 10: No assembly (Athletics Carnival)

Christian Meditation will take place each 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 2023

If your children are in Years 3-6 and would like to participate, notes can be collected from the school office. All notes must be returned to the school office by Friday 23rd June.

May God’s blessing be with you, have a wonderful fortnight. 
Peta.

Mary MacKillop Parish News

Used Postage Stamps

We are collecting used postage stamps for donation to the Missions through the Sisters of St Joseph. This easy and good work makes a huge difference to our global family especially in third world countries. Please collect the used stamps from your workplace, school, business and home and put them in the signed box at the front door of the Church. Your contribution is very greatly appreciated. Geraldine O’Brien.

Parish Lunch

Parish lunches are held at the Rising Sun Hotel at 12 pm on the last Friday of each month. Next lunch: 30/06/2023

Bookings can be made with the parish office.

Parish Scripture Group

Every Tuesday morning, a group of parishioners meet in the Parish Office to study and discuss the scripture for the following weekend’s mass. This is a wonderful way to enrich their understanding of the message of Jesus and the implications for daily living in a worshipping community. You are most welcome to join this band of dedicated people who experience much enjoyment amid the solemnity of their study. Meetings commence on Tuesdays at 10.00 am. You will be most welcome.  

Children’s Liturgy
Children's liturgy takes place every Sunday mass at 7:30 am (during the school term) Members of our parish take the children out and complete activities related to the weekly gospel. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to engage with and understand the meaning of the gospel. All children are welcome.

Parish Mass Times

Tuesday 7.00am

Friday 7.00am

Saturday 5.00pm

Sunday 7.30am

Diary Dates

The Joey's Way

Star Students

Information for Parents

Winter uniform

With the cooler days here, parents are reminded of our school uniform policy for jumpers.

As per our school website:

• Winter
  Bottle green cardigan, sloppy joe or windcheater

A zip up cardigan can be purchased from the School Locker at Domain Central or alternatively a PLAIN BOTTLE GREEN CARDIGAN, SLOPPY JOE OR WINDCHEATER CAN ALSO BE WORN.  PLEASE REMEMBER THERE ARE TO BE NO OTHER COLOURS OR LOGOS ON THEM.

Second hand uniforms are also available at our Pre-Loved Uniform shop.  Please contact the ladies

If your child is coming in tights under their uniform, please ensure that these are also PLAIN BOTTLE GREEN and to send socks to change into once the day warms up.

From the Office

Hand washing for hygiene

Germs are everywhere. We collect them, inhale them and share them, all day and every day.

The flu, E. coli, and measles are just some of the numerous debilitating diseases that are caused by germs that are spread through contact with surfaces and people—and it's our hands that can help spread these germs to ourselves and others. Poor hand hygiene contributes to the spread of germs, which can cause many health issues including gastrointestinal and respiratory infections.

A regular 20 second hand washing routine using soap and water could help make us all healthier.

IMPORTANT - ILLNESSES - Please keep your child at home

Please keep your child at home if they are sick.  This includes increase in temperature, coughing and sneezing frequently or upset tummies.  Our office staff have been inundated with children presenting with these symptoms resulting in them being sent home.  If your child is sick, the best place for them is at home. 

Please be vigilant to break the cycle.  Thank you.

The following link also has some helpful information.

https://www.health.qld.gov.au/public-health/schools/prevention

A friendly reminder to parents that the following items require attention:

** School fees were due 19th May

**Athletics Carnival notes are due back 9th June

**Year 5 Camp payments are due 19 June

Is your child absent from school?  Please notify the office via

• emailing absent@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au
• calling the office and leaving a message at the absent option
• parent/guardian can note the absence through Compass
  

A text message will go out at 9.30am to any parents whose child is marked absent without an explanation.  Please reply to this text using one of the above methods.  If your child arrives after 8.30am, they must pass through the office for a late pass so that if the role has been marked at the classroom, office staff can make the ammendment for the arrival.  We thank parents for assisting with this. Roles are marked promptly at 8.30am on Mondays due to assembly - students are required to collect a late pass before moving to assembly if they are late.

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - BLENDED FAMILIES

Blended or stepfamilies, come in all shapes and sizes. Today, the term “blended family” is more commonly used as opposed to “stepfamily”. Although their original meanings differ slightly, today both terms are used interchangeably. This is mostly due to some of the negative connotations associated with fairytale characters such as the evil stepmother or stepsister.

The blended family is the fastest growing family dynamic in the world with one in five families now being a ‘step’ or ‘blended’ family. However, when families “blend,” it rarely progresses smoothly. Some children resist change, and parents become frustrated when the new family doesn’t function in the same way as the previous one.

For many step-parent’s, the greatest challenge lies in determining what their role is within the family. The process can be both rewarding and challenging. Children affected by the union of a new couple may not be excited at the prospect of becoming part of a new family.

Although blending families requires adjustment and patience from everyone involved, in this edition of SchoolTV, parents will be given some guidelines of real expectations that can help their new family work through the growing pains.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Blended Families edition of SchoolTV
https://sjmbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/blended-families

Inclusive Education Matters

Challenge Games 

St Joseph’s are excited for this year’s Challenge Games event.  We will be attending on Wednesday the 26th of July.  Please see attached flyer.  If your child meets criteria and would like to attend please let us know. 

Positive Partnerships has three upcoming workshops. Please see flyers attached.  

• Communication Part 1 (June 1 and June 15) 
  

Bimbi Wadja

Wow!! What a big week celebrating Reconciliation. 
Last Monday we had a lovely Reconciliation liturgy hosted by 6A with the Bimbi Wadja students included. Congratulations on our Bimbi Wadja Thea for receiving the Reconciliation award for year 4.A big Thankyou to our Indigenous Advisor Kim McCosker for presenting our awards.
We had a beautiful Reconciliation garden filled with beautiful hands made by the students of St Joeys.
Last Wednesday we had Reconciliation activities which the children really enjoyed. Thankyou to the year 6 students and Miss Bella who assisted the students.
Last Wednesday afternoon we had a Meet and Greet with all our Indigenous families. It was so nice to meet all our families, share food and activities.  Thankyou to all our families that came and those who helped organise this event.
Lastly a big Congratulations to our Bimbi Wadja's Audrey and Nash for recieving "The Spirit of ANZAC" award a few weeks ago.  Keep up the good work.

Reef Guardians

Term 2 Showcases

Please see the attached information below for information from Miss DiBella regarding costumes etc.  This has also been sent on Compass.

Back Flips Against Bullying

Yesterday we welcomed Back Flips Against Bullying to our school. They treated the students to some amazing tricks and flips but, most importantly, instilled the very important message of 'Bullying doesn't make you tough'. Throughout their performance they touched on, Empowering the Bystander, Exit Strategies for the Victim, Deliberate Social Exclusion and The Consequences of Retaliation. It was great to see all of our students participating in the performance and taking on board the messages being shared.

Library News

This week Mrs Luton’s Readers Cup Group have been busy preparing for the Readers Cup Challenge next week at Southern Cross Catholic College.  The competition will be held on Tuesday 13th June, 2023 at 5.30pm next week.  Our participating students who will represent St Joseph’s team are students, Nathaneal, Evie, Sophia, Matthew and Darcy from 5A and 5B.

Every year students enter the Competition and are challenged to read the chosen books for the Readers Cup. They learn about team work and enjoy the fun of competing with other schools and students in their same age cohort.  The Readers Cup was created to encourage children to read various genres in books, whilst trying diverse authors.  The books selected this year are:

In conjunction with the Readers Cup Competition next week, the library will host the guest author and fabulous presenter Nat Amoore, who has four successful children’s books.  Her book, ‘Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire’ was a children’s best seller in Australia and her book ‘Undercover Activist’ won the Environment Award for Children’s Literature. Nat Amoore is the author of the above book in the Readers Cup Competition this year, ‘We Run Tomorrow.'

Students and their teachers from Grades 4 & 5 will have the opportunity to meet the author Nat Amoore, next Wednesday 14th June in the library, for an amazing one-hour session face to face. QBD and other booksellers have stock available for any purchase requests of her books. 

The Library has observed many special days and weeks during the year. This week we celebrate the beautiful oceans around the world, with World Ocean Day, and the message of caring for our precious oceans, as well as World Turtle Day. We also reflected and contemplated on Reconciliation Week in which we focused on the amazing Indigenous authors & illustrators.  Students have enjoyed the varied displays and the wonderful books available in our library collection.

Don’t forget…......Book Club Issue 4 will to be closed after 7th June.

Please make sure you have made your final selections through the Scholastic LOOP Order System as soon as you can before it closes.

As well as the many visits from our lovely Kindy groups, the Miniversity and the Mary MacKillop Daycare, the library continues to foster the love of reading books and literature. Technology lessons and learning about our Sora eBook borrowing sessions are still every Thursday lunchtime with Mrs H. Many other varied groups from the Barrier Reef students to Chess Groups, access our library throughout the week, enjoying the ambience of reading and learning.

 Happy Reading everyone!

School Sports Trials - Girls Rugby League

Tuckshop

Parents are reminded to contact the tuckshop if your child is absent or leaves school due to illnes.  If food hasn't been prepared it can be ordered for a different day.  If food is prepared due to not being notified of absence or if food is prepared and student goes home sick, we are unable to provide food on an alternative day.  Please let the office know if you are collecting a sick child who has tuckshop and if it is prepared, you can collect to take home.  Thank you for your assistance and understanding in this matter.

Flexischools offers a convenient way to order school lunches online. Please update your child's class to their 2023 class so that orders go to the correct place and children are not delayed in receiving their order.

Our Tuckshop list is also available on our school website.

Jeannine is our Tuckshop Convenor and is always appreciative of volunteers.  If you can spare even an hour of your time, please contact her on M:  0407 578 105

Volunteers are required to complete our Induction process.  This includes the Online Modules, Supporting Documents and Quiz.  Please follow the link below and follow the instructions.

Speech and Drama

The Prep Students have had an 'emotional' start to Speech and Drama lessons this term as they learn about emotions through body language and facial expression. We have also been learning about personal space and setting boundaries for others, and of course, learning to use our speaking voices.

Bebras

In Week 3 of this term, a number of our students participated in the Bebras Challenge. This Challenge is part of an international initiative whose goal is to promote computational thinking and Computer Science amongst students. Bebras is aligned with and supports the Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum. During our Assembly this morning, students who participated in the Challenge received their certificates from our Police Liaison Officer, Debbie Pardon. We are very proud of how well our St Joey's students performed during this Challenge and look forward to the next one later this year. Thank you Ms Cantoni for your hard work both organising the Challenge and preparing students for it during Wednesday workshops.

Tech Club

Technology Club with Mrs Cantoni ~
The Year 5 and 6 students have been busy after school at Technology Club building algorithms to solve EV3 Lego challenges. They have also carefully worked together to build a hydraulic robot arm using engineering, math, science and technology skills.

Zarate Raffles - fundraising

Thank you to all of our families for your ongoing support for the Zarate family.  If there are any families in a position where they would like to donate prizes for a fundraising raffe, please contact the office.

Junior Engineers Winter School Holiday Program

Attention all space explorers!Blast off into outer space this Winter School Holidays with Junior Engineers’ new out-of-this-world Coding & Robotics Camps for Kids 5 to 13 years old!Book now to secure your place and learn their new space themed curriculum!https://jnrengineers.com.au/school-holidays/#Codingisfun

Uniform Shop

P & F News

Community News