St Joseph's Catholic School - Mundingburra eNewsletter

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

Yesterday afternoon, a number of our students participated in the Interschool Cross Country at Bicentennial Park. The Park was full of families and excited students who were also somewhat nervous as they anticipated the beginning of their race. Around 150 students were at the starting line for each race, and a number of the St Joseph’s students placed in the first 50 for their age level. Congratulations to Layla who placed 1st, Miller who placed 3rd and Amani who placed 6th in their respective age groups. These students will attend the Cross Country NQ Trials next week and we wish them all the best. Thank you to Miss Duyvestyn and all teachers who assisted in preparing the students and helping out at yesterday’s event.

I never cease to be impressed by the eagerness of St Joseph’s Mundingburra students when volunteering for a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Coming up we have students involved in the Marian Spelling Bee taking place this Thursday evening, the Southern Cross Speech Competition which is next Thursday evening, and our teams of footballers and netballers who will be participating in the rescheduled Bill Nettle Rugby League Challenge and the NQ Netball Cup respectively on the last day of term. Of course, we also have our annual Athletics Carnival at the Townsville Sports Precinct on Wednesday 19th June, and I look forward to seeing families join us to cheer on our St Joey’s athletes.

National Reconciliation Week is next week, and our First Nations Teacher, Mrs Bortignon, has organised a number of awareness raising activities for our students at lunch time throughout the week. We also have a Meet and Greet Breakfast for our First Nations families, followed by our Reconciliation Week Liturgy next Wednesday morning at 9 am. This year’s Under 8’s Day next Friday morning will include activities with a First Nations focus.

Still in the First Nations space, all families will have received a Compass News item regarding feedback on the Draft St Joseph’s Mundingburra Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Much gratitude to Andrew Kirkpatrick, James Tronc and Toni Simmonds for their contribution to the RAP at our recent RAP Committee meeting. Staff and families have been asked to provide feedback, after which we will seek student feedback prior to finalising the Plan. If you would like to provide suggestions and / or feedback on this document, please do so by this Friday 24th May 2024.

This afternoon’s Staff Meeting is being run by our First Nations Adviser from Townsville Catholic Education, Krista O’Connor. Krista is presenting on Pedagogy of Difference. This way of teaching was originally developed through input from First Nations families on how their children learn best, however has been found to be beneficial to the learning of all students. Last week’s staff meeting was on Bandscaling, which involves identifying where our ‘English as a Second Language / Dialect’ students are in their literacy progression so we can determine how best to support them. Our staff are always eager to find out more about how they can optimise the learning of students in their class.

This week at St Joseph’s, there has been much excitement around where our environmental mascot, Zippy, has been hiding each day. Hide and Laudato Si’ with Zippy has got our students searching high and low in areas of the school where our environmental initiatives are occurring. Laudato Si’ is an encyclical letter by Pope Francis, and is considered to be the most comprehensive Vatican document to date on environmentalism, ethics, and Christian faith. The encyclical has a subtitle, ‘On care for our common home’ and is intended for all people, not Catholics or Christians alone. Zippy has found lots of ways we live out Pope Francis’ call to ‘care for our common home’.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

God Bless

Tracy

APRE News

2024 Prayer Theme: Blessed to Servce

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

Pentecost

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost marks the end of the Easter season and is often called the Birthday of the Church, as it was from this event that the disciples went forth and spread the Good News and established the church. Within the church, we learn how to forgive and how to accept forgiveness. The gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to do both. Pentecost presents us with the opportunity to consider how we are living each day. Are the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness and self-control - growing in our lives?

Mary, Help of Christians

This Friday our school will come together for Chistian meditation at 8:40am to acknowledge and celebrate Mary, Help of Christians. Mary, Help of Christians in her role of patron of Australia, is there for us, praying with and for us to God for our needs. When things are tough, we need all the help we can get. Mary is a beacon of hope and our “go-to” saint. Being the mother of Jesus and the first disciple is her unique gift to us. We are blessed that she is our Patron. We turn to Mary today for the protection that our nation needs, and we put ourselves into her care.

National Reconciliation week.

Next week is National Reconciliation Week 2024, the theme for this year is, Now More Than Ever, which is a reminder to all of us that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will —and must —continue. We will be holding our Reconciliation Liturgy at 9:00 am on Wednesday morning, all are welcome to attend.

Year Level Masses Term 2

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!

Assemblies:

Week 7: Reconciliation Liturgy hosted by our First Nations Student (Wed 9:00 am)

Week 8: Light of the World hosted by 4B

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

Peta.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish

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.

PLANNED GIVING: The new St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish forms are now available. If you wish to join our giving, please fill in your details in the area on the form (ie.. Cash, Credit Card, Direct Debit) and tick the NEW box. If you are already a giver, kindly supply your name, address and tick the SAME box to continue. Likewise, if you wish to change your current giving, please amend the amount or details you wish to change, and tick the ALTERATION box. It will be most helpful if you would please PRINT ALL YOUR DETAILS. We sincerely wish to thank all our parishioners in helping with the upkeep and maintenance of the new St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish, which is assisted through your Planned Giving.

BECOME AN EARTHCARE PARISH / FAMILY: In 2015, Pope Francis wrote his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ in which he implores us to protect our common home. To escalate the implementation of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis has now established the Laudato Si’ Action Platform with its 7 Goals for 7 sectors over 7

years. Catholic Earthcare Australia has made it easy for parishes & families to take up the Bishops’ invitation by developing a process to assist you on the journey towards these 7 goals and to becoming living Laudato Si’ communities. Become a Catholic Earthcare Parish/Family at https://catholicearthcare.org.au

REVIVAL AND THE WORD CONFERENCE: "Catholic Charismatic Renewal Townsville invites you to “REVIVAL and THE WORD” Conference which will be held on Friday evening, 14 June and Saturday, 15 June 2024. This is the time to tune into what God is calling us to. The dynamic guest speaker Fr. Francis Otobo from Victoria will be supported by the Lifted Music Ministry. Please contact Rosalie on 0400708327, email townsville.CCR@gmail.com for the Registration Form and take advantage of the Early Bird offer that ends on 24 May with the final date to register on 10 June 2024. Psalm 119:25 Revive me, O Lord according to your Word."

CARITAS AUSTRALIA’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY ONLINE PHOTO EXHIBITION – VOTE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!: To mark the 60th anniversary of Caritas Australia, we have compiled a selection of our favourite 60 photos. Vote for your favourite photo to go into the draw to win a beautiful Indigenous Australian artwork from Djilpin Arts, our First

Australian partner in the Northern Territory. The artwork is a painting by Harry Malibirr which depicts five dreaming stories. Simply visit our website caritas.org.au/faces-of-caritas-australia-60th-anniversary, choose a photo from the gallery and vote via the online form. Entries close 30 June 2024.

The Joey's Way

From the Office

Year 5 & 6 Camp

Permisson notes for year 5 & 6 camp are now live on Compass. Please ensure you complete the permission note online using Compass on a web browswer (not in the app). You can do this by logging into compass on Google/Safari or opening a web browser though the Compass App. The cost of school camps has been added to your term 2 school fees.

If you need any assistance, please contact our office staff.

School Fees

Term 2 school fees are due on or before the 7th June 2024.

Please ensure prompt payment is made.

Centenary Celebrations

Centenary Polos

Parents/carers can now order a Centenary Shirt through the School Locker. The shirt can be ordered in adult sizes if you would like one as memorabilia for our 100 year anniversary. If you are considering purchasing another shirt for your child, please note that our Centenary Shirts can only be worn by students this year as part of their uniform.

Shirts can take up to 8 weeks to arrive. Order forms & payment are to be made through the School Locker.

100 Year Polo Order Form

School Uniform Reminders

Diary Dates

Interschool Cross Country

Yesterday afternoon was the Interschool Cross Country, and we are incredibly proud of our students' performances! Congratulations to Layla for placing 1st, Miller for placing 3rd, and Amani for placing 6th in their respective age groups. These students will attend the Cross Country NQ trials next week and we wish them the best! Congratulations to Milin, Darcy, Matthew, and Jack for finishing in the top 20 and kudos to all our participates, as many of students finished the top 50.

Well done, everyone! 👏👏

Library News

Today, the annual National Simultaneous Storytime 2024 was held in our St Joseph’s Library with students listening simultaneously, to the Scholastic winning Author, Aura Parker. Every year a book is chosen by the ALIA, to be read simultaneously in libraries, schools and everywhere all-around Australia and New Zealand and the World. Last year 2.18 million participants listened together!

This year a new beautiful picture book by Australian Author and Illustrator, Aura Parker was read today to students at 12.00pm, from the State-of-the-art Green Square Sydney Library.

Grade 5 and their buddies from PREP A & B were so excited to be involve in this event. Children all over the world enjoy this fun streaming event, which promotes the value of reading and literacy. Aura Parker is a writer, illustrator and designer who creates prints, textiles and picture books from her studio in Sydney. Her works bring a beautiful joy to reading the story and explores many connections to a longing for relationships and in this case, for someone (the bowerbird’s mate). The bowerbird creates a beautiful bower of treasures to attract his female mate. Aura captures the love of nature, our environment, pollution in the plastics the bowerbird displays. This book is well worth reading, and the children loved it!

This week in the library we have had various activities for students to enjoy and discover more about the environment and the birds that inhabit them. Tuesday, we had a lunchtime guest visit by the Education Officer from Birdlife Townsville. Children listened to Mr. Threlfall and learnt all about the bowerbirds around Townsville and Districts. Children were enthralled with the information about our environment and had plenty of Q & A questions at the end of his presentation. Thank you, Mr. Threlfall.

OVERDUE BOOKS FROM TERM 1

Some students have not yet returned books from last term, so could you please return any books from last term to the library. Please contact us if you have any queries.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB ISSUE 3

Book Club Issues 3 orders have arrived and will be sent out to students today!

Happy Simultaneous Storytime St. Joseph’s and Happy Reading!

Inclusive Education Matters

NCCD

The National Consistency Collection of Data (NCCD) is an important tool used by schools to ensure that all students receive the support they need to engage within the learning environment. Through the NCCD, schools gather information about students who require additional assistance due to disability, learning difficulties, or other special needs. This data helps educators tailor their teaching strategies and allocate resources effectively to meet the diverse needs of every child. When information is sent to the NCCD there is no identifying information (eg names/dates of births) sent away, rather total numbers of students.

Teachers are currently working on the NCCD information for the 23/24 cycle. If you have any current reports from specialists (Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, Paediatrician, Well Being etc) pertaining to your child and their individual needs please ensure your child’s teacher has a copy to ensure they are implementing targeted supports.

Challenge Games

In Term 3 St Joseph’s will be attending the Challenge Games on the 24th of July. The Challenge Games is a wonderful event where children with disabilities get together to compete and have fun in sporting activities, athletics, fun and games. If you feel your child who has a disability would enjoy being part of the Challenge Games please contact Diane Engert or Therese Lane via email dengert@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au tlane1@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au

Tuckshop News

Greetings St Joey's families

My name is Shandi Toohey, and I am pleased to introduce myself as the new Tuckshop Convenor. I am eager to bring positive changes to the operations and menu of the tuckshop in order to enhance efficiency and provide a great experience for our students.

Changes: Some of the proposed changes include maintaining affordable prices while sourcing products from reputable suppliers. Additionally, we will be implementing a system where ice-cream/ice-block tokens will be included in tuckshop bags next to the hot food, in order to prevent melting. Students can then redeem these tokens for their frozen treats after finishing their meals. For the convenience of Prep/Yr 1 students, their treats will be delivered to their eating area promptly and will be handed out by teachers once students have eaten their lunch.

Furthermore, students in Years 2 - 6 will be able to purchase items from the Tuckshop on Monday to Friday after 1:05 pm. This will allow them to make choices and build confidence while purchasing items in a safe environment. Can I please ask that students only bring a limited amount of money, enough to purchase one item for themselves and not other students.

Volunteers: We are also grateful for any volunteer assistance. Your time and support are greatly valued, and you are welcome to contribute as much or as little as you are able. Whether you can volunteer periodically or on a one-time basis, your help is essential in providing the best service to our students.
There are no hard and fast rules or expectations for St Joseph's Mundingburra Tuckshop Volunteers:

you can volunteer once a year, once a term or more often
you can volunteer for one hour, two hours or more often
you can volunteer at a date / time suitable to you (Thursdays and Fridays are our busiest days)
you have choices in how you would like to help
you will not be asked or expected to do more than you wish or offer
volunteers can be parents (mums / dads), carers or grandparents

We understand that times have changed and families are busy with both parents working. Our aim is to have a larger quantity of volunteers working for a limited amount of time, so we will be grateful for every offer to assist.
I encourage you to visit the tuckshop with any queries, feedback, or ideas you may have. My availability is generally between 8:20am and 2:20pm on most days. I am excited to meet with you and your children, and look forward to working together to create a positive tuckshop experience.

Thank you for your attention, and I am excited for the opportunities ahead.

Best regards,
Shandi Toohey
Tuckshop Convenor

Guidance Counsellors

Helping your child who worries

When kids worry, it can be natural to want to help them feel better. But by trying to protect kids from the things that worry them, doesn’t help them learn to deal with their worries. The best way to help kids overcome worries is to implement ways to help them deal with the worry when it arises. With practice, they will be able to learn to manage their worries independently.

You are invited to come and learn how to help your child manage their worries, with Guidance Counsellors Marissa and Amelia next Wednesday 29th May at 2pm in the library. Please notify the office if you are interested for catering purposes.

Music

First Nations' News

Bimbi Wadja

Earth Warriors

Technology Club

With the completion of our Bebras Competition, students have now been busy working in teams to design, experiment and test procedures in the challenge of creating a battlebot with a balance of velocity and durability. Our learning is in preparation for a robotics competition in Term 3 where students will compete against other local schools. Throughout the designs, students are expanding their knowledge of Science, Technology and Mathematics as they collaboratively improve and apply their understanding to problem-solving situations. Students are discovering that the fastest bot may not always take out their opponent, battlebots must be able to withstand the impact when colliding with another bot to continue through the rounds.

Under 8's Morning

Andrew Chinn Visit

On Friday 7th June, Australian religious songwriter and singer, Andrew Chinn, will be visiting our school to share his songs with our students. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands”, “Rainbow”, “An African Blessing”and “Rise Up!” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, USA
and Canada. The concert will take place in the shelter shed at 1.30 - 2.50pm. All parents are welcome to attend and we look forward to seeing you there!

Friendology

Secondhand Uniform Shop

As the the weather is now cooler, we've noticed many students needing new school jumpers. Please note our Secondhand Uniform Shop has jumpers in stock. If you're unable to attend the times below or need something urgently, please send Kerin a message as she is happy to organise anything you need!