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

This morning was a special morning at St Joseph’s Catholic School Mundingburra, as we gathered as a school community for the Opening and Blessing of our Yarning Circle and the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The morning began with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony performed by our local First Nations group, the Wulgurukaba Walkabouts. In his Welcome to Country, Brenton Creed expressed how impressed he was with our Yarning Circle, and how glad he was that important protocols were followed which reflected respect and unity between the school’s Yarning Circle Committee and the Wulgurukaba elders. Frequent communication and deep listening created a strong partnership and process which has resulted in the Yarning Circle we have today. Following the Welcome, Ashley, Mason and William performed a Smoking Ceremony. They initiated a small fire using a traditional drilling method with the use of local traditional timber, covered with local plants and carried in a Coolamon. Mason then circulated amongst the attendees to smoke and bless all participants. The Smoking Ceremony ended with a Welcoming Dance.

The Smoking Ceremony blessing was followed by a special Liturgy led by Father Mobin. During the Liturgy, Father Mobin blessed water which he then sprinkled over the community as a special blessing to all who were in attendance. The Liturgy also involved our Bimbi Wadja students who proceeded in with candles for the prayer space. These students also formed a semi-circle in the Yarning Circle and proudly prayed the Aboriginal Our Father to the beat of clapping sticks.

Mrs Bortignon gave a beautiful reflection on the journey the school has been on with the Yarning Circle. As she read the names of those involved in this journey, these people stood and passed on a coolamon of water to the next person who was called. For those who were not present, a Bimbi Wadja student stood in and represented them. Special mention was made of Miss Cindy, the school’s former Indigenous Education Worker, whose vision, determination and passion was the driving force behind the Yarning Circle we are so lucky to have as part of our school grounds. It will be a space for rich dialogue, respectful relationships and connection; to nature, to culture and each other.

The recently approved St Joseph’s Mundingburra Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) was also launched at this morning’s event. This Plan was the result of much collaboration and consultation. We are grateful for the input of our Reconciliation Action Plan Committee, including parents Andrew Kirkpatrick, Toni Simmonds and James Tronc. Their contribution to the final document has meant we have an authentic and well informed RAP.

Finally, I would like to thank Mrs Taya Bortignon for the work put into ensuring Miss Cindy’s vision came to fruition. I am grateful to Mrs Bortignon, Mrs Taylor, Mr Gleeson and Mrs Plant for their contribution to today’s event. It was a wonderful gathering of our community to celebrate what Mrs Bortignon has described as ‘a journey of deep listening, going with the flow and growing in understanding’. The quote from respected Elder Miriam Rose-Ungnmerr, which Mrs Bortignon began her reflection with, is certainly an apt one in describing our journey.

“We cannot hurry the river. We have to move with its current and understand its ways”.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

God Bless

Tracy

APRE News

2024 Prayer Theme: Blessed to Serve

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

Sacramental Program

Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

School Celebration: Our school community will celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop on Thursday 8th August. We will begin our day with a Mass in the Shelter Shed. All are welcome to join us. Students will then join together to participate in a range of hands-on activities to explore some of the characteristics and values of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop; trusting, contemplative, traveller, teacher, team player, communicator, resilient and compassionate. Mary MacKillop was a woman whose faith led her to blaze untravelled paths and live a life in the service of others. A woman we can be truly inspired by to live the Gospel of Jesus.

Thank you to families who donated items for our Winter Appeal.

We appreciate your generosity.

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 assembly will be:

Week 6: Book Week Parade

Week 8: Kindness hosted by 1A

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!

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

Peta.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish

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.

MARY OF THE CROSS MacKILLOP PARISH SENIORS’ GROUP: The monthly meeting for August, 2024 will be held at the Spirit Centre at 10 a.m. Thursday, 8th August, 2024. A further notice will be in the Parish Newsletter closer to the date. Please contact Cate on 47 754109 or 0408777933 if you would like a ticket to attend the Townsville City Council Seniors Lunch on Thursday, 22nd August, 2024 from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 pm at Townsville Stadium, Murray Lyons Crescent, Annandale. Transport can be arranged if required. We have a limit of 20 tickets for this lunch

AN INVITATION: Some parishioners would like to gather once a month to read and talk about the Documents of the Second Vatican Council. This will be an informal sharing session held once a month either on Wednesday or Thursday afternooncommencing at 5.00pm or 5.30pm, depending on availability of interested persons. The venue, day and starting date will be decided after those interested make contact with Maureen Phone 0427 498 696 or Pria Phone 0403 557 972 to express interest or ask questions

CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE (CWL) TOWNSVILLE BRANCH is planning its next Mass and meeting on Tuesday, 13th August to be held at Holy Spirit Church and Spirit Centre from 9am and we welcome all ladies who would like to join us, even just to see our focus, to come along. Topics covered will include plans for the State Conference being held in Mackay on 30th August - 1st September, ongoing projects of the World Women's Observatory and Progress Reports on the work of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations (WUCWO) to which we are affiliated. For further information on CWL, please contact Blanche on 0428 736 726 - For the honour and glory of God.

THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL’S core values are Commitment, Compassion, Respect, Empathy, Integrity, Advocacy and Courage. Central to Catholic teaching is the innate dignity of the other. We believe that every person, regardless of colour or creed, wealth or life circumstance, has a worth and dignity as sons and daughters of a total and unconditionally loving God. Our Members (Vincentians) sit with our Companions day in day out, working side-by-side with them, sharing hope and empowering them. The support we provide takes many forms because it directly responds to the individual Companion's needs. Our mission of 'aspiring to live the gospel message by serving Christ in those we meet' is reflective of our approach to providing support, which involves a mix of short-term and long-term assistance that helps our Companions beyond their immediate needs. If you would like to be involved in one of the St Vincent de Paul conferences in our parish, please contact one of the following presidents. Mundingburra - Geraldine Feaver: 0448 472 891 Currajong - Ashley Morgan: 0438 608 001 Cranbrook - Warren Northey: 0428 818 867

Centenary Celebrations

Yarning Circle Opening & Launch of our RAP

Today, we had the honour of welcoming some extraordinary guests to celebrate the official opening of our new yarning circle and the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan.

A heartfelt thank you goes to Ashley, Mason, William and Brenton from Wulgurukaba Walkabouts for the beautiful and meaningful smoking ceremony and for welcoming us to all Country. Special thanks to Fr. Mobin for leading us in a heartfelt blessing.

We are incredibly grateful to Jordan Myles, the talented artist behind the stunning graphics for our new space’s signs, and to the dedicated parents on the RAP committee. Thank you to Mrs. Bortignon for organizing a wonderful morning, and of course, thank you to everyone who attended and made this event truly special.

This space will be a cornerstone for our school community for many years to come!

From the Office

Morning Supervision

Supervision starts at 8:00AM in the Shelter Shed. We kindly ask that you do not drop your child off before this time as there is no staff to supervise the children.

Afternoon Supervision & Office Hours

Please be reminded that supervision finishes at 3:15PM in the Shelter Shed. Any students who have not been collected by this time will be taken to the office. The office closes at 3:30 PM, and staff often have meetings/appointments after this time. We kindly ask all parents to please be mindful and ensure they collect their children on time. If you are unable to collect your child by 3:15PM, please make arrangements to book them into after school care or advise the office.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding!

Fees

Term 3 school fees have been issued.

Please ensure prompt payment is made before Friday, 23 August 2024.

Important Dates

Diary Dates

Guidance Counsellors

Meet Katelyn Wallace

We are delighted to introduce Katelyn Wallace as our new guidance counsellor! Katelyn brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our school, having previously taught at St. Anthony's and currently working as a Guidance Counsellor on Palm Island four days a week. We are incredibly lucky to have her join us at St. Joseph's. Please join us in welcoming her to our school community!

School Reluctance and Refusal

A child is experiencing school reluctance if they are unwilling to attend school, but they are still attending school.

A child is experiencing school refusal if they have difficulties attending and/or remaining at school during the day due to emotional distress about attending school.

This school TV page offers some insights into school reluctance and refusal and provides some useful ways that parents can respond when their child is faced with difficulties in this area.

https://sjmbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/school-refusal

Library News

It’s almost that time of the year again, when we celebrate Book Week and this year we are celebrating the event a week earlier (12^th – 16^th August, 2024), due to our 100^th Centenary celebrations. The Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book Week, encourages a wonderful connection to literature to inspire our students to grow and flourish in the future.

This year’s theme ‘Reading is Magic’, celebrates the power of storytelling which transports children to other worlds. The enchanting theme encourages children’s imaginations and curiosities, and to explore and connect through the magic of reading.

Up to the climax of our Book Week celebrations, our lovely Library Teacher Mrs Luton, will be focusing with all our students on reading and discussing in depth, the extraordinarily magical Authors and Illustrators in Australia, and their shortlisted books chosen this year.

BOOK WEEK ACTIVITIES

We also have a fun sleuthing competition with some Wanted Posters of suspicious people, holding suspect books for the students to investigate clues and observations. This activity engages all students in fun literature searches and connects them with more awareness of our catalogue researches and honing their literature observation skills. The ‘Wanted’ Reward Forms are to be handed into Mrs H in the library by Wednesday 14^th August!

Children are enjoying our Book Week Reading Area again this year, which was inspired by the shortlisted book, ‘Raised by Moths’ by Charlie Archbold. This whimsical thought-provoking book finds students imagining they are on a reading carriage on a Ferris Wheel at a fairground!

We are also celebrating the Olympics, National Tree Week and Library & Information Week 2024, as well as last weeks ‘Catholic Education Week'.

BOOK WEEK PARADE/COSTUMES

Our Book Week Parade will be held on Monday, 12^th August, 2024 at 9.00am this year. Students have lots of fun and it is a great way to inspire a connection with literature through student’s favourite books from our library and their in-character costumes.

If you need costume inspiration, look at some of our Book Week shortlisted books and their characters:

Dress up as a Gymnast with twirling ribbons from ‘Gymnastica Fantastica’ by Briony Stewart.
The animals from ‘One Little Duck’ by Katrina Germein & Danny Snell.
Children from the ‘Concrete Garden’ by Bob Graham.
‘When You’re a Boy’ by Blake Nuto.
Bear or Duck from ‘Bear & Duck are Friends’ by Sue DeGennaro.

Or check out and visit the Last-Minute Book Week Costumes website:

https://www.ellaslist.com.au/articles/last-minute-book-week-costumes

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

Issue 5 is now closed and student orders will be delivered soon.

Thank you.

“A word is a small magic, a spell that can unlock the world.”

Jane Yolen

Happy Reading!

Inclusive Education

Challenge Games - On Wednesday the 24th July, we took a very excited group of students off to the Challenge Games. The Challenge Games is an annual event where the focus is fun and participation for children who have a disability. It allows children with a disability to play games, have fun and experience a variety of novelty activities and athletic events in a safe and supportive environment. This year the 30 years anniversary celebration of the Challenge Games in North Queensland.

We wore our Centenary 100 Years shirts proudly and represented St Joseph’s with spirit. All the students excitedly joined in their age group sprints, the Frisbee Throw, Fling-a-majig (throwing and catching ball game), Cricket, Bocce, Long Jump and the Vortex Throw - our students made the vortex rocket whistle.

Mrs Nuttall presented the students with a Challenge Games Medal and gift bag. Thank you to the staff who helped supervise and support the students in this wonderful celebration of their abilities.

Inclusive Education Committee - our next meeting will be Tuesday the 27th August at 3.15pm.

We are excited to continue our work within the Inclusive Education Committee, dedicated to enhancing inclusive practices and fostering a welcoming environment for all students at St Joseph’s. We invite anyone interested to be a part of this important initiative. Your insights and experiences are invaluable as we work together to ensure every child feels included and supported in our school community. If you are interested in joining the committee please contact Diane Engert and/or Therese Lane on dengert@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au tlane1@sjmbtsv.catholic.edu.au

Robosumo

On Tuesday, a group of our enthusiastic Year 5 and 6 students had the unique opportunity to participate in the RoboSumo Cup, a robotics immersion day held at St Anthony’s Catholic College. This engaging program was designed to spark their interest in robotics and coding through hands-on activities and exciting challenges. Students were tasked with building robots to navigate a treasure hunt, which tested their problem-solving skills and creativity. They also took part in a demolition derby and a sumo challenge, where they designed both defensive and offensive attachments and coded their robots to stay within a circular ring. Our students represented St Joey’s with pride, showcasing their teamwork and innovation. The day was a fantastic learning experience, leaving everyone inspired and eager to explore more in the field of robotics 🤖👏

St Joseph's and our Earth Warrior group were successful in receiving a grant from the Townsville Catholic Education Office to put towards initiatives grounded in sustainability and the Catholic Social Teachings. Check out this update video to see how we're tracking with our projects.

Friendology

Containers for Change

P&F News

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our pie drive! Thanks to your generosity, we raised an impressive $4740. Special thanks to Three Loaves Bakery for providing the delicious pies and sweets, and to our amazing P&F and parent volunteers who helped distribute the pies on the day. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Secondhand Uniform Shop

Community News

Mass Times

Parish Mass Times

Wednesday 7.00am

Friday 7.00am

Saturday 5.00pm

Sunday 7.30am

Term 3 Week 4 Newsletter 2024