Term 4 Week 5

Key Information

Term 4 Important Dates

• Swimming Sessions will continue this week 
• Week 5, 30th October-3rd November - Year 5 Camp
  
• Thursday 2nd November - Indigenous Art Workshop for UMY Students 
  
• Friday 3rd November, 2pm - Founders Day Fun Run - School Oval
• Thursday 9th November, 8:30am - Assembly  
• Friday 10th November - Swimming Carnival 
• Monday 13th November, 4pm  - First Reconciliation Liturgy
• Tuesday 14th November, 8:30-10:30am  - Prep Transition Day 
• Tuesday 14th November, 3-4pm  - FACE Meeting 
• Friday 17th November, 8:30-10:30am - Move Up Morning 
• Wednesday 22nd November - Awards Evening & Christmas Concert 
• Thursday 23rd November - Year 9 Graduation Dinner 
• Friday 24th November, 8.30am - End of Year Mass
• Friday 24th November - Last Day for Secondary Students 
• Friday 1st December - Last Day of School for Primary Students

Tuckshop News

Please email Jamie-Lea at jmcconachy@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au or call the office to let us know if you're available to volunteer!

Our special for Week 5 is: Mexican Chicken Salard and Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies 

Please have your orders in by WEDNESDAY 8:30 am.

To order: https://myschoolconnect.com.au/

Uniform Shop

Our Uniform Shop is now located in the new office space (old library). We are open to orders being placed via the app, https://myschoolconnect.com.au/

Please give us 24 hours to organise collection for your order, we generally contact you when your order is ready to collect.

As this is a new system for us, please be kind and considerate while we find our feet in the new office space.

Miss Heather

Awards Night & Christmas Concert Invitation

End of Year Mass Invitation

Founders Day Colour Run - Save the Date

Principal's News

Welcome to Week 5, 

What a busy week we had last week. On Monday we had a Mission Month Mass with students from St Keirans, St Joseph’s and Good Shepherd Mount Isa, Tuesday we hosted a Big Blue Table lunch with staff to promote Mental Health Month and a FACE Meeting to present strategies of student wellbeing, Wednesday our SRC students joined together at morning tea, and Friday we started our morning with an assembly dedicated to our Grandparents and Day for Daniel. 

Yesterday we farewelled our Year 5 students as they travelled to Paluma for their Year 5 Camp. The students have gone to the Gumburu Environmental Education Centre for the week. We can’t wait to hear their stories when they return. 

We also had students in Prep to Year 2 attend the Jally Entertainment Performance at The Cloncurry Shire Hall on Monday. This performance was on Aladdin and his magic smartwatch. The students loved the show and we are very grateful for the sponsorship The Cloncurry Council received for our students to attend for free. 

Indigenous Art Workshop - Years 7 to 9
To end the week we have an Indigenous Art Workshop for students in years 7 to 9 with Linda Buralo on Thursday, times shown below:

• Year 7/8 - 11.20 to 12.20pm
• Year 9 - 12.20 to 1.20pm 

Founders Day Fun Run
We also have our Founders Day Fun Run on Friday at 2pm. This will take place on the school oval. The fun run is a colour run which involves the use of water (sprinklers) and coloured powder. The students are asked to wear a white shirt. If your child should not participate in this due to allergies or asthma concerns please contact your child’s classroom teacher or the front office as soon as possible. 

Tuckshop Day 2023
This Friday is also Tuckshop Day in QLD. We celebrate the work of Miss Jamie-Lea and our wonderful volunteers that make tuckshop possible for our students. Tuckshop day is often talked about as being one of the students favourite days. We appreciate the work of Jamie-Lea and our volunteers in this space.

2024 Intentions
I can’t believe it is that time of the year, but we are starting to collect information on children and/or families that will be departing at the end of 2023. Please complete the linked google form if your child / children will be departing St Joseph's at the end of the year. 

All departing families will be presented with a candle at the end of year mass and will receive a blessing. This mass is at 8.30am on Friday 24th November in the MMS, please join us. 

Although we know year 9 students will be departing we would love for you to complete this survey so we know where your child is going to school in 2024. 

You do not need to complete this if your child is returning to St Joseph's in 2024. All students are automatically enrolled for the following year.  

May God Bless you and your families for the week ahead,  

Mrs Samantha Kelley
Principal 

APRE News

Welcome to Week 5!

Since Term 2, the Catholic Identity Committee consisting of - Sam Kelley, Jill Smith, James Delaney, Rachel Delaney-Lovett, Leonie Ansell, Mike Tarleton, Fr Mick and myself have been meeting to revitalise our Mission statement and create a Vision statement with Values that encapsulate the heart of our school. This process took input from the school community, staff, board, parish and our TCE consultants. Our aim was, in a few sentences, to describe our school’s current and founding identity and the key values that characterise St Joseph's today as well as our hopes and intentions for the future.

It was important to the committee that our values were easy for all members of our school community to remember and relate to, and at the same time relating directly to our charism. I would like to thank our committee for giving up their time to support this process. 

We are very pleased to share our new revitalized Mission, Vision and Values. Our aim is to have a full launch at the opening of our new buildings in term 4 2024. This gives us time to embed this change among our school community and have the Mission, Vision and Values symbolised throughout our school. 

Mission: At St Joseph's Catholic School we are Guided by God's Spirit, nurturing life-long learners. In the Josephite tradition, inspired by St Mary MacKillop, we serve our community by creating a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Vision: We envision an inclusive Catholic learning community where we all grow in faith; value personal and shared gifts, and honour the sacredness of creation.

Values:

• Love - for God and each other 
• Serve - like St Joseph 
• Lead - like St Mary MacKillop 
• Strive- to be our best 

Founders Day Colour Fun Run - Friday 3rd November
On 28th October 1909- St Joseph's was founded. This making this day our “Founders Day”.

It all started with a conversion between Bishop Duhig,  Father O’Keefe (who was the Cloncurry parish priest at the time) and Mother Mary of the Cross in early 1909.  O'Keefe and Duhig asked Mother Mary for her assistance to open a school in Cloncurry. At the time no sisters were available. However, Mother Mary interposed with “The sisters will be found. Our Lord will see to it.” 

A short time later Mother Mary died, but not before she had established that her nursing sisters would travel to Cloncurry and open St Joseph’s. So it was on October 28th, 1909, at midnight Mother Mary's nurses, Srs: Berchmans, Cecilia, Rosarii and Audrey arrived by train into Cloncurry. And it was on that same day that they opened St Joseph’s School to 75 students who were taught in a bough shed.

As a fun way to remember this significant date we are hosting a St Joseph’s Founders Day Colour Fun Run. All students are able to come to school dressed for the Colour Run. The Colour run will take place after 2nd lunch at 1:50 pm till the end of school. Students are encouraged to bring a towel as they may need to dry off before traveling home. 

All souls and All saints Day
In the Catholic tradition, November is traditionally a month of remembrance of the dead. The month begins with the Solemnity of All Saints on 1 November.  All Saints’ Day commemorates all the saints in heaven. 

All Souls’ Day follows All Saints Day on 2 November and is also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed and the Day of the Dead. It is a day of prayer and remembrance for the souls of those who have died. While no longer holy days of obligation in Australia, the Church has consistently encouraged prayers for the faithful departed during November. 

Icy Poles on sale after school this Friday - $1 - Funds raised to go towards Catholic Mission.

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

SRC Christmas Appeal
The SRC is holding their annual appeal for non-perishable grocery items for those in need this Christmas. These items will be donated to those in our local community. Items in particular need are nappies, toothbrushes & toothpaste, deodorant, soap, washing powder and cleaning products in addition to food items.

Empathy
Working on empathy helps us to identify, understand and feel what another person is feeling. When we show empathy or we do something kind for someone else our brain releases oxytocin. This leads to increasing your self-esteem/confidence, energy levels, positivity and overall happiness.

Whole Family Activity: Neighbourhood Kindness Challenge 
As a family, choose an act of kindness from the list below that you would like to do for a neighbour or family friend. Each family member can select one to commit to, or you can choose to do one together. 

• Cook a neighbour something delicious like a cake,hot bread,or biscuits.
• Write a note to put in their letterbox thanking them for being a great neighbour or friend.
• Design them a Thank You card.
• Pick or buy some flowers to deliver to them.
• Choose a little plant from your garden to give them.
• Make them a gift from things around your house.
• Offer to do a job for them, like wash their car or water their garden.
• Offer to take their pets for a walk.
• Invite them over for afternoon tea.
• Invite them on a walk.
• Recommend one of your favourite books to borrow and read.
• Ask them if they need anything from the shops next time you buy groceries.
• Say hello next time you see them, and ask them how their day is going.
• Feel free to do more than one and spread the kindness even further!
• Report back to each other in one week and share how your acts of kindness were received, and how doing them made you feel. 

Family Habit Builder
Every night at dinner, have each person thank another family member for something they’ve done or said today, or give another family member a compliment.

Mrs Toni Schneekloth
Pastoral Leader

Prep

Welcome to Week 5, 

During Initial Lit the class is doing lots of activities to consolidate the letter sounds and digraphs which have been taught. The new words this week are "or'' and "for". The book focus this week is The Very Cranky Bear. The students will be identifying the characters and setting of the book and also sequencing the events of the story. They will be able to retell the story with Story Rocks, laminated characters and white board markers on a whiteboard table. During Math the class is continuing to explore ways to make 10. We are getting really good at our  Christmas concert song and the Going on a Bear Hunt performance. Please remember that the Preps will perform this at assembly in Week 7. Friday we have our Founders Day Fun Run. The students need to bring a white tshirt to wear as this will be a colour run. The students will have paint powder thrown on them as they run through water. 

Reminders:

• Monday - No literacy groups. Performance at the Shire Hall at 10am.
• Tuesday - swimming
• Wednesday - order tuckshop before 8.30am.
• Thursday - library ( this is now every week), return home readers and homework folders. Tuckshop.
• Friday - Founders Day Fun Run (need a white shirt as this is a colour run and a towel to dry off at the end of the day. If you have concerns for your child participating in this event due to the running or the powder, please let me know as soon as possible. 

Yours in fun and learning,

Mrs Sharon McLauchlan, Miss Tamara Williams and Miss Brie Thew

Year 1

Welcome to Week 5!

This week in Year 1 we were lucky enough to go on an excursion to the Shire Hall on Monday. We watched a performance of Aladdin and the Magic Smart Watch. When we arrived back at school we discussed the characters we saw, the setting where the story took place and the events that occurred. In English this week we are completing our good copy of our Character reflection. 

In math this week, students have used the language of direction to draw a birds eye view map of how to get from the Year 1 classroom to the Office. For the remainder of the week Year 1 start to explore how we use informal units of measurement to measure different objects.

Reminders:

• Wednesday: Swimming with Mrs Ellis
• Thursday: Technology with Miss humes
• Friday: Resilience Project/Library

On Friday our school will be celebrating Founders Day with a fun run on the oval at 2pm. This event involves the use of water and powder. The students are asked to wear a white shirt. If your child should not participate in this due to allergies or asthma concerns please make contact with us as soon as possible. 

Have a wonderful first week!

Miss Mae-Louise Brock, Miss Erin Haley and the always fun Year 1’s!

Year 2

Hi all,

I have been whisked away to the rainforest with Mr T and the Year 5s on their camp. The class is being taken by Ms Lisa Pucciarmati. Ms Pucciarmati has spent quite a bit of time at St Joseph's as of late so the students are familiar with her.

This week we are writing our Persuasive texts as well as engaging in some response to stimulus activities. I’ve been seeing some really great reasons to back up the student’s opinions and I’ve been really impressed with this! We have finished Location and are moving into measurement. In Year 2, we measure using informal units and this week we are looking at measuring length. In Science, we are looking into forces and will be doing a little experiment. We will also be looking at healing relationships with God and others during Religion as well as looking into All Saints and All Souls Days.

As the term is beginning to heat up, we have come up with a plan of attack for morning tea and lunch moving forward. In Year 2, I will monitor the heat each day to see what location is most suitable for students to eat at brain break, morning tea and lunch. If it is too hot for students to eat at the tables outside our classroom, students will eat in the Mary MacKillop Shed.

Reminders:

• Sport (Swimming) - Tuesday
• Library - Wednesday
• Homework due Wednesday
• Founders Day Fun Run - Bring a white shirt

On Friday our school will be celebrating Founders Day with a fun run on the oval at 2pm. This event involves the use of water and powder. The students are asked to wear a white shirt. If your child should not participate in this due to allergies or asthma concerns please make contact with us as soon as possible. 

Kind regards,

Miss Leonie Ansell

Year 3

Welcome to Week 5!

I hope you all had a great weekend. 

I will be away all day Thursday this week and on Friday until first lunch. I will be at professional development during this time in Townsville, but please reach out via email if you need me. 

Here’s what we are learning this week:

English: Students will be writing poems with ABAB rhyming schemes, and using language features like onomatopoeia, similes, and imagery to enhance their writing!

Spelling: Students will be focusing on the sound ‘ch’ as in cheese, which is represented by the graphemes ch and tch, and the ‘sh’ sound as in rush, which is represented by the graphemes sh, ch, ti, and ci. 

Maths: This week we will be learning about symmetry in the real world!

Religion: Students will be comparing life at the time of Jesus to life now.

HASS: Students will create a timeline, sequencing information about Cloncurry in chronological order.

Science: Students will explore the concept of ‘evaporation’ and discuss how states of matter can turn from a liquid to a gas. 

Other Reminders:

• Reconciliation Meeting - Monday 3pm.
• Homework - Homework will be taken home Monday and is due on Friday.
• Chaplaincy Breakfast - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:45am in MMS.
• Swimming - Tuesday in PE.
• Library - Wednesday. 
• Tuckshop - Must be ordered before 8:30am Wednesday.
• Founders Day Fun Run - Friday 2pm School Oval. 

On Friday our school will be celebrating Founders Day with a fun run on the oval at 2pm. This event involves the use of water and powder. The students are asked to wear a white shirt. If your child should not participate in this due to allergies or asthma concerns please make contact with us as soon as possible. 

Thank you. Have a great week!

Miss Laura Cook

Year 4

Hi all,

Writing: Our sentence focus for this week is The Preposition Start Sentence. This sentence gives your writing more energy. It starts with a preposition such as: on, in, by, after, during, under, over, from, behind, at, before, against, next to, close to, through, etc. After your preposition bit, place a comma. Add your subject, then finish the rest of your sentence.  It's that easy. Here are some more examples:

• Under Gran's sofa, Billy discovered his long-lost peanut butter sandwich.
• Above the treetops, three golden eagle birds searched for their next meal.
• At exactly seven o’clock, every light in the house went dark.
• Before the end of class, Freddy pressed the switch and the teacher Mr Brown vanished. 

Spelling: We have two spelling sounds this week. The first is the ‘ch’ sound in chicken. It can be represented by the graphemes: ch and tch.

• The ‘ch’ sound in chicken is most commonly represented by the grapheme ch (e.g. cheese, teacher).
• The grapheme t for chicken is quite common (e.g. picture, nature). Words containing t for chicken often originate from Latin.
• We usually use tch for chicken after short vowel sounds at the end of single-syllable words (e.g. catch, stretch, itch, watch, clutch). We usually use ch for chicken after all other sounds at the end of words (e.g. beach, torch, coach, lunch, branch).
• The grapheme ti represents chicken in a few words containing the suffix ion (e.g. congestion, suggestion).

The second is the ‘sh’ sound in shell. It can be represented by the graphemes: sh, ch, ti and ci.

• The graphemes ch and che can represent shell (e.g. chef, moustache). Words containing ch or che for shell usually originate from French.
• The grapheme ti commonly represents shell in words containing the suffix ion (e.g. action, pollution).
• Unusual graphemes for shell include ci, ce, s and ss (e.g. special, ocean, sugar, issue).

Reminders:

• Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.
• Library - Students have their library visit this Tuesday.

• PE - Students have PE on Wednesday. Please pack sunscreen in your childs swimming bag if you would like this to be applied before they walk to the pool.

• Aged Care Visit - Students will be visiting Aged Care this Friday. 

• Founders Day Colour Run - The colour run will be on Friday from 2pm-2:50pm.

On Friday our school will be celebrating Founders Day with a fun run on the oval at 2pm. This event involves the use of water and powder. The students are asked to wear a white shirt. If your child should not participate in this due to allergies or asthma concerns please make contact with us as soon as possible. 

Have a great week,

Miss Mairin Borlase

Year 5

Our year 5 students are loving their time at Gumburu Environmental Centre with Mr T and Miss Ansell. Mr Brown has popped up to assist with the camp as well - you may remember Mr Brown as he completed a semester of work with us in 2022 and has been a regular supply teacher since. 

The bus trip went well yesterday. Students loved their time on the coach. In Townsville the students swapped buses to jump onto a smaller vehicle to get them up the range to Paluma. 

The Gumburu Environmental Education Centre is owned and operated by Townsville Catholic Education Office, which is the Diocese our school resides in. We are very thankful to have this space to conduct retreats and engage with one another. 

The students had buttered chicken, poppadoms and chocolate cake for dinner with ice cream last night! They said the food was delicious and they can’t wait to see what’s on the menu for tonight. 

We will do our best to keep you updated throughout the week, however, please be mindful that reception can be challenging. 

Year 6

This week in Year 6: 

• Students have started revising their Maths concepts: Angles, Timetabling, 3D shapes- in preparation for their three short final tests for the year

• In English, the planning stages for their persuasive writing pieces are coming together, with students beginning their drafts in week 5!

• In HASS, we have been researching famous Australian Migrants and refugees and the impact they have had on our country. This research will be used for a presentation to the class about their selected migrant. 
  
  
• In Religion- we have covered all things Prayer this term, looking at a variety of personal and communal prayer forms. This Week, we have reflected on what these prayer forms mean to us. 

Not long to go now until the end of the year! The Year 6’s are excited to finish Primary school and are looking forward to the Founders Day colour run this Friday as well as the swimming carnival Next Friday!

On Friday our school will be celebrating Founders Day with a fun run on the oval at 2pm. This event involves the use of water and powder. The students are asked to wear a white shirt. If your child should not participate in this due to allergies or asthma concerns please make contact with us as soon as possible. 

An email was sent today to all parents and carers about the Year 6 Graduation celebration. Please check your emails for this information. 

Enjoy your week, 

Mr Dom Purcell

Subject Spotlight

Year 7 English with Mrs Delaney-Lovett:
This term the students have been working on non-fiction, informative text-types, with a focus on biographies. They have spent their time examining and analysing the structure and features utilised in this genre, and determined the effectiveness of these specific elements for the biography they will construct. The students have selected a ‘special person’ in their life - family member, friend or other - that they feel has inspired them in some way. This person will be the subject for their biography assessment task. The students have developed a set of 10 questions that they will use to interview their chosen person - please support your child in this as best you can, as the more detail in the answers means the more straightforward their writing will be. At the end of the term, the students will present their biography to the class and explain why their chosen person inspires them. This is a really engaging task and I look forward to reading (and hearing) about family history and what it means for each child to be inspired by someone close to them.

Year 7 Business and Economics with Mr Delaney :
We have not long started our final mini unit of the year!

During Business & Economics lessons, the students explore characteristics of successful businesses and explain how entrepreneurial capabilities contribute to this success. They began by researching a famous entrepreneur based on some inquiry questions - further extended by targeted questioning related to ‘opportunities’ or ‘gaps’ in the market, and whether or not their invention/innovation was ‘disruptive’. 

We will be identifying why individuals choose to work and describe the various sources of income that exist. In addition, students will apply their economics and business knowledge, skills and concepts to various situations to develop conclusions. 

Year 9 Maths with Mr Kelley:

Students have been hard at work this term. Our first unit looked at scale factor and how it is used in society. In small groups we measured up our classroom and converted it to different scale factors. 

As of this week, we have started focusing on Pythagoras and Trigonometry. It’s fair to say students are still wrapping their heads around these concepts, however, with a little perseverance I am confident all students will be using these concepts effectively by the end of the term.

Updated - Parent Code of Conduct

Please note that Townsville Catholic Education Parent Code of Conduct has undergone a review. The updated document is attached. Please take the time to review this. 

Community Information