Term 4 Week 7

Key Information

Term 4 Important Dates

• Swimming Sessions will continue this week 
• 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 
• Monday 20th November, 4:30pm - Year 6 Graduation 
• 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 at 12pm.

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: Philly Cheese-mince Quesadilla and Cheesecake Sandwhiches 

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 

End of Term Date Claimers

Awards Night & Christmas Concert Invitation

End of Year Mass Invitation

Seniors Christmas Concert

Literacy at St Joseph's

Principal's News

Welcome to Week 7,

Thank you to the parents, carers and family members that joined us at our Swimming Carnival last week. It was an amazing day. Thank goodness the weather held out and we didn’t need to postpone. A big thank you to Mr Dom Purcell for his organisation, our wonderful staff for their work leading up to the event and on the day, as well as our volunteers that jumped onboard throughout the day to ensure it ran smoothly. We appreciate you. 

A special mention to Nerissa O’Brien and her team at The Cloncurry Swimming Pool that have assisted with not only our swimming lessons this term, but the organisation of our carnival. 

Swimming Carnival Awards 
This coming Wednesday (tomorrow) we will have an assembly at 2pm to award the Runner Up and Age Champions of the Swimming Carnival. This should only be a quick assembly to acknowledge the work of our students at the swimming carnival last Friday. Please join us at 2pm in The Mary MacKillop Shed. 

Prep Orientation Days
Today we welcomed our 2024 Prep students onsite for the first time. Students attended this morning and will come back again on Friday from 8.30am to 10.30am. If you have a friend/family member that is yet to enrol at St Joseph’s for 2024 please encourage them to do this as soon as possible as spots are filling fast.

Move Up Day
We are very excited about ‘Move Up Day’ this coming Friday, which will begin after a quick gathering in the Mary MacKillop Shed. This is such a great opportunity for students to go into their new classrooms and meet their teachers for 2024. 

The transition to a new school year is an important milestone for both children and their families. We do however acknowledge that transitioning to a new year level, classroom and teacher can bring with it a different level of anxiety and uncertainty for many of our students and families. The ‘Move Up Day’ event this Friday is in place to foster a positive environment for students in preparation for 2024, it allows students to move into their new classrooms, meet their new teachers and establish relationships before they conclude the school year, which in return will make the transition easier for many. 

We welcomed our new 2024 Prep students this morning to their first orientation day and will be welcoming them back on Friday for the Move Up Day. 

Following a short gathering in the Mary MacKillop Shed on Friday morning (no awards presented) there will be morning tea in the library for parents and carers. Lyndsay Miller our Speech Pathologist and Bec Greaves our Guidance Officer will be joining us at this morning tea to provide a ‘How to prepare for Prep’ presentation. If you’re not a prep parent we would still love you to join us as Lyndsay and Bec will present about their role in the school and how they can assist your child. The school uniforms will also be there for viewing and can be ordered.

2024 Primary Class Allocations:

2024 Secondary Class Allocation:
Classes in the secondary space do however undergo changes when we build the timetable, therefore, Secondary classes will be communicated closer to either the end of the 2023 school year or the beginning of the 2024 school year. 

Dr Emma Gilmore Visit - Save the Date - FACE Meeting - Tuesday 14th November - 3 to 4pm
Our beloved Dr Emma Gilmore will be joining us for this meeting. Many of you would remember Dr Emma for the years of service she dedicated to Cloncurry at The Ramsay St General Practice and at The Cloncurry Hospital. Dr Emma will be coming to share her expertise on the impact of sleep for children and how healthy eating habits can assist their development. 

Dr Emma is also happy to hear from our parents and carers and answer any questions that you might have! If you have questions for Dr Emma please pop them on the linked survey. 

This FACE Meeting will be in the library at 3pm. Children are welcome to join.

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 on 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 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.  

Staffing Announcement:
Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning 

As previously communicated St Joseph’s Catholic School has been given the staffing allocations for an additional Senior Leadership Team member from 2024 and beyond. This is an initiative that all TCE primary schools have been given. 

Last week interviews were conducted via a panel, consisting of Mr Peter Stower (Director of Teaching and Learning at TCE), Ms Stephanie Giorcelli (Education Constulatnt at TCE), Mr Fr Mick Lowcock (Parish Priest), Mrs Therese Curley (Principal’s Delegate) and Ms Theresa Charles (Board Representative) and I am pleased to announce that Mr Dean Kelley has been successful in obtaining this position. Please join me in congratulating Dean.

The Senior Leadership Team in Term 1 to Term 3 of 2024 will be as follows:

End of Term Dates:
Please note that Secondary (Year 7 to 9) students and Primary students finish the 2023 school year on different dates and times, please take note of the following:

• Friday Week 8 - 20th November: Secondary Students finish at 2.50pm.
• Friday Week 9 - 1st December: Primary students finish at 12pm.

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

Mrs Samantha Kelley
Principal 

APRE News

Welcome to week 7! On Sunday it was lovely to have so many families and students join us for our Youth Mass. The church was full! Thank you to the students who helped us celebrate this mass.

World Kindness Day
On Monday it was World Day of Kindness. In 1998, the World Kindness Movement launched World Kindness Day as a worldwide holiday to promote kindness. Each year on November 13, World Kindness day is observed. Today— World Kindness Day— we can reflect on one of the most important and universal human qualities. On this day, raise awareness of and support this fundamental attribute that links people from all walks of life by recognizing the beneficial impact of all acts of kindness.

Aged Care Visits
Tomorrow the Year 3 Class have the opportunity to visit the Cloncurry Aged Care. This will be our schools last last visit up to Aged Care this year. However, we have organised to host with the Shire Council a Seniors Christmas Concert where the students will re-perform their Christmas acts from the awards night. We look forward to bringing some christmas cheers to the elderly members of our community. 

First Reconciliation
This Thursday at 3:30 pm our Sacramental candidates will complete the final step in their sacramental program. First Reconciliation, commonly known as confession, or the Sacrament of Penance, is part of the sacramental journey and encourages and supports our candidate to know the importance of becoming sensitive to right and wrong and making responsible choices. Congratulation to Clancy Saunders, Brydee Gresham, Oliver O’Brien, Wyatt Mara-Skellern, Scarlett Campbell, Charlotte Curley and Caroline Curley.

End of School Mass
On Friday, November 24th at 8:30am the St Joseph’s community is warmly welcomed to our End of Year Mass. This will be the last whole school gathering for 2023. I look forward to coming together as a community to celebrate the wonderful achievements of this school year and farewell our Year 9 students and departing students, staff and families.

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

EMOTIONAL LITERACY
Working on our emotional literacy gives us opportunities to develop our ability to understand and express different emotions. When we improve our emotional literacy, we can work towards recognising our own feelings and our ability to manage them. This allows us to cope with different life situations, such as managing conflict, making friends, coping in difficult situations and being resilient when dealing with change. 

Whole Family Activity: Feelings Charades

• Gather together as a family, this might be around the dinner table, loungeroom, around the fire outside.
• Take turns to act out a feeling or emotion. Use your face and body language to act this out, For example: Make an angry face and stamp your feet or •Other family members need to guess the feeling/emotion.
• After someone has guessed the feeling/emotion, have family members discuss a time they have felt this way before and why. If it was a negative emotion, how did they overcome it?

Family Habit Builder
Around the dinner table, ask everyone to share a feeling they felt during that day. Discuss how they dealt with that feeling and then discuss and share strategies you could use when faced with particular feelings.

Did you know…
There are 27 main human emotions. We experience at least 1 emotion 90% of the time. And frequently experience positive & negative emotions at the same time. If you’re interested in learning more about Emotional Literacy checkout ‘The Imperfects podcast’.

In the below episode Dr Emily talks about the concept of Emotional Awareness, and explains why it’s not only important to identify your unpleasant emotions, but why it's even more important to express them when they arise.

Below is a link to more of ‘The Imperfects’ podcast episodes on The Resilience Project website or you can listen wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Mrs Toni Schneekloth
Pastoral Leader

Prep

We were very proud of the Preps that swam at the swimming carnival. Well done!

Last week was our last week of literacy group activities. Thank you so much to Lauren, Narissa and Laura who have been our consistent literacy group helpers all year. We could not have done it without you! 

Home readers were sent home on Monday. These will be the last lot of readers to be sent home as we will be focusing on getting all the books returned and scanned back in before the holidays. Please return any readers by Monday next week.

The class has been emailing Santa and are hoping that his reindeers visit again this year. Last year the reindeers were "caught on security cameras," dancing in our Santa's Workshop!!! We are hoping that they may visit again.

Today the Preps visited Miss Erin Haley until 10.30am whilst the 2024 Prep student had their first orientation day. The current Prep class moved to the Year 5 Classroom for the morning.

All going to plan, on Wednesday, Doctor Emma and Emma Dare will be visiting prep to talk to us about basic first aid and how the heart moves oxygen around the body in the bloodstream. The class will get to perform CPR on CPR dummies.

Friday the class will perform 'Going on a Bear Hunt' at 8.30am in the Mary Mackillop Shed. This is also "move up morning". Each class will go up to the classroom that they will be in next year and the 2024 Preps will come into Prep.

I will be away for all of week 8, and am disappointed to be missing the christmas concert and awards night, but will be back for week 9, which is the last week of school. Miss Tamara will be away in week 9, so week 8 will be her last week at school this year.  

Reminders:

• Tuesday - Swimming and the 2024 Preps will visit until 10.30am. This year's class will be in the year 5 classroom. 
• Wednesday - Visit from doctor Emma and Emma Dare.
• Thursday - library. 
• Friday - Going on a Bear Hunt performance at 8.30am and "move up morning."

Regards,

Mrs Sharon McLauchlan, Miss Tamara Williams and Miss Brie Thew

Year 1

Welcome to Week 7!

In English this week we are continuing to focus on using the prompt from the daily challenge in Writer's Toolbox and different sentence types to create either a story or make a connection to a prior experience. 

In math this week, Year 1 are consolidating their learning from the past year. Students have been busy revising taught concepts. 

This week we are starting to learn our Christmas song for the end of year Christmas concert.

Reminders:

• Homework- There will be no more homework due to timetable disruptions and unaccounted home readers! It will be appreciated if everyone can please bring back all home readers that have been sent home. 

• Just a reminder that we do have children in class with allergies/anaphylaxis to Kiwi Fruit and Watermelon. If your child does bring these fruits for brain break can you please just let us know so we can keep an eye where the children are sitting.

Wednesday: Due to assembly on Wednesday afternoon, swimming with Mrs Ellis has been changed to period 4 because of this students will be changed back into their school uniforms for the last period. Please ensure they have a towel and a full change of clothes. 

Thursday: Technology with Miss humes

Friday: Move up morning & Resilience Project/Library

Have a wonderful week!

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

Year 2

Hi all,

This week we are finalising assessments, engaging in our regular literacy and numeracy activities and are revising learnt concepts in preparation to WOW Miss Cook in the move up to Year 3.

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
• Swimming Carnival Awards - 2pm - Wednesday 
• Library - Wednesday
• Homework due Wednesday
• Move up Day! - Friday

Kind regards,

Miss Leonie Ansell

Year 3

Welcome to Week 7!

Last week the Year 3s led the Remembrance Day Liturgy during our whole school assembly. I am still so proud of how well each and every student conducted themselves during this time. They all read so clearly and confidently in front of the school and showed admirable amounts of respect throughout the entirety of the liturgy. They should all feel incredibly proud of their efforts. 

This week the Year 3s have the exciting opportunity to go out on an Aged Care Visit on Wednesday at 9:40am. The students are already looking forward to meeting and engaging with the residents there! 

Next week, the Year 3s will be performing a Christmas poem (“Cloncurry Christmas”) at the Christmas Concert on Wednesday 22nd November. We have been busily preparing and practising our poem which is paying off - it sounds awesome! The Year 3s are born performers!

Here’s what we are learning this week:

English: This week, we will be continuing to practise our handwriting, as well as our comprehension and writing skills! 

Spelling: Students will be focusing on the sound ‘th’ as in three and health, which is represented by the graphemes th. 

Maths: This week, we will be revisiting our unit on money to practise counting change from financial transactions.  

Religion: Students will be participating in various prayer experiences including mindful meditation.

HASS: This week, students will use their research skills to answer an inquiry question about the Ernest Henry Mine.

Science: Students will be exploring how particles change when heat is added and removed.  

Reminders:

• Chaplaincy Breakfast - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:45am in MMS 
• Swimming - Tuesday in PE
• Aged Care Visit - Wednesday 
• Library - Wednesday 
• Swimming Carnival Awards - Wednesday - 2pm
• Tuckshop - Must be ordered before 8:30am Wednesday 
• Move up Morning - Friday 

Thank you. Have a great week!

Miss Laura Cook

Year 4

Hi all,

Writing: Our sentence focus for this week is The -Ing Start Sentence. This sentence slows writing down. And because -Ing Start Sentences slow things down, they help make your writing feel more thoughtful. To write an -Ing Start, begin with the -ing bit of your sentence (a verb ending in -ing like: walking, wondering, trying, sleeping) and then place a comma. After the comma, put your subject—that's who or what your sentence is about—and then finish your sentence. Check these out:

• Waving goodbye to her friends, Kate put on her coat and headed outside.
• Eating as fast as he could, Brian worked his way through the pile of hotdogs.
• Smiling to himself, Boris grabbed the custard pie from the pantry's top shelf. 

Spelling: We have two spelling sounds this week, both represented by the same grapheme; th. The first is the ‘th’ sound in thong. 

• The thong sound is always represented by the grapheme th (e.g. three, health).

The second is the ‘th’ sound in feather.

• The feather sound is most commonly represented by the grapheme th (e.g. this, weather).
• The grapheme the represents the feather sound in a small set of words (e.g. breathe, soothe).

Reminders:

• Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.
• Library - Students will visit the Library 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.
• Swimming Carnival Awards - Wednesday - 2pm
• Move up Morning - This Friday students will get to spend the morning with their new teacher for next year, in the Year 5 classroom.

Have a great week,

Miss Mairin Borlase

Year 5

Dear Families,

We have a small gathering on Monday 27th November (Week 9). You are cordially invited to join us for camp photos, videos and a reflective presentation. There will be some snacks and drinks to celebrate a wonderful experience that your children had.

CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE: On Wednesday 22nd November, we have our class Christmas Performance and Awards Evening at the Shire Hall. Please join us…

Costumes for the evening are as follows:

• Aussies dressed in singlet, boardies and thongs with a Christmas hat.
• Snow People dressed with black shorts/pants, white shirt and scarf.

The children asked about doing Secret Santa this year! They have a person whom they must buy a gift for. We have set a limit of $15-20 for the gift and they will try to discover their friend's favourite things.

ENGLISH: In our English work this week, we are investigating words with the phonemes for [th] as in thumb and [th] as in feather. We continue to examine how words are segmented into separate sounds (phonemes) as well as definitions, synonyms and antonyms for our focus and extension words. 

In reading, we are looking at word meaning in context - reading challenging texts and focussing on the complex vocabulary. Reading the sentence with the unfamiliar word and then discussing alternatives that maintain meaning help us to understand the meaning of the word.

MATHEMATICS: In our Maths work, we have a focus on revision of fractions and decimals. We are completing our end of year Mathematics assessments which are used to formulate reportings, in addition to all assessments across the year.

Our Think Mentals continues to be revision of the four operations and strategies for solving addition problems mentally or with simple jottings.

Hope you have a wonderful Week 7,

Mr Mike Tarleton

Year 6

Welcome to Week 7!

It has been an extremely busy week, with Year 6 looking to complete the final pieces of assessment before reporting kicks off. 

In English, We have been delivering our Oral presentations- Students presenting their Australian Migrants they have been researching to the rest of the class. We have also been finalising our final copies for our persuasive pieces of writing. 

In Maths, Students have revised the final Maths concept: 3D shapes and are looking forward to completing their last ever primary school Maths Assessment for on Friday. 

We have also spent some time practising our Christmas Carol in preparation for the awards night Next week. 

A reminder, Our Year Year 6 Rite of Passage Celebration is on Monday afternoon at 4:30pm. We can't wait to celebrate the end of their Primary School journey. 

Happy Week 7. 

Mr Dom Purcell.

Subject Spotlight

Yr 7/8 Language with Mr Delaney
This term, the students have explored the weird, whacky, spooky, yet culturally significant world of Yōkai. These mythical creatures are the source of lore, legend and moral teaching dating back to the Edo period. We have learned about how to accurately express our opinions on a plethora of the yōkai using correct verb and adjective forms. They explored the stories behind why they exist and learned specific vocab related to the actions and habitat, including how to write places in kanji!

To bring together their learning, the students constructed their own ‘yōkai’ with Japanese-inspired origins. They came up with their own backstory, wrote a character description, and created a storyboard detailing their environment and actions. It has been a fun and engaging way to end our year of Japanese learning!

 Yr 8 Food technology with Mrs Schneekloth: 
Students explored vegetables and legumes to detail. They considered the health, environmental, and economic impacts and explained the factors that influence the growing, distribution and consuming of vegetables and legumes to meet present and future needs. Students created and designed solutions based on an evaluation of needs or opportunities. They developed criteria for success and created and adapted design ideas. Students applied project management skills to document and use project plans to manage production processes and then independently and safely produce their designed solutions.

Library

Once again, this is a call for all school texts, be they library books or textbooks, to be returned as soon as possible, especially regarding the high school students’ loans. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this regard.

Thanks,

Ms Gillian Gardiner 
Teacher Librarian

General News

Dear Parents/Carers,

I am happy to announce that we have another Occupational Therapist available to Cloncurry residents. How to access services:

• NDIS Funding 
• Private paying
• GP Chronic Disease Management Plan

For more information please contact admin@playtogrowot.com.au

Thanks,

Mrs Louise Martin

Cultural Engagement - Art Workshop

Student Wellbeing

Whether it is starting school for the first time, moving up to a higher grade or embarking on a journey through secondary school, there is no doubt that any school transition is a very exciting time for children and parents. It means your children are growing up!

However, transitioning is an ongoing process. It can continue long after students have entered their new environment and may encounter difficulties at a number of different stages. These stressors may appear as anxiety and frustration and result in negative or disruptive behaviours. Such behaviours can become problematic making the transitioning process even more difficult for children and parents.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn practical strategies to assist your child during the transition process and reduce stress and anxiety levels.

Here is the link to the School Transitions edition of SchoolTV:

Community Information