Term 2 Week 1
Key Information
Term 1 Important Dates
- Week 2
- Thursday 25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday
- Friday 26th April - Pupil Free Day
- Week 3
- Monday 29th April - 2024 Cross Country; St Joseph the Worker Feast Day and Sausage Sizzle
- Tuesday 30th April - Board Meeting, 5:30pm; IEAC (Indigenous Education Advisory Committee) Meeting, 3-4pm
- Wednesday 1st & Thursday 2nd May - Songwriting Session with Paul Jarman
- Friday 3rd May - Assembly, 8:30am; Adminstrative Professional Day
- Week 4
- Monday 6th May - Labour Day Public Holiday
- Tuesday 7th - Friday 10th May - Mother's Day Stall; Scholastics Book Fair
- Thursday 9th May - Mother's Day Chaplaincy Breakfast, 7:45-8:20am; QMEA STEM Unearthed Year 9; Opera Queensland workshop with Choir students
- Friday 10th May - Under 8's Day (Connecting Culture through play), 9-11am
- Week 5
- Friday 17th May - Term 2 Ride to School Day; Assembly, 8:30am
- Saturday 18th May - Open Day, 9-11am
- Friday 17th May - Term 2 Ride to School Day; Assembly, 8:30am
Tuckshop News
Due to the ANZAC Day Holiday on Thursday there will be no Tuckshop next week.
OUR TUCKSHOP CREW NEEDS YOU
Miss Jamie-Lea is looking for some wonderful volunteers to help her in Tuckshop on Thursdays! You do not have to be a parent to volunteer. We have had grandparents, Auntys, uncles, friends and cousins as well as mums and dads. If you are interested in volunteering please join Miss Jamie-Lea's tuckshop volunteer group 
https://m.facebook.com/groups/
Please email Jamie-Lea at jmcconachy@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au or call the office to let us know if you're available to volunteer!
Uniform Shop
Our Uniform Shop is now located in the office. 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.
If you are needing students to try on sizes we are available:
Monday from 2:30-3pm and Wednesday from 8:10-8:30am.
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
General News
Attendance
Just a reminder that any absences should be entered into Compass (instructions below).
However, if you are unable to use this method please ensure that you email not only the students teacher but also the office staff via clncry@tsv.catholic.edu.au or call the office on (07) 4742 1633.
Principal's News
Welcome to Term 2
I extend a warm welcome to new and returning families to our school and community. I hope your Easter break was rejuvenating and time was spent with the people you cherish. A warm welcome, also, to new staff members, Nicola Cullen and Rob Grehan. In addition, joining us for four weeks of term is Aiden Huff. Aiden is completing professional experience in Year 6, under the guidance of Michael Tarleton.
This week we hit the ground running as we celebrated the Eucharist and Confirmation of some of our students. Bishop Tim joined us on Thursday afternoon to celebrate the receiving of the sacraments. The Eucharist was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, and in remembrance of this, a lovely dinner was shared afterwards, at the Gidgee Inn.
On Friday, we held our ANZAC Day Assembly. Joining us was RSL President Kane Burgess and long time member, Bob Gutteridge, who spoke about the significance of the ANZACs, and about the service and sacrifice of all Australians in wars, conflicts and peace operations. Classes have also been busy doing activities associated with ANZAC Day. I invite students to participate in the commemorative march and service on ANZAC Day at the Cloncurry Centotaph, which will begin at 9.20am. Further information is provided in this newsletter.
A reminder that the Drop & Go Zone on Ham St (located directly in front of the front office) is a drop-and-go zone. A car cannot park in this area. If a parent or visitor needs to park their car to pop into the office or school for any reason, then they must park on either Sheaffe St or George St.
Lastly, a reminder that Week 2 is a three day week for our students, with Thursday being ANZAC Day and Friday a Student Free Day. On this day, our staff will have time to continue planning and implementing V9.0 of the Australian Curriculum. The school office will be closed on both days.
May God Bless you and your families for the week ahead.
Mrs Karen Good
Acting Principal
Deputy's News
Welcome back!
I hope this message finds you rested, rejuvenated, and ready for the exciting term ahead. As we move into Term 2 together, I want to extend a warm welcome to all our students, parents, and staff. The beginning of a new term is always an opportunity for reflection, renewal, and setting new goals.
Reflecting on Achievements:
Before diving into the new term, please take a moment to celebrate the achievements and successes of the previous term. Whether it was academic accomplishments, personal growth, or acts of kindness and service, each achievement contributes to the wonderful culture of St Joseph’s Cloncurry.
Embracing Opportunities for Growth:
Term 2 presents a new opportunity — a clean slate if you will — for learning and growth. As students return to the classroom, I encourage them to look for growth opportunities and to strive for their personal best. Parents, if you missed the chance to meet with your child/children's classroom teacher during our Parent-Teacher interview period please reach out to them and organise a time to meet.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to every member of our school community for your dedication and support. Together, we can make Term 2 a time of growth, learning, and joy for all.
Wishing you all a fantastic start to the new term!
Mr Dean Kelley
Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning
APRE
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope everyone had an enjoyable break. I have enjoyed listening to the students' happy tales of their holidays. Term 2 is yet another busy term and we hit the ground running this week.
Confirmation and Bishop Tim’s Visit
Last night we had our sacramental candidates make their Confirmation and First Holy Communion in St Colmans’ Church. Congratulations to Thomas Humphreys, Xander Shepherd, Porter Creed, Charlie Creed, Eily Collins, Christian O’Brien, Elizabeth O’Brien, Erin Dancey and Sophia Gillmore. We were blessed to have Bishop Tim join us for this celebration as well as Father Mick, and Fr Sylvester.
Project Compassion:
A huge thank you to all our students, staff and families who contributed towards Project Compassion. With your generous support, we raised over $400. This money will be sent directly to Caritas to put towards one of their life changing projects. Thank you!
ANZAC Day:
This coming Thursday we commemorate the ANZACS. It is so important to provide students and staff the opportunity to reflect and thank all servicemen and women who made and continue to make Australia the wonderful, free country we enjoy today. The classes will spend some time reflecting on the ANZACS in the upcoming week. A wonderful story that depicts the ANZAC spirit is Simpson and His Donkey, classes will have the opportunity to share in this story. The school will also take part in the dawn service and town march on Thursday.
Commemoration ANZAC Service - Thursday 25th April
Dawn Service: we will join together in dress school uniform at the Cenotaph (Scarr/Sheaffe Street roundabout) at 5:45 am.
Anzac Day March: students are to assemble in their dress uniform at the old RSL Building from 9:00 am. The parade will begin at 9:20 am.
Students to be collected after the parade from Florence Clark Park. Parents / carers / family members are welcome to join St Joseph's Catholic School for the march.
Please see the flyer attached in this newsletter with all ANZAC Day Services in Cloncurry.
Have blessed week
Therese Curley
APRE
Pastoral Care
Uniform
It was most impressive to see our students arrive in correct uniform for the start of Term 2. Parents and caregivers are reminded that all students require fully black shoes to wear with the academic uniform and no extreme hairstyles.
Suicide and Self-Harm
Young people today face a multitude of stresses in many areas of their life. Some of these stresses are the result of negative experiences. Unfortunately, as a coping mechanism, some young people resort to self-harm. The reason for this behaviour will vary for each individual, but generally, those that self-harm do not necessarily wish to commit suicide.
Tragically, suicide is the biggest killer of Australian youth and the statistics are alarming. Studies have shown that nearly 1 in 5, Year 12 students, have considered suicide or self-harm, because of exam and homework pressures. Self-harm in girls has increased by 200% over the last decade, and suicide calls to Kids Helpline have increased by 22%.
In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn to understand and recognise the warning signs in order to prevent the unthinkable from happening. The focus for parents should always be on identifying the underlying difficulty the child may be facing and be proactive in finding the best preventative measure.
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 Toni Schneekloth, Pastoral Care Leader or Bec Greaves, Guidance Counsellor, for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to the Suicide & Self-harm edition of SchoolTV
Best regards,
Mrs Schneekloth
Pastoral Care Leader
Guidance Counsellor
Welcome back to Term 2!
After being on leave in Term 1 it has been lovely to come back to the wonderful St Joseph’s community and see all the lovely smiling faces around the school. It's always nice coming back to a place where you feel welcome and valued.
I am looking forward to connecting with students and families requiring support. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have concerns for your child’s wellbeing or academic progress and they will get in contact with me.
Mrs Bec Greaves
Guidance Counsellor
Prep
Welcome to Term 2!
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mae-Louise Brock and this is my fifth of year of teaching at St Joseph's. With a background in the Early Years and Foundation stage, I am looking forward to working in collaboration with you to continue the excellent start your child has made to their learning.
This week in Prep, both Mrs McLauchlan and myself were in the classroom to help with the transition between teachers.
In Numeracy our Little Leaders will be introduced to shapes. We will begin to sort, name and create familiar shapes. During our Literacy sessions, we are very excited to learn our first 'Tricky Words'. Tricky words are words that occur most frequently in written material. We also will learn the letter name and sound for 'O'. In Religion this term, our Little Leaders will listen to and respond to stories of and about Jesus. They will learn about what life was like when Jesus lived.
I'm also delighted to share with you that on Thursday each week, Sharon McLauchlan will continue taking the prep class. Although she is unable to remain in the Prep class full-time, for reasons previously disclosed, Sharon will take our wonderful cohort each Thursday.
There will still be several posts on Facebook throughout the year, however, to stay up to date a website has been created as a one stop shop for information on what is happening in the Prep space. Please find the website link in your emails to access the Little Leaders Website.
What’s on next week
- Helpers: in week two we will start literacy rotations. If you are able to help out can you please let me know what days work best for you.
- Reminder that Week 2 is a 3 day school week!
- ANZAC Day is next Thursday the 25th of March
- Pupil Free Day Friday the 26th of March
Yours in fun and learning,
Miss Brock, Mrs McLauchlan, Miss Rachel, Miss Kylie and Miss Nina
Year 1
Hello Parents and Carers
We have had a fabulous start to Term 2!
This week:
In Mathematics, students have started to identify different 2D shapes and their properties. The students have been busy making posters, shapes out of paddle pop sticks and paper faces out of 2D shapes.
In English, we have started looking at our new focus book ‘A Journey Home by Alison Lester’. The focus for English this term is recount writing. Along with the students' weekend recount each Monday, they will participate in a recount from the focus book.
In Hass, the students will continue to look at the past and present. This term we will be looking at jobs in the past and how they have changed in the present.
Here are some photos from our first week back:
Reminders:
Next Thursday is the ANZAC Day public holiday and no school Friday as the teachers have professional development.
Please bring in any boxes or 3D objects you may have at home for the students to use in craft.
Tuesday: Art
Thursday: Sport, Library and homework due (will start in week 2)
Friday: Technology
Have a wonderful week.
Miss Haley and the always fun Year 1s!
Year 2
Greetings Year 2 Parents and Carers
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break. While I love the holidays, I’m glad to be back at school with the students!
We’ve had a really lovely start back to the term and have welcomed back Daisy from her big holiday, as well as our new student Saige. This week, we have jumped right into our InitiaLit lessons. We have focused on the ‘ar’, ‘_y’ and ‘_ey’ sounds and have looked at the comprehension strategy of connecting. In writing this week, we revised some of our sentence types.
During Maths, we have been learning how to skip count from any number. This was a little bit of a challenge at first but we are getting the hang of it now! In our other subjects this term we are looking at:
Religion: Jesus and Community
Science: Life Cycles
HASS: Connections to different places
Health: Keeping ourselves healthy and safe
On Thursday, we were super lucky to have Miss Ruth in to visit. She taught us all about colour theory and explained how she uses it in her work as an artist. We had a lot of fun creating a piece of art with her. There are some pictures below:
Our beautiful school officer Miss Brie also shared some wonderful news with the class this week. She and her partner are expecting a baby in September. We are all so excited for Miss Brie and wish her all the best! The classroom has been absolutely BUZZING with excitement deciding what size of fruit the baby is. Name suggestions have also been a hot topic - I wonder if Miss Brie will use any of them?
Have a fantastic week!
Miss Ansel
Year 3
Welcome to Term 2 in Year 3,
The Year 3s have settled back into our learning space very well! We are in for a great term!
Below is an outline of our learning goals for the term:
Mathematics
The students will be learning about time, money, multiplication and division.
English
The students will be learning about non-fiction texts, with a strong focus on developing our reading skills. They will read and comprehend a range of nonfiction text to explore how texts have varying purposes, audiences, structures, and language features.They will also practice reading to enhance their reading fluency.
Students will learn to write using joined letters in handwriting and continue learning new sounds each week to enhance their spelling skills.
Religion
The students will learn about the Catholic Church including the Diocese and parish. They will also learn about the Catholic sacraments.
Science
The students will learn about how the Earth moves and rotates on its axis to create day and night!
HASS
The students will learn about the Australian states and territories to explore various characteristics of place. They will also learn how to represent places using maps.
Health
The students will practice gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness (GEM) in the Resilience Project, and continue learning about strong friendships in the UR Strong program.
Other Reminders:
- Homework - Homework will be given to students every Monday and is due Friday.
- PE uniform Tuesday
- Library every second Thursday (odd weeks - W1,3,5,7,9)
- Chaplain’s Breakfast - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:45am in MMS
- ANZAC Day Public Holiday Thursday 25 April
- Student Free day Friday 26 April
Thank you
Laura Cook
Year 4
Greetings all
Welcome back for Term 2! We are well and truly back in the swing of things.
This week, in Religion, we began learning about the Holy Trinity. As this is a pretty tricky concept, we made an analogy with a triangular pyramid. Here are some of the pyramids we created:
Homework will be issued next Monday. As next week is a short week, I am happy for this to be returned on the Monday of Week 3.
This week we have been reviewing Explore the Subject sentences. The Explore the Subject Sentence makes writing believable. It's the smartest way ever invented to show how much you know about a subject, and then take your reader somewhere else. And it does all this in a single sentence. That’s why professional writers use this Sentence Style.
Here are some Explore the Subject Sentences:
- Napoleon, who was not very tall, led an army of 350,000 troops.
- The sun, which is 150 million kilometres away, is the star at the centre of our solar system.
Our spelling sound is going to be the ‘uh’ sound in umbrella. This sound is represented by the graphemes: u and o.
- The ‘uh’ sound in umbrella is used at the start and in the middle of words, but never at the end of words (e.g. up, funny).
- The ‘uh’ sound in umbrella is most commonly represented by the grapheme u. However, the grapheme o for umbrella is also quite common (e.g. love, other, stomach).
- The grapheme oo is an unusual way to represent the ‘uh’ sound in umbrella (e.g. flood, blood).
Reminders:
- Chaplaincy breakfast is on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 7:45am.
- There will be no school this Thursday and Friday.
- Cross Country is the Monday of Week 3.
Have a great week!
Mairin Borlase
Year 5
Welcome to Term 2!
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce (or re-introduce) myself. My name is Nicola Cullen. I moved over from Ireland with my family to Cloncurry in October 2022. Unfortunately, I had to return to Ireland in July 2023. However, we missed the warm weather and equally warm community of Cloncurry so much that we decided to move back over again.
I have over 25 years experience working with children in many different roles. I have been an Early Years Teacher, an Inclusive Education Teacher, an Assistant Principal and most recently Principal. My favourite part in all these roles has always been getting to know each child, their personalities, likes and dislikes. I have found the best recipe for a successful classroom is a balance between work and fun which I know the Year 5s will all love. I am delighted to be their teacher for the coming year and look forward to getting to know them and you much better as the days and weeks progress.
Timetable
Year 5 will have sport every Friday so the children can wear their sports uniform on that day.
The children can wear their house shirts every Wednesday.
The children will continue to have specialist teachers for HASS, Science, Sport, Health and Technology.
Pastoral Care
This week will be concentrating on making sure the children have an excellent start with myself in Year 5 and become familiar with the new routines and feel happy and confident with the change of teacher.
Maths
This week we will begin work on calculating area and perimeter of both regular and irregular shapes.
English
This week we will begin work on persuasive texts, we will be looking at the characteristics and features of these texts. The children will also begin to reread and edit their writing checking for meaning, appropriate structure, grammatical choices and punctuation.
I hope you have a great week. If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.
Nicola Cullen
Year 6
Dear Families
I trust you all had a lovely Easter and holiday break and that your child is ready to reconnect with their peers and teacher for another busy term of learning.
For the first few weeks of term, we have Aiden Huff on placement. He will be gradually taking greater responsibility throughout the four weeks. Please see his welcome message on our news site. If you see Aiden around school, please make him feel welcome.
For English, we have started to reflect on persuasive writing; many suggestions were contributed to our 'what we already know' poster. We will shortly commence our debates about a range of topics, which will support us with writing our argument paragraphs. The aim of persuasive writing is to convince your audience, so be prepared to be persuaded by your children! Our sentence styles will initially investigate Preposition Starts. In our spelling, we are investigating [g, gg], adding the suffix -ly (making words into adverbs) and the spelling rule is if the base word ends with y, we change to an i before adding -ly. The Greek Roots were gram and graph which both meant draw/write - meaning a photograph is a 'drawing' of an image/scene.
In HASS, we are discussing and investigating Anzac Day and the commemorations that take place every year on the 25th April. We have been creating poppies, discussing events from the World Wars and creating postcards to a veteran to thank them for their service. On Friday, we will be working with our Prep Buddies to support them creating their poppies.
In Mathematics, we are continuing our work on Fractions, Decimals and Percentages - with our main focus on percentages. Making connections with fractions and decimals helps to develop their understanding further. Our Think Mentals focus on multiplication strategies which will support our later work on area. Splitting numbers and using our understanding of place value makes it easier to multiply. The Grid Method is a helpful strategy until decimals come into play and we need to rethink how we would solve them.
Our Arts project for the term is to develop our performance for Treasure Island. Mrs Jill Smith will work with Year 5 and Year 6 to develop each scene so that it can be developed to performance standard. Children have their scripts and will need to practise lines at home throughout this term. We haven't set a date for the performance yet, so watch this space!
IMPORTANT REMINDER:
- If you haven’t already done so, can you please pay for the Y6 shirt by Friday 19th April.
Have a great week,
Mike
Subject Spotlight
Year 8 Humanities with Miss Liersch
Throughout Term 2, Year 8 students will continue their amazing work on History, looking into the unit Japan Under the Shoguns. This unit looks to explore the way of life by delving into social structure, culture, economic and political factors, by looking closely at the Feudal System and the geography of Japan.
Also in Term 2, students will cover their Civics and Citizenship unit looking at the types of law in Australia and how laws are made. At the conclusion of the unit, students will participate in a mock trial!
This term is off to a great start and I look forward to continuing teaching the students in what will be a very busy term. I will send out updates on the happenings in class especially when we get up to something fun and exciting! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via email.
Thanks
Miss Liersch
nliersch@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au
Year 7 Maths with Mr Delaney
We are kicking off this term with some more Number & Algebra learning. The students are learning to solve problems by comparing, adding, and subtracting integers.
Students will t hen be connecting whole numbers to index notation, and perfect squares to square roots.
To finish off the term, we will be investigating Chance & Data by conducting simple experiments, and collecting data and displaying data. They will be focusing on calculating and identifying the relationship between Mean, Median and Mode, assigning a probability to an outcome, and construct Stem-and-Leaf and Dot-Plots!
Year 9 Languages with Mr Delaney
This term we are learning about a 400-year old Japanese comedic storytelling tradition called Rakugo.
Enjoy:
The students will learn about the history of Rakugo, specific vocab for props, listen and interpret Rakugo stories, and understand the cultural differences of humour and storytelling. Eventually, they will practice and perform an existing children’s story with a comedic twist OR create their own rakugo style story based on a character with a really, really, really, really long name…
Community Information
