Term 2 Week 5
Key Information
Term 1 Important Dates
- Week 6 - National Volunteer Week
- Monday 20th May - Mary Help of Christians Mass, 1:40pm
- Tuesday 21st May - Parish Meeting, 3:15pm
- Friday 24th May - Shake and Stir Performance & Workshop (The Twits), 9am
- Week 7 - National Reconciliation Week
- Tuesday 28th May - Board Meeting, 5:30pm
- Friday 31st May - 2024 Athletics Carnival
- Week 8
- Wednesday 5th June - World Environmental Day (Activities with Pastoral Care); State of Origin Free Dress Day
- Friday 7th June - Assembly
- Week 9
- Wednesday 12th June - School Officer Day
- Friday 16th June - Cloncurry Show Public Holiday
- Week 10
- Tuesday 18th June - Board Meeting, 5:30pm
- Thursday 20th June - Walk to School Day
- Friday 21st June - Assembly, 8:30am; Dress Like Your Teacher Day; International Day of Yoga (Lunchtime Activities)
Tuckshop News
Our special for Week 4 is: Sticky Chicken Wraps and Chocolate Coconut Slice
Please have your orders in by WEDNESDAY 8:30 am.
To order: https://myschoolconnect.com.au/
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, aunties, 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.
Miss Heather
General News
Principal's News
Dear Parents and Caregivers
We are now at the halfway point in Term 2! As the weather cools, a spike in illness usually occurs. If you are experiencing any difficulties with your child being absent from school, please make contact with your child’s teacher. We are here to support you and your child.
While Week 4 was filled with Science and Opera, this week our elected Student Representative Council received their badges and we are busy preparing for our Open Day on Saturday 18 May.
SRC
Our St. Joseph’s Student Representative Council (SRC) is a student-based group designed to foster school spirit and leadership among students. The members of the SRC change each year to maintain a fresh approach and a strong student voice within the school. Members help to create and nurture constructive ideas within the school community. The SRC has two main goals: to continuously improve the school environment for students and their learning and to positively contribute to our parish and community. The following are our elected SRC representatives for 2024:
Year 1 Lucy Kierle & Hamish Gresham
Year 2 Vihan Samarappullige & Zoe Walden
Year 3 Annie Douglas & Frankie Milaudi
Year 4 Vivi Moore & Bella Swalling
Year 5 Mia Walden, Wyatt Mara-Skellern &Kaley Hodson
Year 6 Chelsea Saunders & Grace Swalling
Year 7 Mac Schneekloth
Year 8 Kate Macnamara, Ada McInytre & Knox Swalling
Year 9 Kim Jackson
Chairpersons: Kimberlee Davis & Ruby Hansen
Congratulations to all students who have chosen to take on a leadership role within the school. We certainly are blessed to have students who uphold and practice our school values everyday.
Open Day
Our planning for the Open Day is almost complete as I write this article. Our teachers have prepared classroom displays and activities such as face painting and science experiments in the lab. Our school leaders and Year 6 students are volunteering to act as tour guides, which will showcase just how wonderful our school really is! We also have a sausage sizzle and refreshments running throughout the morning. Events like this require a team effort and I am so grateful for our staff and students, and their parents, in their unending support.
Building Update
Our building project is steadily progressing and it is exciting to see the formation of the buildings take shape. Currently, roofing is going on and we can clearly see the dream become reality. Staff were given the opportunity by the site supervisor, Lachy, to tour the site Friday last week. From all accounts, everyone was impressed with the design and layout. At this stage, completion looks on target to finish during Term 4.
On closing, I encourage our families to join us at the Mary Help of Christian Youth Mass at St Colman’s Church on Tuesday. The Year 5-9 Mass will be held at 12.20pm and the Prep to Year 4 will begin at 1.50pm. We thank Fr Mick Lowcock for presiding over the Mass, and a heartfelt thank you to Mrs Therese Curley for her organisation.
God bless
Mrs Karen Good
Acting Principal
Deputy's News
The end of Week 5 - it’s hard to believe we are halfway through the term already! Where did the time go? It only seems like yesterday, I was wiping chocolate away from the Easter Bunny’s visit!
New Videos Added to Our School Website for Early Years Reading
We are thrilled to announce the launch of new resources designed to support the Early Years reading at our school. As part of our ongoing commitment to providing the best possible education for our students, we have added informative videos to our school website focused specifically on reading in the early years (Prep - Year 2). They can be found here.
These engaging and educational videos have been created to assist parents and caregivers in supporting their child's reading development at home. Whether your child is just beginning their reading journey in Prep, or progressing through the early years of primary school, these videos offer valuable insights, tips, and strategies to help nurture a love for reading and build literacy skills.
These videos are a useful resource for parents and caregivers looking to play an active role in their child's education and literacy development. I encourage you to explore the videos on our school website and incorporate the suggested activities and strategies into your daily routines at home.
We believe that by working together as a community and providing support both in and out of the classroom, we can allow our students to become confident and proficient readers, setting them on the path to success.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child's education.
Mr Dean Kelley
Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning
APRE
Youth Mass
This Sunday at 8:30 am in St Colman’s Church, we are hosting our Term 2 Youth Mass. All youth are very much encouraged to attend and join in this celebration as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Spirit - Pentecost.
Pentecost
Pentecost derived from the Greek word "pentecoste," meaning 50th. The feast of Pentecost occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Pentecost celebrates the time the Holy Spirit descended to the 12 disciples of Jesus. Christians believe that the Holy Spirit blessed them with the ability to speak different languages. This meant they could easily spread the word of the Lord to the world. It’s also believed to be the start of the Christian church.
Mary, Help of Christians
On Tuesday 21st May we are celebrating a mass at school for The Feast of Mary, Help of Christians. We invite the school community to join us for this Mass. As our numbers are too big to all fit into the church at once, we have opted to have two masses. This will allow our students to have the opportunity to experience mass in our beautiful church. Year 5 to 9 Mass will be at 12:20 pm followed by our Prep to Year 4 Mass at 1:50 pm.
The feast day for Mary, Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844. In the early days there were no priests in the colonies and it was largely the Rosary and praying to Mary that kept the faith alive. Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary. We were also the first nation to choose her under the title “Help of Christians” as our principle Patroness.
Notices
- Youth Mass this Sunday 19th May at 8:30 in St Colman’s Church
- School Mass - Mary Help of Christians Mass in St Colman’s Church
- Year 5 to Year 9 Mass - 12:20 pm
- Prep - Year 4 Mass - 1:50 pm
Have a blessed week,
Therese Curley
APRE
Pastoral Care
URSTRONG - 5 Reasons Kids Don’t Seek Help with Tricky Friendships
Parent: “How was school today?”
Kid: “Good.”
Parent: “What did you do?”
Kid: “Nothin.”
How many parents have had this conversation with their kids? When it comes to challenging friendships, the reality is kids do not often tell their parents if they’ve had a Friendship Fire® with a friend, or they’re dealing with an up-and-down friend, or they’re having trouble making friends. Instead, kids and teens often suffer in silence.
So, why do kids keep their friendship issues private? Over the last 14 years, we have worked with tens of thousands of kids in schools around the world. Students have shared all sorts of things with us about what’s really going on in their friendships. While friendships have changed a lot for kids since we first launched our Friendology curriculum in 2009, these four reasons that kids aren’t totally honest and forthcoming with their parents has stayed the same:
- Your child is worried you’re going to freak out. You might call the other kid’s parents, you might call the school, you might say the wrong things, you might cry, you might say, “I knew that kid was trouble!” Basically, you might say and do all the wrong things and just make matters worse. Read our most popular blog: 10 Reasons to NOT Call the Other Child’s Parents
- Your child is embarrassed. They want you to think they’re cool and popular. Your child wants to make you proud! It’s a pretty vulnerable thing to respond to, “How was school today?” with, “Not very good. I feel like I have no friends. Sat by myself at lunch and kids made fun of the bargain shoes you bought me.” Kids and teens will not readily offer that information.
- Your child knows it sounds silly or trivial. Kids are totally aware that sometimes the things they’re upset or annoyed about aren’t a big deal, but they can’t shake it. When they think about telling an adult, they think parents + teachers won’t get it and will respond with, “Just ignore them! It’s not that big of a deal! Why do you care? Play with someone else then!” These sentiments are obviously not helpful and diminish a child’s feelings.
- Your child is so tuned in to you. They know if you’re stressed or have a lot on your plate right now and they don’t want to add to your pile by unloading their friendship drama on you. They also know it will upset you – so they protect you from that.
There is, however, a fifth reason that has emerged: Your child is worried you’ll take away their device. If the friendship issue happened online, they’re worried you’re going to make them delete the platform or take their device away. In the past few years, especially, this has become a huge concern with children experiencing awful things online that they’re not sharing with grown-ups.
So, what can you do to encourage your child to open up and share freely with you?
First, think of yourself as a Friendship Coach. Coaches don’t go out there and play the game for their players. Instead, they give them advice and send them to play. Then, they stand back on the sidelines and watch. When they call their team in, they point out what they saw and give the players some tips and guidance. It should work that way with parents too, coaching your children through their friendships. Avoid jumping in to solve the problem. Instead, ask: “What can you do to make this situation better?” Empower your child with this activity: Keep it Cool!
Second, empathize. Sometimes all your child needs to hear is, “That sounds really hard. Would you like a hug?” Sit with them in the discomfort, remind them their feelings are normal and valid, and show them you’re there. For teens especially, be a Potted Plant Parent.
Lastly, give this tried-and-tested strategy from my Mum a go. Whenever I was experiencing any kind of emotional turmoil, my Mum would find me a book or article and leave it on my pillow. It was her way of saying, “I’m here if you need to talk, but here’s some advice.” With that in mind, print this activity and pop it on your child’s pillow. Who knows – maybe you’ll get invited to go for some ice-cream!
Written by: Dana Kerford
Founder & Friendship Expert
The Resilience Project
This week’s presentation from The Resilience Project is all about Mindfulness.
Mindfulness is our ability to be present at any given moment. We practise this by using intentional awareness and concentrating on what you are doing when you are doing it.
Thousands of studies into Mindfulness indicate that with regular practise, Mindfulness can lead to benefits such as; reduced stress, reduced rumination, increased memory, increased cognitive function and physical health benefits through improved immunity.
View Part 4 of the series here:
Part 4 - Mindfulness: https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-hugh/
Mindfulness can be practised through meditation, yoga, flow-states and daily activities such as cooking.
Source: UC Berkeley, Greater Good Science, American Psychological Association
For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.
Feed and Succeed
I encourage all senior students to attend weekly tutoring available on Thursdays from 3-4pm!
Active Body | Calm Mind | Connected Spirit
Look what is on offer for all of our students during lunchtimes at St. Joseph’s in Week 6!
And coming up in Week 8……Go the Maroons!!!!!!
Best regards,
Mrs Schneekloth
Pastoral Care Leader
Prep
Welcome to Week 5!
On Friday, we had the opportunity of attending the Under 8's Day held at Cloncurry State School. Our Little Leaders participated in many rotations; rock painting, music with Uncle Hombre, dancing with Miss Jill, fossil finding, skipping just to name a few. We also had the opportunity to experience what it is like inside the emergency service vehicles. We had an absolutely wonderful morning!
In literacy this week our Little Leaders learned the letter and sound for 'n'. We will also begin to introduce our new Tricky Words that, they, are and said.
In math we began looking at numbers that add up to 10 using the Friends of Ten strategy and our Tens Frames.
Also this week, we have spent time revising what living things need to survive. We named our four little chickens and discussed that they need food, water, shelter and air to survive. In Science for the remainder of the Term, we will begin our unit of work on materials and their properties.
Reminders:
Keep up to date with what is happening in Prep by checking out our Little Leaders Website. I have also added an additional page called Home Learning with different activities and resources that may be useful to consolidate learning at home. Please access this via the Little Leaders Website.
Yours in fun and learning,
Miss Brock, Mrs McLauchlan, Miss Rachel, Miss Kylie and Miss Nina
Under 8's Day
Year 1
Hello Parents and Carers
We had a busy week!
This week:
In Maths, the students have continued to look at length, mass and capacity. They are learning how to use informal units to measure objects. They have used the balance scales to measure what weighs more and looked at different size containers to work out what holds more.
In English, the students have started using adjectives in their writing. They are adding in describing words to make their writing more interesting and colourful. When talking with your child please try and add in adjectives and get them to identify the describing words.
Here are some awesome photos from under 8’s day:
Under 8's Day
Reminders:
Tuesday: Art
Thursday: Sport, Library and homework due
Friday: Technology
Have a wonderful week.
Miss Haley and the always fun Year 1s!
Year 2
Hi Year 2 Parents and Carers,
During InitiaLit this week, we have focused on the spelling combinations ir, ur and er. We are also looking at the comprehension strategy of visualising. This term in writing, students will be creating an imaginative text based on the story, Wombat Stew. We have begun writing our imaginative texts and have been doing a wonderful job at being descriptive so the readers of our stories are entertained and can imagine what is going on! During Maths, we have begun looking at addition and subtraction. 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
Reminders:
- Homework is due on Monday.
- Library is on Mondays of Week B - Our next library lesson is in Week 6
Have a fantastic remainder of your week!
Miss Ansell
Year 3
Hi all,
This week we had a very special arrival in the mail…
(First, here’s the backstory…)
In Year 3, we have been reading “The Little Wave” by Pip Harry. The book is about three primary school students - Noah, Lottie, and Jack - who discover the importance of true friendship while also tackling their own individual challenges. Noah and Lottie go to a beachy school in Sydney while Jack is from the country. Throughout the novel, the characters become friends through pen-pal letters, uncovering the true essence of friendship, courage, and the value of new experiences.
Just like the characters in the book, our Year 3 students have been given a penpal from the coast! Each Year 3 at St Mary’s Catholic School in Bowen wrote a letter to one of our Year 3s in Cloncurry. The students were SO excited to receive these letters in the mail and then write their own letter in response.
Mathematics
In Math, we have started a new unit of learning … money! The Year 3s are really enjoying counting money and represent certain values in lots of different ways using different collections of coins.
English
In English, we’ve been working on our Weekly Challenge on Writer’s Toolbox, as well as continuing our Literacy Activities (handwriting, spelling, and reading). The students also explored how pictures and images can help create meaning in texts. They read various nonfiction texts and drew pictures and labelled diagrams to add to the text and support another reader to make sense of the text.
Religion
On Friday last week, we were very lucky to be able to interview Mr Delaney, our school Chaplain. The students asked Mr Delaney all sorts of interesting questions to understand his role in the school and the parish, and learn about how he helps students feel close to the Lord. This week, the students completed an activity to respond to various questions about Mr Delaney’s role.
Science
Students conducted an investigation to monitor and observe how the shadow of a still object moves and changes throughout the day. They explored how the shadow’s length and direction changed.
Week 6 Reminders:
- Homework - Homework will be given to students every Monday and is due Friday.
- PE uniform Tuesday
- Chaplain’s Breakfast - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:45am in MMS
Thank you
Laura Cook
Year 4
Hi all
We have been getting busy with assessments and preparing for the show. We can’t wait for you to see our amazing painting and writing!
This coming week we are continuing to learn about the Red, White, and Blue Sentence. With the Red, White, and Blue Sentence, students can quickly list three or more things—people, places, objects, actions, adjectives—all in ONE sentence. Check this out:
- Alpacas are easy to look after, incredibly soft, and surprisingly affectionate.
- Tim visited Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace when he was in London.
- Careful application of heat, light, and nutrients helped the beans grow extremely large.
Our spelling sound this week is the ‘ee’ sound in bee. This sound can be represented by the graphemes ee, e, ea, y and ey.
- The grapheme ee for the ‘ee’ sound in bee is usually used in the middle or at the end of words (e.g. see, green). Very few words begin with ee for the ‘ee’ sound.
- We often use y for the ‘ee’ sound at the end of words (e.g. any, jelly, baby, puppy, twenty). We do not usually use y for the ‘ee’ sound at the start or in the middle of words.
- The grapheme ey for the ‘ee’ sound is usually used at the end of words (e.g. honey, valley).
- The grapheme eo in the word people is an unusual way to represent the ‘ee’ sound.
Reminders:
- Our School Open Day is THIS SATURDAY. Please come along, I know a few fun activities have been planned!
- We have a Mass on Tuesday afternoon at 1:40pm to celebrate Mary Help of Christians.
- There is a parish meeting on Tuesday at 3:15pm.
- We will be having guest performers come to school on Friday to perform, The Twits.
Have a great week everyone!
Mairin Borlase
Year 5
Welcome to Week 5.
Half way through the term already! This term is flying by as we are so busy in Year 5. I know it is never easy for children to change teachers but I have to say the Year 5 children are doing great and have adapted well to me taking over the class. They are a great group of children and I am really enjoying teaching them this year.
English
We have continued our work on persuasive texts. This week the children were working on finding evidence to support their opinions. This included note taking and backing up arguments with facts and statistics.
The children have also continued their weekly Soundwaves lessons. This week the sound was ay as in a, ay, a-e and ai. We have also started reading our class novel this week. The children are taking part in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Year 5 have kept the forms in class so they can add the books they have read as the term progresses; they can also record books they have read at home. I will send the forms home nearer to the closing date of 23rd August to be signed. However, if you wish your child to keep the form at home, just let me know this can be easily arranged.
Maths
This week the children worked on calculating costs of area. We looked at various areas and calculated the cost of different floor covering for that area. For example, a living room measures 4m by 3m and tiles cost $10 per square metre. How much will it cost to tile the room? They first worked out the area 4x3 =12 x cost 12x10 equals $120. The children really worked hard on this difficult concept.
Religion
This week the children have started work on the Prayer part of our unit. We looked at the Psalms of the Old Testament as a model for personal and communal prayer. We looked at the three main forms of Psalms in the Old Testament: Psalms of lament (Sorrow), Psalms of thanksgiving and Psalms of praise (Hymns).
Specialist Subjects:
Monday: Japanese and Science
Tuesday: Drama
Wednesday: Health and Technology , students may also wear their House Shirts to school
Thursday: Science and HASS
Friday: Sport and HASS, Students may wear their Sports Uniform
Reminders:
- Tuesday 21st May Parish Meeting at 3.15pm
- Sunday 25th May National Sorry Liturgy
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 hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day and are having a great week!
Last week, we caught up with our Prep Buddies on Friday - a little reading and Mother's Day making time, which was fun. It was the end of a long day for the Preps who had been to the Under 8's Day at the State School - hence the cats and dogs face paints in the photos.
We also had our first Visual Arts session with Ruth Chaplain and by all accounts the children enjoyed this time immensely. Three of our children spent time with Paul Jarman discussing our school and giving him plenty of creative and thoughtful words and phrases which can become part of our school song.
In Science this week, we continued our work on circuits - investigating series and parallel circuits. Learners have learnt to make predictions about whether the component will work - globe, motor or buzzer. They then tested their predictions and made observations. This was great learning as it followed up on our electricity workshop from last week. Using real circuit components in connection with simulated circuits gave the learners the opportunities to test additional circuits and make comparisons.
In English, our reading focuses on a range of short age appropriate texts (reports, explanation, humour, fantasy, legends, folk tales and historical recounts) with themes like How Warthog and Lion became Enemies and a Catastrophic Voyage. The students will investigate a range of questions to support comprehension - summarise, main idea, facts and opinions and word meaning. In our written work, we continue to form our arguments - insisting on detailed factually accurate evidence. The current topic continues to be about how unsafe e-scooters are! In spelling, we examine words with the [l ll] graphemes and how some of these words morph into new words when suffixes -ed or -ing are added to the base words. Use of the suffix -al (which means 'relating to' and the prefixes mono- (meaning one) and multi- (meaning many) will also be investigated. We are tidying up some of our spelling reviews this week as preparation for our reports, however Week 6 and 7 will be an important time for completing our assessments of writing and reading.
In Maths, our focus in Think Mentals is on quick strategies for multiplying by 25. The Grid Method, Expanded Multiplication and number splitting are used to support our mental and written strategies. Continuing to practise multiplication facts continues to be essential, Multiple Wars with a pack of cards is excellent as a competition between parent and child! Our work on area continues this week - learners are investigating floor plans and developing a room design, considering floor space that items will take up from the whole room area. Hopefully it doesn't spark too many ideas about updating a bedroom!
HOMEWORK: The Sound Waves Spelling books have been sent home - many learners have pages that they need to complete - up to and including UNIT 14. These books need to be returned to school every day so please keep in their school bags. The Premier's Reading Challenge has also been distributed and must be completed and returned to Mr T before 23rd August to be entered into the Challenge.
Y6 Shirts - There will be a second order placed shortly for additional shirts. Sadly, due to smaller numbers there is a price increase to $46. Please let us know by the end of Week 6 if you need us to add to this order. Our day for wearing our Year 6 shirts is MONDAYS. Sports shirts are ODD Weeks and House shirts are EVEN weeks on WEDNESDAYS (our PE Day). Please ensure children wear formal uniforms on Fridays. Thanks.
Have a great week,
Mike
Subject Spotlight
Year 7 English with Miss Naomi Liersch
This term in Year 7 English, the focus is Heroes and Villains. As a class we are reading the novel Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly by Carole Wilkinson, and are using this text to discuss how Ned Kelly is portrayed. It has been very interesting to see how the students’ opinions change as the text progresses. We also have been having deep discussions about Heroes and Villains and how they can be portrayed. As we read through the novel, the students have not been afraid to share their opinions. It has been wonderful to see the students engage with the content in class. I look forward to the rest of this term and hearing the final opinions, was Ned Kelly a hero or a villain?
Year 9 Maths with Mr Robert Grehan
Students have been engrossed in the study of Geometry and Measurement of composite and complex shapes. They have learned to solve problems and extend their knowledge of complex geometrical shapes. Spatial knowledge has been extended using geometric laws of mathematics to determine total surface area of three dimensional shapes, finding volume of composite shapes, using Pythagoras theorem to calculate dimensions of right angle triangles and trigonometric ratios to solve real life problems. Students have been engaged and motivated in applying what they have learned in a set assignment as part of the assessment requirements.
Guidance Counsellor
SPECIAL REPORT: Celebrating IDAHOBIT
We possess a profound ability to shape our children's attitudes and beliefs, embedding values of acceptance, inclusivity, and respect for all.
The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), celebrated each year on May 17th, emphasises the critical need to educate children about diversity and inclusivity. Inaugurated in 2004 by the World Health Organization, this day is a global call to promote tolerance and combat discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community.
Instilling respect and acceptance for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in children is crucial. Celebrating IDAHOBIT helps families communicate a strong stance against discrimination, highlighting the importance of diversity and the damaging effects of stereotypes and biases. These prejudices often arise from the media, societal interactions, and peer influences, necessitating proactive efforts from parents and caregivers to counteract and discuss these issues.
Creating inclusive environments supports diversity and plays a vital role in raising awareness and demonstrating solidarity with LGBTQIA+ students and community members. It is a commitment to creating a world free from prejudice and discrimination, instilling values of empathy, respect and inclusivity.
This Special Report will help you fostering acceptance, empowering young people to become compassionate and informed advocates for equality.
Here is the link to your Special Report
Mrs Bec Greaves
Guidance Counsellor