Term 4 | Week 6 Newsletter

Key Information

• Thursday 11th November - Remembrance Day 
  
• Friday 12th November - Gratitude Evening for Sponsors & Volunteers
  
• Friday 12th November - Closure of School Oval 
• Tuesday 16th November - Prep Orientation Day 1 - 830-1030
• Friday 19th November - Prep Orientation Day 2 & Move Up Day 830-1000
• Wednesday 24th November - Christmas Concert
• Thursday 25th November - Year 9 Dinner
• Friday 26th November - Last Day Year 7-9 Students
• Friday 3rd December - Last Day Prep - Year 6 Students
• Friday 10th December - School Oval Turf Day

Students and/or Families not returning in 2022:

If you haven't formally notified our office yet if your child or family will not be returning in 2022 please do so as soon as practicable.

Our End of Year Mass is scheduled for the 26th November (time TBA) and we would love families to be able to attend this special event for a formal farwell and celebration of your time at our School. Formal invitations will be sent through at a later date.

Tuckshop Menu:

Uniform Shop

As advertised, all uniform items with the old logo are being sold at 50% off normal price. There are limited sizes as shown. If ordering online your discount will be applied when you collect your order from the Uniform Shop or office.

Uniform Shop Days:
Wednesdays & Thursdays: 810-830am
Any requests for uniforms outside these days MUST be done via the link below. 

Homework Club

Homework Club is every Thursday from 3-4pm in the MacKillop Room for Years 5-9.

Principal News

Welcome to Week 6, 

I cannot believe how quickly the term is going. I hope you have had a great term so far.  

Remembrance Day 
On Thursday the 11th of November our School Leaders, House Captains and Year 9 students will be participating in the Cloncurry Council’s Remembrance Day Service. It is a privilege to be able to involve our students in this service as we pay our respects to soldiers that sacrificed their lives for the world that we know today. 

Students will be discussing remembrance day in classes this week and will join together with their classmates on Thursday for 1 minute of silence. We will also be paying our respect at the Whole School Assembly on Friday.  

Years 4 to 9 students at St Joseph’s Catholic School will also have the opportunity to watch The Forgotten Warrior for Remembrance Day. This showcases The Story of Peter Craigie and his 1,700 kilometre journey on horseback to enlist for service in WWI. This production was completed by the Storey Players who visited our school in 2019. A big thank you to Mrs Louise Martin for organising this for our students. 

Move Up Day 
We are very excited about ‘Move Up Day’ next Friday (19th of November), which will begin after our assembly. This is such a great opportunity for students to go into their new classrooms and meet their teachers for 2022. 

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 is in place to foster a positive environment for students in preparation for 2022, 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 are very excited to be welcoming our new Prep Students for 2022 to our transition morning and invite all family members to join us for morning tea following the assembly. In the morning tea there will also be a presentation from Miss Grace Reid our Speech Pathologist on ‘Tips for Prep’. 

Mrs Lesley Wall (year 4) and Miss Leonie Ansell (year 2) will be absent on ‘Move Up Day’. The students will still ‘move up’ to these classrooms on the morning. Mrs Wall and Miss Ansell will have time across the term once they return to spend time with their 2022 cohort of students.

Swimming Carnival 
A reminder that the swimming carnival has been rescheduled to Monday the 15th of November. Unfortunately, due to the time that it took to prepare the lunch packs for the swimming carnival we had scheduled in Week 4 there won’t be tuckshop available for students at the upcoming carnival. All students will be required to pack their lunch for the day. 

Staffing:
We have been working hard these past few weeks to recruit for the Finance and Administration position that we have available at St Joseph’s since Miss Gayle’s departure. It is with pleasure that I announce that Sue Hawkins will be joining us as our Administration and Finance Officer from the 22nd of November. Sue will work 4 days a week (Monday to Thursday). Please pop into the front office from the 22nd of November to meet Sue and welcome her to our community. 

We have also been forward planning to 2022 and have the following staffing announcements for next year: 

• Alastair Fraser will be joining us in 2022 as our Year 5 Teacher. Alastair is currently teaching in NSW and is looking forward to a new adventure in 2022. Alastair's partner Maddison will also be relocating to Cloncurry and may be teaching casually at St Joseph's while she studies her Masters in Social Work. Alastair is currently in his second year of teaching and is currently teaching a Prep to Year 3 class. We unfortunately won't have Alastair join us for 'move up day' in person due to the boarder closures, but he will meet the students via zoom. 
• We will also be welcoming Tania Laffey to our Secondary School. Tania is a very passionate teacher who currently lives in the Cloncurry community. Tania will be joining us by teaching both Mathematics and Science in 2022, which are her trained areas. Tania also has experience in the field of technologies and will bring a wealth of knowledge with her to St Joseph's next year. We are very excited for Tania to join our team in 2022. 

Volunteers & Sponsors Gratitude Evening 
It has been a BIG year at St Joseph’s Catholic School and we would like to show our appreciation to our Volunteer and Sponsors at a Gratitude Evening on Friday the 12th of November from 5 to 7pm in the Mary MacKillop Shed. Please RSVP via email to skelley2@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au by Wednesday the 10th of November. 

APRE News

Our school’s Catholic Identity Advisory Committee met on Monday to reflect on our school’s Catholic Identity Action plan for the next five years. The action plan has its foundation in our school’s ECSI (Enhancing Catholic School Identity) report, which was created by the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium using the responses of our ECSI survey that was completed by our staff, parents and students from Year 5 - Year 9. 

Mrs. Kelley and I will meet to further discuss our Catholic Identity Action Plan, considering the feedback provided by our Catholic Identity Advisory Committee.

Remembrance Day 
The assembly prayer on Friday, led by the Year 3 class, will be themed around Remembrance Day.

Gospel Reading

Mark 13:24-32

Jesus teaches about the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.

Many things in our lives and in our world are subject to change. Yet all of us find security in relationships and values that endure. Foremost among these are our family relationships. We can confidently accept change if we know that we will continue to be loved by our family and by God. We help impart this sense of trust and confidence in our children with our daily assurances to them that nothing can change our love for them.

As you gather as a family, look through several family photo albums. Observe and talk about things that have changed in your family life over the years. Talk also about the things that have stayed the same. We do not need to fear changes in our family life because we know that the most important aspects of our family life do not change, such as our love for one another. The same is true with God and God’s love for us. Read today’s Gospel, Mark 13:24-32. Jesus teaches us that things in our world will change and that the world itself will one day end. We don’t need to be fearful because God’s love for us will never end. Conclude in prayer together thanking God his never-ending love for us. 

Pray together the Glory Be to the Father.

Glory be to the Father,

and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

May God bless you and your family this week

Shadley Davids
Assitant Principal Religious Eduction

Pastoral Care

School refusal, sometimes called school avoidance or school phobia, is not uncommon. It is different to ‘wagging’ or truancy and is often related to worry or anxiety-related issues about going to school. School refusal may start gradually or happen suddenly. Although it is normal for a child to occasionally miss a day of school, parents should only be concerned if a child regularly complains about feeling sick or often asks to stay home due to minor physical complaints.

School refusal is a complex issue as there is rarely a single cause. It affects children of all ages across primary and secondary levels. It can often occur during times of transition at school. More recently, the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the educational experience of all students, affecting some more than others. Dealing with a school refusal child can affect the whole family, adding pressure to an already challenging time. School refusal is not considered a formal psychiatric diagnosis. It’s a name given to an emotional and/or behavioural problem.

Check out our School Refusal edition of SchoolTV where adult carers will learn how best to approach this issue and work towards a solution. 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 the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the School Refusal edition of SchoolTV

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

Enjoy your week,

Kind regards,

Mrs Schneekloth
Pastoral Leader

Prep

Week 6!

Thank you to all the parents who have helped us in any way this Year. It would be lovely to see some of you at the thank you dinner at school this Friday. I do realise this clashes with the Branches dance concert and will not be possible for some of you. I am disappointed that I do not get to see the Prep dancers perform!

This will be the last week of literacy rotations for the year. Next week the swimming carnival is on Monday (weather pending) and the 2022 Preps will be visiting Tuesday. The following week, Week 8, will sadly be my last week with this amazing Prep class as I am on leave for the last week of Term. This week we will continue to practice our Bear Hunt in readiness for our performance at assembly in Week 7 as well as practicing our Christmas concert song. The class is eagerly awaiting a reply from Santa as they all wrote wonderful letters to him last week. I hope he replies before school finishes! 

This week we will continue to revise and extend math concepts. In English the class will learn some new Tricky Words, how to make words plural as well as some fun writing activities. Letter reversal, such as, "b" and "d" and "p" and "q" will also be a focus this week. The Preps will continue to explore the importance of Christmas in the Catholic church during Religion.   

I am genuinely feeling sad that I only have 3 weeks left with this wonderful class!

Yours in fun and learning,

Mrs McLauchlan

Year 1

What a busy week ahead!

This week in Year One we are finishing off our Religion, Mathematics and HASS units of work. We are spending time revising our digraphs and trigraphs as well as our spelling rules. Over the next four weeks we will spend time revising all concepts throughout the year to consolidate our learning.

Reminders:

• Tuesday: Sport with Mr Murray, we are swimming!
• Thursday: Library with Mrs Chaplain
• Friday: Homework is due Friday morning. Please remember to bring your readers back so we can change them.

Have a fantastic week,

Miss Brock and the always fun in Year 1’s!

Year 2

Hi all,

As we are currently working hard on our assessment tasks it is very important that students are coming to school in order to get these completed. 

Our SRC is seeking donations of non-perishable food and essential living items for our Christmas Appeal. The items will go to families in need.

I will be away Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next week.

Reminders

• PE day is Wednesday. We are doing swimming so remember to pack swimmers and a towel!
• Library Day is Thursday

Miss Ansell

Year 3

Hi everyone!  

The learning highlights for Year 3 this week are:

• In maths we will start our final unit for this term. In this unit students will be making models of three-dimensional objects and describing the key features of each 3D shape, such as the number of vertices, edges and faces. 
• In English we will be practicing our collaborative learning skills and learning about respectful ways to provide feedback to our peers. 
• In HASS we will make a whole-class timeline of the history of Cloncurry and include important events such as the building of the railway in 1908 and the opening of the first copper mine by Ernst Henry in 1867. 

Homework was sent out on Monday and home readers will be sent out today (Tuesday). 

Reminders 

• Library: Wednesday 

• PE: Thursday (swimming) 

Year 3 will be leading prayer for assembly on Friday. 

Have a great week ahead. 

Miss Coombs

Year 4

Hi Everyone,

We have had a brilliant start to Week 6 with everyone in high spirits and trying their very best in our assessment tasks. They have blown me away with their Science task of outfitting a person who is off to the snow for some fun, taking into consideration the properties of the materials their gear is made from and how these will be beneficial. 

Students are writing a book review for the novel, ‘The Impossible Quest’ and finishing their character wheels.

Reflecting on how many of the students would react when we would be completing an assessment task in Term 1 and how confident they are now, it is really pleasing to see their growth. We should have finished our assessment tasks this week, then we will be revising concepts that need more work, and catching up on some areas that we haven’t quite finished yet.

If you have any shoe boxes or boxes of a similar size at home, could you please send them in. Each student will need one box to create their animal enclosure for HaSS.

Have a great week!

WE NEED THESE PLEASE (shoe boxes)

Year 5

Welcome to Week 6!

What an amazing time we all had at camp last week. I am sure the students have told you absolutely everything that happened in great detail. The highlight for me was seeing students conquer their fears on the high ropes course. 

Back to the classroom routine we go....here is a snapshot into what we are doing this week:

• DRAMA: Students will showcase their performances to the class this week.
• ENGLISH: We should be finishing off our drafts this week and then completing our final written piece.
• MATHS: Students are posing questions to collect data, create graphs and analyse the given data. We will also begin looking at using a grid reference system to describe locations. Students will describe routes using landmarks and directional language.
• RELIGION: Students look at pioneering Catholics in Australia and the influence they had over the preservation of faith and the shaping of particular communities.
• This Thursday we will be watching the movie “The Forgotten Warrior” at school related to Remembrance Day. The Forgotten Warrior: The story of Peter Craigie.  The Forgotten Warrior recreates the story of Peter Craigie and his 1,700 kilometre journey on horseback to enlist for service in WWI. This production was completed by the Storey Players who visited our school in 2019.

Don’t forget our make-up swimming carnival is next Monday, November 15th!

Enjoy your week!

Miss Campbell

Year 6

Welcome to Week 5!

This week’s learning focuses:

• Religion: Students will be using their knowledge of the origins of the Our Father and prayer forms to create a contemporary version of the Lord’s Prayer.
• English: Students will be writing their stories that they have been working so hard on planning.
• Mathematics: We will be doing our final assessment for the year before using PAT-M data to fill in our gaps.
• HaSS: We will be exploring the path of a bill through parliament and consequently, how laws are made.
• Science: Students have completed their earthquake-resilient house challenge and will now begin planning how to create a seismograph.
• Health: We had a visit from Headspace today to continue our learning about change and transitions to high school.
• Digital Technology: Students will continue making their games and writing reflections.

Library is on Thursday and Physical Education is on Monday. The students head to the pool around 10:00am. They can wear their swimmers under their uniform if they would like to, otherwise, they will have a chance to get changed during Brain Break time. 

Finally, just a reminder to see if you can find any pictures of the students’ early primary years to contribute to our Year 6 video. I sent an email last week with some information. 

Have a great week ahead!!

Mr. Delaney and the Year 6 Legends!

Indigenous Education News

Student Awards - Week 5

Congratulations to our Students who received awards for Week 5!

OWOW AWARDS!

Student Of The Week AWARDS!

School Oval Update

As you are aware, St Joseph's have been working hard this year to renovate our oval at the end of the year. The turf is being layed on the 10th December!! This means that the Oval will be closed from Friday 12th November, so we can complete the prep work necessary in this time. 

Chaplaincy Breakfast - Term 4

In Term 4 St Joseph's Catholic School will be introducing a Chaplaincy Breakfast program each Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30am - 8:00am. 

All staff, students, parents, carers and family members are welcome to join us! 

Our aim is to ensure students are provided with the best opportunity to make the most of their education and develop healthy eating habits. We also aim to bring our community together through this breakfast program. Research suggests that eating breakfast in the morning sets our students up for a day of learning by maximising their behavioural outcomes in the classroom, while assisting them in engaging with learning tasks in the classroom. 

We would love if you help us spread the word! 

Spare Pallets and Wheels !

Mr Brown, a new teacher to our UMY space has joined us for Term 4 and would like to make Billy Carts with the students. He needs pallets that can be taken apart and wheels. Old pram wheels would be suitable.

Drop off outside the Workshop or phone the office for directions.

Guitar Lessons

Jill Fisher will be holding guitar lessons for any children interested! These will be occuring at St Joseph's Catholic School. Please contact Jill directly if you would like more information.  

Casual Employment Opportunties

We are seeking casual School Officers and qualified Teachers to cover sick and leave days.
For more information please contact our office.
Teaching staff will need to apply here > https://tceo-portal.applynow.net.au/jobs/TCE679-supply-teacher-registration-2021

Community Notices

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