Term 4 | Week 7 Newsletter

Key Information

• Friday 19th November - Prep Orientation Day 2 & Move Up Day 8:30am-10:00am
• Sunday 21st November - Children's Mass
• 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 commencing at 8:30am and we would love families to be able to attend this special event for a formal farewell 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: 8:10am-8:30am
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 7, 

The term is flying by with our teachers working hard to finalise assessment and reporting for students and families. The assessment and reporting cycle are a crucial point in a students development as it is a time of reflection. In preparation for the upcoming assessment results I encourage you to talk with your child about what they are learning at school, what they are finding challenging and why, as well as what they are excelling in and why that might be. This will create a foundation of reflection for when reporting is released to families towards the end of the term.

Fete
The final total is in! It is with pleasure that I announce the profit for the 2021 St Joseph’s Catholic School and St Colman's Parish Fete as $33,337.60. We are absolutely blown away. This event wouldn’t have been possible without our generous volunteers and sponsors, teachers and students and of course our two FANTASTIC fete coordinators Mrs Tamara Williams and Mrs Shelley Curry! Not only was the event a great way for our community to come together but the amount raised has helped us make some considerable improvements to our school. You may have noticed the new tables in the primary eating area? The finances from the fete purchased all of these tables! It will also be used towards the oval renovation, as well as to change the lighting in the church. We are so thankful to our community. 

Swimming Carnival 
What an amazing way to start our week! I had such a good day yesterday celebrating with our schooling community as they joined together as a team in their Flinders and Kennedy houses. Swimming carnivals are not only a great way for students to compete but are also a time for students to develop their social and emotional skills as they engage with students from other year levels for a common goal. The teams did so well yesterday and should be so proud of their sportsmanship.  A big thank you to our volunteers on the day and our P&F for the amazing coffee and treats!

Move Up Day 
We are very excited about ‘Move Up Day’ this coming Friday, 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 this Friday 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 welcomed our new 2022 Prep students this morning to their first orientation day and will be welcoming them back on Friday for the Move Up Day. 

Grace Reid, our Speech Pathologist, will be joining us at this morning tea to provide a ‘How to prepare for Prep’ presentation. The school uniforms will also be there for viewing and can be ordered if you know your child’s size. All parents are welcome to join us for this presentation. 

End of Year Mass
Our End of Year Mass will be held on Friday the 26th of November at 8:30am. This Mass will be held in the Mary MacKillop Shed which will allow for more room so our parents, friends and community members can join us. 

School Board 2022
There are expression of interest forms located at the front office for parents or community members that would like to join our school board in 2022. Please complete these and hand them back to the office or to myself as soon as possible. If you would like more information, please email me at skelley2@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au and I can send an information pack to you. 

2022 Enrolments
Our enrolments for 2022 are looking very positive. If your child isn’t returning to St Joseph’s in 2022 could you please let the office know as soon as possible. This will assist us in our planning for the new school year. A reminder that the school year finishes on Friday the 26th of November for Years 7 to 9 students and at 12pm on Friday the 3rd of December for Prep to Year 6 students. 

God Bless, 

Samantha Kelley

Principal

APRE News

It’s hard to believe that we are already in Week 7 of Term Four.

Yesterday we had a lovely time at our Swimming Carnival. It was lovely to see our school community come together and cheer for the participating students regardless of the House they were in. It is this sense of community that speaks volumes of the amazing students, parents and staff we are fortunate enough to have at our school who live out the values of Mary MacKillop and St Joseph.

End of Year Mass & Awards Presentation
Our End of Year Mass and Awards Presentation is set for Friday the 28th of November at 8:30 AM in our Mary MacKillop Shed.

Our End of Year Mass is an opportunity to gather as a school community to give thanks to God for the year and to farewell departing students and staff. We also come together to celebrate the achievements of students by having our awards presentation. Parents and families are welcome to join us.

Gospel Reading

John 18:33b-37

Jesus is questioned by Pilate about the charge brought against him that he is “King of the Jews.”

Understanding today’s feast of Christ the King may be particularly challenging. While most of us do not have direct experience with kings or royalty, we have a sense of who they are. We know that royalty have sovereignty over their kingdoms. We know that those who are subjects to royalty offer them allegiance and honor. To understand how Christ is our king, we extend and magnify what we know to be true of the best of human royalty. Christ’s kingship extends to all places, all people, and all times. Christ manifests his kingship through his death on the cross in which he offered salvation to everyone. Those who can see with eyes of faith recognise Jesus to be our heavenly king.

As you gather as a family, recall that this Sunday is the last Sunday in the Church year and on this Sunday we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Talk together about what it means to be a king or queen. How do those who are subjects behave toward royalty? Invite children to role-play what one does in the presence of royalty. Read today’s Gospel, John 18:33b-37. Ask your family to discuss these questions: Does Pilate treat Jesus like royalty? (No.) What does Jesus say about his kingdom? (It is not of this world.) Talk about how your family shows honor and obedience to Christ our King. Pray together the Lord’s Prayer and ask God to help your family act in ways that show you recognise and honour Christ as King.

Pastoral Letter from Bishop Tim

Bishop Tim has communicated a letter in support of the COVID vaccine.

Please take some time to read it below:

Children’s Mass
We will be having a Children’s Mass in our St Colman’s Church this Sunday. We also have one of our students who will be making her First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

There will also be a shared morning tea after Mass. All welcome to join! 

May God bless you and your family this week

Shadley Davids

APRE

Pastoral Care

Kids today are more obsessed with their body image than those in past generations. This is partially influenced by the media and their social connectivity. Encouraging kids to have a healthy body image in childhood, can lay the foundations for good physical and mental health later in life.

A recent study highlighted that body image is one of the top three concerns for Australian youth. Over half of girls in high schools have tried to lose weight. One-third of teenage boys wanted to be thinner and another third wanted to be larger. Children need to understand that their body shape and size is not a reflection of their health or success. Parents and schools need to work together to help kids understand that everyone is born with their own ‘body-suit’.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to encourage their child to have a positive body image and why it is so important to their mental health.

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 our Guidance Counsellor, Bec Greaves, or myself for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Body Image edition of SchoolTV

https://sjctsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/body-image

Wishing you a fantastic week!

Kind regards,

Mrs Schneekloth

Prep

Week 7 News,

On Tuesday the 2022 Preps spent some of the morning at school. Our current class went to the library with Miss V. We had a lovely morning with the new class. 

Friday is "Move Up Morning" and the Prep class will move up to Year 1 for the morning. Prep will also perform "Going on a Bear Hunt " this assembly on Friday. It would be great to see you there if you can!  

This Friday will be the last week we send Home Readers home. After that we will focus on getting all readers returned to school. Next week is also my last week at school. Miss V will be taking the class in Week 9.

Yours in fun and learning Mrs McLauchlan

Year 1

Welcome to week 7!

What a fun and busy week ahead, this week in Year 1 we have started revising all mathematics concepts that we have learnt over the last year. We have also started a mini HASS unit where we are looking at Christmas traditions around the world. Students will create a passport to travel to different  countries and explore that countries  traditions.

Reminders:

This week I will not send homework home as it is a short school week

Tuesday: Sport with Mr Murray, we are swimming!

Thursday: Library with Mrs Chaplain

Have a fantastic week,

Miss Brock and the always fun Year 1’s!

Year 2

Hi all,

We have just about finished all of our assessments and are now revisiting skills we have learned across the year. In Maths we are revisiting place value and addition and subtraction. We are also working hard at making smart spelling choices and are also developing our comprehension skills through our comprehension box and InitiaLit Read and Discuss activities.

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 this week. There will be no homework this 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 swimming carnival was a great success on Monday, congratulations to all Year 3 students who participated. We had a few tired children in class today but it was a fun day nonetheless!

Assessment tasks - We have completed most of our assessment tasks this term. We have two left - for maths and English - and these will be done on Thursday this week. Students are encouraged to get a good sleep the night before!

Christmas art -  We will be making magazine Christmas trees at the end of this term. If you have any old magazines at home, could you please send them in. Each student will need one magazine to create their Christmas tree. 

Homework will be sent out today (Tuesday). There will be no home readers due to the shorter week in the classroom, but students are encouraged to read a few pages of their books from home each night. 

Reminders 

• Library: Wednesday 

• PE: Thursday (swimming) 

• Move-up morning: Friday 

Have a great week ahead. 

Miss Coombs 

Year 4

Hi Everyone,

I can’t believe how quickly our last few weeks are going! It is going to be a busy few weeks. 

Christmas Concert- We are madly practising for our Christmas Concert Act- playing Silent Night as an orchestra. This will be held next Wednesday 24th night at 6pm and it would be fantastic if all students could attend. They don’t have to wear anything special, however, if they have a ‘Christmassy’ type outfit, that would be great.

Move-Up Day- The students are very excited to move up to Year 5 on Friday to get a glimpse of what life will be like next year. Although their new teacher, Mr Fraser, will not be in attendance, he will be zooming in to chat to the students and answer any of their questions. Miss Campbell will also be there to take them through other activities.

Absence- I will be absent on Thursday, Friday and Monday as I have a family wedding, but don't worry, I will leave lots of hard work for the students to complete! 

Have a great week,

Lesley Wall

Year 5

Welcome to Week 7.

This week’s newsletter is short and sweet! 

This week students are finishing off a few pieces of assessment, including their English/Science, Drama and Design Technologies (unless your child has an extension). 

In Mathematics, we are revising our angles, grid referencing and data analysis units before we begin our assessment this Friday. 

For Religion, this week, we are going to be reading deeply into some of the letters exchanged between Saint Mary Mackillop and Fr. Julian Tenison-Woods.

During our upcoming HASS lessons, we will be taking part in a ‘mock’ election and further discussion into the levels of Australian government.

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Year 6

Welcome to Week 7!

This week’s learning focuses:

Religion: We are coming to the end of our learning and the students are finishing their recontextualised Our Father posters. 

English: Students are continuing their story writing and engaging in a process of drafting and feedback before producing their final copies. 

Mathematics: We will be spending our maths time with some target teaching identified areas from the PAT-M test. 

HaSS: We will be making comparative infographic posters before participating in a mock parliamentary hearing related to our proposed bills. 

Science: We will finish planning our seismograph models before we construct them and create a report. 

Health: We will be spending the next couple of weeks learning about change and high school transitioning. 

Digital Technology: Students will complete a reflection on their games before having the opportunity to let the preps test them. 

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 we can have any pictures of the students’ early primary years to contribute to our Year 6 video. I sent an email last week with some information. In addition, I am still awaiting shirt sizes dof students for our Christmas tie dye keepsakes. 

Have a great week ahead!!

Mr. Delaney and the Year 6 Legends!

Indigenous Education News

Hi Parents and Carers,

Last week some of our students from Years 4 to 9 watched the live performance screening of The Forgotten Warrior: The Story of Peter Craigie. The performance was great. It was captivating and at times funny. Students learnt about Indigenous Peoples roles in WW1 and the rules, regulations and restrictions that were placed upon Aboriginal People at this time. If you would like to find out more.

Yours in Faith and Education,

Mrs Louise Martin 

Library

We are delighted to let you know about an education resource that is available to your child  at home as part of our school subscription – Story Box Library.  

Your child can watch favourite stories, read aloud by fabulous storytellers, at home as well as in the classroom.  

Reading aloud to children, in particular by diverse and engaging storytellers, greatly  improves language and literacy skills, especially in the early years of a child’s development. Story Box Library is committed to supporting and engaging the practice of storytelling. It is  intended for use as a complementary form of delivering the precious experience of being  read aloud to, in order to improve children’s lives. Connecting children with literature  through the complementary medium of film, providing a vibrant, interactive experience via  a diverse range of storytellers sharing the best of our local children’s picture books.  

To access Story Box Library at home:  

1) Visit www.storyboxlibrary.com.au 

2) Choose Log In from the top right corner of the screen 

3) Log in using the username and password provided below 

4) Enjoy the library of stories on any device with internet connection 

USERNAME: cloncurry

PASSWORD: stjosephs

Please note the following features:  

• Story Box Library regularly adds new stories, so is an ever-growing library
  ● Content is aimed at Prep/Foundation through to Year 6 students 
• Includes a range of short films to inspired by our stories, creators and storytellers
  ● Resources are provided for each story, including Classroom Ideas, Activity Time and Student Task Sheets – all designed to assist at-home learning 
• Captions can be turned on or off for each story 
• Story Box Library is a safe online space free from advertising

Chris Chaplain 

Librarian 

Student Awards - Week 6

Congratulations to our Students who received awards for Week 6!

OWOW AWARDS!

Student Of The Week AWARDS!

Congratulations to these secondary students who participated in the Australian History Competition and Australian Geography Competition earlier in the year and they should be happy with their results of merit and credits! Well done team!

Children's Mass

We will be having a Children’s Mass in our St Colman’s Church this Sunday, 21st November, at 8:30am. We also have one of our students who will be making her First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

There will also be a shared morning tea after Mass. All welcome to join! 

Up Coming Events at St. Josephs!

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, 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

Advertise your Community Event or Notice here!