Term 4 Week 1

Key Information

Upcoming Board Meetings

• Wednesday October 5th
• Tuesday November 8th

Term 4 Important Dates

• Emerging Leaders Roadshow - Monday 10th October 
• Rockpop Rehearsals - Monday 10th October 
• Year 7 Vaccinations - Tuesday 11th October 
  
• Rockpop Mt Isa Performance - Friday 14th October
• Headspace Visit - Year 6 to 9 - Wednesday 19th October
• Mission Mass & Soktober Challenge - Thursday 20th October 
• Swimming Carnival - Friday 21st October
• Founders Day Fun Run - Friday 28th October
• Day for Daniel - Friday 28th October
• Grandparents Day Breakfast - Friday 28th October
• Year 5 Camp - Monday 31st October - Friday 4th November
• P-4 Jally Entertainment Performance - Monday 31st October
• Remembrance Day Liturgy - Friday 11th November
• Prep Transition Day - Tuesday 15th November 
• Move Up Morning - Friday 18th November 
• 2023 Student Leader Elections - Tuesday 22nd November 
• Year 9 Graduation Dinner - Thursday 24th November 
• End of Year Mass - Friday 25th November.

Please note that students in years 7 to 9 conclude term 4 on Friday 25th of November. Students in prep to year 6 conclude term 4 on Friday 2nd of December. 

Tuckshop Menu:

Orders to be in by 8.30am Wednesday morning! Click the link to order!

https://myschoolconnect.com.au/

Uniform Shop

Open Days:

• Monday 2.30-3pm
• Wednesday: 8:10am-8:30am

Any requests for uniforms outside of these days MUST be done via the link below. Please click the link to access the Uniform shop! https://myschoolconnect.com.au/

Principal News

Welcome back to school for our last Term for 2022 and what a busy term we have ahead. We kick started the term yesterday morning with a staff briefing and Chaplaincy Breakfast. It was a fantastic way to begin the term. In Term 4 Miss Pete our School Chaplain will be continuing Chaplaincy Breakfast Club, which will run each Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7.30am in the Mary MacKillop Shed 🍞🍏🍌🍊🍉. According to the Red Cross “breakfast is important in re-fuelling the body with energy and nutrients, kick-starting the day”. We look forward to seeing you for breakfast on Thursday - parents, carers, family members are welcome to join us (coffee is available). 

Rock Pop:
Our Rock Pop students have been working incredibly hard for their performance which will take place next Friday the 14th of October in Mount Isa. Productions like this are a huge job for our students and an even bigger job for our teachers. I would like to thank Mrs Delaney-Lovett, Miss Brock, Miss Ansell and Miss Rachel for their tireless work on the choreography, rehearsals, costume design, props, banner design and creation, and the administration that has been ongoing throughout the year. St Joseph’s are very thankful for your dedication to The Arts. 

Half Day - Bank Holiday Reminder:
A friendly reminder that St Joseph’s will be concluding the school day on Friday at 12:00pm for the Special half day Cloncurry and District Race Club TAB Meet Bank Holiday.

Staffing Update:
This term we will be welcoming two new teachers to our team, being Mrs Catherine Cullen and Miss Mairin Borlase. Mrs Cullen will be covering teacher absences and planning days this term, while Miss Borlase will be teaching The Arts. I have included a blurb below so you can get to know Catherine and Mairin.

Mrs Catherine Cullen

Hi my name is Catherine Nicola Cullen, for some crazy Irish reason everyone calls me Nicola. I am from a small city called Derry in the North of Ireland, it has been made a little famous recently by a show called Derry Girls. I have been teaching for over 25 years and have a wealth of experience of working with children from 3 years old to 11 years old. I am really looking forward to working with the parents and children of St Joseph's School, your Principal Mrs Kelley speaks so warmly about everyone. Myself and my husband will be bringing my youngest two of five children with us and know they will make amazing friends in no time.

We are very excited to be welcoming both Catherine and Mairin to our community. Please make them feel welcomed over the coming term. 

Miss Mairin Borlase

Kia Ora (Hello), my name is Mairin Borlase (Miss B) and I will be starting to teach at St Joseph’s Catholic School this coming Term. I am moving to Cloncurry from New Zealand where I began my teaching career at the beginning of this year. In NZ, I taught in a year 4/5 combined class at a very small rural school with only 80 students - this makes Cloncurry seem like inner city Brisbane! Outside of school I like to stay active, normally this is by playing lots of sports, competing in adventure races, hiking up mountains and riding my bike, but I also enjoy having some downtime where I can read a book or do some knitting (although I

might need to re-think that one out here). When it comes to teaching, I work hard to build positive relationships with the students. I believe students who come from rural backgrounds have so much potential to make a difference and I feel incredibly satisfied when I see them experience success. In NZ we often use Maori proverbs to set the tone for a conversation and so I will leave you with this: Poipoia te kākano kia puawai - Nurture the seed and it will bloom

Student Leadership Elections 2022:
I will be speaking with all students from year 4 to year 9 over the coming weeks about the Leadership Elections in Week 8. St Joseph’s Catholic School has a Student Leadership Team each year which consists of 2 School Captains (Year 9 only and 4 House Captains (two for each of the houses - Blue ‘Flinders’ and Yellow ‘Kennedy’).

Middle School (Year 5 - 9) students of the following year will be invited to nominate for a position of leadership, in their respective areas i.e School or House Captain for the following year. 

The nominees are expected to exhibit leadership potential and behave in an exemplary manner within the school in the following areas:

1. Organising and running games at lunch time for other students; 
2. Outstanding behaviour;
3. Class work completed to the best of their ability;
4. Display honesty, trustworthiness and politeness;
5. Looking for children without friends at play time and helping them make friends; 
6. Giving a speech to an audience larger than their class. 

Please begin conversations with your child / children on their interest to run for leadership in 2023. Students will be given a copy of the leadership manifesto to bring home if they are interested. 

The 2023 leaders will be announced at the awards night on Wednesday 23rd of November at The Cloncurry Shire Council. 

End of Term Events - Save the Date:

If you would like to keep up to date with events and reminders please add our Google Calendar to your own by clicking on the this link. 

Kind Regards, 

Mrs Samantha Kelley 
Principal

APRE News

Welcome back to Term Four. I hope the break gave our school community a valuable opportunity to rest and recharge in order to prepare for the busyness of Term Four. I look forward to catching up with our students this week to hear about all of the exciting things they did during their break. 

October - Month of the Rosary
This month the classes will focus their prayer times around the Rosary. October is designated by the Catholic Church as the "Month of the Rosary" because in this month the Church celebrates the Marian advocation of "Our Lady of the Rosary" on October 7.  

To understand this feast, we need to go back in time. In the 16th century, the Islamic Ottoman Empire presented a serious military threat to western Europe and sent a fleet of ships to attack Christian defenses in southern Europe. Pope Pius V recognized the grave danger and organized a fleet called the Holy League to confront the navy of the Ottoman Turks. 

On October 7, 1571, the two navies engaged in a pivotal battle that would determine who controlled maritime traffic in the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Aegean seas. The fate of western Europe depended upon the success of Christians in this navy battle, which involved more than 400 warships (it was the largest naval battle in Western history for centuries). 

Pius V knew he needed more than just military strength to defend Christian Europe, so he asked that all the faithful pray the rosary, requesting the intercession of the Blessed Mother. At the end of the Battle of Lepanto, the Holy League was victorious and the maritime expansion of the Ottoman Empire was permanently prevented. (www.dotb.ca)

Still today the Rosary is such a powerful prayer that lets us develop and strengthen our relationship with God. By praying the Rosary, we meditate on the events in the life of Jesus Christ and this lets us know God more. 

Wishing everyone a refreshed start to the new term!

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

Welcome back to Term 4!

A warm welcome to you all for our last term of the year, and we especially welcome our new students and families to the St. Joseph’s community! We hope you all enjoyed the September school break and took some time recharging the batteries in preparation for what will no doubt be a busy term for us all.

Pastoral Care refers to all actions taken within a school to promote a climate of care that enhances the personal, social, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing of students and staff. Effective pastoral care has the potential to address lack of engagement, absenteeism and nurture an environment of opportunity, resilience and respect.

‘Resilience is being able to bounce back from stress, challenge, tragedy, trauma or adversity. When children are resilient, they are braver, more curious, more adaptable, and more able to extend their reach into the world. Children will have different levels of resilience and different ways of responding to and recovering from stressful times. They will also have different ways of showing when the demands that are being put upon them outweigh their capacity to cope. They might become emotional, they might withdraw, or they might become defiant, angry or resentful. Of course, even the most resilient of students have days where it all gets too much, but low resilience will likely drive certain patterns of behaviour more often. Strengthening them towards healthy living is about nurturing within them the strategies to deal with that adversity. 

All children are capable of extraordinary things. There is no happiness gene, no success gene, and no ‘doer of extraordinary things’ gene. The potential for happiness and greatness lies in all of them, and will mean different things to different kids. We can’t change that they will face challenges along the way. What we can do is give them the skills so these challenges are never able to break them. We can build their resilience’ (Young, 2022). 

Taken from Young, K. (2020) Building resilience in children - 20 practical, powerful strategies (backed by science), Hey Sigmund. Available at: https://www.heysigmund.com/building-resilience-children/ (Accessed: October 1, 2022). 

October is Mental Health Month and this year’s theme is ‘‘Building Resilience: Communities and Connections’’. We have partnered with The Resilience Project to deliver emotionally engaging lessons to each student providing practical, evidence-based mental health strategies to build resilience and happiness. Through the foundations of gratefulness, mindfulness, empathy and emotional literacy, The Resilience Project aims to support mental health in the classroom, staffroom and family home.

In addition to weekly lessons at St. Joseph’s, we plan and promote various activities and conversations to help educate our school community about the importance of understanding mental health issues. This term in Week 3, we have Headspace visiting for workshops with our Years 6-9 students. As always, we come from an educational lens and anticipate that these workshops and The Resilience Project program generate much discussion among the students and their teachers.

Mrs Toni Schneekloth 
Pastoral Leader

Prep

Welcome back for Term 4!

I hope you enjoyed the holidays.

I was absent from school yesterday as I was traveling back to Cloncurry. Mrs Cullen had a great day with prep.  

Reminders:

• Wednesday - Order tuckshop and water safety at school
• Thursday - Library and tuckshop
• Friday - No assembly and school finishes at 12.00pm.

Yours in fun and learning,

Mrs Sharon McLauchlan and Miss Tamara Williams

Year 1

Welcome to Term 4,

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

Here is an overview of the term ahead;

Reminders:

Monday: Technology with Mrs Laffey

Tuesday: Drama with Miss Borlase

Wednesday: Sport with Mr Murray you will receive separate information about swimming for this term.

Thursday: Library with Mrs Chaplain please ensure any overdue books are returned and students have their library bags at school.

Friday: School will finish at 12:00pm!

If your child is away from school, please ensure you let the office know.

We hope you have an amazing week.

Miss Mae-Louise Brock

Year 2

Hi Year 2 Parents!

How is it Term 4 already?! We’ve had such a fantastic year so far and I can’t believe it will be over in a few weeks time!

This week we are learning:

English: We began this week with a short piece of writing on our holidays. We will be jumping back into our persuasive writing to end our week. Our tricky words are: decided, know, were

Maths: Interpreting simple maps

Religion: Healing Relationships through reconciliation and prayer

Science: Push or Pull

HASS: Significant People to our community - John Flynn

Health: Gratitude

Reminders

• Swimming starts next week. Due to swimming, our Sport day has been moved to Wednesday.
• We have a new Arts teacher! The students will be doing Drama with Miss B on Tuesdays
• Library is on Thursdays
• I am changing our Homework day! Our Homework will now be going out on Wednesdays. This way, students will be able to keep their homework over the weekend and bring it back on Wednesday morning.

Miss Leonie Ansell

Year 3

It is so good to be back for the final term of 2022. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed. I hope you all had a well deserved break.

We start as we mean to go on - straight into our curriculum content for the last term.

English - our focus this term starts with poetry and so we will review a number of poetry types and have a go at writing our own. We will also present our work to the class, gaining the confidence to speak to a chosen audience.

Maths - Measurement, shapes and angles are the focus of the term. We also continue to consolidate our knowledge on place value. 

Science - freezing and melting - I am asking all students to complete a short project at home called ‘run,run, runny'. It is to help the students to think about changing states in real life settings.

HASS - Our students will identify and describe aspects of their community that have changed and remained the same over time.

PE -Thursdays - You will receive separate information about swimming for this term.

Library - Wednesday – please ensure any overdue books are returned.

Don’t forget we have a short day on Friday - school will finish at 12pm.

If your child is going to be away from school, please ensure you let the office know. It is a busy time for completing our curriculum goals and ensuring all assessments are completed.

We hope you have a wonderful week .

Mrs Deb McCann

Year 4

Welcome back to Term 4! I am so excited for the units we are covering this term and, as it is a short term, we have hit the ground running. Here’s a short overview of our units.

English: Narrative writing including character development and creating tension.

Maths: We will be revising topics that students found tricky, starting with fractions.

Science: Material World. In this unit students explore the characteristics of different materials which make them suitable for different purposes.

HaSS: Investigating Environments. Students will investigate the characteristics of different biomes. They will research areas of Africa and South America and find information about climate, flora and fauna, comparing these areas to our local environment.

Religion: In the first of two units, students explain how free choices result in actions that affect the individual and their community. They explain how practices and characteristics of contemporary parishes and dioceses are modelled on the mission and ministry of Jesus.

Don’t forget to bring your swimming notes back before next week. Our swimming day is Wednesday and the Year 4 class will be swimming after 2nd lunch, returning to school at the end of the day bell.

Have a wonderful (short) week!

Mrs Lesley Wall

Year 5

Warmest welcome back to the final term of the year - time flies! The main learning journey this term will encompass discussion and research into the Rainforest biome before we continue with a focus on Civics and Citizenship. 

We commence with a strong Science focus on the plants and animals we expect to see at Paluma (on camp) while our English will focus on Informative text structure and organisation.

English: Learners will work on Informative writing throughout the term - investigating a range of Information texts related to our Science focus. We have already started to read about Sir David Attenborough and identify key features used within the text. Our writing goals will be to improve the use of key features (headings, paragraphing, to structure our writing.

Maths: We commence with developing our understanding of Data and how it is presented as well as analysis and interpretation. There will be an opportunity for them to investigate water usage in their homes and investigate temperature data  comparison between Cloncurry and Paluma. We will also continue revising multiplication and division strategies throughout the term.

Science: Rainforest - we will be investigating mammals, frogs, birds and plants that we hope to discover on our camp adventures. In conjunction with English work, learners will be presenting their discoveries with an oral presentation and display of information later in the term, following lots of research and preparation time. The ‘hands on’ Science tasks will be based on investigating leaves and insects using microscopes.

Religion: Learners will continue to examine Mary’s role as mother of Jesus and mother of the Church. They will analyse the elements and features of some Marian prayers including the Hail Mary, the Rosary and the Litany of the Mary of Nazareth to describe the role of Marian prayer in the lives of believers past and present. They will use features of Gospel texts to show how the Gospel writers shaped their Gospels for particular communities. 

Key Dates:

School Camp: Monday 31st October - Friday 4th November

Swimming/PE Lesson: Tuesdays (starting Week 2)

Homework: Returned every Monday please

Many thanks for your continued support,

Mr Mike Tarleton

Year 6

Welcome back for Term 4!

The Year 6 students’ final term of primary school…!!

We will be under the pump from the get go. We have some loose ends from Term 3 to tidy up and then we will be on the home stretch. 

This term’s learning focuses:

Religion: After finalising our learning of the Eucharist, we will be learning about Jesus’ New Law and the works of mercy. Students will explore how believers live out their faith through these spiritual and corporal acts. Finally, we will be participating in a variety of different contemplative prayer types including The Examen, Ignatian meditation and Journalling. 

English: This term, the students will be practicing reading comprehension strategies by reading the novel Fireborn. Furthermore, we will be drawing inspiration from the fantasy genre to write our own adventure/quest narrative based on a role-play game which will involve deep character development. 

Maths: We will be connecting fractions, decimals and percentages as representations of the same numbers - to calculate simple percentage discounts and to describe probabilities. Students will also be exploring volume and capacity, including choosing appropriate units of measurement for calculations. Finally, we will be learning to write and solve equations using brackets and the order of operations. 

HaSS: This term, we are learning about systems of government including Australia’s. Student’s will explain the importance of people, institutions and processes to Australia’s democracy and legal system. This will include a role-play of passing a bill through parliament (in the classroom). 

Science: This term our scientists will explore how sudden geological and extreme weather events can affect Earth's surface. They will consider the effects of earthquakes and volcanoes on the Earth's surface and how communities are affected by these events. Students will gather, record and interpret data relating to weather and weather events and create their own seismograph for assessment.

Our PE day has changed to every Tuesday for this term. This will be for water safety and familiarisation lessons at the pool. Library is still on Wednesdays. 

I am excited for a great term with a really great bunch of kids!!

Mr. James Delaney and the Year 6 Legends!

UMY Spotlight

Year 7 - Maths with Mrs Tania Laffey
Shapes! This term we are doing all the shapes! Do you remember Isosceles, Scalene and Equilateral triangles? What about Rhombus, Trapezoid, Kite, and the favourites, Rectangles and Squares? These are the quadrilaterals we will need to classify. Can you draw them and explain the difference between them? Well our year 7’s will be able to in a few weeks time. And, what’s more, they are all going to be mathematical artists and be able to draw 3D prisms. Help us out and play the nerdy party game where you make a shape out of Lego or Duplo, and try to draw the top, front and side views of the shape! We are also going to look at angles…here is one right now…

Year 8 - Geography with Mrs Toni Schneekloth
In Term 3, students examined the processes that shape individual landforms, the values and meanings placed on landforms and landscapes by diverse cultures, hazards associated with landscapes, and management of landscapes. This term, students will be investigating the changing human geography of countries, as revealed by shifts in population distribution. They will also examine the reasons for the high level of urban concentration in Australia, and the associated challenges faced by our large cities, drawing on case studies of other urban environments globally for comparison. 

Year 9 - Japanese (LOTE) with Mr James Delaney
This term, we are learning about Yuru Chara. This refers to Japanese mascots. In Japan, nearly everything you can think of has its own mascot. Students will be learning about the pop-cultural significance of this practice before creating a mascot of their very own. This mascot will represent something in/to do with Cloncurry…

To go with their creative mascot drawings, the students will be constructing a handmade booklet that introduces and outlines their mascots. They will then create an animated voiceover that pitches their idea and further introduces their mascot. On presentation day, these animations will be showcased to the teachers and their fellow peers for judging to decide the winner of the 2022 Cloncurry Yuru Chara Grand Prix.

Library News

Welcome to Term 4, a busy term ahead with the Reading Challenge, Books in Homes and all the Christmas festivities coming towards the end of term.

For those eager to join the Reading Challenge we are having at school, I ask you to come and borrow some books from the Library. As it is a school Reading Challenge, books from the library are only allowed. We have plenty to offer all ages.

I hope this will bring enjoyment for our children and encourage them to read more.

Chris Chaplain

Teacher/Librarian.

Save the Date - Swimming Carnival

The St Joseph's Catholic School swimming carnival will be held on Friday of Week 3, being the 21st of October. Due to a very busy term we have had to schedule this earlier then we usually have it. We would love for you to come along on the day. Further information will be shared next week by Mr Murray. 

Student Wellbeing

Resilience is one of those skills that all kids need and should have. It refers to their ability to cope and adapt in situations when confronted with challenges such as adversity, trauma, tragedy, or even stress. It is essential to their mental health and wellbeing as part of their journey to adulthood. It is a skill that can be learned from an early age through the support of an adult role model.

However, being resilient does not mean your child won't experience any difficulties, but it will better equip them to manage those situations. Overprotective parenting can be viewed as being unhelpful towards the building of resilience. Although this may be a natural instinct, potentially experiencing failure is all part of the process. Encouraging children to take healthy risks will help them trust their capacity to deal with uncomfortable situations and increase their capacity for courage.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will gain an understanding of how to support their child’s brave behaviour to help them adapt and build resilience.

Here is the link to the Resilience edition of SchoolTV

https://sjctsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience

Community Notices - Music Lessons

Professional Development Session

Townsville Catholic Education is excited to announce that Dr Michael Carr-Gregg will be holding a free professional development session for educational professionals prior to our Education Employment Expo.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia’s highest profile psychologists, author, broadcaster and specialist in parenting, children, adolescents and mental health and will be delivering an address on Mental Health Issues for Staff. This presentation will cover stress management techniques and strategies to improve staff wellbeing. 

There are limited places available, register now and don't miss out!     

 >>     REGISTER HERE     << 

 Registrations are available for TCE staff and non-TCE staff.

St Kierans Christmas Fete