St Joseph's Catholic School - Cloncurry eNewsletter

Key Information

Term 4 Important Dates

Year 6 Graduation Evening - Wednesday 30th November
Movie Night - The Santa Clause - Thursday 1st December, 6pm
Conclusion of 2022 School Year - Friday 2nd December, 12pm

Tuckshop Menu:

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

https://myschoolconnect.com.au/

A little note for all Parents & Friends -
If you are needing to contact Miss Jamie-Lea, please call the office on 47421633 Wednesday/Thursday, or alternatively on her email jmcconachy@sjctsv.catholic.com.au

Week 9

Aussie Dog with Fairy Bread Slice and a Popper

Tuckshop_Menu_2022.jpg

Uniform Shop

Open Days:

Monday 2.30pm-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/

Orders have been placed with stockists and we are confident that all items will be available for purchase in January.

Principal News

Welcome to Week 9,

The final week of school for the 2022 School Year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the support that you have given to St Joseph’s in 2022. The staff and students are incredibly thankful for the ongoing work that you do for our wonderful schooling community.

In reflecting on the year I wish to express the immense pride that I have in our students who overcame many obstacles to strive for success in all areas. At our End of Year Mass our two School Leaders, Chloe Savage and Faith Douglas addressed our community for the last time and they both referred to the challenging but incredibly successful year that we have had. We started the year with more uncertainty from COVID-19 but we have ended it in such a positive and resilient way. What a privilege it is to be able to witness the joy that comes from students progressing in their learning. I am thankful that we could come together last week at our Awards Ceremony and End of Year Mass to celebrate the success and hard work of our students.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish our departing families, students and staff all the very best as they embark on the next stage of their schooling journeys. I firmly believe that you will achieve whatever you set your heart and mind to - we look forward to hearing of your stories throughout the year. You will always be a big part of our St Joseph’s Community.

Advent

The holiday season is a time for celebration for many of us, especially as we begin to decorate our homes for Christmas and enjoy all of the festivities that come along with this magical time of the year.

The beginning of this holiday season is also the beginning of an important event in the Catholic Liturgical Calendar, Advent. Advent is a time to help us remember what Christmas is all about. I challenge you to have conversations at home over the coming weeks about the season of Advent and the significance of Christmas to our faith.

Our prayer tables at school changed to the colour purple this week to reflect the beginning of the Advent Season. In ancient times purple was the colour of royalty as it was costly and rare. The liturgical colour of Advent is a symbol to welcome the coming of a King.

In the Catholic Church, the beginning of the Advent Season is a period of waiting and preparation which extends over the four Sundays before Christmas. Advent is the time of preparation and waiting for the birth of Jesus. It is important to take the time to reflect and be grateful for the many blessings that we have, remembering the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Hampers

As a school we teach our students to 'never see a need without doing something about it' and that is exactly what we intend to do. We have prepared baskets of food and gifts for families in need this Christmas Season.

Although the holidays are an exciting time for us all, they can bring financial pressure on families which can become overwhelming. The baskets that we have prepared consist of food donated by a number of our families and toys from St Vincent de Pauls. All food and gifts are brand-new products that haven't been opened.

If you require assistance this holiday season and would like a basket of food and or gifts please reach out by calling the office on (07) 4742 1633 or by emailing skelley2@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au

This will be kept confidential and the baskets will be distributed next week by myself, Mrs Toni Schneekloth (Pastoral Leader) and Mrs Curley (Assistant Principal).

If members of our schooling community don't need the baskets of food or gifts we will reach out to members of our Cloncurry Community to help anyone that may be in need this Christmas Season. If you know of anyone please let us know.

End of School on Friday:

Please join us on Friday at 11.30am in the Mary MacKillop Shed for our final assembly - our students have a performance for all of our families to end the 2022 school year.

2023 School Dates:

This a reminder that school will resume on Monday the 23rd of January 2022 for all students - Prep to Year 9.

Additional Pupil-Free Days in 2023:

In addition to the usual public holidays, St Joseph’s Catholic School will also have the following pupil-free days in 2023:

Friday 31st March 2023 (End of Term 1)
Friday 4th August 2023 (Merry Muster Weekend)
Friday 1st September 2023 (Staff Professional Development)

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kind Regards,

Samantha Kelley

Principal

APRE News

Welcome to our final week of 2022. With the first Advent candle already burning we are well and truly into the festive season. Christmas is just around the corner. During this season of Advent please encourage children not to forget about the true meaning of Christmas - it’s not all about the presents.

Advent -A time to get ready

Advent is a special time when we get ready for Jesus. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. During this time, we get ready to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a time of waiting. We wait with hope. We know that someone very special is coming.

Please join us for our End of year assembly at 11:30 am, Friday. Prep to Year 6 will perform a Christmas song.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to welcoming our community back in 2023. For those students, staff and families who are leaving, we send with you a heartfelt blessing and wish you all the best in your new endeavours.

May God bless all our students, staff and families.

May we be filled with love, joy, and peace this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

Loving God, may we find joy in giving and receiving gifts this Christmas. As we celebrate the gift of your Son, Jesus, may we become present to each other as we give and receive. We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.

Amen

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

See You in 2023!!

As the 2022 school year ends, I couldn’t be any prouder of the St. Joseph’s Catholic School students and staff. In another year that has thrown us so many curveballs, I have seen all the students mature, develop independence and improve their skills across various contexts. I wish to thank all the SJC staff, our parents and carers, and the extended support networks that continue to enable our students in becoming the best they can be.

Thank you to our hard-working Student Representative Council (SRC) - they have given up their own time to serve their school community. Well done!

To the families who will leave us this year, please remember you are still part of the St. Joseph’s family and call in or email us anytime to say hello. We thank you all for the great contribution you have made to our school.

I wish all of you a Spirit-filled Christmas. Enjoy the time with family and friends, and take a moment to rest and relax. I look forward to seeing you all as we begin another school year together in 2023!

Mrs Toni Schneekloth
Pastoral Leader

Prep

Week 9!

I cannot believe that it is the last week of the year! We are feeling sad about handing the class on. Thank you for the privilege of teaching your child this year. The growth in each student's learning over the year always amazes me!

This week we will continue to revise concepts, practice our writing and make Christmas creations. We aim to send everything home with your child by Wednesday. This will include the Christmas gifts that the students have made for their families. Please let me know if you will be finishing school before then. Emptying the lockers will allow us to clean these in readiness for 2023 and will also get the class used to putting their hats etc in their bags as they will not have lockers next year.

Reminders:

Thursday - Tuckshop and continue to return any outstanding library books.
Friday - School finishes at 12pm.

Wishing you a safe, happy and healthy Christmas break.

Yours in fun and learning,

Mrs McLauchlan and Miss Tamara

Year 1

To all students and families,

Wishing you a wonderful holiday and Christmas break. I hope you enjoy some time with your family and friends.

Thank you for being a fantastic team of students, looking forward to seeing you in the new year.

Ms Mae-Louise Brock

Year 2

Hi all,

We’ve made it to Week 9 and the last week of our school year!

We are still keeping up with InitiaLit in the mornings. We’ve also been having a lovely time completing some Christmas-related Maths and Writing tasks.

I am planning on sending student books home over the next couple of days. It would be super helpful if the students could bring a plastic bag in to pop their things in.

Finally, I just wanted to thank you all for such a wonderful year. I am blessed to have had the most beautiful bunch of children with such awesome parents! I wish you all a safe and restful holiday and I look forward to another wonderful year at St Joseph’s next year.

Merry Christmas!

Love Miss Ansell

Year 3

So it seems only a short time ago I was sitting in a cafe in England, suddenly I blinked and I was back here in Cloncurry.

Our Year 3 students did well to adapt quickly to a new teacher with new ways of working. We became amazing readers, devouring as many books as we could get our hands on. Read, read, read became our mantra. When we assessed our students' reading at the end of the term, we were so impressed with how much they had improved. Thank you to all our families who supported our readers at home.

On top of our literacy and numeracy work this week, we have been very creative with our Christmas crafts. We hope you enjoy their hard work.

Over the past few weeks, all students have been busy completing assessments and teachers have been busy writing reports. I hope you all can be proud of how much academic and emotional growth our students have made. I think they are ready for the challenges that Year 4 has to offer.

Thank you for welcoming me back and may I take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas to all our families. I hope you have a safe and relaxing time.

Mrs Deb McCann

Year 4

Hi Everyone,

This week has come along so quickly and it is really hard to believe that this is the last week of school. It will be a very busy week with a trip to the pool, Advent activities, Secret Santa, Joey’s got Talent and cooking.

Cooking/class party- On Wednesday morning we will have a cooking session which will be our class party. We will be making pizza and smoothies. Students will not need to bring their first lunch on that day.

I would like to thank everyone for their continued support this year. I am very lucky to finish this stint of my teaching with such a wonderful class and supportive parents. It is always a privilege to watch students grow not only academically and socially and this year has been particularly rewarding.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and hope you enjoy some relaxing time with your very special children!

Mrs Lesley Wall

Year 5

Dear Families,

After 12 weeks with your children, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all students for their effort and polite behaviour within the classroom.

I wish you all the best for the holiday period.

Merry Christmas,

Mr Mike Tarleton

Year 6

Welcome to Week 9!

The end of the line! Thank you all for your support this year. I have had a great time and I hope the students have too.

This week we are:

Cleaning the Year 6 class for the last time
Preparing for our Year 6 celebration, including cooking some food to share
Participating in some Advent and Christmas activities

I look forward to seeing you all at our celebration under the Mary Mackillop shed at 4pm Wednesday afternoon!

For the last time,

Mr Delaney & The Year 6 Legends!

Primary Technologies with Mrs Laffey

This term, all our primary classes have been learning about sustainability, sustainable materials and selecting appropriate tools and equipment. We have applied our learning to designing and producing Christmas decorations, perhaps you have seen some come home!

Students have looked at ways to incorporate scent into their decorations to make them more effective. They applied the KISS Method - Keep It Stupendously Simple - to design bunting, dehydrated orange strings, Christmas tags/cards, Christmas trees and paper chain feature decorations. Higher-quality designs tend to last longer, so contribute to a more sustainable future. We emphasised how simple designs and appropriate tool choices can make our designs look and feel of higher quality. To this end, we got to use some new materials and new tools. Some examples included: a mandolin and dehydrator, water-activated paper tape, an eyelet tool and watercolour pencils. If you need new decorations this year, rustle up some old cereal boxes, coloured pencils and some hessian string and let them show you their new skills!

Library News

I'd like to congratulate all the children who participated in the Library challenge. It was refreshing to see so many students interested in reading. Well done on your great detective work - finding the relevant books for the set categories.

Although it wasn't an exercise to read the fastest- we had some fast finishers- it was wonderful to see the level of focus and dedication of the students.

For those students who didn't quite finish, I applaud your efforts in "having a go".

Well Done Everyone!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and an exciting 2023.

Mrs Chris Chaplain

Reports

Report Cards will be available from 1 pm this Friday - an email will be sent when they are available.

We encourage all leaving families to please download all reports as your access to compass will finish on 31st December.

For all other information, please contact the office 47421633 or clncry@tsv.catholic.edu.au

Student Wellbeing

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the families of St Joseph’s for allowing me to play a small role in the growth, learning and development of your child(ren) this year.

Please enjoy this very well-earned break and spend time slowing down and reconnecting with loved ones. While Christmas has become very commercialised and the focus often changes to presents and food, remember that this is a time to play, talk, relax and bond with those who are special to us.

I am sure that you have lots of ideas on how to spend this time with your family, but have a look over these ideas for easy and free activities you can do to create special memories.

Stay safe and I will see you all again in 2023.