Term 1 Week 5 2023

Key Information

Term 1 Important Dates

• Wednesday 22nd February - Ash Wednesday Mass - 7.30am - Church
• Wednesday 22nd February - Ash Wednesday Liturgy - 2pm - Church
• Tuesday 28th February - Fire Drill - 10.30am
• Friday 3rd March - School Photo Day
• Monday 13th March and Tuesday 14th March - Parent Teacher Interview Prep - 2
• Monday 27th March and Tuesday 28th March - Parent Teacher Interview Year 3 to Year 9
• Thursday 30th March - Good Friday Liturgy & Easter Hat Parade - 8.30am 
• Friday 31st March - IPRASS Day - No School 

Tuckshop Menu:

Special: Savoury Scone Roll & Caramilk Slice with a Popper

Orders are to be in by 8.30am each 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 (07)47421633 Wednesday/Thursday, or alternatively on her email jmcconachy@sjctsv.catholic.com.au

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/

Principal News

Welcome to Week 5,

We have a busy week this week as we came together for our P&F AGM yesterday afternoon, celebrated Shrove Tuesday this morning with a pancake breakfast and come together for an Ash Wednesday mass and liturgy tomorrow.

Last week in my newsletter I mentioned that I went to Townsville for 2 days of Professional Learning. I joined other Principal’s and Assistant Principal’s of Religious Education across our Diocese to examine our approach to Catholic Identity which was presented by Prof. Teresa Brown and Dr. Robyn Horney from Australian Catholic University, Melbourne. It was great to look at our 2020 ECSI (Enhancing Catholic School’s Identity) data to look for ways to improve our Catholic Identity. Over the course of the year Therese Curley and I will continue to unpack this with our staff, however, one take away from the course that stuck with me is the importance of connecting all religious scriptures, stories and texts to our own lives, as it is through the connection and the meaning that we make that a deeper level of understanding is made. We have started to implement this in our lessons of Religious Education. The students begin by examining a text and then discuss what that text means to them. Similar to Church, we listen to the Gospel Reading, which is then followed by a Homily. It is usually in the homily that we can sit back and hear the meaning of that scripture. This is what we aim to challenge our students to do.

Mid West Rugby League and Touch Football Trials:
After a delay due to weather, the Mid West Rugby League and Touch Football trials went ahead last Wednesday in Julia Creek. I would like to congratulate the following students, as ALL of our students that went and trialed made either the North West Rugby League team or the Touch Football team, what an exceptional effort. To  Mac Schneekloth, Tom Schneekloth, Zaine Morris and Kale McKenzie who made the Rugby League Team – Congratulations! To Mac Schneekloth, Tom Schneekloth, Daniel Carstairs and Louis Macnamara who made the Touch Football Team - Congratulations!

North West Swimming Trials:
It was a busy week in sport last week as we also had The North West Swimming Trials last Thursday evening and Friday day. Congratulations to all students that went along to trial.

These events are not only a big commitment for our students, however, a massive commitment to our families. This event in particular was challenging as the two trials backed onto one another. We had students that travelled to Julia Creek to trial for Touch Football or Rugby League and then back to Mount Isa for Swimming. Thank you to Dom Purcell for accompanying our students to Julia Creek and Toni Schneekloth who accompanied our students to swimming.

P&F AGM
Yesterday afternoon we joined together in the library at 3pm for our annual AGM Meeting. This year our P&F President Mrs Rene Winner-Harrison stepped down from the position. I would like to thank Rene for the enormous amount of support she provided the school, while not only in this position, but for the number of years she has been apart of our community. Rene has been awarded to Mark Mappas Medallion in the past for the extroadinary amount of volunteering that she has done of our small school. Rene, I thank you for your support in this position.

We unfortunately didn't have enough parents attend to form a new P&F committee. From here we will look at re-structuring our P&F to form a FACE (Family and Community Engagement) Group. I will provide more feedback to our families once we receive this. 

Assembly
This Friday we will join together for Assembly at 8.30am in the Mary MacKillop Shed. We will be presenting awards for the past 4 weeks as we didn’t at The Beginning of Year Mass.

May God Bless you for the week ahead, 

Samantha Kelley
Principal 

APRE News

Welcome to week 5!

Pancake breakfast was a huge hit this morning! A big thank you to Miss Pete for making fresh homemade pancakes - they were delicious!  We raised over $80 for Project Compassion - Thank you!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. St Colman's Parish will run an Ash Wednesday Mass in the church at 7:30 am. At 2:00 pm the school will share in an Ash Wednesday Liturgy where the students' promises (which were burnt and turned to ash) will be blessed and placed on their foreheads. Fr Sylvester  will be our visiting priest for the day and will make the time to visit our classes. 

I enjoyed hearing about the promises students were intending to take up. I encourage our families to ask your child/ren what promise they have chosen to keep over the next 6 weeks leading up to Easter. I have included below a few promises to share and some photos of the Year 5 class burning their promises. 

Project Compassion:
Spanning across the six weeks of Lent, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes and supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world. Here at St Joseph’s we will be sharing the stories of Project Compassion, and encouraging students and families to help us fundraise. Did you know that $25 can provide the funds needed for a family to build their own vegetable garden, ensuring they have food all year round. 

Our fundraising initiatives include; 

• Gold coin donation for Pancakes - Shrove Tuesday  
• Selling Icy Poles Friday afternoon for $1 (week 6-9)
• Hosting a Dance party during 2nd Lunch on Fridays $1 entry (week 6-9)
• Gold Coin Free Dress Day on the last day of term.  

Project compassion boxes will also be available in the classrooms. Our support can help change lives today - and for all future generations. 

Notices:

• Sacramental Program: This Sunday 26th after Mass (8:30 am) and Monday 27th  (3:00 pm) in the school Library.

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

The Resilience Project - Part 2: Gratitude

This week’s presentation from The Resilience Project focuses on Gratitude. Gratitude is being thankful and expressing appreciation for what one has – as   opposed to focusing on the lack of something.

Research shows that practicing gratitude rewires our brains to overcome the negativity bias (which can lead to anxiety and depression) and see the world what we are thankful for. It is also shown to broaden thinking, and increase physical health through improved sleep and attitude to exercise.

View Part 2: Gratitude of the series here: https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/

There are many ways in which you can practise gratitude, including starting a Wellbeing Journal. In the image below are a few ideas to get started.

Mrs Toni Schneekloth

Pastoral Care Leader

Prep

Week 5 already - half way through the term!

On Monday and Tuesday this week the Preps will be doing our Early Years testing. This test involves literacy and numeracy concepts and is redone towards the end of the year to show growth in learning. The results from these tests are also used to plan learning activities and lessons that best suit individual students and also the overall class. Each child will be individually asked to carry out tasks and to answer questions. I will be out of class doing this testing on Monday and Tuesday. At this stage Ms Gardiner (Prep library teacher) will be taking the class for these two days.

It would be helpful if you could practice, at home, name writing (in lowercase letters) and recognising numerals to 10 with your child if they need help with these concepts. We also learned our first letter sound (and name), “m” on Friday and will learn “s” this week. It would be great if you practiced identifying these letters in words. For example; “thumbs up” if you hear a “m” (say the sound for the letter not the name) at the start of a word and “thumbs down” if it doesn't have a “m” sound. 

This week is a busy week in the lead up to Easter. Tuesday is Shrove (Pancake Tuesday) and, for a gold coin donation, pancakes will be available before school. On Wednesday we have our Ash Wednesday Liturgy and each child will have the sign of the cross put on their forehead with Ash from the burning of their Lenten Promises. 

Reminders:

• Tuesday - Shrove Tuesday (pancakes available before school for a gold coin donation.) Sport
• Wednesday - Order tuckshop and Ash Wednesday
• Thursday - Tuckshop and library.
• Friday - Assembly at 8.30am

Yours in fun and learning,

Miss Tamara Williams and Mrs Sharon McLauchlan

Year 1

Hello parents and carers, 

Welcome to week 5! I Cannot believe we are halfway through the term already. Our class has been smashing out their learning and have settled into a nice routine. We are excited to see the progress for the next half of the term. 

Here is a snapshot of the week ahead;

Literacy: We are learning to identify the four aspects that a simple sentence needs. A capital letter, a full stop, the sentence needs to be about something or someone and needs to make sense. Students have loved using our new sentence train resources from Writers Toolbox to create their own sentences. 

Math: We are learning to identify patterns over the next few weeks using numbers and objects, specifically number patterns, skip counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. 

Religion: We are learning to identify our gifts from God. We will also have a focus on Lent this week, be sure to ask your child what their lent promise is. We have specific focuses on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. 

HASS: We are consolidating our learning on schooling life from the past and the present. 

Reminders

• Library: Monday (week 1,3,5,7,9)
• Resilience Project: Monday (week 2,4,6,8,10)
• Sport: Wednesday (every week) please have your child wear sports uniform
• Technology: Thursday (every week)
• Homework was sent out last Friday and is expected back on Thursday morning so readers can be changed over. 

Just a reminder that we do have a child that is anaphylaxis to Watermelon and Kiwifruit in our class. Please be mindful of when you pack these items in your child's lunch box and please let me know. 

Please also note that we have sent out photo forms last week to each student. Our school photos are in week 6 so please bring the forms back to the office ASAP.

Have a wonderful week,

Miss Mae-Louise Brock, Miss Erin Haley and the always fun Year 1’s!

Year 2

Week 5! We are halfway through Term 1!!

During InitiaLit this week we are looking at Informative texts and are reviewing vowel digraphs and split digraphs. We are learning how to write character preferences in writing. In Maths, we are working on counting to 1000 and representing numbers in different ways. Along with this, we are looking at keeping ourselves healthy and safe in Health, God’s nature and relationship with his people in Religion, Mixtures in Science,  where and why there is Drama as well as now and then during HASS.

We have been making a huge mess in Year 2 with beads and bundling sticks in Maths to represent numbers and mixing cornflour and water together to make Ooey Gooey Ooblek in Science!!

A few reminders:

• Technologies is on Tuesday each week.
• Sport is on Friday each week. Students are to wear house shirts for this and we will wear our Sport shirt on Wednesday so we get to use all of our uniforms.
• Library and Resilience Project will be on a fortnightly rotation on Mondays. Monday Week A (week 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) will be Resilience Project. Monday Week B (week 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) will be Library.
• Homework is due on Tuesday and will go out on Tuesday. We will start this week. Reading is the most important part of homework!

Have a fantastic week,

Miss Leonie Ansell

Year 3

Welcome to Week 5!

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the term already. The Year 3s have been working so hard over the last 4 weeks, it has been amazing to watch them grasp new concepts, some of which have been tricky. This week we are very much focused on the beginning of Lent. The children have been learning that Lent is the 40 days before Easter. It reminds us of the 40 days and nights Jesus was in the desert. The children have been making Lenten promises. These may be things they are going to start at home like helping with chores or something they are going to give up like candy. You could ask them about these at home.

Maths: This week we are working on telling the time to the nearest minute. The children are also learning that there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day. Please ask your child to read the time for you on both ordinary and digital clocks.

English: This week we are learning about paragraphs. We are looking out for them in our reading and also using them in our writing. This is a difficult concept but one I know they will conquer.

Reminders:

Monday: Homework will be set and given out with Home Readers

Tuesday: Year 3 have PE the children can wear their sports shirt 

                As this is Week A the children have  Resilience lessons  

Wednesday: Tuckshop orders must be in by 8.30am

Thursday: Tuckshop

                   Children have Technology with Miss Laffey  

Friday: Children can wear their house shirts.

             Homework to be  returned.

Have a great week 

Mrs Nicola Cullen

Year 4

Hi everyone,

Religion - Over the last week, Year 4 have been learning about Wise Sayings or Proverbs. As part of our learning we asked for some wise sayings that are used at home. We used these as inspiration to write our own wise sayings below:

Give it a chance before you say no. Kaley H and Tyler M

What happens in the dark, always comes to light. Gordon L and Noah O

Never count your chickens before they hatch. Archer A and Michael C

Always be kind to others and they will be kind back. Sam D, Mica L and Adam C

Bad things happen when people disobey God. Ryan C, Indi D and Sidney C

Don’t judge by the look of someone or something. Wyatt M.S., Mia W and Lane M

I love those who love me, whoever looks for me can find me. Aubree L, Sean C and Courtney G

Reminders:

• Ash Wednesday - We will celebrate the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. There is a whole school Liturgy in the Church at 2pm.
• Homework - Homework was given out this Monday and it is to be returned on Friday. 
• Tuckshop - Tuckshop is on this week. Orders are due on Wednesday. 

• Library - Our library visit is this week. Please make sure your child brings their library bag to school on Thursday. 

• PE - PE will be this Thursday. Please have your child wear their sports uniform.

Have a wonderful week,

Year 4 & Miss B

Year 5

Dear Families,

This is the half-way point of Term 1!

Remember to scan the QR Code for further information, photos and videos and especially to read Y5 News Report for Week 4. Fabulous work Peggie. You strive for success and have demonstrated excellent skills with iMovie and using Green Screen—our latest mini-expert! Congratulations to James, Chance, Grace, Peggie, Talia, Zaine, Sarah, Olivia and Jasmine on achieving their target of $250 Mr T Dollars! These students have decided to have lunch with their teacher on Tuesday—lucky me!

We will be baking again on Wednesday 1st March - please check out our next recipe and try at home!

MATHEMATICS - This week we have continued to develop our multiplication skills. The GRID Method (or Area Model) has been introduced and consolidated. Many learners are ready for the Expanded Algorithm. The daily Think Mentals continues to give us areas of focus. Using their terminology of Friendly Numbers to support addition strategies. Learners have made progress. Even with the decimal addition, learners are beginning to connect to money by using an extra zero place holder. (e.g. 3.4 becomes 3.40). Check out the Maths Strategies in Focus Page for further information about Multiplication.

HASS - This week, we are continuing to inquire into events and people who shaped Australia. We have been learning how to make factually accurate notes and generating our own questions for inquiry. We had an exceptional class debate last week regarding 1902 - Votes for Women in Federal elections in Australia with learners empathising and discussing the sense of being fair—all the boys were getting an ice-block while the girls wouldn't didn't get a great reaction. You'll be pleased to hear that we have some empowered and vocal advocates for fairness, equity and equality. We also have huge engagement in our HASS learning as a result of this powerful debate.

ENGLISH - We have continued to investigate the Where and Who to support writing expositions for our narrative texts. Sound Waves continues with investigations into e/ea (as in says, bread and egg) while further challenges include using the prefix ex- (which means out), dec, deci and cent - numerical meanings 10, tenth and hundred/hundredth. We continue to read together and discuss questions that allow learners to demonstrate their comprehension.

• NAPLAN Weeks 8-10
• Parent-Learner-Teacher Meetings Week 7 (Mr Tarleton will be on leave Weeks 8-10).

Wishing you all an awesome week,

Mr Mike Tarleton

Year 6

Welcome to Week 5!

This week, we are looking to finish our class novel ‘Holes’. We have started looking at the main characters of the text and their thoughts and feelings throughout the story. Later in the week we will take up the role of one of the characters and write a Diary Entry about those feelings. 

In Math, Year 6 students have been working out how to simplify fractions as well as add and subtract fractions. It is a very difficult concept, but one we are working very hard on!

In HASS, we have looked at the characteristics of poverty and the difficulties communities who are facing poverty every day face!

This week Year 6 students came up with their Lenten Promises and had a special session with Mrs Curley, where they burnt their promises. The ash will be used for our Ash Wednesday Liturgy this week!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Year 6 and Mr Dom Purcell 

UMY - Spotlight

Yr 7 Geography with Mr Delaney

This term, we are learning about Water in the World. This unit of work focuses on water as an example of a renewable environmental resource (including its varying availability and scarcity), its many uses, the ways it is perceived and valued, and the ways it connects places as it moves through the environment. We started by learning about the water cycle that led to weather and climate. The students have been recording and representing data as climate graphs. Before our assessment we will complete a series of inquiries that develop our understanding of how water is used and valued by different cultures and how it connects places. 

Example of climate graph created by students:

Yr  7 Maths with Mrs Laffey

Students are looking at the number strand all this term. We started with decimals (how to multiply and divide them) and then moved onto fractions. Writing fractions, converting fractions, using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with fractions. It is surprising how much it can help if at home students are asked “What is this as a fraction?” while holding up a partially eaten chocolate bar. 

We will also start to look at factors, expanded notation and index notation. My number one tip to parents is that students need to bring their own calculator to class every session. Using different calculators creates a barrier for students' learning, as each is just a little different, making it harder for students to practise! Sometimes students lose their calculators and don’t tell anyone. Same with pens, rubbers etc, particularly at the beginning of highschool when students start transitioning to various classes. It is a good idea to check in regularly to see if they have retained all their initial belongings. Homework this year is being set through MathsOnline. Check diaries to see if they have any ‘incomplete’ notes next to their homework entries.

Yr 7 Eng with Mrs Delaney-Lovett

This term the students have been working through all things persuasive! We have developed a strong understanding of the foundations of persuasion: Ethos, Pathos & Logos. The students have explored language features (alliteration, assonance, hyperbole & Power of 3) and their impact on influencing the audience. We are working on developing a power paragraph - selling/advertising a milkshake of our own creation - applying the language and structural skills we have developed. This activity generates so much excitement in the classroom because if they are effective & persuade me (as their audience) the class will make milkshakes as a treat!

Year 7 RE

The students started Term 1 working through a short unit that centred around the significance of prayer and meditation in the Catholic Christian faith. Students participated in a range of prayer styles including: Lectio Divina, Ignation (Imaginative) Meditation, Meditative prayer (with scripture) and counting our blessings with prayers and prayer beads that were created by each student individually. Through these various experiences, the class found that there are many ways to pray - and none are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, we work with what feels best. The students finalised their assessment for this topic in our lesson yesterday (Monday), however we will continue practising these prayer and meditative styles to continue growing and strengthening our connection with God. 

School Chaplain

Thank you for coming today for our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast! As always, I am so grateful for the help I receive from students, parents and staff. Thank you to all of you, truly means a lot! See you Thursday for breaky (Please see the pictures above from Mrs Curley)

In other news, we have Spark Club held at 1st Lunch in the Helpful Hub. Here we colour in, chat and giggle, listen to music and play games. It is open for everyone, and by chance your child needs a place to chill in or find respite, please encourage them to come. I would love to have them pop in!

If you wish to chat or email me about Chaplaincy, what it is or how we can help, please email pmcintyre@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au or see me at the office. We can have a chat or organise a time that suits both of us if you are requiring support. Just remember, you won't change or move forward if you don't ask for help or seek the change. 

Miss Pete 

IEAC - Indigenous Education Advisory Meeting

School Photos - Save the Date

Sight & Hearing Screeners

Mulkadee

For more information:

https://www.tsv.catholic.edu.au/newsandevents/mulkadee-qr54nh-wxy54b/

https://www.facebook.com/Mulkadee

Community Notices

PCYC Netball

Ronald McDonald Learning Program

Welcome to the 2023 school year! 

The Ronald McDonald Learning Program (RMLP) team would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the student services we offer, that are fully funded by Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Students whose education has been impacted by their serious illness or injury, including mental health diagnoses, may be eligible for:

• Individual tutoring for 12 months (minimum 40 hours).
• Educational/cognitive assessment, if necessary.
• Occupational, speech, and/or other therapy, if recommended.

Please feel comfortable to refer your students to me using the attached form, or to pass my details directly on to families.

I would also appreciate it if you would kindly add our poster into your school newsletter, to share with families if possible.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please reach out. I am here to help!

Kind regards,

Belinda O'Neill

Respectful Realtionship Webinar