Term 3 | Week 3 Newsletter

Key Information

• Wednesday 28th July - Book Club Orders Due
• Thursday 29th July - Columba Catholic College visit (see below for details)
• Friday 6th August - Pupil Free Day, 2022 Prep Enrolments Due 12pm
• 21st-27th August - Book Week (Dress Up Day to be decided)
• Friday 27th August - St Colman's Parish & St Joseph's Fete
• Friday 3rd September - Pupil Free Day

Tuckshop Menu:

Uniform Shop

• Week 3 - CLOSED due to staffing arrangements

Homework Club

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

Principal News

Welcome to Week 3, 

Thank you to the parents, grandparents and family members that joined us for our assembly last Friday. The amount of community members that came along to celebrate the achievements of our students was pleasing to see. St Joseph’s Catholic School are currently working on our renewal plan which includes a Strategic Plan for the next 5 years. One of the goals that we have outlined under Mission and Purpose is to cultivate “an environment of partnership to promote open communication between all stakeholders”. Our goal is to ensure that the partnership between families and the school is based on mutual trust, respect and a shared responsibility for the education of children and young people at the school. 

We acknowledge that families are not only the first educators of our students, but educators that continue to influence a child’s learning and development during the school year and long afterwards. Term 3 is a time for students, parents and teachers to reflect on the learning that took place in Semester 1. This term provides a time for students to action the feedback on the Semester 1 report cards and strive to improve their results and engagement in Term 3 or Semester 2. Please ensure that you engage in this process - establish conversations with your child at home and take the opportunity to foster the partnership between yourself and your child’s classroom teacher. If you would like to discuss your child’s report card please contact the classroom teacher to arrange an appointment, alternatively contact the office.

COVID App - Check In Required
The escalation of COVID-19 continues to be of concern. It is important that St Joseph’s, as well as all of our stakeholders are remaining up to date with the latest guidelines. Due to the increasing concern of COVID we have registered for a QLD Check In App. It is important that all visitors to the school are using the barcode to sign in, particularly for events like assemblies when parents and carers go straight to the Mary MacKillop Shed. There are now COVID check in signs up around the school, located at the entrance to the office, library and Mary MacKillop shed. The safety of our students, staff and community members is of utmost importance to us. 

Zones of Regulation
There will be a parent information session for Zones of Regulation this afternoon in the library from 3 to 330pm presented by our Guidance Officer Bec Greaves. Zones of Regulation is a program that our Primary School uses to teach students and families about self-regulation and emotional control. Although this program has been implemented in our Primary School, the skills are transferable to all ages. Please see some skills provided to us by Bec pasted below:

Here are some skills taught during  The Zones of Regulation:

• Identifying your emotions by categorizing feelings into four zones.
• Self-regulation: Achieving the preferred state of alertness (zone) for a situation. This is all about regulating your body and emotional regulation.
• Identifying triggers: Learning what makes you “tick” and why.
• Coping strategies: Various techniques and strategies that help achieve emotional regulation and manage strong emotions.
• Size of the problem: Introduces the idea that the size of your reaction should match the size of your problem, how to identify the size of your problem, and strategies for problem-solving.
• Expected behaviour vs unexpected behaviour: This also covers perspective taking and how your behaviour affects the thoughts and feelings of the people around you.

Prep Information Evening
We will be opening up our Prep Classroom this Wednesday from 430 to 530pm to welcome future students to our school - please help spread the word to anyone interested in joining us in 2022. The enrolments for Prep in 2022 are flying through the door. If you are yet to submit your enrolment forms please contact the office and get onto this as soon as possible as enrolments will be closing on Friday the 6th of August.

I hope you have an amazing week ahead and I look forward to joining you on Friday at our Week 3 assembly. 

God Bless, 
Samantha Kelley 
Principal

APRE News

Happy Catholic Education Week
On Saturday the 24th of July I attended the Boots and Ball Gowns Dinner hosted by Good Shepherd Catholic College in Mount Isa with some of our staff and fellow colleagues from the three Catholic Schools in Mount Isa. It was an unforgettable night celebrating Catholic Education in Cloncurry and Mount Isa. I’d like to thank the committee who worked tirelessly to create a welcoming atmosphere with fantastic entertainment, food and the commemorative gift. 

On Monday we gathered all our students in the church for a liturgy to celebrate Catholic Education and to give thanks for the wonderful school community we are fortunate enough to be part of. We prayed to God for our students, staff and families, as well as our wider Cloncurry Community and Parish.

The theme of Catholic Education Week for this year is "A spirited tomorrow". Each class will be working with various classroom activities this week to engage with the theme. The Assembly Prayer this week will be led by our Year 7 class and the focus will be Catholic Education. On Tuesday the Townsville Catholic Education Western Schools (Mount Isa and Cloncurry) will be coming together at a combined Mass in Mount Isa led by Father Mick and Father Emene. We will be taking all our Years 7 - 9 students as well as our SRC Members for Years 5 & 6. The students, teachers and I who will be attending will also be celebrating by enjoying a cake with St Joseph’s Catholic School, Mount Isa, St Kieran's Catholic School, Mount Isa and Good Shepherd Catholic College, Mount Isa.

Gospel Reading John 6:24–35
Jesus teaches the crowds that he is the “bread of life.”

In today’s Gospel, the crowd asks Jesus for a sign so that they can believe that he has come from God. This is a curious request, because Jesus has just fed more than 5000 people with just five barley loaves and two fish. How quickly they seem to have forgotten the wonderful thing that Jesus has done for them. Or, maybe they never recognized the miracle in the first place. Sometimes we don’t recognize the wonderful things that God has done for us. And, sometimes, we simply forget and ask for further evidence of his love and care. We pray that God will remove our blindness so that we can receive with thanks and praise all the wonderful things that God accomplishes in our lives.

Together as a family, name the wonderful gifts that God has given you and some of the remarkable deeds that God has accomplished in our world. Observe that it is important to stop to count our blessings because we can easily miss recognizing all of the wonderful things that God does for us. Read together today’s Gospel, John 6:24–35. Ask: Why are the people seeking out Jesus? (because he has fed them) What do they want from Jesus? (a sign that he has come from God) What does Jesus tell them? (He says that he will give them something greater and more important than the bread that fed their physical hungers; he will give them bread that will give them eternal life.) Recall that we have this gift from Jesus in the Eucharist. Pray together, thanking God for all that he has given to us, especially for the gift of eternal life and the Eucharist. Pray together the Magnificat.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.

Mary MacKillop Feast Day
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop is on our school’s Patron Saints. Her feast day is each year on the 8th of August, however due to our IPRASS Day next Friday we will be celebrating Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day on Thursday the 5th of August. We will start our celebrations with an assembly on Thursday morning followed by activities as well as a sausage sizzle and cake. As always parents are invited to come along to the assembly.

Mass for You at Home
Did you know Catholic Mass is broadcast on free-to-air television each Sunday morning? Mass for You at Home is broadcast at 6am on Channel 10 and WIN. Let family and friends know that they can pray along at home if they are unable to attend their local parish. Find out more at www.massforyou.com.au

May God bless you and your family this week

Shadley Davids
Assistant Principal - Religious Education

Pastoral Care

Clubs 
We have a few different clubs operating at the moment at St. Joseph’s!

Animal Appreciation Club
This club was initiated from within the student body - every week on Thursday at second break, the AAC convenes in the Science Lab to learn about a particular species.  

Book Club
Book Club runs on Tuesday at second lunch with younger students who are able to get recommendations from older students on books to read.  

Homework Club
Just a reminder about Homework Club which is on every Thursday in the MacKillop Room from 3pm-4pm for students in years 5 to 9. This is a great opportunity for students to get their homework done before getting home and getting help if they have trouble with a concept. They don’t have to stay the whole time and can bring a snack to eat while they work.

Green Joeys
Green Joeys is run sporadically throughout the term where students have the opportunity to complete a project that will enhance the environment.  Keep an eye out for future dates.

Guidance Counsellor

Just a reminder about our school Guidance Counsellor, Bec Greaves, who visits our school once a week. Bec is able to assist with students who are having difficulties emotionally. If you or your child would like to make an appointment to see Bec please contact me. 

Have a great week!

Mrs Schneekloth
Pastoral Care Leader

Prep

What a fabulous day we had celebrating our 100 days of Prep on Friday!

This week is an unusually uneventful week in Prep. I will be out of class Tuesday and one other day (TBA) to administer the Early Years test. Each child will be tested individually. The students do the same test that they did earlier in the year and their growth in different areas will be analysed. This data is used to inform our teaching.

Prep will celebrate Mary Mackillop on assembly on Thursday next week (Week 4). This is on Thursday as there is no school on the Friday of next week. It would be great if you could attend.

Please remember:
Sports day is Tuesday (wear sports uniform)
Library is Wednesday.
Home Readers to be returned every Friday.
No tuckshop this week.

Yours in fun and learning,
Mrs McLauchlan

Year 1

Hello parents and caregivers,

Welcome to Week 3!

This week in Year One we are revising our bossy ‘e’ digraphs. We have been focussing also on letter and number formation. In math rotations we are learning about place value and are completing our assessment. HASS has taken us outside to look at natural, managed and constructed features of our school environment.

Reminders:
The Show and Share roster was sent out last Monday. Our topic this week is; What is your favourite book and why?

On Thursday and Friday Miss Brock will be out of the classroom as Year 1 will be completing their Early Years Testing. All students will complete this testing and the data received will be used to inform planning. 

Sport: Tuesday with Mr Murray
Library: Thursday with Mrs Chaplain

Have an amazing week,
Miss Brock and the always fun Year 1's.

Year 2

Hi all,

This week is another exciting one! We are checking our eggs to see which ones are developing!!

We are also learning about:

Tricky words: tomorrow, school, cousin
English: Procedural texts
Maths: Flips, slides and turns, shapes

Reminder:
Wednesday is PE day
Thursday is Library day

Have an awesome week,
Miss Ansell

Year 3

Hi everyone!  

The learning highlights for Year 3 this week are:

• In Maths we will have our assessment on numbers to 10 000 towards the end of the week. 
• In Science we are using our scientific knowledge to draw and label diagrams of living, nonliving and once living things.
• In Religion we are looking at the different parables told by Jesus, in particular the meaning of the Parable of the Lost Sheep. 

Homework and home readers were sent out on Monday. Please let me know if you haven’t received these. 

Reminders 

• Library: Wednesday
• PE: Thursday 

Have a great week ahead. 
Miss Coombs

Year 4

Welcome to Week 3,

Brain Break: In Health this term we are looking at healthy eating. To encourage the students to bring brain break, I am giving them a trading card with a cool food groups character to collect. They seem pretty excited by this. Could you please ensure they have a healthy snack packed each day for their brain break eg fruit, veggies, yoghurt.

Glass jars and recyclable items: We are still in need of some glass jars for our Science this term. Could you also check with your child what equipment they need for their recycled article in Design and let me know if you don’t have any so we can send a call out to other families.

Thanks for the donations that have already come in.

Mrs Wall

Year 5

Welcome to week 3!

Here is a snapshot into Year 5 this week!

ENGLISH: This week we are focusing on developing our descriptive writing skills and building simple sentences into complex ones.

MATHS: Students are finishing their number line work and we will be moving into adding and subtracting fractions.

SCIENCE: During science this week, students are learning about Terrestrial planets and the Jovian planets.

HASS: This week we continue to look at the ways Indigenous Australians managed the land and how their connection to Country impacted the way they managed the environment.

JAPANESE: Students have been working on their TA, CHI, TSU, TE, TO, KA, KI, KU, KE, KO and SA, SHI, SU, SE and SO sounds over the last week. Their writing of hiragana characters are improving! Could I please ask for students to bring in a small grid notebook to practise their hiragana in. If there are any issues with getting these please let me know!

Have a fabulous week!
Miss Campbell

Year 6

Welcome to Week 3!

This term’s learning focuses are:

Religion: Students will compare and contrast Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 
English: We will finalise our sizzling starts for our newspaper articles based on one of the reasons for or against federation. 
Maths: Students will begin to learn how to multiply decimals. 
HaSS: This week, students will explore key figures that influenced federation in Australia. 
Science: We will be testing our hypothesis concerning the conditions for yeast growth and production of carbon dioxide and using the results to inform our scientific reports. 
Health: We explored the aspect of cultural identity and diversity through the Indigenous olympians, past and present. 

Have a great week ahead!
Mr. Delaney and the Year 6 legends

Subject Spotlight - Business & Economics

At St. Joseph’s, this subject falls under the Humanities portfolio, along with History, Geography and Civics and Citizenship. The subjects of Civics and Citizenship and Business and Economics are delivered as intensive subjects - delivered over the course of a few weeks, for the allocated four lessons of Humanities per week.

The Year 8 curriculum gives students the opportunity to further develop their understanding of economics and business concepts by exploring the ways markets – including traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander markets – work within Australia, the participants in the market system and the ways they may influence the market’s operation. The rights, responsibilities and opportunities that arise for businesses, consumers and governments are considered along with the influences on the ways individuals work now and into the future.

Currently, our Year 8 students are studying Business and Economics and will complete one assignment based on all areas covered in the curriculum. 

Student Awards & Welcome Constable Lauchy

Congratulations to our Week 2 Award recipients, well done!

And a special welcome to Constable Lauchy who was inducted into our St Joseph's School Community under the Adopt-a-Cop program.

Library News

A reminder that Book Week is this Term from the 21st-27th August. We will communicate with parents which day is dress up day.

The theme for 2021 is "Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds"

Rock Pop

Rockpop practices will continue this week, running from 3-3:45pm under the Mary Mackillop shed.

The junior group (students in years 3-5) will take place each Tuesday of the term.
The Senior group (students in years 6-9) will take place each Thursday of the term.

Please bring some afternoon tea, a drink bottle & appropriate clothing/footwear to dance in.

Keep an eye out in the Newsletter/School FB Page for any RockPop updates.

Fete Sponsorship Thanks

A HUGE thank you to the sponsors listed below that have come on on board for the 2021 St Colman's & St Joseph's Fete

Columba Catholic College - Western Tour

Staff from Columba Catholic College will be visiting St Joseph's on Thursday 29th July between 9-10am to meet with current and prospective families & students.

All are welcome to come along, please come to the office to sign in first.

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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