Term 2 Week 1 2023
Key Information
Term 2 Important Dates
- Tuesday 18th April - Board Meeting
- Wednesday 19th April - Holy Communion and Confirmation / Andrew Chinn Concert
- Tuesday 25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday
- Friday 28th April - ANZAC Day Liturgy and Tropical Disco
- Monday 1st May - Labour Day Public Holiday
- Friday 19th May - Athletics Carnival
- Saturday 20th May - Open Day
- Friday 16th June - Show Holiday Public Holiday
- Friday 23rd June - Last Day of Term 2
Tuckshop News
Miss Jamie-Lea is searching for some more volunteers if there are some available! Please email Jamie-Lea on jmcconachy@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au or call the office to let us know you are keen.
Our Special for Week 1 is: Taco Dogs with M&M Cookies and a Popper (GF Meal and Treat)
To order: myschoolconnect.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's News
Welcome to Term 2,
I extend a warm welcome to new and returning families to our wonderful school and community.
It is hard to believe that we have already ticked one term off the list for 2023. I trust that you had a nice break with your family over the Easter period. It is always exciting to return after the holiday’s and hear the adventures of our students.
On Sunday I sent each of you a ‘Compass Newsfeed Notification’ which included a ‘What's on this Week’ document and a Term 2 calendar. It is a busy term ahead. You can stay up to date with events by linking our Google Calendar to your personal calendar.
This week we hit the ground running as we celebrate The First Holy Communion and Confirmation of 8 students and 1 staff member this Wednesday. We have Andrew Chinn, Fr Mick, Fr Sylvester, Fr Emene and Bishop Tim visiting us for this occasion. You may have noticed on the ‘What's on this Week’ document that we have a concert with Andrew Chinn in P5 tomorrow (Wednesday - 1.50pm) - we would love for you to join us for this.
Term 2 concludes on Friday 23rd of June and it includes 3 public holidays, being Tuesday 25th April, Monday 1st May and Friday 16th of June. We have a number of events this term including:
- Holy Communion and Confirmation - Wednesday 19th April
- Anzac Day March - Tuesday 25th April
- Anzac Day Liturgy - Friday 28th April
- Tropical Disco Evening - Friday 28th April
- QMEA Trade Day Year 9 - Friday 5th May
- QMEA Unearthed Year 8/9 - Thursday 11th May
- Mothers Day Breakfast - Thursday 11th May
- Scholastic Book Fair - Thursday 11th May
- Staff and School Leaders Photos - Friday 12th May
- QLD Cricket Visit - Tuesday 16th May
- Athletics Carnival - Friday 19th May
- Open Day - Saturday 20th May
- Life Education Year 5 & 6 - Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th June
- Mulkadee Roadshow (TBC) - Monday 5th June - Friday 9th June
- NAIDOC Week - Monday 19th June - Friday 23rd June
- Dress like your Teacher Day - Friday 23rd June
Drop & Go Zone - Ham St: A reminder that Ham St (located directly in front of the front office) is a drop-and-go zone. A car cannot park in this area. If a parent or visitor needs to park their car to pop into the office or school for any reason, then they must park on either Sheaffe St or George St.
In Term 1 I sent an email to all families to explain the transition of our P&F to a Family and Community Engagement Group (FACE). I would love to receive your feedback on engagement activities you would like to see this year - please complete the linked Google Survey.
May God Bless you and your families for the week ahead,
Mrs Samantha Kelley
Principal
APRE News
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope everyone had an enjoyable break. I have enjoyed listening to the students' happy tales of their holidays. Term 2 is yet another busy term and we hit the ground running this week.
Andrew Chinn Concert Wednesday:
This Wednesday we have Andrew Chinn an Australian religious songwriter and singer, visiting our school to share his songs with our children. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands', “Rainbow”, “An African Blessing” and “Rise Up!” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. The concert will take place in the Mary Mackillop Shed at 1:50 pm. We encourage all our families to come along and enjoy the show. We look forward to seeing you there.
Confirmation and Bishop Tim’s Visit Wednesday:
This week we have our sacramental candidates making their Confirmation and First Holy Communion on Wednesday 19th at 5 pm in St Colmans’ Church everyone is welcome to celebrate in this Mass. Congratulations to Wyatt Mara-Skellern, Cole Daley, Clancy Saunders, Oliver O’Brien, Scarlett Campbell, Caroline Curley, Charlotte Curley, Brydee Gresham, Angela Murray and Tamara Williams. We are blessed to have Bishop Tim join us for this celebration as well as Father Mick, Father Emene and Fr Sylvester. Bishop Tim will be visiting for the day on Wednesday and will be able to meet with the classes. We look forward to his visit.
Project Compassion:
A huge thank you to all our students, staff and families who contributed towards Project Compassion with your generous support we were able to raise $400. This money will be sent directly to Caritas and put towards one of their life changing projects. Thank you!
ANZAC Day:
This coming Tuesday we commemorate the ANZACS. It is so important to provide students and staff the opportunity to reflect and thank all servicemen and women who made and continue to make Australia the wonderful, free country we enjoy today. The classes will spend some time reflecting on the ANZACS in the upcoming week. A wonderful story that depicts the ANZAC spirit is Simpson and His Donkey, classes will have the opportunity to share in this story. The school will also take part in the dawn service and town march on Monday.
Commemoration ANZAC Service - Tuesday 25th April
Dawn Service: we will join together in front of the post office (Scarr/Sheaffe Street roundabout) at 5:45 am.
Anzac Day March: students are to assemble in dress uniform at the old RSL Building from 9:00 am. The parade will begin at 9:20 am.
Students to be collected after the parade from Florence Clark Park. Parents / carers / family members are welcome to join St Joseph's Catholic School for the march.
Please see the flyer attached in this newsletter with all ANZAC Day Services in Cloncurry.
Assembly Prayer Week 2: Year 5 will present our assembly prayer next week which will be dedicated to the ANZACS, please join us!
Have a blessed week!
Mrs Therese Curley
APRE
Pastoral Care
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I encourage you to check out SchoolTV - head to our website, click into the Parents section on the main toolbar and navigate to SchoolTV.
Pastoral Care Leader
Mrs Toni Schneekloth
Prep
I hope you have had restful holidays. I had a wonderful time in Egypt and the UK with my daughter, and besides suffering from jetlag, I am excited to be continuing this term's learning and development journey with each student.
We will spend the first few days this week revising the sounds/letters that the class has learnt and practice identifying these sounds in words and also blending them to read simple words. This is in preparation for InitialLit testing which will begin next week. The sounds/letters learnt are; m,s,t, a, p, i, f, r. The class will learn the letters/sounds o and c this week as well. Our first "tricky words" (sight words) will also be taught. These words are "I" "the" and "my."
We will send a list of "Tricky Words" home and it would be great if you could practice the words taught with your child. This website has many fun ideas for ways to practice "tricky words" Fun tricky word activities to do at home
There will be no Literacy Groups this week, however these will start up again on Mon/Tue/Wed/Thur at 9.10am next week. Once again, any help is appreciated!
In Science we will be exploring the needs of living things, part of this involves hatching and caring for chickens. Hopefully we will have eggs in our incubator by next week. During Religion the class will continue to learn about Jesus' life. In Math over the next few weeks we will continue to develop and extend number concepts as well as exploring patterns and 2D and 3D shapes.
Miss Bec will continue teaching us about recognising and regulating emotions using the Zones of Regulation program. Here is a link to more information about the Zones program Zones of regulation.
Bring on Term 2!!!
Yours in fun and learning,
Mrs Sharon McLauchlan and Miss Tamara Williams
Year 1
Hello everyone,
Welcome back to Term 2! I hope you have all had a lovely safe holiday.
Here is a snapshot of what we will be learning this term:
English: This term we will be identifying both the short and long vowel sound that our vowel letters make. (a, e, i, o and u). We will also be writing an informative text on a chosen dinosaur.
Math: Identifying representations of halves and telling the time to the half hour.
HASS: identify and describe important dates and changes in their own lives.
Science: Describe how different places meet the needs of living and non-living things.
Religion: Identifying words, actions and symbols used in the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist to communicate God’s presence and action.
Art: Revising our Primary and Secondary colours and exploring the element of line.
Reminders
Library: Monday (week 1,3,5,7,9)
Resilience Project: Monday (week 2,4,6,8,10)
Sport: Wednesday (every week)
Technology: Thursday (every week)
Homework will be sent out on Friday and is expected back on the next Thursday so readers can be scanned in.
Have a wonderful week,
Miss Mae-Louise Brock, Miss Erin Haley and the always fun Year 1’s!
Year 2
Hi Year 2 Parents,
I hope you had a restful holiday and a happy Easter! I’m looking forward to a fabulous Term 2 with the students. We have lots of fun things ahead of us!
During Writing this Term, the students will be engaging in Imaginative writing. We have been boosting our sentence types in preparation for this. During Maths we will start our term off with Addition and Subtraction and will transition into Multiplication and Division later in the term. This week we have been reviewing place value to prepare for this. We are also looking at changes to living things in Science, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Religion and our world at different scales and how we are connected to different places in HASS.
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.
- There will be no homework this week!
Have a fantastic week,
Miss Leonie Ansell
Year 3
Welcome back to Term 2.
We’ve had a great start to this term already. We will be building on our hard work carried out in term one. This term in English we will be looking at poetry and in Maths we will be covering multiplication, fractions, time, 3D shapes, chance and probability.
Our timetable remains the same for Term Two. I've popped a few reminders below.
Reminders:
Monday: No homework will be set this week
Confirmation and First Communion rehearsal in Church at 3pm
Tuesday: Chaplain’s Breakfast in MMS at 7.45am
PE the children can wear their sports shirt
As this is Week A the children have Resilience lesson
Board meeting at 6pm in Library
Wednesday: Tuckshop orders must be in by 8.30am
School Concert with Andrew Chinn at 1.50pm
Confirmation and First Communion with Bishop Tim in Church at 5pm
Thursday: Chaplain’s Breakfast in MMS at 7.45am
Tuckshop - if your child is having tuckshop please remember to send healthy snack for brain break and something for second lunch
Children have Technology with Miss Laffey
Friday: NO Assembly this week
Thanks
Mrs Nicola Cullen
Year 4
Hi everyone and welcome back to Term 2. We have had a wonderful first day back and are jumping head-first into our learning. Our timetable has not changed at all from last term so students will be having Technology on Monday afternoons, then Library or Resilience and PE on Thursdays.
We are fortunate enough to be having Andrew Chinn visit our school this Wednesday. As part of his visit we will be having a whole school concert for parents to enjoy at 1:50 pm on Wednesday.
Reminders:
- Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.
- Library - Our Library visit is on the Thursday of every second week. Students have their visit this week.
- PE - PE will commence this week on Thursday. Please make sure your child is wearing their PE uniform.
- Assembly - There will be no assembly this week.
Have a great week,
Ms Mairin Borlase
Year 5
Dear Families,
I trust that you've had a great break with your children and wider family. Mine was certainly eventful - my trip to the USA was so action packed that I needed a week to myself to recover! New York was phenomenal, especially the helicopter ride over Manhattan. We opted for the doors on helicopter trip but the photo here was taken in the helicopter flown by Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible inside the FlyNYON terminal. 15-20km walking every day for seven consecutive days definitely takes its toll.
My favourite place was San Francisco, just a cool place to walk around and discover. The first two days were cold and very wet especially on our visit to The Rock/Alcatraz but the sun managed to kindly show its face for our trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge - absolutely stunning!
Please check out our T2 News page which has information about the rest of our Term 2 learning. The HOMEWORK page has been updated for Term 2, the paper copy will be available before the end of Week 1.
There were several families that I didn't manage to get to see before the end of Term 1. I will send personal invites during the first few weeks of this term.
Religion: This term, students will learn about the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers as they engage with a variety of texts, including Scriptural references to the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Rite of Confirmation.
- they will learn to explain the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
- they will analyse information from a variety of texts including Scriptural references to the Holy Spirit and the words, symbols and actions of the Catholic Rite of Confirmation.
Science: We are learning to inquire and investigate into the properties of LIGHT and how it enables humans to see. Through investigations, learners will be identifying how objects reflect, absorb and refract light and how humans use light to meet our needs. We will investigate how light travels through transparent and translucent materials and how opaque materials block the light. We will also investigate how light can be refracted and reflected by some materials. There is an exciting natural phenomenon this week where we have organised to see a solar eclipse right here in Cloncurry to kick start our learning about light and shadows!
Reminders:
- Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.
- Library - visit on Wednesday - every second week. Students have their visit in week 2.
- PE - PE continues on Mondays. Please make sure your child is wearing their PE uniform.
- Assembly - There will be no assembly this week.
- Y5 Host Anzac Assembly on Friday in Week 2.
Have a great week,
Mr Mike Tarleton
Year 6
Welcome back to Term 2!
This week we have introduced the class to short story writing in English. Looking at structure, language features and how to create those amazing characters of good and evil that we see in texts today!
In Maths, we have started a new topic that is all about Probability. Completing experiments- flipping coins to see what combinations we can get. The students then learned how to create Tree Diagrams to represent their data
In Hass, Year 6 is focusing on Economics and Business. This week we looked at the purposes of a business, Goods and Services that we sell in order to make income and employ staff.
It has been a very busy first week back!
Hope you all enjoyed your break!
Mr Dom Purcell.
UMY - Spotlight
Yr 7 Maths with Mrs Laffey
We began our second unit last semester and I was greatly impressed by the number of students who could recall BIMDAS! We will continue practising our application of BIMDAS and calculating using negative numbers before wrapping up our Number unit with indices, roots and prime factor form.
For the remainder of the term, students will study chance and data. They should be able to use words to describe chance but also be able to calculate chance as a fraction and percentage. This also means students can use problem solving skills to estimate how many black vs white socks are in their untidy drawers if they know the probability of getting a black sock at random. Start quizzing them at home to get them used to the language! What’s the chance it will rain today? What is the chance I will draw out a knife first from this packet of cutlery? When we start doing data, you might hear them humming - as we tend to get this song stuck in our heads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7MxGyEaN64 Be warned - it is one of those songs that sticks with you!
Yr 9 Languages with Mr Delaney
This term we are learning about a 400-year old Japanese comedic storytelling tradition called Rakugo.
Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJm7y-zQ1zk
The students will learn about the history of Rakugo, specific vocan for props, listen and interpret Rakugo stories, and understand the cultural differences of humour and storytelling. Eventually, they will practice and perform an existing children’s story with a comedic twist.
Yr 8 History with Miss Humes
This term we are finishing off our History unit by looking at the Black Death, more commonly referred to as the Black Plague, and the consequences that arose from it at the time. Imagine losing anywhere from 30-60% of the global population in a matter of years. What will happen to our society? Of course, thanks to the marvels of modern medicine this particular disease is of little concern now, but back then the impact changed society.
We’ll also look at the Shoguns briefly, before moving onto our Civics and Citizenship unit to finish off the term where students will look at Australia as a democratic society and what that means for us and our government.
Student Wellbeing
Parents as a “Friendship Coach”
The following article is from UR Strong - Please sign up for a free parent membership for guidance on how to support your child with friendship issues here: https://urstrong.com/parents/
In late 2016, writer and author Kasey Edwards reached out to me and asked: Should parents get involved in their kids’ friendships? As she detailed in her article that was published in The Sydney Morning Herald, my answer was simple: No.
As I said to Kasey, the message that we want to give our children is, “You’ve got this!” not, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this for you!”
Try thinking of yourself as a “Friendship Coach.” Coaches don’t go out there and play the game for their players. Instead, they give them advice and send them to play. Then, they stand back on the sidelines and watch. When they call their team in, they point out what they saw and give the players some tips and guidance. It should work that way with parents too, coaching your children through their friendships.
Here’s how Kasey so eloquently put it:
Rather than acting as lead negotiator in our children’s relationships, we should support them and coach from the sidelines with the following Dos and Dont's:
Reframe friendship altercations as opportunities to learn valuable skills
Research shows that children who have good social skills grow up to be more functional and successful adults. And the good news is that these skills can be taught.
“Like all skills, social skills take practice and don’t come naturally to all children,” says Kerford.
When our children are experiencing friendship problems it’s an opportunity for us to help them learn vital social skills, build resilience and strengthen their empathy.
Listen and empathise
While listening seems so simple, it’s probably often overlooked for that very reason. Just like adults, when kids talk about their problems they want to feel heard, validated and understood.
Kerford says that we need to remind ourselves that what might seem small to an adult can loom large in the eyes of a child; so large that it can seem overwhelming.
“Tune in and ask direct, specific questions,” says Kerford. “Often children have a hard time articulating what’s going on, they just ‘feel bad’. Help them put a voice to it by digging deeper.”
Encourage kids to stand up for themselves
When my daughter talks to me about her friendship problems, my default response is to say to her the things that were said to me. “Just ignore him”, “Walk away”, “She’s just jealous” are the kinds of phrases that instantly spring to mind.
But Kerford says that these responses can be too passive and minimising. She suggests taking some time to listen and empathise — and then follow up by asking “Did you stand up for yourself?”
Rather than retreating, we should encourage our kids to confront their problems and not simply put up with bad behaviour.
Kerford suggests asking kids what they could do differently next time and role-play different scenarios so they feel practised and more confident.
Teach kids the difference between healthy and unhealthy friendships
This one is the sort of advice that will be useful right into adulthood.
It’s important for our kids to know that they are in control of their lives. Kerford says that this includes the people they choose to surround themselves with. Do their friends make them feel good about themselves? If not, they should minimise the time they spend with people who make them feel bad and spend most of their time with friends who treat them well.
“Let them know that trust and respect are ‘must haves’ when it comes to friendship,” Kerford says. “Don’t say, ‘This is just something all girls must go through.’ This statement tells a girl she must suffer through and she is helpless.
What about bullies?
There’s a lot of talk about bullies and bullying at the moment. But Kerford’s advice is to avoid the word altogether. The reason is that it’s often misused and leads children — and their parents — to label kids. Instead, she suggests the term “mean-on-purpose”.
“Children understand what this means and know when someone is intentionally trying to hurt them.”
Parents can help their kids come up with a quick comeback statement to combat mean-on-purpose behaviour with a simple “Not cool”, “Wow” or “That was really mean” will suffice.
“If they’ve tried using a quick comeback and the person continues to be mean-on- purpose, that’s when an adult needs to get involved,” says Kerford. “It’s the responsibility of the adults (parents and teachers) to ensure that children feel safe and supported.”
Tell stories
Sometimes our kids forget that we were once kids too. Providing examples from our own life experience or of other people overcoming similar difficulties can help guide kids to a solution.
“Sharing your stories about some of the ups and downs you experienced in friendships when you were their age helps your child view you as not just mum or dad, but as someone who’s been there before,” Kerford says.
Mrs Bec Greaves
Guidance Officer
Andrew Chinn Visit
ANZAC Day
For students participating in march, FULL UNIFORM is to be worn including school hat and water bottle.
SRC Fundraiser Tropical Disco
Poetry Competition
From Sister Lyn
