Term 3 Week 3 2023

Key Information

Term 3 Important Dates

• Monday 24th July and Friday 28th July - Catholic Education Week 
• Wednesday 26th July - Dress by Vinnies Free Dress Day
• Wednesday 2nd July - Bravehearts - Prep to Year 2 
• Friday 4th August - Merry Muster - IPRASS
• Monday 7th August - Earth Science Workshop - Year 7, 8 and 9
• Tuesday 8th August - Mary MacKillop Feast Day Activities and Mass
• Friday 11th August - Staff Appreciation Day
• Monday 14th August - Friday 18th August - Book Week & Science Week 
• Friday 18th August - Learning Breakfast and Book Week Dress Up
• Friday 25th August - School Fete 
• Thursday 31st August - Bush Dance 
• Friday 8th September - Cross Country

Tuckshop News

Please email Jamie-Lea on jmcconachy@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au or call the office to let us know if you're available to volunteer!

Our special for Week 3 is: Stovetop Lasagne, Fairy Biscuits and a Popper

Please have your orders in by WEDNESDAY 8:30am.

To order: https://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 Week 3, 

Thank you to the parents and family members that have joined us this term either at events or by volunteering in the classrooms or at tuckshop. One of the goals in our School Renewal Plan 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 and respect, and 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 children 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 their classroom teacher to arrange an appointment. We would also love to see your involvement in our Family and Community Engagement (FACE) meeting this afternoon, see the invitation below.

Catholic Education Week:
This week is the beginning of Catholic Education Week. We came together today as a whole school to engage in both prayer and meditation in the courtyard. This was such a magical way to start a special week. Please join us at 8:30am in the Mary MacKillop Shed on Friday for our Catholic Education Week Liturgy, this will be followed by acknowledging the efforts of our students across the past 2 weeks.

Catholic Education Week is a time to celebrate the incredible evolution of Catholic Education. At St Joseph’s Catholic School our history is rich. In 1909 Bishop James Duhig and Fr Edward O’Keefe visited St Mary MacKillop in Sydney to request the Sisters of St Joseph’s open a school in Cloncurry. As Mary MacKillop passed away a few months later, St Joseph’s Cloncurry has the distinction of being the last foundation established by St Mary MacKillop. The Josephite Sisters traveled on a slow moving train and arrived in Cloncurry at midnight on 28th October 1909. Till 1913 each Sister took a class either in the Church, bough shed or under the Convent. The school was officially opened in 1913. We are proud to spread the kindness and message of St Mary MacKillop today. 

Staff Professional Development
To kick start Catholic Education Week our staff joined with Fr Mick and visiting priest Fr Dan to unpack scripture, and Catholic Beliefs and Traditions. We also shared in a staff mass and dinner. Take a look at some of our photos. 

A big thank you to The Gidgee for accommodating us for this professional development opportunity.

We can’t wait to see our staff and students Dressed in their Vinnies Free Dress tomorrow (Wednesday). Thank you for supporting our local St Vinnies for this great cause.

Staff Appreciation Day:
At St Joseph’s Catholic School we celebrate Staff Appreciation Day together as one. In previous years we have celebrated separately on World Teachers Day, World School Officer Day and World Administration Day. However, we love coming together in unisom to celebrate the impact that we each have on the lives of our students each and every day. 

On Friday of Week 5, being Friday the 11th of August our staff will celebrate. I encourage our students to take some time over the coming weeks to write and/or draw a message or picture of appreciation for our staff and hand it to them on this day. We have some surprises planned for staff, but a personal touch from our students is always well received.

May God Bless you and your families for the week ahead, 

Mrs Samantha Kelley
Principal 

APRE News

Happy Catholic Education Week! 

As I mentioned in week 1 Catholic Education Week is an annual state-wide event that promotes the distinctive mission of Catholic schools throughout Queensland. The Catholic Education Week 2023 theme is "Communities of Faith, Hope and Love". This was also our theme for our Beginning of Year Mass.

In our ‘Call to Action Assembly’ last week we discussed ‘What is the Catholic school difference?’ and more importantly ‘What makes our Catholic school so special?’. It was lovely to hear the students’ responses, most of which were centered around St Mary Mackillop's motto of “never see a need without doing something about it”. It’s very humbling to hear the gratitude and compassion our students show. At St Joseph’s we are blessed to be able to offer an education that fosters those caring and compassionate attributes. 

Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society. This is certainly something to celebrate.  

We invite all members of our school and parish community to our Catholic Education Week celebrations!

To Celebrate Catholic Education week at school we have a few extra activities…

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

Parental Controls on Devices

Taken from https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/issues-and-advice/parental-controls

How to use parental controls and other tools to maximise online safety in your home

Know your devices
All the devices that connect to the internet in your home offer lots of benefits. But you also need to understand the risks associated with these devices and how to protect yourself and your family.

Explore how to use parental controls:

•       on your home wi-fi network
•       built into devices, including computers, mobile devices, gaming consoles and smart TVs
•       through third-party software
•       in apps and programs, including streaming services, web browsers and search engines

Use parental controls
Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online. 

They can be set up to do things like:

•       Block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions (like using a device’s camera, or the ability to buy things).
•      Filter different kinds of content — such as ‘adult’ or sexual content, content that may promote self-harm, eating disorders, violence, drugs, gambling, racism and terrorism.
•    Allow you to monitor your child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use, how often and for how long. 
•       Set time limits, blocking access after a set time.
•     If a device or program is shared by multiple members of your family, you should be able change the tool settings to reflect each user’s age and skills.

This video helps parents and carers to understand more about the different parental controls available and which settings are best suited to your family. It’s designed for parents of kids aged 4 to 13 years old.

No parental control tool is 100%  effective. Helping your child build good online safety habits is just as important.

Mr Dom Purcell
Acting Pastoral Care Leader

Prep

Welcome to Week 3. 

This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. The Prep's will go on a "hunt" around the school to find the things they can "see" which show our catholic identity. Some examples are the school name and logo, prayer areas in classrooms, the name of the big shed and  symbols, such as those in the mosaics which are around the school. They will also identify the things they can't "see" which are part of our christian culture. Such as following Jesus' ways, inspired by the Holy Spirit in our everyday interactions and choices. There will be a whole school Mass to celebrate Catholic Education Week on Friday at 8:30am.

During literacy the class is up to learning the digraph "sh" and revising the digraph "ck". The tricky words which will be taught this week are all, call, ball, tall, little, with. Our focus this week will be identifying and writing facts from information texts. We are really encouraging the students to just "have a go" at writing; to use the tricky words they know and to write the sounds they hear in other words. IT IS OKAY IF WORDS ARE NOT SPELT CORRECTLY. At this stage of the class's writing journey we want them to have the confidence to just "have a go."     

During HASS the Prep's will explore the world using a globe, Australia, the different States and Territories and where Cloncurry is.

Our Math focus is numbers before and after a numeral.   

Reminders:

• Tuesday - sport
• Wednesday - order tuckshop
• Thursday - tuckshop and return home reader folders
• Friday - Catholic Education Week Mass and library

Yours in fun and learning,

Mrs Sharon McLauchlan, Miss Tamara Williams and Miss Brie Thew

Year 1

Welcome to week 3!

We hope everyone is having a nice week!

Snapshot for this week: 

For English and Math this week students are revising all concepts learnt in the past semester. We are focusing on ensuring that topics are revised and continued to be looked at throughout the rest of the year. 

HASS: This term in HaSS we will be discussing natural, managed and constructed environments. 

Science: We are learning about materials and their properties. We will go on a hunt around our school environment to identify the materials we see and use daily. 

Religion: We are learning about Jesus’ mission and ministries. The students have had a focus on Catholic Education week and are enjoying singing some songs that are going to be used in the Mass on Friday.

Reminders:

• Homework was handed out and is to be returned on Thursday. Please ensure that readers are coming back each week as well so that they can be swapped. 
• Just a reminder that we do have children in class with allergies/anaphylaxis to Kiwi Fruit and Watermelon. If your child does bring these fruits for brain break can you please just let us know so we can keep an eye where the children are sitting.

Have a wonderful week!

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

Year 2

Hi all,

During Writing this week, students are collaboratively constructing an informative text. They will also begin to search for facts so they can collaboratively construct their own Informative text. In HASS over the next few weeks, students will be looking at significant people in our town’s history. This week we looked at Ernest Henry. In Maths, we have just finished fractions and will begin time later this week. In Science, we are looking into Earth’s resources and how they are used in a variety of ways. We will also be examining messages and advertising during Health and communicating about music we hear and make.

Reminders:

• Homework - Homework day is Wednesday
• Library - Friday Week A (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
• Resilience Project - Friday Week B (2, 4, 6, 8, 10)

Have a great week,

Miss Leonie Ansell

Year 3

Welcome to week 3!

I can’t believe we have reached week 3 already! As you are aware, myself and my family will be returning home to Ireland at the end of this week. I wanted to take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to you, the Year 3 parents, for welcoming me not only to St Joseph's but to Cloncurry as well. Working with your children has been an amazing experience that I will always remember. I do hope to return to St Joseph's one day and look forward to the wonderful progress they have made. Leaving the Year 3s is made easier knowing that they are in the very capable hands of Miss Cooke. Miss Cooke has already started teaching and forming relationships with the children, which will make the change so much easier for the children.

This week is Catholic Education Week and the Year 3s will be singing at the Liturgy on Friday morning.

What’s on this week: 

Catholic Education Week - Communities of Hope,Faith and Love

Monday: Homework will be set and Home Readers given out                 

Tuesday: Chaplain’s Breakfast in MMS at 7.45am

                 Prayer Session in  Courtyard at 11.20am

                 FACE Meeting in Library at 3pm

PE the children can wear their sports shirt 

Wednesday: Dress by Vinnies Day - Free Dress

                      Tuckshop orders must be in by 8.30am                   

Thursday: Chaplain’s Breakfast in MMS at  7.45am

                   Rock Pop Rehearsals 3pm -4pm Year 3

Tuckshop - if your child is having tuckshop please remember to send         healthy snack for brain break and something for second lunch

              Children have Technology and Resilence              

Friday: Catholic Education Week Liturgy in MMS at 8.30 am 

              Dance Party at morning Tea in MMS

Once again thanks for everything,

Mrs Nicola Cullen

Year 4

Hi all,

Merry Muster Float: An email was sent to parents last week about costume requirements for the Merry Muster Float. Please ensure your child has white clothing to wear and a shaker of 100s and 1000s. If you have any concerns about this, please get in touch.

Writing: Our sentence focus this week is The Explore the Subject Sentence. The Explore the Subject Sentence makes your writing believable. It's the smartest way ever invented to show how much you know about a subject, and then take your reader somewhere else.  And it does all this in a single sentence. That’s why professional writers use this Sentence Style. 

• Here are some Explore the Subject Sentences:
• Napoleon, who was not very tall, led an army of 350,000 troops.

Spelling: Our spelling sound this week is the ‘ar’ sound in star. It can be represented by two graphemes: ar and a.

• The ‘ar’ (star) sound is most commonly represented by the grapheme ar (e.g. car, start).
• The grapheme a for star is often used before ‘s’ sound in seal or the ‘f’ sound in fish (e.g. ask, craft).
• The grapheme al is an unusual way to represent the ‘ar’ (star) sound (e.g. half, palm).
• The grapheme au is an unusual way to represent the ‘ar’ (star) sound (e.g. laugh, aunt).

Reminders:

• Dressed by Vinnies - Remember to come dressed in your best Vinnies outfit on Wednesday to celebrate Catholic Education Week.
• Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.

• Library - Students had their library visit last week. If they need a book before next Friday, please encourage them to visit the library during their lunch break.

• PE - Students have PE on Thursday

Have a great week,

Miss Mairin Borlase

Year 5

Dear families,

With two weeks until our B1/B2 dress up for the Merry Muster float, it was great to hear about several costumes that have been planned.

ENGLISH: We are continuing our investigation into implied meaning - similes and metaphors - as well as starting to discuss how authors make us infer about what they literally mean. We continue to read a variety of texts and respond to comprehension questions - some of which are literal (contained within the text) while others we need to use our understanding of the implied meaning. We finalise our work on apostrophes - omission and possession. In spelling, we are investigating [ar] [a] phonemes and their grapheme representation, indigenous origins of words and plurals.

MATHS: Our Think Mentals this week will investigate division using place value to extend our understanding to investigate larger numbers. Continuing with our shape work, we will be investigating transformations - rotation (turn) reflection (flip) and translations (slide) before starting our investigation into shape - using 2D nets of shapes to create 3D shapes like pyramids and prisms.

SCIENCE/HASS: We will be investigating building use in Cloncurry and are organising a short field trip into town to map the buildings. Further information will follow shortly.

RELIGION: This week, we are finalising our discussions about Confirmation and generating our own prayers using the simple You-Who-Do-Through structure.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

• MERRY MUSTER FLOAT: Our class voted for B1 and B2 (Bananas in Pyjamas) and will dress up on Friday 4th August. I will discuss ideas with the class to support families - basically blue and white striped pyjamas.
• ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC SCHOOL & ST COLMAN’S PARISH FETE: Donations of household items are encouraged for the Wheelbarrow Prize - please click this LINK to donate. To get a good spread of items, the list in the link will continually update, so get in early! The Fete is in Week 7 - Friday 25th August.

• PALUMA/GUMBURU CAMP: It is with great excitement that I announce the dates for our Paluma Camp in Term 4 - please be advised that Camp will commence early on Monday 30th October and we will return to Cloncurry on Friday 3rd November. The information from 2022 has been added to our Y5 website - please be aware that this will be finalised and updated closer to Term 4.

Have an amazing week,

Mr Mike Tarleton

Year 6

This week in Year 6:

Students have started creating their Canvas Art for the school Fete which they are very excited about!

In English we have been focusing on the Sentence Train using Writers Toolbox. Students have been looking at how they can improve their sentences and strengthen their writing in the process.

In Health we have been looking at the importance of reading labels on food packaging, with a large focus on the different drinks that we consume on a daily basis! Students have been very surprised with the different things that are going into their bodies on a daily basis. 

Is Hass, We have been looking at Australia’s Federation in 1901, and the reasons for becoming a nation.

It has been a busy Week 3, and we look forward to the Catholic Education Week Mass on Friday. 

Mr Dom Purcell

UMY Spotlight

Yr 8 Science with Ms Gillian Gardiner
We move into the exciting world of Chemistry in Term 3 this year. Key foundational learnings include reviewing the three main states of matter, learning about the Particle Model and then understanding an atom’s structure and the Periodic Table of Elements in some detail. This foundation means that we can move onto knowing the differences between a physical and a chemical change when substances are mixed together so that we can experiment with creating these changes ourselves. 

While this hands-on learning through practical experiments is much more fun than the foundational stage for many students, safety is of the utmost importance in the Laboratory. If students make poor choices regarding Laboratory safety protocols, they will observe others conducting the experiments instead of doing them themselves.

Our summative assessment task involves carrying out a chemical-change experiment (creating a new substance!) and writing the Scientific Report that is necessary for this undertaking. There is also a short quiz (20 minutes only) under exam conditions to check those foundational learnings before the experiments can be performed.

Yr 8 Maths with Mr Dean Kelley
This term students will be focusing on expanding and factorising algebraic expressions. The first 3 weeks of school have found the students activating some prior knowledge. Using what they already know and extending on their current understanding is pivotal in successfully navigating algebra this term. 

Currently, we are focused on adding and subtracting like terms. If you would like to test what they already know, ask them to solve and then explain the following equation:

7f + 2f + 3 + 4y - y + 7 =

Our next progression is to move to multiplying and dividing like terms. I’m confident we will start this progression before the weeks end.

Yr 9 Science with Mrs Rachel Delaney-Lovett
This term the students are studying Biology where they will learn about the systems of the Human Body and the ways these systems interact to function as a whole. In weeks 1-3, we have focussed on The Nervous System: that it is separated into 2 parts, has 2 types of specialised nerve cells (neurons) to communicate messages across the body and the mechanisms that maintain homeostasis. We will move into the endocrine system in the coming weeks, followed by exploring the ways in which our bodies protect us from and are designed to (with some supports) combat disease. 

For assessment this term, students will complete an exam and a written task to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the systems of the human body. These have been communicated via the assessment calendar (google calendar), however any changes will be communicated with students and parents accordingly. 

We intend to conduct a small experiment - germinating seeds - towards the end of the term, as an exploration of biological processes within our native flora. This should be an interesting activity and we look forward to the hands-on learning that science gives to us!

What is homeostasis in the body?

Homeostasis, as currently defined, is a self-regulating process by which biological systems maintain stability while adjusting to changing external conditions.

Merry Muster Float

The theme of the Merry Muster Float this year is Australian Dynamic Duo's. Our classes 'Dynamic Duo is listed below:

Week 3 Dress by Vinnies

Book Week!

Term 3 is very special as we participate in National Book Week! Our school fete is during the actual designated week, so we’ll be celebrating the occasion the week prior, 14-18 August (Week 6). This year’s theme is ‘READ, GROW, Inspire’ and the costume parade will be on Friday 18 August. Come as your favourite book character, or your favourite author, or even your favourite book! Dress as whoever or whatever in the literary world inspires you to keep growing to be your best self.

Indigenous Education

St Joseph's Catholic School & St Colman's Catholic Parish Fete - 25.8.2023

Wheelbarrow Raffle Donations 

If you would like to donate to the assorted items wheelbarrow this year please click the link below or use the QR code to choose the item/s you want to donate and then bring them into the office. https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/5wkg7  

Community Information

St Joseph's School Blessing