Term 3 Week 8 2023
Key Information
Term 3 Important Dates
- Tuesday 29th August to Thursday 31st August - Father's Day Stall
- Thursday 31st August - Father's Day Breakfast - 7.45am - MMS, Blessing of Primary Buildings - 2pm - Courtyard & Bush Dance - 5.30pm - MMS.
- Friday 8th September - Cross Country - 9am - School Oval.
- Monday 4th, Monday 11th & Tuesday 12th September - Prep Enrolment Interviews
- Wednesday 13th September - R U OK Day
- Thursday 14th September - Upper Middle Years Vinnie's Hang Out Evening
- Friday 15th September - Free Dress Day and Last Day of School
Term 4
- Tuesday 3rd October - First day for Term 4
- Friday 13th October - Rock Pop Concert
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 8 is: Curried Sausages, Brownies 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 8,
I would firstly like to thank you for the prayers and messages of condolences I received last week as I had to travel home for a death in the family. Whilst I was away it was full steam ahead for a very busy week. I would like to formally thank the volunteers that assisted in making the Fete possible last Friday, especially to our Fete Coordinator Miss Mia Dixon and to our wonderful Assistant Principal Mrs Therese Curley for pulling off such a spectacular event.
BGA Update - Demolition and Building Works:
We are excited to be preparing for our upcoming demolition and building works. You may have noticed that the library and year 1 classroom have been the first to move to the demountable classrooms on George Street. We wish to advise that Remploy from Mount Isa has been awarded the demolition contract. This contract includes the demolition of the existing administration building, Block B, Block C and the covered area. The works also include asbestos removal to the existing buildings. Remploy will be encapsulating the buildings whilst this is being undertaken and the air monitored for safety. An asbestos hygienist will be present during the asbestos removal. The works shall commence on Saturday 16th September 2023 with the following timetable:-
- Asbestos removal – 16 th September – 29th September (no students or staff on-site)
- Building demolition – 29th September – 27th October (during the building demolition, Remploy will have dust suppression in place).
Over the coming weeks we will aim to relocate the year 2 classroom into the remaining demountable on George Street, whilst year 3 and year 4 will relocate into our Drama and Arts room.
The Learning Enrichment Centre will begin relocating into the Music Room this week and Mrs Bec Greaves our Guidance Officer will start relocating to The Board Room in the Secondary Building over the coming weeks.
The front office will be the last area of the school to move. This will either move for Week 10 or at the end of the term.
I would formally like to thank Evolution Mining for their generous donation of three storage containers for the duration of the building works. It is such a blessing to have your support. These storage containers have been placed in an out of bounds area behind The Mary MacKillop Shed.
Please see a diagram of the proposed new layout below, please note that this is not to scale:
Once we have a new fly through of the upcoming build it will be shared with you.
This coming Thursday we will have a blessing of our current buildings. The current buildings hold a lot of memories that we would like to remember and pay our respects to prior to demolition beginning. Please join us on Thursday at 2pm in The Primary Courtyard.
Bush Dance - Thursday 31st August 2023 - 5.30pm
Our annual Bush Dance will be this coming Thursday at 5.30pm in the Mary MacKillop Shed. We strategically scheduled the Bush Dance to be on the same day as our blessing. We have Josephite Sisters and previous students travelling to Cloncurry for the blessing and thought a Bush Dance to follow this event would be a wonderful way for them to celebrate. Meals are available for purchase by our SRC from 5pm. Please note that the children’s playground will be closed during the event.
Pupil Free Day - Friday 1st September
A friendly reminder that this Friday the 1st of September is a Pupil Free Day. Our staff will be participating in professional development all day. This professional development will be focused on the teaching and learning of students, reviewing current practices and planning ahead for future teaching and learning opportunities in the Curriculum.
Cross Country - Friday 8th September
Communication has been sent home by our Acting Sport and Extra Curricular Coordinator Mr. Dominic Purcell about Cross Country next Friday 8th of September. The event will kick off at approximately 9am.
We would love parent help on the day so please reach out to Mr Purcell if you are available.
Fathers Day Breakfast - Thursday:
This Thursday we would love to see our dad’s at The Fathers Day Breakfast. Breakfast will start at 7.45am in the Mary MacKillop Shed.
OptiMinds:
We had three teachers, Mr Mike Tarleton, Mrs Delaney-Lovett and Mr James Delaney travel to Mount Isa on Saturday to accompany three groups at Opti-Minds. The feedback from our staff was that our students behaved wonderfully and represented St Joseph’s with pride. They faced challenges throughout the day within the competition but worked together as a team. Congratulations to Heidi Barker, Charles Carstairs, Nika Sala, Harrison Scobie, Kimberlee Davis, Knox Swalling, Ruby Hansen, Kali Poch, Peggie Hansen, Chelsea Saunders, Grace Swalling, Olivia Curry, Jasmine Kidd, Lillian Bell and James Barker. We are very proud of you.
May God Bless you for the week ahead,
Mrs Samantha Kelley
Principal
APRE News
Welcome to Week 8!
Congratulations Miss Mia for pulling together an outstanding Fete. To see the crowds that turned up and the excited children running from stall to stall was a wonderful sight. Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors and the parents and staff who helped out on the night. It was a huge success and would not have been possible without your support!
Years 5 - 9 Vinnies Hang Out - Thursday 14th Sept 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
In Week 10 we will have Stephen Gasparini (the Youth Engagement & Development Officer for St Vincent de Paul Society, Townsville) join us to run a Vinnies Hang out. This gathering will consist of a shared meal, games and a presentation addressing homelessness and the support that St Vincent de Paul Society offers, it will also address social justice issues. In week 9 the students from Year 5 to 9 will be invited to this event.
Fathers Day
This weekend we celebrate Fathers Day. A day to thank and show our love to all our fathers, grandfathers and father figures in our lives. Being a short week we will not have an assembly, however we still wanted the opportunity to acknowledge all the wonderful fathers and father figures we have at our school. To celebrate this day we will combine our Chaplaincy Breakfast on Thursday with a Fathers Day Breakfast. Hope to see you there.
Have a blessed week,
Mrs Therese Curley
APRE
Pastoral Care
Students today have extremely busy schedules, with ever increasing responsibilities at school and at home. Many kids, especially adolescents, are going to bed later and later and are at risk of sleep deprivation. This affects three areas of a child’s development: psychological, physiological and psychosocial. All three are essential to a child's growth, learning ability and overall wellbeing. Sleep is vital to a child’s overall development and is as important as diet and exercise.
Sleep also strengthens a child’s immune systems and supports their ability to function properly on a daily basis. Children who do not get enough sleep show increased levels of aggressive behaviour, are less attentive and are much less active. Trying to catch up on sleep on weekends is not the answer and can still lead to severe sleep deprivation.
In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn about the importance of sleep and how sleep deprivation can have adverse effects on a child’s health and wellbeing.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact our Pastoral team of Mr Purcell (acting) Pastoral Care Leader or Miss Bec, Guidance Counsellor, for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to the Sleep edition of SchoolTV
https://sjctsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sleep
Mr Dom Purcell
Acting Pastoral Care Leader
Prep
Welcome to week 8!
Firstly, thank you to everyone who contributed playdough and things for us to add to the playdough packs. These sold well at the fete.
This week there will be a Father's Day stall where students can buy a small gift. Please put money for this in a NAMED bag, envelope or wallet and place these on the top of the lockers. That way we can remind your child to go to the stall at lunchtimes.
This week the class will revise the sounds "ch", "v", "x" and "y" and all Tricky Words. We will continue with The Three Little Pigs as our book focus. Some great writing has been happening in this literacy area! During Math the class will continue to explore data, and how things move will continue to be our science focus. We will send the painted canvases home for Father's Day this week. On Thursday morning there will be a Fathers Day Breakfast before school and our bushdance is on Thursday evening. Each class has been practicing a dance to perform. Food will be available to purchase on the evening.
Reminders:
- Tuesday - sport
- Thursday - Father's Day Breakfast, tuckshop, blessing of the primary classrooms at 2pm, before the demolition in the holidays, home reader folders to be returned and school bushdance at 5.30pm.
- Friday - Pupil Free Day (staff will be engaged in professional development so no students will be at school)
Yours in fun and learning,
Mrs Sharon McLauchlan, Miss Tamara Williams, Miss Brie Thew
Year 1
Welcome to Week 8!
As a class this week, we are spending time resetting classroom expectations and rules as we navigate working in a new environment.
This week in English, and for the remainder of the term, we are making connections to characters, settings and events in literature. Students are writing about their experiences, using both simple and adverb start sentences and drawing a picture to match.
In Mathematics over the last week, Year 1 has started to represent and solve simple addition and subtraction problems using a range of strategies. These include counting on, partitioning and rearranging parts. This week we are consolidating our learning on the counting on strategy and looking at the new strategy of tally marks. The students are loving our doubles song!
Reminders:
- Sport is on Wednesday. Children may wear their Sport Uniform to school.
- Homework will be handed out on Friday. Homework, if your child has outstanding books it would be great if they were brought back.
- School Bush Dance is on Thursday night in the shed at 5pm, the students have been learning the Hokey Pokey!
- Friday is a pupil free day. School will be closed for staff professional development.
Have a wonderful week!
Miss Mae-Louise Brock, Miss Erin Haley and the always fun Year 1’s
Year 2
Hi all,
We have almost finished our informative texts for our HASS/Writing task. In Maths, we have started to work on 3D shapes. In Science, we are looking into Earth’s resources and how they are used in a variety of ways. We are also communicating about music we hear and make. We have completed our Health assessment.
This week students are also completing PAT testing. This test provides great data on where students are in their learning journey and what they need to further progress.
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)
- Bush dance - Thursday 5:30pm
- Pupil Free Day - Friday
Have a great week,
Miss Leonie Ansell
Year 3
Welcome to Week 8!
Here’s what we are learning this week:
English: Students have begun writing information texts to inform their reader about an animal of their choice. This week students will learn how to edit their work to enhance their writing!
Spelling: Students will be focusing on the sound ‘v’ as in voice, which is represented by the graphemes v and ve.
Maths: Students are learning how to represent money in multiple ways and find change for simple transactions!
Religion: Students are identifying how they can live moral lives by following the Beatitudes.
Health: In Health this week, students will be exploring changes they have experienced in their physical, social and emotional lives.
HASS: This week, students will learn various mapping skills and get creative to design their own neighbouring country to Australia.
Science: Last week, students explored how First Nations Australian’s classify and group living things (for example, as venomous and non-venomous). This week, students will use venn diagrams and flow charts to categorise the living things they found in their previous outdoor investigation.
Other Reminders:
- Fathers’ Day Stall - Monday to Thursday
- Homework - No homework this week!
- Chaplain’s Breakfast - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:45am in MMS
- Tuckshop - Must be ordered before 8:30am Wednesday
- SRC Meeting - Wednesday Morning Tea
- Fathers’ Day Breakfast - Thursday 7:45am MMS
- Blessing of the Primary School Buildings - Thursday 2pm Courtyard
- Rock Pop - Thursday 3pm-4pm
- Bush Dance - Thursday 5:30pm
- Pupil Free Day - Friday
I hope you all have a great week.
Thanks,
Miss Laura Cook
Year 4
Hi all,
Writing: We are continuing with the same sentence focus this week as we had last week: The -Ing Start Sentence. This sentence slows writing down. And because -Ing Start Sentences slow things down, they help make your writing feel more thoughtful. To write an -Ing Start, begin with the -ing bit of your sentence (a verb ending in -ing like: walking, wondering, trying, sleeping) and then place a comma. After the comma, put your subject—that's who or what your sentence is about—and then finish your sentence. Check these out:
- Waving goodbye to her friends, Kate put on her coat and headed outside.
- Eating as fast as he could, Brian worked his way through the pile of hotdogs.
- Smiling to himself, Boris grabbed the custard pie from the pantry's top shelf.
Spelling: Our spelling sound this week is the ‘v’ sound in vase. It can be represented by the graphemes: v and ve.
- We usually use a for horse before ‘l or ll’ (e.g. all, call, fall, also, always).
- The ‘v’ sound as in vase is most frequently represented by the grapheme v (e.g. voice, river).
- The grapheme ‘ve’ represents vase at the end of words (e.g. give, leave). Words in English do not end with the grapheme v, apart from a few slang words (e.g. rev).
- The grapheme f in the word of is an unusual way to represent the vase sound.
Reminders:
- Bush Dance - The school Bush Dance is THIS THURSDAY night.
- Pupil Free Day - Friday is a pupil free day.
- Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.
- Library - Students will not visit the library this week as there is no school on Friday
- PE - Students have PE on Thursday.
Have a great week,
Miss Mairin Borlase
Year 5
Dear Families,
Last week was another action packed week! We had the RFDS visit, the Fete and Opti-Minds among other things. Our Y5 representatives at Opti-Minds did a stellar job with their task and presentation - leaving with two awards for Honours in Science Engineering and Spirit of Opti-MINDS. They should all be extremely proud of their achievements, we are grateful for their families who gave up their Saturday to attend and support them!
ENGLISH: We will complete our PAT-Reading and Grammar Punctuation Tests this week. These are internal assessments which help to inform teaching and learning. Results are not formally shared with learners, however once completed, certain questions may be investigated together and areas for development discussed to inform future goals. We continue to use Writer’s Toolbox to complete daily writing challenges–reading work to an audience and giving peer feedback are a current focus. We try not to focus on spelling when looking at others’ work, we instead give feedback about sentence styles, paragraphing and punctuation. In Spelling, we are investigating [w, wh, u (referred to as w when written with q)] and also [v ve] with homophones also a focus.
MATHEMATICS: We will complete our PAT-Maths Tests this week. We will complete our work on Shape and Angles with an assessment. For whatever reason, if learners are absent for these and other assessments, they still need to complete at a later date. We will also spend some time this week discussing angles connected to the compass points, which learners will need to support their Geographic Skills in orienteering.
BUSH DANCE: We will spend most afternoons this week practising for our Bush Dance this Thursday - if learners can please continue to practise the steps at home, this would be very helpful. The music video is in their Shared Student Drive.
Wishing you all a great week 8 - see you at the Bush Dance on Thursday! Please remember that Friday is a student free day as staff will participate in Reflective Practice Day.
Mr Mike Tarleton
Year 6
Another Busy week in Year 6
This week, students have been finalising their Draft Newspaper articles on Federation. They have been planning and working on these for the past couple of weeks, and they are really starting to take shape. We have an informative wall in the classroom that students have utilised when writing their newsletters. Particular focus has been placed on the structure of their newsletters and their writing skills.
In Maths, students are in the final learning stages of the term, focusing on the area of a triangle as well as grid references using a Cartesian Plane. At the back end of week 8, students will complete their Math revision test in preparation for their Week 9 final assessment task.
In Science- students have continued looking at microorganisms in preparation for their Science Assessment.
We are on the home stretch and will continue to work hard until the end of the term to not only learn new concepts but to consolidate our learning.
Mr Dom Purcell
UMY Spotlight
Yr 7 & 8 Art with Miss Humes
In the art space this term, Years 7 & 8 have been exploring stop motion as part of their Media Arts unit. Stop-motion is a style of animation that is composed entirely of many photographs. You may not have heard of something called ‘frames per second’ before, but it is fairly straightforward. You could describe it as the amount of photos, which are referred to as frames, appear within the span of a single second. Now the exact number of frames per second can vary, but the majority of animated clips in films or television run at 24 frames per second.
This is important to understand, because without it we’d be lost in this next part. Students have, for this term, been tasked with creating an advertisement in small groups for any product they choose. However, their advertisement needs to be predominantly filmed using stop-motion techniques, and last for at least 30 seconds. Now, with a little bit of maths, this means students will be taking approximately 700 photographs to sell the audience of their product. So far these advertisements have been developing well, and students alo have the next couple of weeks to finish up their production before submitting their work for assessment early in week 10.
Year 9 English with Mrs Delaney-Lovett
This term the students have been working on hybrid texts - blending (non-fiction) informative structures and features with (fiction) imaginative conventions to create a speculative fiction task. We began the term with a mentor text, Mechanica: a beginners field guide, which is a perfect start point for exploring speculative fiction. The students developed their own ‘mechanica’ in the form of a fact file, which was a really engaging activity! I was beyond impressed to see that each student, without prompting, researched technical details to give their idea authenticity and credibility.
We then moved into determining real from fake news and how to critically evaluate online sources. This is an important skill to possess not only when being receptive to ideas and information, but to also use in a hybrid text of their own (we need our audiences to genuinely believe that the ‘information’ they are reading is real!).
Following on from this, the students worked through developing a small newspaper article, flipping an existing news story into a speculative fiction text. This was a builder task towards their assessment, which we have started as of week 8.
For assessment, students will write a script for an emergency news broadcast that is covering an ‘end of the world’ (apocalyptic/post apocalyptic) event. The students will construct a multi-modal presentation for this broadcast, drawing upon the spoken, written & visual features necessary for media communication. There will be time made available to them in-class in week 9/10 to film their broadcast (green screen style) before submitting the completed assessment at the end of week 10.
It has been a busy term for year 9 English but I am looking forward to seeing their final products!
Year 9 Religion with Mrs Delaney-Lovett
Students have finished the topic Exploring Faith Traditions and are handing in the last of their assessment over the coming week. Across the back end of Term 3, students will begin a new topic - Priest, Prophet, King, where they will consider ways in which believers live their Christian vocation and distinguish between the participation of believers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly work of Jesus Christ.
All lay people, through their baptism, share in a Christian vocation (Latin 'vocátió' - 'calling'). A Christian vocation calls all people to develop to their fullest potential, so that they may be able to share their own individual gifts, talents, abilities and blessings as fully as possible, for the sake of others.
This topic will see us out until the end of the term, including assessment.
Deadly Dancers Opportunity
Student Wellbeing
Celebrating Father’s Day
Over the centuries, the role of fathers has evolved. During the industrial revolution, fathers were more detached, spending long hours working in factories, whilst mothers took on the role of primary socialiser and educator of children. Men tended to show their love and devotion from a distance, choosing to leave the child rearing to their wives.
Today things have changed dramatically with many Dads being celebrated for being sensitive, caring and more hands-on. Research has shown that the amount of time fathers are now spending teaching, helping and playing with their children, has trebled. This has transformed our understanding of how fathers shape their children’s lives from the start, challenging conventional ideas of parenthood and gender.
Fathers who involve themselves in physical activity with their children, play a key role in influencing them to learn self-control, face challenges, regulate emotions and take manageable risks. However, to be a great Dad, you need to also indulge in a little self-care and look after your own mental health. This allows you to be more responsive to your child’s needs, and engage more readily in play and learning activities.
If you are a Dad and struggling a little bit, it is advisable to seek help from a medical professional. Or, if you just want to talk to someone who understands, you can call one of the following organisations.
In Australia, phone MensLine on 1300 78 99 78 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36.
In New Zealand, contact Healthline on 0800 611 116 or Man Alive on 0800 826 367.
https://sjctsv.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/celebrating-fathers-day - video link
Fathers Day Stall
Reminder: Fathers Day Breakfast is on Thursday August 31st, MMS, 7.45am - 8.15am.
Community Information
