Term 3 Week 9 2023

Key Information

Term 3 Important Dates

• 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 9 is: BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) with Biscoff Cake 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/

Thank you for your patience as we transition into the new office space. We endeavour to have the entire uniform shop relocated by the end of Week 9. 

Miss Heather

Principal's News

Welcome to Week 9, 

The holiday’s are close, but the term isn’t slowing down yet.

Cross Country - Friday 8th September 2023
This Friday we won’t have an assembly as we kick start the morning with Cross Country. Mr Dom Purcell sent an email to all parents and carers last week about the day. I have included some of this information below: 

Each child will be expected to participate in the cross country for their age group unless Mr Purcell or the office staff have been informed of a medical reason as to why they may not be able to participate. Cross Country distances and race start times for age groups are as follows: 

• 5- 7 Year olds- 1km (Approx start time- 9:50am) 
• 8 and 9 Years olds- 1.5km (Approx start time- 9:40am) 
• 10 Years- 2km (Approx start time- 9:20am) 
• 11, 12 and 13 Years- 3km (Approx start time- 9:12am) 
• 14, 15 and 16 Years- 4km (Approx start time- 9:10am)

All Cross Country events will be concluded by 10:30am and students will head straight into morning tea break before spending the rest of the day in their classroom’s as per usual. We will aim to have age champion and runner up for each age group presented at our Week 10 assembly. 

If there are any parents that would like to assist in walking the track on the day please contact Mr Purcell at dpurcell6@sjctsv.catholic.edu.au 

Students are to come dressed in their house shirts, must be sun safe and wearing their school hats. Students are also to wear their sport joggers on the day. It is strongly advised that your child brings a water bottle to school on Friday so that they can keep hydrated throughout the day- both before and after their event. Water stations will also be set up on the track for those that need water throughout their event. 

We have also arranged local police to monitor the crossing of the road that will take place for our 10-15 year students throughout the morning. 

We are looking forward to an excellent Cross Country for 2023! 

National Child Protection Week
We have a busy week planned as we celebrate National Child Protection Week, which goes from the 3rd to the 9th of September. The theme this year is that every child, in every community, needs a fair go. The protection of children is everybody’s business. It is important that we are all working together to support children to thrive and be safe and secure in their environment(s). It is vital that we are always listening to the voices of children in our communities and informing them of how they can speak out and seek assistance if they are feeling unsafe. 

The following link will take you to a video from The Hon Leanne Linard, Minister for Children and Youth Justice. It emphasises the importance of Child Protection and outlines the steps that The Queensland Government are taking to ensure this. Although this video is from 2021 the key message behind it is important: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAHLeGLCfE0

I encourage you to spend some time with your children this week talking about Child Protection, to do so I have pasted a link to some worksheets that you can use as a guide for these discussions:  

https://www.napcan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Childrens-Voices-Activity-2018.pdfThe eSafety Commissioner have also scheduled free webinars for parents and carers. The live webinars explore the latest research on how you can teach your child to develop skils to be safer online. All of the sessions are delivered by eSafety experts from the Education and Training Team: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

Staffing Update:
It is with great sadness that I announce that Miss Pete will be finishing up at St Joseph's next Friday the 15th of September. Miss Pete has been apart of our schooling community for so many years, often first to volunteer at all school events prior to jumping on the staffing body. Miss Pete has been our much loved Chaplain, Workplace Health and Safety Adviser, Building and Maintenance Manager and Administration Officer. Pete's presence in our staffing body will be sadly missed. 

Prep Enrolment Interviews 2024
On Monday Mrs Sharon McLauchlan and I held the first day of Prep Enrolment Interviews for 2024. 

We begin the interviews by introducing St Joseph’s and our connection to The Townsville Diocese and St Mary MacKillop and the Josephite Sisters. Mrs McLauchlan then goes into detail on the prep program for 2024 before we gather important information about our future students. 

In Week 7 of Term 4 we will welcome our future prep students on Tuesday for orientation and Friday for move up morning. 

Installation of Flashing School Zone Signs (FSZS) in 2024
We are excited to have the support of Mark Bailey MP Minister for Transport and Main Roads as St Joseph’s will be receiving FSZS in 2024 in the Ham Street School Zone. I have submitted a request that these signs are relocated to Sheaffe Street as this will be our new school entrance. The installation will be completed prior to the end of June 2024, which will be perfect for our new building. 

Additional Pupil Free Day in 2024:
Townsville Catholic Education Office has approved an additional professional development day in 2024.  The date will be Friday 26th April, 2024 and will be a pupil free day. This day follows on from the ANZAC day public holiday on Thursday 25th April. The reason for granting this additional professional development day is to provide the time and opportunity for all teachers to prepare for the implementation of V9.0 of the Australian Curriculum at the commencement of 2025. This planning day will focus on supporting teachers to have a deep understanding of the changes to content and assessment from the current Australian Curriculum to the newly revised curriculum. There is much planning already occurring in all schools to ensure all teachers are well placed to provide rich learning experiences for their students. This additional professional development day (pupil free day) will only occur in 2024.

BGA Update - Demolition and Building Works:
We are excited to be preparing for our upcoming demolition and building works. The library, learning enrichment, year 1, year 2, year 3 and year 4 have relocated to their new space. I would like to thank the parents and carers that joined us on Monday evening to assist with the relocation. Once these classrooms have been relocated we will relocate the front office, which will likely be in Week 10. 

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.

I would formally like to thank Evolution Mining for their generous donation of three storage containers for the duration of the building. 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 building confirmed this will be shared via our upcoming newsletters. 

May God Bless you for the week ahead, 

Mrs Samantha Kelley
Principal

APRE News

Welcome to Week 9!

Thank you to Marina Pavey, Kathleen Kidd and Fran Moore who assisted in the move yesterday afternoon. The teachers and staff have been busily working behind the scenes to make this move as smooth as possible. As you can imagine this is a big job and any support is very much appreciated - Thank you! If you have some time over the next week please contact the front office as we still have resources, some furniture and the uniform shop to relocate. 

Aged Care School Visit
On Wednesday at 10am the Cloncurry Aged Care will be visiting our school to watch the students perform their bush dance. We are very excited to welcome the residents to school. Next week Year 4 will visit the Aged Care on Friday. A compass event will be sent out this week for parents to give consent. Please look out for the Compass email. 

Child Protection Week and R U OK? Day
This week we are putting the spotlight on Child Protection Week, following on from this next week is RU OK? Day on Thursday 14th September.  These events aim to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the  people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life.

“Got a niggling feeling that someone you know or care about isn't behaving as they normally would? Perhaps they seem out of sorts? More agitated or withdrawn? Or they’re just not themselves. Trust your instinct and act on it. By starting a conversation and commenting on the changes you’ve noticed, you could help that family member, friend or workmate open up.” Please see ruok.org.au for more advice and support. 

During this week and next week students will be engaging in meaningful conversation and activities surrounding Child Protection and what RU OK? Day stands for. Students will also be encouraged to not only look out for themselves, their friends and family this week, but every day. One of the activities the students will participate in is a nature walk where they are encouraged to collect items to make a cross from nature. As they do this, they are to remember people in their lives that they could ask R U OK? Students will be reminded that sometimes the crosses we carry can be lightened by someone checking in and asking R U OK? 

Date Claimer:
Thursday 14th September at 5:30pm - Year 5-9 Vinnies Hang Out - Information will be emailed out to parents and students this week.

Have a blessed week,

Mrs Therese Curley
APRE

Pastoral Care

TRP@ Home: The benefits and importance of practicing empathy

When you sit down and ask yourself ‘am I making an effort to be kind?’, or, ‘am I taking time to show empathy?’, chances are the answer might be no. Just so we’re clear, if the answer is no, it doesn’t mean we’re bad people! There are so, so, SO many things and distractions filling our day-to-day lives, and it’s incredibly easy to be pulled away from what we’re doing and who we’re with, both physically and mentally.

We know if we want to be truly kind and empathetic, and being kind and empathetic is huge if we want to have positive relationships and improve our overall wellbeing, it’s important to make time to connect with people and show a genuine interest in their lives. This will come easier to us if we practise being present when we’re with others, actively listen during conversations, and minimise those distractions which try and take our attention away (we’re looking at you, phones). While it’s not easy, the benefits of doing this are massive – for us and for the people we’re connecting with!

The science behind empathy:
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, and is strongly linked to kindness. When you do something kind for someone, you make them feel great and you also feel amazing as a result of your body releasing oxytocin. Now, if you’re wondering what oxytocin is, it’s a hormone which boosts your energy levels and self esteem. When we produce more oxytocin, it can help reduce stress, increase positive emotions and improve overall life satisfaction. And by the way, this is all on top of those stronger, more compassionate relationships that come from those empathetic conversations. How great is that?!

If you’re searching for inspiration, here are some ideas on ways you can practise empathy in your daily life:

1. Actively listen. One of the most important ways to practise empathy is by actively listening to others. This means giving them your full attention, asking clarifying questions, and truly trying to understand their perspective.
2. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Try to imagine what it would be like to be in the other person’s situation. This can help you to understand their feelings and respond in a more compassionate way.
3. Show understanding and validation. Let the person know that you understand and validate their feelings. This can help them to feel heard and supported.
4. Do it in your everyday interactions. Empathy is not just for big or serious situations, you can practise it everyday and with literally anyone. Being kind towards a cashier, a friend or a family member can make a difference and improve your wellbeing.
5. Be a role model. This stuff rubs off, and in the best possible way. Lead by example, show empathy towards others and encourage others to do the same.

Sources: Dr Waguih William IsHak, Psychiatrist, Cidars-Sinai & Marylin Price- Mitchell Ph.D, ‘Acts of Kindness: Key to Happiness for Children & Teens’, Psychology Today, 2 January, 2013

Mr Dom Purcell
Acting Pastoral Care Leader

Prep

Welcome to Week 9, 

I cannot believe that it is already Week 9! Only two weeks until the holidays. 

The students will learn the digraphs "wh' and "th" this week during our InitialLit lessons. This will be the last week of literacy groups and homework will also not go home this week. This gives us a week to chase up outstanding home reader books before the holidays. Please return any books that you have. We will continue to practice creating sentences orally and also writing these using the sounds and Tricky Words we have learned. During math the class will continue to explore collecting data and making inferences from the data collected. 

I was out of class on Monday as Mrs Kelley and myself completed the first round of interviews with the 2024 Prep students and their families. Over the next two weeks the classroom furniture may be moved around in preparation for the door at the southern end of the room being used as our access door when the demolition and construction process begins.

Reminders:

• Tuesday - Sport
• Thursday - tuckshop and return Home Reader folders.
• Friday - Cross Country run. 

Yours in fun and learning,

Mrs Sharon McLauchlan, Miss Tamara Williams and Miss Brie Thew 

Year 1

Welcome to Week 8!

Nearly the end of term! 

As a class this week, we are continuing to spend 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. 
• Cross Country is on Friday this week! Please make sure your child has their hat packed!

Have a wonderful week!

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

Year 2

Hi all,

This week our Year 2 students have moved into their new classroom, one of the demountables on George Street. This week we will explore our classroom expectations again as we settle into our new space. We will aim to move the room around over the next few weeks as we work out what structure works best. Thank you to the parents that assisted with the relocation yesterday afternoon. 

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)
• Cross Country - Friday

Have a great week,

Miss Leonie Ansell

Year 3

Welcome to Week 9!

First, I would like to say a very sincere thank you to all those who were able to lend a hand to help with our classroom move! I really appreciate your time and effort - it was a massive job!

Here’s what we are learning this week in Year 3:

English: Students will be learning how to make engaging and informative presentations.

Spelling: Students will be focusing on the sound ‘w’ as in wish, which is represented by the graphemes w, wh and u.

Maths: Students are continuing to learn how to represent money in multiple ways and find change for simple transactions! 

HASS: This week, students will continue demonstrating their mapping knowledge and skills when indicating Australia’s neighbouring countries and climate. 

Science: This week, students will be learning about various classes of animals (reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, and mammals). They will then use their skills to sort and categorise a collection of animals into their suitable classes.

Health: In health, students will further explore how change makes them feel emotionally and physically. Students will also discuss how they can find help if they ever have questions about coping with change. 

 Other Reminders:

• Homework - Homework was sent out Monday and is due on Friday. 

No home readers for the rest of term but please ensure students read for enjoyment!

• Chaplain’s Breakfast - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:45am in MMS 
• Tuckshop - Must be ordered before 8:30am Wednesday 
• Rock Pop - Thursday 3pm-4pm
• Cross Country - Friday 9am 

I hope you all have a great week.

Thanks,

Miss Laura Cook

Year 4

Hi all,

Writing: Our sentence focus for this week is: The -ed Start Sentence. The -Ed Start Sentence is a sentence that starts with a verb ending in -ed. Like this:

• Exhausted after a hard day’s work, the miners trudged home.
• Thrilled with his results, Professor Snotty packed away the everlasting tissue experiment.
• Shoved off the diving board, Barton Brown screamed all the way to the water below.

To write an -ed Start Sentence, begin with the -ed phrase and place a comma. Then put your subject—that's who or what your sentence is about—and finish the rest of your sentence.

Spelling: Our spelling sound this week is the ‘w’ sound in web. It can be represented by the graphemes: w, wh and u.

• The web sound is used at the start and in the middle of words, but never at the end of words (e.g. what, reward).
• The grapheme u usually represents web after q or g (e.g. quit, square, penguin, language).
• The grapheme wh for web is most commonly used at the start of words (e.g. which, wheel).

Reminders:

• Tuckshop - Please make sure Tuckshop orders are placed by Wednesday morning.
• Library - Students will not visit the library this week.
• PE - Students have PE on Thursday.
• Cross Country - Is on this FRIDAY. Please make sure you have read any information sent out by the school regarding this and that your child has their running shoes ready to go!

Have a great week,

Miss Mairin Borlase

Year 5

Dear Families,

The end of term is almost here already! Thank you to everyone for their participation in the Bush Dance last Thursday - it was a wonderful evening and I am so proud of the children. They did an amazing job with their dance!

ENGLISH: Our reading continues to be focussed on comprehension strategies especially studying literal and inferred meaning. Reading a variety of texts allows learners to discuss comprehension and identify word meaning in context. In spelling, we are investigating the multiple graphemes used to represent the phoneme (sound) [oo, u] and also investigate compound words and contractions. We will also return to the Lawyer Paragraph structure for persuasive writing and continue with our Daily Challenges with a focus on writing for a sustained period of time. This week we will also complete our PAT testing with the Grammar and Punctuation test. We will recite poems which we have practised to our Prep class audience.

RELIGION: In our work this week we will continue to finalise and practise our scripts and perform our version of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

MATHEMATICS: In our work this week we will finalise our Shape/Angles assessment while our Think Mentals involves revision of the four operations of multiplication, division, subtraction and addition. We will use the compass to move around the school to locate orienteering flags and clues to the next location - this involves compass directions, angles of turn and distances (as well as observation skills) to be successful.

Wishing you all a great penultimate week,

Mr Mike Tarleton

Year 6

Welcome to Week 9 everyone.. Only two more weeks to go!

This week in English, Year 6 students have been editing their newspaper reports to ensure they have included a variety of sentence types and information around Henry Parkes and Federation.

In Religion we have continued reading different stories of Prophets from the old testament and are looking to make meaning from them as a class. 

On Thursday, we finished our final math assessment for the term. We will now focus on revising the concepts we have taught and look forward to math concepts that will be covered in Term 4.

A big thank you to those students that came to the Bush Dance last Thursday night. It was great to have some representation from the Year 6 group. 

On Friday we will have our school Cross Country to round out an action packed week 9! Please ensure your child is wearing their house shirt and has a water bottle and hat for the day.

One more week to go!

Mr Dom Purcell 

UMY Spotlight

P-6 sport recap with Miss Humes
Sport has been going strong in the lead up to Cross Country this Friday! By this point, most classes have walked the track they will be running, with the remaining few scheduled over the coming days. There’s definitely been a lot of excitement around this event (and a few groans), but we can’t wait for that starting gun to signal the beginning of the race!

Outside of Cross Country, Prep has been working on their aim while throwing, catching and rolling a ball. They have particularly enjoyed turning our skill practices into games where they work as a team to earn for hitting or landing on the target.

Meanwhile, Years 1 & 2 have been looking at cricket to further extend their skills in throwing, catching, teamwork and general sportsmanship. I love seeing how they come together as a team to support and encourage each other - even if the person is on the opposite team!

Years 3 & 4 have moved off the field and onto the court, engaging in some intense basketball drills. No longer do we easily lose control of the ball, instead we can now block incoming players and pass among our team. However, I think the favourite part has been when we play ‘Golden Child’, a game where students develop their scoring skills by competing to eliminate the other team before they can get home. 

Finally, our 5 & 6 classes have been developing their soccer skills - particularly in passing and working together as a team. I’ve seen some phenomenal improvement in their games during recent weeks where everyone has been involved. I can’t wait to see what the next Term brings!

Thank you

A huge thank you on behalf of the school goes to the businesses that sponsored the St Joseph's Catholic School and St Colman’s Parish Fete this year. Your generosity is highly appreciated and made for an amazing night. 

Our volunteers deserve the biggest thank you. These people offered their time to make sure our night went without a hitch. You truly are amazing!

Thank you: 

Theresa Charles, Fran Moore, John Doody, Simon Humphreys, Scott Campbell, Gayle Macnamara, Belinda Imhof, Tegan Barker, Kylie Warrian, Tiffany Daley, Amanda Corbett, Rachel Adcock, Libby Haley, Kathleen Kidd, Emma Dare, Charlotte Butterfield, Renee McConachy, Bridget Calverd, Tom Williams, Ruth Chaplain, Rebecca Lance, Lauren Green, Greg Campbell, Ben Dare and Andrew Barker.

I also would like to thank all the St Joseph’s Staff and Students that helped with set up, pack up and clean up as well as anyone else that I may have missed on this list. On behalf of me, THANK YOU! 

To our stallholders and fundraising stalls, we thank you for helping make our Fete an amazing one! We hope to see you in 2024!

- Mia Dickson 

Deadly Dancers Opportunity

Community Information