Dear Families and Friends of St Joseph’s Parish School.

How wonderful was it last week to be able to gather together again as a community at our Start of Year Mass! The children showed such wonderful listening behaviours, which is such a credit to them and their teachers when it was the first time meeting together as a whole school all year! Well done to our Year 6 leaders who ran assembly for us last week too! It's always a bit scary speaking in front of so many students and parents for the first time they all did such a wonderful job! 

It was great to see the school filled with Orange today as we begin Harmony Week.  Well done to Year 4 who led us in today’s Liturgy. Thank you for reminding us all of the importance of respecting and honouring each person we meet just as Jesus did.

During Harmony Week we will have a number of visitors who will be coming into share their cultural traditions with us. The Polynesian Dance group who will be putting on a demonstration for us at 2pm on Monday and then the Western Cape Indigenous Dance group will be sharing traditional dancing with us at 2pm on Thursday. We are looking forward to joining in with both groups and have lots of fun while we learn about other cultures.

Parent/Teacher Conferences Parent Teacher Conferences will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:30pm to 6:30pm each day.  Please book in a time to meet with your child’s teacher via PTO booking system. It is recommended that all parents attend a parent/teacher conference as they are an important part of the St Joseph’s Reporting process.

Covid 19 Update: We continue to practise ‘good hygiene’ and social distancing.  We currently have a number of children with the virus and a number of others in isolation. Please keep children at home if they have symptoms. Thank you to everyone for continuing to keep our school children and staff safe as best we can during these times.

Travel Day A reminder that school resumes in Term 2 on Wednesday 20th April as Monday 18th is a public holiday and Tuesday 19th is a designated Staff Travel Day. 

NAPLAN practice tests   Next week our students in Years 3 and 5 will be participating in some NAPLAN practice tests. These practice tests are not about collecting data of students learning, but rather the opportunity for us to see how well our computer system copes under testing situations. In addition, students will gain some familiarity in the style of questions being asked through NAPLAN. If you have any questions around this please speak with your child’s classroom teacher.

Flood Appeal To support the Vinnies Qld Flood Appeal, this Friday we are holding a free dress day for Harmony Day and then on Friday night from 6:30pm we will hold a Disco where we are asking for a gold coin donation. We are also having an Easter Raffle to raise funds for the appeal.                                                                         

We have already received a fantastic response to request for donations to our raffle hampers. We have also had a donation of a quality Shimano fishing rod and reel valued at $250. Thanks to our school community for your generosity. 

If you have not already, we would be most grateful if you could donate an Easter egg for the occasion. Raffle tickets will be available from Friday night and students will be selling tickets in the mornings before school starts from next Monday. $2 each ticket or 3 for $5.   

Many of us know people living in SE QLD and of the devastation that these floods have caused. It is heartbreaking what these communities have had to endure We thank everyone for giving so generously and know that our contribution will be very much appreciated.

Swimming   A reminder that school swimming lessons for Grades P-6 commence next Monday. An online consent form was sent home some weeks ago. It is most important that this consent form is completed for every child. No consent form, no swim. These lessons are conducted over the next 2 weeks at the local Pool. Classes are bused to and from the pool for their lessons. Please ensure your child has everything they need for swimming packed each day in a separate bag and clearly name all belongings. For more information, please read the PE section of the newsletter.

School Fees   A thank you to all families who have already paid this term’s school fees or who have set up a regular payment scheme. Your prompt payment allows the school to meet its financial commitments, so I really do appreciate your support. It would be great to have all families up to date with school fee payments or committed to direct debits etc., by the end of the term. We would never deny a catholic education to a child due to financial hardship. If you have any concerns with fees please come and talk to me about how we can support you, my door is always open.

Lost Property  We have a large number of items in our lost property basket, mostly jackets. The Lost Property Basket is put out each day infront of the Library door, so check there first if you are missing something. Please remember to mark all items of clothing and belongings.

P&F AGM Meeting    Our P&F is an important part of our school community. We are still currently seeking P&F members to fill our executive positions, if you are interested, please contact come along to our next meeting on Tuesday 29th March at 7pm in school Library. This meeting will be held in the flexible learning space with an option to dial in via zoom. Zoom link will be sent on the day to all families. All parents and staff are invited to join us for this P&F meeting - it is a great way to be involved in your child's schooling. 

Hockey  We are very excited to have hockey starting at St Joseph’s. Shaniah Kennell who is working with Douglas Hockey Association, will be working with each class throughout the year during break times as well as offering after school coaching.  

Next week Shaniah will be introducing hockey to the students during both first and second break times on both Tuesday and Thursday. In week 10, Shaniah will be running a whole day program for us where each class will get a taste of what is to come next term. More details about our new Hockey program will be shared in an email to all families before the end of term.

Prep Enrolments for 2023 and beyond

Children born between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018 are eligible to attend Prep in 2023. We begin looking ahead to Prep enrolments for the 2023 school year and beyond. We are starting interviews for 2023 Prep placements next week. If you haven’t already, we encourage all of our existing families with children eligible for Prep next year to complete and submit an application form as soon as possible so that you can be part of the interview process. 

URGENT! Crossing Supervisor needed.

Interested in becoming a Crossing Supervisor? Although I enjoy greeting families and students who use the crossing each day, this is not a feasible long-term solution. I encourage all families to either spread the word that we are looking for a crossing supervisor or consider taking on the role full time/part time. Please see the advertisement attached.

Establishment of the School Board 

St Joseph’s Parish School is establishing our first School Board. The school board provides the opportunity for members of the school, parish and diocesan communities to support the mission of Catholic education in the school by supporting the Principal. 

On Monday 9th May at 7pm, we will be holding an information evening for all in the school community who are interested in becoming a school board member. As such, we are calling on nominations to fill these positions. Interested members of our community need to write a short ‘expression of interest’ letter that outlines the nominee’s skill set and what they might bring to this group. These nominations will then be presented to the Board Establishment Committee which will be made up of the Principal, Parish Priest, Director of School Effectiveness and CES Parent Engagement consultant.

The purpose of the School Board is to support the Principal to effectively run the school. In addition to this the Board is responsible for policy review and have input into Strategic Planning, Budgeting and Master Planning. This team is essential in bringing different perspectives of our community together as we discuss and make decisions. They are also important links to the rest of our school community to ensure they are listening to feedback and sharing this information when we meet.

Religious Life of the School

Harmony Prayer

Good and gracious God,
who loves and delights in all people,
we stand in awe before you,
knowing that the spark of life within each person
is the spark of your divine life.

Differences among cultures and races are
multicolored manifestations of your light.
May our hearts and minds be open to celebrate
similarities and differences among our sisters and brothers.

Please send your healing and reconciling Spirit in order to bind
the wounds created by racism and racial hatred,
and to promote understanding, justice, and love.

We place our hopes for racial harmony in our committed action
and in your living presence in our neighbor.

May all peoples live in peace!
Amen.

We continue to be very mindful of the many people still significantly impacted by the rain event and flooding and we continue to hold them in our thoughts and prayers.

The easing of restrictions regarding social gatherings in schools has allowed us to invite families in to share with us a number of events leading up to Easter.

Palm Sunday Liturgy Next week we have no assembly at in the morning due to swimming lessons but please come and join us next Friday at 2pm, as Year 1 A and B lead us in a Palm Sunday Liturgy.

Last Supper Wednesday 30th we will hold a Holy Thursday Liturgy followed by reinactment of the last supper in classrooms.

Stations of the Cross  On Friday 1st April, Year 4, 5, 6 will present the Stations of the Cross to the school. Our newly formed choir will also perform. Following the Liturgy winners of the swimming carnival will be announced and the Eater Raffles drawn. Hoping to see as many people as possible at this event.

Mother’s Day Liturgy  In preparation for next term we are calling for photos of Mothers and their Children for our Mother’s Day Mass (Wednesday 4th May) next term – Take One photo per family over the Easter Holidays ready for next term!  Email to principal.weipa@cns.catholic.edu.au

Please ensure photos are at school no later than Friday 29th April.

Calendar of Events  Now that we can safely confirm events going ahead, we are putting the final touches to our new calendar of events for 2022 and will have it out to all families within the next week. Lots of great opportunities to engage with your child’s learning throughout the year. 

Website Our website has been under development this term. At the beginning of next term our developers will visit the school for a photo shoot before it launches.

Wishing you all a great rest of the weekend and God Bless.