News from the APRE

Year 6 Leaders at the ACEC

Our Year 6 Leaders represented St Joeys recently at the Australian Catholic Education Conference (ACEC) in Cairns. Rowan read beautifully during the Mass and all leaders participated in the activities on offer. Their trip included the following experiences:

Working with other Year 6 Students at St Gerard Majella School

Ten Pin Bowling (a first for some)

ACEC Student Formation that included songs with Andrew Chinn, John Burland & Gen Bryant

ACEC Mass with Bishop Joe & 1000+ students from Waiben to Tully

Sushi & Yo My Goodness (a first for some)

Lots of fun swimming, playing & eating

NAIDOC Celebrations Continue

On Monday 1^st September our Year 6 students were invited to the WCC NAIDOC Opening Ceremony. We were treated to a beautiful traditional song sung by local elders and the WCC choir. Then on Thursday 4^th September we were invited back for their NAIDOC Closing Ceremony. We watched many different talented First Nations dancers dressed in traditional clothing, from the local area and the Torres Strait. The students also enjoyed watching the Rugby League match against the senior students.

We acknowledge the First Nations peoples of Australia, the traditional custodians of the land, seas, skies and waterways on which we reside, work, travel and meet. We pay our respect to the Alngith elders and all elders, past and present, and support the Uluru Statement From The Heart. We cherish the continued deep spiritual attachment and relationship between our people and commit ourselves to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation. 

Indigenous Literacy Day

This year, Indigenous Literacy Day celebrated with the theme ‘Strength In Our Stories: For Now & Future Generations’. This is an annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Stories, Cultures, and Languages. Indigenous Literacy Day is held on the first Wednesday of September ‑ this year it was on Wednesday 3^rd September. The day is about sharing the diversity of First Nations languages and cultures with audiences across Australia and some of the deep and diverse ways children, Elders and families connect with Country; and the significance of Country in Aboriginal Communities. Students viewed a short film that journeyed through three remote Aboriginal Communities to learn about the diverse ways storytelling makes their Communities strong.

In this film the students travelled to:

1. Ceduna & Koonibba in South Australia to learn from young author Mia Speed, celebrate Wirangu language, and make Bush Medicine on Country.
2. Katherine & Binjari in the Northern Territory to meet student authors of Grinch det K’Taun Krok!, hear from Elders, and learn the creational Dreaming story of Katherine Gorge.
3. Warakurna Community in Western Australia to go out on Country, learn about the Ngaanyatjarra seasons, and how Miss Daisy’s knowledge and stories are keeping Warakurna kids strong.

Father’s Day Liturgy

We celebrated all our St Joey’s father figures with a Father’s Day liturgy, smoko and play on Thursday 4^th September. It was heartwarming to see our church packed full of love on this morning. The students gave our visitors a blessing and loved having them join us for the morning. St Joseph, a wonderful father figure to Jesus, would be pleased that a church in his name was so full of fatherly love.

Pupil Free Day

While the students had a day off on Friday 5^th September, our staff were busy participating in Professional Development at school. The focus of the day was First Nations Education and we had guest speakers Ernest Madua Jnr, a local traditional owner, and Carmel Debel, a First Nations consultant from Catholic Education Diocese of Cairns presenting. Both Ernest and Carmel had very useful knowledge to share with the staff to improve their work with the students and the local community. Ernest spoke about Cultural Capabilities based on his local Indigenous knowledge and Carmel showed us how we can use the ‘8 Ways of Learning’ pedagogy in our classrooms to not only help our Indigenous students but all students.

 

R U OK? Day

We recognised R U OK? Day on Friday last week with Year 5 leading us in prayer and students participating in some wellbeing activities.

Ask R U OK? Any Day because life happens every day.  A lot can happen in a year, a month, a week.  Whether it’s your friend, family member, colleague, partner, or teammate, the people you care about go through life’s ups and downs every day. By having regular, meaningful conversations, you build trust and normalise talking about what’s really going on, so when the people in your world find themselves struggling, they know you’re someone they can talk to.

So whilst R U OK? Day only has one National Day of Action, we encourage you to Ask R U OK? Any Day of the year because a conversation could change a life. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener. Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:

1. Ask R U OK?
2. Listen
3. Encourage action
4. Check in

Thank you for all your support this term. Happy holidays!

Mrs Julie Dore

Assistant Principal Religious Education (Acting)