Dear Parents and Guardians,

Term Four Welcome back to a brand-new term, the final one for our school year! I hope that everyone has enjoyed a wonderful restful holiday and is refreshed ready for our busy term ahead. The calendar is packed, and we are all primed and ready to go!

This term we welcome many new students to our school community. We hope that Stella and Archie settle in well over the weeks ahead. 

Prep Orientation This week we also welcome our new Prep students to St Joseph’s for the first of four orientation mornings. This is a great opportunity for students to settle in before beginning formal schooling.

Staffing Welcome back to Aimee Robertson. Aimee returns from maternity leave today and will be returning to the School Secretary Role, working a five-day fortnight job share with Suzy Taske for the rest of this term and for 2020.

Year 6 Camp This term is an important, exciting and big term for Year Six. It is the term where there are many 'last times', transitions and social/emotional learnings. In many ways, the Year 6 camp is the culminating event for our students. They went down to Camp Paterson at Mareeba, had fun, behaved well and returned safe, but tired!

I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with the students on camp. They had a great time participating in the many activities on offer at Camp Patterson. It was an excellent opportunity for students to try new things, face new challenges and discover new talents. Who knew giant Jenga was such an exciting spectator sport? It was difficult to leave when there was so much fun to be had.

I was impressed with and proud of the respectful and responsible way our children conducted themselves throughout the trip. The owners of the camp also had high praise for the maturity and manners of our children. I would like to thank Mr Mitchell, Mrs Saunders and Mrs Wallace who gave freely of their time away from their families to enable such a great experience for the children.

Liturgical Events There are lots of important liturgical events we are preparing for this term, culminating in week 8 with our Advent Liturgy and End of Year School Mass. We look forward to sharing these celebrations with you along the way. World Mission Month October is when the Church celebrates World Mission Month and this year, Pope Francis has declared October to be an Extraordinary Missionary Month, marking a worldwide occasion of prayer, sharing stories of mission, formation and charity. Stay tuned through our newsletter and classroom communications for
upcoming events for our students to celebrate and support our partners in Catholic Missions.

Attendance We continue to promote student attendance. Thank you for the support and value that you place on your child being at school each day. Regular school attendance plays a critical role in ensuring that every student has access to the same learning opportunities. When students are not at school, are late to school or leave school early, they are missing out on so much that can impact on their future learning.

Parent Engagement Conference On Sunday, Amanda Scikluna and Rachael Steele represented our school at the Parent Engagement Conference in Cairns. Parents are valuable partners in supporting the school and their child's learning. This conference was a wonderful opportunity to learn about how we can work together to best assist our children in their learning.

A Day for Daniel will be held on Friday October 25th. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation was established in honour of Daniel Morcombe to make Australia a safer place for all children. It was founded by parents Bruce and Denise after their son was abducted and murdered in December 2003 while waiting to catch a bus on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. The aims of the Foundation are to educate children and young people about how to stay safe in physical and online environments and to support young victims of crime. Throughout week three we will be delivering lessons from the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum (DMCSC). Our focus on child safety will culminate with our Day for Daniel on Friday October 25th. Day for Daniel is Australia's largest child safety awareness and education day and will be held on Friday October 25th. The goal is to make Australia a safe place for all children. Our school is registered to participate in this important event and our students are
encouraged to WEAR RED and donate a gold coin!

New Phone Number

The school’s phone number has changed, with our migration to the NBN system. Our new number
is 07 4214 6600 The old number will be redirect for 18 months from the date of migration.

Newsletter Change

We will be trialling the Newsletter being published on a Monday so that families are more informed of the upcoming events for the week, rather than what has already happened.

Mental Health Week

Something to ponder—This Thursday 10 October, is Mental Health Day. One in five Australians are affected by mental illness, yet many don’t seek help because of stigma. People living with mental health illness are often isolated, have difficulty accessing employment and have disrupted family, social and peer networks. For many, mental health issues lead to homelessness. The shortage of affordable and appropriate housing makes recovery and rehabilitation more difficult. This is not just
something that happens in big cities—we have homeless people here in Weipa. It is not enough to just sympathise or say they have had some bad luck.

Mental Health Week Prayer

God calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves;
the one who is weak and the one who is strong,
the one who is happy and the one who is sad,
the one who is enjoying mental wellness today
and the one who is struggling with mental illness today,
the one whom we understand and the one we don’t,
the one who is embraced and the one who is shunned,
the one who is like us and the one who is different.
Come, let us journey together!
We come, trusting God’s abundant love!
Amen

PUPIL FREE DAY - Monday 21st October

Each year all schools across Queensland will have a pupil free day.  This is an annual pupil free day for professional development for staff. 

God Bless!