John 10:10.

Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.”

Here is an invitation to celebrate your life by living it as best you can. This means being more authentic; honouring the truth of you being; following your heart’s deepest desire; and using your gifts for the good of all. It means being ready to make the best of all the opportunities you are given; learning to flow with life in all its seasons. Life is a precious gift that god has given. So precious that God sent Jesus to show us how to live the best life we can. If we look at how Jesus lived, we see that His life was about loving. Life is best lived when we give of ourselves in love.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This year sees Catholic Education Queensland celebrate 175 years. This year’s theme ‘A Spirited Tomorrow’ acknowledges the 175th anniversary of the opening of the first Catholic school in Queensland, the long tradition of Catholic education and its continued relevance in preparing students for the future.

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the first term, of our fifth year in the history of St Joseph’s. Let’s take the time to stop and remember all of the students, families and staff who have been part of our school community. Being part of the next chapter of our school’s journey is exciting, but with it comes a responsibility for all of us.

It is a collaborative, respectful and engaging relationship between students, teachers, parents and the wider community that provides “quality learning experiences” for our students. Parents by enrolling their child at St Joseph’s, and teachers by choosing to work at St Joseph’s make the commitment to focus on the building of relationships with each other.

Ask yourself this week what will my contribution be to St Joseph’s?

How will I be remembered?

After all, our school will be around long after we leave. Each one of us has only a small period of time to influence the story of our school. Each one of us will contribute to the next chapter(s) and it should be our goal to make that contribution both positive for the community and one that builds on the great history of those that have come before us.

In the days and weeks ahead, we will all face challenging moments, as well as many moments of positive growth, it is when we are faced with the challenging moments that we have a more difficult choice to make. If our response is founded on what is best for the school and not what serves our own personal needs, then we will be well grounded in making good choices going forward.

I look forward to meeting you all in and around the school in the days ahead and working together to create the next successful chapter of the story in St Joseph’s Parish School.

God Bless

Megan

Attendance: Every Day Counts

Thank you to those families who have been working hard to ensure your child’s punctuality and attendance is high. Thank you for getting these habits established early on in your child’s life as it will make a difference in their futures.

Regular and punctual attendance at school is key to both academic and social development, therefore it is very important that your child attends school every day unless there are exceptional circumstances. Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement innumeracy, writing and reading.

A day here and there adds up, so to ensure you have accurate information about how many days your child has missed, we will be sending home a letter early this week.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

The focus for our PB4L Assembly this Monday is ‘RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS’. In the last two weeks most of instances of unacceptable behaviour have involved students that have not been respectful towards each other, particularly in the playground. Students have been surprised when I say to them that they don’t have to like each other or even be friends, but that they do have to be friendly and behave in a respectful way. We use these easy to remember phrases to reinforce the St Joseph’s Way - “Speak to please not to tease”, “Everyone plays” and “Remember the golden rule- treat others as you would like to be treated”.

Soccer

Some of our Soccer games in the older grades have become too competitive. Rather than ban the game our kids enjoy so much, we have reviewed the rules, and game roster. With a shared understanding of the rules and expected behaviour, we expect that ALL students will display good sportsmanship so that ALL students can continue to enjoy the game.

Inappropriate behaviour that puts other students at risk of harm or that deliberately violates of rights of others, is not tolerated at St Joseph’s. Any students who repeats such behaviour will not be allowed to participate. Please find a copy of the rules attached to this newsletter.

Student Protection at St Joseph’s Parish Schools

The safety and wellbeing of students is very important in our schools and is a shared responsibility of parents, staff and students. There are a number of ways we promote safety and wellbeing. Through our Child and Youth Risk Management Strategy, we proactively set up safe systems and practices for recruitment, supervision, conduct and responding to risks, in order to protect students. We also inform our school community about respectful relationships, expectations for conduct and how to avoid dangers. Our school implements the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum into classes during the year. This program teaches students about ways to stay safe and what to do if they do not feel safe. We have a formal process for taking action and reporting situations where there is a reasonable suspicion that a child has been abused or harmed, or a staff member has behaved inappropriately. All of these processes come under the banner of ‘student protection’.

Our School Student Protection Contacts (SSPCs) play an important role in all aspects of student protection. Students may speak with any staff member if they have concerns, however our SSPCs have more in-depth training to manage student protection situations. The SSPCs for St Joseph’s for 2020 are Sigita Ulanas, Andreika Knight, Amanda Rowe and Megan Newell. Their names and photographs are on the “Feeling Safe” posters around the school. Please talk to your child about who they could speak to if they have any concerns and remind them who our SSPCs are this year.

If you would like any further information about what we have in place for student protection, you can view the Cairns Catholic Schools website at www.cns.catholic.edu.au; speak to someone at the school office; or contact the Student Protection Officer at the Cairns Catholic Schools Office on

Back to school: Separation Anxiety Solutions

Sometimes our child’s transition to school starts off well, but after a few weeks the “glitter and glamour” of starting school can begin to wear off, and before we know it, parents are stuck with the pleading and coercing from their child to let them stay home.  It’s not unusual for children to feel a little anxious about going back to school. It usually starts on a Monday morning in the lead up to going to school or may even start the night before.

Children can complain of having a stomach-ache or headache and can be teary.  Anxiety can affect the body and will often present itself as physical symptoms in our children. Although it is normal to have worries, it is essential that you encourage your child to attend school.  Avoidance only increases fear and makes it more difficult to attend school in the long-term.  Here are some strategies to deal with back to school worries:

• Keep a predictable routine and ensure your child is sleeping and eating well. Use an alarm clock to make sure your child wakes up on time
• Be organised to reduce any rush in the morning – plan school lunches, pack school bag the night before, lay out school clothes.
• Make a regular time to talk with your child. Encourage your child to problem solve through any fears they have and develop and rehearse a plan.
• Teach and practice coping skills to use when they are nervous – deep breathing, positive self-talk (e.g. ‘You’ve got this’)
• If the behaviour continues, connect with your child’s teacher and request additional support to help your child settle at school.

For more information:   

Web links:

Separation anxiety in children (Raisingchildren.net.au)

Books:

Joanne Garfi– Overcoming School Refusal: A practical guide for teachers, counsellors, caseworkers and parents

Ronald Rapee – Helping Your Anxious Child Second Edition: A Step-by-step Guide for Parents