Last week we came together as a community of learners to celebrate NAIDOC week with our 2021 theme ‘Heal Country’. The theme has called on us to take better care of our country just like our first nation people have done so for thousands of years. During the week we participated in many activities. Throughout the week Lillian Miller Consultant for CES visited every classroom to yarn about the meaning of this years theme and what action we can take as a school and as individuals to help ‘Heal Country’.

On Tuesday we enjoyed our annual visit from the Kindy’s. Sharing play and sharing morning tea together. Later that day Rangers Craig and Sean visited to share their knowledge of turtles and taught us how to protect them for the future.

Wednesday was an exciting day for Year 4/5/6/ who went on excursion to the Cultural Centre. We thank Gina & Moira Hart for giving up their time to share their experiences and cultural knowledge with us.

Thursday was a day full of games and dancing. PCYC visited each play break to teach the children Indigenous games and then we were privileged to experience the cultural dances performed by The Western Cape Aboriginal and Torres Strait Dance Troupe. Thank you to their teachers Alice, Suzie and Earnest for making this amazing experience possible.

Friday we shared NAIDOC Liturgy with every class contributing to the celebration to make it a very special event.

A big THANK YOU goes out to all who helped make this week such a memorable and rich experience. Thank you for sharing your stories and culture with us all here at St Joseph’s.  Many great connections have been made and will only continue to get stronger. We look forward to many more visits from the Rangers, participating in future Dance workshops with The Western Cape Aboriginal and Torres Strait Dance Troupe and PCYC will be visiting us every Thursday to join in and share games in the playground.

IS YOUR CHILD STARTING PREP IN 2022?

Families seeking enrolment of their child into Prep for 2022 are invited to complete an Application for Enrolment, available on our website  stjosephsweipa.qld.edu.au or alternatively collect an application package from the School Office.

Please note that if you have a sibling of a current St Joseph’s student you will also need to complete an enrolment application for your child for Prep 2022. It is important that applications are received by the school as soon as possible so we can plan our staffing for next year.

As we are anticipating that there will continue to be strong demand for placements within our Prep groups for 2022, 2023 and beyond, so we are wanting to expand our early years classes to two stream. To make this possible please encourage family and friends to give their children a St Josey’s quality education and enrol in Prep for 2022.

COLOUR RUN 1^st September 2021

Our Colour Run is fast approaching and we need your help to make this event even better than before. We will need to collect lots of resources from around the town to construct our obstacles and we will need lots of ‘people power’ to help the day before and early on the day.

Please join us for a brief meeting next Thursday afternoon at 6pm in the Library, so we can coordinate this ‘Fun Raising’ event for our school community.

If you can’t attend but are still available to help, please reply to the parent slip we will be sending out to all families. 

External School Review

Next week as part of our continuous school improvement process, St Joseph’s will be involved in an External School Review. A plan for school improvement is a process of collaboration, investigation and learning. 

Catholic schools undertake an external review every five years. By undertaking a review, conducted by an independent third party, we will arrive at a comprehensive starting point for the development of a school improvement plan, and are able to determine the best possible course of action for ongoing improvement of student learning and wellbeing. 

Our school reviewer, Trevor Gordon will lead these days. During the External School Review, some students, parents, Parent and Friends members and staff will be asked to provide information to the review panel through individual interviews; group discussions (with students or staff or parents); meetings and visits into classrooms. 

We appreciate everyone’s support and time in helping us with this external school review process and look forward to sharing our review findings with you in the near future. 

Staffing Update

Next week Ms Stacey Edmonds returns refreshed from 5 weeks of long service leave and Mrs Melanie Turner begins her 5 weeks of long service leave. Mrs Turner will be celebrating a significant Birthday while she is away, so we wish her many Happy Returns before she heads of for a well-earned break. 

During the rest of this term if you have any questions regarding Learning Support please direct them to Amanda Rowe, Michelle Gear or myself, who will be filling in for Mel in her absence.

Book Week Celebrations are fast approaching. In addition to the usual celebration and dress up day, St Joseph’s school will be participating in the Great Book Swap to raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). The ILF is a national charity which aims to improve literacy levels in very remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. They provide books and literacy programs to remote communities where they are most needed. 

The idea is that a favourite book is swapped in exchange for a gold coin donation. This year marks our 10th anniversary and, with your support, we are working towards equity of opportunity so that children living in remote communities have the same opportunities as those living in urban Australia. 

From the beginning of Book Week and till the end of week 7, students will be asked to donate a book in good condition towards the cause. These can be picture stories, non-fiction books and novels. For a gold coin donation, children will be able to purchase the donated books from the library during their Week 9 and 10. All funds raised will go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.  

Please take the time to encourage your child to share the magic of previously loved book/s which they may have outgrown. In return, they may find a new gem waiting for them at the Great Book Swap. Please ensure all your donated books are in good condition e.g. no missing or yellowed pages, no rips or tears, no animal damage etc.  We thank you in advance for your support! For more information about the Indigenous Literacy Foundation please watch the following video. https://youtu.be/-Jtym39PlSQ 

COVID 19 
Whilst the threat of COVID 19 and its everchanging Delta strain still possesses some obvious concerns, we are grateful that Weipa has remained relatively unaffected. Staff have been diligent over the past two weeks busily preparing for remote learning just in case the need arises. Just a friendly reminder that all parents and visitors are required to use the Check In Qld app on their arrival. At school we will continue to maintain good hand hygiene and endeavour to maintain adequate ventilation inside the buildings.

Coronavirus Updates and resource can be found on our website