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Dear Families and Friends of St Joseph’s Parish School,
The end of Term 1 is fast approaching and when I look back on the term, I am so grateful and proud of the resilience shown by the staff, students and our families this year already. With a delayed start to the year and a few disruptions along the way our staff have continued to deliver a high-quality and engaging education for the students at our school whilst keeping student wellbeing a top priority. Thank you to all families for continuing to work with us and support us as we adapted to what was required throughout this term.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Thank you to all families who attended our parent/teacher conferences last week. These conferences are an important part of our reporting process and provide a welcome opportunity to discuss the successes and goals for your children. If you are yet to have a parent/teacher conference, please contact your child/s teacher to arrange a time for early next term.
Easter Raffle
Thank you to all families who have donated items for our Easter Raffle. We have also had a donation of a quality Shimano fishing rod and reel valued at $250. Thanks once again to our school community for your generosity.
We have many prizes to be won this Friday on our virtual assembly. All money raised from these raffles will be donated to those people in SE QLD and the Northern Rivers NSW directly affected by the recent floods. It simply devastating what these communities have had to endure and continue to endure this week.
Raffle tickets will continue to be sold up until our virtual assembly on Friday morning. Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5.
Swimming Update
What a wonderful first week of swimming we had in week 9. Thank you to Miss Libby, the swim teachers and all the staff for your additional hard work in making this a success. Unfortunately, we needed to postpone the remaining lessons and carnival due to staff and student absences. We will be providing additional days for lessons before our carnival takes place on a date to be confirmed. We will notify families of the new dates as soon as possible.
Term 2 Sport
In Term 2 our sports day will change to Wednesday each week. This change is to accommodate the much-anticipated Auskick program that is delivered each year. Please ensure your children wear their sports uniform each Wednesday starting next term on Wednesday 20th April.
We will continue with cross-country training next term up until our carnival which is scheduled for Thursday 28th April. Keep training hard over the holidays.
Athletics training will also commence next term with days and times to be provided early next term. These training sessions are a great way to prepare for our athletics carnival which will take place on Wednesday 22nd June.
Shania 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. We will provide more information on the Hockey program early next term.
Under 8s Day
In Term 2 we are fortunate to be hosting the Under 8s Day event for the wider Weipa community. This is a wonderful event involving all schools and many businesses in the community. If you have friends and family with young children within the community, please encourage them to come along. Under 8s Day is on Friday 17th June, 9am – 11am.
NAPLAN
Last week our students in Years 3 and 5 participated in some NAPLAN practice tests. These tests were not about collecting data of student learning, but rather the opportunity for us to see how well our computer system coped under testing situations. In addition, it provided students the opportunity to become familiar with the NAPLAN assessment platform and the style of questions being asked. I am pleased to say that our IT systems worked seamlessly and the students show cased their high level of ICT skills as they navigated their way through the assessment platform.
The NAPLAN assessments for 2022 are set for weeks 4 and 5 of Term 2. Should you have any questions about NAPLAN please contact your child’s teacher.
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. As the first day of term is sport day, please remember to have students wear their sports uniform.
Covid 19 Update
We continue to practise ‘good hygiene’ and social distancing. We currently have a number of people within our school community with the virus and a number of others in isolation. As such we have chosen to post-pone all events for the final week of school and hold a virtual assembly this week. We have been very fortunate to have been able to hold several events earlier in the term. Please keep children at home if they have any symptoms. Thank you to everyone for continuing to keep our school children and staff safe as best we can during these times.
Prep Enrolments
Children born between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018 are eligible to attend Prep in 2021. We begin looking ahead to Prep enrolments for the 2023 school year and beyond. We are starting interviews for 2023 Prep placements next term. 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.
Stay & Play
In Term 2 we will be holding ‘Stay & Play’ mornings for children between the ages of 0-4. Families are invited to stay after our morning assembly as we will have a range of early-childhood activities set up for your children to engage with. Play and Stay will commence on Friday 22nd April after our week 1 assembly. We look forward to seeing many of our younger siblings and families at our first session.
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.
THANK YOU!
Once again thank you to all families for your support throughout Term 1. We hope that all families have an enjoyable Easter break and look forward to welcoming you all back in Term 2 feeling refreshed and ready for learning.
Happy Easter
Amanda Rowe
Religious Life of the School
The Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross and the Way of Sorrow (Via Crucis in Latin), detail fourteen different moments on the day Jesus died. The fifteenth station is Jesus’s resurrection. This prayer pilgrimage is a powerful way to grow closer to Jesus at any time of the year, though it is most popular during the Lenten season.
Tradition holds that after Christ’s death and resurrection, the Blessed Mother retraced Jesus’ last day every day. Over the centuries following Christ’s Resurrection, this practice transformed into what we know as the Stations of the Cross today.
Jesus, you love me so much
That you were willing to suffer and die on the cross.
Thank you! Make my love for you
And for all my brothers and sisters
Grow stronger every day.
I want to think, act and speak as you would
Help me to spread the peace and joy
Of your resurrection everywhere I go!
Amen
Palm Sunday Liturgy Last week the students and staff from Year 1 presented our Palm Sunday Liturgy through the use of a Bibliodrama re-enactment. Well done on a magnificent retell of the Gospel story.
Last Supper Thursday 31st we will hold a Holy Thursday Liturgy followed by re-enactment 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 as part of our virtual assembly. Following the Liturgy winners of the swimming carnival will be announced and the Eater Raffles drawn.
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.
Wow! What a fantastic term we have had in Prep. It is hard to believe that we are at the end of our first term. I am sure that you will agree that we have learnt so much in the last 8 weeks. We have learnt how to get along with new friends, how to be responsible, respectful, resilient, and ready to learn in our classroom and school, to participate in school routines, special events and celebrations and mostly importantly to have fun while we do it!
All the Prep students have worked hard on making connections between letters and sounds. I am so proud of the effort that each student puts into their reading and writing.
In maths we have continued to consolidate our number knowledge – linking it to quantities and learning to quickly recognise numerals and number representations.
Swimming was an exciting opportunity and students met their swimming challenges with great enthusiasm.
I hope you all enjoy a wonderful Easter and I look forward to seeing you all next term.
Wow, the last week of Term One is upon us already. What a busy term we have had in Grade One!
Last Friday was a special one for the Grade One’s as they presented the Palm Sunday Liturgy. Students acted out the Gospel story of Jesus arriving to Jerusalem on a donkey. Congratulations to ALL the students for performing their part in the play so well and well done to the readers who read in front of the whole school with confidence. A massive thank you to Mrs Backhouse from 1B who organised all the readings, structure and the play for the Liturgy.
During Week 9, the students also participated in swimming lessons. I was lucky enough to be in the water and teaching during some of these lessons last year as well as this year and it was impressive to see the growth, confidence and skills improve in such a short time. The year ones should all be very proud of their efforts! They had such a great time going to the pool and we are looking forward to the carnival !
During the last couple of weeks, the students have worked hard to complete their assessments in all subject areas. Although it has been an unusual term with many students missing some time at school, it has been great to see their progress over the term. We have continued working hard in our literacy groups, learning our new tricky words and using our phonics knowledge in games and activities. In Maths we have been learning to use a number line for addition and subtraction, continued to skip count and have been learning about Australian coins and their value.
Thank you to the parents who came to meet with Miss Rowe and I for our Parent / Teacher Interviews last week. It was so lovely to meet you all in person and to update you all on your child’s learning and development in Grade One.
Thank-you once again for a fantastic term and for all your support throughout it. Have a happy and safe school holidays and we look forward to seeing you all again in Term 2!
Kind Regards,
Mrs Tash Tapper.
Happy week 10 families!
It has been quite the tumultuous term to say the least, however we have still made sure to fill it with lots of learning and fun, particularly this week. We were excited to present the Palm Sunday Liturgy to the school on Friday. We had fantastic readers and a wonderful cast playing various roles in the Gospel story. It was so lovely seeing the children giving it their all and I know the rest of the school enjoyed what we shared.
If the Liturgy wasn’t enough excitement, we have also been having a blast at our swimming lessons. There has been such great growth in the ability of our students and there are certainly some very capable little fish in 1B. It’s so great watching the children practising their survival skills including safe entry into the water, floating and practising getting back to the side of the pool. We look forward to finishing these lessons, along with participating in our carnival.
Thank you all for your support during Term One and to those who attended our parent teacher interviews. It’s been a pleasure getting to know all of you and your precious children this term and I look forward to more learning, fun and adventures in Term Two.
Have a safe holiday and I hope you all eat WAY too many Easter Eggs!
Mrs Backhouse
What an awesome Term 1 we have had together!
Here are some great photos of our Science lessons this week.
We started off our Tuesday by explaining with extensive detail how to make a vegemite sandwich. Miss Mcleish had no idea how to butter the bread.
In the afternoon we made our own Playdough!
We had to follow written instructions and use measuring cups too.
Miss Mcleish
Year 3 has had a wonderful week. Thank you to everyone for a fantastic term!
In class this week we revisited some spelling words that we have learnt throughout the term...but we got a little bit creative! We used lots of different items to create words so we can remember them. Year 3 have also been focusing on our handwriting and using correct exits to rounded entry letter formation.
Some of us were lucky enough to participate in the Stations of the Cross slideshow for Friday’s virtual in-school liturgy. We got to read out some prayers and find the meaning of Jesus’s death and resurrection over what we call ‘Easter’.
In maths we have been working on our consolidation of addition and subtraction. Using the vertical strategy, we can work out some tricky 2- and 3-digit sums!
In science we got to create our own insect/minibeast. The students had free range on what they called their animal, also the number of legs, arms, and other body parts! We then got to draw and label the insect/minibeast and create a habitat for them to live in.
I hope you all have a nice school holiday break! A reminder that the first day of school will be Wednesday 20th April.
THANK YOU! What a fantastic term! Year 4 have kicked many goals over the term, and I am very proud of their growth in each learning area. Over the last week we have finalised a lot of assessment. For our English assessment, the students were required to complete an innovation of a storybook. The students wrote a poem using figurative language, such as alliteration, similes, metaphors, rhyme and hyperboles to retell the story using the orientation, complication and resolution.
In History the students wrote their letters from the point of view of a convict. They spoke about the different crimes their character committed, the punishments and some insights into the first contact with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We then dyed our letters with tea bags to give them an old, worn look!
Swimming was a blast for Year 4! AFL notes went home this week. Please sign and bring them back if your child would like to participate in AFL during and after school.
During art this term, Year 4 created sunflower artworks to represent World Peace and Vincent Van Gough. A reminder that school starts back on Wednesday 20th of April. I hope you all have a safe and fun school holidays.
Warm Regards,
Emily
We have finally got to the end of the term. Everyone has worked so hard and is deserving of a restful Easter break. The students in the Senior Learning Hub have been busy working on their artwork for their Project Based Learning hopes and dreams for the ocean. There has been paint, cellophane, crepe paper, plastic bottles, cans and so much more. Students have thought through how they want to present their work and doing it in a way that brings there dream to life. We can’t wait for next term to invite our parents into the classroom to showcase our talents and understanding of how we are connected to the ocean.
Last week we were so fortunate to have the St Augustine’s and St Monica’s staff come and visit us and talk about High School. Our students were curious and asked many questions. Food was a big winner for the boys at the boarding college as well as some goodies after the session.
We have also been busy writing narratives this week. So many different ideas based on the same setting and characters. Students created their narratives with purposeful detail and specific word choices to ensure the readers were engaged. We can’t wait to share what we have created.
During our Math lessons these past few weeks we have been looking at written strategies for multiplication. Our favourite was definitely the box strategy. It allowed us to break our calculations down into smaller more manageable chunks. Students have shown they are getting better at calculating larger numbers accurately. We will continue to practice our multiplication written strategies throughout the year.
The teachers of the hub hope that you all have a restful break and we look forward to seeing you next term. We will keep you posted with events in and around our school.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to Week 10 and what a busy and interesting Term it has been. The students have all worked extremely hard and know doubt will be looking forward to Easter and the holidays.
This Term the St. Joey's Service Club was introduced, and it has been a very successful and popular program throughout the school. The Year 5 and 6 students nominated to be part of the club and support Teachers running an extra Lunch time activity.
Over the Term many students participated in activities such as Kahoots, Painting, Minute to Win and Dance at Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes. We are looking forward to introducing many more new activities such as Chess, Yoga, Dance and Board Games
NCCD - Nationally Consistent Collection of Data
The NCCD is an annual collection of information from all Australian schools on the numbers of students with disability and the adjustments they receive. All Teachers at St. Joseph’s School will be expected to understand their obligations to students with disability under the DDA and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 and consistently collect and provide evidence which is recorded on ENGAGE.
Visitors
In Week 1 from Wednesday 20th April to Friday 22nd of April we have Vicki Reimann - CES Psychologist and Hannah Chapman – CES Manager of Counselling and Psychologist visiting St. Joseph’s Parish School.
In week 3 Tosca Grainger - Dee our School Counsellor will be visiting us again in Weipa providing her service to St. Joseph's School from Tuesday 3rd of May to Friday 6th May.
I will be on Long Service Leave until Week 4 of Term 2 and I look forward to catching up with you all then.
If you have any questions, please feel free to make contact with myself at a convenient time that suits. My email address is mturner@cns.catholic.edu.au
Kind Regards,
Melanie Turner.
Bringing Up Great Kids Program – Term 2
Dear Parents
It is my pleasure to offer a crafted program for parents called Bringing Up Great Kids in Term 2.
Bringing Up Great Kids is a reflective, mindful, respectful program that provides parents with an opportunity to reflect on their parenting journey.
Bringing Up Great Kids provides a friendly and safe environment for parents to learn from each other as they continue their parenting journey.
As a school community we would like to offer this group program. We envisage this program would be multi-modal including face to face and on-line (zoom) sessions.
The duration of the program is for 6 weeks. Each lesson will take 90 minutes.
The program content is detailed below.
Program Content
The Bringing Up Great Kids’ program supports parents and carers to:
- learn more about the origins of their own parenting style and how it can be more effective;
- identify the important messages they want to convey to their children and how to achieve this.
- learn more about brain development in children and its influence on their thoughts, feelings and behaviours;
- understand the meaning behind children’s behaviours and how to respond to children’s underlying feelings and needs.
- explore new ways of communicating with children;
- discover ways for parents to take care of themselves and to find support when they need it.
If you are interested to participate in the Bringing Up Great Kids Program in Term 2 or have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me tgraingerd@cns.catholic.edu.au .
I look forward to connecting with you.
Warm regards,
Tosca Grainger – Dee.