2022 Newsletter Term 4 Week 6

Dear St Joseph’s Families,

Welcome to the second half of Term 4.  With only 2 weeks of the 2022 school year remaining, all classrooms are striving to complete term content and looking at final assessments. It is important to have children attend school each and every day at this time. Obviously if they are sick and with the latest bout of vomiting and flu, please keep them home so as not to spread it throughout our community.

This term historically moves very quickly, and this year has been no different. In weeks 2, 3 and 4 this term, we held our Prep Transition Days. It was wonderful to see our future Preps interacting with our students, getting a taste of what school will be like at St Joseph’s. In conjunction with the Prep transition days, the leadership team facilitated parent information sessions to outline all the key things that our future Prep parents need to know in preparing their child for school next year. I’d like to thank our parents for their attendance at these sessions and I hope that you have found them valuable. Our Prep teachers have been busy putting together a special ‘Welcome to St Joseph’s’ parcel for our Preps which has been mailed out to families early this week.

We have been busy working on our staffing and class structures for 2023 and I’m happy to announce that the 2023 staffing process has now been finalised. As a result of ongoing enrolment growth into the school, we have been fortunate to retain our two Year 2 classes and add a second Prep class. Due to this growth, we have recruited an additional staff to join our amazing team.

As announced earlier this week, we will be retaining all our current staff for 2023, with the exception of Amanda O’Brien who will be taking maternity leave from term 2. We are currently in the process of recruiting to fill Amanda’s position during the time she is one leave.

I am delighted to announce the amazing new staff we have joining our team for 2023! We have managed to recruit some excellent applicants and I am greatly looking forward to working with the new staff as they integrate into our community.

We warmly welcome:

• Rory Harrington (Senior Hub Teacher
• Kathy Mitton (School Officer)
• Lucy Mills (School Officer)

Class allocations for 2023:
• Prep A -Stephanie Neil
• Prep B - Kate Backhouse
• Year 1 - Amanda O’Brien (Term 1, if position not filled by end of 2022)
• Year 2A - Tash Tapper
• Year 2B - Tiffany Barber
• Year 3 - Emily Ridgley
• Year 4 - Stacey Edmonds
• Senior Hub - Rory Harrington and Kristen McLeish
• Non-Contact and Internal Relief Teacher - Libby Lange
• Middle Leader of Diversity and Intervention Support - Melanie Turner
• APRE and Acting Middle Leader of Learning and Teaching- Michelle Gear
• Principal - Megan Pearce

School Officers:

• Kellie Davies
• Rachael Steele
• Kim Wallace
• Lucy Mills
• Kathy Mitton

On Monday 14th November, all students will participate in our annual ‘Bump Up’ morning and have the opportunity to spend a session with their 2023 teacher. In preparation for the day, we have finalised class allocations for Prep/Year 2 and notified parents via email.

We are truly blessed at St Joseph’s to have such a dedicated, hardworking and collaborative teaching team. On behalf of our community, I wish to commend our teachers and school officers on their commitment to continued professional learning, their support of our children’s families and their support of all the members of our team to get the very best learning progress for each and every child.

Please be aware of our school rules about length of hair, keeping it up, tidy and out of eyes. Our boys ‘mullets’ seem to be setting a ‘fashion’ but are not always kept tidy. Thanks to those who have been to the hairdressers for a trim. With regard to school shoes, a reminder that shoes should be black in colour except for Friday sports shoes. We have some new students who will get black shoes for 2023 and have been given permission to wear other shoes till then. Your assistance in such matters is always appreciated. Please continue to keep up standards - with such a short term we will be working right up until the last days.

Thanks for reading.

God Bless,
Megan

For the Fallen 

by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 1914. 

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, 
England mourns for her dead across the sea. 
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, 
Fallen in the cause of the free. 

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal 
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. 
There is music in the midst of desolation 
And a glory that shines upon our tears. 

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, 
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. 
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, 
They fell with their faces to the foe. 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 
At the going down of the sun and in the morning 
We will remember them. 

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; 
They sit no more at familiar tables of home; 
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; 
They sleep beyond England's foam. 

But where our desires are and our hopes profound, 
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, 
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known 
As the stars are known to the Night; 

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, 
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, 
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, 
To the end, to the end, they remain. 

On this day of Remembrance, we remember the courageous men and women who gave their lives in wartime and as a result of war. As we remember the lives that have been lost, let us promise each other to work for the freedom of all who are oppressed in the world today. We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus who taught us how to live. 

Prayer Renewal Process  

This week we continued the Prayer Renewal Process with parents, students, staff and Father Daruisz. During the sessions we discussed what prayer means to us, our own personal journey with prayer and what prayer looks like at St Joseph’s. 

The ten characteristics of prayer were introduced which indicate what prayer could look like when recontextualized and purposeful for the St Joseph’s Community. In particular, we focused on how our school prayer might allow all to actively participate, how we could prepare for prayer and how we could recognise our Catholic identity and celebrate diversity. 

During the student session we looked further at who we are at St Joseph’s. The students did an amazing job describing ‘who we are’ at St Joseph’s referring to the Spirit of St Joseph and our school mission “Bringing Faith and Learning to Life”. The students also referred to our school values of Humility, Compassion and Justice and how they contribute to who we are as a community.  

We also looked at ‘How we are’ at St Joseph's which sparked conversation around the St Joseph’s Way and the 4R’s. All the students were in agreement that they would like to see elements of the 4R’S included in our school prayer. 

It was great to have parents, students and Father Dariusz participate in these sessions as each group uniquely shared their perspectives. We look forward to sharing more with you soon.  

Dates for Term 4 2022 

There are still many events taking place this term. Please make note of the following dates. 

Dear Parents and Guardians,  

Welcome to Week 6. What a busy couple of weeks it has been with Assessment, Year 6 Tranistion Days and Swimming Carnival. In the next 2 weeks there are many exciting events yet to happen - Bump Up Day, Starry, Starry Night, Final School Mass, St. Joseph’s Annual Awards Night and the Year 6 Graduation. 

Year 6 - 7 Transition 

Year 6 attended the  Year 6 - 7 Transition Days at WCC in Week 2, 3 and 4  (13th, 20th and 27th of October) of this Term. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed the Transition days and got to experience some of the acitviites that they will participate in 2023. 

Taking the stress out of going to high school 

The Hon Jason Clare MP launched new resources developed by Life Ed to help take the stress out of transitioning to high school for year six students.The transition from primary school to high school is a critical time in the life of a child and like any change it can also be scary. 

Almost half of year six students experience stress and anxiety about going to high school according to a study commissioned by Life Ed and undertaken by the Australian Council for Education Research. The Productivity Commission’s Interim Report into the current National Schools Reform Agreement says that there is clear evidence between wellbeing and student engagement at school. If students are experiencing poor wellbeing it makes it harder to learn. That’s why the Guide to Thrive developed by Life Ed is important. These new resources are aimed at helping parents, teachers and carers of students about to make the switch from primary school to high school do what they can to make the transition easier.’ 

The tools are free to download and include: 

• modules for teachers mapped to Australian Institute for Teaching and Learning Standards 
• practical classroom activities based on research 

• resources for parents and carers to support their conversations with students and help to get the right information. 

 Topics covered include: 

• dealing with fears about meeting new people and learning new things in a new environment 
• learning how to navigate to and around a new school 
• creating productive communication between parents, teachers and schools 

• tailoring support for students with special needs. 

https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/taking-stress-out-going-high-school 

 Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs)   

The teachers have now completed the process of writing Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs) and have met with Parents over the last few weeks. Personalised learning is a process that supports a wide range of students with additional learning and support needs. This includes students who may require support in one or more of the following areas: learning (including high potential learners), behaviour, social/emotional, cultural/language (including international students, boarders and learners of English as an Additional Language or Dialect) and those who have educational support needs arising from disability.   

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  

Stay & Play 

We have enjoyed hosting Stay & Play sessions in our Prep classroom this year. We have found it to be a wonderful opportunity for families within the Weipa community to have an additional place for their young children to experience hands on, fun and engaging early years learning opportunities. It is also a great opportunity for parents to meet other families.  

We have two more Stay and Play sessions left for 2022. If you know any families with small children in our community, please encourage them to come along.  

Stay & Play will continue in 2023 with dates to be advised at the start of the school year.  

Reports 

Our teachers are busy writing Semester 2 reports for all children. It is wonderful to see the academic, social and emotional growth our students have made throughout the year. Reports will be uploaded to the parent portal in week 8 with hard copies being sent home with children. If your family requires more than 1 hard copy can you please email Mrs O’Brien so that this can be arranged. Please email arowe@cns.catholic.edu.au 

Student Devices 

In week 7 we will start the process of auditing and allocating devices for 2023.  

If your child has a school laptop, laptop charger, iPad, iPad charger or laptop case at home please ensure these are returned to school no later than MONDAY 14th November. 

School devices will not be sent home for the remainder of the school year with new devices allocated in 2023.

Hello Everyone, 

We have been very busy teaching, learning and assessing in this last fortnight.  In English, we have been reading lots of stories and engaging in detailed retells of characters and events. Our reading skills are continually developing and we have really enjoyed sharing books with our Year 3 visitors. In Maths we have been investigating addition and subtraction using blocks and number lines to support our learning.  

In the next two weeks we will begin preparing for Starry Starry Night and end of year celebrations. Our Prep class has been asked to donate Christmas items for the school cent auction. If you could please send along some items that relate to Christmas (if you have not already done so) it would be much appreciated. 

Prep students will be acting in the nativity presentation at Starry Starry Night.   If your child unable to attend the carols, please let me know as soon as possible so I can adjust the actors and roles.  

Thank you! 

Stephanie 

Hello Families! 

This week we have been busy rehearsing our Remembrance Day Liturgy and making our class poppy wreath. We have also been practising our Starry, Starry Night Song, Mary Did You Know? I’m sure you have heard their beautiful singing of this song at home.  

Students have been working very hard to complete and finalise all of their assessments this week. Our learning has continued and this week in Science we have continued to learn about the external features of animals and their habitats. We created our very own animal, labelled it and created an environment for it to live in that met it’s needs. In Maths we have been working on our number patterning, fractions - making half and different types of capacity. In Literacy we have created our own poems and are working hard to apply our knowledge learnt in our lessons on the mat to our reading and writing. In Religion we have continued to learn about Mary and have been practising our Hail Mary Prayer. In HASS, students have looked at natural, managed and constructed features and looked at ways we can protect the Great Barrier Reef.  

 Only 2 weeks to go! 

Kind Regards, 

Year One Team. 

Hi there Families!  

This week Year 2 have been continuing to work very hard on their persuasive writing. We’ve been using high modality words like obviously, definitely and certainly. Perhaps you have heard some better persuasions from you children at home. Keep up the great work Year 2! 

In Maths, we have identified halves, quarters and eighths of shapes and groups of objects. 

Hass this week involved the students interviewing a friend in the class about places they are connected. One that was close to them and one that was faraway. We had a lot of students choosing Penne, Cooktown, their home, Cairns and some places like Ulladulla or even Fruit Bat Falls and Brisbane. 

 Only 2 weeks left in year 2 together! 

Year 3 – What’s the matter? 

In year 3 have been participating in science experiments to discover different kinds of information about states of matter. What have discovered everything it made of matter and matter is made up of molecules. The type of matter and the state of matter depends on how close or far away the molecules are interacting with each other.  

When the molecules do not touch and are free moving – this is a gas.  

When the molecules are touching, but not closely packed together – it is a liquid.  

When the molecules are compact, touching and cannot move – it is a solid. 

BUT WAIT… there is more. Did you know that different things can change their state of matter by adding or removing heat. For example – ice, which is a solid, can become a liquid if heat is added.  

BUT WAIT… there is more. Year 3 have discovered through experiments that not all solids melt the same way – depending on their purest form. In this experiment we compared the states of matter and melting time of ice compared to chocolate. 

Hi families of Year 4, 

Year 4 have had a busy past 2 weeks with learning and assessing. Over the course of the 2 weeks, we have looked at imaginative and informative texts and identifying different language features within these forms. In maths, students have been exploring mapping techniques with Miss Kent. We have been using google maps and searching for different landmarks around Weipa. Next, we are looking at scale and calculating distances around Weipa.  

The next 2 weeks will be busy for Year 4 as we move into end of year celebrations. A reminder that we ask for donations to our Cent Auction for Year 4. If we could bring some items in that relate to homewares, gardening and pets that would be amazing. 

Year 4 are reading the nativity poems at Starry Starry Night. Please ask your child if they have a reading part, as attendance on the night is key to the events flowing smoothly. If you could please let me know if your child won’t attending that would be fantastic.  

Many thanks, 

Emily 

We have been busy bees in The Hub these past couple of weeks finishing up many units of work. Our students have shown wonderful growth this semester and are proving that many things have been learnt and achieved this year. We look forward to the seniors presenting a variety of work to the school community over the coming week or two.  

As we move into the last couple of weeks students will be busy learning songs for Starry Starry Night and getting ourselves organized for our end of year events. It certainly will be a fun filled couple of weeks. Our students will be busy with many important events taking place in Week 8- Monday is awards night. All are invited to attend and students receiving awards will be invited via email; Tuesday is our end of year mass for the whole school; Thursday is the Year 6 pool fun day and graduation dinner; Friday will be our final goodbye to our Year 6 students with a guard of honor and our end of school year assembly.  

We look forward to celebrating the last couple of weeks with our parents with many amazing events yet to come.  

On Thursday 27 October 2022 the P&F held its final meeting for the year. You can access a full copy of the meeting minutes below.

We are happy to announce the P&F will be purchasing a rope tunnel to be added to the current playground. This extension was a much-requested item by the children when reviewing options for the proposed playground, so we are sure they will love this new addition.

We have also approved the purchase of two new comm boxes that can be moved around the school as required. These set ups offer flexibility and increased learning opportunities, as they are interactive and portable.

The P&F had previously committed funds to assist with the construction of raised garden beds in conjunction with a grant that was attained. We have again confirmed our support for this, and hope to see items purchased for this project soon.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Matt Wallace for being our MC at the school dance held late last term, and to all the parents who attended to support your children and helped out with set up, pack down and the service of food. It was a great night and is always special to see our children perform.

Stary Night - As our last event of the year approaches, we again reach out to seek your help at this event. The P&F will assist by helping to sell Cent Sale tickets, battery operated candles and food and drinks. Please reach out or come and see us on the night if you can help with sales or serving. Food will be available for purchase between 5:30 – 6:30 pm.

This year, attendance at our meetings has been very low, and it has at times been difficult to form a quorum. In order to be an effective P&F and to be able to make decisions, we hope to see more faces at our meetings next year.

Our next meeting is currently scheduled for Thursday 9 th February 2023.