Monday 27/05/19 - P&F Meeting @ 7pm

Wednesday 29th May - Wonders of Living Program Parent sessions in the evening.

Thursday 30th May - Wonders of Living Program Student sessions 

Friday 31st May - Feast of the Visitation

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As the weeks roll by, St Joseph's Primary staff and students have been incredibly busy over the past few weeks with ANZAC Day, St Joseph’s Day, Mother’s Day celebrations, Athletics and NAPLAN. Thanks to the staff who guide our students through these events and parents for your support.

 On Wednesday we all joined the 1 000 000 Australians reading simultaneously this week. National Simultaneous Story Time (NSS) was held across Australia this week and was organised by the Australian Library and Information Association. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, family homes and bookshops across Australia. Now in its 19th year, it is a colourful, vibrant event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy.

 This year we enjoyed reading the popular children’s book - Alpacas with Maracas, written and illustrated by Matt Cosgrove. He has written over 20 fantastic children’s books – many of which we host in our school library. Macca and his pal Al are the best of friends and love spending time together. When there is an opportunity to enter a talent contest they just can’t resist. But what will their act be? Will they Shimmy and Shake? Will they Dance and Prance? Read Alpacas with Maracas to find out. Come into the Office and check out the beautiful ‘Macca and Al’ artwork that Prep have shared with us. Many thanks to Mrs Grant our travelling librarian and teachers who have been preparing this event for weeks.

 Early this week we came together for the annual athletics carnival. We were blessed with beautiful weather over the two days. Congratulations to Mrs Turner for the organisation of the carnival and all of our staff and parents who made it possible. It’s great to see how everyone pitches in and gets the job done well, even when we had the extra challenge of having two teachers away. Well done and I would also like to thank all of those who were able to assist in setting up and pulling down for the carnival. Congratulations to all of those students who performed to the best of their ability on the day. To all staff and parents involved, a very big THANK YOU.

 Our students need to be congratulated on the safe and orderly way they have been sitting quietly in the eating area before supervision begins in the mornings. As we only have one staff member on duty before school all children are asked to play on the basketball area during that time and not on the play equipment. Thank you for your support in encouraging your child to follow these safety rules.

 NCCD (Nationally Consistent Collection of Data) on School Students with Disability: Please find attached a letter about What is NCCD? Who is counted in the data collection? What does word ‘disability’ mean in the NCCD? What sort of help does the school give students? What happens to the NCCD data? Does the school need me to agree with them about counting my child in the NCCD?

 This Sunday 26th May we acknowledge Sorry Day. On our pathway towards reconciliation, Sorry Day is an important moment to remember the past policies of forced child removal. Here, we reflect on the sad and painful history of the Stolen Generations and recognise moments of resilience, healing and the power of saying Sorry.

Thank you parents for all you do to support your child’s growth and development, as the primary educators, thank you to our staff for giving students the support and opportunities to enable them to flourish, and thank you to all children who are open to trying new learning, challenges and experiences.

God Bless

Megan Pearce

Week 5 has been and gone so we are now officially past the halfway point of the year. This week we will experience and pay homage to another important figure in our Catholic faith calendar – the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.

Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians is celebrated every year on the 24^th May and is to recognise the patroness of our country, Australia. It is very special for all

Australian Catholics when our first Archbishop John Bede Polding announced that the Australian Church would be under the patronage of Our Lady Help of Christians. As, Australians, we can turn to Mary to help us in our need and call upon her to pray for us. In saying this, we might ask and pray this week for forgiveness, in recognising that this Sunday is National Sorry Day and we could be asking Mary to help us make amends for our past mistakes and face the challenges we have towards mutual respect, tolerance and reconciliation in Australia.

Background to the Feast

The feast of Our Lady Help of Christians was instituted by Pope Pius VII in 1915, in thanksgiving for the deliverance of the Holy See and the Papal States from the tyranny of Napoleon. What was really being celebrated was the emergence of the Church from the ‘darkness’ of the 18th Century and the very troubled years of the 19th Century in the Church’s history.

In this restoration Pope Pius VII did much to promote Marian piety among all. Mary, our Mother, has been venerated in the Litany under the title Help of Christians since at least the 16th Century. However, she was hailed as ‘advocate’ and ‘intercessor’ for many years before.

By 1844, there were only three Bishops in Australia. At their very first Synod in that year, they requested the Pope to declare, as Australia’s special patron, the Mother of God under the title of Mary Help of Christians with her feast to be celebrated on May 24th. The feast was celebrated from 1844, even though it was not officially approved by Rome until 1852.

The infant Church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. In those early and mostly priestless days, it was largely the Rosary that kept the faith alive. Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary, and was the first nation to choose her, under the title of Help of Christians, as principal Patroness.

National Sorry Day is held on 26^th May each year to acknowledge and recognise members of the Stolen Generations. Next week our classes will share a Sorry Prayer as a part of their religion lessons to help us all keep in our minds the significance of the day and help us to move forward each and every day.

 Thank you and blessings for a wonderful weekend,

Amanda                                  

 

Dear Parents,

School Banking is collected from the office on Wednesday mornings. If you wish to set up an account with QCCU please phone 40 697 555.