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Prayer For The 2023 New School Year
Lord Jesus, we ask for your help as we begin this new school year. Allow us to experience your presence in the many blessings you put before us. Open our eyes to the new challenges and exciting opportunities that this new school year brings. Open
our heart and mind to new friends. Give us a generous spirit to be enthusiastic encourage to accept new opportunities. Help us to be attentive to one another and let us experience Your presence in our new friends. Jesus, inspire us to do our best this year.
Amen.
We respectfully acknowledge the past and present traditional owners of this land on which we are meeting – the Algnith people. We also acknowledge the contributions of First Nations peoples to the education of all children and people in our country Australia, in which we all live and share together.
Welcome to the 2023 school year!
Last week we shared in a time of great excitement, hope and joy as our students and parents of 2023 once again entered the beautiful grounds of St Joseph’s. It is with great pride and gratitude that we welcome all community members to our new school year. We trust that our many new families will feel the inclusive warmth of our St Joseph’s community as they begin their educational journey at our wonderful school.
It has been a relatively seamless beginning considering it is the first time in 3 years that we have started without COVID rearing its head and impacting proceedings. All indications so far indicate that 2023 will be a great year on many levels. Students are excited to be back amongst their friends and teachers. Our Prep students have settled very quickly into school life and are keen to learn and enjoy many new learning experiences. There has been a real calm about the place which is a credit to both our staff and parents for preparing the students so well.
To all our class teachers, I would like to express my appreciation for the amount of time and effort they have spent over the recent holidays to ensure that their respective classrooms were organized and prepared for the term ahead. Such a great feeling to walk into welcoming & engaging classrooms. The work you have done to provide vibrant learning environments has not gone unnoticed. Many thanks to all the parents as well. From my observations and discussions with the teachers, the children have arrived fully prepared and a keen attitude to commence the school year. Well done, you have done a great job!
We all know that children receive the best education when parents and teachers work as a team. Parents’ enthusiasm, support, and involvement are integral to the success of our school as are the skills, dedication, and professionalism of teachers. Together, staff and parents can provide educational excellence for every student, so that they can achieve their personal best. Together, we can support one another to provide a friendly academic environment and, when appropriate, celebrate our achievements.
The adventure of a new school year begins and with it all the potential and promise that awaits. We look forward optimistically towards a challenging and inspiring year of learning and invite our whole community to engage with us in the year that lies ahead.
As I begin my sixth year at St Joseph’s, I am particularly grateful for the blessing of this community and I look forward to working with you all to ensure that our students have an enriching, faith-filled and joyful school year.
Wishing you all a wonderful week.
God bless,
Megan
STAFF NEWS
We are very excited about the cohesion of the school staff this year, as well as the new staff to St Joseph’s. We continually work hard on our recruitment, searching for the right staff that fit our school community. This year, we welcome the following new staff:
- Rory Harrington – Senior Hub Teacher
- Debra Hamilton – Year 1 Teacher
- Lucy Mills – School Officer
- Kathy Mitton -School Secretary
- Jason McNee - Groundsman
- Demi-Lee Boldon – Tuckshop Convenor
- Nicole Young -Tuckshop Assistant
Staff returned to work on Monday 16th January for seven days of various professional development opportunities. All of these opportunities were linked to the school Annual Action Plan which is informed by the Cairns Catholic Education Services Strategic Plan. Key professional development themes included cultural awareness, review of Mission and Vision, Science of Reading Instruction, Mathematic planning and assessing using the latest version 9 of the Australian Curriculum. The implementation schedule for this curriculum is currently Maths and HPE from term 1 with English and other learning area being introduced in a staged approach. Classroom teachers also spent time learning about the new students in their class by talking to previous teachers, whilst school officers also attended targeted training for their role.
BACK TO SCHOOL MEET & GREET
It is exciting to be back in 2023 and able to invite parents into the school again, after a long period of ‘covid times’. With this in mind, we hope to see lots of families at the upcoming Meet & Greet this afternoon. This informal evening will begin with ‘Open Classrooms’ from 5:30pm. It is a great opportunity for you to meet your child’s class teacher and learn more about how their classroom operates.
We will be serving food from 6.00pm so please grab a bit to eat, mingle with friends and be seated by ready for the disco to start at 6.30pm, We are sure students will enjoy an evening of dance and fun with friends. We hope to see many of you there.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
Congratulations to all students and families for their commitment to wearing the correct St Joseph’s uniform with pride. It is an essential life-skill to model and encourage students to dress in a neat, clean, and tidy manner. The staff model this daily by aligning with our agreed dress standard of ‘staff dress meets the occasion of the day’.
Parents, please assist your child to meet the correct uniform requirements. The Formal Uniform is worn on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The Sports Uniform is worn on Thursday. Please refer to and be familiar with the St Joseph’s Uniform Requirements on our website. This document is included below for your convenience. Some important areas to note include-
- Fingernails. No coloured nail polish or acrylic nails.
- Boys Hair. We have noticed quite a few boys hair styles that are not appropriate for school. Hairstyles must be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes. Hair past the collar must be tied back. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school (i.e. no tracks, rat’s tails, mo-hawks, mullets or undercuts that have a large variance between length).
- Girls Hair. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes. Girls with shoulder or longer length hair must have it tied back. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school. Hair accessories should be minimal and must be in colours of navy, blue or white.
- Shoes. Plain black footwear for boys and girls.
STUDENT MOBILE PHONES AND SMART WATCHES
A reminder to students and parents that student mobile phones are to be brought to the office each morning for safekeeping. No student is to keep their mobile phone with them or store it in their school bag. We have also noticed quite a few students with smartwatches with camera capabilities and access to games, etc. We ask that these special watches remain at home or be handed in to the teacher to look after during the school day.
PARENTS & FRIENDS ASSOCIATION
The P&F Association will hold its first meeting of the school year, Thursday 9th February at ?? in the school Library. The following meeting on Thursday the 9th March will be the Annual General meeting where all executive positions, President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer will be declared vacant and will be open for our keen, enthusiastic St Joseph’s parents to nominate. The P&F is a very friendly and inclusive group who work to benefit all students at the school. There are many ways that parents can become involved, such as attending the monthly P&F meetings, volunteering to help out at school events volunteering in classrooms. It is a great way to get to know and socialise with other parents and staff.
ASSEMBLY
Our whole school assembly is held on Friday at 8:50am in the Flexible learning space. Our first assembly will be in Week 3.
UPDATE FAMILY DETAILS
Family details are essential for the care and safety of your child / children. Please ensure that all your details are updated regularly. These include current phone numbers and email addresses, medical updates, and religious denomination. This is necessary and helpful information for administration purposes. Thank you for your cooperation.
DROP-OFF and PICK-UP PROCEDURE
- Drop-off is from 8:10am – 8:40am.
Please don’t leave students at the school, unattended before 8:00am as there is no supervision by teachers before then.
- Pick-up is from 2:55 – 3:20pm.
All students will be seated on the wooden seating in the eating area for collection.
Children using the kiss ‘n go enter and exit through the gate closest to the main entrance.
Children who are being collected by parents walking in please use the gate closet to the road.
RELIGIOUS LIFE
As part of the St Joseph’s Parish School Annual Improvement Plan, this year we aim to develop a School Prayer to align with the theological and educational views of a Catholic Dialogue School. Led by Mrs Gear with our Catholic Identity and Outreach consultant, we have already begun the process of developing our School Prayer in 2022. Throughout Semester 1, we will continue to seek student and parent voice as part of the re-contextualisation process.
The spirit of St Joseph’s is a significant influence upon the culture of our school and our community. We are eager to continue the development of our St Joseph Charism and begin to focus on our other Patron Saint Mary MacKillop throughout the 2023 school year. For this reason we have made our theme for 2023 …’Never see a need without doing something about it.’ This is a great lesson we can learn not only through the life and actions of a saint very dear to our school, St Mary MacKillop, but from the life of St Joseph and teachings of Jesus as well. This year, we challenge all members of our St Joseph’s community; students, staff and parents; to consider the life and teachings of Mary MacKillop, St Joseph and Jesus in their interactions with all of Creation. Building on from our theme of the year, we will also be learning more about our school values of Humility, Justice and which are part of the story of both St Joseph and St Mary MacKillop.
Tuckshop News
We are so excited to have completed our recruitment for Tuckshop Staff and welcome Demi-Lee Boldon and Nicole Young to St Joseph’s. Both Demi and Nicole have a passion for food and love making others happy. They have lots of new and interesting recipes that have had us looking forward to when they are gradually introduced into our weekly menu and special occasions. They will introduce themselves in our next newsletter.
Our Tuckshop usually operates five days a week providing lunches, drinks and snacks but with the transition of new Tuckshop Staff, we will commence full time from next Wednesday.
Our Tuckshop follows a very high standard of hygiene and provide a variety of healthy foods. Our prices are kept at a reasonable level as a service to the students, but we do not compromise on quality. The Tuckshop operates each day at 10:40 am for lunch with our menu being updated regularly throughout the year.
Our Tuckshop staff Demi and Nicole would like to issue a special invitation to parents and family members to become a volunteer at the Tuckshop. Demi and Nicole organise the food, the roster, and will be at the Tuckshop every morning to greet and help you. You will enjoy your time spent with us, your child will love to see you and the rest of us will really appreciate it also! If you are new to our school, have never helped out before, or have been helping for years and want to come and help again, please let us know in the front Office and Demi our Tuckshop Coordinator will be in touch with you.
Welcome to the 2023 school year at St Joseph’s. After seven full days at school, the students have settled in well to their new classrooms, learning about their teachers and their classmates. Many of the classes have been working on setting up routines to allow the children to be successful throughout the day. They have also been working on how to move around the school, where to play and how to transition from one lesson to another. With so many things to remember, the students have their teachers, support staff and office staff to help them along the way.
We started this morning off with our Beginning of School Year Mass. The theme of the Mass was Christ Be our Light and Father Dariusz our Parish Priest explained that we are all unique and special, each with our own light within us. Sometimes it shines brightly, sometimes more dimly, but it is a light of hope and trust that we will live and shine onto others.
We also inducted the Year 6 students as leaders of the school. They all received their leadership badge and made a promise to the school community to lead by example in the St Joseph’s Way, by upholding the values of Humility Justice and Compassion.
It was lovely to see so many families join us on this occasion. As always parents you are warmly invited to all our school events.
Michelle Gear
OUR TUCKSHOP WILL BE OPEN ON WEDNESDAY 8th , THURSDAY 9th AND FRIDAY 10th THIS COMING WEEK!
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to Week 2 - Term 1, 2023 at St. Joseph’s Parish School, Weipa.
This year, I will be overseeing both Diversity and our Learning Support Team who be providing specialised academic support and intervention for students from Prep to Year 6. I will also be teaching Music to the Prep to Year 6 class on Friday. We plan to have a lot of fun while ‘Bringing Faith and Learning to Life’.
The Position of Middle Leader of Diversity works within whole-school initiatives to address the diverse needs of students through a culture of inclusiveness. This role includes working closely with teachers to plan and implement teaching strategies and programs that identify and respond to the individual needs of students. Communicating with parents as key partners in the educational outcomes of students and liaising with visiting specialists, including Therapists to support student learning is also an integral part of this role.
We have spent last week and this week meeting to analyse student data and discussing the needs of the students within the classes. Further assessments has then been undertaken, where necessary, to pinpoint students’ strengths and weaknesses and areas for intervention. This is an ongoing process for the Learning Support Team as new data is gathered throughout the year.
As in previous years, we will be following The Response to Intervention Model. This is a three-tiered model for learning and intervention. The Learning Support Team will provide support across all three tiers – within the classroom, in small groups, and with individuals.
Tier 1: Classroom Support
The majority of students (80%) succeed in the regular classroom with assistance from the class teacher and Student Support Officers. The Class teachers uses data (assessment results) to monitor student progress and make adjustments according to these results. Teachers are more than happy to discuss with you modifications and adjustments that may be in place for your child.
Tier 2: Small Group Support
A small percentage of students, around 15%, require additional support to achieve at the expected level. The Learning Support Teamwork alongside teachers and parents to identify these students and to provide intensive, short-term, targeted support. This support is in addition to classroom support provided by the class Teacher and Student Support Officers.
Tier 3: Individual Support
A very small number of students (5%) require a high degree of individual support and may need a team approach from a number of specialists. These students often require a more individualised program and may be on a Modified Curriculum Plan.
Please remember that staff at St. Joseph’s want to work with you to best support your child and their learning journey. It is critical that you keep your child’s teacher informed of any information that may affect your child’s learning while in our care. You can do this by contacting your child’s class teacher, the school office or myself.
If your child engages with any private therapists including Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, Psychologist, etc, it would be greatly appreciated if you could let your child’s class teacher know. We also have access to a Speech Therapist and Occupational Therapist employed through the Cairns Catholic Education Services. They provide advice to educators on how to support students within the classroom environment rather than a therapy approach of which a private Occupational Therapist or Speech Therapist would provide.
Visitors
Week 3: Next week we have Heather Alison, our new School Counsellor, visiting us in Weipa providing her service to St. Joseph's School from Monday 6th February – Friday 10th February. Heather is onsite 2 weeks each term and will also provide support online all other weeks.
Also next week we have Lorraine Carroll - Speech Language Pathologist and Zinna Aylward - Occupational Therapist from Cairns Catholic Education visiting on Wednesday the 8th February – Thursday 9th February supporting teachers and students.
Week 5: Rebekah Wegner - Consultant for Inclusive Education will be arriving to support teachers and students. on Monday 20th February –Wednesday 22nd February.
Week 7: This week from Wednesday 8th March to Thursday 9th of March we have Vicki Reinmann - Psychologist Inclusion from Cairns Catholic Education visiting and supporting teachers and students.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at a convenient time that suits.
My email address is mturner@cns.catholic.edu.au
Kind Regards,
Melanie Turner.
Acknowledging Positive Behaviour
At St. Josephs School Weipa we acknowledge positive behaviour in multiple ways.
This can include:
Joeys Tokens for following classroom expectations from your teacher.
A Saint Joseph’s Postcard from your classroom teacher.
Weekly Assembly awards from your classroom teacher.
The opportunity to attend the Principal’s morning tea when you receive a targeting number of Joeys Tokens.
Each week the Saint Joseph’s Way Assembly will focus on an area chosen by the Positive Behaviour team. This Weeks St Joseph’s Way Assembly focus was how we can be respectful in the Church in preparing for Fridays Mass.
Welcome to Term 1 in Prep!
What a fantastic start to the year we’ve had so far. So many smiling faces and ready-to-learn attitudes walking through the door every day.
The past two weeks have seen us working on getting used to our new routines in Prep and getting settled into learning. In Maths, we have been working on writing, sequencing, and counting numbers all the way to 10! In English, we have started learning about letters and words, syllables and rhyming words. Art saw us creating beautiful pictures using a range of different lines, while in Science we started exploring living and non-living things. We have been learning all about prayer and St Joseph in Religion and are ready for our first whole school Mass this Friday. We are looking forward to our first PE and STEM and E-Safety lessons which will take place this week.
We have loved getting to know each other and our new teachers over the past two weeks and have been busy little bees making new friends too. We can’t wait to show you all our learning we have been working on and are very excited for our school disco this Friday. Don’t forget to keep an eye on SeeSaw and if you need to contact either teacher, our emails are below.
Have a great week and thanks for a great start to the year,
Mrs Neil and Mrs Backhouse.
Welcome to Year One families!
We are excited to start the new year with your wonderful children. We have had a fun filled start to the year and everyone is settling into our classes well.
In Mathematics this week we have been exploring number names and their corresponding digits, friends of ten, and counting up to 100 in 1’s, 5’s, and 10’s. We have been learning the song 10 in the bed.
In English have been learning letter sounds and how they go together to make words and we have learned how some people come from different cultures through the book Fang Fang’s Chinese New Year by Sally Rippin.
In Art we have started our exploration of the art of Henri Matisse and his collage technique of ‘painting with scissors’. We have looked at how shapes can represent real things and we will have a wall of art started for you to look at on our Friday open day at 5:30pm.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Hamilton
Year One Teacher
Welcome to Year 2 Families!
We are very excited to begin a brand-new year with your amazing children. We have all been settling into our classes nicely.
In Maths this week we have been representing and partitioning 2 and 3-digit numbers. We have been working with our numbers to identify 10 more, 10 less and 1 more and 1 less.
In English we have been looking at the features of stories and identifying the differences in characters.
We have also been practising our song “Thy Word”, which we will perform on Friday during our whole school Mass. We were so proud when Mrs Gear told us we sounded like angels singing during our practise.
A few gentle reminders for this term:
- PE day with Mr. Harrington (wear sports uniforms) – Thursday’s.
- Library – Wednesday 2A, Thursday 2B
- Homework given out on Fridays and due back the following Friday.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Barber and Mrs Tapper
Year Two Teachers
Hello families of Year 3,
What a wonderful start to 2023. The students have settled back into their new classroom and are learning the new routines of Year 3. We continue to teach expectations, including the 4Rs and how we move and learn around the school.
There are many events and opportunities for the students over the next 9 weeks, starting off with our school disco and open classrooms this Friday. A reminder that over the next few weeks, students will dive straight into new learning experiences. A curriculum note will be sent home that outlines the content to be taught throughout the term. If there are any questions, please contact me.
Gentle Reminders:
- PE is Thursday
- Safe on Social is Thursday
- Music is Friday
- STEM is Friday
- Library is Friday
- Homework expected back Friday
Warm Regards,
Emily
Hi there families of Year 4,
We have had a great start to our school year with students continuing to learn our classroom expectations in our new space. We have had a big focus on moving around our school and how to learn in our classroom.
We have made a start on our units of work this week and students are showing enthusiasm towards many areas of the curriculum. I am looking forward to our year of learning together. A curriculum note will be sent home soon to keep you informed on what is being taught throughout this term.
This week has seen us attend our first mass for the school year and a welcome disco. This is just two of many events where families will be welcomed into our school throughout this year.
Some important days to remember for this term:
- PE with Mr Harrington is Thursday
- Safe on Social with Miss Libby is Thursday
- Library is Thursday
- Homework to be handed in is Thursday
- Music with Mrs Turner is Friday
- STEM with Miss Edmonds is Friday
- Miss Libby in Year 4 is Friday
- Homework expected back Friday
If there are any questions, please contact myself via email or the school phone number.
Hi Families,
What an exciting start to 2023. We have been learning new expectations and routines in the Senior Learning Hub. We have been focusing on learning about our school Community.
In English we have been exploring the text ‘Once there was a boy’ and developing our visual literacy skills, looking at composition, framing and the salience of images.
In health, students have examined what has shaped them to become the learner they are and how they can display empathy and support others in the Learning Hub. We have been explorig this through getting to know you activities and games.
In Mathematic we have started off in the Senior Learning Hub with number fact games and investiagtions. The students have loved it. This game is called headache.
Visual Ars has provided the students with an opportunity to learn about the elements of design and experiment and practice these with a variety of materials including watercolour, pencil and crayons. Students created their own symbol that represents their learning heart and what makes them tick. We are excited to see photos of the finished product next week.
Over the next coming weeks students will continue to explore and have new learning experiences and a curriculum letter will be sent home with this detail on Friday, please contact us if you have any questions.
Kindest,
Miss. McLeish & Mr. Harrington