We acknowledge the First Nations peoples of Australia, the traditional custodians of the land, seas, skies and waterways on which we reside, work, travel and meet. We pay our respect to the Alngith elders and all elders, past and present, and support the Uluru Statement From The Heart. We cherish the continued deep spiritual attachment and relationship between our people and commit ourselves to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation.

We have come to the end of our first term for 2025 and when I look back, I am super proud of all the academic and sporting achievements of our students who have accomplished so much with the ongoing support of parents and staff so far this year.

Parent – Teacher Interviews

We have settled into routines in the classroom and the playground, and most students are aware of the expectations and how to enact our values of Justice, Humility and Compassion. At times, we still need to remind some students on our expectations, but overall, it appears many of our students are happy to come to school and engage in their learning. Recent interviews provided an opportunity for parents to seek information and share the learning journey with classroom teachers. You are welcome to make an appointment at a mutually convenient time to discuss any further concerns with classroom teachers as honest, open communication with your classroom teacher is the best way to support your child.       

Principal Survey    

As part of our ongoing process to improve, every few years Catholic Education Diocese of Cairns send out a principal survey to parents and staff to give anonymous feedback on how they are performing in their role. This feedback can assist a principal in their ongoing development and growth.          

A survey will be sent out to a sample number of parents, if you are chosen you will receive an email from Effective Governance on Friday, 2^nd May (Term 2 Week 2). This will contain a link to the questionnaire.  The survey will close on Sunday 18^th May at midnight.      

More information has been provided in the attached letter from our Executive Director and includes the contact details for the company conducting the survey should you require further information. 

Meet and Greet BBQ

It was so nice to see so many families at our Meet and Greet BBQ earlier this week.  A big thankyou to the P & F comittee for organising the food and drinks for the evening and to the volunteers who helped.

Term 2 Calendar

With such a busy end to the term, the Leadership Team have not had time to review the Term 2 Events Calendar. We will review the calendar when we return to school and send it out in the first week back. Some events to look forward to next term are Under 8’s Day as well as the Athletics Carnival. More information and dates to come.

Easter Traditions

Catholic Easter traditions commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Easter is a significant event in our church and is a time of reflection and prayer. Traditions include observing the Holy Week in the lead up to the celebrations of the Easter weekend. This year Easter will end our school holiday period, and we return to school on Tuesday 22^nd April.

Wishing you a blessed and safe Easter Holiday period with family and friends. 

Easter Services at St Joseph’s Church

Saturday 12^th April 6pm – Palm Sunday service

Sunday 13^th April 8:30am – Palm Sunday service

Thursday 17^th April 6:30pm – Holy Thursday Liturgy of the Word with Communion

Friday 18^th April 8:30am – Good Friday Stations of the Cross

Friday 18^th April 3pm – Celebration of the Lord’s Passion

Saturday 19^th April 6pm – Liturgy of the Word with Communion

Sunday 20^th April 8:30am – Easter Sunday Liturgy of the Word with Communion

Project Compassion

We have had three fundraisers this term to raise money for Project Compassion. We had Pancake Day for Shrove Tuesday, Wear Green Day for St Patrick’s Day and PJ Tuesday just for a bit of fun for our last week of term. For each event we asked students to bring in a gold coin donation. Through these fundraisers, as a school community, we have raised an amazing $473.90 for Project Compassion!!!

We may be small in numbers at St Joey’s, but we are mighty in deeds!!! The money we raised can now be used to help provide hygiene training for a community in Samoa so that they have the knowledge to prevent illness with safer hygiene practices.  We thank everyone for their generous support.

The Annunciation of the Lord

Tuesday 25^th of March was The Annunciation of the Lord. The Annunciation is the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would have a son by the power of the Holy Spirit who she was to call Jesus. The angel’s announcement is met with Mary’s willing consent (“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word”), and so begins the Incarnation of Christ and his redemption of the world. The Feast of the Annunciation, one of the principal feasts of the Christian church, is celebrated on March 25, nine months before Christmas. Which of course was when Jesus was born.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday- Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem on a donkey & the crowds lay down palm branches

Holy (Maundy) Thursday- Jesus washes his disciples' feet & shares the Last Supper with them

Good Friday- Jesus is crucified (nailed to a large wooden cross) & dies

Easter Sunday- Jesus is resurrected from the dead

 
Student Council

Congratulations to Sofia, Parx, Amelie, Archie, Aylah and Zig who are our Student Council Representatives for 2025. One boy and one girl from Years 4-6 were selected to represent their class. They were announced at assembly last week and introduced to the school community. The student council will meet with Leadership to discuss new ideas, initiatives, fundraisers, etc. that they themselves and other students have come up with. We look forward to working together and hearing the wonderful ideas that the students have, to make our school even better!

From Learning and Teaching

What an amazing term of learning and teaching we have had at St Joseph’s. Thank you St Joey families - for your support this term with all our learning events inside and outside the classroom. Your partnership with us in your child’s education journey has let us as a community to create a strong foundation for out students to thrive and succeed for the rest of the year.

I am delighted to announce that the NAPLAN assessments for this year have been successfully completed. I commend our staff for their commitment that went in to preparing students for NAPLAN and for the whole school support that was received during the assessment days. I congratulate our year 3 and 5 students on their hard work and resilience during this time and hope that all of our students enjoy a well-earned break.

As we look forward to the upcoming holiday break with our loved ones, I encourage all families to take advantage of this time to engage in enriching learning experience outside of the classroom. Learning doesn’t stop when the school bell rings, and there are countless opportunities to explore learning during the holidays. Whether it’s reading a new book, exploring nature, practicing a hobby, travelling or joining in different celebrations – everyone should embrace their curiosity and bring back lots of stories to the classroom to share.

Everybody have a wonderful and safe break! See you next term!

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

Welcome to Week 10. It is hard to believe that we are at the end of Term One and what a busy Term it has been. The students have all worked extremely hard and know doubt will be looking forward to the holidays and Easter.

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.

Over the last few weeks the teachers have been in the process of writing Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs). 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.  

Teachers, with the support of the Leader of Diversity, and in consultation with parents, collaboratively decide which adjustments and/or goals are to be targeted and determine appropriate strategies and supports to be implemented. It is the teacher’s responsibility to implement these planned strategies in order to support students to meet their goals.  

Teachers will direct School Officer support and plan for adjustments on a weekly basis. Teachers communicate weekly with School Officers regarding student progress and make adjustments as needed.  

Evidence is collected regularly and uploaded to ENGAGE. PLP meetings are set 6 monthly and will determine if current goals have been achieved before setting further goals. The teachers will have meet with Parents of PLP students in Week 8/9 and 10 of this Term. If you have not been able to see your child’s teacher this Term, please contact them early next Term for a meeting.

SEL Celebration with Snacks

This Term in SEL in the Seconds Steps Program we have focused on the following four areas:

1. Skills for Learning: Students gain skills to help themselves learn, including how to focus their attention, listen carefully, use self talk to stay on task, and be assertive when asking for help with schoolwork.

2. Empathy: Students learn to identify and understand their own and others’ feelings. Students also learn how to take another’s perspective and how to show compassion.

3. Emotion Management: Students learn specific skills for calming down when experiencing strong feelings, such as anxiety or anger.

4. Problem Solving: Students learn a process for solving problems with others in a positive way.

To celebrate the students hard work in Prep – Year 6 we are having a SEL Celebration with Snacks. On Friday the 4^th of April will be watching the movie Inside Out, a PG rated Movie that focuses on these topics. The children may bring in some kind of snack to munch on while watching the movie. Please complete the Parent Slip if you would like you child/children to participate in this activity.

I would like to take this time to wish you all a very Happy Easter and I hope you enjoy some quality and relaxing time with your family. I look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.

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.  

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

First of all, congratulations on making it through your child’s first whole term of Prep! What an achievement. We have been adding stickers to our countdown chart to get all the way to 100 days of school where we will be having a class celebration! We have continued to settle into Prep life, our rules and routines and of course lots of learning along the way.

In English we have been learning new initial sounds such as “s”, “t”, “a”, “m” and “p”. Students have been working hard in their Initial Lit lessons and learning about segmenting and blending these sounds. We are nailing our literacy “rotation stations” and are almost ready to begin reading groups next term. We are so proud of the amazing progress students have made already.

In Maths we have continued to learn all about numbers and what they look like as a digit and using objects. The last few weeks have seen us using lots of different objects to create different repeating patterns such as AB, AAB, ABB and ABC. It has been wonderful to see students recognising these patterns in the environment too. Students have continued to participate in lots of hand-on activities to assist in their learning.

In Religion students have been learning about how God made the Earth and how He said it was good. In HASS we are learning all about our families and celebrations and in Science the focus has been on the needs of living things. In Health students are learning about feelings and difference between us. We performed our Harmony Day song at our first assembly performance and ran our first cross country race amazingly! Next term we are looking forward to attending Under 8’s Day at WCC.

Some gentle reminders:

• PE day – Thursday with Mrs Turner (Your child will need to wear their sports uniform and shoes).
• Library day – every Wednesday (Please return books in library bags).
• Homework folders to be brought in on Wednesday (this will begin again next term).

As always, please feel free to contact me via e-mail ttapper@cns.catholic.edu.au or on SeeSaw. Thank-you for your continued support in your child’s learning in Prep this year so far!

Kind Regards,

Mrs Tapper and Miss Chelsie

As we wrap up the term, we've been reflecting on all the fun and learning we've shared together. It’s been a busy few weeks filled with exciting activities and new experiences!

In Cross Country, we’ve shown amazing perseverance and team spirit. Everyone gave their best effort, and it was fantastic to see so much encouragement and support among classmates.

In Maths, we’ve been diving into measurement and exploring positional language. The students enjoyed using real-life contexts to practise these skills and had fun engaging in hands-on activities.

One of our highlights this term was getting creative with nursery rhymes! Students crafted their own versions of classic rhymes and proudly presented them to the class. It was a wonderful showcase of imagination and confidence in speaking.

During Technology, we explored how to make healthy pizzas. We looked at where ingredients come from, made thoughtful choices about nutrition, and even designed our own delicious pizza creations!

We also lead Prayer at Assembly, where we shared what we’ve learned about God’s creations and how we can care for the world around us. The students spoke beautifully and shared meaningful reflections.

We’re proud of all the learning and growth this term and wish everyone a safe and happy holidays and a joyful Easter with your families!

Kind Regards

Amanda Peters

Hello families and friends of Year 2,

One term done! Time really does fly – thank you to everyone for their support and collaboration over the term. The students have done a fantastic job working their way through the Year 2 curriculum. A big shout out to Mrs Turner for hosting a SEL party on the last day of school! Just a reminder that all library books are due back, if there are any at home, please send them in.

In English, the students have been doing their oral response to Fairy Tales. We have explored many Fairy Tales over the term, with our final one being Three Billy Goats Gruff. Students unpacked the plot, characters and setting on their seesaw tasks, and it was great to see the progress from early in the term to now.

In Mathematics, the students looked at 3 digit numbers – ordering, representing and writing numbers to 1000. We then jumped into shapes and the properties of 2D shapes being sides and vertices. Finally, we have explored length and measuring objects using cm.

In Geography, the students have been doing a historical recount on a significant place within Australia (Daintree, Great Barrier Reef, Simpson Desert and Uluru). As a class we were able to research information, and independently the students then wrote their report.

Within Science, the students have explored materials – how to mix them and what happens when we do mix them. The students have written up science experiments and predicted what they think will happen when certain materials are mixed together.

Next term we will have our athletics carnival, as well as our Mother’s Day event. I am sure more things will pop up along the way, so please stay connected via Seesaw for any whole class announcements. Seesaw is the main way I communicate with families, so please reach out if you require assistance with it.

Finally, I wish you and all of St Joey’s a lovely, relaxing school holidays and Happy Easter!

Kind Regards,

Emily

Dear Year 3 Families,

They say time flies when you are having fun… so, we must be having lots of fun in year 3 as it is already week ten.

So, what have we been learning so far?

In the last five weeks of this term, we have been consolidating our knowledge of persuasive speaking and students have been busy writing their own speech to persuade Mrs Porter to add something to our school. Some students think we should have a pool, or a slushie machine on a hot day is just what we need, and others think that a fishpond at school would make learning Science lots of fun.

In Mathematics, we have finished our unit on measuring length, mass, and capacity and we are now learning all about chance and the probability of events happening. We have been learning about how to do a chance experiment, recording the results in a table, and graphing the results.

In Technology, we are turning our understanding of hydraulics and the design process into physical machines that work through the power of hydraulics to help us better understand forces. We will finish making our machines after the holidays.

In Health, we have been learning to identify the things that influence our identity, like what sports we play or where we live. We have been exploring how our lives change as we get older like going to high school or moving to another town. We have identified how we might feel in some of these changes to our lives and learned about some coping strategies, like exercise or talking to a friend, that help us feel better.

In Religion, we have explored the ways God is shown in the Bible. In Exodus 19 God descends in flames from the sky, while thunder and lightning shake the mountain and in Isaiah 64 God is a potter and we are the clay. Students have drawn pictures of what they think about when we read these passages.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Have a wonderful holiday and a great Easter.

Warm Regards

Debra Hamilton

Year 3 teacher

Email: dhamilton@cns.catholic.edu.au

Newsletter Week 10  

What a term! We have had such an exciting start to Year 4!

In Maths, we have investigated Angles and began to even measure and create our own! We can tell the difference between acute, right, obtuse and reflex angles! It was an engaging unit that allowed us to use our knowledge of angles to create a great piece of artwork and consolidate the students understanding of Angles in our world. Feel free to visit the bunkers to see them displayed!

We are finally wrapping up our English unit all about Warning Tales and here is an example of one co-constructed paragraph we did in one of our bunkers.  We brainstormed all about the Galapagos penguin and built vocabulary lists before writing all together. This week, we will be finishing our own warning tale and the students can’t wait to share them with you!

Our Religion unit about exploring the Bible has engaged the students in learning so much more about what the Bible is and tells us. Last week we explored miracle stories and parables.  We finish up this week with our final task on being a Bible detective!

A big highlight of this term has been designing, creating and testing our water filters for Design and Technology. It was a messy process but we produced some ‘cleaner’ water than we started with!

Our class novel “Deltora Quest” has been enjoyed by our class and led to many discussions about interesting vocabulary, solving codes and generally enjoying the tension that builds in the story.

Thank you for all our parents who have made the time to see us this term! It has been a pleasure getting to know you all and supporting all these little people’s learning journeys!

Hello Parents and Carers of Year 5,

We’ve had an exciting and enriching first term in Year 5!

In Science, we’ve been fortunate to welcome two visiting science teams. One team guided us through extracting DNA from insects to determine whether they are invasive species or native to our area. More recently, the Flying Scientists inspired us to explore the natural environment more deeply, teaching us how to create scientific drawings of plant samples and accurately label their features. In the classroom, we’ve been investigating changes in states of matter, and the students have absolutely loved conducting hands-on experiments. Now, they are taking their learning further by designing their own investigations to explore these changes. Next term, we will turn our focus to Earth’s place in the solar system and its orbit around the Sun.

Our Journey Tales unit has wrapped up with some truly spectacular stories of adventure, bravery, courage, homelessness, fear, kindness, and friendship. Next term, we will dive into informative texts, using our understanding of extreme weather—both real and fictional—to create and present engaging "fake news" articles.

In Math, we’ve navigated a river of new strategies, revisiting prior knowledge to tackle multiplication, division, patterns, algorithms, and equations. Next term, we’ll kick off with time comparisons, solving real-world problems, and interpreting line graphs to analyse data trends.

In HASS, we’ve concluded our inquiry into early colonial Australia, with students stepping into the roles of settlers, First Nations people, and convicts through creative journal entries. Next term, our Geography unit will focus on bushfires and floods, while in Civics, we’ll explore Australia’s legal system.

In Health, we’ve been learning about preventative health and making informed choices to support our well-being. Students created slideshows showcasing ways people can live healthier lives through better decision-making. Next term, we’ll explore diversity and identity.

In Religion, our focus has been on Jesus’ New Law of Love. We’ve deepened our understanding of morality and reflected on ways to live by this principle in our daily lives.

I hope you all enjoy a well-earned break with your family and loved ones. Stay safe, have a wonderful holiday, and we’ll see you in Term 2!

Best regards,
Lyndsey Fielding

Dear Parents and Carers,

It's been wonderful to see the growth and confidence of our students throughout the term. We have just finished our assessment on portal stories, and it has been amazing to see the improvement in their abilities and engagement in this unit. As we move forward, we will be focusing on syntax. This will help build students' confidence in experimenting with different sentence structures to make their writing more engaging for readers as we prepare for our next unit.

In Maths, we are dedicating the remainder of the term to exploring elapsed time, often through word problems. The students have been working hard and applying their understanding to real-world situations.

 Additionally, students have recently completed an assessment that involved understanding Australia's migration policies, including push and pull factors that influence people's decision to move to Australia.

This term, we have been fortunate to have two exciting science sessions. Students had the opportunity to collect and analyse DNA samples, and they also investigated the threats posed to Australia's flora and fauna by invasive species.

In our final week, we are looking forward to our visit to Western Cape College. This will be a great opportunity for students to build relationships and connections with their peers. Some of our students will be attending WCC next year, and we hope this experience will help foster a stronger connection with students across the Year 6 cohort and the wider community.

Finally, I would like to extend a big thanks to both students and families for such a positive first term. Every interaction, whether in the classroom, outside of school, or through parent contact—has contributed to the strong classroom culture we have created together. A special thank you to all the parents for being so accessible and supportive throughout this term. Your involvement and communication have made a big difference. I truly appreciate it.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mr. Bakes