Dear Parents and Guardians,

Wow what a great week Catholic Education Week has been!

On Monday our school was lucky enough to have received a visit from Terri and Robert Irwin. They shared informative talk about the croc research project that they have been conducting, share some amazing photos and animal facts. They also reminded us to always be croc wise. Do you know how long a crocodile can stay underwater? They showed us the tracking data and we were shocked to see that Drew a 5m crocodile cross Stones crossing a least one a day and is a permanent resident of that area. We believe that one of his favourite spots is a rock hole with an overhanging swing.  Every child was very fortunate to receive gifts and a magazine from Australia Zoo. Ask your child about the story Terri told about the Couscous.

This week we joined in Celebrating Catholic Education Week with the other 305 Catholic schools in Queensland that educate around 149,000 students and employ more than 20,000 teachers and staff. This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day.  

This year’s theme was:  Many Voices. One Spirit.

Catholic education is committed to making a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

At St Joseph’s we strive to be the image of Jesus to all those around us. We are his representatives and our actions should reflect his values.  These values are incorporated into our everyday life at school through the use of basic manners, a positive attitude, showing tolerance towards others, giving time for reflection and using encouraging language to highlight the behaviours, values and attitudes that we want to see in our students.

We began the Celebration with a whole school liturgy on Tuesday morning and had activities in each class each day around living out the message of Jesus. Thursday afternoon we had a wonderful afternoon of song with each class presenting a hymn or song that inspires the class. We then all sang together the Mary MacKillop song ‘Never See a Need Without doing Something About It’ and the Torres Strait Islander song ‘Adatat Mili’.

We have also had Christine Stratford visiting from CES this week. Christine is the Senior Education Officer for Learning and Teaching and has been here support teachers with planning and assessment. Next week we Lillian Miller Education Officer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education visiting to support us in Celebrating NAIDOC Week.

NAIDOC Week

The theme for this year is Voice, Treaty, Truth. Let’s work together. We are very fortunate and grateful to have Tari Saggigi visiting the school next week to support us in joining together with the community in celebrating NAIDOC Week.

We are excited to have the opportunity to all learn together as we find out more about the languages, art, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our school community and the meaning of Voice, Treaty, Truth.  We will start the week with a Liturgy on Monday morning in the flexible learning space at 9am and come together at the end of the week with a Whole School Mass in the St Joseph’s Church at 9am. Throughout the week we will have many visitors who will come together with us to share in their voice. The overview for the week will be posted on the notice board and put up on our website. Please come along and join in the celebration.

Irrigation System

As you would have noticed from our sections of brown lawn we have experienced some significant problems with our irrigation system over the last few weeks. We are relieved to hear that our new tank will be here at the end of the week and we are looking forward to seeing a flourish of green around the school. A special thank you to the Taske family for helping us make this happen and the generous donation of your time.

Term Fees

Term 3 fees have now been issued. Please make payment as soon as possible. School fees are our major source of income and the school relies heavily on the receipt of fees and levies not only for major projects but for day to day operating expenses. It has however, been brought to my attention that a number of families have fallen behind in their payment of school fees. If you are experiencing genuine financial difficulty, please contact me so alternative payment options can be arranged. If not, to avoid money owed to the school compounding and possible intervention from the school’s debt collection agency, I certainly urge these families concerned to arrange prompt payment.

Student Protection at St Joseph’s Parish School

One of the most important concerns of our school community is the health, safety and wellbeing of our students. St Joseph’s has a number of specific child protection responsibilities which are detailed in the Student Protection Processes and Guidelines, available on the Cairns Catholic Schools Website along with other information for parents and caregivers: https://www.cns.catholic.edu.au/parents-and-community/student-protection/ 

At our school, we also have 3 staff members who can assist with student protection concerns. These staff members are called School Student Protection Contacts and you will see their names and photographs on posters around the school. Our School Student Protection Contacts for 2019 are Mrs Emma Dixon (LST), Miss Andrieka Knight (Prep teacher) and Mrs Megan Pearce (Principal). Students can speak to any of these School Student Protection Contacts if they have any worries about their own safety or wellbeing, or that of a friend or classmate. We thank these staff members for undertaking this important role in our school.

God Bless!

Megan

This week we celebrated Catholic Education Week which is held in Week 3 of Term 3 each year. It is an opportunity for all Catholic education communities around Queensland to celebrate and promote the distinctive mission of Catholic schooling. 

The students brainstormed about types of groups they belong to, at school, community and outside the community and related this to belonging to our Catholic School, Catholic Church. Each class discussed what makes our school a Catholic School and the meaning of the St Joseph’s symbol and motto.  

We ended the week with  an act of kindness by  supporting Anabelle Slingo to raise money for children with cancer by having a Crazy Hair Day.