St Joseph's Parish School Weipa eNewsletter

Sunday 17th March - St Patrick's Day

Tuesday 19th March - St Joseph's Day

Thursday 21st March - Harmony Day

Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th - Father Michael in attendance for weekend services

Monday 25th - Friday 29th - Parent Teacher interviews being conducted

Friday 29th March - Cross Country Day

Tuesday 2nd April - end of term FUN Day for all of our Golden Ticket winners

Thursday 4th April - Year 6 Bake sale day to raise money for Project Compassion

Friday 5th April - Last day of term

Prayer of the week is taken from St Patrick’s Breastplate

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Amen

Week 7 Newsletter

Well, with only 3 weeks of the term left, how are the energy levels going? It is usually around this time when kids begin to show the tell tail signs of weariness. The homework routine starts to waiver, friendships are tested, and resilience and persistence starts to drop. It is not only the students who start to feel the strain of a busy school term, parents do as well. We know the amount of effort which goes into parenting. From the preparedness of each school day and school events to the after school and weekend extra-curricular activities, parents are pushed to the limit.

It is at times like these that everyone, especially the significant adults in the lives of children make a concerted effort to keep going. Don’t forget, your child’s teacher is your ally. The continuation of open communication and support is vital for the ongoing emotional health of your children.

The ability to persist at a task and see it through to the end is one of the most import success attributes that you can develop in a child. There are numerous times in the school year where children must persist rather than give in.

Parents can be sounding boards for their children’s gripes, but you can show confidence in their child’s ability to cope and get through periods of difficulty, “You can do it”, is far more powerful in terms of promoting an attitude or persistence than “if it’s a little hard then try something else”.

If you detect your child struggling with persistence, try these practical strategies to rejuvenate effort levels: Use and display a vocabulary for persistence. For example, “Hang Tough”, “Work Hard”, “Hang in There”. Let them know when they have been persistent and remind them when they experienced success by hanging in there. Talk about hard work with your children. Tell them about family members who work hard. They need to understand that to be successful they need to do things that are not always fun and easy. While it would be good for all work and learning was fun, but this is not always the case.

Good luck and hang in there…not long to go before Easter Break!

WELCOME TO NEW STAFF!

Over the last few weeks we have gone through a rigorous recruitment process to fill both the Year 6 Teacher and Learning Support Teacher positions. We were fortunate to have a large number of quality applicants to choose from.

Congratulations to our new staff members, Mrs Emma Dixon and Mr Nigel Mitchell. I’m sure you will all join me in making both Emma and Nigel welcome.

Mrs Emma Dixon will be taking up the position of Learning Support Teacher and will start next term. Emma will be a familiar face to many of you as she has been teaching at Western Cape for the last five years. Mrs Dixon is looking forward working in a Learning Support Capacity.

Mr Nigel Mitchell is our new Year 6 teacher. Nigel has previously worked in both the Darwin and Cairns Diocese. He comes to us with a wealth of experience. Mr Mitchell will arrive in Weipa towards the end of next week and begin to transition into the classroom over the following week. Week 9 Parent Teacher Interviews will be a great opportunity for all Year 6 parents to meet Nigel.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS-Every day counts!

Latest news is that St Joseph’s Weipa has gone from the 3^rd worst attendance in the Cairns Diocese to being in the top 10. This is great news for our kids learning! Well done everyone. I know how much effort everyone has been going to ensure students can get to school, even when parents have had to travel out. When children have had to be away from sickness etc both parents and teachers have communicated and are working together to ensure no learning is missed.

Congratulations to Year 1 who are our latest class with the greatest attendance for the fortnight. ‘Adam Attendance’ our reward fish is enjoying his stay with Year 1. The way our attendance is calculated by CES has been changed slightly and will affect the way we are measuring our 93% attendance goal. For this reason, we will have to change our goal slightly to align with all the other schools in the Diocese. The Cohort (Class) Attendance report, is now measured by the percentage of students who have an attendance equal to or greater than 90%.

An attendance level is measured by the percentage of students who have an attendance equal to or greater than 90%. For example, a class with an attendance level of 85% means there are 85% of students within the cohort with 90% or better attendance. The report breaks down the attendance by cohort and attendance ranges (95% - 100%, 90% 94.9%, <90%).

Currently as a whole school we have 84. 8% of students who are attending 90% or more.

This means:

Prep = 1 out of 26 children away more than 90%

Year 1 = zero children away for more than 90%

Year 2 = 6 out of 25 children away more than 90%

Year 3 = 4 out of 21 children away more than 90%

Year 4 = 3 out of 19 students away more than 90%

Year 5 = 5 out of 23 children away more than 90%

Year 6 = 4 out of 16 children away more than 90%

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION against BULLYING and VOILENCE. ‘Bullying – No Way is the St Joseph’s Way!’ All students have the right to be happy and safe. Each student will receive an anti-bullying wrist-band this Friday 15^th March to promote the day.

The National Day of Action gives schools the chance to take action and empower young people to be part of the solution when addressing bullying in their school community. It provides an opportunity to focus on bullying and the big changes we can make to create safer communities for everyone.

Through our explicit Social Emotional Learning program, we speak often of the term ‘bystander’. A bystander is a witness who sees or knows about bullying happening to someone else. But it doesn't mean they have to just watch it happen. Whether they know it or not, by doing nothing a bystander supports the bullying behaviour. It’s really important to encourage students to report a situation if they see or are directly involved in bullying. Help deliver a powerful message that bullying, and violence is never okay.

Be an UPSTANDER not a BYSTANDER!

https://youtu.be/eeqQCyQOCPg

GENERAL INFORMATION

FUN DAY The St Joseph’s Way Fun Day will be held in on the last Tuesday of the Term, Tuesday 2^nd April. A note will be sent out to all participating students (Golden Ticket holders) on the Friday before.

TUCKSHOP NEWS Katie has some new menu items. Get on to “Flexischools” and check them out. Volunteers are always very welcome and needed at the tuckshop... even a few hours a month is a great help!

LUNCH TIME ACTIVITIES Drama Club is proving to be very popular. We will soon be adding another interest activity to our lunch times in the form of an Art Club. Watch this space for more details in the coming weeks.

WORKING BEE We are organising a working bee to tidy up the grounds at the front of the school and move some left over building materials from around the Church. We would like to get this done before the end of the Term and hope to get enough interest to do it on Friday afternoon the 29^th March after Cross Country. Please register your interest with Suzy in the front Office. Many hands make light work. We will follow with a cold drink and a Sausage Sizzle. For all our helpers.

NAPLAN online All students participating in NAPLAN Online 2018 are expected to have done a practice/familiarisation test prior to the May NAPLAN tests. St Joseph’s year will participate in a practice/familiarisation test from 28 March 2019. The practice test does not assess student performance. The purpose of the site is to familiarise students with the type of items they will see on NAPLAN Online and related functionalities. This level of familiarisation is worthwhile to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the test. Further information on NAPLAN Online, including the public demonstration site, is available at www.nap.edu.au/onlineassessment/naplan-online.

PARENT TEACHER DISCUSSIONS/INTERVIEWS At St Joseph’s we pride ourselves on an open and welcoming approach regarding families having opportunities to discuss with the class teachers their child’s progress. As I communicated during the Parent Information night in Week 2 this Term, class teachers would like the opportunity to discuss on a more formal basis, the progress of your child, focusing on their achievements for Term 1. To provide this opportunity, we have set aside time next week commencing Monday 25th March for parents/guardians to meet with the class teachers. Families are invited to choose a suitable time via the online program PTO. The PTO will be available for bookings from next Tuesday 19^th March. Thank you in advance for your commitment and dedication to your child’s progress and achievement in life.

HARMONY DAY Harmony Day celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity and focuses on the message that “Everybody belongs”. Harmony Day will be celebrated on Thursday 21^st March this year at St Joseph’s. We will be having a cultural parade to start the day. Students are invited to dress in a cultural outfit that is significant to them or wear orange for the day. If students wear an outfit they may change into more comfortable, Sun Smart clothes after the parade. Later that day students will participate in a variety of activities to promote the theme “Everyone Belongs”.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS Meeting next Monday 18^th March 2019. If you would like to participate in discussions regarding school matters and events, if you are interested in the school’s goals for the year ahead and want to be active in your child's learning journey… then come along and join us at our meetings!

CROSS COUNTRY The Inter-house cross-country competition is on Friday, March 29. This is a great social day for parents and grandparents to watch the students enjoy the competition with their peers. Please come along and cheer for your child.

APPLICATIONS for PREP 2020 If your child turns 5 by the 30th of June 2020, they are eligible to start Prep in 2020. If you have a child starting PREP in 2020 please put your application in NOW. Places are filling fast. We will contact all families who are wishing to enrol a child in our Prep classes for 2020 in Term 2 and organise an interview at the beginning of Term 3.

Our Project Compassion collections have started in full swing with all our bags of marbles selling out within 3 days. A huge thank you to all those boys and girls who purchased bags of marbles this week to support Caritas Australia. They were a complete success. This Sunday is also recognised as the Feast Day for St Patrick.

St Patrick’s Day – 17th March

St Patrick was a very humble and gentle man and is most significantly remembered for using a shamrock as a symbol of the Holy Trinity. It was his sign to show God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. St Patrick was born in 385 in Scotland. At fourteen, Patrick was captured and taken to Ireland as a slave. It was during these years that he turned to God in prayer. This was the beginning of a life devoted to God and preaching the good news to the people. Patrick preached and converted all over Ireland for 40 years. He used the shamrock to explain the Trinity and has been associated with all things Irish since that time. After years of living in poverty, travelling and enduring much suffering, he died March 17, 461.

St Joseph’s Feast Day - 19th March.

St Joseph is one of the most revered in the symphony of saints. Tradition sees him as a gentle, obedient, compassionate older man who lovingly cared for, protected and provided for Mary and Jesus earning a living as a carpenter and passing on his skills to the youthful Jesus.

Many Churches, convents, schools, colleges, spirituality centres, and a number of religious congregations have been named after him. If ever there was a man who embodied the spirit of the beatitudes surely it was Joseph.

St Joseph actually has two feast days in his honour and it is on the 19^th March that he is honoured as the Father of Jesus. His second Feast day is celebrated on the 1^st May and this is the one that we as a school and parish celebrate each year – this is St Joseph the Worker Feast Day. On this day in May we will celebrate with a Liturgy followed by our classes undertaking some activities relating to St Joseph and his mission. More details about this day will be forwarded in Term 2.

Thank you and blessings for a great weekend,

Amanda

St. Joseph’s Cross Country

Volunteers Needed

The St. Joseph's Cross Country has been set for Friday the 29th of March, 2019 at St. Joseph's School Oval. We now have BBQ Volunteers for the Sausage Sizzle at the Cross Country but still need volunteers to help out at Checkpoints If you are able to assist with the Cross Country please email

mturner@cns.catholic.edu.au

Training

This week in Cross Country Training 21 students attended on Tuesday morning and 35 students attending on Thursday morning, great effort everyone!

Training will continue every Tuesday and Thursday 7.30 - 8.00am throughout the Term.

As part of our commitment to the education and mandatory reporting requirements we will be holding our Term 1 Parent - Teacher interviews during Week 9 of this term. Interviews will be 15 minutes in duration and Teachers will be setting out through the PTO booking system the dates and times that they will be available for interviews.

For these interviews we will be using the same internet-based booking system that was used in 2018 called Parent Teacher On-Line (PTO). It will save time for parents, staff and students!

Using this system you will be able to book the interview times that suit you best from any internet-connected computer. Bookings will be available from Thursday 21st March and to access the system you will need to follow the steps below:

Go to the parent portal
Click the PTO icon as shown here …

Click “Obtain PIN/Password” and enter your email address. Your PIN will be emailed to you. The email you receive will include a link that can be clicked on to log straight into PTO, bypassing the login screen.

If you have any problems accessing the system it is recommended that you contact your child's teacher via email or in person to make a time that can be logged in PTO.