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On Tuesday we enjoyed our annual visit from the Kindy’s. Sharing play and sharing morning tea together. Later that day Rangers Craig and Sean visited to share their knowledge of turtles and taught us how to protect them for the future.
Wednesday was an exciting day for Year 4/5/6/ who went on excursion to the Cultural Centre. We thank Gina & Moira Hart for giving up their time to share their experiences and cultural knowledge with us.
Thursday was a day full of games and dancing. PCYC visited each play break to teach the children Indigenous games and then we were privileged to experience the cultural dances performed by The Western Cape Aboriginal and Torres Strait Dance Troupe. Thank you to their teachers Alice, Suzie and Earnest for making this amazing experience possible.
Friday we shared NAIDOC Liturgy with every class contributing to the celebration to make it a very special event.
A big THANK YOU goes out to all who helped make this week such a memorable and rich experience. Thank you for sharing your stories and culture with us all here at St Joseph’s. Many great connections have been made and will only continue to get stronger. We look forward to many more visits from the Rangers, participating in future Dance workshops with The Western Cape Aboriginal and Torres Strait Dance Troupe and PCYC will be visiting us every Thursday to join in and share games in the playground.
IS YOUR CHILD STARTING PREP IN 2022?
Families seeking enrolment of their child into Prep for 2022 are invited to complete an Application for Enrolment, available on our website stjosephsweipa.qld.edu.au or alternatively collect an application package from the School Office.
Please note that if you have a sibling of a current St Joseph’s student you will also need to complete an enrolment application for your child for Prep 2022. It is important that applications are received by the school as soon as possible so we can plan our staffing for next year.
As we are anticipating that there will continue to be strong demand for placements within our Prep groups for 2022, 2023 and beyond, so we are wanting to expand our early years classes to two stream. To make this possible please encourage family and friends to give their children a St Josey’s quality education and enrol in Prep for 2022.
COLOUR RUN 1st September 2021
Our Colour Run is fast approaching and we need your help to make this event even better than before. We will need to collect lots of resources from around the town to construct our obstacles and we will need lots of ‘people power’ to help the day before and early on the day.
Please join us for a brief meeting next Thursday afternoon at 6pm in the Library, so we can coordinate this ‘Fun Raising’ event for our school community.
If you can’t attend but are still available to help, please reply to the parent slip we will be sending out to all families.
External School Review
Next week as part of our continuous school improvement process, St Joseph’s will be involved in an External School Review. A plan for school improvement is a process of collaboration, investigation and learning.
Catholic schools undertake an external review every five years. By undertaking a review, conducted by an independent third party, we will arrive at a comprehensive starting point for the development of a school improvement plan, and are able to determine the best possible course of action for ongoing improvement of student learning and wellbeing.
Our school reviewer, Trevor Gordon will lead these days. During the External School Review, some students, parents, Parent and Friends members and staff will be asked to provide information to the review panel through individual interviews; group discussions (with students or staff or parents); meetings and visits into classrooms.
We appreciate everyone’s support and time in helping us with this external school review process and look forward to sharing our review findings with you in the near future.
Staffing Update
Next week Ms Stacey Edmonds returns refreshed from 5 weeks of long service leave and Mrs Melanie Turner begins her 5 weeks of long service leave. Mrs Turner will be celebrating a significant Birthday while she is away, so we wish her many Happy Returns before she heads of for a well-earned break.
During the rest of this term if you have any questions regarding Learning Support please direct them to Amanda Rowe, Michelle Gear or myself, who will be filling in for Mel in her absence.
Book Week Celebrations are fast approaching. In addition to the usual celebration and dress up day, St Joseph’s school will be participating in the Great Book Swap to raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). The ILF is a national charity which aims to improve literacy levels in very remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. They provide books and literacy programs to remote communities where they are most needed.
The idea is that a favourite book is swapped in exchange for a gold coin donation. This year marks our 10th anniversary and, with your support, we are working towards equity of opportunity so that children living in remote communities have the same opportunities as those living in urban Australia.
From the beginning of Book Week and till the end of week 7, students will be asked to donate a book in good condition towards the cause. These can be picture stories, non-fiction books and novels. For a gold coin donation, children will be able to purchase the donated books from the library during their Week 9 and 10. All funds raised will go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Please take the time to encourage your child to share the magic of previously loved book/s which they may have outgrown. In return, they may find a new gem waiting for them at the Great Book Swap. Please ensure all your donated books are in good condition e.g. no missing or yellowed pages, no rips or tears, no animal damage etc. We thank you in advance for your support! For more information about the Indigenous Literacy Foundation please watch the following video. https://youtu.be/-Jtym39PlSQ
COVID 19
Whilst the threat of COVID 19 and its everchanging Delta strain still possesses some obvious concerns, we are grateful that Weipa has remained relatively unaffected. Staff have been diligent over the past two weeks busily preparing for remote learning just in case the need arises. Just a friendly reminder that all parents and visitors are required to use the Check In Qld app on their arrival. At school we will continue to maintain good hand hygiene and endeavour to maintain adequate ventilation inside the buildings.
Coronavirus Updates and resource can be found on our website
Mary, our Mother,
Your total giving of yourself reminds us that we hold in trust from God our Father.
Your “Yes” to God’s invitation to be the mother of his Son reminds us that prayer is not just words but is from the heart.
We ask you to pray to Jesus for us that the Holy Spirit may live fully in us, too, so that we may pray in the way that each of us finds best. So may we be prepared to join you in saying “Yes” to God our Father, that Jesus may be born anew in our hearts.
Amen.
Feast of the Assumption 15th August 2021
Luke 11: 27-28“As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
On Saturday we celebrate the feast of Mary's Assumption into heaven. It is one of the few feasts that are Holy Days of Obligation for Catholics in Australia. The assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven is the Catholic belief that Mary, who was without sin, was taken, body and soul, into the glory of heaven. The Gospel for this feast recalls Mary's actions after the announcement of Jesus' birth by the Angel Gabriel. Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is also with child. This Gospel highlights Mary's faith. Mary's faith enabled her to recognise the work of God in her people's history and in her own life. Mary is a model and symbol of the Church.
Sacramental Program
On Tuesday we commenced the Sacramental Program for the students in Year 3-6 wanting to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation. Over the next 5 weeks they will continue to explore each of the sacraments and scripture to help them understand the significance of receiving these gifts from God. We look forward to celebrating with them all on the 16th/17th October 2021.
Attendance
Congraulations to Year 2 and Year 6 who have had the best attendance in the first four weeks of Term 3. Students are striving towards 100% attendance to be able to attend the Principal's Morning Tea later in Week 10.
School Supervision
A reminder that our school before and after school supervision takes place from 8:15am-3:15pm. Please be aware that if students arrive before these times that no supervision is provided. In the case that you will be late, please notify the school office.
St Joseph’s Limited Edition Tea Towel
To continue the celebrations for the Year of St Joseph, we will be designing and selling a limited-edition St Joseph’s 2021 tea towel. Each student’s self-portrait will feature on the tea towel and will be a keepsake for the year of 2021. The cost of the tea towel will be $10 each. Early next week there will be an email send out to pre-order your tea towel as we will need at least 50 orders to proceed. We hope you take up this opportunity for a lovely gift or keepsake of your child’s schooling this year and being part of the St Joseph’s community. Please see the sample below.
PE News
It has been all action stations in PE so far this term.
Prep and Yr 1 students are busily learning different skipping skills as part of the “Ropes and Rhythm” unit this term. The improvement in every single student has been amazing and their sense of achievement at learning a new trick or skill has been so rewarding to watch. We have mainly been using individual ropes, however the last 2 weeks we have used the long rope and many students are confident now to be able to “skip in” or jump the long rope several times. Many children are practising their skipping during play time which shows how keen they are to improve. We finish off in Week 6 with a SKIP OFF!
Yr 2-4 Students have been working hard on building ball and net skills. Our main focus has been with basketball: improving dribbling skills, passing while moving, learning different types of shots/plays and learning about offence/defence positions. Each student has again improved immensely with these skills and they love to finish off with a game of Golden Child. Really impressed with the team spirit shown each week!
Yr 5-6 Students have increased their speed, agility, dribbling and ball handling skills by following set drills each week and increasing the difficulty of these in Bsketball. They have learnt and improved on different types of throws/shots e.g. layups, jump offs, 3 pointers. We have played ½ court and full court to teach the rules, positions and increase understanding of offence and defence plays. All round great participation and teamwork from both classes!
Swimming Term 3
Swimming will commence in Week 9 for 3 days, then in Week 10 for 3 days. Each class will attend 6 swimming lessons. The dates are as:
Day 1 Tuesday 7th September
Day 2 Wednesday 8th September
Day 3 Friday 19th September
Day 4 Monday 13th September
Day 5 Tuesday 14th September
Day 6 Wednesday 15th September
Our Swimming Carnival will be held on Thursday evening 16th September from 4-7pm.
A parent permission slip will be sent out in Week 6. This note will advise parents what students will need to have for swimming lessons and the time of lessons.
Sending out a request for parent help now please! If you are interested in assisting with swimming lessons, please email Libby llange@cns.catholic.edu.au or contact Suzy in the office.
Yours In Sport!
PE teacher
Libby Lange
Hello Prep Families,
The Preps have had a fantastic 2 weeks learning and engaging with multiple experiences and celebrating lots of different cultures and special occasions.
In Maths this term, students have been showing their knowledge and understanding of number names, numerals and amounts to 20 and practicing their counting. We have been looking at 2D shapes and where we could see the in the environment around us.
In English we have been learning about procedures by creating some amazing crafts using our imaginations and then explaining them in videos that will be posted onto See Saw. Our upcoming focus for InitiaLit is Phonics set 8: ch, v, x and y sounds. With new tricky words put, as, do , like and very coming into our reading over the next few weeks the preps have been showing great progressions in their reading and knowing some tricky words just by looking at them.
The Prep’s were very excited to have the kindergartens come to visit for NAIDOC week. All prep students made the kindy’s feel very welcome and had a great time playing with and experiencing all the different activities set up.
Miss B is starting in our classroom full time next week as a prac student. This means Miss B will be teaching some lessons and running some activities. We are all super excited in prep to have Miss B with us for the rest of this term.
Kind Regards,
Anneka
Year one have been loving our craft! Here are some of the things we have created so far this Term.
Hi families of year 2,
In technology and maths this term we are looking at positional language and giving instructions for others to follow. We looked at the book Rosie’s Walk, and we are using maps in maths to identify features such as N, S, E, W and grid points. We are also using the Bee Bots as a form of coding, where students enter the code for the Bee Bot to follow and reach a certain point.
In English we are looking at writing information reports on Australian Animals. Students will be looking at the habitat, life cycle, diet and behaviour of different animals and creating a poster for their assessment. We have been busy identifying the features of an informative text, and we have been creative with painting different animals from the texts.
Reminders:
- Library is FRIDAY
- Homework is given MONDAY and returned FRIDAY
- HPE is FRIDAY
- AUSLAN is THURSDAY
Year 3 has been involved in many events around the school, including Catholic Education Week and NAIDOC Week. For NAIDOC week, students learned about turtle conservation at Pennefather beach. We created a colourful turtle to remind us that turtles are unique creatures and must be protected.
In Writing, we have learned about language features used in procedural texts, such as time sequence words and adverbs. We have practiced writing instructions for the creation of a compost.
In Maths, we have looked at time and grid maps. Students have been using counters, dice and spinners to conduct chance experiments and discuss the results.
In Science, students have learned about the Earth’s rotation and how this causes shade to change throughout the day. Year 3 has just begun learning how to use iMovie in preparation for their Science assessment, which will be an educational video on the Sun, the Moon and the Earth.
In Geography, students have discussed major man-made and natural features of Australia. They have studied and created their own maps.
Just some reminders:
- Homework is sent home on Monday and collected on a Friday.
- Overdue library books need to be returned.
- Students’ handwriting books will now be used in class and should be brought into school.
I look forward to more quality weeks of learning with Year 3.
Regards,
Miss Trudy Sinnamon
Year 4 have been adjusting to having just the one teacher back in the classroom. Mr. G has now finished his placement for teaching and made a wonderful connection with all of the students. We will miss him that’s for sure! Since the beginning of the term, Year 4 have been taking part in the “10-4-10" reading challenge. The class reads for 10 minutes, every day, for 10 weeks. By doing this, we will accumulate over 8 hours of independent reading by the end of the term. All students are enjoying this challenge and can see the benefits already. We will keep you updated as the term rolls on but so far, so good!
Yr 6 News Written by Yr 6 Students
In class Learning by Ryan, James and Noah
The last few weeks in class we have been exploring persuasive texts in our writing. We have chosen a topic, now we have to persuade the audience about our text using persuasive devices. We will write this next week after planning it, then present it as a speech. In Science we have been learning about electricity and energy and circuits in class. Now we have to plan and build our own model to demonstrate our understanding of circuits and electricity. In maths we have been learning about adding and subtracting decimals-then converting them to fractions, different types of angles and converting volume and mass into cubic measurements.
Cultural Centre Excursion by Mitchell, Sydney and Sharli
The theme for Naidoc week was Heal Country. As a way to celebrate, all the Yr 4,5 and 6 classes went in a bus all the way to the Cultural Centre at Evan’s Landing. We were split into 2 groups and found clues for a scavenger hunt. We looked at the history of Weipa, artwork, all the totems, different species of animals and lots more. It was a great day.
Naidoc Week by Sam, Leon and Sarah
This week during Naidoc week St Joseph’s had a ranger visit from Rangers Cameron and Sean. They told us how to protect the 2 different types of turtles. They told us not to drive on the soft sand with our buggies, quads and cars because the vehicles will compact the sand and the baby turtles can’t get out of their nest when they hatch.
On Thursday the WCC Torres Strait ad Aboriginal dance group joined us. We all joined in the Taba Nara and the Shake a leg. It was amazing and very entertaining!
P.E by Levi and Aiden
This Term we have been playing basketball and learning dribbling skills, shooting skills and attack/defence positions. We have been learning to share the ball and pass it around. It has been fun and we are all really improving our skills. It has been fun to work as a team and to get a good game of basketball in.