St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wandal Newsletter

Where do you focus?

Sometime ago I travelled south for a few weeks and got caught in the chaos that has affected air travel, especially in the southern states.  Between an airline not running, engineering problems with a plane from another airline, bad weather and pressure from the beginning of school holidays, the homeward trip was a mess, beginning at Melbourne airport.  There the queue for the Baggage Drop went back from the Domestic terminal right into the International terminal!  What was amazing was how calmly and politely the overwhelming majority of people took the inconvenience in their stride.  Amongst the hundreds of people, the number of people who made an unpleasant fuss could have been counted on one hand.  Yet what was really amazing was how little attention those people were given.  Everyone, but especially the staff, just got on with being calm and making the best of a difficult situation.  I marvelled at what a difference such a focus can make.

In the ordinary challenges and circumstances of life, if we chose to focus on what is negative, we will become people who give out negativity: whingers and unhappy complainers. But if we make the best of a situation and try to find what is good, we will be happy and spread that happiness.  At the heart of the Christian faith is the belief that not only has God created a good world but that God’s grace and power can bring goodness even out of profoundly sinful situations.  We allow that divine power to work in our lives by what we chose to focus on.  In life, in love and in relationships, we can only build on good.  Focus on the good and then you will have the power to deal with the difficult challenges.

Loving God, you have made our world and each of us in love and goodness.  When life is difficult and challenging, send us your Spirit so that we may be channels of Jesus’ life-giving power and love.  We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

NAPLAN Reports for students in Years 3 and 5 have been distributed with your chidlren today. The national test results represent a snapshot of a student’s achievement at a particular point in time. They are but one form of assessment used to measure students’ development and should be considered in relation to other school based assessments which are designed to identify students’ wide ranging strengths and diverse areas of need.

As a school, we  continue to monitor the results of these tests (along with many other forms of assessment) and use this information to plan for improvement in students’ learning. 

This year, we were very pleased with areas of growth, and in particular, the fact that our Year 5 cohort is the third most improved in Central Queensland. 

Thank you for supporting last Friday's Fathers Day stall. Our P and F raised over $1500 which will be put towards resources in the school. I am sure all of our dads enjoyed their special gifts, which were chosen with such care and love. Thank you to all of the volunteers who gave of their time to setup and manage the stall; your help is most appreciated.

On the weekend, three teams from St Joseph’s Wandal participated on the 2019 Opti-MINDS Challenge. All three teams, displayed creativity, outstanding teamwork and critical thinking skills. Well done to all involved and sincere thanks to Mrs Wilson and Mrs Clark who supervised and helped these teams prepare in the lead up to the competition. 

Prep students are invited to bring an artifact from their family's past (for example, a photograph, old toy, medal, artwork) or learn a story to share about their families past. Students will share their story or artifact with the class and explain why it is important to their family. We will begin sharing from Monday 9 September. 

 Real Talk is an organisation that is all about getting REAL on the topics of sex, relationships and personal identity. Based on Catholic Christian values, Real Talk provides up-to-date resources, presentations and programs that help young people to understand God’s amazing plan for love and life. Staff from Real Talk Australia will be attending St Joseph’s Wandal this  Friday to facilitate their “Let’s Talk” Seminar/Reflection Day for Year 5 and 6 students. This seminar will feature topics of self-worth, personal identity, good decision-making, love, relationships and puberty.

Friday Season B sport has now officially concluded. All Netball and Rugby League uniforms must be returned, cleaned, to the school office at your earliest convenience to avoid paying full replacement costs. Years 4-6 students will now return to wearing their formal unIforms on Fridays, and only wear their Sports uniforms on PE days (Mondays).

Our second round of Parent Teacher interviews for the year will be held at the end of this term. They will be held in the school hall over two days. These sessions will be 15 minutes long. As always, we urge all parents to book a Parent Teacher Interview. BOOKINGS ARE NOW OPEN and will close Friday 13 September.

Bookings are made online via Parent Lounge:   https://211sjwl.rok.catholic.edu.au/parentlounge/login.cfm

WHAT: Semester Two – Parent/Teacher Meetings

WHEN: Monday 16 September and Tuesday 17 September

TIMES: 15 minute time slots from approximately 3.00pm

WHERE: The school Hall 

Thank you to those families who have contacted me regarding their outstanding school fee accounts. At this point in time, we have a significant number of accounts in arrears and this has the potential to impact on the school budget and planned resources and activities for our students. Please finalise your Term Three accounts at your earliest convenience. As always, please do not hesitate to give me a call to discuss your account, or payment options.

Catholic Primary Schools from the Rockhampton Diocese will compete for the Tony Novak Shield on 18 September. Representatives from Year 6 (families of selected students have been emailed today) will take part in this event at the Rockhampton Touch Fields. Parents of these students are advised that a canteen will operate. Thank you to Mrs Riley and to Mr Kel O'Meara who will support our team on the day of competition.

A reminder for all parents, that afternoon duty ceases at 3.20pm. It is the school’s expectation, that if students are remaining at school for touch football training, music lessons, karate and so on that PARENT supervision is provided from 3.20pm until the commencement of the training session. Children are NOT permitted to remain at school unsupervised. The safety of our children is of paramount importance. If you are not able to provide supervision for your children of an afternoon, then please make other arrangements. A reminder that our After –School Hours Service is open between the hours of 3-6pm each weekday.

As of Term 4 this year, any students arriving early will be expected to be at Before School Care where formal supervision will be provided. Our OSHC coordinator, Hailey Svensen, can answer any questions you may have, provide you with enrolment paperwork  and can be reached on 0429316543.

Bookings are now being accepted for the September Vacation Care period. You can access the planned activities and excursions by clicking on this link.

Please join us for our next P and F Meeting, to be held in the staffroom on Thursday 12 September at 5pm. All members of our school community are welcome to come along. Parent engagement has been shown in research to have significant positive impacts on children’s academic achievements – and new faces are always welcome!

The School Board will meet immediatley afterwards at 6pm.

We are currently working on our Term Four calendar. A couple of dates which we can alert you to already are:

 Monday 7 October – Public Holiday

 Tuesday 22 October – Year 7 2020 visits to The Cathedral College

 Thursday 21 November – Prep 2020 Orientation sessions

 Wednesday 27 November – Year 6 Rite of Passage, Mass at the Cathedral followed by drinks and nibbles in the Cathedral Corso for invited guests. Formal invitations will follow next term.

 Friday 29 November – Whole school Christmas Concert and breakup BBQ.

 Monday 2 December – Year 6 2020 School Captain Speeches

 Tuesday 3 December – Year 6 2020 House Captain Speeches

 Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 December – Wandal's Got Talent (Talent Quest)

 Thursday 5 December – Spelling Bee

 Friday 6 December – Last day of school!

More information regarding all of these dates will follow in due course. 

Great is the strength we possess in our unity.

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop 1874

On Friday 6 September students in Year 5 and 6 may choose to order Red Rooster for lunch.  Red Rooster will be delivered after the first of three Real Talk sessions, which will be held in the Hall from 9am - 11am for all Year 5 and 6 students. 

Red Rooster orders can be made through Flexi-Schools until Thursday 5 September at 2pm.  

A reminder that Children’s Liturgy is held most Sundays at St Joseph’s Cathedral at 9.30am during the school term.   Please click on the link to access Mass times.

Congratulations to our Award Winners. Follow this link details 

Please follow this link for term dates.

Please see follow link for this week's draw.