St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wandal Newsletter

Compassion for Christmas.

 

Christmas is coming and the pressure is on…for us to come up with the perfect gift, meal, gesture and yes indeed, the perfect family.  That’s what the ads are telling us…in your dreams, or rather your delusions.  Let’s be honest, Christmas is a minefield that challenges us in so many different ways: money (or lack of), cooking skills (ditto) and let’s not get started on the difficult family members. Maybe we are even that person!  So let’s step away from the false ideals and delusions and consider what Jesus came to offer us and what we and others really need: compassion.  Jesus came to give us the compassion of God and as we receive it, so we are to share. 

 

The St Vincent de Paul Society has launched their Christmas appeal, which you will hear about from your child/ren and from the school.  Here we are called to help those who are obviously less well of than ourselves.    This is a good place to begin, and what we give will make a difference in ways we may never know.

 

But we don’t stop there.  Give compassion to your family and friends.  Nobody ‘needs’ fancy gifts or expensive food, but we all hunger for a thoughtful gesture and to be served with love.    If we start our Christmas preparations with compassion, with feeling for others, we begin a revolution in how we celebrate.  Out go the unreal expectations that make us feel inadequate and depressed.  In comes tenderness.  If God loved the world, in all its weakness and failure, so much that he gave us Jesus, maybe this Christmas we can cut ourselves a little slack and be compassionate to all…ourselves included. 

 

Loving Father, you sent Jesus to show your compassion to all.  May I know his love with me, and as I begin my Christmas preparations, may compassion be the guiding light in all that I do for my family and friends.  I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me. 

Sr Kym Harris osb

 

All SJW families are invited to the Year 6 class’s Graduation Mass, which will be held at St Joseph’s Cathedral this evening commencing at 5.30pm. Year 6 students and their families must be seated by 5.15pm. After Mass, invited guests will then move directly to the Cathedral Corso area, for refreshments, and the cutting of the graduation cake. It would be lovely to see other members of the school community at this special Eucharistic celebration. 

Many thanks to all parents and staff who helped out during the recent touch football season.  It was wonderful to see so many players and supporters at the grand finals on the weekend. A special thank you to the coaches and managers of the teams on your commitment and service to our students. Please return touch football uniforms to the school by the end of this week.

Congratulations to the parents who have taken on either Board or P and F Executive Commitee positions in 2020. I look forward to working closely with each and every one of you and thank you for your commitment to our school.

 New School Board members are Walter Baxter, Breeha Sinnamon and Korin Peterson. Welcome! My sincere thanks and appreciation to the outgoing members, Stuart Douglas, Eleanor Thomson and Tanya Gill (2019 Board Chair). A special congratulations to James Jenkins who has been appointed as Board Chair in 2020.

The Annual General P & F Meeting was held on Thursday 21st November 2019. 

 Thank you to all the parents who attended. 

 The 2020 P & F Executive Members were nominated and endorsed with Emma Singleton as President, Nathan Crossland as Vice President, Tricia Burns as Treasurer and Nicole Newton as Secretary. 

 Tanya Johnson has been confirmed as the new School Banking Coordinator with Charmaine Clarke and Kathryn Crossland assisting. 

 Planning is well underway for the end of year Christmas Concert. 

 There are currently 38 half hour spots still available to assist in areas such as setting up before the concert, serving and making orders in the kitchen, serving drinks, selling ride tickets and packing away at the end of the night. Every year there is a small, dedicated group of people volunteering. Please consider giving half an hour of your time to contribute to the success of the Christmas Concert. It would be greatly appreciated.

Please click on the link to volunteer.

Please note that the link to the volunteer website does not work in the newsletter due to security restrictions. Please copy the link and paste into an internet browser.

 We welcome all parents to come to our P & F meetings. Your contribution will assist in determining how best to support our children throughout the next school year. 

 The next P & F meeting will be held on 6 February 2020 @ 5pm. We look forward to seeing you there. 

  Kind Regards

 Jess Gorman

2019 P and F Co-Secretary

Thank you to those families who have addressed their outstanding school fee accounts this week. If you have not made contact with me regarding your account as yet, please do so as soon as possible.

 

Report cards will be distributed via Parent Lounge in the last week of term on Thursday 5th December. Please ensure you have access to Parent Lounge and know how to access these documents ahead of time. 

 Staffing Information for 2020 will be as follows:

Principal - Mrs Kellie Jenkinson

Assistant to the Principal Religious Education - Mrs Rheanna Starr

Assistant to the Principal Curriculum - Miss Janette McLennan

 Learning Support Teachers - Mrs Christine Gawne, Mrs Hayley Hutchinson (supported by  Miss Carmel Byrne, Dr Phil Standen and Mrs Julia Greene)

 

Prep A - Mrs Anna McKenzie

Prep B - Miss Emma Murphy

1M – Miss Lauren McDonald

1C - Mrs Rosemary Wilson

2M – Mrs Emma Moon

2B - Mrs Annette Brightman

3R – Mrs Andrea Rutherford

3H – Miss Kayla Haynes (coming to us from St Joseph’s Biloela)

4C - Mrs Sarah Clark

4E – Mrs Melanie Egan

5M - Miss Janette McLennan/Mrs Hayley Hutchinson

5J – Mrs Kristen Jones

6S – Mrs Rheanna Starr/Mrs Anne Lidster

6R – Mrs Lauren Riley

Class lists are still being finalised and will be communicated to families by email after the term finishes. A polite reminder that we do not accept requests for particular teachers.Booklists will also be posted on the Skoolbag App. Please understand that our priority at this point in time is the quality teaching, learning, assessing and reporting occurring in our current classrooms. It is an expectation that our students continue to learn until the very end of the school year.

 

Help Needed! I have been tasked with organising a small reflection during the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass on 24th December at 6pm at St Joseph’s Cathedral. I will coordinate a group of children to participate in a small telling (in costume) of the Christmas Story. If you are intending on being at this mass, and your children would like the opportunity to participate please let me know at your earliest convenience by emailing the shcool office on sjwl@rok.catholic.edu.au. Thank you!

 

 A reminder from Mrs Westgarth regarding library books. All school library books must be returned by Thursday, 28 November.  Please ensure any books your children have borrowed are returned by this date to avoid being charged a replacement cost. 

 Please be advised that nominations for “Wandal’s Got Talent” are now being taken by our Year 6 students. This is an event which is held in the last week of school. All of our students are welcome to showcase their special talents. Please note that this is a very informal event – our priority is our students ‘having a go’ and having fun! All students are welcome to participate. Students in Prep - Year Two will perform on Tuesday 3 December from 11.40am onwards. Years 3 - 6 students will perform on the following day, also from 11.40am. Please feel free to pop along for some entertainment by our talented students!

 

All items will be donated to St Vincent de Paul next Friday if not claimed. Lost property is located just outside the school office.

 We ask that all children’s medication stored in the school office be collected by a parent prior to the end of next week. We are unable to send this medication home with the children so would appreciate your assistance. 

Secondhand Uniforms - If you are wishing to sell uniforms at the end of the 2019 school year, please return them to the school, clean and labelled with your name, size and price.

 

School Uniform 2020 – A reminder that any requests for alternative uniforms, including hats, must be made in writing to Mrs Jenkinson, who will discuss the request with the school board. Please take careful note of the school Uniform Policy when purchasing new items, such as shoes, over the Christmas break. Shoes with white soles, and the ‘canvas’ type styles are not permitted. Thank you for adhering to our uniform expectations, we are always very proud of our neatly attired students.

Some upcoming dates to keep in mind:

 Thursday 28th November - Combined School Board and P and F 2019 Executive Committee Dinner at 6.15pm. (Board to meet at 5.30pm)

 Friday 29th November– Christmas Concert and BBQ. Items commence at 6pm sharp.

 Monday 2nd December, 2020 School Captains Speeches commencing at 9am in the Hall

 Tuesday 3rd December, 2020 House Captains Speeches commencing at 9am the Hall

 Tuesday 3rd December and Wednesday 4th December – ‘Wandal’s Got Talent’ commencing at 11.45am in the hall.

 Thursday 5th December – Whole School Spelling Bee Finals in the Hall 11.45am.

 Thursday 5th December - 5pm Report Cards distributed via Parent Lounge

 Friday 6th December – End of Year Liturgy and distribution of Year 6 Graduation Certificates in the hall at 9am.

 

"Be full of forgiveness, hope and love."

 Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop

I'd like to personally thank Miss Carmel Byrne for being our St Joseph's Wandal 2019 Making Jesus Real Coach.  In this role Miss Byrne has visited each class regularly to discuss and reflect upon values and virtues that are fundamentally based on Gospel Values.  I know that children have enjoyed Miss Byrne's weekly visits and I thank Miss Byrne for her support with Making Jesus Real, for our children.

It gives me great pleasure to announce Miss Emma Murphy as our 2020 Making Jesus Real Coach.  I look forward to continuing to work with both Miss Byrne and Miss Murphy as we seek opportunities to support our school community be to aware of and grateful for Jesus' loving presence in our daily lives.

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.

Please be advised that there will be no reading groups next week.  Thank you to all our volunteers.