St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wandal Newsletter

What are you going to hoard? 

Toilet paper!  I must say I love the jokes and I’ve even made up a few myself but, sorry, this really isn’t the place to tell them.   How people have reacted regarding toilet paper is a great sign about how we can react in a crisis.  We can hoard or we can react with humour.  The great thing about humour is that it can open us up to another point of view and invite us into a different way of acting.  If you have just over a minute, watch this Italian Grandmother’s suggestions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mzThYPuzs4.  She has common sense, good ideas and, above all, compassion.  

We can hoard toilet paper or we can hoard compassion.  The first looks after number one (and two, if you like) but the latter opens us up to others and a wider possibility for living and loving. Hoarded compassion must be given away.  Yes, we do need toilet paper but we need each other more.  I read a piece by an infectious diseases specialist who has worked across the world working with different diseases and stated that the worst ‘disease’ he faced was fear: a fear that closes us down to others.  Aside from anything else, it is not good for our health. 

Most reading this are not yet at risk.  The virus hasn’t reached out areas.  But we can prepare.  We can begin to think and imagine how we could support each other if it did come our way.  Like the grandmother’s wink in the Youtube clip, we can find new, fresh and even interesting ways of bonding with those around us and those we love, even if we have to keep some distance.   God has created us as a family.  This is a opportunity to open and strengthen our family bonds. And…keep the jokes coming. 

Loving God, our human family faces a crisis at this time.  Give us good humour to lift our spirit sand help us find new ways of supporting each other in compassion.  We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.  

Sr Kym Harris

OSB

Today we welcomed Mr Mike Kelso (Assistant Director: Schools, Rockhampton region) for his quarterly visit to our school. It was great to share with Mike, the many exciting things that are happening in our classrooms at present. Mike had the opportunity to visit classes, to see some quality teaching and learning in action and also to speak to a number of students and staff. We thank Mike for his ongoing support of our school.

Tomorrow, we welcome approximately 25 of our colleagues  for a Spelling In-service which will be hosted from our 'Be-Hive'. Mrs Moon’s class will receive a visit from these leaders of learning to observe a lesson in action! Thank you to 2M in advance for hosting our visitors.

 Good luck to Mrs Clark (Year 4 teacher) who leaves tomorrow to compete in the Oztag State Competition, Senior Ladies Division. We look forward to hearing about Sarah’s achievements when she returns to school next Tuesday.

I look forward to seeing lots of you at Callaghan Park on Saturday for the annual St Pat’s Race Day. This is a fundraiser for the Rockhampton region Catholic Primary Schools. I thank Year 6 students, Jaya, Willow, Ahliah, Bayden, Jake and Matthew who have volunteered to come along and welcome patrons at the gate. It looks to be a great day (to be sure).

 

 

An increasing number of students are arriving for the school day without a school hat.  A reminder that we have a 'no hat, no play' rule here at St Joseph's.  Please ensure your child has a clearly named school hat each and every day.

I draw your attention to the Parent Engagement Implementation Guide, which can be found here: https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/area?command=record&id=302&cid=6. This resource aims to provide school communities with practical guidance on implementing successful parent and family engagement practices, focusing on the ‘how’ rather than just the ‘why’. Throughout this guide a wide body of research has been drawn upon to provide evidence and examples of how we can make parent and family engagement relevant to our school and community. Please take the time to read the attached fact sheet on “Parent Engagement in Learning and Wellbeing. Showing children that education is important, building their confidence and connecting with school helps to shape children’s learning and wellbeing.

We value the many and varied contributions our parents make to this wonderful learning community. Our next P and F Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 30 April at 5.15pm in the staffroom. 

A reminder that Miss Hinz is offering training on Tuesday mornings at 7.30am.  Our Cross Country carnival will be held over two days: Years 3-6 will compete at the Southside Soccer fields on Monday 30th March, and our Prep- Year 2 students will compete at school on Tuesday 31st  March. 

 We are now taking enrolments for Prep in 2021. If you have a child hoping to commence Prep in 2021, or know of others who may be interested in attending our school, please complete the online enrolment process via our website. 

Let St Joseph's true children remember their mission and seek first the poorest, most neglected parts of God's vineyard.

 Saint Mary MacKillop 1900

Saint Joseph has special relevance for us, as not only the namesake of our school, but also reflecting our school’s inception by the   Sisters of Saint Joseph—the Holy Order started by Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Saint Joseph was born in Bethlehem and worked as a carpenter (Matthew 13:55: "Is not this the carpenter's son?"), an occupation he later passed on to his Son (Mark 6:3: "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? Are not also his sisters here with us?"). He became betrothed to Mary, a consecrated Virgin, in order to serve as her protector. Apocryphal writings indicate that Joseph was an older man at the time, and was a widower with grown-up children, but there is no way to know for certain.

Dear Parents of 4E

We are invited to gather to witness the Blessing of Oils to be used in parishes during the coming year in the Mass of Chrism.  We show our support to our Bishop and priests as they renew their commitment to ordained ministry.  The Mass of Chrism will begin at 11am.

Morning Tea will follow outside the Cathedral in the Corso area. 

Mrs Egan, Mrs Jenkinson and myself will be attending the Mass of Chrism with Year 4E students.  If you have any queries or you do not wish for your child/children to attend please feel free to contact me at school. 

In this week's Gospel reading (Matthew 17:1-9) Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah, two important people from the Old Testament. God wanted the disciples to know that Jesus was his son.  All three deserved the respect of the disciples.  When we respect others we treat them with dignity show that we value them.  

Students reflected on the Gospel message and identified the importance of respect and how we treat others.  Some comments shared included:

I am respectful when I look at people who are talking to me. 

When I see teachers volunteering to make breakfast after Cross Country training I know that they value students.

When I listen to my parents and teachers I am showing respect for my elders'.

A reminder that Children’s Liturgy is held most Sundays at St Joseph’s Cathedral at 9.30am during the school term. It is wonderful to see our students attend. All students (particularly those preparing for sacraments) are encouraged to attend. Thank you to our dedicated teachers who assist with this important ministry. 

This week our wonderful teachers will be taking part in a professional development session looking at Spelling and Word Study.  Spelling is one of our whole school areas of focus for 2020, so we look forward to sharing our new learning with you in next week's newsletter.

Parents are reminded to complete the Flipgrid permission forms on the skoolbag app.  This is a great platform that allows the students to share short videos.

Parent Teacher conferences will be held in the last week of this term.  Bookings for these interviews will be made via Parent Lounge and will be open today - Wednesday 11 March after 3:00 p.m. I strongly urge every family to book an interview. Research shows that strong parent engagement and regular communication with your school impacts positively on your child’s experience of learning and academic progression.

We are receiving reports of some parents and school community members using Microsoft email services (including hotmail.com, outlook.com, live.com.au), receiving bounce error messages when replying to or sending emails to Catholic Education – Diocese of Rockhampton recipients (email addresses ending in @rok.catholic.edu.au).

 

We have escalated this issue with support teams at Microsoft, and hope that these issues will be rectified as soon as possible. You may also want to check any junk or spam settings in your email client for anything that may be preventing sending emails. You may also try creating a “New” email message rather than replying as that has been seen to bypass the Microsoft error.”

A reminder that the consent forms for the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program (Vision Screening) are due back at school by THIS FRIDAY (13 March).  Please hand these into your child’s teacher by 8:35 am on Friday.