St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wandal Newsletter

At the edge.

I wanted to name this piece Liminality but I thought many might ignore it because this isn’t a word we use in everyday life. But it is one that you as parents and educators often experience. It means being at a limit which turns into a threshold. My mid-wife sister gave me a great example of it. In her experience, most women in labour reach a stage when they can’t take it anymore. A woman will say, I cannot do this, it is beyond me. My sister tells the woman how great she is doing, to put her chin on her chest and push…and then shortly, a child is born. And the women who was a ‘mess’, in her own eyes shortly before, becomes a mother.

Last Sunday’s Gospel was about the Temptations of Jesus. When he had fasted 40 days, he was tempted by the devil basically to give into himself, to opt out of the hard choices and undermine his relationship with God, and his service to us. He didn’t. He stuck in there when everything in him wanted to take the easy way. At his limits, he remained true to God and to himself.

As parents and teachers, you know these threshold moments often, though usually not in as dramatic circumstances as a woman in labour or someone in the desert. They come when you feel like watching TV instead of listening to the reading, in holding in your anger and finding a better way to respond to your child than yelling, in simply being there with them when they are hurting and you don’t know the answer to their problem. In these moments, you are on the edge, often feeling weak or confused. It would be easy to walk away but don’t. You ‘put your chin on your chest’, say a prayer and hang in there. Those are the moments when you affirm who you really are: a parent, a teacher, one who is truly prepared to risk for the sake of a relationship. Those are the moments when you go over the edge and fly.

Loving God, being a parent, being a teacher often challenges me about what I think I can do. Give me the Wisdom of your Spirit, to stay in the difficult situations I experience with my child/ren. With Jesus supporting me, may I remain faithful in love. I ask this in his name, confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

Our condolences go to Learning Support Teacher, Mrs Christine Gawne. Chrissie’s mum passed away peacefully over the weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this difficult time. A number of staff will attend the funeral later this week. If you have any learning support queries in Chrissie’s absence, please direct them to either myself of Mrs Hutchinson. 

I know that many of you are busy finalising enrolment applications for secondary schools for your children in 2021 and that interviews have commenced for some of you, which is very exciting.

It is timely therefore to remind you of your obligations with regards to your school fees here at St Joseph’s Wandal. Enrolment into a college is conditional on families meeting all financial commitments at primary schools. Where fees remain outstanding, you will be required to settle your outstanding accounts or sign a payment plan to extinguish the debt.

If your account is currently in arrears, and you have not met with me to determine a payment plan, please call the school office on  49948230 to arrange a mutually agreeable time.

The Year 6 Camp will be invoiced separately to our school fees and must be paid in full before the camp in August. While we are still waiting on confirmation of total costs, we anticipate the final amount to be paid per student will be approximately $350.

 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. 

The Cathedral College Applications - Mr Rob Alexander, principal of TCC, has asked me to remind our current Year 6 students intending on applying for a Year 7 position at TCC in 2021 to ensure that completed applications have been submitted. Applications close on Wednesday 1 April, 2020 and due to the extensive wait lists, late applications may not be accepted.

May St Joseph shower special graces upon each and every one of you.

 Saint Mary MacKillop 1900

First Week of Lent (School Week beginning 2nd March)

·       Around 2.8 million children in the Philippines do not go to school.*

We begin Project Compassion learning about the story of Shirley. Shirley was struggling to support her family and keep her children in school. She faced regular discrimination and disadvantage, limiting her family’s access to food, education, employment and healthcare. 

With Caritas Australia’s support, Shirley trained to become an indigenous health worker. She has learnt to supplement her income and is able to feed her family. The program has also empowered Shirley to send her children to school. Watch a short film about Shirley’s story: Primary school film  General film

Let’s Go Further, Together!  Please support the Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

*UNICEF Philippines

In this week's Gospel reading (Matthew 4:1-11) we heard that Jesus was tempted in the desert.  He remained loyal to God,however, as he knew what was right.  With God’s help we can be loyal to those we love and the things we believe in.

Students reflected on the Gospel message after assembly on Monday and explored the idea that sometimes our happiness comes from doing the right thing.  Some students suggested that instead of being tempted by their game consoles they chose to complete all of their homework, which made them feel good.  We wondered if Jesus felt happiness by choosing not to be tempted, but rather remain loyal to God? 

A reminder that our Second family workshop will be held on Tuesday 10 MARCH OR  Wednesday 11 MARCH

We look forward to meeting you all again.  Please find time to check if your child/children's gratitude calendar is being completed.  We look forward to hearing some of the things that the children are grateful for. 

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. 

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.

Then and Now a visiting performance, will be presented at school on 10 March at 9:00a.m.  Students in Prep - 6 will attend this presentation.  The show will cost $5.50 per student which has been added to this term's fees.

Then and Now looks at the determination, courage and good humour of Australian women.  Using story-telling techniques, visual aids, audience participation and puppets, students are transported back in time to explore the vast differences between the way things were done then, compared to now.  

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 next 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.”

St Joseph’s Wandal is excited to offer the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program to all students.

School Banking is a fun, interactive and engaging way for young Australians to learn about money and develop good savings habits.  Children who deposit money into their Youthsaver account through School Banking earn Dollarmites tokens, which they can save up and redeem for exciting rewards.

 School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribution of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year.

Getting involved in School Banking is easy!

 All you need to get involved in the School Banking program is a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account. You can open an account for your child in one of two ways: 

 1. Online

Visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking and click on the link to open a Youthsaver account.

2. In branch

Visit a Commonwealth Bank branch with identification for yourself and your child, like a driver’s licence and birth certificate.

 If your child has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account they can start banking straight away. They just need to bring their deposit in every week on School Banking day using their Dollarmites deposit wallet. School banking day is Thursday.

 If you would like to know more about School Banking, please ask for a 2019 School Banking program information pack from the school office or visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking.