24 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

Message from the Principal

As the year draws to a close, I would like to thank all involved with St Joseph’s School this year and wish you a safe and merry Christmas break. I have been pleased to see how well the year has finished and I am grateful to all who have made this happen – staff, students, parents and carers, the parish and wider community. It is very obvious to me that we have a wonderful school full of great kids and staff doing great things. The Awards Night and Year 12 Graduation were testament to this.

I am particularly grateful to the P&F Association who have organised a number of activities throughout the year to support the school and, most importantly, the students. Contributions have helped fund the AV upgrade to the Bathersby Centre on the Secondary Campus and air conditioning/heating of the Multi-Purpose Room on the Primary Campus.

Over the last two weeks the Year 11’s have been working together in preparation for the leadership role they will take on next year. Their motto for the year is “2018, get keen. Go team!” I am confident they will perform very well as our student leaders for 2018 and achieve all round success in their studies and involvement around the school.

We have a number of important initiatives across the school planned for 2018 that will help better engage students with their learning and all round development. In particular, we are looking forward to the introduction of the Visible Learning program across P-12 (more detail in the article below), an enhanced pastoral program and a structured Teacher Performance and Development program for our teachers.

2018 will be a great year for St Joseph’s School.

God bless,

Andrew Kendall
(Acting) Principal

ST JOSEPH’S TO BECOME A LIGHTHOUSE SCHOOL FOR VISIBLE LEARNING IN 2018

St Joseph’s School has been selected by Toowoomba Catholic Schools to become one of a number of “Lighthouse” Schools for Visible Learningplus from 2018. This program attracts significant funding and external support over a three year period.

Visible Learningplus is a professional development program for teachers, school and system leaders that explores how evidence can be used to create innovation in the learning environment. It is based on Professor John Hattie’s research and the principles of visible learning and visible teaching. This outstanding research involved millions of students and represents the largest ever evidence-based research into what actually works best in schools to improve learning.

Professor John Hattie is a global authority on education effectiveness. His areas of interest are measurement models and their applications to educational problems, and models of teaching and learning. He has published and presented over 950 papers, supervised more than 195 theses students, and released 26 books and counting – including eight on Visible Learning.

Students becoming visible learners (understand their style learning and how best to learn) is important, and the program will give our teachers what they need to know and do to develop our students in their classrooms.

The key tenet of the program is to get to the following position:

When teachers see learning through the eyes of the student and students see themselves as their own teachers.

We all look forward to 2018.

School News

Primary News

At the end of Week 9 you will receive your child’s academic report for Semester Two, reflecting their performance against the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standard for each subject. Achievement standards can be found here

Prep
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6

For your information, the grades awarded for each subject are can be interpreted in the following way:

The effort rating, learning habits and general comment offer information as to the skills and dispositions your child has demonstrated throughout Semester Two. These may provide a starting point for celebrating the successes your child has achieved this year and also for discussing those areas which need further consolidation in the future.

If you have any concerns once you receive your child’s report, please email me.

As this is the final newsletter for the academic year, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all our families a safe, holy and happy Christmas. For those students who are leaving St Joseph’s, I wish you well and hope that you continue to thrive in your new environment.

I look forward to seeing you all again in 2018.

Sarah Yates

Final Week for Class of 2017

Retreat

On Monday 13th November our 24 Year 12 students headed off to YMCA Camp Leslie, ready to embark on their final week of formal schooling and begin their 2 day retreat program. The day began with sessions from the Real Talk team, where Kym and Gerard spoke about love and relationships and shared their own life experiences. During the afternoon staff ran an affirmations session with the students where each person had the opportunity to affirm another in their cohort. Some tears were shed, but there were also plenty of happy memories and laughs. Our Year 12 students then had the opportunity to read letters written by their parents and loved ones. More tears were shed, but the time provided an opportunity to reflect and acknowledge their achievements, milestones and hopes for the future. Monday evening saw students and teachers head into Warwick for a viewing of Thor.

Despite the late finish, some found it difficult to “turn off the lights”, so our Yoga session next morning was somewhat subdued, and for some PJs were to be the exercise attire of choice. Following a hearty breakfast we all headed off for archery and the giant swing.

These activities were embraced with gusto and vigour, as well as the occasional scream resounding in the hills. Our final activity was small groups working on “Valedictory Uncut” where students were given a chance to reminisce and share a few untold stories from years gone by at St. Joseph’s. The two days provided a great opportunity to say farewell, share memories and look forward to what lies ahead as the next chapter of life unfolds.

Farewell and Goodluck

Last Thursday evening, twenty-four outstanding young men and women celebrated the completion of their school education at St Joseph’s School. The evening began with Mass, a fitting means of remembering and giving thanks for their schooling years, as well as acknowledging and welcoming the new journey upon which they are about to embark. Following Mass, students and their families gathered in the Bathersby Centre to celebrate with a meal, speeches and entertainment. Transformed into a room of lights and glamour, the Bathersby Centre provided the perfect backdrop for mingling, dancing and photos.

On Friday morning, our P-11 students then gathered to bid a final farewell to the departing graduates. Following an assembly and blessing, the roll was called for the final time and our students left the school grounds through the traditional guard of honour and bubble blowing by our Prep students. This year the students were able to ring the church bell, thanks to some innovative work, and following shirt signing and a few tears, it was time to leave the school grounds for one last time.

We wish each of our 2017 graduates every success and happiness for the future. May their journey take them to all the places they have ever dreamed of and may the light of Christ always guide them.

Megan Mahoney
(APRE)

AWAITING CHRISTMAS

STEAM

Lying in bed waiting anxiously for morning to arrive...it finally does. Mum comes and wakes me up at 5:00am ready for a big two days in Toowoomba. We arrive at school at quarter to six with our ONE bag packed (more like 100 bags that the teachers took).

On Wednesday the 15 November, nine Year 6 students went to Toowoomba with Miss Thompson and Miss Benson to attend the KidsConnect STEAM event at Mary Mackillop College. There were a range of activities like Lino Printing that Hayley and Grace attended, Paper bag challenges that Emily, Sarah and Laura attended, 3D printing that Chris participated in, coding a Sphero ball that Will attended and Car racing that Kaitlin and Kristy did. We had great teachers who were really helpful in each group. The Mary Mackillop students were great and were really welcoming to us all. We were all kept busy and were never bored. The first day was great and we all survived. We were exhausted by the time we got to the James Byrne Centre which is where we were staying that night. We went to dinner and played games inside when we got back. The next day we had to finish our activities before lunch. We couldn’t stay for the presentations because we wanted to get home before dark.

All the students who went had an amazing time and we want to thank the Mary Mackillop College for having us and being so friendly to us all, we would also like to thank the bus driver who drove us there and back, and most importantly to Miss Benson and Miss Thompson who spent their time to take us to STEAM and managed to take us home in one safe piece.

STEAM was a great thing to experience and we all loved it so much. Thank you to everyone who helped out, and to the parents who got us up early and drove us to school. We appreciated it a lot.

Hayley Danzey
(Year 6 Student)

Rotary Craftsperson

Congratulations to Jared Hitchener who last Monday took home the Rotary Craftsperson Award for his work on his entry. The students entries are the product of 6 months work of planning and building, often giving extra time in lunch and afterschool to the project.

Congratulations also to Daniel Gasparin for winning runners up.

St Joseph’s Colour Fun Run Wrap up

A massive thankyou to all students and parents for their efforts last Term, with the Year 7 Colour Run. Overall, a tremendous effort of $15 880 was raised by the students. The school will now receive 60% of the total to use for projects on both campuses. Year 7’s will present Granite Belt Support Services with a cheque of $1000 at next week’s Mass. Special mention to Chris and Jen Wren for the use of the fire truck and James Ellis, for the Blue Light Sound System, which helped the day run smoothly.

There was huge excitement at a special assembly last Tuesday, when students received their incentive prizes, ranging from Samsung Tablets and Plasma Balls, to Gel Pens and Squishy Balls.

Particular mention to Abbie Fisher in Year 2, who was the Highest Individual Fundraiser, raising a massive $798.00. Abbie received a medal and gift card for her efforts.

Congratulations to the ‘Highest Individual Fundraisers’ in each Year level, who received their prizes at a special assembly last Tuesday.

Prep – Kaiden Richards
Yr 1 – Stephanie Sauverain
Yr 2 – Abbie Fisher
Yr 3 – Ashlyn Wheatley
Yr 4 – Tom Harvey
Yr 5- Jye Cook
Yr 6 – Genevieve Gasparin
Yr 7 – Zakk Mattiazzi
Yr 8 – Cooper Wren
Yr 9 – Franco Pozzebon
Yr 10 – Lara-Jane Biggin

Music Lessons in 2018

The school has a number of instruments at St Joseph’s for hire at a cost of $30 per term + $15 per lesson (cash). Instruments available include:

Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Tuba, Baritone, Trumpet, Trombone, Guitar (Rhythm and Lead), Base Guitar, Drums, Keyboard,Piano, Piano Accordion, Violin.

If you are interested in your child joining the St Joseph’s Instrumental Music Program please respond to the current Parent Paperwork.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact

David Ross – 0417 195587 or Aaron Buchanan – 0433 366 464

LECTURETTE

Congratulations to the Year 6 Lecturette participants.

Good luck to Eliza Telfer, Eloise Knight, Walker Murphy and Sarah Harvey in the final next week.

3/4T class exploring Mapping and Scales.

Students using old technology like rulers and pencil and paper along with a new in the form of a great resource called Nearpod to help us learn about Mapping and Scale

Thank you to our Volunteers

Staff and students would like to say a special thank you to all of the parents and caregivers who take time out of their busy lives each week to volunteer, be it tuckshop or reading groups, school banking or swimming. The time you spend is invaluable and your efforts do not go unnoticed. Have a Merry Christmas!

A Haiku by 5/6B

Sporting News

Twilight Choir Performance

We invite you to come along and support the St Joseph’s Primary Choir who will be performing that the Christmas Twilight Festival on Saturday 2nd December. If you wish to attend, tickets can be purchased below:

P & F News

As 2017 draws to a close, we get to look back over the year and see what the P & F has been able to achieve within our school community. The beginning of the year saw us at the annual Stanthorpe Show manning the Can Bar over the 2 days with the help of many families and teachers.

This year saw us at Palgrove twice, catering their Cow Sale in March & the Bull Sale in September. This is always an enjoyable day for those involved, working alongside the Bondfield Family and meeting some very interesting people on the day, who all appreciate the amazing BBQ that we provide. This certainly wouldn't be possible without the generosity of the Bondfield family who provide the amazing quality steak for the burgers along with so much more. Their generosity is greatly appreciated and we hope to continue this wonderful partnership for years to come.

A raffle with a difference was the marketing angle. We decided that it would be worth trying to raffle a choice of holidays as a major fundraiser. All 300 books of tickets were sold by many willing parents, students and local businesses with it turning out to be a huge success and it was gratefully won by a school family.

Through the efforts and support of many with these events, the P & F has this year raised $9,000 which we have then been able to distribute back to our school, benefitting both our current and future students.

Contributions this year totalling $10,440 have been made towards the School Musical, Secondary Defensive Driving Course, storage in both the Bathersby Centre & Multi-Purpose Room, the Cubby House Project, AV system in Bathersby Centre and air conditioning in Multi-Purpose Room.

I would like to extend many thanks to everyone who has been involved in organising or helping out in any way possible through the year, especially to our amazing committee who once again went above and beyond with organising events and participating in every event which was held. Without your help, what we have achieved would not have been possible.

We look forward to seeing you all next year and hope that you all have a safe and happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Thank you

Peter Alldridge
P&F President

Community Notices