From Resurrection to Pentecost  

As we embrace the cooler months of the Easter season, it's a wonderful opportunity to reflect on its significance and share its profound message. The Easter season is a time of joy and renewal, marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ and culminating in the celebration of Pentecost. 

Easter Sunday is the cornerstone of our faith, where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It's a day filled with hope, symbolizing the new life that we have in Christ. 

The period following Easter Sunday is known as the Easter season or Eastertide, which lasts for 50 days, ending with Pentecost. This season allows us to continue celebrating the joy of the Resurrection and delve deeper into its meaning for our lives. 

Forty days after Easter, we observe Ascension Day, commemorating Jesus' ascent into heaven. Before ascending, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them. This event sets the stage for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate at Pentecost. 

Pentecost occurs ten days after Ascension Day and marks the end of the Easter season. Pentecost is often referred to as the "birthday of the Church," as it signifies the beginning of the apostles' ministry to spread the Gospel to all nations.

As we journey through this blessed season, let's take the time to reflect on the profound love that God has for us, demonstrated through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May this Easter season be a time of spiritual growth and joyful celebration for you and your family. 

With God's blessings,

Megan Mahoney
Assistant to the Principal Formation & Identity

Trauma Recovery

Trauma in children significantly disturbs their sense of safety and normalcy, leading to substantial emotional and behavioural changes. Such disturbances often result from exposure to traumatic events, which may be exacerbated by continuous media coverage. This exposure can trigger stress, anxiety, and trauma, with varying recovery timelines due to the unpredictable nature of trauma's impact. Observing young people grappling with these effects can be highly distressing for parents and caregivers.

It's important to establish a nurturing environment to help restore a child's sense of security to help promote resilience. Active involvement in their recovery is essential, as is recognising the unique, personalised needs of each child in responding to trauma. Depending on their age, children may present with different symptoms, such as regressive behaviours in younger ones or withdrawal and agitation in older children and teens. It is important to monitor and manage the type of information children may access to reduce their emotional distress.

The brain stores traumatic events as powerful emotional memories, influencing behaviour through mechanisms beyond a child's conscious awareness. By providing young people with support and equipping them with coping mechanisms to handle uncertainty, parents and carers can greatly enhance a child's capacity to recover and build long-term emotional resilience.

This Special Report will help you identify a child experiencing trauma and how you can support them to overcome it.

Here is the link to your Special Report: https://stjosephs.qld.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-trauma-recovery

All teachers across the school began Term 2 with a professional development day focusing on maximising learning for students by understanding more clearly how our memory works and knowing which strategies to use at the most appropriate times. This focus on evidence-based research is something that we have been committed to as a school for many years as it is important that we respond to developments in cognitive science which have the potential to significantly impact the learning outcomes for our students.

Some key take aways from the day that you may find interesting:

• We learn what we think about and pay attention to.
• Learning is a change in our long term memory.
• The brain is not designed for thinking as this is hard. Automaticity is preferred which is why we need to move things to our long term memory.
• Our working memory can hold around four things at a time.  If it becomes overloaded, there is a risk that information will not be transferred to the long term memory.  Therefore learning will not have taken place.
• We need to help learning stick.  One way to do this is to keep retrieving information on the point of forgetting it.  The more we recall it without prompts or cues, the stronger the memory pathway becomes.
• By developing background knowledge around a topic, the greater the chance that new learning will attach to it.
• Students studying for tests would be best served by spacing their practice over a period of time rather than cramming.  

Aspects of this understanding will be implemented across P-12 in the coming weeks and months.  Infact, this has already started in many classrooms.  

Secondary Parent Teacher Consultations will occur on Tuesday 30th April from 3.30pm - 7.00pm. These consultations will occur in Frayne, Coolock Lab and the Secondary staff buildings. Bookings can be accessed through the Interviews tile in the Sentral Parent Portal app (either on a laptop or device). Registrations for this session opened at 9:00am on the 23 April, and will remain open to 9:00am on the 29 April.

The Parent Teacher Consultations are an important opportunity for parents, staff and students to have collaborative conversations to reflect on the students academic performance in Term 1 and refine future directions to build upon this success, as well as seek improvement. 

If you are unable to attend on the night, or a teacher is not available due to other bookings, please do not hesitate to contact the teacher via email to arrange a suitable time to discuss your child's academic progress. All the secondary staff are looking forward to positive and productive conversations when they meet with you on the night.

This term, our school warmly welcomes Ms Ashley Dewit and Mr Frank Girvasi, our two new educators.

Ashley Dewit – Year 5 and 6 Teacher:

Ashley holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education (Primary) from Southern Cross University and has relocated to Stanthorpe from the Gold Coast, accompanied by her partner and young child.

Ashley will collaborate with Miss Amanda Thompson and Mrs Johanna Campbell to support their classes.

Frank Girvasi – ITAD Workshop Assistant:

We wish them both success in their new roles! 

The International Study Tour embarked on their adventure on 14th April.  As families and loved ones said their farewells, the students excitement was palpable. 

St Joseph’s School International Study Tour in London has been nothing short of exhilarating! Here are some of the standout moments:

• Bus Tour Around London: The students and staff immersed themselves in the city’s rich history and vibrant culture, exploring iconic landmarks.
• Lunch at Piccadilly Circus: Amidst dazzling billboards and lively crowds, they savored a delightful culinary experience.
• Oxford Street Shopping Spree: Fashion, accessories, and retail therapy galore along this famous shopping avenue.
• National History Museum Visit: A journey through time, uncovering fascinating exhibits and artifacts that narrate our world’s story.
• Borough Markets Adventure: A sensory feast—from artisanal cheeses to exotic spices.
• Tower of London Exploration: Steeped in history, guarded by ravens, and revealing its secrets and legends.
• Special Guest Dinner with Mr. C: A heartwarming reunion with former teacher Carmelo Citrigno, reminiscing about school days and sharing stories.

The tour group then went on to conclude their stay in Paris, which was a delightful experience filled with abundant sightseeing and culinary delights. Notable attractions included:

• Seine River Cruise
• Eiffel Tower Tour
• Arc de Triomphe
• Musée d’Orsay
• Sacre-Cœur
• Montmartre
• Moulin Rouge
• Street Dancing
• And to satisfy their sweet tooth, they indulged in gelato and crepes. 

The next stop was in Flanders, at VC Corner and Fromelles, where students and staff commemorated Noah Taylor’s great-great-great uncle with wreath-laying ceremonies.

Their day began at Talbot House, continued to the Flanders Field Museum, and concluded with wreath-laying at Menin Gate.

It was an exceptionally memorable and fantastic day—a living history experience. 

Our students continue to travel and make wonderful memories as part of the International Study Tour and we look forward to hearing all about it upon their return in the coming days.

Congratulations to our School Captain, Annaliese McCosker, for participating in the District Q1 Final of the Lions Youth of the Year Competition held at the Cleveland RSL on Saturday 6th April

Annie faced off against four other exceptionally talented students from various schools:

1. A.B. Paterson College, Gold Coast (Lions Club of Carrara)
2. Richmond Christian College, Lions Club of Ballina
3. San Sisto College, Lions Club of Brisbane Camp Hill Carindale
4. Boonah State High School, Lions Club of Boonah, Scenic Rim

Although she didn’t secure the win, Annie’s exceptional performance throughout all three rounds of this competition reflects her dedication and skill. She has represented our school and the Lions Club of Stanthorpe with distinction. 

A heartfelt thank you to the Lions for providing such a valuable opportunity to our students. 

April in Japan marks the enchanting Hanami season, a time when cherry blossoms bloom in splendid profusion. 

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Ms Raylene Kendall, Mrs Mary McLucas, Mrs Sue Fleming, and the Japanese students from Years 3 to 10 for their delightful contribution to the library display.

Their efforts have beautifully transported the essence of Japanese spring to Stanthorpe.

Thank you to everyone who recently donated tomatoes, which contributed to the creation of our delicious pasta sauce for the tuckshop. The students truly appreciate it. We also extend our gratitude to the numerous volunteers who generously dedicated their time to prepare and make the sauce – we understand that your time is precious.

As we all know, the tuckshop is enjoyed by all the students, and without the tireless efforts of our dedicated volunteers, it would not be able to operate. We deeply appreciate both the volunteers who run the tuckshop and those who generously donate baked goods. However, without ongoing volunteers, our tuckshop may cease to operate.

We encourage you to consider volunteering, as the school values your contribution. Rosters and additional information can be found on the St Joseph’s School Primary and Secondary Tuckshop Facebook pages.

As many of you will have noticed, things are moving ahead with Phase 2 of the Nature Play project with most earthworks, rocks, sand, and gravel placement being completed over the Easter holidays. It’s now time to roll up our sleeves and get the Working Bees going to complete the project!! We encourage all parents to be involved in the development of this new Year 3-6 area which benefits both current and future students in these grades.

Working Bees:

Sunday 5 May 9am - 1pm

Saturday 11 May 1pm-5pm

Sunday 26 May 9am-1pm

Parents will find signup sheets outside your child’s classroom or at the office. You’ll also be able to add your name to the schedule by commenting on our school Facebook posts.

How else can you support this project?

1. Donate equipment for the project – please click on link below for full list of equipment required
   Phase 2 Nature Play Equipment List
2. Support our next Hamburger Day which will be held on Friday 3 May on Primary and Thursday 9 May at Secondary. A separate email will be sent when it’s time to place orders.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact our Project Managers Amelia Wilshire amelia@leadingladies.com.au or Lisa Sunderland sunderlandlisa@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support of the Nature Play Project.

St Joseph's P&F has established an account with Containers for Change to promote recycling in the community and as a means to raise funds for the various P&F events and initiatives, like the Nature Play areas. Parents can nominate the St Joseph's P&F account (member number C11395296) when they drop cans and bottles off directly at the Containers for Change depot at 2-6 Walsh Drive (near Washpool).

To support this initiative, the P&F will leave a trailer at the back of the teacher's parking lot by the gate to the Anglican church for parents to drop off their containers off.  This trailer will be available every 1^st Monday of the month after that for drop-off donations of containers. Please consider dropping off your containers to the school on these days or alternatively taking them to the depot yourself and donating them to the St Joseph's P&F account.

We appreciate your support.