Faith in Action Continues

The St Joseph’s Faith in Action program enables our students to know mercy, live mercy and be mercy. This program continues throughout the year through structured service activities, as well as awareness and fundraising campaigns in support of organisations including Caritas, Catholic Missions St Vincent de Paul and community needs.

Currently, Year 8 students are preparing to volunteer for Meals on Wheels, whilst Year 10 and 11 students will be assisting with set up and pack down for the monthly Granite Belt Support Services Speaker’s Night.

Next week we are having Fijian students and staff arrive for an exchange program and look forward to offering them our hospitality and friendship as they experience Australia, most for the very first time.

Through service and random acts of kindness we all know that “a little goes along way” and in today’s world this means a great deal.

Here are some thoughts from our student volunteers…

• "I find it fun and rewarding, and good to give back to the community.  I enjoy socialising with the elderly and doing it with our school".  Bindi, Year 8
• "I find it nice to give back to our community".  Eloise, Year 8
• "I feel like I am actively helping the community in different ways.  Just knowing that my simple act is helping organisations in making a difference is great".  James, Year 11

Megan Mahoney
Assistant to the Principal Formation & Identity

Catholic Education Week was celebrated across Queensland from 28th July – 3rd August, providing an annual opportunity for all Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos. This year's theme was Many Voices. One Spirit and was chosen for its promotion and support of inclusiveness. 

Several events took place at St Joseph’s School throughout the week to celebrate and reflect what it means to be a member of the St Joseph's School community! On Tuesday 30^th July a special prayer liturgy was held at the Bathersby Centre. To tie in with the theme of 'Many Voices. One Spirit' former students of the school, Mr Michael Bathersby, Mr Greg Thouard and Mrs Fran Moxham were invited to speak to the students about what life was like at St Joseph’s School when they attended, symbolising the 'many voices' of  the school. A sausage sizzle and special guided tour was also held, along with a history display, showcasing a collection of photos, school uniforms and other memorabilia from the school’s 144-year history.

This year Catholic Education Week enabled students and staff to not only learn about the school’s history, but to reflect about what it means to be part of the Catholic Education community. There are 302 Catholic schools in Queensland that educate around 146,000 students and employ more than 18,500 teachers and staff! 

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known as STEM, has become something of a buzzword in Australian education. As more and more professions become reliant on technology, a sound understanding of STEM, along with critical thinking and problem solving skills will benefit students in almost any career they choose to follow.

Recently St Joseph’s School Primary students joined over eighty other students from St Saviour’s Primary School, St Anthony’s Primary School and Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in attending the STEM Showcase held in Toowoomba on Wednesday 31st July.

The event brought participating Catholic Schools together to highlight the projects students have been working hard on all year in the areas of STEM.This year students were able to also participate in a number of challenges and projects in robotics, drone coding and Internet Of Things (IOT) in smart farming.

In today’s world, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly important, and exposing students to STEM gives them the opportunity to explore STEM-related concepts and potentially develop a passion for the highly sought-after field.

Senior students hosted another successful lunch time Science Club on Monday 29th July with Year 5 & 6 students. In the club, students learned about density and making a hypothesis. Students then applied those concepts and harnessed the temperature-dependence of density to turn ordinary tea bags into miniature rockets!

Year 3 & 4 students were recently given the opportunity to meditate with Mr John Mahoney as part of their religious education curriculum. Students participated in 'walking meditation', during which it started to lightly shower with rain! Students were encouraged to walk slowly and purposefully while concentrating on their breathing. Learning to pay attention and be aware of the sensations in their body is a fun and playful process for students, and can become something  your child can do anytime they would like to quiet their minds.

St Joseph’s School students were both challenged and inspired on Thursday 1st August when they took part in the world's largest mathematics competition, the Australian Mathematics Competition. School-based maths competitions don’t get much bigger than this, with students in more than 30 countries entering the competition and attempting the same problems each year!

Participating primary students were tasked with solving 30 problems in 60 minutes, while secondary students were required to solve more complex mathematical problems in 75 minutes.

The Australian Mathematics Competition aims to help students become better problem solvers in school, so they can be creative solution finders in the future! Results from the competition will be released mid-September. Thank you goes to Mrs Sandra Ellis who facilitated St Joseph's School involvement in the competition. 

If your child would like to continue testing their problem solving skills, please visit AMT for a range of free problems they can attempt at home!  

At St Joseph's School we are committed to making school a safe place for students to learn and thrive. Child Protection Week will be held during Week 8 of Term 3 (1 – 7 September 2019) and provides the opportunity to give focused attention to student safety. 

SURVEY

The theme for this year's Child Protection Week will be, "It's OK to Speak Up". In keeping with the theme of speaking up, Toowoomba Catholic Schools are working with the Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) to assess the effectiveness of our Student Protection Processes and guidelines. This will involve surveying students, staff and parents. Further information and details about the survey will be provided in coming newsletters. 

E-cigarettes and vaping are quickly gaining in popularity, especially amongst teenagers. Manufacturers of these products are deploying sophisticated marketing campaigns in an attempt to glamorise and promote smoking to young people.

Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling the vapour produced by the heated nicotine liquid of an e-cigarette or vape pen. Many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking as it is often formulated with flavourings to appeal to younger users. Be aware that e-cigarettes stating 0 mg of nicotine, may still contain nicotine. It is a highly addictive substance that can slow the brain development in kids affecting their memory, concentration, learning and mood. Because vaping is new, the short and long-term health effects remain unknown.

However, studies have shown that kids who have tried vaping, are more likely to smoke tobacco products later in life than kids who have not tried vaping. As e-cigarettes leave little odour, they are particularly easy to conceal and use discreetly in public places, even in schools.

In this Special Report, parents and care givers will be provided with the facts relating to e-cigarettes and vaping, whilst also highlighting the potential dangers and surrounding legislation. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

SCHOOL TV - SPECIAL VAPING REPORT

The St Joseph's School music is now only weeks away! School musicals always require dedication, time and effort from all those involved to ensure its success. Many hours of rehearsing and planning go into delivering the best performances for both nights. Under the guidance of Musical Director, Mrs Pauline Leigh, students are eagerly rehearsing and fine-tuning their roles to ensure they deliver an enjoyable and memorable performance.

It must be acknowledged that hosting musicals for St Joseph’s School is not about raising funds for the school. Musicals are a showcase of the student’s talents and recognising what they can achieve. It is the culmination of the commitment and enthusiasm from staff, students and volunteer parents who band together in supporting such projects.

This is a major event for the school, so please come along and support the students involved. 

The St Joseph’s Parish Debutante Ball Committee would like to request assistance from suitable Year 10 students at St Josephs School, to act as Ushers for seating guests at the 2019 Deb Ball. Ushers can either be male or female and would be required from 7:00pm to 8:30pm on Saturday 12^th October at the Civic Centre, and wear suitable dresses/suit and tie. Please contact Dani Hannigan on 0432 044 302 if you are interested.