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- PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
- DEPUTY PRINCIPAL
- ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL PRIMARY
- ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL FORMATION & IDENTITY
- LIONS YOUTH OF THE YEAR
- SCIENCE IN THE COMMUNITY
- NEWS FROM THE YEAR 5 CLASSROOM
- YEAR 7 GET COOKING
- YEAR 6 LEADERSHIP RETREAT
- YEAR 7 CAMP
- JOEY'S STUDENTS SET TO SHAKE UP THE STREETS
- BREAD TAGS FOR WHEELCHAIRS
- BAND PRACTICE
- QISSN FUNDRAISER
- SPORT
- UPCOMING EVENTS
At the halfway point to the term, I am pleased with the year so far. The students are applying themselves to their studies and living out our Mercy Values, and the staff are working hard to provide the students with the opportunities to be the best they can be.
P&F Committee
The Parents and Friends Committee plays a very important role in the conduct of the school. Through various activities, such as the Can Bar at the Stanthorpe Show, the canteen and BBQ at the Palgrove Bull Sale and the P&F Trivia Night, the committee raises funds to help support important programs and developments around the school. Their work, and the assistance that parents and friends of the school provide during these activities, helps to serve our community, a valued part of the life of a Mercy school like St Joseph’s School.
Another key role of the P&F Committee is to provide advice and feedback to me as Principal. Throughout my time as Principal of the school, the P&F Committee has helped formulate a number of plans and programs that have shaped the direction of the school.
I encouraged all parents and caregivers to get involved in the P&F Committee. Strong support from our parent body is essential for the success of the school.
Congratulations to the following parents who have been elected to the executive of the P&F Committee for 2021. I look forward to working with them as well as all other parents and caregivers throughout the year.
President: Dan O’Dea
Vice President: Alun Roberts
Secretary: Nicky Robinson
Treasurer: Erana Hikaiti
School Fees
School fees (invoices/statements) have started to be emailed out this week. However if parents haven’t received their fees by the end of next week, please contact the school's Bursur, Mrs Megan Hines on 4681 5903. School fees provides income that is essential for the staffing, development of the Masterplan and payment of general expenses around the school.
In 2020 we received significant drought funding from the Federal Government to assist families in need with their fees. You may note a discount on your fees to reflect this generous assistance. The amount of the discounts applied to families will vary according to need and were allocated for the 2019 and 2020 school years.
It should be noted that, whilst we understand that the financial contribution that families have to pay will be significant for many, St Joseph’s School’s fees are quite fair when compared to other schools in our region and beyond. Our Primary fees are amongst the lowest and our Secondary fees are the lowest in the Diocese.
If any families need assistance interpreting their fee notice, please contact our Bursar, Megan Hines, or if you have any concerns about your ability to pay your fees, please contact myself to discuss the availability of concessions.
Long Service Leave
A reminder that I will be taking Long Service Leave for the last four weeks of this term (8 March to 1 April). In my absence, Deputy Principal, Mr Matthew Brown, will fill the role of Acting Principal and Assistant to the Principal Formation & Identity, Mrs Megan Mahoney, will deputise as necessary. In order to cover the leadership workload on Secondary and assist the School Leadership Team, Head of Curriculum & Careers Development Practitioner, Mrs Brooke Butson, will take on the role of Acting Assistant to the Principal.
I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. However, I am confident that the school will be in good hands until I return for the start of Term 2.
God bless
Andrew Kendall
PRINCIPAL
School life has been extremely busy over the last few weeks and I have been impressed with the positive involvement of many of our students in the various events and activities that have taken place. On Ash Wednesday, we gathered to celebrate this important feast day with a wonderful mass, as well as liturgy on the Primary campus. In the sporting domain, students travelled to Toowoomba to participate in the annual South West Futsal titles, as well as trialling at the Border District Winter trials. The efforts of the students should be recognised as they represented our school with pride. I thank all the staff who gave up extra time to travel with these students to these various events.
The rollout of the new vertical house system on Secondary is going well and it is great to see the integration of the students across the Secondary campus. Mentor groups are focusing on developing routine and consistency, and importantly, building positive relationships with a view to supporting each other into the future. House activities have been dynamic, with inter-house and inter-mentor competitions taking place, as well as sessions with different year levels focused on careers and study skills and habits.
In Week 6, Joanna Holden, the Secondary Education Officer from TCS tasked with the Inspire Mathematics rollout, visited the Secondary to support the implementation of this targeted numeracy improvement strategy. Joanna worked with the Secondary staff and in particular, the Year 7-10 Mathematics teachers, to model pedagogy and begin to embed strategies in the teaching and learning in classroom.
As always, never hesitate to contact me if there any questions or concerns.
God Bless
Matthew Brown
Deputy Principal
ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL PRIMARY
Last week, the Year 6 students spent some time contemplating the meaning of leadership and in particular what it means for them as students within our school community and the community in general.
Their discussions centred around images of leadership, the qualities of leadership as well as examples of leaders including Jesus and Catherine McAuley who founded the Mercy Sisters, upon whom our school was established. The students conducted their conversations and times of personal reflection with maturity and great insight.
For us at St Joseph’s, leadership involves everyone using their God-given gifts in service of others. As part of the day, all students were asked to reflect on the gifts and talents of their peers and write them anonymously on a sheet. The recipients enjoyed the opportunity to read the comments from their peers. Some reflected that they did not know their peers felt this way about them, while others said their hearts were full of joy after reading the comments. I hope they shared these sheets with their parents.
Next week, we will be holding a "Week of Inspirational Maths" which will highlight our continuing work of developing the learning of Maths for all students. Details will be found on Parent Paperwork and I hope that many families will be able to participate throughout the week.
With God's Blessings
Sarah Yates
Assistant to the Principal Primary
ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL FORMATION & IDENTITY
The History Room
Service Learning is a key component in the religious education of students in Catholic Schools. As such St Joseph’s School places key emphasis on the importance of participating as both ‘welcomer’ and ‘guest’ in whatever capacity possible. It is also important that our students understand the value and significance of giving back to both their school and community whenever they are able.
This Saturday and next Sunday, Year 12 students will be assisting in sorting and compiling history resources and memorabilia from our school as we prepare to establish our History Room.
The History Room will highlight key moments of our journey from the founding of our school in 1875, bringing to life the many events which have taken place since then. As we prepare to celebrate our 150th anniversary in 2025, this room will be a focus for many past and present staff and students as they witness our story, understanding “why we are what we are”.
Megan Mahoney
Assistant to the Principal Formation & Identity
Monday 22nd February saw our Student Leaders Taylah Whiticker, Gianna Newman and Cooper Wren reprsent our school in the Lions Youth of the Year contest.
Hosted by Lions Club of Stanthorpe, the students faced a chalenging day of interviews, impromptu questions and then presented their prepared speech. All performed extremely well.
Thank you to Mrs Mary Roberts for preparing the students and thank you to Lions for their ongoing support of young people, the community and St Joseph's School.
On Wednesday 24th February, the Year 3 class had a visit from a local veterinarian, Dr Kirstin Widderick.
Students are currently studying the classification of living things. Who knew that chocolate could be used to demonstrate this! Dr.Widderick explained how vets use their knowledge of animals to treat different species. The children also learned about some of the features of mammals and how these features help them survive (e.g. the difference in teeth between a horse and a fox)
Students are hoping to have more community scientists visit our room to connect their knowledge of living things to our current learning.
Thank you Dr Widderick!
NEWS FROM THE YEAR 5 CLASSROOM
Students in Year 5 are always being kept busy - from attending Reconciliation in the Church with Fr Brian, to putting their heads down and learning their Maths, relaxing with some Yoga classes and just simply having some fun.
‘Cheeseburgers with Caramelised Onions’ was on the menu in last week's Year 7 Home Economics class. Students were under the watchful eye of Mrs Karen Petrie as they cooked up a storm.
The Year 6 students last week participated in a Leadership Retreat where they have explored what it means to be a leader.
Catherine McAuley and Jesus have been central figures of study as the group gained knowledge about what makes a great leader. They were busily organising their thinking about what leadership means to them and how they too can be leaders.
Visits from school leaders during the day gave the students the opportunity to see leadership in action.
Year 6 students were then invited to contribute a submission summarising their leadership so as to be in the running for the Annual Donna Shannon Leadership Award. These submissions are due late Term 3 with the winners at awards night during Term 4.
The Year 7 camp this year was held at PGL Kindilan at Redland Bay. The students were excited to be leaving on the Wednesday morning and the bus trip was uneventful.
Students arrived in time for lunch and unpacked their bags ready for the afternoon activities. The students were then split up into 3 groups which stayed together for all of the outdoor activities. They participated in raft building, abseiling, archery, kayaking, the flying fox and bushwalking. At night, night games and a quiz were enjoyed with the students and their "Groupie".
The favourite activity seemed to be the flying fox with most students having multiple turns at gliding over the water. The hardest activity seemed to be the raft building as students learned the importance of working as a team.
Many students said they had made new friends on camp and had enjoyed it a great deal despite the wet weather. Thank you to the teachers who accompanied the students on this memorable camp.
JOEY'S STUDENTS SET TO SHAKE UP THE STREETS
The Australian National Busking Championships are set to take place in Stanthorpe on Saturday 6 March 2021.
Students from across St Joseph's School have been busy preparing to shake up the streets of Stanthorpe where they will showcase their musical talents. On the day, the group will have two performances in the Piazza. They will be at 10am to 10.30am and 11am to 11.30am.
Dr James Cuskelly and Mrs Mary McLucas have been busy helping the students practise for the event, with the younger students singing and dancing to the tunes of What a Wonderful World, Big Black Train and Old MacDonald/Bingo and the older group of students will entertain the crowds by singing Eastern Curlew, Simple Gifts and Yonder Come Day.
Parents and friends are encouraged to come down to Station 11 at the Piazza to watch and support the "Joyous Joeys" on the day as they tap their toes, dance and sing their hearts out at their two performances.
Remember to purchase your Busking Tokens to vote for Joyous Joeys in the hope of winning People's Choice Award.
Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs is a registered charity that collects bread tags nationally in Australia. These are recycled in Robe, SA, into craft items such as boards and bowls. The funds raised through recycling are used to buy wheelchairs for the needy in South Africa. They currently have 500+ collection points nationally and are recycling 200kg of bread tags per month.
Staff, students and families at St Joseph's are encouraged to save their bread tags and bring them into school where they can be dropped off to a number of places.
Each Primary classroom and Secondary PC classroom have been given a container where the bread tags can be dropped off. Alternatively, bread tags can also been dropped in to the Administration building on the Primary campus.
You can see more about the organisation at https://ozbreadtagsforwheelchairs.org.au/, including pictures of the collection community and wheelchair recipients and the products of the recycling process.
It was great to see students from both the Primary and Secondary campuses involved in the first band rehearsal for the year!
Mr Ryan is thrilled that we have been able to get the band up and going for 2021 and to make sure that everyone feels comfortable, he is starting from the beginning!
So, if you have an instrument at home or have played a band instrument before, please come along to the MPR each Thursday at 1pm to get involved. If you don’t have an instrument but are keen, talk to Mr Ryan as the school has a number of instruments available.
Bring your lunch and get involved!
James Cuskelly
Music Teacher
Don't forget to order your goodies to help assist with the costs of sending our St Joseph's students to the annual QISSN Carnival (Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball) to be held from 27th June to 2nd July.
All orders are to be placed by 8am MONDAY each week commencing 1st March using the QKR app and can be collected at Valentes on the Secondary Campus on Tuesday's between 3.00pm - 3.30pm.
HPE Week activities keep students moving
From mountain biking to dancing to skipping, HPE Week this week so far has offered a range of fun activities for St Joseph’s students.
HPE Week celebrates the role of Health & Physical Education in schools and communities. The aim is to promote the importance of HPE in the Australian Curriculum and to highlight the importance of HPE to the learning and development of children and young people.
The program of lunchtime activities was designed to encourage the fun and enjoyment of physical exercise with age-appropriate activities. The activities included Invasion Ball, Skipping, Tennis, Futsal, Dance-fit and mountain biking.
HPE week is always a fantastic opportunity to showcase the importance, value, and fun of physical activity in the St Joseph’s school community and parents and caregivers were also welcomed to witness and to take part in the activities.
Border District Winter Trials
Thursday 25th February saw a number of St Joseph’s students make the trek to Warwick for the annual Border District Winter Sports trials.
All students more than held their own across a range of sports, with a number of young first time trialists and the school is pleased to announce the following students were successful in gaining selection in Border District teams to contest Darling Downs trials later this month.
Brayden Spiller - 19 Years Football
Hannah Widderick - 19 Years Netball
Mia Everson - 15 Years Football
Addison Swan - 15 Years Football
The school would like to extend it’s thanks to all parents for supporting their children in their sporting endeavours allowing them the opportunity to represent to the highest standard possible.
South West Futsal
Last week saw a number of teams from St Joseph's travel to Highfields, Toowoomba for the South West Futsal competition.
All students played to their best ability across three fixture games and the spirit was high amongst all teams with great teamwork on display.
Swimming
Well done to Liam Green, Lillian Kendall and Jessica Pradella who represented The Granite Belt zone at the Darlings Downs Region 10/12 Years school swimming championships at Gatton on Wednesday 3rd March.
Congratulations to Jess who was selected to represent The Darling Downs in the 50m Butterfly, 50m and 100m Backstroke and 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle.
We wish Jessica all the best at the Queensland Schools Championships.
6 March | Busking Championships |
8-12 March | Week of Inspirational Maths - Primary |
9 March | DD Cluster Day 2 (13-19 Yrs) |
10 March | QLD Cricket State Wide T20 Cricket Tournament Toowoomba |
12 March | P & F Palgrove Bull Sale |
14 March | Laura Geitz Netball |
17 March | St Patrick's Day |
19 March | St Joseph's Day |
National Day of Action Against Bullying | |
Disco for Prep-Year 6 | |
22-26 March | Bookfair |
26 March | End of Term Social |
1 April | The Way of the Cross Liturgy |
Cross Country | |
End of Term 1 |