20 May 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal's News

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Megan Mahoney (APRE) and I attended a seminar where Professor Thomas Groome was the speaker. Professor Groome's work in religious education and Catholic school identity has been highly influential, particularly in the last 25 years. Many teachers will be able to recall reading his books as part of their training, and what he has to say today is more relevant than ever.

The session with Professor Groome gave me some time to reflect on the identity of our own school and the reasons parents select our school. At the time of enrolment, I always ask parents why they chose St Joseph's School, and there are three general responses: (i) family tradition; (ii) quality [sometimes Catholic] education; (iii) exposure to values. For many parents, Catholic education is synonymous with all of these qualities, but there is something very distinctive about Catholic education that, as leaders and teachers in Catholic schools, we need to highlight and communicate to our school community.

Catholic schools are unique and distinct in the following ways:

• We believe that all human beings are innately good. Despite the terrible things humans are capable of, we are made in the image of God.
• We believe that the world, universe and cosmos are a theatre of God's goodness and grace. We see this in the beauty, majesty, complexity, and intricacy of the world in which we live.
• We believe in educating the whole person: the spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional and physical. We reject any idea that education is merely about economic outcomes.
• We believe in developing a sacramental way of thinking in our young people. The Church talks about sacraments a lot and we generally understand sacrament to refer to Eucharist, Reconciliation, Marriage and so on. But the word "sacrament" actually means being able to see the sacred in the everyday. We want our students to have a sacramental way of seeing the world and each other; "to see God in the bits and pieces of the Everyday" (poet, Patrick Kavanagh).
• We believe that we are made for each other, which helps us to understand how to relate with one another: to be respectful, loving, caring, compassionate.
• We believe that students should be taught to attend to and understand the world of knowledge, and to judge, ask questions and be critical so that they can grow in spiritual wisdom.
• We believe that we have a responsibility to pass on the traditions of intellectual enterprise so that our young people can contribute to the life of the world.

• We believe that Catholic education can influence people to be good (citizens) and to participate in faith community.
• We believe in a brand of politics which seeks to promote justice for all.
• We believe that our role is to nurture an understanding of God in every child.
• We believe that we are to be a welcoming, inclusive, caring and responsible school community who draws in the lost, hurt, marginalised and oppressed.

I look at each of these statements and I can find within our school real, authentic examples of these beliefs in practice, but these also serve as a reminder to all of us about what we are trying to achieve as a Catholic school community.

Dr Michael McCarthy
Principal

Leader's News

Article

The time spent on NAPLAN and the media reporting don't always reflect what happens on these days. When you think about it the days are not that different to other days at school. On the Primary Campus not much changes; morning tea and lunch stay the same, the morning rituals of greeting prayer and administration tasks take place. The only thing that changes is the way the room is set up and students aren't allowed to speak for 50 minutes.

Over the time of the NAPLAN tests it was interesting to watch the students as I supervised sections. Most students actually looked forward to the program and a number of year six students expressed their desire to be doing NAPLAN again! Much to the delight of Dr McCarthy and myself when asked how the Language Conventions section was the Year Five cohort actually cheered! I have never seen that response before.

I am sure that our students performed to the best of their ability during the NAPLAN regime. It is important to remember that this is only one, small part of the assessment that occurs at our school. It's a snapshot under unique test conditions. Our focus on delivering a curriculum that develops and support students' literacy and numeracy skills and our (school and parent) encouragement of our students to always have a go and do their best is best practice supported by evidence from many sources.

Co-Curricular Opportunities Continue

At St Joseph's we offer a large number of co-curricular and extra- curricular opportunities.

At the present time we have the following offerings for our students.

Opti-minds

A number of our students from Years Five to Twelve are entering the Opti-Minds challenge for the Darling Downs region. This event sees the students complete a challenge over a six week period and then present their work to judges on a final day in Toowoomba. These students will develop not only their ability to solve problems but also develop the skills needed to work with other people.

Maths Games and Maths Olympiad

Our students from Years Four to Six begin the Maths Games and Maths Olympiad next week. This program runs for five months and focuses on developing the students' ability to apply their knowledge and skills in unfamiliar settings. Through the Maths games the Year Four students are exposed to particular Problem Solving techniques that they then apply in a contest situation.

David Fleming
Assistant Principal (Primary Campus)

Coding Club

Each Thursday at lunchtime room 10 is abuzz with the sounds of keyboards being furiously tapped as Year Five and Six students develop their ability to use coding and programming to create projects via the CS First program.

'Coding opens so many opportunities for me. I am so glad that I joined coding club' Tom Gleeson.
'It's an excellent way for kids our age to start to develop the skills needed to code.' Ava O'Reilly
'Coding Club teaches us how to use code to create masterpieces!' Hamish Alldridge
'The skills I am learning I will be able apply when I get to High School.' Ashley O'Brien

More information regarding these programs can be found at the following sites;

School News

Fundraising for CDS

During Semester One St Joseph's School Year 8 students have been selling treats at morning tea to raise money for the local community foodbank and in the past 2 weeks have begun to see the fruits of their labour.

Using the money raised in Term One selling ice blocks and cupcakes, students have been buying food to donate to foodbank. The students were privileged to have two representatives from the Community Development Services, Diane Mitchell and Nicola Fisher, visit early in the term to explain to the class what CDS does in the community, and how we might best support them in their endeavours. Due to the farming in the Stanthorpe region producing mostly summer crops, which are kindly donated to CDS, the CDS falls short of produce during the winter season. The students in discussion with CDS decided to purchase pumpkins, sweet potato and spinach from a local farmer, in rotation over the next 20 weeks, to assist in filling the shortfall in winter. On contacting Sam's Farm Fresh Fruit and Veg, Sam supported the students with quality produce at a great price, so that families doing it tough around our region in winter will have wholesome ingredients for nutritious meals.

Mrs Hayley Grabham

Jack of the Red Hearts

Opening this week, this movie delivers an insightful and interesting look at the challenges of raising a child with autism. In cinemas from May 19 - Brisbane, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Toowoomba & Townsville.

Visit link below for more details

Queen Mary Falls Conservation Excursion

St Joseph's Year 11 and 12 Geography students had a day in the field on Friday 29th April assisting Mr Brett Tunstall from World of Trees in the conservation of Queen Mary Falls. Mr Tunstall, an expert in forestry, gave students a lesson in the conservation and regeneration of Australian landscapes.

Students assisted in planting of approximately 700 trees, including sixteen species, at the headway of the Condamine River at Queen Mary Falls. Students learnt step by step, how to plant and care for native trees, natural formation of rainforest growth and how to plant accordingly, as well as experiencing what it was like to work within environmental and conservation sciences. The three hour planting session called for energy and consistency, which was readily offered by the 18 students. "We learnt from Mr Tunstall the importance of a healthy river system and the long term effects of the surrounding areas, and also how conservation of the upper river systems can have a positive environmental impact all the along the river," said Year 12 Student Caitlin Debnam.

The outdoor classroom lends itself to a range of learning experiences both curriculum and relational. The replanting at Queen Mary Falls is just one of the outdoor classroom experiences in which St Joseph's School is involved. The well-established Young Wine Makers Program and implementation in 2015 of Agricultural Studies regularly have students getting hands on experience with field experts. We thank Mr Brett Tunstall from World of Trees for offering this opportunity to our school.

The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition

The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition is a one-hour problem-solving competition which seeks to identify computer programming potential—something which students might not normally have an opportunity to demonstrate. Given the growing curriculum emphasis on algorithmic thinking, this special offer provides a unique opportunity to expose students to this exciting new discipline.

The CAT is not a programming competition and no programming experience is required. Some questions test the ability to accurately perform procedures; others require logical thought, while the more challenging problems require the identification and application of algorithms. The inclusion of digital technologies in the Australian Curriculum provides another reason why our school offers this opportunity to our students.

In our fourth year of entry our students have once again achieved at a high level. Thomas Gleeson and Eliza Telfer achieved Distinctions and were extremely close to a High Distinction. Other students who achieved Credit Awards in the CAT were Taylah Organ, Kirra St John, Mackenzie Swan, Hamish Alldridge, Caitlin Ellis, Bindi McIntyre, Hannah Widderick, Michael Westerhout, Caitlyn Hennoste and Georgette Forbes. Congratulations to all students who stepped up to take themselves out of their comfort zones by entering this competition.

Music Lessons with Mr Ross

David Ross will be absent in Term 3. Mr Ross's Music program lessons will instead be taken by Mr Buchanan. Private lessons will continue in Term 4.

Sports News