5 September 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal's News

Dear Parent and Carers

This week our OP eligible Year 12 students achieved a milestone in their final year of school by completing the QCS Test. This is a general capability test which is used in the calculation of students' Overall Position (OP). Students undertake 2 hour exams in writing, short response and multiple choice papers. Students have been preparing for QCS Test since Term 4, Year 11, and receive 100 minutes of preparation each week. Mrs Michelle McCarthy facilitates this preparation which focuses on strategies for responding to different types of questions. Students have undertaken a number of practice tests using the papers from previous years, and these have been marked by qualified QCS markers. In addition, students also participated in a one-day workshop with Gilmore Education to further support their successful completion of the QCS Test. Year 12 students now have less than 7 weeks remaining, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at Graduation in November.

For the remaining students, we now move into the assessment and reporting (for Secondary students) period. I ask that parents be aware that this is an important time in the academic calendar of the school, and unnecessary absence must be avoided where possible. If your child is unwell, and/or needs to be absent from school when an assessment item is due, please make contact directly with the teacher.

Last Sunday, a number of Primary and Secondary students participated in an Opti-Minds tournament at the University of Queensland (Gatton Campus) which involved over 80 teams from a range of schools. Mrs Leigh Muller and Mr Phil Irvin supervised students as they engaged in some high level problem solving and presentation tasks. While our students did not win the tournament, they were awarded the Spirit of Opti-Minds award for the way in which they both participated and conducted themselves on the day. Congratulations students and many thanks to our teachers for making it possible.

We have also achieved some great results at the recent Granite Belt athletics. Congratulations to all of our athletes and particularly Georgette Forbes who was awarded age champion. Read more in the article below. Our Red Lion Cup girls' soccer team are through to the semi-finals of this tournament after convincingly defeating St Ursula's College 12-0. The boys' team is playing as I write and so too our DD athletes are competing in Warwick, so more on these result soon.

A reminder that the Trivia Night is back and is being held next Friday (9 September) night, starting at 6:30pm. As usual, this will be a fun and entertaining night, with raffles, prizes and bar. See below for an entry form. On the fundraising front, we have sought the assistance of parents to sell tickets for $1000 cash raffle at the Plaza and IGA. This is a major raffle for the Fete (October 29) and if you can help please see the email distributed to all families recently, or alternatively contact Mrs Angie Sims at the Office.

Dr Michael McCarthy

Leader's News

School News

BOOK WEEK SUCCESS

Bouquets and heartfelt thanks to everyone who embraced the spirit of Book Week at St Joseph's. What a wonderful week!

We launched the festivities with a "Books, Bears and Blankets" picnic. The weather was fantastic and so many family groups joined us. Thank you to Miss Cullinan and the Year 7s for reading Australian stories to the students while we all enjoyed the sunshine and warmth. Thank you to parents for taking time out from your busy day to be with us.

On the Secondary campus, Year 11 students participated in "Speed Literary Dating" The authors and titles of all books were covered and in pairs, each student had two minutes to read the front page of their novel. Students rated each book as they rotated around. At the end, more than twenty novels were taken home, and we all had fun! Thank you Mrs McCarthy and Mr Shorter for your organisation.

We are also celebrated Book Week with our Book Fair. From the numbers of parents and children browsing and purchasing each session, I believe we would have made a substantial commission. Thanks to all for your support.

The annual Book Week Parade was a particularly special occasion this year because we had everyone, from Prep to Year 12, involved. As usual, the students participated with enthusiasm and excitement and once again costumes were amazing. Most were homemade, cleverly designed and thought out, so we thank you parents for your hard work and support of this much loved event.

Thanks to teachers for your participation and help before and during the Parade. We specially thank Mrs McCarthy and her Year 10 English class for their wonderful cameo introduction. Thanks Mr Fleming, Daniel Sims and Caitlin Debnam running the show.

The Bark Hut, situated in the library, is transformed by a multitude of stories, written by teachers and students, about a time, place or person special to them in their lives. Some of these stories will make you smile and a few will bring tears to your eyes. We are keeping the hut up for the year, so that you enjoy these remarkable stories at your leisure.

Thank you Miss Gangemi for all your hard work, especially with the library displays and lunchtime activities. It is much appreciated.

We can hardly wait until we do it all again next year!

Mrs. Grant (Teacher-Librarian)

2016 Brisbane Writers' Festival

Excitement abounds amongst Year 3 and 4 students and teachers. What promises to be a highlight of our year is less than a fortnight away. Can you guess what might captivate the minds and writing hands of 74 students, a handful of teachers and a few carloads of parents? If you guessed the Brisbane Writers' Festival you would be correct!

Throughout 2016 our students have been investigating and improving their writing using strategies from the "Seven Steps" Program and the "The Writing Book" by Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey and we are now eagerly awaiting the opportunity to hear from some famous authors. The authors the Year 3s will be hearing from are Katherine Battersby, who is known for the "Squish Rabbit" series, and Ted Prior who some of you may remember from your childhood. Ted has managed to meld together a love of the outdoors and a serious case of creativity in the form of the book character "Grug". Meanwhile the Year 4s will be entertained by Lee Battersby who writes some seriously spooky stories including "Magrit" and David Astle who will be tempting them with a "Wordburger". Students have been reading and exploring the works of these authors this term.

Four of our students: Freya Creer, Jack O'Brien, Noah Taylor and Rhianna Richards have been selected to chair the presentations for these authors. This is a great honour and what a way to expand their comfort zones.

In the past students have returned from the Brisbane Writers' Festival with fresh passion for both reading and writing and we expect the same again this year. Please ensure you read the next newsletter as it is sure to contain photos from our excursion.

FETE

Last year various community groups were invited to have a stall at the St Joseph's Fete free of charge. The school believed that this would be an ideal opportunity for the promotion of that particular organisation, whilst being part of a great community event. Several groups such as The Bluewater Fishing Club, The Apple & Grape Committee, The Girl Guides, The Scout Club, St Vincent De Paul, The Queensland Fire & Rescue, The Stanthorpe Police and Rainbows End Childcare supported the idea and came along on the day which added an extra attraction to the Fete. These groups were afforded the opportunity to showcase what they are about and what they do. Due to the success of this idea, community groups have once again been invited to come along to this year's Fete on 29th October. Several groups have already taken up the school's invitation to be part of this fun-filled event.

Southern Downs Regional Council's Mayor, Cr Tracy Dobie said she was impressed by St Joseph's School's approach to engage outside of the school community, inviting participation in the School Fete from community groups across the wider Stanthorpe community.

"One of the things I really love about the Southern Downs is the sense of community spirit that pervades all corners of the region, and the level of community support for local events like the St Joseph's School Fete. The efforts of so many community groups and volunteers that pitch in, time and again, are really what breathes life into local events and activities and makes them successful.

"Unfortunately I didn't attend St Joseph's School Fete last year, but I've heard it was truly a wonderful celebration, supported by many different community groups, organisations, volunteers, families and of course residents from Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt. I'd encourage local community groups to get on board again and be part of this year's Fete and reap the rewards of supporting an event that will help to raise funds for various school projects as well as offering a great opportunity to showcase your own community group. And you never know you might just pick up some new members as a result. I always loved the School Fetes when I went to school and attend them whenever I can, always on the lookout for home-made fudge, coconut ice and toffees. If these are for sale at St Joseph's then I'll be there," she said.

The Fete is shaping up to be a memorable and fun-filled event. Claim the date to be part of the fun and frivolity at the St Joseph's Fete on Saturday 29th October.

Year 7 Word Mania Regional Champions

Congratulations! Students at St Joseph's School Stanthorpe have placed in the top three on the QLD SOUTH WEST & DARLING DOWNS skill leaderboard and became Word Mania 2016 Regional Winners! Their prize is a set of two popular literacy based board games. They have been participating in this fun literacy competition this term. It was a race against the clock word building game, which helped developed their literacy skills as well. Overall, the students placed 70th out of 3000 schools who competed in Australia at the end of the competition. Well done Year 7's.

OPTI MINDS

OPTIMINDS COMPETITION

On Sunday 28 August, 2 teams of students , coordinated by Mr Fleming and accompanied by Mrs Muller, Mr Irvin and parents, competed in the Toowoomba Region Opti – MINDS challenge in Gatton. The Challenge is an inclusive team challenge which empowers participants to Think, Create and Communicate and gives them an opportunity to participate in open ended, creative problem solving events with exciting challenges that require experimentation and reward sustainable practice and divergent thinking. Students received their challenge in their chosen area at the beginning of Term 3 and have been practising their long term presentations for the past 6 weeks.

Over 81 teams from schools all over the Toowoomba region competed in 2 challenges on the day.

The two St Joseph's teams comprised of Georgette Forbes, Kaelie Doyle, Eliza Telfer, Mackenzie Swan, Kira St John, Tom Gleeson, Arwyn Reeves, Emily Thomas, Rory McDonagh and Finn Fletcher. The team names were the Krunchy Koalas and The Interabangs. They competed in the categories of Language Literature and Science Engineering. The Science Engineering challenge was to make a 'pongle' which involved hand- making a device that pings a pong between paddles. The students had to make the pong (the ball) bounce for a minimum of 3 seconds. The strongest part of both presentations was the script. The language literature challenge – "Riddles, Rebuses and Raconteurs" – involved writing a play around the following text: "and then a rebus tantalisingly appeared as if scratched into the surface of the thing". Marks were awarded for originality, creativity, humour and the integration of the text. The play was based around a group of people in a house where a murder had just been committed. The Raconteur was the victim who constantly got up and reviewed the current situation. The Riddler was the maid who was insane and who also drew the Rebus on the wall.

Both teams performed very well throughout the day and even though the teams did not receive a division trophy, both St Joseph's teams were awarded a "Spirit of Opti Minds", which is given only to those teams who have shown enthusiasm, creativity and respect throughout the competition. While other schools from Stanthorpe competed, St Joseph's were the only teams in Stanthorpe to receive an award.

All in all, the students had a great time -probably ate too much great popcorn- and are looking forward to competing in the challenge again in 2017.

By Kaelie Doyle, Georgette Forbes, Eliza Telfer, MacKenzie Swan, Kira Daddow and Tom Gleeson and Mrs Muller

Sports News

On Monday the 22nd of August students competed in the annual 9-12years Granite Belt selection trials. The students performed admirably with many personal bests achieved on the day. Our age champion on the day was Georgette Forbes in the 12 years girls, while Charlotte and Hannah Widderick and Mackenzie Rowen gained runner up placings.

The following students were also successful in gaining selection to represent the Granite Belt at the Darling Downs trials on September 6th.

Felicity Dachs
Georgette Forbes
Genevieve Gasparin
Charlie Haynes
Isabel Kay
Taryn McCosker
Jack McMeniman
Ashley O'Brien
Brigid O'Dea
Shania Politch
Mackenzie Rowen
Brayden Spiller
Hannah Widderick
Charlotte Widderick
Claire Williamson

Red Lion Plate Open Girls Semi Final

St Joseph's Open Girls Soccer Team competed in the Semi Final of the Red Lion Plate on Monday afternoon against St Ursula's College Toowoomba. The girls displayed excellent skills and sportsmanship during this home game at CF White Oval. The defensive skills of the team left little opportunity for the St Ursula's team to put pressure on Katie Yates in the goals and on the rare occasions where the ball slipped through Katie was calm and solid in her defence, keeping St Ursula's scoreless. Through skilled build up in the mid field the St Joseph's strikers were outstanding, spreading the goal scoring spree amongst five different players including Anika Spiller, Ally McLellan, Amelia McMeniman, Celeste Buda and Alyssa Mouws. The impressive score of 12 goals to nil can be accredited to a well-rounded team whose communication skills and ball skills were unmatched by the opposition. St Ursula's were a pleasure to play against and also matched the sportsmanship of the home team and were a credit to their school.

The Officials for the day deserve a special mention as they conducted themselves in a professional manner as Umpire and Linesman. Matthew McDonald also a student at St Joseph's umpired the match fairly and consistently. In a role that is not always recognised Matthew should be congratulated on his ability to effectively control and adjudicate this match. Matthew was supported in his role by Liam Hitchener and Hunter Murphy these boys gave up their time to assist the school and their peers when called upon to do so.

This win secures the Open Girls finals Match against the winner between St Joseph's College Toowoomba and Centenary Heights State School who also played their match today. The date of this match is still to be confirmed. The St Joseph's Open Boys are to play their Red Lion Plate Semi Final on Thursday this week and we hope to see a similar result secure them a berth in the Finals.

Congratulations to the St Joseph's Open Girls Soccer team on job well done!