15 May 2014

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s News

Catholic Life and Identity Project

On Monday just gone, St Joseph’s received a visit from Brendan and Margo Lawlor who have been commissioned by the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office to conduct a research project on the current capacity of schools within the Toowoomba Diocese to carry out the vision for Catholic Education. This vision as expressed in the publication “Voices”, makes the following core statements;

Education involves……….individual and communal development.
Catholic Education is…….developed based on Christian life expressed within a Catholic tradition.

In order to carry out this research Margo and Brendan met with Father Brian, Dr McCarthy, The School Leadership Team, Various Staff Members, as well as Groups of Students and Parents. Each interview involved the interviewee being asked to reflect upon a number of core statements from Voices and to identify best practice examples of how St Joseph’s School shows its Catholic identity. The discussion also covered factors within the school, local community and diocese that encourage and facilitate the expression of Catholic identity or make it difficult to do so.

On behalf of St Joseph’s School I would like to thank Margo and Brendan for their visit, and to also thank the members of the St Joseph’s School community who so generously gave up their time to provide feedback for the project.

Outstanding Efforts from Bill Turner Cup Teams

On Wednesday afternoon I was fortunate enough to be able to get across to watch the Bill Turner Cup Boys and Girls teams play some of their second game against Stanthorpe SHS. As a coincidence these two games ended up being the finals for the day as both teams had been successful in defeating Warwick SHS earlier in the day. The reason I was fortunate to get there was not only because I was able to witness the boys and girls in the process of being successful in winning the day, but also because of the other wonderful characteristics of team sport that I was able to observe both teams displaying. The sportsmanship from both the boys and girls teams was outstanding; assisting your opponent to get up off the ground after they have fallen is not something that you see a lot of anymore in any level of sport. The teamwork displayed by both teams and the willingness of all the players to be involved and contribute to the team effort was exceptional. The care for each other and camaraderie within both teams and across the two teams was not only evident out at the field but also when they returned to school and waited in the courtyard to be dismissed. Their happiness and joy in sharing the stories of the day with members of the other team seemed in most cases to be increasing their own sense of self achievement from the day. Congratulations to both teams and the best of luck for the next game in the competition against Toowoomba Grammar School and Harristown SHS. Finally, thank you to Mr Armstrong and Mr Philp for their efforts in coordinating and coaching these two teams, their encouragement and direction of the students was first class and the students are certainly fortunate to have them as coaches.

NAPLAN Week

As the week draws to an end it is an appropriate time to congratulate the Years 3,5,7 and 9 students on their efforts in their NAPLAN tests. As I have wandered around the school during the test sessions, I have observed all students striving to do their best. These tests are done at school and are considered just another part of the curriculum as they gauge the student’s level of skill and understanding in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy. Later in the year the school and parent’s will receive individual and cohort reports that can be used to monitor how the students are progressing and what and where improvements can be made in teaching and learning to improve student outcomes.

Unexpected Return

It is with great pleasure that I have returned to Stanthorpe unexpectedly for a second time until the end of the term. I thank Mr Michael McCarthy, the staff and students of St Joseph’s for their warm welcome and I look forward to another great seven weeks in this lovely community.

Mr Kort Goodman
ACTING PRINCIPAL

Leader’s News

“Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.” Mother Teresa

Prayer is an important part of the daily routine at our school. Not only does it allow our students to take some time out of the busyness of their lives, but is also a significant part of their faith journey and spiritual development. Prayer can take many forms, and from our Prep students through to our seniors, it is a journey that continues to be nurtured and developed.

Prayer can be as simple as grace before or after meals, at the beginning or end of the day, when we gather for assembly, or other feast days or special occasions. Prayer can incorporate traditional prayers such as praying the Our Father or Hail Mary; prayers of thanksgiving, blessing and adoration; a passage from the Bible, a song, quiet reflection or meditation. In our Religion Curriculum, prayer is a focus from Prep to Year 12 where the children understand the importance of prayer and have the opportunity to “participate respectfully in a variety of prayer experiences.” (Religion Curriculum)

Our prayer experiences will often focus on a sacred space which has been set to reflect the theme of the occasion. The sacred space will be draped with a coloured cloth which reflects the current season of the Church. A candle is lit to remind us of Jesus’ presence; a bible to remember the word of God and other symbols which remind us of our gathering. These gatherings are times of quiet and stillness, where we can reflect, listen and renew our Spirit ready to continue our journey as members of St. Joseph’s family.

“How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray.” (Pope John Paul II)

Megan Mahoney
APRE

School News

Year 4 News:

Yr 4 students are preparing for the upcoming Winter months by embarking on a daily Skipping Programme.

As a Class, we have outlined the great benefits of this activity such as increased fitness, team work, co-ordination, following patterns and keeping warm!!

During the sessions, we will learn and master skipping skills and routines such as rebound skipping, speed, a variety of relays, cross-overs, double unders and well-known skipping games.

The students are practising very enthusiastically every chance they can and have shown considerable improvement in just a short space of time.

It is hoped that we will have a Skipping Display late in Term 3 to demonstrate and celebrate our skills and achievements.

Mrs Mary McLucas

Year 4 and 5 practising their skipping skills

Year 6 and Year 7 News

Personal Development - ‘You Choose’ and ‘Life Ed’

Year 6 and 7 are great ages to be! The move to secondary is just under a year away and our last year in primary is one where are learning both academically, as well as emotionally and physically. Some recent examples of these various Personal Development sessions have included the ‘You Choose’ program and the Life Ed van where we said our final farewell to Harold.

It is becoming pretty obvious that life is all about choices. The fantastic, but sometimes frightening, fact is that we are definitely old enough to know right from wrong. We realise that we will make mistakes and that this is okay as it is a way of learning and growing as a person. But to be the best we can be, we need to focus on making good choices and reaping the positive consequences.

Fiona from ‘You Choose’ recently spent three sessions educating us about the legal responsibilities of children aged 10 and older. She also talked about how we can stay out of trouble and what to do if we ever find ourselves in a less than desirable situation. The fact she was very entertaining, offered prizes and let us role play was an added bonus. It was certainly three sessions filled with information and learning.

Harold the Giraffe has been a friend for many years now and in our final sessions at Life Ed we learnt more about the substances we put into our body and the effects they can have.

Our spiritual development saw Year 7s attend a retreat in term one and Year 6 will complete their ‘Heroes’ retreat in Week 4.

Our next big challenge on the Personal Development front will be camp in August! We can’t wait.

Final Note:

Any Year 6 or 7 parents still wishing to speak to teachers please call/email to arrange a Parent Teacher interview as soon as possible.

Miss Amanda Thompson

Year 6 and 7 Students

Back to the Future Night

Parents/Guardians of Year 6—12 are invited to go

“Back to the Future” on Thursday 22nd May.
6:00—8:00 pm

The evening will allow parents to reminisce on their old school days, in a modern context. This inaugural night will have parents engage in “typical” lessons on the secondary campus at St Joseph’s School and a study skills session.

The night will begin at 6:00pm with parents assembling at the secondary campus. With parents invited to share pizzas in the courtyard outside Valente’s.

Sports News

Bill Turner Cup

The last few years at St. Joseph’s School has seen rapid development in the number of sports that students compete and excel in. From the first battle for the Stanthorpe open boy’s cricket trophy last year; to the School sending away its first girl’s rugby league teams, the Secondary campus has become a virtual vessel for sporting variety. Even with this diverse range of student participation, however, it still remains that one season captures student imagination more than any other and it is the universal language of the football code with the round ball that commands the attention of the greatest numbers within the student body.

The first stop in football season on the Secondary Campus is the Bill Turner Cup and Trophy, which are State wide, under 15 competitions for boys and girls respectively. Each year the champion team from the Darling Downs region competes in the State Semi-Finals in Brisbane and the first step along this path for both the male and female outfits from St. Joey’s are the Border District pool games against Stanthorpe State High School and Warwick State High School. These games were completed at the C.F. White Oval and Stanthorpe State High School last Thursday the 8th of May with both teams overcoming the odds to knock off their cross town and district rivals to qualify for the Darling Downs semi-finals.

The girl’s team, who have had pleasing results in this very competition for the previous three years, once again had a solid start to the day against Warwick State High School going over 4-2. The second game proved to be a tougher test with Joeys turning back the spirited resistance of Stanthorpe High to qualify with a 3-1 victory.

The boy’s results were just as pleasing and possibly even a little sweeter for those with a longer memory as victory in this Round Robin competition meant qualification in The Darling Downs semi-finals for the first time this millennium. The boys flexed their muscle in a 10 – 0 victory over Warwick State High School and clinched their semi-finals birth with 2 goals in the final 5 minutes against Stanthorpe State High School to steal the spoils 4 – 2.

This year St. Joseph’s is lucky enough to host their semi-final games and the School will welcome the girl’s team from Harristown State High School and the boy’s qualifiers from Toowoomba Grammar School this Thursday afternoon. The girl’s game kicks off at 2:30pm and will be followed closely by the boy’s at 4:30pm. I personally encourage all parents and friends to come down to C.F. White to celebrate the achievements of these two teams in making it to the Darling Downs semi-finals and sealing an opportunity against two, predictably strong, units from the Garden City. Congratulations to all students involved in the tournament so far and all the best on your road to the State Final.

Mr Dominic Philp

NEXT ROUND THURSDAY 15th MAY – C.F. WHITE OVAL.

GIRLS GAME KICKOFF: 2:30PM
BOYS GAME KICKOFF: 4:30PM

COME DOWN AND CHEER THEM ON!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ST JOSEPH’S STUDENTS FOR HAVING GAINED SELECTION TO THE GB TEAM FOR CROSS COUNTRY Craig Hickey, Travis Wallace, Ben Manahan, Bridgette Kay, Jena Fox, Hannah Reeves, Peta Comino, Daniel Gasparin, and Isobel Kay. Highlights of the day were 1st place runs by Isobel Kay, Ben Manahan and Hannah Reeves, 2nd place to Travis Wallace and Bridgette Kay. WELL DONE EVERYONE!

Well Done David

Hats off to David Musumeci who on the 2nd – 4th May competed in the Clay Target State Trap Carnival in Emerald as a part of the South East Zone Junior Team. David shot extremely well scoring 49/50 and 50/50 in his events and alongside his team members took the Junior Title. David also made Reserve for the Queensland State Team. Amazing Effort David!

David and His
Fellow Competitors

Arts News

On Wednesday 23rd May the Year 9 History class visited the RSL display. There were displays of ANZAC memorabilia and weaponry as well as clothing and badges. Mr Norm Steele showed a PowerPoint on Gallipoli and World War I history and explained the differences between WWI and modern warfare. It was informative and interactive.

By Dylan Nash, Year 9

Students Visiting RSL WWI Display

Reminders and Notices

STUDENT TRAVEL REBATES

Semester 1, 2014

Visit our website to see if you qualify for financial assistance to help with the cost of transport and apply at www.schooltransport.com.au by 31 May 2014.

Late applications cannot be accepted.

Procedure for Visitors and Contractors to St Joseph’s

It’s always best to review policies and procedures to ensure that they are effective.

All visitors to the School need to present to Administration first. When entering the Office, a table is located to the left which has two sign in books. One book is for visitors and the other for contractors.

Before signing in, you must read the Visitor’s Site Safety Induction or the Contractor’s Site Safety Induction (whichever applies). These are fixed to the glass directly above the sign in area and only required to be read on your first visit or if you ever need to revise.

Once read, you must complete all columns of the sign in register, again selecting whichever book applies to you. You must take either the visitor’s badge which is on a lanyard for your convenience, noting the number in the sign in register, or a contractor’s badge which has a safety pin attached.

When your visit to the School has been completed, you must sign out and return the badge.

These requirements will assist the School in complying with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and ensure that safety is recognised as a priority for themselves and others.

Should you require any further information, please contact Angie on 46 815904

P & F News

There has been a lot of activity recently with Fundraising for our school. None of these things would be possible without the ongoing support of our P & F committee and families involved with the running of these events.

The Bubbler Fundraiser was a huge success, with $1900 being raised from the Stanthorpe Street Stall and $500 from the Tenterfield Street Stall. This means that we have enough money for the installation of four Bubblers, two on the primary campus and two on the secondary campus.

We extend a special thank you to Sophie Racanello, for initiating the idea and helping it come to life.

Appreciation and thanks goes out to all the many helpers who worked hard fundraising for the bubblers, Kim and Zac Thompson who ran the Tenterfield Street Stall, and to Sophie, Adam, Remo & Natalie Raccanello, Jo, Riannon & Jenna Fox, Karen & Kiara Smith, Madalene Biddulph, Rose-alba & Danielle Musumeci, Zoe Boccari, Anika Spiller, Ginevra Marsden, Holli Brunckhorst, Susie Cobon, Alessia & Gabriella Harris who manned our Stanthorpe Stall. And thank you so much to those who donated baking, produce and cash toward these stalls. A fantastic team effort. You should all be very proud.

Numbers were up at the last P&F meeting, it was great to see some new faces there. We welcome the input and value new ideas and fresh outlooks. I look forward to seeing you at the next P&F meeting.

Peter Alldridge
P&F President

Next P&F is 27th May at 7:00pm Come along and have your say.