26 June 2014

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s News

End of Semester

This Friday marks the end of Semester 1 for 2014 and half of the school year has already passed. With the end of a semester comes the holiday break and a great opportunity for families and friends to relax and spend time together. One aspect of spending time together is being able to take the time to enter into conversations with our children. Talking with our children comes naturally and we don’t often give it a great deal of thought. It’s something that we just do, like preparing breakfast or making lunches. However, the quality of our communication does make a difference. Good communication helps children shape positive attitudes about themselves, allows us as parents a window into our children’s thinking and promotes good relationships. If you are struggling to find the time for conversations with your children or they are not being that receptive to your attempts at entering into a conversation, maybe some of the following ideas will assist.

• Meals are great social occasions – more than just refuelling stops. They provide a great opportunity for families to get together and talk. Talk about each other’s day – the highlights and low lights. Share your own day with your children.
• If you have a ‘conversational clam’ in your family try talking over a snack, or while doing an activity. Boys, in particular, tend to open up more while their hands are busy. Relax, go for a walk and watch how their tongues loosen up.
• If ‘nah’ or ‘yep’ are the only responses you get from your children consider asking questions that begin with What, Where, How or Why. Ask interesting questions that will spark more than a one-word response.
• Talk with children on their turf. Many children will open up in the privacy of their own bedroom, particularly when they are relaxed and feel secure.
• Respect children’s boundaries. There are times when a good listener will know when to keep quiet. Children will often divulge information when they are ready.

These ideas may also allow you to have a more positive and productive conversation when you are discussing your child’s report card and the progress your child has made at school this semester.

Farewell and Thank You!

Wow – what a case of Ground Hog Day! It seems like such a short time ago that I was writing that this will be the last newsletter for the term and the last newsletter of my stay here at St Joseph’s. While being given the opportunity to spend another eight weeks in this wonderful school community was certainly not part of my plan for the year, it has certainly been something I have greatly appreciated. Again, I would like to sincerely thank all of the community for the wonderful support that I have received. St Joseph’s School is a vibrant community that is committed to continual improvement in endeavouring to provide a quality Catholic education for the amazing students that attend this school. Finally, I wish all of the St Joseph’s School community a wonderful break and all the best for the rest of 2014.

Kort Goodman
Acting Principal

Leader’s News

“Come live life in all its fullness” John 10:10

As Term Two draws to a close, our gathering for Friday’s Liturgy of the Word will focus on the theme “With a Grateful Heart”. This time will allow us to reflect on the many activities and events that we, as a school community, have participated in this Semester.

When we reflect on all that has been achieved and the myriad of opportunities for our staff and students to partake in, it is clearly evident that we should be thankful for what we have and enjoy each and every day.

This theme also provides us with the opportunity to offer some of this bounty and opportunity to others who are unable to enjoy the simple pleasures in life that are so readily available to us. Offering our time, prayers or resources is indeed a very humbling, yet gratifying experience of which we are all welcome to partake.

Over the course of Term Three we will see our faith life and spiritual growth continue. Our first opportunity will be as we celebrate Grandparents’ Day on Tuesday, 22nd July. This occasion is celebrated as we say thank you to our grandparents for the wonderful role they play in our lives.

On Sunday, 27th July will we launch Catholic Education Week with Mass in our parish at 8.30am. During this week the students will participate in many activities within our school and wider community as we embrace this year’s theme of “Live life in all its fullness”. This theme challenges us as educators to instil in the lives of those we teach a chance to fill our lives with colour, accept the challenges we face and reap the rewards that come from living life as Jesus taught us.

Megan Mahoney
APRE

School News

Year 2

This term the year 2 class participated in the Eisteddfod. The students worked very hard to learn the two poems we chose and to recite them in unison as a class. We were very fortunate to be able to utilise the skills of Mrs Pauline Leigh to refine our performance and the children received very positive feedback from the judges on the day. We also had nine students who chose to perform in the individual poetry recital. These students performed extremely confidently displaying good expression and projection of their voices. This is the first time most of these students have participated in the poetry recital at the eisteddfod and we are extremely proud of their performances and the effort they put into learning and presenting their poems both as individuals and as a class. The children also participated in choir singing with Mrs Gerster, and in between their performances the children had some fun in the park and the library. It was a very busy and tiring day but one which I’m sure the children would all agree is well worth participating in.

Year 10

This term the Year 10 students have immersed themselves in the world of career education. They started by looking at their personality, interests and abilities. They discovered whether the traits they possessed matched their career aspirations. For example, they thought about whether they considered themselves to be responsible, organised and good with time-management or had strong interpersonal skills. This, in turn, led them to think about whether becoming an electrician, hairdresser, pilot, teacher, doctor or mechanical engineer corresponded with these abilities. Some students had ideas about their future employment at this point and discovered that they were on the right track. However, most students had to re-address their prospects as they realised that their possible job may not truly match their strengths and talents. Of course, the plan was never to discourage the students from dreaming about a becoming the future Prime Minister of Australia, but to have a plan A, B and C in place just to be on the safe side.

We also addressed their academic abilities by examining whether they fell into categories such as artistic and creative, figures and computational, literary, medical, scientific, technical and engineering, practical and manual, helping and community services or outdoor. We then discussed the occupations that corresponded to these abilities. The purpose of this activity was to open their eyes to possible vocations that they may not have contemplated.

The students also accessed the ‘My Futures’ website and responded to questionnaires to help them formulate action plans for their career prospects. It helped them to set goals and understand what influences their decisions regarding their future such as the current employment market, achievements, family, cultural background, friends, where they want to live and access (or lack thereof) to resources.

Finally, having some idea of the direction they wanted to go, we explored the senior subjects that the students would have to choose in order to achieve their ambitions. We also considered possible apprenticeships and tertiary course requirements to assist them in making informed decisions regarding their future.

Follow the link to take your career quiz just like our Year 10’s

Leo’s night

On Wednesday the 18th of June, the Leo’s club held a State of Origin night at the Arcadia Cinema, to raise money for Granite Belt Support Services and Childhood Cancer Support. Apart from NSW winning, it was a fantastic night with a terrific turnout and support.

I would to take this opportunity to say a few thankyous.

To Vince Catanzaro and Bernard Garth for the fantastic facility (which happened to be lined with maroon curtains, perfect for the event, no decorations needed!)

To the Stanthorpe Golf Club for the use of the bar stools and tables.

To Eagle boys for the delicious pizza that fed everyone.

And finally I would to thank Steve and Sandra Kay, the Stanthorpe Lion’s club and St Joseph’s Leo’s who very kindly assisted in the planning and running of the evening.

Congratulations to the Hitchener Family who won the 2 tickets to the third game!

The Leo’s are very happy with success of the event and are excited about donating the funds we raised for both charities. We are hoping to take part in the Relay For Life in September and look forward to the same support from the school community.

Zoe Kay
Leo’s President

Grandparents day

Thank you to Texas

Over the last two weeks St Joseph’s has been home to two students from the USA, Alex and Daniella Houweling. The students have been visiting Australia with their parents Tiziana Zorzi and Tony Howeling and have enrolled in school to experience the difference between Australian and American education. As a thankyou to St Joseph’s the school library was gifted 5 books about the USA and a Texan Flag,

Tiziana has very kindly been taking time to visit classrooms and talk to students about life in Texas.

We wish the family a safe and fun remainder of their holidays and send with them a gift of our own, several books characteristic of Australia to be placed in their own school library at Beverly Elementary, Texas.

Sports News

Good Luck Confraternity Reps

This weekend our Confraternity teams leave for the Gold Coast to represent St Joseph’s and battle it out with 45 independent schools in Rugby and Netball from the 29th June to the 4th July.

The teams have been fundraising hard to assist with the costs of the trip with the girls netball team holding cake stalls, teacher vs student games and, along with the boys Rugby, Origin Sausage sizzle days.

Watch this space for full coverage and photos of the fun and competitive week in the next terms first newsletter.

Good Luck Everyone!

Reminders and Notices

In July and August a Parenting Workshop will be held at Community Development Services Inc. This is an opportunity which is available for any interested person in the community.

The workshop will be held on 16, 23 and 30 July and 6 and 13 August and each session will include morning tea and a light lunch. Cost to participate will be $5 per session and participants are urged to be available for all sessions.

The presenter will be Mandy Rogers from St Vincent de Paul (Toowoomba) and the workshop is being sponsored by Department of Child Services.

Interested participants can nominate their intent to attend by phoning

CDS on 07 46813777.

P & F News

Next P & F 29th July 2014