27 October 2017

Newsletter Articles

Message from the Principal

My Dream for Our Students

I have a dream that all students at St Joseph’s School have the opportunity to achieve excellence and know Jesus.

I dream that St Joseph’s School provides all students with the teaching, environment, culture and resources to enable them to excel academically, spiritually, physically, culturally, emotionally and socially.

I dream that all students are accepted and valued.

I dream of all students leading, teaching and supporting other students.

Awards Night – Thursday 2 November 2017

On Thursday night next week, the school celebrates our students’ excellence, leadership and journey with Jesus this year. Please come along to congratulate them and celebrate their successes and commitment to the values of St Joseph’s School.

God bless.

Andrew Kendall
Acting Principal

School News

World Teachers Day

Friday 27 October 2017 marks World Teachers' Day in Queensland - a day to celebrate the commitment, resilience, passion and care displayed by our teaching & support staff. Thanks to your staff for the wonderful work they all do for every one of our students.

The Leadership Journey

In the past three weeks Year 11 students have been involved in several aspects of the leadership process. Six students, Liam Hitchener, Joshua Mahoney, Anika Spiller, Ann-Mary Vincent, Natasha Petroccitto and Hunter Murphy, submitted their nominations to be considered for a School Captain or Prefect position for 2018. Students also had an interview with Mr Kendall and Mrs Perrett, where they identified their strengths and talents and their dreams as leaders of the school next year. On Friday last week students presented a short speech to Years 6 - 12 and voting occurred. Well done to our prospective leaders, as speaking in front of 200 students can be quite daunting. School Captains and Prefects will be announced during Awards Night on Thursday 2nd November. We look forward to seeing as many students and parents at this evening to celebrate the achievements of our students.

The Donna Shannon Award

A number of Year 6 students have submitted presentations with a view to being considered as a worthy recipient of the Donna Shannon Award, the award for Year 6 Leadership. For the first time this year, the students were asked to respond to criteria and we are pleased to say that half the cohort embraced the opportunity. It was interesting to discuss with them what the challenges were in getting the presentations finished. One comment, which encapsulates the sort of person we wish our students to be, focused on how hard it was for this student to write about themselves because it felt like ‘bragging’. Humility is a quality that can be undervalued. We want the students to be confident and assertive but also to have a sense of humility. The recipients of this award will be recognised along with others at our Awards Night on 2 November. Making decisions about who should receive awards is difficult – especially when there are so many worthy candidates. Understandably, some students may experience a little disappointment but they should be proud of their efforts, and we hope that this acts as an incentive to keep working hard and trying to improve.

Life on the Primary Campus

Life on the Primary Campus has continued at an intense pace in recent weeks. Inevitably at this stage of the school year, opportunities are being presented to students to demonstrate their skills, knowledge and understanding across a number of disciplines in preparation for the completion of their semester reports. Of course, the teachers are assessing all the time. Every day in the classroom, each teacher notices a new skill that has been mastered by a student or a concept that needs further consolidation. It is this form of assessment that informs us of the next step in the learning journey and helps each individual move forward towards their goal.

Maths Team Challenge

Congratulations to those students from Year 4 and 5 who participated in the Warwick Maths Team Challenge on Tuesday the 24th October. There were 25 teams in total who competed through 7 rounds of Maths questions and challenges – all of which were timed. Whilst it was a competition and the top three teams were recognised for their efforts, the students were also encouraged to learn from the experience. Skills such as cooperation, sharing responsibility and valuing the opinions and strengths of others were highlighted throughout the night. Congratulations to the twelve students who competed on behalf of St Joseph’s School. They ranked within the top ten teams but perhaps more importantly, they had a lot of fun and learnt a lot about themselves and others.

St Joseph’s School Awards Night

An invitation is extended to all our Parents and Caregivers to attend the St Joseph’s School annual Awards Night which will be held on Thursday 2nd November commencing at 6:30pm in the Bathersby Centre.

The St Joseph’s School Band has been busy practicing and are excited to kick off the evening’s program.

Special guests include Mr Lawrence Springborg, Fr Brian Connolly, Dr Pat Coughlan-Executive Director of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office, Mr John Coman-Senior Education Leader, Mr Jim Midgley-Director of Teaching & Learning and several other members of our local community.

Academy Photographers will be taking official photos of student’s receiving their awards. These photos will be available for purchase with details being sent via Parent Paperwork after the event.

We look forward to seeing you all as we celebrate the achievements of our student’s for this past year.

St Joseph’s Choir gets into the Christmas Spirit

This year, students at St Joseph’s School have been fortunate to have the assistance of Mrs Jo Barker who has formed a school choir. These students are currently spending some of their lunch hours busily practicing for various end of year school functions.

"Music has a special place in our lives. It fills us with happiness and joy. As a member of the choir, our students have the opportunity to express and share that joy together and with the community.” Acting Principal Mr Kendall

On Saturday 2nd December, the St Joseph’s School Choir is very pleased to be involved with the Christmas Twilight Festival hosted by the Granite Belt Christmas Farm. The students are excited to be singing favourite Christmas Carols such as Away in a Manager, Santa Claus is coming to Town, We Three Kings, Silent Night and Joy to the World. This event allows the students to engage in a community event whilst showcasing their talents to those who attend.

Library News

BOOK FAIR!

Our final Book Fair for 2017 will take place in the week beginning Monday 13th November. Families have regularly used the opportunity to purchase Christmas presents. Many a “secret” transaction has been successfully negotiated!

We plan to use our commission to support the new Reading strategies with a particular focus on building our Guided Reading collections.

The students will bring home further information as the date approaches.

Year 9 Small Business Project

The Year 9 Business class has spent sometime on the primary campus in the name of ‘Market Research this week. As part of their assessment this term students are to create a small business and complete tasks such as create a business name and product, market research, analyze competition, advertise and report on profits and success. Students will work in groups to market their product both on campus and in the community, with all profits going towards the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal Launch

The St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal has been launched with Teen Vinnies and Mini Vinnies designing a “Christmas Tree”. The tree was made from paper ‘baubles’ on which is written an item to donate. Each student of the school will take a bauble and are asked to purchase the item and drop it into either the Administration Office or secondary printing room. The hampers will then be presented to representatives from SVDP at our end of year mass.

Christmas Pie Drive

St Joseph's School are holding a Homestyle Bake Pie Drive this term to raise funds to assist the 2018 QISSN team. All Homestyle Bake products are Queensland made and owned.

Pie drive order forms were sent home last week with the eldest in the family with payment due to Megan Hines by midday Friday 3rd November. No orders will be taken after 12 noon on this day.

All orders will be prepackaged by Homestyle Bake and collection will be from the Valente's Kitchen from 9:00 - 10:00 am on Tuesday 14th November.

Thank you for supporting the students of St Joseph's School.

Payment Reminder

A reminder to parents that payment for the following must be received by Thursday 2nd November for the students to attend.

Year 6 - Wet N Wild
Year 11 - Leadership Camp
Year 12 - Retreat

Sporting News

State Level Runner

Congratulations to Year 7 student Georgette Forbes who competed at the State Athletics Carnival early October. Georgette ran the 100m where she came 16th in the State for 13 years Girl. This was a PB both in time and place.

P & F News

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday 31st October, St Joseph’s Library

Due to unforeseen circumstances we unfortunately have to postpone our Trivia Night. A new date early next year will be advised soon.

Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, but please keep your costumes as we are still going Back to the Eighties.

Thank you to our sponsors & donors for the evening, your generous donations will be used for our 2018 Trivia Night.

The Holiday Raffle will still be drawn on Saturday 28th October, at the RSL.

P & F Trivia Committee

Community Notices