1 May 2015

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s News

Dear Parents and Carers

The commemoration of the centenary of ANZAC was a memorable occasion, which was brilliantly supported by our students, staff and parents. As has been the case in previous years, the School has received a number of positive comments about the reverential way in which our young people participated in the Dawn Service, Parish Mass, the main parade (we had around 250 students participate) and the commemoration service. It was a fitting tribute to the Australian and New Zealand men and women who have and continue to be engaged in military conflict and peacekeeping operations around the world. I offer my thanks to parents, students and staff for their willingness to be involved. I particularly want to thank our School Captains and Prefects who were present at every service.

As you would know, the My School website (http://www.myschool.edu.au/) is a government initiative which makes publically available information about every school in Australia. In particular, NAPLAN results are presented for each school, giving the user the capability to make comparisons between schools. I encourage parents to access the site in order to be informed about its purpose. This is what you will notice about our NAPLAN data.

1. We are equal with or ABOVE the National Minimum Standard across every strand in every Year Level.
2. We are ABOVE both similar schools and the National average in particular strands in every Year Level.
3. In Year 5, our improvement in Reading saw our School listed in the TOP 300 schools in Australia
4. In Year 9, students performed ABOVE both similar schools and the National average in Reading, Spelling, Writing and Grammar & Punctuation.

I highlight that our school does little to no formal preparation for NAPLAN. Instead, our view is that excellent teaching of a rigorous curriculum is the best preparation for the NAPLAN tests, and the results speak for themselves.

Based on our 2014 NAPLAN, St Joseph’s School is consistently the highest performing school in Stanthorpe and the district across both Primary (Years 3,5) and Secondary (Years 7,9). The reasons:

• We have excellent teachers
• We have enthusiastic students
• We have supportive parents
• We have resources which are second-to-none
• We have a school culture which promotes excellence and high expectations.

There are many reasons for celebration at St Joseph’s School, and our NAPLAN results are one of these.

Dr Michael McCarthy
Principal

Leader’s News

Term 2 has arrived and there is already a chill in the air. Schools are busy places and students and teachers are ready to run this term on the Secondary campus. On the sports front, our rugby league and netball teams continue with Broncos Cup competition and our Bill Turner teams gear up and get ready for their first round match in week 3. The QISSN team is also working towards the final ten weeks of preparation for the carnival being held during the first week of the upcoming holidays. The Confraternity team will be decided via trials held around the district in the following weeks. Confraternity team players will be holding a free dress day to raise funds on the 1st State of Origin on Wednesday 27th May.

Annual NAPLAN testing will be held from Tuesday 12th – Thursday 14th May for all Year 7 and 9 students. Students are continually being prepared for these tests with teachers focussing on classroom pedagogy that assists in answering the style and rigour of the questions on the differing exam papers. Further details about NAPLAN testing will be sent home to parents via email.

Parent teacher interviews occur this week and are an excellent opportunity for parents to meet teachers and discuss their son/daughter’s progress. I look forward to being able to see many of our parents on Thursday afternoon.

Spotlight on Graduate Teacher – Ms Hayley Grabham

What is the challenging part of being a graduate teacher?

The challenging thing about being a graduate teacher is balancing the work load with a home life; I understand that over time I will learn to manage this as I become more fluent with marking and planning. I also found that learning how to accurately mark against criteria time consuming as I did not have to at my prac school. I was happy to spend the time on this as I wanted to ensure the standards of my marking were high.

What are you looking forward to as the year progresses?

I am looking forward to developing my ability to plan, mark and organise quickly, but thoroughly so that I can have more time to develop more interactive lessons for my classes. I look forward to seeing how my students develop throughout the year. I also look forward to becoming an integral member of the St Joseph’s teaching community.

What are some aspects of St Joseph’s School that you like thus far?

The teaching staff is amazing and so supportive. They have all welcomed us with open and helpful arms. The students too, are a pleasure to teach. I enjoy that I also have the opportunity to experiment with technology over the year to develop a teaching system that all students can access, even if they are sick and away from school.

What interests do you have outside of school?

I love to read and socialise, and I am very lucky to have found people in Stanthorpe that I am able to spend time with. I enjoy caring for my house and exercising. Admittedly I have slowed down on the exercise as I have be tired after planning late, but over time I plan to find time to get back into it. As I also become more confident with my planning I also want to get involved in drama and music in the community/school.

Linda Perrett APA – Secondary

School News

Year 5 News

2015 has been a busy year for the Year Five class we certainly have packed a lot into our time so far. Here is a short summary of some of our activities.

Science has been one of our favourite subjects. Term One’s unit was called ‘Light Fantastic’ and not only did we learn about what light is, how it moves, what happens if it is blocked but we even manipulated it in many different ways. We created periscopes which may or may not have been used to ‘investigate’ the goings on in the library and even the principal’s office. We concluded this unit with a visit to the Secondary Science labs and spent an interesting afternoon with the light boxes and Mrs Ellis.

We have enjoyed and benefitted from many guest speakers. We began considering our future careers and even our current work habits during the visit from the USQ Career Advisors and learnt about our rights and responsibilities as citizens during the three visits from the Juvenile Justice crew.

We have also swum, played cricket, softball, ran cross country, joined in St. Joey’s Day events, liturgies, reconciliation and much, much more. Oh and we have worked in class a bit as well. We wrote narratives in English and learnt about the Gold Rush in History.

You would think that this may even be enough to keep us amused but the best part is that as this newsletter goes to print we will be at Lake Moogerah on Year 5/6 camp! Stay tuned-you will no doubt here all about that very soon.

To purchase tickets please follow this link

Sports News

Cross Country Results

Cross Country Results:2015

Age	Age Champion	Runner Up
9 Year Boys:	Mackenzie Rowen	Jye Cook
9 Year Girls:	Felicity Dachs	Brigid O’Dea
10 Year Boys:	Jordan Waterworth	Billy Webb
10 Year Girls:	Chelsea Debnam	Taryn McCosker
11 Year Boys:	Josh Rowen	Nathan Webb
11 Year Girls:	Jenna Fox	Isobel Kay
12 Year Boys:	Rory McDonagh	Ky Rashleigh
12 Year Girls:	Imelda Doig	Linsey Swan
13 Year Boys:	Daniel Gasparin	Lachlan Mahoney
13 Year Girls:	Hannah Reeves	Bridget Kay
14 Year Boys:	Ben Manahan	Lachlan Swan
14 Year Girls:	Hannah Debnam	Melisha Blackwood
15 Year Boys:	Asbjorn Gaskell	Dylan Poltich
15 Year Girls:	Abbey Reeves	Alannah Biddulph
16 Year Boys:	Regan Sullivan	Arwyn Reeves
16 Year Girls:	Alyssa Mouws	Jess Westerhout
Open Boys:	Josh Mouws	Thomas Jensen
Open Girls:	Danika Newman	Zoe Kay

Netball Update

Term 2 is off to a great start with training commencing last Monday. The girls are lucky to have a qualified Fitness Instructor, Yasmin Kratzman, working them through a tailor-made agility and aerobic program for the next 8 weeks. There were 16 girls at our first session and we hope to see many more join us on Mondays from 3:15-4:00 in the Bathersby Stadium. The program is designed to boost general fitness and enhance the agility skills that are crucial to the game of Netball. Yasmin will also run a session at lunch time(20 minutes only) through the week focusing on a ‘core booster’ which means lots of abdominal work. This will also be held in the Bathersby Stadium. Finally, Yasmin and I will take the girls on a jog/run on a Sunday afternoon at 4pm, meeting at the Kilper Street playground. All netballers who are able to make the session are encouraged to attend – we will be running the track that follows the creek. The sessions are open to all girls interested in getting fit. Please remember to bring a towel to the stadium on Mondays for your floor work.

Michelle McCarthy – Netball Coach

Reminders and Updates

MUSICAL REHEARSALS