Newsletter Term 4 Week 4
Principal's Report
Dear Families,
Welcome to our Week 4 newsletter! We are fast approaching the halfway point of the term which is very hard to believe!
After a very busy start to the term with camp and swimming it has been nice to get back to some relative normality with classroom learning over the last two weeks!
At our assembly last Friday, we had a special guest, Gerard from Matific came to present the school with our Matific Maths Olympiad prizes, and individual student prizes. Congratulations to all our prize winners and all those who participated. Gerard was extremely thrilled to be presenting to a Queensland school and praised the hard work of our students and their teamwork throughout the Olympiad. Well Done St Joseph’s!
St Joseph’s Yarning Circle and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan
As a part of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan, we have been investigating ways that we can enhance our current work in this area, and have decided to create a “St Joseph’s Yarning Circle” which will be a wonderful addition to the school. A Yarning Circle in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is very important to share stories and pass on information. They are used to learn from the collective group, build respectful relationships and to preserve and pass on cultural knowledge. A Yarning Circle is a place to share conversation, designed to allow everyone to have their say in a safe and respectful place.
Not only will this space enhance our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, but it will also create a wonderful outdoor learning environment, that can be used for multiple purposes across a variety of subject areas.
It will also serve as a quiet, reflective prayer and meditation space that students can use. This space will be located on the other side of the library, amongst the trees and native gardens, a beautiful and peaceful (but underutilised) area of our school.
We have created a design plan, along with some design ideas to help show you all what the final space will look like. We hope you will enjoy it as much as our students!
Thank you to Landcare for their help in getting this project up and running and thank you to TCSO for providing additional funding to make this project possible.
Awards Night Gifts
As usual Santa will be giving every St Joseph’s student a book as a Christmas gift during our awards night celebrations. If there are younger siblings / family members that would also like to receive a gift from Santa, could you please drop a wrapped book, with the recipient’s name to the school office before the night so we can pass this on to Santa to hand out on the night.
Until next time,
God Bless
Mr Lawson Short
REMINDERS
As usual Santa will be giving every St Joseph’s student a book as a Christmas gift during our awards night celebrations. If there are younger siblings / family members that would also like to receive a gift from Santa, could you please drop a wrapped book, with the recipient’s name to the school office before the night so we can pass this on to Santa to hand out on the night.
Term 4 fees will be due Monday 7th November
Date Claimers
- Day for Daniel - Wear Red! - Friday 28th October
- All Soul's Mass - Wednesday 2nd November 9:00am
- Years 5/6 Inspire Maths in Toowoomba - Thursday 3rd November
- Prep Transition Day - Friday 4th November, 9:00am to 11:00am
- School fees for 2022 due for payment Monday 7th November
- Remembrance Day Liturgy - Friday 11th November
- Year 4/5/6 Musical - Thursday 17th November 5:30pm
- Prep Transition Day - Friday 18th November, 12:45pm to 3:00pm
- Awards Night - Friday 25th November
- Graduation Mass - Friday 2nd December 11:00am
AWARDS
Term 4 Week 3
Layla Huth- Completing all her work independently with great detail and care.
Jose Lehuede- A great effort across all lessons this week and contributing some great ideas during class discussions.
Benji Wise - for being attentive and ready to learn all week, keep up the great work and leading by example.
James Andrews - for writing some detailed procedures this week, making sure he is using relevant verbs and adverbs. Well done!
- Bella Klein – for showing great persistence when completing difficult tasks. Keep up the great work.
- Mabel Battisson – for challenging herself in Maths and using great strategies. Fantabulous work!
From the APRE
Today I had the opportunity of sharing our journey of Illuminate RE with the rest of the APRE group at our network day. While this year has been a bit challenging for us in this area due to floods and covid, we have been making some great progress over the last term. Mrs LeeAnn Weekes (Education Officer) has been supporting teachers to plan units of work that focus on Scripture, with relevant assessment. While we are only just beginning our Illuminate journey, we are looking forward to continuing next year and embedding some of the practices that she has been working on with the staff.
We have a Mass coming up on 2nd November to celebrate All Soul' Day as well as a liturgy on 11th November for Rememberance Day. Family Mass is also coming next weekend. Please let me know if you can be involved.
Socktober is a journey towards and celebration of World Mission Month. Socktober uses the world game of soccer to form a connection between students in Australia and the children they support with their fundraising, while also incorporating formation and education components throughout its entire structure. Next Friday, Mini Vinnies will be holding Crazy Sock Day as well as a few other activities to raise money for Catholic Missions.
God Bless,
Michele Sanders
Thoughts for a Thursday
Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way – he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
In Sunday’s gospel Luke tells us about a man who seems to have been a scoundrel and asks, “Can this man be saved?”
Zacchaeus, the alleged low-life in question, was a small man who became a big shot extorting money from his fellow Israelites and cosying up to the enemy, the Romans, who were occupying the land. Not only was he a tax collector, an undesirable occupation, but he was darned good at it and earned a pile of dough in the process. And yet when Jesus came to town, Zacchaeus paid attention. He even climbed a tree to get a better look. There must have been something about Jesus and his message that gave Zacchaeus something all his money and power couldn’t supply. In spite of all he had, deep in his heart, Zacchaeus wanted what Jesus was offering.
Which meant that he could be saved. Redemption is a matter of the heart. Zacchaeus’ heart was in the right place. The Pharisees who objected to Jesus spending time with Zacchaeus never knew what was going on in their hearts. They worried about appearances, how they looked to others and how others weren’t making the grade. And so rather than up a tree, they were really up a creek.
Prep Transition Days
Prep/ 1 News
Prep/One have been busy this fortnight contentrating on their amazing learning!
In Religion, we have been learning all about Mary, Mother of Jesus. We have been loving learning about her journey’s and learning about what her life would have been like back in that time.
In Math’s, the Preps have been looking at sharing and doing such an awesome job at this. Year Ones have been looking at the different strategies we can use when faced with addition and subtraction problems.
In HASS, we are continuing our park building journey. We have some great looking parks with some amazing ideas. I can’t wait to see them finished!
Congratulations to the Year One’s who have been awarded the highest stars earnt during the Matific Olympiad last term!
Lauren Grant
2/3 News
Hi St Joey’s community! Hope you have had an excellent few weeks. We’re at the business end of the year and it won’t be slowing down anytime soon!
Well done to all the students who attended the swimming carnival in Week 2, you all did such an amazing job. It was great to see a good turn out and the team spirit was evident all morning.
Our work in the classroom has ramped up the past few weeks with students completing math assessments on fractions, writing procedural texts, exploring famous historical sites across Australia and our local area, as well as researching figures who demonstrate stewardship and a deep love of all creation. (They were big fans of Steve Irwin!)
We have also begun our end of year testing, with students participating in some PAT tests that will also continue into next week. Some students have also begun their reading comprehension tests and the results so far are positive, their hard work is paying off!
Last Friday we had a special visit from Matific who awarded us with the prizes for finishing first overall in the Matific Olympiad Competition. It was a great morning and the students enjoyed the special visitors in the classroom to see how we use Matific. I would like to give special mention to James Andrews and Harlen Pink who were awarded ‘exceptional effort’ awards in the 2/3 class for their hard work throughout the Olympiad week. Well done boys!
Mitchell Albury
4/5/6 News
Another two weeks has flown by and 4/5/6 have been very busy! As I stated in my email last week, attendance at school is so important. Students who are missing multiple days, are missing big chunks of work, which will make learning and assessment extremely difficult for them.
We have been learning all about Mary in Religion and in particular, the stories leading up to the birth of Jesus. We are discovering why Mary is such an important figure in the Church and why she was so important to Jesus.
In Maths, we are finishing off our learning cycle and real world learning task on perimeter and area and next week will be moving on to our next learning cycle on angles. This week we also completed our PAT Maths testing, which helps to determine our growth awards for our annual Awards Night.
In English, the students have been enjoying the story of Storm Boy and making comparisons between the novel and the movie. We are also studying film and have been looking at how to write a movie review effectively.
We are busily rehearsing for our musical, which is now only 3 weeks away. Please encourage your child to continue to practice their lines at home, using lots of expression in their voice and on their face.
Next Thursday, our Year 5 and 6 students will have the opportunity to travel to Toowoomba to participate in a Maths Learning Day. They will be involved in a number of fun workshops that focus on different concepts in Maths as well as listening to a keynote speaker.
It is really getting to the pointy end of the year now and PAT testing as well as reading testing is taking place. Please talk to your child about these tests and how they feel they peformed as well as sharing in their reading successes.
Michele Sanders
PPF News
PSHS Transition Days
Every Day Matters
Absence notifications
School commences at 8.30am each morning and rolls are marked between 8.30 and 9.00am. Daily absences must be reported by 9.10am each morning either by phoning 07 4695 3600, emailing millmerran@twb.catholic.edu.au or through the Parent portal app. If an absence has not been reported, parents will be contacted via SMS to alert them to their child's absence. Parents are then required to contact the Office to confirm the absence.
This procedure follows strict student protection guidelines for always ensuring safety of students.
Guidance Counsellor News
Please see below two resource links you may find useful:
Gearing up for Parent Engagement in Student Learning (parentengagementcspa.edu.au)
Millmerran Indoor Sports Centre News
