St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wandal Newsletter

You are made for this.

Once I was giving some talks on the Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible.  The two audiences were interested when I spoke on Psalms describing consolation, longing and the history of the people of Israel.  But something happened when I spoke on the Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving – they perked up.  When I told stories or mimed what happens when we praise or thank someone, the atmosphere changed.  When mimicking a grandparent praising a grandchild, they responded to the richness and feeling of the interaction.  When thanking a person in mime play, one group actually breathed an audible sigh of approval.  I had begun these talks stating that we are made for praise and thanks, that it is wired into our spiritual DNA, but having felt how these audiences responded I am convinced even more of this.  When we praise or thank, or are praised or thanked, we feel good, we grow, we even glow.  And the same can happen when we watch or hear of praise or thanks happening between other people, even in make-believe stories. 

Praise and thanks are not added extras to our acts of care and service – the icing on the cake, so to speak.  Rather, we do acts of care and service to bring about praise and thanks.  That is when love truly flowers.  Imagine what the relationship would be like if each, in a marriage, a friendship, a partnership, genuinely appreciated what the other did and told each other.  We are made for this. We grow and glow, and sometimes the people around us also grow and glow.  As well, we give our children the best example for making and maintaining good relationships in the future.  And the best relationship in which to start praise and thanks is with God.

In the coming days, try giving thanks and praise to others at least three times each day.  See how it transforms you, making you more of the person you are meant to be.

 Loving God, you have made me for praise and thanks.  Open my mind and heart to see all the good in my life and to graciously give and receive thanks.  I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me. 

Sr Kym Harris osb

We hope all of our dads, granddads and father figures had an enjoyable Father’s Day on Sunday and enjoyed the special gifts, which were chosen with such care at our stall last Thursday.

Over $1700 was made from this event! This money, via our P and F, will be used to fund new resources for our children’s classrooms. Thank you!

Our second round of Parent Teacher interviews for the year will be held next week. These interviews are formal conversations which focus on the academic progress of your children. Interviews will be held in the school hall over a couple of afternoons. As always, we urge all parents to book a Parent Teacher interview.

WHAT: Semester Two – Parent/Teacher Meetings

WHEN: Monday 13 September and Tuesday 14 September (please note, some teachers may also choose to open spots on Wednesday 15 September)

TIMES: From approximately 3.20pm, 20 minute slots

WHERE: The school Hall

Bookings can be made via Parent Lounge and will close at 10am, tomorrow.

These bookings are strictly 20 minutes. We know that some families and teachers require longer conversations and that for some of you, multiple meetings regarding learning support, or medical conditions will be required. 

Some important communications have been distributed this week:

·         Year 6 families, please ensure you have accessed communication sent home Monday about graduation arrangements. Families of Year 6 students who have been accepted into The Cathedral College for Year 7 in 2022 will also receive communication directly from the College about a transition day in October.

·         Years 1-3 families will receive a letter about Term 4 Swimming lessons today

·         Years 3 and 5 parents/carers will receive their children’s 2021. NAPLAN reports today (paper version – please check school bags).

Our next school holiday period is less than two weeks away and spots are filling quickly!

If you are interested in your child attending our Vacation Care (or After School) program, please do not hesitate to give the OSHC staff a call on 0429316543.

Have you heard of the Season of Creation?

From September 1 (World Day of Prayer for Creation) to October 4 (Feast of St. Francis) each year, the Christian community celebrates the Season of Creation by praying and acting together to protect our common home. The season is celebrated by tens of thousands of Christians around the world annually (https://seasonofcreation.org) with encouragement from leaders of other faith traditions.

We pray that we all will make courageous choices for a simple and environmentally sustainable lifestyle, rejoicing in our young people who are resolutely committed to this.

Amen

Please spare two minutes to watch this thought-provoking video from Pope Francis during the Season of Creation.

https://thepopevideo.org/ 

Continuing the Journey in the Catholic Faith Sacraments 2021 - 2022

Calling all families with children who have reached the age of reason (which is seven years of age) to join the preparation journey for 2021-2022 towards the celebration of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist in 2022.

To register please call The Cathedral Centre on 49 27 6744.

This year, Mrs Egan's class has been selected to take part in PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study).

This is a survey conducted in around 60 countries and looks at student achievement in various schools with different instructional practices.  In Australia it is conducted by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research.  

The survey happens during school time (13 October) and does not require any special preparation.  The students will get a certificate and small gift for participating.

The data will be released in December 2022.  No individual results are released and no student's results can be identified from the report.

An information sheet will be sent home with students this week with more information.

CQ Oral Health are offering full dental treatment to students currently enrolled at our school. This service will be provided at the Allenstown School Dental Clinic located in Margaret Street on the school grounds. Lissetta Grant will be the health professional on site. If you are interested in accessing this service, please request a Medical History/Consent Form from our school office and return these to us by 13 September 2021. For any enquiries, please contact Allenstown Dental Clinic on 49206 769 or alternately Melissa Plath on 4920 7553 during business hours.

“Striving for Excellence” Award – (for a student who has exhibited academic improvements and/or has been applying themselves to the very best of their ability)

Bodhi S - Prep A- For working towards achieving your personal learning goals. I was impressed with your use of capital letters, full stops and sounding out in your writing this week. Keep striving for excellence!

Ivy P - Year 1 - For eneavouring to achieve your goals in Mathematics this week. You have been focused and working hard in all learning tasks.

William B - For your wonderful writing this week. You have been stretching out the words and listening for all of the sounds that you can hear. Keep it up!

Liz and Healthy Harold will be at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Wandal from Monday 25 to Friday 29 October, 2021. We can’t wait to meet our old friends and make new ones too. We’ll be learning about healthy lifestyle choices and having lots of fun along the way.  

Head to our Parent and Carer Hub  to have a look at the modules that your children will be working through. You will find detailed overviews of the modules and fact sheets with 'conversation starter' ideas so that you can carry on discussing the lessons at home. We will also post a story after the visit so be sure to ‘like’ and follow our CQ Life Education Facebook Page   

Liz and Healthy Harold.  

Please see link for draw (at the time of printing the draw was not available) the link will be updated as soon as available.   Please note training times at the top of the draw link.

Term Dates for 2021

Term 3       12 July - 17 September - 10 weeks

Term 4      5 October - 3 December -   9 weeks

September

10 September Year 5 Prayer Assembly

11 September  High Tea

15 September Catholic Schools Touch Challenge

17 September Staff Prayer Assembly

17 September Term 3 Concludes

October

4 October Public Holiday - Queen’s Birthday

5 October Term 4 Commences (9 weeks)

15 October Pumped Sports

25-29 October Healthy Harold

26-27 October Parent Workshop Sacraments

27 October Beats N Pieces

28 October Year 3 Testing Day for Instrumental Music (St Joseph’s Wandal)

29 October A Day for Daniel

World Teachers Day

November

1 November All Saints Day

2 November Melbourne Cup

7 November Chamber Music Concert 1:00 - 4:00 pm Cathedral

8 November RSCS Workshop and Music Evening (at TCC more info to come)

11 November Remembrance Day

16- 17 November Parent Workshop Sacraments 

18 November AGM 5:15pm at St Joseph’s Wandal

19 November Christmas Concert

24 November Year 6 Rite of Passage - St Joseph’s Cathedral 

December

3 December Term 4 Concludes