St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Wandal Newsletter

10 March 2021

Weekly Prayer Reflection

Being Heart-Wise at Work

I was listening to a new translation of the Old Testament recently when this phrase struck me: it was ‘women who were heart-wise with their hands’.  What a striking way to approach work, whether man or woman.  Each and every day we have tasks that we do not want to do: they can be too challenging, too hard, too boring, or, quite frequently we just don’t feel like doing them.  And we can end up working in half-hearted or disconnected way.  But what we would happen if we brought both our head and our heart together before we even put our hands to the task?

We would pause and think about when would be the best way to do this in the time we had had.  Just doing that we have taken some control over this part of our lives.  We wouldn’t over do it because we know we have others things that needed doing.  And we wouldn’t go foolishly bull at a gate.  We would try to emotionally engage even with a task we find distasteful or difficult.  The end result is that we would take pride in our work, even if it was something we really didn’t want to do.  The job would be done as well as we could, in the circumstances, and we would have some (perhaps small) sense of achievement. 

We are made in the image of our creative God.   Work is the most usual way in which we get to express our creativity.  We can approach our work as though we are burdened, or we can be ‘god-like’ bringing our head and heart online to create with our hands. Even the humblest tasks can be done in a heart-wise way that honours our own dignity, and as we work that way, we realise that even the most undistinguished task is honourable.

Loving God, with love and wisdom you created our world and hold it in being.  May I share in your creativity, bringing wisdom and love to all that I do with my hands.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, confident that you will hear me. 

Sr Kym Harris osb

From the Principal

Flexischools Issues

Our online tuckshop ordering platform, Flexischools, has been experiencing some issues over the last few Fridays. I know that this has caused some frustration. We have been assured that Flexischools is working hard to fix the issues. In the meantime, please do not ever hesitate to contact Flexischools directly with regards to confirmation of orders being placed. My advice would be to try and avoid the ‘peak’ ordering time on Friday morning, and get your Friday orders in early i.e. the day before. Please be assured, we will always ensure your children have food to eat, even if an order was not successfully placed. Thank you for your patience.

Prep Enrolments for 2022

We are now taking enrolments for Prep in 2022. If you have a child hoping to commence Prep in 2022, or know of others who may be interested in attending our school, please complete the online enrolment process through our website at your earliest convenience. Our office staff are happy to help if you have any questions.

Interviews will be held in July, with first round offers being made in August 2021.

Win $100 Voucher - Catholic Identity Surveys

One of the most important things about being a Catholic school in the 21st century is knowing who we are and what purpose we serve. We need to have a clear understanding of our role as a Catholic school.

To assist with this and as an important part of our School Improvement process, St Joseph's Wandal is participating in a Catholic Identity survey which is conducted by Leuven University in Belgium. The research project is aimed at assisting us with understanding how our Catholic identity is expressed in work and practice, as well as supporting plans to further enhance our Catholic Identity for the future. This will be our second lot of data through this project (we first participated in 2016) and we look forward to comparing the growth and changes that have occurrred during the period in between.

 

All staff at our school, as well as students from Years 5 and 6  will participate in the survey at school. We would also like to give parents a voice by inviting and encouraging you to take part in the survey, which will be conducted online and is not identifiable.

Surveys are now open! Please follow the directions below to access your survey:

1. Access the surveys at www.ecsi.site/au/user/

2. Enter the case-sensitive password Ghj654 and click login.

3. If you’re a new user: Click the New user button.

If you wish to continue a previous session: Enter your User-ID and Password.

4. Enter your school’s Survey Access Code f39xa9 so that your input will be linked to our school.

5. You are now logged in. Displayed on the screen is your unique User-ID and Password (case-sensitive).

6. Save this information (write, print, or email it) to access the website at a later time.

7. From this point forward, please follow the on-screen instructions to complete the surveys.

Send evidence of your completed surveys (we don't see your answers), to sjwl@rok.catholic.edu.au to go into the draw to win a $100 voucher from The Criterion. The winner will be drawn at 8.35am on Thursday 1 April, 2021!

Parent Teacher Interviews

Teachers will be holding formal Parent Teacher Interviews in the last week this term, 29th and 30th of March. It is our hope that a Parent Teacher Interview will be booked for each student in this school. These are invaluable opportunities to have formal conversations about your child’s progress.

 Parent Teacher Interviews are booked online via Parent Lounge (you can find your user name details at the top of your Fees Statement). Please advise the office if you are having difficulty logging on to Parent Lounge. 

Please see the attached 'How to book a parent teacher interview' guide for assistance.

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Outside School Hours Care News

This Friday, Mrs Colleen Baumann (Acting OSHC Coordinator) finishes at our service. We thank Colleen for her years of service and wish her the best for her future endeavours. Miss Maddy Reid will be acting as Coordinator, until Mrs Hailey Svensen returns from maternity leave in Term 2.

Our Vacation Care program for the Easter holidays has now been finalised, and is attached to this newsletter. Please carefully read the requirements of Vacation Care, and endeavour to book your children in as early as you can in order to avoid disappointment.

We thank you for you continued support of this service. If you have any feedback or suggestions on ways in which this service can better support your children, or yourselves, as busy families, please do not hesitate to let me know.

 

 

 

 

Stay and Play - A P and F parent engagement initiative

Yours in partnership,

Kellie Jenkinson

From the Assistant to the Principal: Religious Education (APRE)

Prayer for International Women's Day

Gracious God, we pray for ourselves and all women around the world.

Strengthen us to stand in solidarity with our sisters experiencing poverty and injustice.

Open our hearts to listen and serve.

Give us the courage to hope and work for a better future for all women.

Awaken us, that we may fully realise our interconnectedness to our one global human family.

Guide us with your spirit, to welcome, champion, practically and joyfully love each other. 

Amen.

© lent.caritas.org.au

Further information can be found at

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Feast of St Joseph (Our patron saint!) Friday 19 March

The feast of St Joseph holds significance for us, as St Joseph is both our school's and diocese's patron saint. Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture. We know that he was a hard-working, compassionate and caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been engaged, he knew the child was not his, but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. Joseph however, loved Mary and Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. We honour St Joseph the Husband of Mary this Monday,19 March with Mass at 9am. 

 Students have the option to order Red Rooster through Flexischools, for lunch, with a  portion of the lunch order funds being donated to Project Compassion. The Flexischools' Red Rooster lunch order closes on Wednesday 17 March at 12 noon. Late orders cannot be accepted.

Harmony week

 Harmony Week is celebrated from 15 – 21 March. Harmony Week is a celebration of cultural diversity; a day of respect for everyone who calls Australia home. The message of Harmony Day is ‘Everyone Belongs.’  To celebrate Harmony Day, on Monday a small group of students will lead prayer in the Hall. Classes have invited a guest speaker; either a parent, grandparent or community member to share their culture, through stories, artefacts, photos, clothing or in some cases food taste testing.  

Year 5M Prayer Assembly

Please join Year 5M in the Undercover Area on Friday 12 March as they lead prayer.

Prep’s Shop

Prep held their very own stall, to raise funds for Caritas Australia, by selling prayer cards that they had created.  Our clever Prep's raised a mammoth $86 which will be donated to Caritas Australia's Project Compassion Lenten Campaign.  Thank you Prep, for your generosity and hard work.  What a difference you will make to the lives of those in need!

Year 1 held a disco today to raise funds for Caritas. Scroll through see the fun had by all!

Caritas Australia - Project Compassion

We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Oliva, a 22-year-old woman from Tanzania. She did not have the opportunity to go to school and was embarrassed that she was unable to read, write or count. As an adult, her business was losing money because she couldn’t add up her money and give the right change to customers.

Then Oliva enrolled in Caritas Australia’s literacy and numeracy classes. She also set up a home classroom to teach her neighbours, for free, because they were too shy to attend larger classes.

Oliva has now graduated, attendance at her classes are growing, her kiosk is thriving and she is helping her children with their homework. She aims to become a pastor and run for leadership in the next local election - to help her community to ‘Be More.’

·         Approximately 260 million children don’t have the chance to go to school (un.org)

Watch a short film about Oliva’s story here.

 “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

Our Journey in the Catholic Faith (Sacramental Workshop dates)

If your child is participating in the Parish Sacramental program please add the dates below to your diary. Workshops for families preparing their children to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance and the completion of Christian Initiation will be held as follows:

Tuesday 9 or Wednesday 10 March Workshop 3, Sacrament of Conformation 5.30pm at the Kevin Castles Cente in West Street. 

Presentation of Candidates at the St Joseph's Cathedral Church - Saturday 20 March at 6.00pm, or Sunday 21 March at 9.30am or 6.00pm.

St Joseph’s Cathedral is open for the Celebration of Mass.

Trybooking is no longer available. All Mass bookings are now being taken on our new website – www.cposj.com  St Joseph’s Cathedral is open for the Celebration of Mass. To meet the Queensland Government’s Legislative requirements, Parishioners will be required to register to attend a Mass. The registration process can be done via our website – www.cposj.com  People who do not have access to the Internet or a Smart phone are asked to ring the Parish office during business hours at ph:49276744 to gain a ticket of entry. 

Thought of the Week!

With gratitude,

Rheanna Starr

Parish Bulletin

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Curriculum Update

Handwriting Books for Prep to Year 3

Capricorn Educational Resources has informed us that the Handwriting books 'Handwriting Rules' have arrived.  Those parents who had already ordered and paid for the books through CER will not need to collect as the books have been sent to the school.  Class teachers will allocate the books supplied this week.  All parents who have not yet purchased a book are asked to arrange this as soon as possible.

Many parents tell us that our parent learning sessions do not always suit, and although they wish to be involved, attending sessions is not always possible.  I understand that this is hard, and so I will be attempting to help meet our school literacy and numeracy goals for 2021 but providing you with a series of very short 'parent learning' videos.

My aim is to provide a series of videos that will support you as you support your child's learning.  These videos will be very short, and focus on one strategy or skill at a time.

The first video is all about one of the key problem-solving strategies we use in mathematics - 'Guess, Check and Refine'.

“Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbor was. “Light! Give me light!” was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.”

Helen Keller

 Janette McLennan

Cross Country & Run Club

This year our Cross Country will again be run across two days in Week 10 of Term 1. Prep to Year 2 students will participate in an obstacle course fun run on the school oval in their PE lesson time on Tuesday 30 March. Students in Years 3 to 6 will be walking to Southside Soccer Club to complete their Cross Country run on Thursday 1 April. Students will be chosen from this day to represent our school at the Rockhampton District Cross Country event in Term 2. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

 Cross Country Run Club will commence Tuesday next week and occur once a week.

Tuesday morning 7:30am – 8:00am – 23 February, 2 March, 9 March, 16 March, 23 March.

Please meet Miss Hinz outside the Prep rooms with your hat, water bottle and sunscreen on. We will only be in this area and the oval to ensure we are not interrupting OHSC space.

Unfortunately, due to current Covid requirements we will not be offering breakfast after Run Club this year. However, students are encouraged to bring their own breakfast or snack to eat after running.

 Looking forward to seeing you there,

 

Brittany Hinz

HPE Teacher

 

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District Trial Dates for Term 1

The attached document highlights district trial dates. Forms are to collected and returned to Miss Hinz.
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Student Awards

Congratulations to our students on their outstanding achievements.  Please click on the link for details.

Calendar Dates for 2021

Term Dates for 2021

Term 1      27 January - 1 April 10 weeks

Term 2      19 April - 25 June 10 weeks

Term 3       12 July - 17 September 10 weeks

Term 4      5 October - 3 December   9 weeks

Term 1 2021

March

12         Year 5 M Prayer Assembly

12        P & F After School Play - Adventure Playground (bring afternoon tea)

14        Chamber Music Concert 1:00pm The Cathedral

17        Red Rooster ORDERS CLOSE

19         Feast Day of St Joseph - Mass in Hall at 9am

19        Year 3J Prayer Assembly

19        Red Rooster Food Day

21        Harmony Day

28         Palm Sunday

29         Parent Teacher Interviews

30         Parent Teacher Interviews

30         P - 2 Obstacle Course Run

April

1           Year 3-6 Cross Country and Term 1 Concludes

Parent Lounge Absentee

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Position Vacant

The Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton (Bishop’s Office) is seeking an Administration Officer – Clergy Visa.

This casual support role will be up to 10 hours per week and will support the work of the Bishop and Chancellor with the process of renewals and applications for international clergy Visas.

Experience needed - proven relations working with government agencies including Immigration Department and Catholic agencies, attention to detail, efficiency with processing of information and forms, confidentiality and strong verbal and written communication skills.

Please contact Kristy Gear, Human Resource Manager on 4887 3090 or email your resume and cover letter to hr@rok.catholic.net.au. Applications close Friday 19 March 2021.

Drakes Fundraiser

DRAKES FUNDRAISER

Thank you for your support of this Fundraiser which resulted in a Donation of $3,707  in a difficult COVID-19 year. Drakes have now donated $44,846 to conservation of St. Joseph's Cathedral.

Please continue to shop at DRAKES and benefit from the special service they provide. Keytags available Churches, Schools and Kindergartens.

 Stay Safe

 Shirley Hopkins

Co-ordinator - Drakes Fundraiser for St. Joseph's Cathedral 

April Vacation Care Program

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