Dear Parents and Carers

Like many other people I was saddened by the sudden loss of Paul Green last week.  While the matter is a private one and should respectfully remain that way, it would seem that many people were unaware of his situation.  It is not an uncommon story in our country and one that is concerningly, increasing.  

For me this tragegy, like so many others, brings home two important messages.  The first is that many times we are unaware of what people may be dealing with on a daily basis.  This can be hidden and dealt with in many ways to the point where those closest to us are unaware that we may be struggling or suffering.  How do we help if we don't know?  We can't always know what people are dealing with or how to help but what we can do is ensure that we deal with others respectfully, with patience and with compassion.  This isn't always easy but it is certainly worth pursuing.

The second is the importance of teaching our children to communicate.  It must start here.  We need to ensure that the stigma around mental illness is removed and that we are able to talk openly about the seriousness of the situations we encounter in life.  None of us are immune to pain, tragedy, stress, anxiety, doubt or pressure.  How we deal with them and how we teach our children to deal with them is what is important.  I heard Johnathon Thurston speak emptionally this week about the 'It will be right mate' culture we have and that this can't be the go to phrase when we talk about the difficulties faced due to mental illness. This is very true and I hope that people genuinely embrace this message. 

Please remember if you or someone you know is suffering or needs help then there are many mental health services and professionals able to help and support those in need.

Have a great week.

Tim

Feast of the Assumption

Last Monday, the Catholic Church celebrated the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. This day recalls when Mary was taken, 'assumed' into heaven body and soul. While there is no account of this in the bible, it is a Catholic belief and we honour this day. 

Homeless Sleepout

This coming Friday, students from our Year 6 Faith and Service group will join students from St Joseph's Mundingburra and Marian Catholic School for the Vinnies School Sleepout. 

The purpose of the Homeless Sleepout is designed to give our students a tangible experience of what it would be like to be homeless, bring awareness about the realities faced by people considered to be homeless, and encourage students to do something about it.

The students will listen to a range of guest speakers on the topic of homelessness and the ways donations help the Townsville community,  fun activities to build new friendships and partake in a meal of chicken soup and bread. 

School TV

It can often be challenging as parents to find resources from creditable sources that can provide help, support and comfort when we are faced with new or ongoing issues as we negotiate parenthood. 

All parents of St Joseph's have access to the site, School TV. School TV hosts a range of topics related to raising children and teens in our current world. The link to School TV can be found on the St Joseph's school webpage at all times, under the STUDENTS tab.

Fitting in and negotiating friendships at school can be a challenging situation for families. School TV has an intensive range of resources to help support families. 

Please click here to listen from School TV's leading experts. 

Father's Day Coffee and Liturgy

On Monday, 5th September our Year 1 class will lead our liturgy celebrating all the Dads, Grandads and father figures in our student's lives. Joey's P and F have organised a coffee van for the morning to say Thanks to our Dads. 

Coffee Van open from 8am. Liturgy begins at 8:45am.

Hope you can join us

School Officer Appreciation Week

Next week, 29th August to 2nd September is School Officer Appreciation Week. During this week, we as a school community have a chance to say Thank You to our school officers (teacher aides) who work tirelessly to support the education and well-being of each Joey's student. Without these people in our school, many learning activities and school events would not happen. 

Hope all enjoy the next few weeks, 

Trina

Science Week

Science week exploded at Joey's last week. Our team of teachers and school officers, Yr 6 Environmental Science leaders, class representatives and individual scientists had our school buzzing as they taught scientific concepts throughout the week.

Hypnotised chooks (almost), coke geysers, balloon catapults and swinging pendulums were some of the amazing science demonstrations at lunchtime. Biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences were the focus of each of these demonstrations.

Year 6 Environmental Science leaders led the way teaching key scientists from year Yr1-6 experiments to then teach the rest of the school. Our reps from Yr1-6 taught our school about how lungs work, light refraction, magnetism, buoyancy, density and mobius strips.

Photos of Yr 6 Leaders training the year level reps

The 'Research Room' showcased amphibians, butterflies, forces experiments, plastic body parts and reptiles. We even had a taipan egg!

Joey's kids love science and we needed more. Friday was Joey's Young Scientists - Science Extravagance - Science Fair.  Over 40 experiments involving 70 students were showcased as students explained their knowledge about a science concept.  The atmosphere was electric! Students presented their experiments to their highly captive audience during lunchtime. If only there was a scientific way of measuring excitement and engagement!

A massive thank you to our Yr 6 Environmental Science leaders - Bea, Zoe, Jordan, Rose, Grace and Indy who worked tirelessly training students with scientific understandings, commentating during experiments/live streams and setting up and cleaning up! 

Stay tuned for our Indigenous Science site coming soon, created by Miss Jones, Mrs Sloan and our team of researchers and writers.

2022 Putney Athletics Team

On Tuesday, our Putney Athletics Team competed in the annual Townsville Primary Schools Athletics Carnival at the Townsville Sports Reserve. Our team acquitted themselves again with great pride and enthusiasm, demonstrating tremendous school spirit. 

St. Joey’s managed to secure second place overall, behind a very strong St. Joseph’s Mundingburra team (1st) , with the Marian School in third place. Joey’s competitors never gave up throughout the day and showed much school spirit and a willingness to do our very best. Whilst our team performed strongly overall, there were some memorable achievements with some students winning their A Division event. A special mention to Quinlan Bowtell (Long Jump), Mesh Ronke (Shot Put), Willow Humphries (Long Jump), Ivy Ryan (800m), Sienna Pietrobon Shot Put), Will Donovan (High Jump) and Lucy Whelan (200m, 800m, Long Jump, High Jump). Whilst we are proud of these achievements, it is a whole team effort to be able to achieve what we have. The entire team is to be commended for their effort on the day. 

We have a stunning five students selected to attend the North Queensland Athletics trials this year. Our representatives are; Lucy Whelan, Willow Humphries, Sofia Orsini, Ivy Ryan and Rocco Donovan. We wish them well on their journey.      

As is Joey's tradition, our athletes have represented our school in a courageous and spirited manner. A special thanks to our assistants on the day, Miss O’Connor and our school officers Miss Karissa and Jordan De Bella. We certainly had another big day out!

Our Year 2 classes are excited to share their learning with our school community. 

We hope you enjoy their learning clip. 

Once again this year, Joey's students will have a chance to compete in the 72nd Townsville Eisteddfod. Each class will perform a poetry piece in the Choral Speaking section.

This year, parents and families are able to view the performances from inside the theatre auditorium. There is a range of entry ticket packages available to purchase during Eisteddfod weeks. It is advised to bring cash to purchase tickets. 

Each class will travel to and from the Townsville Civic Theatre by bus. Students are required to wear their academic uniform, black shoes and white socks on the day of their performance. 

Please see the timetable below for your child's performance date and approximate session time. 

Please let your child's teacher know as soon as possible if your child will be absent on the day of the performance. Thank you. 

We wish all classes the best as they prepare for their eisteddfod performance. 

On behalf of the P&F Committee, thank you to everyone who was able to come along and enjoy Joey’s at Sunset on Saturday 13^th August 2022. It was a relaxed and entertaining event with a number of exceptionally talented young vocalists and musicians from the Voice Singing School throughout the afternoon and evening. Congratulations to those who won the Sunvale Meats meat trays and thank you to all the volunteers who helped with set up, running the bar throughout the event and packing up. A special thank you to Mr Ben, Mrs Neilson and Mr Ham for all your support and assistance to make Joey’s at Sunset such a success.