Dear Parents and Carers

After a whirlwind first term I am sure everyone is looking forward to the Easter holidays.  Thank you for your support throughout the last 10 weeks and your ongoing support of our school community.

Easter is a special time for our Catholic school communities, with the death and resurrection of Jesus serving as the ultimate message of love and sacrifice.  Amidst the holidays and celebrations, we can forget that this is a sacred time in the story of the church.

I am always confronted by the Stations of the Cross which detail the end of Christ’s time on Earth. While I have listened to this part of the story many times it always makes me feel both gratitude and guilt.  Gratitude for the life I have, the things I enjoy, the freedom that is part of my everyday.  The guilt comes when I reflect on how lucky I am and yet I still manage to complain about things that can inconvenience me in some way.  We can sometimes become so consumed with things that annoy or inconvenience us that we lose sight of how fortunate we are.

This year our students have been participating in the Resilience project, where gratitude and thanksgiving are encouraged.  I think this is something that we should all take time to consider.  There are many things that we are blessed with each and every day from the simplest things to the more extravagant.  We often take many of these for granted allowing other distractions and inconveniences to occupy our time and affect our outlook. 

This Easter I would encourage everyone in our community to consider the things they are grateful for in their lives.  We live in a time of great opportunity and in a place of peace.  Being able to have a holiday to celebrate Easter with family is in itself a gift that many will not experience.  I hope that this Easter break you can take a moment to experience gratitude.

I know that this term I have been incredibly grateful for the support of friends and colleagues.  Thank you to our dedicated and hardworking staff for the amazing work they do each and every day.

I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable Easter and I look forward to seeing everyone for a busy Term 2.

Happy Easter

Tim

St Joseph's Day - 19th March

Saint Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Joseph was a just and compassionate man and protected Mary from shame when he discovered that she was pregnant, even though he did not understand that her unborn child was the Son of God. We see evidence of Joseph's deep faith when he changed his plans in response to messages from God. (Saint Mary’s Press)

Thank you to our community who gathered on Sunday to celebrate the feast of St Joseph with our parish. It was a lovely Mass and a delicious morning tea was enjoyed by all afterwards. 

On Tuesday, we came together as a school community to celebrate St. Joseph's Day with our Year 4 students leading us through a liturgy. May the virtues of St. Joseph inspire us to live lives of faith, integrity, and service.

Project Compassion

Spanning across the six weeks of Lent, Project Compassion brings thousands of schools, parishes and supporters together to raise funds for the most marginalised communities around the world.

Thank you to the Joeys community for their ongoing support of Project Compassion 2024, through the purchase of Icy Cups each week and encouraging children to wear their Cowboys gear. This year, our school community will raise over $1000 to donate, making a significant impact on the lives of many. 

A special thank you to the Year 6 Faith and Service group who give up their play times throughout the week to make icy cups. 

As the season of Lent comes to an end, the Faith Service group are holding a 'Guess how many Easter Eggs?' competition. Each guess is 50c and can be bought each morning from 8am until the last day of term. The winner will be announced on Thursday afternoon. 

Sacramental Program 2024

This coming Sunday, several Joeys students will begin their preparation for the  Sacraments of Initiation - Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation. These significant sacraments mark a profound step in their faith formation and personal journey with God. As they embark on this journey together, let us lift our hearts in prayer for our students, their families, and all those involved in the preparation process.

World Down Syndrome Day

Yesterday, 21st March was World Down Syndrome Day and Joeys staff helped raise awareness by wearing crazy socks. 

'On the 21st of March each year, we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, as it is a day that creates a single global voice advocating for the rights, include and well-being of people who live with Down Syndrome. 

Why 21st March?

It symbolises the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down Syndrome. It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 1100 babies born in Australia will have a Down Syndrome diagnosis. 

The wider theme of this year's event is 'End the Stereotypes.' (adapted from World Down Syndrome Day)

The Season of Easter 

Our school community will gather to begin the liturgical season of Easter on Thursday, 28th March with three liturgies held through the day. 

Each liturgy will provide an opportunity for prayer and reflection on the Paschal mystery; 

Palm Sunday Liturgy at 8:45am - led by a small group of Year 5 & Prep students

The Last Supper & Good Friday at 11am - led by Year 6 Faith and Service Group

Easter Sunday at 1:40pm - led by Year 2 classes

All are welcome to join us.

Hope all have a restful and safe Easter holiday, 

Trina

Assistant Principal - Religious Education

Naplan

Year 3 and Year 5 students completed their NAPLAN testing this week.  A big thank you to our dedicated teaching team for their hard work behind the scenes, ensuring our students were well-prepared. Congratulations to all Year 3 and Year 5 students for their efforts during testing. Parents can expect to receive results in Term 3.

The Amazing Race

Year 3 and Year 5 students will embark on Joey's Amazing Race, an exhilarating orienteering-style challenge. Equipped with maps and checkpoints, students will tackle mathematical problems, puzzles, and riddles while facing physical challenges. Parents of Year 3 and 5 students are invited to cheer on the racers or join in on the fun themselves!

Wednesday 27th March: 8:45am Year 3, 11am Year 5

Winners announced: 2:30pm

The Writing Revolution continues at Joey's

Prep

Our writing journey continues with Prep and the importance of oral language to assist writing development. Students in Prep have been examining simple sentences. They are learning that sentences must contain a subject (noun) and a verb. Prepies are also learning to add more information verbally to explain who and where.

Students are learning about the weather and are creating simple sentences about the stories read to them. They create a sentence verbally by looking at a picture, talking with a partner, talking as a group and sharing with the group. The teacher then scribes the sentence. Look at our sentences.

Year 1

Creating sentences is simple when you know how! Year 1 students were provided with a 'kernel' (an idea) to expand into a sentence by providing more details. Our Writing Revolution scaffolding helps students to add details and vary sentence information.

Parent-Teacher Interviews Week 2

Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held in Term Two Week 2. We strongly encourage parents/carers to meet with teachers to gain an insight into your child's learning at school. Students in Yr1-6 set goals with their teachers and this information alongside samples of work are viewed during these meetings.

Interviews will be held in the hall for 15 minutes on the below dates:

        Tuesday, April 23rd, 3.15 pm -7:15 pm

       Wednesday, April 24th, 3:15 pm -7:15 pm

Year 2 Reporting Scale Change

Townsville Catholic Education has made changes to the reporting scale for Year 2 students for the upcoming Semester One Report. The reporting scale change is in line with the advice received from the Qld Curriculum and Assessment Authority. The scale is the same scale as used in Prep and Year 1. The five point scale can be found below.

Young Speechmakers - Term 2

Students in Year 4/5/6 are invited to take part in a competition called ‘Young Speechmakers’ on Thursday, 30th May, from 5:30pm -7:30pm (Term 2 Week 7), held at Southern Cross Catholic College.

We will conduct auditions for all interested students in Year 4,5, 6 who would like to represent our school. Unfortunately, we are only able to select two students from each year level. Auditions will occur in Week 2 Term 2  (22nd, 23rd, 24th April).

Participants will need to register for the audition by Wednesday 17th April, via email to Mrs Wallace or advising in person. 

More information will be emailed to parents of year 4/5/6 students next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

Julie Wallace

Assistant Principal - Pedagogy and Learning

jwallace@sjnwtsv.catholic.edu.au

2024 Rugby Gala Day

Congratulations to both our St. Joey's Rugby Union teams who participated in the annual Rugby 7’s Gala Day at TDRU (Hugh Street). St. Joseph’s capped off a successful day in the damp conditions, with both of our teams winning some of their pool games. All players deserve credit for the way they conducted themselves, showing great team spirit and sportsmanship, giving their best efforts and enjoying the experience.

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