Dear Parents and Carers

This week we celebrate our swimming team's victory in the Townsville District 'A' schools carnival.  In what was an outstanding performance our team, for the second year in a row, came away with a convincing victory.  Congratulations to our students for giving their very best on the day.  I would also thank the many staff and of course Mr Meekin, for their assistance and commitment to the team.  I would also thank the wonderful staff at Toobrook Pool for their help in preparing the team.  We are very appreciative of the wonderful relationship between the school and Toobrook team.  It was an exciting day for our students and our school.  Congratulations again to all involved.

This is the third week of Lent and after sharing my story last week, I have been very grateful that no one has mentioned the white/grey hair situation.  This week's reflection focussed on a parable that Jesus told of a tree that would not bear fruit.  The master of the house was frustrated by the complete lack of fruit over a three year period and ordered the gardener to cut the tree down as it was wasting space.  The gardener asked for one more year so he could fertilise and water the tree to see if it would bear fruit.  If he had no luck then he would cut down the tree.  One of the questions asked was what was our view of the gardener?

For me, I thought the gardener had taken a risk.  He had been told by his master to get rid of the tree and yet he took a risk to challenge that decision and ask for more time, knowing that if the tree did not produce fruit the following year, there could be consequences for him as well as the tree.  I am sure there would have been a certain amount of fear involved in taking such a chance.  The question I asked myself this week is what risks do I not take because of fear of failing? 

No one wants to look foolish for making poor choices or decisions.  As an adult we place a great deal of importance in not making mistakes, staying safe or taking the road most travelled.  We need to be careful about how that message is interpreted by children.  We encourage them at every turn to have a go, try your best, take a chance - it doesn't matter if you get it wrong.  But is this the example we set for them in our own actions?  

There are many things I know I am reluctant to try for concern over failing, and that is probably why my career as a backup dancer for Beyonce never came to fruition.  That being said, if we want our children and students to take a chance, have a go and not to be constrained by fear of failing, then we need to show them that this is something we are willing to do.  While I won't be pursuing a professional dance career anytime soon, I will take some time to think about some things I don't do for fear of failing.  What will you consider taking a risk on during Lent? 

Have a great week.

Tim

St Joseph's Day

On Tuesday we celebrated the feast day of our patron saint St Joseph.  St Joseph, husband of Mary and step father to Jesus, does not have a single word that he spoke recorded in the Gospels.  Joseph's silence is what makes him so special and it was in this silence that Joseph heard God's call.  He followed God's word on many different occasions with great faith and trust.  Joseph showed courage and strength to do the job God had given him.  St Joseph has many things to teach us today.  We live in a world that is so busy and noisy that it can be hard to hear God's call.  We need to take the time to be in the silence to fully hear what God is asking us to do and be able to take up God's mission with the same courage, strength and faith that was shown by St Joseph.

A huge thank you to Fr Joseph for leading our Mass, Olivia and Seana for coming in to be Eucharistic Ministers and to 5MC for being our readers.

Harmony Day

Harmony Day is celebrated annually on March 21st.  The continuing message of Harmony Day is 'Everyone Belongs'.   This day is about community participation, inclusiveness, celebrating diversity, respect and belonging.  After the tragic events that occurred in New Zealand at the end of last week, the importance of Harmony Day and promoting respect for diversity has been further highlighted. 

Today at St Joseph's our classes participated in a variety of Harmony Day activities.  We had classes who participated in special prayer services and Christian Meditation, made badges, looked at people from other cultures and explored harmony at both a local and world level. Check out some of the photos below.

A Prayer for Harmony

God of our Harmony...
You created all people in your image.  We thank you for the astonishing variety of races and cultures in Australia and in our community.  Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of friendship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us.  Grant that we may always promote the justice and acceptance that ensures lasting peace and racial harmony.  Grant that we may show equal respect to all persons of different cultures that we may come across.  And help us to remember and appreciate that we are one country, with many stories.

http://bcewaystopray.weebly.com/wk-8-17-23-mar-yr-c-2019.html

 Oceania Bishops' Conference

This week the Townsville Diocese is playing host to the Executive Meeting of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania.  This group is made up Bishops from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Episcopal Conference of the Pacific. 

On Wednesday evening, Tim and I along with our school captains Meg and Toby attended a special Mass at the Cathedral to celebrate this gathering.  

Easter Masses

Project Compassion

We are continuing to sell icy cups of a Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school for 50c.  Thank you to everyone for their generous support of our icy cup fundraiser.  

SJS PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK

This week, our teachers and students are discussing Resilience as a learning quality. When students have resilience, they are open to learning because they believe that they can learn; they are receptive to assistance because it is not a criticism of their abilities; and they are comfortable not understanding concepts immediately because they see learning as a pursuit of knowledge and know that motivation and effort are just as important as knowing how to do something.

By working with students on this quality, we help to build a “growth mindset” in our students which allows them to reflect on their learning and move forward.

We know that Resilience is a vital life skill for everyone so it is never to early to model this quality and teach our children to be resilient.

Parent Teacher Interviews will be Week 10;

Tuesday, April 2nd, 3.15 - 7.15pm

Wednesday, April 3rd, 3.15 - 7.15pm

Today, Thursday 21st March 2019, we will be opening our booking system for Parent-Teacher Interviews using Conferences located in the Compass Parent Portal.

Please see details here for Booking Process.

http://readiscover1.blogspot.com.au/ Click this link to see articles on reading and other educational literature, photos of library events and any upcoming competitions.

A new look library: With the children’s ideas in mind we ordered some new furniture to make the library an inspirational place to be.  A place where students can read, explore, meet, imagine, learn and grow.

Some of our new furniture has arrived and slowly it is coming together.  I must thank Lewis Ramsay as he came to the rescue and assisted with putting our furniture together. I definitely can say our library has been a hive of activity and excitement.

Of course, there is more to come so please pop in and watch the transformation.                

How do we foster daily reading at home?  This is a question I get asked on several levels.  Here are some ideas which can be adapted for all ages.

Are your children finding it difficult to sit and read a whole book? We need to train our young readers to increase the time they are able to sit and read or listen to a story.  We are used to being busy.  We are always doing or being entertained by something.  To actually stop and read is hard for some of us.

Try this method.  Ask your busy bees to sit and take 3 slow dep breaths.  Just before bed is a good time to calm the mind.  Read a short story maybe 3-5 minutes long.  Make it an enjoyable special time for both of you. After a few days extend that sitting time by 5 mins and so on until your children can sit for 20- 30 mins just reading.  We actually need some training to be able to sit in our own space without any outside stimulus.  Being able to escape into reading a book has been considered a meditative experience which is great for wellbeing.

Routine and consistency of course is very important for this to work.  It may take up to 2 weeks to establish this routine but the rewards and benefits are worthwhile. Children in P-3 will benefit greatly from parental reading of at least one story or one chapter per night.  As they become independent readers you can alternate reading with you and then reading independently.  You’ll be surprised at the transformation.

Happy reading       Belinda Walker (Teacher Librarian)

Townsville Touch & AFL News

Some great news! Congratulations to Erica Round, Kiera Wallace, Nicholas Barr, Toby Kennedy and Anthony Roveglia on their selection in their respective Townsville Schools Touch teams. They will participate in the forthcoming North Queensland trials. We wish them all the very best in their journey.

Congratulations to Thomas Geeves on his selection in the Townsville Schools Under 12 AFL team. Thomas will now go on to the North Queensland trials and we wish him well.

Interschool Swimming Carnival 2019

Congratulations on another outstanding performance by our St Joseph’s Putney Interschool Swimming Team who competed in the A Schools Carnival at Long Tan Pool yesterday. We managed to repeat our outstanding results from last year, winning the Overall Aggregate trophy and the Average Trophy (based on student numbers). Our enthusiastic and well trained team were victorious over St Joseph’s Mundingburra, with Holy Spirit showing great improvement from last year finishing 3^rd. and Townsville Grammar 4^th. Our incredible results were quite extraordinary given the size of our school. Our teacher representatives Miss Lisa and Mr Meekin were delighted with the team spirit and behaviour of our squad. This only confirmed the accolades given by Luc (coach) at Tobruk training sessions. A sincere thanks to parents who managed to get their children to the pool for the early starts and our dedicated staff for their support. In particular, special thanks to Miss Michelle, Mr. Greer, Mrs. Lalor and Mrs. Martin on assisting with training. Children who placed in division 1 events will receive their Townsville Primary School certificates at assembly. Bring on 2020!

Help Requiried

The P & F is calling for volunteer to help out on the night or with the organising.

If you're available please email pandf@sjnwtsv.catholic.edu.au

Beachathon Is Coming!

Beachathon now in its 32^nd year, is the biggest fundraiser for St Joseph’s School, The Strand.

Monies raised through fundraising provide improvements to the School for technology, learning resources or playground equipment.

This year monies raised will be used to purchase flexible learning furniture, that can be utilised across all classrooms.

Preparations for Beachathon are underway and the Beachathon Committee (volunteer parents)

are calling for a couple of extra helpers to assist with roles where we need more help.

Roles include: preparing for assembly prize draws, making props, assisting on Beachathon Day with activities for the students.

If you are able to assist, please join us at our first meeting:

Tuesday 26 March, 6pm in the school staffroom.

Key dates: 

Beachathon Launch:  Wednesday 22 May (at School assembly)

Beachathon Day:  Last day of term 2 - Friday 28 June

Keep an eye out in future newsletters for more information about Beachathon

and the launch!

If you have any queries, please email: info@joeysbeachathon.com

Regards,

Beachathon Sub-Committee