Dear Parents and Carers

Amidst an engulfing amount of information surrounding the Covid 19 virus, I write to reassure you that both Townsville Catholic Education and our school community are well informed and continue to liaise with the appropriate authorities about changes in circumstances that may affect our community.  In times such as this misinformation and panic are often unnecessary and unhelpful and it is important that we hear the right messages.

Schools will relay any necessary information to our communities upon the advice of our Education Office.  Information will be disseminated via our usual communication channels, email, newsletters, school website and social media.  It is important that you have access to these communication tools and that we have your most current information on hand at the school.

Decisions impacting on school communities will follow a clear communication pathway.  Advice will be provided to Townsville Catholic Education which will, in turn, be passed on to our school communities.  With circumstances changing daily, it is difficult to predict what actions will be taken and when however I am confident that our education office is prepared and ready to respond to these changes as they arise.

Most of all I would encourage patience and calm.  The advice that schools have received suggests that a focus on good hygiene practices, such as correct handwashing and the usual methods to prevent the spread of colds, covering mouths and wiping down surfaces, are a great place to begin refocussing our attention.  These actions will have other benefits as well.  I am grateful to one family who provided the attached flyer around good hygiene.  

Again please be reassured that when advice is provided to school communities it will be passed on to our school community.

Have a great week and Go the Cowboys!!!!

Tim

Project Compassion

Thank you to everyone for supporting our icy cup fundraiser for Project Compassion.  Just a reminder that icy cups are on sale Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school for 50c each.  The money that we are raising goes towards helping people such as Phany.  See her story below.

St Joseph's Day

Next Thursday 19th March is the feast of our patron saint - St Joseph.  We will be gathering as a whole school to celebrate with a special St Joseph's Day Mass at 9am.  We would like to invite all of our family and friends to join us for this celebration.  Classes will also be learning about St Joseph and engaging in a range of activities about St Joseph on this day.

Image: St Joseph https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4

In Catholic traditions, Joseph is regarded as the patron saint of workers and is associated with various feast days. Pope Pius IX declared him to be both the patron and the protector of the Catholic Church, in addition to his patronages of the sick and of a happy death, due to the belief that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mary. In popular piety, Joseph is regarded as a model for fathers and has also become patron of various dioceses and places.

Pray: Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son.

http://bcewaystopray.weebly.com/2020-week-8-15-21-march.html

Have a great week!

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Interschool Swimming Carnival

Next Wednesday 18th March, our mighty Putney Swimming team will participate in the A Schools Carnival at Long Tan Pool. We wish our team all the very best of luck on the day. 

Our Year 3-6 students are enjoying their 'Game On' program that is being delivered by the TDRU. This initiative has been funded by the Federal Government's Sporting Schools Program. It runs every Monday for 5 weeks.

Sporting Pastoral Group

Our Year 6 leaders are really embracing their service roles in their pastoral groups. Every fortnight our groups meet and undertake initiatives that benefit our school and wider community. The groups are; The Arts, Faith & Service, Environmental and Sports. Last week, the sports group erected a new piece of equipment to hold our skipping ropes and transferred the scooter boards to their new home. Their efforts are appreciated.

St Joseph’s Catholic School, The Strand Parents & Friends Association

Date: 25^th February 2020  

PRESIDENT’S REPORT 

It was a great end to 2019 with the prep orientation evening where we were able to welcome new and returning families to our school community. The Christmas concert and end of year mass were special occasions where we were able to thank all of the staff for their commitment over what was a challenging year for so many in our school community.

We’ve had a great start to 2020 with some highlights being the launch of the P&F and volunteer videos. We have clearly defined dates for P&F meetings, fundraising and our school community events some of which we will discuss this evening.

A huge thanks to Karen Boucher who, through significant personal adversity in 2019, continued to plough on as secretary. Karen’s contribution was incredibly valuable and we will look forward to seeing her behind the bar at the next school community event. Thanks Emma for stepping in this role in the interim.

It will be an exciting year with our family and community engagement grant from CSPQ. I thank Pam Griffiths for accepting this role and look forward to developing the clear purpose of our P&F beyond 2020.

Bronwyn Reguson