Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this finds all our families well and adjusting to the current situation.  I know this situation is a difficult one but hope that our community understands we are here to support students and families as best we can.

We have had a lot of positive feedback regarding Joeys at Home.  Thank you for your support and acknowledgement of the work that has gone into the platform.  Our teachers are missing students and can't wait to have them back at school hopefully in the near future.  While this week has been a successful one for Joeysathome, week one was only a taste of what is to come.  Teachers have been incredibly busy preparing for the coming weeks, and if you thought this week was good then prepare yourself for the next level.  I am astounded by the work and effort that has gone into preparing work for the coming weeks. 

There is some amazing work and 'performances' ready for students to engage with next week.  An enormous thank you to our staff for their efforts.  I would like to take this chance to particularly thank Jan Oram, Learning and Teaching advisor and Jason Bennett, ICT Integrator, for developing our online platform and for the incredible support they have provided to our staff.  Sincerely, thank you.

I would also like to thank you, our parents and carers for engaging with children and the online platform so readily.  We understand the stress current circumstances place on families.  We are grateful for your feedback and the way students are being so proactive with their work.  Thank you.

As we prepare to celebrate ANZAC Day on Saturday, it is poignant that it takes place as we live through difficult times.  We are currently dealing with a new and difficult set of circumstances.  We are faced with uncertainty, fear, hardship and for many, the threat of severe consequences. As we remember our serving men and women, we acknowledge their service and sacrifice.  They too experienced and still experience the same things, not as a result of circumstances but as a conscious choice made in service to their country.  

Last year I stood in Flanders Fields, I saw wild poppies and visited war memorials littered throughout the area.  I stood with thousands of people at the Menin Gate as they paid tribute to the soldiers who defended their freedom.  I was poorly prepared for how I felt seeing and experiencing these places first hand.  It was perhaps the most sobering experience if only a tiny glimpse of what took place on those fields.  It is an experience that I will not forget and one that gave me a lasting gratitude for those who serve our country.  

So tomorrow, while we cannot gather in the usual way to remember those who gave their lives and those who continue today to serve with pride, I encourage all our families to find some small way to celebrate and recognise our servicemen and women.

Lest we forget.

Wishing you all the best for the coming week.

Tim

Welcome back to Term 2, although it has been a different start and one that promises to be not quite like any other term we have experienced before, I hope that everyone has had a good first week.  This is a new space for all of us and the most important thing to remember is that we are all in the same boat.  In these different times, I hope that everyone is keeping well and is being gentle and kind with themselves.  Please make sure you reach out if you need help.

ANZAC Day

Tomorrow is Anzac Day.  For our Defence families, it will be an Anzac Day like no other.  You will find an Anzac Day prayer on the Joeys@Home site.  Contained in this prayer is an address to our students from Brigadier Fegan (Elijah in 1D’s Dad).  I encourage you to participate in the prayer with your family. The prayer can be found under the RE section on each year level's learning at home page.  You might also like to join Bishop Tim live from the Sacred Heart Cathedral for the Anzac Day Mass this Saturday from 10am.  Livestream this special ANZAC mass here.

If your family joins in the Light Up The Dawn initiative, it would be fantastic if you could grab a photo and send it to ajones13@sjnwtsv.catholic.edu.au.  Also, if you have completed any activities at home around Anzac Day such as making poppies or baking Anzac biscuits I would love to see these photos as well.  I would like to make a video of how our Joey’s commemorated Anzac Day.

God of love and liberty, we thank you for the peace and security we enjoy. It was won for us through the courage and devotion of those who gave their lives in time of war. We pray that their labour and sacrifice may not be in vain, but that their spirit may live on in us and in generations to come. We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Take care and look after yourselves

God Bless

Amanda

Term 2 - Online Learning

Successful learning, whether it be at home or for the students of essential workers who are in our classrooms, needs a partnership between teachers, students and parents. We thank all our families, teachers and students who have embraced the challenges of our transition to a different way of working this term.

Week 1 of our online program on Joey’s@Home, was intended as a consolidation week so that we could all establish a routine that works for us as a school community. It has been most encouraging to hear of the great work so many of our students  have been completing. 

From Monday, April 27th, we will be starting our Term 2 units of work. Therefore, this will involve more focused instruction from our teachers via video as well as some increase in the amount of work set. 

Again, we stress that it is important for our students to work at the pace and with the time families have available, using the recommended guide of 2-3 hours of structured work across each day.  We have included more detailed recommendations for each year level on our learning site. 

There is much support information available for families working from home. This can also be rather overwhelming. We have included a Wellbeing page on our Joey’s@Home site which includes selected information from Carmen Toohey, our TCEO Guidance Counsellor as well as links to some of the information we feel is most valuable for you at this time.

We also encourage parents to visit the Townsville Catholic Education Continuity of Learning page for a range of information about facilitating learning at home.

Another resource which will be helpful at home is the  ABC TV Education site which has a weekly program to support at home learning. 

In the meantime, we want our families to feel very welcome to contact for help or feedback as we start on Week 2 learning.  A reminder that our Joeys@Home site will be updated on Sunday evening, April 26th. 

Jan Oram - Learning and Teaching Advisor

Townsville 2 Cairns Challenge

Townsville 2 Cairns Update:

After almost a week, our mighty St. Joey's students both at school and home, have collectively run 179.9 km. We have just passed Cardwell and we are on our way to Tully. Keep up the great work!