St Joseph's, Tara - Term 3 Week 2 2023 Newsletter!

Our Vision & Mission Statements

From the Acting Principal

Welcome to the Week 2 Newsletter! 

Welcome back to Term 3!

It was lovely to see all the smiling faces on the first day back last week. We loved hearing about all the holiday activities our families were up to. 

Shaping the future Surveys

Earlier this week, all parents should have received an email which contained a link to a survey called Shaping the future. This survey happens every 2 years in our Diocese and is an important process for us to work through. The information gathered from these surveys helps us in striving to create places of work and learning where everyone belongs, feels valued and succeeds. It would be greatly appreciated if all families could take the 15 minutes needed to complete this.

Healthy Eating

Thank you to everyone who is supporting the school with healthy eating options in school lunchboxes. It is so very important for the students to eat healthy during the day. These choices help develop and support brain function, which promotes effective learning and also provides students with the energy they require to get through their big days. 

Just as a reminder, there are to be no lollies, softdrinks, energy drinks or sugary foods. Small treats are acceptable but should be kept at a minimum and students will be encouraged to leave eating these until they have finished all the other healthy options in their lunchboxes. 

2024 Prep Enrolments

2024 Prep enrolment interviews will occur in the next few weeks. If you have not submitted your application or arranged an interview time with us, then please make contact with the office so you do not miss a spot. 

Please note: having a current sibling at the school does not automatically ensure you a spot in the 2024 Prep class. An enrolment application MUST be submitted. 

There will be two Prep transition days for Term 3.

1. Wednesday 16th August from 8.30am to 10.30am

2. Friday 8th September from 8.30am to 10.30am

Prime Learning Time

Our Prime Learning Times are 8.45am to 10.45am and 11.15am to 12.15pm and it is a school goal to have this time with limited interruptions so that quality and effective teaching and learning can occur. We have certainly had a great start in achieving this goal. Like all aspects of school, things cannot happen in a silo, so having the support of parents is vital and we thank you for ensuring that your children are at school and ready to learn.

A reminder about the importance of regular attendance at school

It has been wonderful to see attendance numbers increase this term. It certainly makes a difference to the teaching and learning component of our school when all students are at school. Please remember that regular attendance at school is so very important not only for their development in learning but also their social development as well. 

A policy reminder - if your child is absent (unexplained) from school for 3 consecutive days,  a medical certificate needs to be provided to the school on the third day. 

God bless,

Kylie Williams

"A little patience will in the end be rewarded." ~ Mary MacKillop.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

From the APRE

Catholic Education Week 2023

Next week is Catholic Education Week. This is celebrated annually in Week 3 of Term 3, Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all 313 Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos.

Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

At St Joseph's, we will celebrate with a liturgy on Monday morning before assembly. All parents and carers are welcome to attend. This will also be an opportunity for the school to present, and congratulate, Mr Greg Smith with his Spirit of Catholic Education nomination he received last term. 

Throughout the week we will be collecting photos of the students which depict what makes our Catholic school unique. These photos will be made into a video which we will share on our social media sites. Keep your eye out for it!

Finally, Friday is Bishop's Inservice Day. This is a Pupil Free Day for the students to allow the staff to travel to Toowoomba to participate in a spirituality day with the Diocese's newly installed bishop, Bishop Ken Howell and Executive Director of Toowoomba Catholic Education, Dr Pat Coughlan. It is also a time for staff to collaborate and see colleagues from other school.

Learning at St Joeys

This term in the Year 3-6 classroom students will be:

English

Studying the non-fiction narrative quality text, ‘Waves’, comparing it and making connections with other like texts. Students will be activating prior knowledge, building vocabulary and imagery used in the texts. They will be exploring characters as well literary devices used, grammar and punctuation. Students will engage in reading strategies and skills that encompass both literal and inferential comprehension. They will be creating both narrative and non-fiction texts, including planning and creating a digital diary. A focused and explicit spelling program will target rules of spelling, consonant and vowel phonograms, prefixes and suffixes, root words and word origins.

Maths

Exploring fractions and money this term and will revise both place value and operations with whole and decimal numbers. Students will define, relate to the everyday, name, represent, sequence and perform operations with fractions. They will work with fractions on a number line and everyday problem solving situations. Years 5 and 6 will relate fractions to both decimals and percentages. Students will examine the concept of money, with a particular focus on the real world. They will perform operations with money, building on last term’s decimal focus to create budgets. Students will revise aspects of data collecting including bar and column graphs.

Religion

Revisiting community and its significance for Christians and the word and wisdom of St Paul and the Decalogue. They will be examining the different books and text types in the Old and New Testaments. Students will investigate experiences of different communities in first century Palestine and early Church communities in Australia. They will explain how the characteristics of contemporary parishes and dioceses are modelled on the mission and ministry of Jesus. Students will participate and engage in a number of meditation practices and prayer. These prayers will include those of Prayers of Petition and Intercession and Prayers of Blessing, including Psalms and the ‘You, Who, Do Through format. Our second unit will delve deeper into how Catholics in Australia create community with an emphasis on Saint Mary MacKillop as aligned with her Feast Day.

Science

Investigating chemical science through the unit, ‘Material World’. They will be examining different materials and their qualities, including plastic, glass, paper or rubber. Students will classify materials according to strength, flexibility, absorbency, density and hardness, through investigations. They will make predictions and devise questions and plan and conduct these investigations. Students will record, discuss and analyse their results. They will make connections to the real world through the examination of applications which affect people's lives, including insulation and sustainability.

Technology

Students will engage in digital technology through platforms such as Mathletics, Prodigy, Topmarks, Britannica, Scratch and productivity apps such as Word, Excel (Maths – budgets) and PowerPoint. They will also plan, design and collate materials and make a physical representation from either art materials or Lego to accompany a young reader’s picture book. Students will analyse their project from improvements and successes and discuss their results.

The Arts

Students will explore a range of art elements, including one point perspective, the art elements of line, colour, texture and shape. Students will describe and discuss similarities and differences between artworks they make and those to which they respond.

Ann Smith

Year 3-6 Teacher

Photo Time

SS Athletics Carnical - Hannaford

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P & F News

Thank you to the parents, staff and P&F members for attending Monday's meeting. Your input and ideas for fundraising and events was exceptional. Tuckshop was a topic on our agenda. Tuckshop is very reliant on volunteers to run it. We are needing volunteers to work and train with Anne Furniss. Please contact the office if you are have a few spare hours during your week to help. 

Yr 3 - 6 camp

Students from the 3-6 class have come up with some great ideas for fundraising to reduce the cost of camp! Working alongside the students, we will be sending out an events calander for up-and-coming fundraisers! We are hoping, with the support of our parents and the wider community, that they will be a success for the students. If anyone has ideas for camp fundraisers please contact the office. We would love to hear them.  

From the Parish

St Mary Of The Angels - Tara
Mass Times

Tara: Friday: 9am
Saturday: 6pm

Moonie: Sunday: 9:30am
on the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Sunday of the Month

Meandarra: Sunday: 7:30am
on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the Month

Glenmorgan: Sunday: 9am
on the 4th Sunday of the Month

St Joseph's Awards

Bronze Award

Adrian Vines, Deakin Cole, Anthony Riddiford and Gnhevea McLuckie

Students Of The Week

Week 2 - Charlotte Davis, Adrian Vines, Charlotte Partridge, Isabella French, Nateesha Laird, Damon Grose and Alexia de Boeck

From the Administration Officers

This term we have said Happy Retirement to Mrs Whelan! Sue has decided to retire due to grandbabies being born and medical reasons. We will miss her terribly but will see her again! Sue will be in the office from time to time for relief work.

We THANK Sue for her contribution to St Joseph's.

SCHOOL FEES

Term 3 fees,  Please, if you do need financial assistance, come in and see myself or Kylie to see how we can help. It is completely confidencial.

We give a big thank you to those who have been making regular payments and to those who have paid in full. We really appreciate it!

Parent Portal

We are now at 100% of our parents being on the Parent Portal! Don't forget to check out are newsfeed, absences, calendar (keep up to date with your childs activity and important dates for Term 2 and Term 3), update family contacts and emergency contacts and updating medical.

Accounts have been distributed through the portal this week, making it easier for parents to recieve them.

HOW TO PAY YOUR SCHOOL FEES:

*Cash / Cheque, at the office.

*Direct Deposit:
Bank: ADF
Name: St Joseph’s School
BSB: 064-786
ACC: 100-025-583
Reference: Your Name.                         

*Centrelink Centrepay Deduction Payments can be made fortnightly or monthly.                     The School’s CRN: 555075545A

Not Sure how it’s done?  Ask at the office for assistance.

Term Dates

2023

Term 1 2023 – Tue 24 Jan (Public Hol 26 Jan) - Fri 31 Mar

Term 2 2023 –(Student Free Day 17 Apr) Tue 18 Apr - Thur 22 Jun 

(Travel Day Fri 23 Jun)

Term 3 2023 – (Student Free Day 10 Jul) Tue 11 Jul - Friday 15 Sep

Term 4 2023 –(Public Hol 2 Oct) Tue 3 Oct - Thur 30 Nov

(Travel Day Fri 1 Dec)

Wellbeing Matters

Student Safety

EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE

It is a legislative requirement that all non-state schools have at least two nominated staff members to whom a student can report the behaviour of another staff member that the student considers inappropriate.  We call these specially trained staff members School Student Protection Contacts, or SSPCs.  Each SSPC has been nominated by the principal in recognition of their integrity, approachability and knowledge in the area of student protection.  Whilst students are encouraged to speak up to any trusted adult in the school community, it is important that they know they can access these specific staff members at any time should they have worries, queries or concerns. You will have noticed posters throughout the school depicting our current SSPCs.  The SSPCs are also published on our school website along with information about our student protection processes.  In everything we do at St Joseph's Tara student safety is our highest priority, therefore the SSPCs at our school are key personnel in our overall safeguarding processes.  Please see the poster below depicting our current SSPC team.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT