St Joseph's, Tara - Term 4 Week 4 2024 Newsletter!

Our Vision & Mission Statements

From the Principal

Welcome to the Term 4 Week 4 Newsletter!

Book Week Celebrations and Book Fair!

What a wonderful day of celebrating the Magic of Reading through Book Week last week. With Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as the focus book, we had many Susans, Lucys, Edwards, Peters, Lions, a few wardrobes, Ice Witches, Princess and Princes wandering the corridors and grounds of the school. Thank you to all our parents and carers for taking so much time and effort to help your child dress in the theme.  

It is certainly no mean feat to organise a whole day of activities such as this and a huge thank you shout out needs to go to Mrs Marg Bowman (teacher librarian) and Mrs Krissy Aylott (librarian assistant) for the detailed organisation to ensure that the day ran smoothly and everyone had fun and had lots to eat. You two are AMAZING!  

Book Fair has again been popular with young and old alike. Even our Jump Into Joey’s families had a chance to browse and purchase books and items for the fair. The last day of sales will be on Monday. A percentage of these sales goes back to the school library so Mrs Bowman and Mrs Aylott can purchase new books and resources. Again, another thank you to these two wonderful ladies for organising this to benefit our students. Also thank you to the staff who volunteered to man the stall each morning and afternoon. Many hands certainly made light work.  

Lions Park Consultation

As you may be aware, a community consultation process is underway regarding the upgrading of Lions Park. Our Year 4-6 students were lucky enough to have the architects, Western Downs Council members and town planners working on this project visit them last week and gather their ideas of what facilities they would like to see at the park. There were many ideas and thoughts provided, and the students presented the school and themselves with pride. Well done, Year 4-6 students!  

World Teacher's Day 

Today we celebrate the incredible dedication, passion, and hard work of our amazing teachers. Each one of them brings unique strengths and talents to our community, creating a rich and inspiring learning environment. Their unwavering commitment to nurturing and inspiring our students is truly remarkable. Thank you for making a difference every single day. Their impact goes beyond the classroom, shaping the future and touching countless lives. 

Let’s take a moment to appreciate and honour our fantastic educators who go above and beyond to ensure every student reaches their full potential. They are the heart and soul of our school community. Our teachers at St Joseph’s, Tara are second to none.  

Day for Daniel 

Day for Daniel raises awareness about child safety, protection, and harm prevention. Held in memory of Daniel Morcombe, a young boy whose tragic story has inspired a nationwide movement, Day for Daniel encourages communities to engage in conversations about keeping children safe. The students of St Joseph’s, Tara have been learning about being safe through engaging with the lessons provided through the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. They started these lessons during RSE week last term and have continued through to Term 4 in preparation for today. There is some great information and activities on there for parents/carers and families to participate in.  

By wearing red today, we can show our support for this important cause and help promote a culture of vigilance and responsibility. Today serves as a powerful reminder of the collective effort needed to protect our most vulnerable members of society.  

God bless,

Kylie Williams

"Always remember to help and be of service to others." ~ Mary MacKillop.

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

From the APRE

 Christian Meditation in the Classrooms 

Christian Meditation dates back to the 3rd and 4th centuries with the dearly desert fathers and mothers. In the deserts of Egypt, Syria, Palestine and other Middle East areas, they sought a simpler way of focusing their attention on God’s presence in all that surrounded them. St John Cassian of the 4th century stressed repeating a formula or mantra during meditation and insisted this practice led to the silence of “pure prayer”. That is, praying without words and images.  

Fr John Main OSB was a Benedictine monk who rediscovered John Cassian’s writings. In 1977, the Archbishop of Montreal invited him to teach lay people Christian meditation. His former student, Fr Laurence Freeman OSB, first taught Christian meditation to children in Montreal.  

The mental and physical benefits of meditation are now widely recognised. Not only for adults, but children too. John Main also believed they would discover their ‘true selves’ in their real participation in the reality of God.  

Children who practice and experience meditation reap a host of benefits, including but not limited to, increased focus, self-control, coping strategies, emotional regulation and better relationships. 

Christ Meditation aims to teach children to find God in stillness, silence, and simplicity. As the Old Testament say, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

Students at St Joseph’s have been learning about Christian meditation; why we meditate, how we can meditate successfully and the benefits of this practice as part of the Religious Education Curriculum as well as our whole school Berry Street well-being program. Each class sets aside a small period of time at least once a week, to participate in Christian meditation. We think meditating is an easy skill and that anyone can successfully meditate; however, it takes a lot of practice to truly have your mind and body still for a long period of time. Blocking out the noises and movements around you is no easy feat especially for inquisitive little people. The students have been participating respectfully and are reflecting on their own practice and how they can improve each time. We hope, given some more time and practice, our students and staff will begin to see the benefits listed above and help improve their general well-being.  

Learning at St Joeys

From the Year 2 - 3 Classroom

English and Literacy 

Year 2 

Students will investigate how context varies the interpersonal language choices that they use. They will discuss how character and setting are presented differently in different texts. Students will actively listen to others, extending their own ideas by expressing and responding to opinions. They will use their increased phonic and morphemic knowledge and understanding of grammatical patterns to unfamiliar words and most high frequency words. Students will use phonic and word knowledge to monitor meaning by re-reading and self-correcting to improve fluency and phrasing when reading texts.  

Students will continue to practice unjoined letters that are accurately formed and consistently sized. They will improve writing outcomes by using regular spelling patterns, phonic and morphemic knowledge and attempt to spell less common spelling patterns.  

Year 3  

Students will listen to and create a spoken text, providing and receiving feedback from others. They are required to logically link ideas and use topic specific vocabulary. Students will describe the language features of poems, and the literary devices used to improve the readers understanding and enjoyment of the texts. They will continue to improve fluency in reading by increasing phonic, morphemic and grammatical knowledge to read multisyllabic words containing more complex letter patterns.   

Students will continue to practice using letters that are accurately formed and consistently sized. They will improve writing outcomes by spelling multisyllabic words using phonic and morphemic knowledge with high-frequency words. 

Mathematics 

Year 2 

Students will determine the number of days between events using a calendar. They will read a digital and analogue clock to the hour, half hour and quarter hour. Students will compare and classify shapes using formal spatial terms to describe features. They will follow directions to move locations and locate and Identify positions of features in two-dimensional representations.  

Year 3 

Students will estimate and determine the reasonableness of calculations both financial and of objects in collections. They will identify angles as measures of turn and make comparisons in everyday situations. Students will use key features of objects to compare and classify them. They will estimate and compare measures of duration using formal units of time. Students will create and interpret two-dimensional representations of familiar environments. They will explain reasoning through the use of practical activities and observations to describe outcomes and the likelihood of everyday events. Students will discuss the variation in results that come from repeated chance experiments.  

Religion  

Students will identify how the bible highlights aspects of Gods nature. They will discuss and demonstrate ways in which believers nurture their relationship with God, with others and with all of creation. Students will make connections between Jesus’ teaching and actions and the way members of the Church community live today. They will participate with respect in a variety of meditative prayer practices including centred breathing and attending to posture. 

Science 

Students will describe how people use science in their daily lives and how people use patterns to make scientific predictions. They will pose questions and make predictions when conducting investigations. Students will record observations using tables to organise data and show simple relationships. They will create texts that communicate findings to an identified audience using scientific vocabulary.   

HaSS 

Students will represent the location of Australia’s neighbouring regions and countries. They will compare the similarities and differences between Australia and our neighbours in terms of natural, managed and constructed features. Students will describe the importance of rules and people’s contributions to communities.  

Health

Students will describe and apply protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies to keep themselves and others safe online and offline. They will investigate and apply behaviours that contribute to their own and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing. Students will interpret the nature of intention of health information and messages and reflect on how they influence personal decisions and behaviours.  

Design Technology 

Students will design products and environments to meet the needs of people. They will select design ideas to match design criteria. Students will create and communicate design ideas using models and drawings including annotations and symbols.  

From the PEN

From the Parish

St Mary Of The Angels - Tara

Mass Times

Tara: Sunday: 9am

on the 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month

Meandarra: Sunday: 11am

on the 3rd Sunday of the month

St Joseph's Awards

Gold Awards

Bentley Tucker and Nateesha Laird

Silver Awards

Flynn Burgess, Frankie Nystrom, Xander Welldon-Taylor, Kaileigh McChrystal, Charlotte Partridge, Avah McArthur, Havoc McLuckie and Amanii Saunders 

Bronze Awards

Nate Callaghan and Kadence McGill

Certificates of Recognition

Week 3 - Allie McArthur, Austin Saunders, Nate Callaghan and Lacey Pepper

Week 4 - Jaycob deBoeck, Kaileigh McChrystal, Jaxson deBoeck, Donnie Alonso Field, and Alexia deBoeck.

From the Administration Officers

Thank you to all for being persistent with your accounts.

If you need any financial assistance, be sure to come in and see myself or Kylie to see how we can help. It is completely confidential!

HOW TO PAY YOUR SCHOOL FEES:

*Cash / Cheque, at the office.

*BPoint, in person at the office or over the phone.

*Direct Deposit:
Bank: ADF
Name: St Joseph’s School
BSB: 064-786
ACC: 100-025-583
Reference: Your Name/Customer Code eg. TRA1234             

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

*Direct Debit: Forms are available in the office. Please see me or call the office.

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

Term Dates

2024

Term 1 2024 – Tue 23 Jan (Public Hol 26 Jan) - Thur 28 Mar

(Good Friday 29 Mar)

Term 2 2024 –(Student Free Day 15 Apr) Tue 16 Apr - Fri 21 Jun 

Term 3 2023 – (Student Free Day 08 Jul) Tue 09 Jul - Fri 13 Sep

Term 4 2023 –(Kings B'day 07 OCT) Mon 30 Sep - Wed 04 Dec

(Travel Day's Thur 5 Dec & Fri 6 Dec)

2025

Term 1 2025 – Wed 29 Jan (Public Hol 26 Jan) - Fri 04 April

Term 2 2025 – (Easter Monday, 21 Apr) Tue 22 Apr - Fri 21 Jun 

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