2017 Term One St Joseph’s · 2017. 11. 13. · 15 March 2017 2017 Term One Week Eight Hi everyone, Last week, I had the privilege of attending a spirituality retreat run by Brisbane

St Joseph’s Primary School

Gayndah

Newsletter Date Wednesday

15 March 2017

2017 Term One

Week Eight

Hi everyone,

Last week, I had the privilege of attending a spirituality retreat run by Brisbane Catholic Education, which is part of their spiritual

formation program for staff. This program aims to affirm and guide each participant’s spiritual journey, and also develop our capacity to

fan the flame of the Holy Spirit in our school community. I was fortunate to attend with two other staff from our school, Mrs Roth and

Mrs Smith, and together we learnt more about our own spirituality and discussed how we express this in our lives.

Of the many valuable insights I gained from this retreat, one that struck a chord with me was the modern obsession with always being

busy. An article that was shared with us was one by Hugh Mackay, a social researcher, in The Age in 2005. Mackay comments on the

fact that being busy can be seen as a sign of importance and productivity, while if someone isn’t busy, people wonder what on earth

they are doing with their life! I know that I am guilty of discussing my day in terms of how busy it was, or talking with people about

how fast the weeks are flying by, without stopping to really think about whether this is a good thing or not. The line that most stuck

with me from this article was: “It goes without saying that, up to a point, staying active is likely to keep you young. Mild levels of stress

are apparently good for us. Some structure in the day gives us a necessary sense of purpose. But it's very easy to slip over the line that

divides healthy activity from busyness for its own sake, and to assume that inactivity is somehow letting the side down.” This made me

stop and consider my own life, and to make more time to stop and just ‘be’, rather than constantly rushing from one thing to the next. It

is a hard task in our productivity-driven society, but the research shows that allowing time to relax, and participate in activities such as

mindfulness and meditation, can significantly reduce stress and improve overall wellbeing. This is one of the many reasons we have

allowed 5 minutes in our timetable at school each day for students to participate in some form of Christian meditation – not only to

further develop their spirituality, but to nurture their wellbeing. If you are interested in reading the full article by Hugh Mackay, it can

be found at: http://www.theage.com.au/news/hugh-mackay/busy-mind-your-own-busyness/2005/09/16/1126750124980.html

With that in mind, we do have many events occurring throughout the remainder of the term, but rather than lamenting how busy it is,

let’s be grateful for the many opportunities to build community and share each other’s company.

Year 6 will participate in a Leadership Day next Tuesday, run by Caritas, and will receive their shirt, badge and paver at our

Leadership Ceremony next Friday. In addition to our Anti-Bullying Day celebrations this Friday, we also acknowledge Harmony Day

next Tuesday, which promotes tolerance and mutual respect between all groups of people. Our Year 5 students will attend a celebration

for this at the Gayndah Library on Tuesday morning. We will hold our celebrations for our patron saint, St Joseph, on Monday morning

next week, beginning with mass at 9am.

Last night, we held our P&F AGM, followed by our first meeting for the year. Nathan Hitchcock was elected as our new president.

Details of all the role holders in the P&F committee can be found further in this newsletter. Thank you to all those who have agreed to

take on roles or continue in their current role, and thank you to all who attended. A final thank you must go to Laura Parr, who has been

the president for the past 2 years. She has done a tremendous job and many wonderful things have happened thanks to the support of the

P&F and Laura’s leadership. We are so appreciative of the time and energy our parents dedicate to our school. The next meeting will be

held on 9 May in the staffroom and all are encouraged to attend.

Congratulations to Gayndah Guardian Pharmacy for being awarded National Community Engagement Guardian Pharmacy of the

Year! We are so fortunate to have your support and we are very appreciative of all you do for our school and community.

I look forward to seeing everyone in their orange best on Friday, ready for the

National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.

Rumour has it there may even be an orange coloured treat in store for our students!

Have a great week,

Amy.

Acting Principal’s Letter to Parents It’s a girl!

A big congratulations must go to Mr and Mrs Gray

on the birth of baby Imogen Eva.

She was born last Wednesday night at 10pm, weighing 8lbs and measuring

49cm in length. Brooke and Imogen came home at the end of last week, and

are settling in really well. Ben passes on his thanks for all the support over the

past 9 months, and all the well-wishes that have been sent.

Welcome to another busy week at St Joseph’s! It’s hard to imagine we only have two weeks left after this, and

with so much to fill our time!

Holy Week

Every year we take the final week of term to remember and celebrate Holy

Week and the events in the life of Jesus leading up to his Crucifixion and

Resurrection. Unusually, this year Easter falls in the last weekend of the

holidays, not the first, however our school celebrations will go on

nonetheless! This time is the pinnacle of the Catholic Calendar and of

utmost importance to us all. As per previous years, we will take time each

afternoon of week 10 (except Friday) for a different class to re-enact a

stage of Holy Week and I openly invite parents and friends to come along

and watch. It would be great to see you all there.

St Joseph’s Day Mass and Celebration

This Sunday the 19th March is the Feast day of our school patron Saint, St. Joseph. Joseph

was a humble, working, man and although he wasn’t rich he descended from the royal line

of David. Joseph was caring and compassionate, and readily took on the role of raising the

son of God, although he knew he wasn’t his own son. Joseph is the patron saint of the

dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary

close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth. Joseph is also patron saint of the

Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travellers,

immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.

We will celebrate this day next Monday 20th March with a

church mass, starting at 9am. All are welcome to join us.

Caritas

Our support of Caritas’ Lenten fundraising appeal Project Compassion continues on.

This week on the Project Compassion website, they focus on the story of Martina, a

woman from Timor-Leste, and how funds from Caritas have gone towards

supporting her and other women to overcome domestic violence. A very worthy

cause. Read more at

http://www.caritas.org.au/projectcompassion/weekly-stories/week-2-martina

National Day of Action Against

Bullying & Violence

This Friday is the National Day of Action against Bullying and

Violence. St Joseph’s ardently supports a zero-tolerance attitude

toward bullying and violence so we’re asking all our students to

dig out their orange glad rags and wear them to school in

support of this terrific initiative. Just remember to make sure all

shirts have sleeves, bottoms are an appropriate length and shoes

are enclosed. See you there!

That’s it from me. Have a great week,

Jim

ICAS Please return any orders with any payment due to the office by

next Wednesday 22nd March.

SPORTS NEWS: Reminder to students participating in North Burnett

trials to return any forms and levies ASAP. NB Touch trials are on 16th

March, Netball, Soccer and Rugby League 24th March.

TUCKSHOP - Tuckshop order forms went home yesterday. Please return by Monday 20th

BOOKCLUB: Please send in any orders and payment from Issue 2 by this Friday 17th March. A great

chance to order for Easter!

COLOURING COMPETITION: Included with today’s newsletter is an Easter colouring comp from L J

Hookers Gayndah. There are 2 catargories: Under 8’s and 8-12 years with 1st & 2nd prizes in each.

Return to school by 31st March or LJ Hookers before 13th April.

EPILEPSY AWARENESS DAY MERCHANDISE

Epilepsy awareness day is Monday 27th March so we are encouraging

everyone to wear purple on that day to show their support. We also have a

range of merchandise available from the school office.

P & F NEWS

The AGM was held last night . Thank you all for your attendance. It was

great to see so many new faces!

The new committee members for 2017 are:

President Nathan Hitchcock

Vice President Kym Baker

Secretary Jody Doyle

Treasurer Helen Smith

Tuckshop coordinators Sarah Webster & Lisa Baker

Uniform coordinator Kym Baker

With today’s newsletter: Tuckshop order form

Fr Biju’s Installation Mass Invitation

Week 7 Year 5 Jacob Smith, Year 1/2 Matilda Doyle,

Year 6 Torra MacDonald,

Prep Mia Holden, Year 4 Erica Wenck

St Joseph’s Primary School

38 Meson Street

PO Box 119 Gayndah

Queensland

Phone: 07 4161 1889

Fax: 07 4161 2655 Email:

[email protected]

Website: www.stjosephsgayndah.qld.edu.au

“In All Things

Glorify God”

ST JOSEPH’S SCHOOL

TERM

DATES 2017

Term One

Tues 24 Jan—

Fri 31 March

Term Two

Wed 19 April—

Fri 23 June

Term Three

Tues 11 July—

Fri 15 Sept

Term Four

Tues 3 Oct—

Fri 1 Dec

Public Holiday—ANZAC Day

25 April

Public Holiday—Labour Day

1st May

ORANGE FESTIVAL QUEEN ENTRANT Anna Ulcoq (sponsored by St. Joseph’s Primary

School) is running a Golden Draw raffle. 1st Prize—$500, 2nd prize $200 & 3rd prize -

$100. There are also weekly draws to win your money back. Limit of 100 tickets at $20 each.

Weekly draws have started so get in quick!

Golden Draw Winners

Week 1 - The D’Alessandro family

Week 2 - Reg and Janette Brown

Week 3 - Ashley & Carol Meyer

Tickets still available! Contact the school office or Anna Ulcoq 0428 611 560 for details.

NETBALL COACHING CLINIC FOR 8-12 YEAR OLDS

Sunday 19th March 2017 11am to 2pm

JUNIOR COACHES CLINIC—For all junior coaches and interested

parents.

March 19th 9am– 2pm

Gayndah Sports Ground - To register please contact Chris Duncan 0419 518

423

SOUTH BURNETT EQUESTRIAN COMPETITIION: Thursday 27th April Nanango

Showgrounds. Open to all students of South Burnett School. Includes team penning, Working

Cow Horse, Western Bending, Barrel Race, whip cracking. Nominations close Tuesday 18th

April. Please contact the school office for details and nomination forms.

JUNIOR NRL DEVELOPMENT CAMP: Monday 3rd April—

Wednesday 5th April at Currimundi for players eligible for U9’s -

U14’s in 2017. Expert coaching by NRL & QRL staff. Skills, games

and fun. For more details and registration go to www.playnrl.com

AUSTRALIA GOVERNMENT MOBILE SERVICE CENTRE

Incorporating Centrelink, Medicare, Australian Tax Office and Child

support, will be located in front of the town hall, Capper St. Gayndah

on Friday 17th March 9am to 4pm. Contact 132316 for more detail.

ST JOSEPH’S COLOUR RUN TEAM: You may have heard that there is a Colour Run being

held at the Golf Course on Sunday, April 2 at 9:30 AM - 2 PM.

If a group of 10 nominates, the registration cost is $35 per person as opposed to $40. If you

are interested in being part of a St Joey's team, can you please let the office know no later than

Monday 20 March

DROUGHT DECLARATION: While we are very thankful and appreciative of the recent

rain, the region was recently officially drought declared. If there are any families within our

school that may be affected, please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help in anyway.