St Joseph's School, Tara eNewsletter

Our Vision & Mission Statements

From the Principal

Dear parents and carers,

Student Leaders for 2022

Over the last two weeks students in Year 3-6 have been writing, refining and practising their leadership speeches. Yesterday they delivered their speeches and the student body voted. The votes are in! Worthy leaders have been chosen. All will be revealed at assembly on Monday! Mrs Smith will send out a Leadership Badge Ceremony and Liturgy invitation.

Covid 19

You will have read my letter sent to all families by now, notifying you that a school community member tested positive on Tuesday and is now isolating for seven days. Our cleaner has been busy disinfecting and cleaning to minimise any risk. It is likely that further positive cases will occur.

I commend all families and staff for their efforts in being covid safe and getting tested when symptoms appear and notifying us of the results.

The premier has announced that mask wearing will not be required in schools and most other settings from 6pm on Friday 4 March. You may however choose to continue to wear a mask. Excursions and assemblies are permitted. If you require a covid test kit, please contact the school office.

Buddies, bears and books

Please join us on Friday from 8:15-9 am to enjoy book with a bear and a buddy-that could be you!

Camp

Students from Year 1-6 are invited to attend the school Camp at Coolum from 28-30 March provided students have not had a behaviour incident report. Normal school will be provided for Prep students and any students unable to attend the Camp. Forms will be sent out this Monday and will need to be returned by Friday 11 March. All attending parents require a green tick and 2022 volunteer induction training.

Learning Super Powers

I have been very proud of the way students have been using their learning super powers over the last two weeks. I have given out four St. Joseph's tickets to students who are showing that they are learners and know what learners do. They are able to tell me what they are learning (and why), how they are going, how they know how they are going and what they need to do next. I will be on the look out for more great learners this week.

P & F Executive

Congratulations to Sara Shields (President & Diocesan Delegate), Monica Moran (Vice President and Secretary), Anne Furniss (Treasurer & Tuckshop Convenor) and Craig Riddiford (back up Tuckshop Convenor). I know you will build on the great work you did last year. You are wonderful, generous and capable members of the St. Joseph's community. Thank you for all you do.

The first fundraiser, Flavour Fusion, is at the Tara Show this Saturday. The P & F is also catering for the Youth Disco at the Shire Hall on Saturday 19th March.

Volunteer Induction

Thank you to the wonderful parents who have completed their volunteer induction and have already volunteered in the library and tuckshop. Your contribution helps all students. Volunteer induction training takes no more than 20 minutes to complete.

Peace

In the midst of covid and watercourse rises, please pause to pray for peace: peace in the Ukraine, peace in the world and peace in our hearts.

Mary Porter
Principal

'In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.' Matthew 7:12

'Do not be hasty in judging one another.' Mary MacKillop in 1878

P & F News

Thank you to the families that have returned their volunteer forms. Our school runs on Volunteers, without your help many of the fun activities and programmes undertaken here at school would be impossible.

The Tara Show is still going ahead in a reduced capacity. So donations and volunteers are needed urgently. Please drop your donations to the school by Thursday, end of school or at the latest Friday Morning. This gives the girls enough time to shop for non-donated items. A show roster will also be sent out Friday to those Parents/Carers who have very kindly donated their time and are volunteering on the day.

Futures Group Youth Disco

The P&F are thrilled to be catering the upcoming Futures Group Youth Disco on the 19^th of March. Volunteers will be needed to help on the night. Times will be roughly 4:30 setting up, 6:30 – 9:30pm dancing and clean/pack up.

Tuckshop

We are still in urgent need of volunteers for tuckshop duty. If you require another form, please contact the office for either the Volunteer form or Induction forms and they can be either emailed or sent home with your child.

Tara Show is coming up on the 5^th of March, our P&F run a Flavour Fusion food stall every year and are needing volunteers. We rely on Tara’s major events i.e. The Tara Show and Camel Races to raise money for the school so any help will be appreciated in any form.

A list of tasks we need help for is:

Meal prep (4^th and 5^th)
Transporting food
Setting up and breaking down the stall
Serving at the show

From the APRE

LENT

Tuesday 1st March was Shrove or Pancake Tuesday, the day before the season of Lent begins. Making pancakes symbolizes the tradition of using up the extra stores or luxury food items in the cupboard.

Today we begin of the season of Lent; a special season which lasts for forty days and leads us to Easter. It is a time of reflecting upon how much God loves us, no matter what we do, and for giving thanks. In the Christian tradition, Lent is a time of prayerful reflection on Jesus' life, death and resurrection in preparation for Easter. It begins with the ritual of Ash Wednesday, when traditionally the sign of the cross is marked on the forehead with ash. This is a sign that Christians are ready to begin the Lenten journey towards Easter. Like all liturgical symbols, ash has many layers of meaning. The ashes are a reminder to simplify our lives, to be mindful of our shortcomings, to deepen our prayer life and turn to the message of love found in the Gospel.

Ash Wednesday reminds us of our need to stop and reflect, to think about what needs to change in our lives so that we can be more loving like Jesus.

On this Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent let us ask ourselves, “What can I do to open my heart and bring me closer to God who loves me so much?”

During Lent,

May we pause to be still…

May we listen for your call to change our hearts

to be more loving…

May we know in our hearts what needs to be done…

May we have the courage to change. Amen.

Photo Time

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

Parish Priest: Fr Jack MacGinley
Presbytery: 4665 3401 (Tara)

Father Jack's Message

It has been a couple of weeks now since you began your new year of schooling. I've had my holiday. We have had and still have floods in Eastern Queensland and a war in the Ukraine. They are still with us. And tomorrow we begin Lent - Ash Wednesday.

Lent is a time in our Church life where we spend 40 days in prayer, reflecting on the suffering and death of Our Lord. It's a serious time when we think about Jesus' life and why He went through this punishing suffering and death.

Why did He do this? In His Prayer on the Cross (and through this Prayer) Jesus offered His life to free us from our sins. He showed His power (as God) over death in his Resurrection from death on Easter Sunday - the day we remember.

Lent is all about this and what Jesus taught and did. Above all we thank Our Lord for giving us hope for life after we die and hope and joy now as we go through our years without fear.

Shalom

Fr Jack MacGinley

From the Administration Officers

SCHOOL FEES

Term One fees have been processed. Statements will be sent out this Friday. You will receive $40 off.

HOW TO PAY YOUR SCHOOL FEES:

*Cash

*Direct Deposit:
Bank: ADF
Name: St Joseph’s School
BSB: 064-786
ACC: 100025583
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.

Fees_2022.pdf

Bus Notification Reminder: Please notify the school if your child's bus travel arrangements change by 2:30pm each afternoon.

If your child is being picked up instead of catching the bus home or is required to catch the bus instead of being picked up then the school needs to know before 2:30pm. Our staff have a duty of care to ensure your children get home safely, in accordance to the arrangements you have advised.

SCHOOL COMMENCES AT 8:35 EACH DAY AND FINISHES AT 2:50 pm.

Please ensure your child arrives at school by 8:20 to give them time to have their healthy snack, do their laps and socialise with their friends, giving them the best start to their school day.

LATE ARRIVALS: If your child arrives late to school please come to the office and sign them in.

ASSEMBLY: Is held first thing every Monday morning after the roll is taken.

ABSENCES: Please notify the school whenever your child is absent.

Could I please ask those families who received an Unexplained Absences Explanation Request Form and have not returned them or notified the office to do so asap. These forms will now be sent out on a fortnightly basis and are to be returned by the Friday of that week please.

We understand that there are valid reasons for your child not to attend school e.g. They are sick. Please be aware that the following examples are not acceptable reasons for keeping them home from school.

If your child:

Doesn't feel like coming to school
Thinks it's too wet, cold, hot or the work is too hard or too easy
Stays home when another sibling is sick or a family member has an appointment or is going shopping out of town
Had a disagreement with their best friend
Got into trouble or thinks they might get into trouble at school
Is embarrassed about something that happened the day before
Has an activity or subject on that day they don't like

Term Dates

2022

*Term 1 2022 – Tue 25 Jan (Public Hol 26 Jan) - Fri 1 Apr

*Term 2 2022 – Wed 20 Apr - Fri 24 Jun

*Term 3 2022 – Tue 12 Jul - Thurs 15 Sep

*Term 4 2022 – Tue 4 Oct - Thurs 1 Dec

Wellbeing

Have fun with the daily activities on our Happiness Calendar. See how many you can achieve. We will also be focusing on a different Key to Happiness (below) each fortnight.

Our Eighth Key to Happiness is - Emotions.

Look for what's good

The positive power of pleasant emotions. They don’t just feel good; they bring positive benefits.

Emotions are more than feelings. They include momentary physiological changes which influence our actions and add up. Whilst unpleasant emotions like fear evolved to help us survive by avoiding danger, for example, by triggering a ‘fight, flight or freeze response, it wasn’t until relatively recently that the power of pleasant emotional experiences was also recognised.

Scientist Barbara Fredrickson and her colleagues found that fleeting momentary experiences of pleasant emotions broaden our perceptual fields, causing us to literally see more; to be more open and trusting of others; recognise people from other cultures better; see more options; be more open to ideas; more likely to adapt, and be better at creative problem-solving. Little by little, these moments add up, over time building our psychological and social resources and our resilience for more challenging times too.

Training our brain to look for what’s good

We can train our brain to look for the good around us, increasing the number of pleasant emotional moments we experience so over time we benefit from the ‘broaden and build’ effect outlined above. This doesn’t mean ignoring what’s wrong, but noticing what’s right. For example, studies show that simply reflecting and writing down three good things we experienced over the course of the day (however small), for seven days, boosted how happy people felt and reduced feeling down, and this impact lasted as long as six months! [3]

Try it: Each night for one week, think back over your day. Identify three things you enjoyed, were pleased about or grateful for (however small) and write these down, perhaps with a few words on why these felt good for you. The good things you can be small or day-to-day - like getting a seat on the bus, the sun coming out, or being able to take a quick break on a tough day [4]. After a week see what you notice. If you keep this practice up you might also notice themes in what you most often find pleasurable in some way.

LEARNING AT ST JOSEPH'S

Year Prep - 2

P-2 has had an excellent start to the year. It has been wonderful getting to know our preps and our new students. Lots of new friendships have been made in the playground.

In the classroom, everyone has been very excited about our science unit, Dinosaurs And More. Students have also settled back into routine and have been working hard during our literacy block. Mathematics, this Term, has promoted curious learning where students have explored aspects of number and strengthened their counting skills.

As a reminder, homework is to be returned on Thursday and our home reading will start this week. I look forward to seeing our P-2 class progress over the term!

Ashley Stoker

P-2 Teacher

From The Library

Book Club Info

Firstly, We'd like to thank everyone who has ordered from the book club catalogues. We hope you enjoy reading, playing with and sharing your selections.

The Scholastic Book Club have been providing families with an affordable and convenient way to bring the best in children's literature into their homes in Australia since the 1960s. Each issue contains age-appropriate titles that have been carefully selected and levelled by a dedicated team of professional booklovers at Scholastic.

They're also a great idea for birthday, Easter and Christmas. Gifts for all the family. No postage costs and we can keep your order on the QT until you collect it from the office.

Did you know? St Joseph's also benefits from your purchases as we receive points that convert into free curriculum resources. These resources are of great value to our teachers and students in the classroom.

St. Joseph's Awards

Students Of The Week

Wk 5: Isabella French, Roco Phillips, Tiannah Playford and John Chottu

Wk 6: Jorge Waring, Eliza Adhikary, Jaxon Waring & Tamarah Leis

Student Safety

THE 2021 STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS: Sue Whelan Mary Porter Susan Rodd (Counsellor)

STUDENT SAFETY INFORMATION

EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE

From the Counsellor

Did You Know ???

Tuckshop

ROSTER

We are in urgent need of helpers for tuckshop duty on Thursdays. We would love to see everyone joining in. It usually works out that you're rostered on twice a term. But with 'More hands making light work' it would certainly be less. Without your help tuckshop will not be able to continue.