St Joseph's, Tara - Term 1 Week 4 2023 Newsletter!

Our Vision & Mission Statements

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

I warmly welcome Mrs Kylie Williams as Acting Principal of St. Joseph's Tara for the remainder of this term while I am on medical leave from close of business 15/02/2023. 

2023 St. Joseph's School Leaders! 

Presenting our 2023 St. Joseph's School Leaders who are already sharing their gifts and leadership skills with our school community.

School Captain - Violet Ash

Vice Captain - Gnhevea McLuckie

MacKillop House Captain - Tamarah Leis

MacKillop House Vice-Captain - Jason French

Penola House Captain - Katie Parsons

Penola House Vice-Captain - Aldrich Imperial

Mary MacKillop Club 2023 Members

President - Rubie Warwaick

Vice-President - Marcella Ferguson-Knight

Secretary - Havoc McLuckie

PR - Jorjah Furniss & Alexia de Boeck

Great Kindnesses

There have been people and groups who have shown  great empathy and kindness to  the needs of our community. I warmly thank them for their generosity and care.

• The Christmas Tree group donated uniforms to four of our students.
• WonderKarma, who worked with us to create a school and Toowoomba Catholic Schools video, has very kindly donated $750 for uniforms to be shared between the remaining families.
• Sr Christine from Downs & West Community Support is helping to build our students’ emotional wellbeing by supporting the You Can Do It Program.

 NAPLAN

We are all set up and ready to go for 2023 NAPLAN.  Mrs Smith will provide  the students with practice through the Training  platform. Mrs Smith will also coordinate the NAPLAN  tests with Mrs Williams during my leave. A reminder that

• The NAPLAN tests have moved to Term 1.
• The NAPLAN test window is between Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March.
• Yr 3 & 5 student will continue to participate in National Literacy and Numeracy tests between 15 -27 March.
  
• A free delicious breakfast will be provided for NAPLAN students on the morning of each test day.

Swimming

Students will travel by Leis's bus to the Chinchilla Pool on Friday 17 and Thursday 23 February for SWIMFIT coach lessons. Please remember to name all items.

Security Cameras

At the beginning of each year, everyone needs to be informed that St. Joseph’s Tara has CCTV installed for the safety and security of students, staff and facilities including buildings and playgrounds. The installation of the  security cameras occurred in 2019 following break ins at St. Joseph's and  TSSC schools and many other local businesses. Following the break in, CCTV cameras were recommended by the local police sergeant for safety and security as the school was the only business in this area without CCTV cameras.

Safety Training for students and staff

Each term St. Joseph's School conducts Fire evacuation and Lock down training. St. Joseph's staff  participated in critical incident   training this week.  

Every term the St. Joseph’s community participates in emergency safety drills so that students know what to do in case of an emergency.

The students have been learning about safety and the LOCK DOWN drill procedure. Next Wednesday the electronic LOCK DOWN alarm will sound and the students will follow their teacher’s directions to put into practice what they have learned in class.

All staff will participate in Critical Incident training after school today.

First Aid 

It is wonderful that almost all staff are first aid trained. Last Saturday  six staff members completed this full first aid training. Ms Monica Moran is now the school's official First Aid Officer.

P & F Executive Committee

At the P & F AGM last Friday the 2023 Executive Committee was elected to support the school priorities of student learning and wellbeing.

On behalf of all families I congratulate and welcome the new committee and an thank them is anticipation of the wonderful work they will do for the good of all students.

President: Monica Moran                                                    Vice President: Katie Davis

Secretary and Tuckshop Convenor: Katie-Jayne Meyer       Treasurer: Anne Furniss

Diocesan Delegate: Dan Davis

Tuckshop

With the election of the 2023 Tuckshop Convenor, Mrs Katie Meyer, Tuckshop starts again tomorrow Thursday 16 February. It is a $5 Day Fruit and yoghurt, sausage on bread, cordial, Zooper Dooper and cupcake. To run tuckshop we require you, the parents, to volunteer and help on tuckshop day. We really do need you to volunteer tohelp with tuckshop.

T & D Swimming

Congratulations to Leon Riddiford  who came second at the T & D trials in Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke and was  Runner UP for his age group.

Free Prep Vision Checks

Free PREP Vision checks will be conducted quite soon. Please return the forms for administration to  input as soon as possible.

Telehealth Speech and Occupational Therapy (OT) 

Telehealth Speech has commenced and OT commences next week.  Mrs Davis will coordinate Telehealth. The last of the OT forms need to be returned to Katie Davis by Thursday 16 February.

Buses 

Please notify the office if your child is not going to be on the bus that day. Notification must occur before 2.30pm, otherwise your child may be put on the bus.

Healthy Food and Litterless lunches 

Please send only healthly unprocessed and unpackaged food for snacks and lunches. e.g. banana in it's own skin, carrot sticks, cheese, salad, sandwiches etc in a named container. No processed  junk food please. Healthy in means healthy out i.e. healthy emotions,  healthy brains, healthy bodies and healthy friendships. 

Concessions

If you are struggling financially, please apply for a concession on your fees. Please reach out to Kylie, Monica or Suzanne in the office. 

I will be thinking of each member of the school family while I am on leave.

Blessings on you and your family.

Regards

Mary Porter

"Be calm and full of hope." Mary MacKillop (1871)

"Jesus calms the storm." Matthew 8:23

Hello! My name is Kylie Williams and I will be Acting Principal while Mary is away on leave. I am very excited to become part of the St Joseph’s school community and the welcome I have received so far from students, staff, parents and the wider Tara community has been wonderful.  

I have been teaching for 28 years, with all these years being in Catholic Education across Queensland. I am currently in my 3rd year as APRE/Middle Leader at St Patrick’s, St George, a position which has given me experience in school leadership.  

Please feel free to pop in and introduce yourself and say hi. I am always up for a chat. 

God bless, 

Kylie 

From the APRE

Valentine's Day                                  

Given recent events, St. Valentine's Day provided a perfect opportunity to tell students and staff that they are loved and infinitely loveable. 

Shrove Tuesday   &  ASH Wednesday                             

Next  Tuesday 21 February we will be making pancakes. In Jesus' day, families would use up luxury or non-essential items (flour, sugar) in preparation for the season of Lent which begins with ASH WEDNESDAY. The pancake making and eating reminds us of this tradition.

Lent lasts for six weeks. It is a time when we think about our lives and turn back to (God) be  the truly loving people we are meant to be. It is a time of reflection on the Life, death and resurrection of Jesus and our own lives. During this time we try to give up the things that hold us back from being more for others. We spend more time in stillness and prayer and "BE'ing. We  try not be selfish and we  intentionally do  caring things for others.  

Please join us at school for an

                                                              ASH WEDNESDAY Liturgy of the Word

                                                                          on Wednesday 22 February

                                                                                         at 8.45 a.m.

During Lent the students learn about people around the world and in Australia who do not have the basic necessities of life. They learn about the Missionaries and how they are helping these people. Each class and the principal conduct a  Project Compassion Fund raiser  activiy to help. All of these activities are optional. Our small change makes a BIG change in the lives of the poorest communities. More information will be sent out very soon.  

Learning at St Joeys

The Years 3 – 6 students have settled in well with our new Year 3 students and two new students to our school. We welcome Braxton and Violet to our class. Congratulations to all the students in 3 – 6, on your leadership positions, whether it is captain or a valuable member of the MacKillop Club. All positions are important and are valued. 

The Year 3 – 6 students and staff would like to wish Mrs Porter all the best and hope that her recovery is swift and comfortable. We look forward to her return in Term 2. We would also like to welcome Mrs Williams as our Acting Principal and hope that her stay is both enjoyable and fruitful.  

Our class is studying the text, ‘Are We There Yet?’, a catch cry familiar to many of our parents. We are learning our weekly spelling lists, reading quality texts with our Guided Reading and embarking on Naplan Practise tests. In Maths, we have been examining number types, e.g. odd/even, prime/composite and place value. In Science we have been examining Magnetism and have been learning and experimenting with the properties of magnets. Ask your students what happens if you put the ‘North’ of a magnet with a ‘South’ end and two like ends? In both Religion and HaSS we have been examining ‘Communities’ and how important it is to belong to one. 

Homework has been set each week and I commend those who have completed it, both neatly and in a timely manner. It is never onerous and is just a revision of spelling, tables and frequent reading opportunities. Please note that this will be the fourth week of homework this week. 

Finally, to the parents you are very welcome to touch base with me at any time. Just send a note, phone call or email to arrange a time. I would love to see each and everyone of you before the term is out. 

God Bless, 

Ann Smith

Meet the staff

Photo Time

P & F News

Hello Parents,

We are doing tuckshop again, but we will be running it a bit differently until we get some more volunteers to help lessen the load. We will have either one or two main menu choices to choose from, to make it easier to handle organizing all the orders. If we don’t get more volunteers to help in the tuckshop, we will have to run the tuckshop like this for the whole year.

Congratulations to all members chosen the 2023 P&F commitee. I know each and everyone will do a great job! 

Our Annual Mother's Day stall will be held again this year and the Coffee Lounge stall at the Tara Catholic Fete. Our Commitee has had some great ideas for fundraising this year and with some extra hands will make a big difference!

Notes will be going home to our school leaders in requarding their 2023 shirts next week!

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)

St Joseph's Awards

Students Of The Week

Week 3 - Eleanore Ayott, Craig Kerr, Deakin Cole, Joey Phillips, Tamarah Leis, Rhys Warwick & Rubie Warwick.

Week 4 - Charlotte Davis, Ben Phillips, Jaxson de Boeck, Malia Adhikary, Alexia de Boeck, Katie Parsons & Violet Ash.

From the Administration Officers

SCHOOL FEES

Please be advised that 2023 Term 1 school fees will be distrubuted Week 4. If you are having any financial difficulties please come in the office to discuss what we can do to help. 

2023 Volunteers! If you are wanting to volunteer in the school please come see myself or Sue in the office for Volunteer forms and information. Volunteers can range from Tuckshop, Classroom, Library, Grounds and Coaching. 

A big thank you to those who made regular payments over the school holidays.

HOW TO PAY YOUR SCHOOL FEES:

*Cash / Cheque

*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.

Term Dates

2023

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

*Term 2 2023 – Tues 18 Apr - Fri 23 Jun

*Term 3 2023 – Mon 10 Jul - Friday 15 Sep

*Term 4 2023 – Tue 3 Oct - Friday 1 Dec

Wellbeing Matters

Student Safety

                                                     THE 2023 STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS:                                                     Katie Davis (Student Protection Contact)

Mary Porter (Principal)

Kylie Williams (Acting Principal)

EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT