Dear Parents, Carers and the St Joseph’s Community,

Catholic Schools Week

Engaging Faith, Minds and Community

‘Send Out Your Light and Your Truth, Let Them Lead Me’ Ps 43:3

Our theme for Catholic Schools Week 2019, ‘Engaging Faith, Minds and Community’ illustrates our holistic approach to educating children to become adults who personify Catholic values and serve their communities.

 The theme highlights the faith-based nature of our Catholic schools while emphasising our

inclusiveness – that all are welcome. Catholic Schools are places where we strive for all to be engaged in faith, inspire the mind and build strong communities.

Faith – placing Christ at the centre.

Minds – inspiring achievement and the fulfilment of each child’s potential.

Community – to become valuable, caring members of the school and extended community.

Pope Francis at the World Youth Day 2019 final Mass, reflected on the importance of young people for society. He said their gifts are not reserved only for tomorrow. Young people, he said, “are the today for tomorrow. They are not ‘in the meantime’, but are the ‘today’, the ‘now’, of the Church and the world.” To inspire young people of today Catholic Schools are places that embrace their joyful presence and provide a community where young people can personally encounter God through the nurturing words and actions of others.

As part of a Catholic community our schools are called to celebrate the gifts and diversity of all its members, inspire the minds and spirit of all those in our midst and help shape the young people to care for and serve those most in need.

Mother’s Day

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Mother’s Day, beginning with our breakfast at 8am. Following breakfast, at 9:15am, Year 3 and the ELC will lead us in a Prayer Celebration.

Thank you to all the special women in our St Joseph’s community for all that you do!

Athletics Carnival

On Friday, we will be holding our Athletics Carnival at Merici College. Thank you to Mr Stephen’s for his organisation and to the many parents who have offered assistance. At present, the weather forecast is looking a little dubious. A decision will be made on Thursday if we need to postpone the carnival.

NAPLAN        

The National Assessment Program (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and will be undertaken nationally next week. The tests provide parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. They also provide schools, states and territories with information about how education programs are working and which areas need to be prioritised for improvement.

NAPLAN tests are one aspect of our school’s assessment and reporting process, and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance.

All students will require headphones for NAPLAN testing.

NAPLAN TIMETABLE

SICKNESS

As we are enter the notorious cooler Canberra weather, the more susceptible we all unfortunately become to illness. If your child is sick, we ask that you keep them at home until they are well enough to return to school to minimise the spread of infection. Currently we have a large number of students away with Influenza.

I wish all our special mums a wonderful day on Sunday. Hopefully you can manage a sleep in!

Yours in Christ,

Amy Doszpot

Assistant Principal

amy.doszpot@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Sacrament of Reconciliation

On the Wednesday evening in the last week of Term 1, children and their families from the St Joseph’s community came together in the Parish Centre to celebrate completing the preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was a lovely evening as we shared cakes, children received their Rosary bracelets blessed by Father Paul and received their certificates. We then gathered in the church as a faith community where the children, their families and members of our St Joseph’s Parish were given the opportunity to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was a very moving evening with children being given the opportunity to not only participate in the sacrament themselves but also witness their peers, families, teachers, St Joseph’s parishioners and Father Paul also receive the same opportunity.

Please continue to keep these children and their families in your daily prayers.

Congratulations to these children and their families on making this important step in their faith journey:

Season of Easter

This coming Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Easter and is also called Good Shepherd Sunday. In the Gospel (John 10:27-30) Jesus describes his care for his sheep. The metaphors of sheep and shepherd, although personally relevant to those Jesus spoke to, is typically not a part of our world experience today. This image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and his community of followers as his sheep has endured over the centuries as a central image in our faith tradition. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd helps  us to understand our relationship with Jesus as a shepherd provides protection, security, and care for their sheep.

This Gospel speaks about the familiarity involved in recognising and knowing another's voice. When we recognise a family members' voice our relationship with that person also enables us to read the tone of their voice and know something about how they are feeling. Our relationship with Jesus is the same. We know Jesus'voice and are called to follow him. Jesus puts us directly into contact with God the Father. Knowing Jesus means knowing the Father.

As you read the Gospel of John (10:27-30) with your family ask each member to talk about some ways that Jesus brings them closer to God and closer to one another.

Student Prayer Focus

Our Student Prayer Focus this week centres on the Gospel of John for this coming Sunday. In classes students hear the scriptures and respond to the question:

What do I wonder about the Gospel this week?

In Year 5 and 6 the students responses to the Gospel were:

• I wonder who was speaking in the Gospel? by Abagail and Tashneet
• I wonder why the Gospel refers to sheep? By Lucy and Alarna
• I wonder if the son and the father means Jesus and God? By Ivan and Miller
• I wonder what they mean by saying “We are one?” by Drina and Bridget
• I wonder why they were keeping the sheep to themselves? By Leo and Ewan

As a part of our Student Prayer Focus this week you will see that a white leaf is being added to our trees in each class prayer space. The white leaf is to symbolise the season of Eastertide. On each leaf of a word or phrase is written which symbolise how each class member will work to glorify Christ with their life during the week.

How will you Glorify Christ with your life this week?

Sacramental Information

Sacrament of First Holy Communion

The  preparation for the Sacrament of First Holy Communion will commence on Saturday 18 May at 5.15pm for students Year 4 and older who have made their first Reconciliation. A note with further information will go home this week. Please enrol in this Sacrament by completing the online form at:

http://bit.ly/sacraments2019

Please contact Father Paul  if you have any questions about sacraments at:

paul_nulley@hotmail.com

Yours in Christ,

Melanie Stratford

Religious Education Coordinator

melanie.stratford@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Sustainability in Action

Chickens Everywhere!

It is officially Spring and new life is all around us! Foundation has proudly hatched 5 (as of press time) baby chicks. One lucky chick will become a part of our new school hen crew! Green Team and some helpful others have loved taking on the responsibility of feeding and caring for our nameless chickens. On Friday, Week 9, the Green Team will judge a compost bin decorating contest where the winners will get to name our fine-feathered friends.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." - Mahatma Gandhi

Ryan McGee

Sustainability Coordinator

ryan.mcgee@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Happy birthday to these students celebrating their birthdays this week.

Penelope R

Taj T

Frieda C

Thomas O'K

Troy T

Lawrence C

Oliver S

Uniform Store

Opening Hours

Tuesdays 8:45-9:15am and Fridays 8:30-9:00am

The Uniform Shop is now fully stocked.  Families can place orders via Qkr! for delivery to your child's classroom or visit during opening times.