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

Clever Questioning

How many times have you asked your child how their day was, only to get the answer “good” or maybe they’ve replied “nothing” when asked what they did at school? As a parent, I too have had many a frustrating, one-sided conversation about the ins and outs of my son’s education. As a teacher, I have often wished that my students would go home and share some of the fantastic things they accomplish in class. Recently I came across an article that listed some questioning ideas to help elicit more information about your child’s day. Why don’t you give some of them a go …

• Tell me about a moment today when you felt excited about what you were learning.
• Think about what you learned and did in class today. What’s something you would like to know more about? What’s a question you have that came from your learning today?
• Were there times today when you felt that one of your classmates demonstrated care for you?
• Were there any moments today when you felt proud of yourself?
• Tell me about a conversation you had with a classmate or friend that you enjoyed.
• What was challenging about your day?
• What do you appreciate about your day?
• What did you learn about yourself today?
• Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that I might be able to help you figure out?
• Is there anything you are worried about?
• What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
• Is there a question you wish I’d ask about your day?

Kids Committee

Within a school community, the voice of the student is an important and powerful voice that needs to be heard. Yesterday I met with a representative from each class to discuss school rules at St Joseph’s. The group decided to give our working group the name of ‘Kids Committee’. We spoke about why we need rules and how we can make them accessible to everyone. I will be meeting with the students throughout the term to continue our discussions.  

School Musical

The school is certainly a hive of activity with dancing, acting, painting and costume making in the lead up to our School Musical in Week 10. Tickets are now available on Qkr! A reminder that we will be holding another working bee this Friday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30pm. If you have half an hour to spare, please come to the Hub and lend a hand.

Father’s Day Celebrations

We are looking forward to our Father’s Day celebrations this Friday. Our breakfast will start at 8am and will be followed by a Prayer Celebration, led by 6 Black at 9:15am. Pre-paid tickets for the breakfast will be available for collection in the hall on Friday morning.

I would like to wish all the men in our St Joseph’s community a very special day on Sunday and we keep in our thoughts and prayers those who are no longer with us.  

 

I hope you have a pleasant end to the week and enjoy the countdown to Spring!

Amy Doszpot

Assistant Principal

amy.doszpot@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Religious Life of the School

Throughout the year the staff at St Joseph’s have a number of opportunities for their own faith formation. This week, staff participated in a retreat with a focus on one verse of our focus scripture for 2019:

“Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Matthew 28:19

Matthew’s Gospel concludes with Jesus commissioning his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The term used by the Catholic Church to describe this activity is evangelisation. As a staff we spent time this week developing our own understanding of evangelisation and how it applies to our own lives and roles in our Christ Centred community. Over the coming weeks I will share with you aspects of our formation.

Phase 1 of the evangelisation process is Witness: to witness means to share God’s profound love for us with others.

‘Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses’…It is therefore primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelise the world…’                            

EVANGELII NUNTIANDI, no. 41

Who comes to know God’s profound love for us through your witness?

Prayer and Worship 

Student Led Christian Prayer

Each Friday this term after first break, Year 6 lead classes in prayer with a focus on the Gospel for the coming Sunday.

Liturgical Season: Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Liturgical Season Colour: Green

This week the focus is on the Gospel of Luke 14: 1, 7-14

One day Jesus went to the house of a Pharisee to share a Sabbath meal. Many guests had been invited, and noticing how they rushed to take the best seats, Jesus said to them: “When you are invited to a meal, do not take the best place because a more important guest might be there. You will be embarrassed when the host asks you to move and give up your seat. Instead, always sit in the least important place, so that when you are moved to a better seat others will see how much you are respected.”

Then Jesus said, “Do not invite people to eat with you because you know they can invite you back. Be generous and invite those who cannot repay your kindness. You will be rewarded for your goodness at the end of time.”

At home we invite you to read the upcoming Gospel as a family and discuss our focus questions for the week.

What kind of reward do we receive for giving to others without expecting something in return?

What are some ways that we can put the words of Jesus into practice? How can we put the needs of others before ourselves?

Celebrating Liturgy and Sacraments

Father Day Prayer Celebration

Father's Day celebrates and honors fathers and celebrates fatherhood, paternal bonds and the influence of fathers in society. This Friday 30 August, Year 6 will lead the school in the Father’s Day Prayer Celebration at 9.15am in the school hall. All families and extended families are invited to our BBQ breakfast and afterwards to our Prayer Celebration as we honour and celebrate all fathers.

Did you know that Father’s Day originated with a celebration on the Feast of St Joseph, 19 March in Europe in the middle ages?  How blessed we are to have St Joseph as our Patron Saint and a wonderful role model.

Sacraments

Sacrament of Confirmation

Preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation commences this Saturday afternoon.. A reminder that the Sacrament of Confirmation will take place with Archbishop Christopher Prowse on the last Sunday of the holidays before Term 4 commences. Please pray for these children as they prepare to receive this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit

Enrol at http://bit.ly/sacraments2019

If you do not have a Google account you can use your child’s school account to register. Please contact Father Paul  if you have any questions about the Sacrament of Confirmation at:

paul_nulley@hotmail.com

Confirmation Classes Year 6

5.15pm in the Learning Hub followed by Mass at 6.00pm in the Church

1. Saturday 31 August
2. Saturday 7 September
3. Saturday 14 September
4. Saturday 21 September

Sacrament of Confirmation

• Sunday 13 October 9am

Social Action & Justice

Action For Justice

After the outstanding success of our St Mary Mackillop Market Day, we only have $56 to raise to meet our goal of $2500 for our Global School Partner, Riamabana. Year 6 are working with Mrs McGee to make flavoured lip balms that contain only natural ingredients in sustainable packaging to sell in a pop-up stall to raise this final amount. More information coming soon!

Religious Identity and Culture

Ethos and Charism

This year one of our strategic priorities is to deepen our St Joseph’s identity. To deepen our St Joseph’s identify means to deepen our understanding of our Josephite Charism.  The charism of the school expresses the assumptions, beliefs and values that our Christ-Centred community shares. As we work to deepen our St Joseph’s identity, I will share with you over the coming weeks some quotes from Saint Mary Mackillop, the founder of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

Evangelisation and Faith Formation

As you read the beginning of this piece you may be asking yourself: Who is evangelisation for? Essentially evangelisation is for everyone, however people usually fall into one of these groups:

• Those who have not heard the message.
• Those living out the faith but needing deeper conversion.
• Those who once received the Gospel but have grown lukewarm or cold and may have abandoned the faith.

(Redemptoris Missio - On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate- 33), 1990, John Paul II)

Last week I wrote about faith formation opportunities for parents. Has it been some time since you had the opportunity to participate in faith formation for yourself?

If you would like to access some formation opportunities please get in contact with me.

Melanie Stratford

Religious Education Coordinator

melanie.stratford@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Sustainability in Action

Year 2 is taking great care of their newly planted native garden! They were careful to fertilise and water our veggie garden as well.

Waste Warriors Jacob H and Anthony made sure all recyclables and landfill waste were placed into the correct bins at lunch time.

Year 5 eagerly chatted with the sustainable entrepreneurs of Green Caffeen. Owners Damien and Martin stopped by to explain how to put a sustainability business in action on the day of their Canberra launch. Green Caffeen offers reusable cups and an app to local businesses, in order to cut back on disposable coffee cup waste. It is already being used in over 300 cafes across Australia!

“There is no such thing as ‘away.’ When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.” - Annie Leonard

Ryan McGee

Sustainability Coordinator

ryan.mcgee@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Sally Adams

Defence Support Mentor

sally.adams@cg.catholic.edu.au 

  

Don't forget to look on the School Sport ACT website for upcoming trials for representative opportunities for your children.

https://www.schoolsportact.asn.au/ 

P&F MEETING TONIGHT

All parents and friends are automatically members of the St Joseph's P&F and are welcome to attend the meetings.

Tonight's meeting is at 7pm in the school staffroom.

Tiffany Fletcher

P&F President

  SUMMER UNIFORMS NOW AVAILABLE

Uniform Shop Hours:         Tuesday 8:45am - 9:15am

                                       Friday 8:30am - 9:00am

Summer uniforms are now available to order via Qkr!

Remember, you can place your order via Qkr! and have it delivered to your child's classroom

  

Happy birthday to these students celebrating their birthdays this week.