Since our last newsletter we have had a visit from Ditto and the team at Bravehearts. This is an important element to the learning opportunities for our students. The Bravehearts program delivers important messages that children need to know to keep them safe for Kinder to year 2. These important messages are delivered through song and drama. They are delivered verbally and with gestures. However, the messages apply to children of all ages. We are hoping that your children went home and talked about what they have learnt, however the messages are so important they are worth repeating.

1. We all have the right to feel safe.
2. It is ok to say no if you feel unsafe or unsure.
3. Nothing is so yucky that you cannot tell someone about it.

Ditto discusses the warning signs that we feel in our bodies; these include a fast beating heart, wobbly legs or feeling sick. We encourage students to recognise the signs of feeling unsafe or unsure , say no and report it by telling an adult that they trust.

A second key message for ditto was that our bodies belong to us. Private parts are private and should be covered. Noone can look at, touch or take photos of private parts.  If an adult was to ask then a child should say no. Consent is an important part of saying no.

Lastly, being safe online is esafety. The best way to stay safe online is to be close to an adult whilst you are online.

All children should have a safety team. These are the adults that your child trusts and will help them when needed. These adults may be parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, family friends, teachers or the principal. Having a team of at least 5 different people is important for children to have so that they can keep asking for help if the adults don’t or can’t help them when they first talk about their warning signs. Please spend some time talking to your child about who the adults would be on their safety team as all children have the right to feel safe.

Child Safety Concerns
Please let the front office know if there is a change to how your child is getting home. We know that sometimes, due to a multitude of reasons families need to make last minute arrangements for their children’s pick up. The office is the only place where this change should occur. Teaching Staff are not to be contacted during the day through their own devices (messages, Seesaw). Office staff will ensure that messages are given to the teachers and students.  

Board Meeting
Last evening our final board meeting for the year occurred.  We are very thankful for the time and commitment of the board members. Throughout this year we have been able to discuss and guide decisions.

The uniform has been a topic of discussion. As a result of these discussions St Joseph's Queenstown will move toward a smart sports uniform as the single uniform choice.  This includes:

As students are in this uniform each day there is no “choose your shoe” day for PE days.  Black sneakers are to be worn each day.  We are hoping this decision is well received by parents as it requires only a single uniform to be purchased. We will be continuing to follow up with parents and students when necessary. 

Students may continue to choose throughout 2025 to wear the summer, winter formal uniform if they choose however, we will expect all students to wear the smart sports uniform from 2026.  

With Kindness,

Teresa

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved!

2024 TERM DATES

Term 1: 7th February - 11th April

Term 2: 29th April - 5th July

Term 3: 23rd July - 27th September

Term 4: 15th October - 17th December

2025 TERM DATES

Term 1: 7th February - 10th April

Term 2: 28th April - 4th July

Term 3: 22nd July - 26th September

Term 4: 14th October - 17th December

Upcoming......

Tuesday, 10th December - Christmas Carols

Thursday, 12th December - Year 6 Leavers Dinner

Monday, 16th December - End of Year Mass / Presentations 

Tuesday, 17th December - Last Day of School

Please read the reflection from Myrtle class about the recent camp. Thanks to Ms Walker, Mrs Reynold and Mr Jones for their work in making this experience happen. 

On Thursday, 8 November 2024, Myrtle travelled to Camp Banksia for the night. Wearrived at Tullah for fruit break/recess and had a play at the park. We kept going and when we arrived at Camp Banksia we settled into our rooms which were called Myrtle! We ate our lunch and went for a walk to the beach. At the beach we played tug of war, relay races and had a sandcastle competition.

When we got back from the beach we went to the park. There were two parks, thefirst one had climbing walls, balancing paths and tunnels. The other park had twoslides (one was really fast), a dizzy whizzy, a flying fox and seesaws. They were somuch fun. Next, we had afternoon tea, then we went back to the park. We had some time in our cabin and then we had chicken nuggets and chips for tea. After tea we went to the sports hall where we played soccer, tunnel ball, under and over and a catching game. We went back to our room and had a round of quiz questions. We had ice cream and went to bed.

On Friday we woke up early, packed up and had breakfast. Miss Walker made ourlunch, and we packed the bus. We drove to Wings Wildlife Park and then we had a tour. We saw snakes, mice, guinea pigs, Tassie devils, we patted a wombat,babysugar glider, baby Tassie devil and a koala. We saw wedge-tailed eagles and macaws (who said hello to us).

We drove home and listened to songs. Everyone had a great camp.

Over the weekend we had a team of Year 4-6 students participate in the Lego league competition in Burnie. This is a massive undertaking for the students with a large time commitment. Programming robots to achieve a series of challenges in an efficient and reliable way is a time consuming and frustrating task.  We are thankful for Ms Bounds, Mr Semmens and Mr Jones for providing such a wonderful opportunity for the students. Thank you to the parents for transporting our students to participate in the event and lastly, to our students thank you for representing our school in the competition so wonderfully.

CONGRATULATIONS to our team.  They were very successful in gaining two awards

The CORE VALUES Award

2nd place in the Robot Design

Our team was also successful in qualifying for the next round to be held in Sydney. Unfortunately, due to the lack of preparation time we are unable to attend this event. We are super proud of the team's effort, teamwork and the way they represented our school on the day.

There will be no canteen on Tuesday, 26th November. 

The final canteen day for 2024 will be Thursday, 12th December.