17 August 2017 Dear Parents,

“Most of the problems in our world would be solved by looking in the mirror

before looking out the window…….” (Anonymous)

As a Catholic school we believe in the importance of celebrating Mass. The Mass enables us to gather and experience the joy of Jesus’ love for each of us. For me the breaking open of the word via readings from the bible allows me to reflect on my own life. When I listen to the word of God I ask myself “so what”? What can words that were written around two thousand years ago be of meaning for me in 2017? Some while ago, I found myself drawn to reflecting on the parables that were shared at Sunday Mass (Matthew 13:24-

43). The readings resonated well for me. They reminded me, that “We ALL have weeds in our own gardens that need tending to”. I was drawn to thinking about how could I be a better sister, aunt, school leader, colleague and friend. What do I need to do in my relationships to make a difference in the world? What is it that I need to do better? Commentators have often discussed the Australian “tall poppy syndrome”. To put it simply, many Australians will seek to find fault in others, in the case of the “tall poppies” it is those who have had some sort of success. Equally, we too can be drawn into looking or even seeking out ways to be negative about “ordinary people”. It can be difficult to see the good in others if we only ever see or hear of negative things. As a Catholic school community, we must continue to challenge others and most importantly ourselves to reflect the news of the gospel. We are challenged to uphold the core values of our school “Love, Justice, Respect, Faith, Honesty and Dignity”. By reflecting these values we are becoming part of the solution and not part of the problem. Children never cease to amaze me in their capacity to “forgive and forget”. They have the ability to “move on” if the adult examples show them the way. It is our responsibility to continue to model to our children the sorts of behaviours that are reflected in the school values. Ask your children this week in what ways have I reflected the core values of Emmanuel?

“We must teach more by example than by word.”

(Mary MacKillop)

Wishing you every blessing for the coming week, Geraldine Rostirolla (Principal)

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION LUNCH IN THE PARK – A REFLECTION

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God.

He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he

packed his suitcase with cupcakes, several cans of

lemonade and started on his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an

elderly woman. She was sitting on a park bench

watching the pigeons. The boy sat down next to her

and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a

drink of lemonade when he noticed the old lady

looked hungry, so he offered her a cupcake. She

gratefully accepted and smiled at him. Her smile was

so wonderful that he wanted to see it again, so he

offered her a drink of lemonade as well. Once again

she smiled at him. The boy was delighted!

They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling and

never saying a word.

As it began to grow dark, the boy realised how tired

he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave,

but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he

turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving

her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy arrived home his mother was surprised

by the look of joy on his face. She asked, “What has

made you so happy today?” He replied, “I had lunch

with God!” Before his mother could respond, he

added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful

smile in the whole world!”

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy,

returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the

look of peace on her face. He asked, “Mother, what

has made you so happy today?” She replied, “I ate

cupcakes in the park with God.” And before her son

could reply, she added, “You know he is much

younger than I expected.”

(Author Unknown)

FEAST DAY MASS

On the 6 August each year the Church celebrates the

Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord. It is the

Fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary and tells the

story of Jesus being transformed and of God

proclaiming from heaven that "This is my beloved

Son." The Transfiguration is our school feast day and

each year we gather at a special Mass to remember

that ‘God is with us.’

At Mass yesterday, Fr Stephen encouraged us to let

the love of Jesus shine like a light within us. He

explained that Jesus is the light of the world and

challenged us to be a light to others. We reflected on

our school story, the children listened and participated

prayerfully and the choir sang beautifully. A big thank

you to Fr Stephen and everyone who helped to make

this a wonderful celebration. It is one we will all

remember.

BEACH DAY – WALKATHON

Our annual beach day and walkathon will be held

tomorrow, 18 August, at Bucasia Beach. Each year

this walk-a-thon is held in conjunction with our Feast

Day Celebrations. All students are asked to bring

along a gold coin donation which will be forwarded to

a charitable organisation. This year we will be

supporting Queensland Police Legacy.

The children will travel to and from Bucasia Beach

Park by bus. They will participate in the walkathon

and beach activities before enjoying a sausage-sizzle

lunch, kindly donated by the Emmanuel P&F

Association.

Students are to wear their SPORTS UNIFORM and

bring their morning tea and a bottle of water. Every

child must wear their school hat and is encouraged to

apply sunscreen. If your child carries medication

(such as an asthma puffer) this must accompany

them to the beach.

FATHER’S DAY LITURGY

Each year our school community comes together to

celebrate and thank God for the gift of fathers. Our

liturgy, which will be held in the Marist Centre on

Friday 1 September at 12:00pm, will be followed by

light refreshments for the dads. All fathers welcome.

Please RSVP by Monday 28 August.

ST JOSEPH’S SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

A letter detailing the St Joseph’s Sacramental

Process and the upcoming Information Session was

recently sent home with all Year Three students. If

you have an older child wishing to receive the

Sacraments as part of the 2017/2018 Program please

collect a copy of this letter and a Registration Form

from the office. The Parent Information Session will

be held on Wednesday 6 September at St Joseph’s

Church.

Contact the Parish Office by phone 49574855 or

email stjomky@bigpond.com for more details.

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY

CURRICULUM

Throughout this term, our school will be implementing

the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with

students in all year levels. The curriculum is based on

principles of best practice in child safety education

and centres around three key messages: Recognise,

React and Report. Through a series of lessons,

students will learn how to recognise, react and report

when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations

that can have a significant detrimental effect on their

physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

Report

Next week all classes will start to hear about the final

key message of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety

Curriculum: report. This means that when children or

young people have been in a situation that is unsafe

that they are taught to report what has happened to

an adult. Even if a child has been able to make

themselves safe, it is vital that they still report what

has happened. Adults need to know about unsafe

situations so that some action can be taken to help

the child be safe again or ensure it doesn’t happen

again.

Students will be encouraged to make a list of adult

safety helpers. These are adults the children and

young people nominate whom they can talk to when

they are feeling unsafe or have experienced an

unsafe situation or feel they are at risk of something

that may cause them harm. This list will include a

selection of adults who live in and outside the home.

Report also includes telling an adult about unsafe or

inappropriate incidents which may occur when

children or young people are online. This might occur

when surfing the net or using social media sites like

Facebook and twitter, and can include cyberbullying,

viewing or receiving inappropriate images or

messages or communicating with unknown contacts.

It is important that the key safety messages of the

Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum:

Recognise, React and Report are reinforced, both

at school and home. I encourage you, wherever

possible, to talk with your child about safety to help

them stay safe now and in the futures.

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety

Curriculum can be found at

www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum.

CHAPEL MASS

A reminder that Fr Stephen celebrates Mass in the

Emmanuel Chapel on Thursday mornings at 8:00 am.

It is a great way to start your day. All welcome.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY

Children’s Liturgy is held at St Joseph’s Church on

the first and third weekends of each month during the

Saturday 6pm Mass and the Sunday 9am Mass. It is

also held at St Brendan’s Church on the first and third

Sundays of each month during the 7:30am Sunday

Mass. Children’s Liturgy is not held during the School

Holidays.

CHILDREN’S CHOIR

On the fourth Sunday of each month the Children’s

Choir joins the music ministry at the 9am Mass at St

Joseph’s Church. It is always wonderful to listen to

these talented singers. If your child is interested in

singing with this choir please contact Chris at Parish

Office on 49574855.

VIRTUE OF THE FORTNIGHT – KINDNESS

Kindness is showing you care, doing some good to

make life better for others. It is being thoughtful about

people’s needs. Kindness is showing love and

compassion to someone who is sad or needs your

help. Kindness is treating yourself and others gently.

It is caring about the earth and all living things.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can

hear and the blind can see.”

(Mark Twain)

Mrs Noeleen Kliese

(Assistant Principal – Religious Education)

TRAFFIC SAFETY Significant concerns have been raised about cars

performing illegal u turns along Baxter Drive. We

would like to remind parents of the dangers this can

cause and that it is a traffic violation. We ask that you

please be patient and to consider the safety of all

students and fellow drivers.

CURRICULUM CORNER

ACARA – PRIVACY NOTICE

Attached to today’s newsletter is a copy of a privacy

notice for collection of information by ACARA

(Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting

Authority). Please contact the school office by phone

within 7 days of receiving this notice if you DO NOT

wish to have your data shared. The attached copy of

the Privacy Notice is in English, however it is also

available in 21 other languages and if required, these

can be accessed at the bottom of the My School

updates page of the ACARA website

http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/my-school-updates

BOOK WEEK CELEBRATIONS Emmanuel will be celebrating Book Week next week,

Monday 21 August to Friday 25 August, this year’s

theme is Escape to Everywhere. We will be

celebrating our Book Week Parade on WEDNESDAY

23 AUGUST. Children are invited to come to school

dressed as their favourite book character. A parade

will take place at 9:00am. Parents are most welcome

to attend.

This year we are encouraging all students to bring in

a photo of themselves reading, so as we can make a

display in the Library during Book Week. Our display

will be titled “Read Here, Read There, Emmanuel

students Read Everywhere.” I would like to

encourage students to use their imaginations and

send in some creative photos of where and with

whom they like to read. During assembly some of the

most creative photos will be awarded with a small

prize.

This year we have had four students receive

recognition in various Writing Competitions, Cohen

Murry, Gabrielle Ipson, Max Dolphin and Elise

Doherty. During Book Week their stories will be

published and on display in the Library for the

students to read. Parents are welcome to visit the

library and read the wonderful work produced by our

very talented students.

Perhaps during Book Week you would like to set a

family challenge to encourage all family members to

read more; to read together; discuss your favourite

books and authors.

Janine Refalo

(Acting Assistant Principal: Curriculum)

TUCKSHOP ROSTER - WEEK

COMMENCING – MONDAY 21 AUGUST

Monday 21 August Fabia Pace

Tuesday 22 August Tracey Camilleri

Wednesday 23 August HELP WANTED

Thursday 24 August Brooke Desbois

Friday 25 August

Maria Axiak Cynthia Hegarty

FATHER’S DAY STALL – WEDNESDAY

30 AUGUST The P & F is once again holding its annual Father’s

Day Stall on Wednesday 30 August. If you can assist

with running the stall on the day, please advise times

available via email enm_pandfsecretary@rok.catholic.edu.au

A list of items available will be published in next

week’s newsletter.

DATE CLAIMER - ST JOSEPH’S

PARISH NORFAIR On Friday 10 November Emmanuel will be once again

holding the cake stall. We will be asking for

assistance with baked goods and volunteers for the

stall. Further details will be provided closer to the fair.

WEEK 6

Fri 18 Aug Beach Day – Bucasia No Assembly

WEEK 7

Wed 23 Aug Book Week Parade – 9:00am Thur 24 Aug Dance Fever Fri 25 Aug Assembly – 9:00am

WEEK 8

Wed 30 Aug Father’s Day Stall Thur 31 Aug Dance Fever Fri 01 Sep No Assembly Father’s Day Liturgy

WEEK 9

Mon 04 Sep Year 6 Camp – Departure Child Protection Week begins Thur 07 Sep Dance Fever Fri 08 Sep Year 6 Camp - Return

Assembly – 9:00am

WEEK 10

Tue 12 Sep Cyber Safety parent talk Wed 13 Sep Cyber Safety – Years 4 - 6 Fri 15 Sep Last Day of Term

TERM 3 WEEK 6 - 10

VIRTUE VOUCHERS

FRIDAY 04 AUGUST Prep Isla Cullen Bonnie Desbois Cayden Crowe Isabella Baretta Yr 1 Cooper Brasher Yr 2 Joshua Maher William Day Jayvier English Hailee Slater Yr 3 Millie Scott Lacie Clarke Marlee Alloway Myles Petersen Sam Carless Annika Wallace Yr 4 Ellen Jones William Carless Finn Gee Yr 5 Adam Keough Jessica Poewll-Templeton Dylan Scoble Lily Knudsen Flynn Turner Gabrielle Ipson Yr 6 Darcy Axiak Harry Kirkwood

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

FRIDAY 11 AUGUST Prep Mila Zarb Emelia Turner Tristan Trannore Annabelle Brandon Indy Morris Eva Chow Yr 1 Abigail Johnson Jasmyn Craig Billy Anderson Ethan Mooney Janice Joseph Mathew Jossy Yr 2 Samantha Buttenshaw Claire Marshall Maxwell Pearce Mia Dennis Yr 3 Logan Sammut Seinna Hamilton Seinna Pakleppa Madelyn Shepherd Georgina Grima Yr 4 Jesse Riley Summer Hunt Sophie Wellbrock Madison Tatow Matthew Lowe Yr 5 Charlotte Day Ryan Desbois Anneke Grobler Connor De Thomasis Yr 6 Sam Riggs Sophie Gall Jack Donnelly Tahlia Doolan Samuel Thomas

____________________________________________________________________

Please complete and return to school by Monday 28 August

Father’s Day Liturgy RSVP

Father’s Name: ___________________________________

Students Name: _________________________ Class: ________

Number Attending: _____________

Father’s Day Liturgy

(followed by light refreshments)

Friday 1 September 12:00pm