Newsletter - 14 August 2025

From our Principal

Dear Parents,

Popular ideas of what a good leader should be are often inaccurate. We expect perfection; a leader is strong, fearless and flawless. If we believe that myth, they should be superheroes, royalty and saviours all rolled into one. So we become disappointed when leaders reveal themselves as only human.

The best leaders are very human. They don’t see themselves in some grandiose, bigger-than-life way. They know that it’s the little things that will make a difference in their leadership, and they work on getting better at them every day. The little things might, at first glance, seem simple, but they aren’t easy. A few that come to mind:

Putting others first

• Serving others — isn’t a new idea, but it is something the best leaders strive for.
• When tough decisions need to be made, the best leaders always consider the impact on others before thinking of themselves.

Saying “thank you” 

• “Thank you” is a small phrase but can mean a lot when said with sincerity.
• It’s a big motivator for people, too, as it acknowledges a job well done.
• There can never be enough heartfelt thank you’s in our organisations, and the best leaders know that, striving to make sure it’s part of their everyday conversations.

Appreciating people

• It’s all too easy to get caught up in what someone is doing wrong, or what they could do more of. The best leaders are always aware of what people do well, are present to what they are capable of, and see the potential to do more in the future.

Taking the high road

• When silly disagreements arise or when gossip abounds, the best leaders take the high road.
• Although they may be displeased with a particular stance their organisation is taking on something, they don’t complain or broadcast their displeasure. Instead, they quietly find a way to deal with it.

Being kind

• People have all kinds of things going on in their lives. They have bad things happen, and there is emotional pain that can play itself out in ways that aren’t pretty.
• Truly strong leaders find a way to be kind even when others aren’t. They don’t fall into the trap of treating others poorly because they are experiencing poor treatment; they know a kind word is their best defense.

Staying calm

• Our organisations are pressure cookers of stress. The best leaders stay calm despite what’s going on around them.
• When it becomes easy to yell, scream or demand, they can put the stressful situation into perspective. They know they are models of behaviour they want to see.

Listening

• Listening is a small thing with big impact. When leaders listen and hear without distraction, they’ve created a powerful connection that’s all too rare in our fast-paced world. These powerful connections are what make leadership possible.

Brave, courageous, bigger-than-life leaders are fascinating. But it’s the small, everyday acts that make a leader great. Based on these definitions we have many student, teacher and parent leaders in our school, for which we are blessed! Based on this definition more of us are leaders than we realise!!!!

Wishing you every blessing for the coming week,

Geraldine Rostirolla

Principal  

RE Matters

THE LEAST – A REFLECTION

It was a cold Sunday in Winter. The church’s parking lot was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that several people were pointing and whispering among themselves as they walked towards the church.

As I got closer, I saw a man sitting up against the church wall. He had on a long threadbare trench coat, dirty pants and a woollen scarf. His toes were sticking out the holes in his old shoes. He wore a felt hat that was pulled down so that his face could not be seen. I assumed this man was homeless and asleep, so I walked past him and in through the front doors of the church.

Those of us seated in the pews were enjoying a quiet chat when someone mentioned the man who was resting outside. Some gossiped about who he was and where he had come from. We soon realised that no one had bothered to ask him and none of us had invited him in.

A few moments later, the organ started playing and we all joined in the opening hymn. We were waiting for the preacher to take his place when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man, walking slowly down the aisle with his head lowered.

People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up into the pulpit. When he took off his hat and coat, my heart sank. There stood our preacher. He was the "homeless man". No one said a word. The room was silent and still.

The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand.

"Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I'm preaching about today.” (Unknown)

THE ASSUMPTION

On 15 August each year the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It is a Holy Day of Obligation. This feast reminds us that having completed her earthly life, Mary was ‘assumed,” body and soul, into heavenly glory. In this way, Mary was honoured as the Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church.

Tomorrow classes will add a Marian prayer (Hail Mary, The Angelus) to their daily devotions, and the Chapel will be open for classes to visit and at lunchtime for The Rosary. 

Next Friday 22 August we will celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Parish Masses for The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St Joseph’s Church           Friday 15 August             6:30am / 9:00am

St Patrick's Church      Friday 15 August      12:10pm

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.

It is important that these key safety messages 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 future.

For weekly Gospel readings, reflections and meditations go to http://www.prayasyoucan.com.au/

Download this week’s parish bulletin @  https://rok.catholic.net.au/parish/mackay-st-josephs/#

For Parish News go to the Catholic Parish of North Mackay and Farleigh Facebook page.

VIRTUE OF THE FORTNIGHT – INTEGRITY

“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.” (Dr Seuss)

Integrity is standing up for what you believe is right. It is being honest and sincere with others and yourself. You have integrity when your words and actions match. You fill your life and mind with love, kindness, reliability and service. Integrity is living by your highest values.

“The things you do when no one’s looking are the things that define you.” (Unknown)

Noeleen Kliese

Assistant Principal Religious Education

Curriculum Corner

ICAS ASSESSMENTS ARE UNDERWAY!

A big thank you to all the students who have registered for this year’s ICAS assessments! 

Upcoming ICAS Schedule:

•     Science: August 19 & 21 (to cater for Yr 5 students on camp)
•     Mathematics: August 26

We wish all our students the very best for this competition! 

BOOK WEEK 2025 - SAVE THE DATE - FRIDAY 29 AUGUST

SAVE THE DATE - PLEASE JOIN US IN OUR CLASSROOMS - 29 AUGUST

This year, the theme of the Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week is "Book an Adventure." We're excited to celebrate Book Week on Friday 29 August with a "Dress as Your Favourite Book Character" Day. On this day, all parents are warmly invited into classrooms at the beginning of the day to read with students or listen to them share their favourite books.

SCIENCE WEEK

As part of our Science Week celebrations, our Year 5 students had the exciting opportunity to work alongside Year 11 students from Holy Spirit College to explore the wonders of science through two hands-on experiments.

The first activity was the creation of lava lamps, where students learned about density and chemical reactions while making their very own colourful creations. The second experiment was the highlight of the day—rocket launches! Excitement filled the air as students watched their rockets soar.

Both students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the activities, and we are incredibly grateful to Holy Spirit College for making this engaging experience possible. Thank you to everyone involved for inspiring our young scientists and making Science Week such a memorable celebration!

TEACHER VS STUDENTS MATCH WRAP-UP

To mark the end of Catholic Education Week, we held our annual Staff vs Students in two exciting games: netball and touch football.

It was a fantastic afternoon filled with energy, teamwork, and plenty of cheering as students and staff came together to celebrate our school community. 

A huge thank you to everyone who participated and supported the event. The games were a true reflection of the spirit, camaraderie, and joy that unite us as a Catholic school community.

Congratulations to the staff on their wins, and well done to the students for their sportsmanship and determination!

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Brooke Tomkinson

Assistant Principal Curriculum (Acting)

APA News

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST BULLYING AND VIOLENCE - FRIDAY 15 AUGUST

This Friday 15 August we will recognise the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.

At Assembly tomorrow, our Student Council will address some of the ways we combat bullying here at Emmanuel. Each class will also participate in lessons about tolerance, respect and learning skills to resolve conflicts. We will also be wearing ORANGE tomorrow, as a reminder that we must all work together to stamp out bullying at our school.

Bullying – important conversations to have with your child.

At Emmanuel we are proud to participate in the Bullying No Way: National Week of Action – 11 to 15 August 2025.

By working collaboratively within our community, we can collectively help reduce bullying.

Families play an important role in helping children understand bullying and know how to respond to it.

If your child tells you about things at school, or you observe something in public that involves conflict or bullying, take the opportunity to talk about what bullying is. 

Questions you could ask:

• What do you think bullying is?
• Have you seen it? How did you feel?
• Have you ever felt scared at school because of bullying?
• As well as me, who are the other adults you would talk to when it comes to things like bullying?
• Have you or your friends left other kids out on purpose? Do you think that was bullying? Why or why not?
• Have you ever tried to help someone who is being bullied? What happened? What would you do if it happens again?

Remind your child that bullying is never okay and discuss how they can respond safely if they experience or witness it.

Encourage them to seek help from a trusted adult and keep seeking support if needed.

By promoting open communication, we empower children to stand up against bullying and create a safer environment where everyone can feel that they belong.

For more information visit the link below:

MACKAY EISTEDDFOD 2025

Today our School Choir performed at the Mackay Eisteddfod. They sang, participated and behaved beautifully. A big THANK YOU to all who made this opportunity possible for our students. A full round up of results and photos will be shared in next week's newsletter.

YEAR FIVE CAMP

Next week, our Year Five students will travel to Kinchant Outdoor Education Centre for their school camp.  This is always a great camp for our students and all are looking forward to the many adventures ahead.  Our Year Five teachers, teacher assistants, learning support staff and Mrs McDonald will be attending.  We look forward to hearing all about the camp when students return in Week Seven.

SAVE THE DATE - SCHOOL DISCO - THURSDAY 04 SEPTEMBER

Amanda McDonald

Assistant Principal Administration

Strategic Priorities 2025

SchoolTV

There are lots of amazing resources available on SCHOOLTV to support and empower parents to better deal with the challenges of raising happy, well and resilient young people. For short video clips, articles and fact sheets, from leading specialists and key wellbeing organisations, check out the ‘ALL TOPICS’ tab via the link below or on our school website.

Sporting News

MDSS INTERSCHOOL CRICKET COMPETITION

This year, Emmanuel have entered one team into the MDSS Wednesday afternoon Cricket competition. Our team is made up of nine talented boys from Years 3 and 4. Yesterday, excitement was high as the season kicked off. Team Emmanuel began their campaign with a strong win against Fitzgerald, 231 runs to 162 runs. Congratulations boys! It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with these young cricketers. I'm looking forward to a wonderful season.

HARRUP PARK COLOURING IN COMPETITION

For the month of August, Harrup Park is running a fun Colouring-In Competition for all young cricket fans from Prep to year 6. How to enter:

1. Students can collect a colouring in sheet from Mrs Bottcher
2. Students take it home and colour it in with their brightest ideas
3. Parents need to fill out the details at the bottom of the page
4. Students hand their completed sheet to Mrs Bottcher by Wednesday 27 August

Harrup Park staff will draw winners at the end of the month. Each winner will receive a cricket prize pack and have their masterpiece proudly displayed at Harrup Park!

EMMANUEL OZTAG TEAMS

The visit from Oztag development officers Courtney and Gordon two weeks ago has generated a lot of interest in Oztag throughout the school. Emmanuel will be working with Mackay Oztag to potentially put together some school teams. Next week, I will be handing out notes to students who are interested in playing Oztag for Emmanuel. These notes will be handed out during PE lessons. If your child/ren are interested please fill out the note and return it to the sports box in the library no later then Friday 29 August so we can work with Mackay Oztag to finalise teams. 

Season Details:

• $95 per player + $20 yearly membership fee
• 10-week season (10 games) starting Wednesday 8 October
• Wednesday afternoons from 4pm
• No training required
• Runs for the duration of Term 4. There will be one game played in the first week of the school holidays when state schools are still at school.
• This competition is open to all students 5 years and over
• Teams can be boys, girls or mixed
• Teams must have a minimum of 11 players, 8 on the field

IMPORTANT: Please be aware that this competition needs parents to volunteer in order to be successful. Teams will not be able to register without a parent delegate. The parent delegate's job is simply to manage the team and sub students on and off during games. Emmanuel school staff will not be present to supervise this competition. 

Lisa Bottcher

HPE Teacher

Congratulations to Scarlett who competed in the North Queensland regional championships on the weekend and placed 1st overall and was named U9 North Queensland Regional Champion.

Well done Scarlett!

School Choir

Around the School

YEAR ONE FIRE EDUCATION

It was all action when the firefighters visited Year One.  Students learnt about fire safety, fire plans and what to do if they needed to escape from a fire.  They were encouraged to talk to their parents, ensure that they know their street address and to make a fire plan at home. Everyone practised getting down low and go go going, before stop, dropping and rolling and using the fire hose.  A big THANK YOU to our firefighter friends for helping to keep us safe.

A few reminders for all of us:

In the case of a fire dial 000.

EVERYONE needs to know their STREET address.

GET OUT and STAY OUT!

GET DOWN LOW and GO, GO, GO!

STOP, DROP, ROLL if your clothes are on fire!

P & F News

Awards

Congratulations to the students pictured below who received a Spirit of Catholic Education Award in Week 4.

Finance

2026 SCHEDULE OF FEES

Tuckshop News

Please Note: It is imperative that volunteers DO NOT attend tuckshop if they are unwell or have anyone at home who is unwell.

SWAP IT!

Parent Orbit

The Parent Orbit app, which is connected to Parent Lounge, will improve our communication with each other as it offers a quick and easy way to receive notifications, view academic reports, book Parent/Teacher interviews, add and acknowledge Student Absences, view and pay School Fees, accept or decline excursions via the Events and Payments tile, update student details, email class teachers and much more.

Notices

CASH ONLY - Please remember to bring small change when purchasing from the Uniform Shop.