Newsletter Term 2, Week 10 2022

Dear SJC Families and Friends

Our hope for Term 2, at the end of Term 1, was that we would have a more settled and predictable term without the disruptions that have plagued us over the previous two years.  I am happy to have arrived at this moment and be able to say this was definitely the case.  Schools are inherently busy places with so many opportunities for both students, staff and families, and Term 2 provided all of these planned opportunities without the array of disruptions we have previously experienced.  I hope that your child/ren enjoyed the chances afforded to them to learn, grow, compete, reflect, share and care at our College.  I look forward to an even more fruitful and exciting Term 3. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our families for the support they have shown and to the staff for what they have done and how they have committed to ensuring that our students attain the fullness of life.  During my address to students at last week's assembly, I spoke about the many ways that students can do their best at the school.  I challenged each student to strive to live each day better than the previous one, be it how they learned, acted, interacted, spoke to others, applied themselves or helped a fellow human.

It is important, I said, that they 'value add' to the College during their time with us and that they should not 'just exist'.  Please ensure that you are informed of the many events the College is involved in and encourage your daughter or son to follow or find their passion.  Involvement means connection and connection to any element in society which is well-proven to benefit all people in their outlook on life, mental health, success in life and inner joy. 

I reported in the last newsletter on just a small number of St Joey's students who have taken advantage of opportunities to showcase and grow the skills they possess.  I would like to add one other student to that list.  Just after the publication of our newsletter, it was announced that Jayden Wilson, Year 12, had been selected as a member of the NSWCCC Touch Football Open Boys Team.  Jayden has been a committed member of the Diocesan Touch Team for nearly all of his six years at the College and his selection to the State Catholic Schools team is a testament to his commitment and application. Well done Jayden. 

Welcome and Best of Luck

I would like to wish the best of luck to our College Counsellor, Ms Shannon Bloom who will be commencing her maternity leave at the end of this term.  I am sure that I speak for all of the SJC community in expressing how much she will be missed as she and her husband Jaiden welcome their first child.  In her place, we look forward to welcoming Ms Ingrid Hartmann who has previously completed a practical placement at the College in 2021. 

I also welcome Mr David Bell who has commenced as a mathematics teacher this week.  David will be taking the classes of Mrs Colleen Dempsey for the remainder of 2022.  Families who have children working with Mr Bell will hear from him soon via email. 

School Review

During Week 8, the College undertook a school review organised by the Lismore Catholic Schools Office and run by an external peak education body, ACER (Australian College of Educational Researchers).  I would like to thank all of those involved, including the parents who accepted the open invitation to be interviewed. Whilst we have not received the ratified report, the College has received a draft summary.  There were many affirmations and commendations, which will be shared once the report is ratified, and a number of recommendations that can be read below.  It was a privilege to work with the team and to speak of the wonderful things occurring currently at SJC.

In providing the report, the head reviewer stated that "Thank you for the assistance you provided to the team during our visit.  You have a great school, and we wish you every success in the journey ahead."

The recommendations, in short form, are:

1. In collaboration with staff, parents and the wider college community, develop a three-year Strategic Plan supported by annual School Improvement Plans (SIP)
2. Develop and implement strategies to build a strong collegial culture across the college
3. Develop and implement a whole College professional learning plan that aligns with the improvement agenda and budget
4. Collate and build on existing documentation to construct a coherent, sequenced plan for curriculum delivery

Student/Parent/Teacher Interviews

It is important that families take advantage of the upcoming SPT Interviews.  These conferences provide an opportunity for families, including the student, to discuss with teachers what is going well with their child and where improvements could be made.  Please keep an eye out for information regarding bookings that can be made this week.

Stop Work This Week

As you would have seen from previous correspondence, members of staff who are part of the Independent Education Union will be taking Stop Work Action.  With this occurring, it will not be possible to safely run the school and as such, I have had to close the school for the day.  There will be minimal supervision available for those families who have no other care options for their children.  Please only send your child to school if it is utterly necessary.  Friday will be a normal school day. 

Finally, I wish all of our students a very relaxing, happy and safe break over the next two weeks. 

Kind regards

Mr Scott Thomson
Principal

We are very happy to announce that the 2020 Magazine will be distributed this week to students to bring home. 

We apologise for the delay, however, due to circumstances beyond our control, it was not possible till now to complete. 

We thank you for your patience and hope you enjoy this publication where we still managed to celebrate within the school community during one of the most 'unprecedented' of times in our living history.

Another term ends this week, and what a term it has been for our students.  It has been wonderful to have the school return to ‘normal’, allowing students to participate in learning, cultural and sporting activities, and ‘living life to the full’.

Academic Reports

Academic Reports will be released on Friday afternoon to all families in Years 7-10.  This will give parents an indication of how their child is progressing with their learning.  While the grade indicates the level of achievement, the work habits are also a strong indication of the level of commitment and application displayed in the school's learning environment.  We encourage parents to spend time discussing with students the wonderful achievements they have achieved and also how they improve next semester when they return to school.  Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews are scheduled for Wednesday 20 July (Week 1) and Monday 25 July (Week 2).  A link to book these interviews will be released Friday afternoon with the reports.  Please ensure you book early to prevent missing out.

2023 Subject Selections

Subject selection processes will begin next term for Year 10 and 8 students.  This will involve an information evening being held via zoom early Term 3 followed by selection.  Further information and details will be distributed at the beginning of next term.

International Author Visit

Over the past three years RE, PDHPE, HSIE and Science faculties have been developing inquiry based pedagogy in the classroom.  This work is based on the research and writings of Michael McDowell.  Michael is a renowned academic, researcher, educational leader, former school principal and current superintendent in the Ross School District in California.  Michael will be visiting the College on Tuesday and providing further support in the classroom for our teachers.  We look forward to welcoming Michael.

Finally, we hope the holiday period for students is restful and for those parents who are able to take some holidays and have a wonderful time with their family.  We look forward to returning next term.

Mr Ryan Campbell
Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

The student article below follows on from a group of our Year 11 students taking part in the Brisbane Street Retreat held at the end of Week 9 and over the weekend.

We were so very fortunate in attending such an event and each becoming a witness to others' lives.  I believe it was a very moving and significant event in their young lives.

Mr Eamon Brown
Assistant Principal - Mission

During my time at Street Retreat I engaged with three different ministries across Brisbane: Brisbane Relief Hub, St Vincent De Paul Society and the Missionaries of Charity.  I interacted with many people during the retreat, the volunteers that do the amazing work at the shelters, people that are affected by homelessness or food insecurity, and students and teachers from the Lismore Diocese.  Everyone was extremely welcoming and the volunteers and needy people were more than happy to share their experiences with us, which offered a really eye-opening and humbling experience that made me realise how lucky I truly am. 

My biggest highlight for the trip was interacting with a man named Dean.  He was an ex-military personnel that was affected by food insecurity and was in commission housing.  I met him while handing out food packages at the Missionaries of Charity.  Dean’s story was something that really touched me and I really empathised with him and his situation, but his resilience and easy going attitude was something that was quite inspiring for me.  His belief, although he was going through all these hardships, is that there were people worse off than him.  This really made me reflect on all the things I take for granted in my life and what I could be doing in my own local community to help people that are experiencing homelessness or food insecurity.

A challenge that I faced after interacting with all these people that were struggling so greatly, was also finding out that their local community was working against them and making their experiences more difficult.  It’s called hostile architecture and it is a purposeful act of creating benches or areas that would be safer spots for people sleeping rough and turning them into a place that is uncomfortable.  While walking around the city with Vinnies, they told us that the city put a big concrete block over these vents that blew out warm air, which didn’t seem like a problem to my group.  But then they told us that kids my age and younger that are sleeping rough used those vents as a warm place to sleep.  This was really disheartening for me because these people were trying to do the best that they could with the limited resources that they had and the council was actively going around and making it harder for them.

The lessons that I learnt on this trip I will carry around with me everywhere.  There is always more to a person's story than what we can expect and sitting down or doing a small act of kindness for them, will heavily impact them and us in the best ways possible.  I will always remember Dean and his story and even though he was suffering greatly, he was considerate of others and had this belief that yes his situation sucked, but there was someone worse off than him.  Due to this, he had to be thankful for the few things he had in life.

I want to thank the school and the Diocese for letting me go on this trip, allowing me to take away memories and experiences that have changed me for the better.  I couldn’t recommend this trip more, it is amazing and will really open your eyes not only to the disadvantaged around you but how lucky we are to just have food in our fridges and a roof over our heads.

Amber Jones

Term 3 Reflection Days for Years 7, 8, 9 & 10

As part of Proclaim Lismore – Students, and in conjunction with the School Evangelisation Program, each year group has a Reflection Day.

The aim of a Reflection Day is to involve the students in activities designed to develop their self-esteem and participation in decision-making.  The underlying theme is to develop a positive and active sense of community.  As a Catholic College these Reflection Days allow the students to participate in prayer and aim to develop peer relationships.

In the first week of Term 3, there will be a Reflection Day for each year group in Years 7 to 10.  These days are compulsory for all students at the College.  The Reflection Days will be held at the College on the following days:

        Year 7       -     Tuesday 19 July
        Year 9       -     Wednesday 20 July
        Year 8       -     Thursday 21 July
        Year 10     -     Friday 22 July

ALL STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO WEAR MUFTI (CASUAL CLOTHING) ON THEIR RESPECTIVE REFLECTION DAY – OR WEAR THEIR FULL SPORTS UNIFORM.

Wearing Mufti will incur a gold coin donation, which will go to local charities who support the homeless.  We encourage students to participate in the community building aspects of this day as well as the social justice opportunity to help those in need.

All students are asked to bring their own morning tea, however, a BBQ (sausage sizzle) lunch and drink will be provided on the day.

Mrs Hannah Ardrey
Leader of School Evangelisation

This week we’d like to focus on the upcoming school holidays.  For most students, it can be a very exciting time, but for others this can be a very difficult time as school holiday anxiety can set in.  At a time when most adults would think young people should be having the time of their lives, the sad reality is many will struggle with anxiety and depression through the school holidays.  Having several weeks away from their usual routine can be stressful, as is being away from their friends and usual school support.  To help with this, keeping a structured schedule can help along with regular check-ins and planned activities.  More relevant and helpful information for parents can be found in this article with Dr Justin Coulson from Headspace Wollongong.

On the flip side of the holidays, we also see an increase in the number of students who show signs of school refusal after a school holiday break.  After a period of less structured time, some students struggle to get back into a routine.  The article from the conversation in 2020 is relevant today giving tips to parents on how to help students get back into school mode post-holidays.

Of course as always, if you think your son/daughter needs assistance from the College Welfare team, please feel free to contact your relevant Leader of Welfare or myself at the College.

Mr Mathew Lynch
Leader of Pastoral Care

ATARNotes Free HSC Online Lectures

ATAR Notes has recently opened registrations for its free live-streamed HSC online lectures this July 2022.  You can register for your subjects at https://atarnoteslectures.com/nsw.

The lectures are running from 4-8 July 2022, and are completely free to register for and attend.  The lecture sessions are live-streamed, but registering for your subjects also provides access to a recording of the session after the lecture series.  (If students have already registered an ATAR Notes Lectures account, they can log in to add their July 2022 sessions here.)

There are lecture sessions available for Year 10-12 subjects, plus a range of other sessions.  This is a great opportunity for our HSC and accelerated Year 11 students to get ahead before the new term.

Mr Matthew Hall
Leader of Curriculum

Congratulations to Hayley Pickett from Year 7. Hayley is one of sixty finalists in the 2022 University of New England School Acquisitive Art Prize.  Her entry was a painting inspired by the work of American ‘Pop Artist’ Roy Lichtenstein.

There were 591 art entries this year, from 46 schools, and these works demonstrated the application of a very high standard of technical skill as well as creative expression.  The selection committee commented that there was a wonderful diversity of art media and subject matter represented which made the selection process very difficult, given the high standard.

Last year Layla McKee won her age category, with her portrait 'School Me'.  This work was acquired by the University of New England Education Faculty.

Mrs Nicole Taylor
Leader of Learning - Creative Arts

Junior Secondary: Hailey Pickett, Year 7, ‘Lichtenstein still life’, acrylic

Hailey and her artwork

The Mathematics faculty has had a successful start to our inaugural HSC Lecture Series this term.  ATAR pathway students in the Mathematics Standard 2, Mathematics Advanced and Mathematics Extension 1 courses have been attending topic-focused lectures with the maths faculty once a fortnight during their free periods.  This has included Accelerated Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 students, as well as a couple of interested Year 7 students.

The purpose of these lectures is to assist those students preparing to take the HSC exams to consolidate their learning over 30+ hours of classes into a 1-hour summary, as well as providing them with valuable resources to complete their independent study at home.  For those still in preliminary classes, it provides them with exposure to link what they are currently doing in class to where it will be going next year.

Students understand that those who are successful in the HSC and achieve the most growth in their learning are those who take advantage of the additional assistance provided and begin their study early.  Attendance at the sessions has included over 80% of the cohort. 

Sessions will continue next term, starting on Thursday 28 July (Week 2).  There will be three more sessions for each of the three courses.

Mrs Melinda Thompson
Leader of Learning – Mathematics

Year 9 Sea World Excursion

On Thursday 20 June, the Year 9 Marine Studies class visited Sea World as part of their Dangerous Marine Animals unit.  Upon arrival we were greeted by our guide who took us to Shark Bay.  While at Shark Bay the students were introduced to the range of sharks and other marine species in the tanks and particularly learned about the important role that sharks play in our marine environments.  Students were amazed to learn that the oldest shark, the Greenland Shark, can live for up to 500 years, and had the chance to observe specimens of shark teeth, with the Megalodon tooth being a highlight.

Year 9 Marine Studies excursion

After the shark presentation we went up to Ray Reef where students had the opportunity to touch and feed the amazing variety of Stingrays and Shovelnose rays.  We then went along to the Dolphin show before students were given time to follow the Shark Smart trail and enjoy the other attractions at the park.

Students will now be putting the information they learned into practice as they work on their assessment piece investigating the role of sharks and alternatives to shark netting.

Mrs Amanda Kelly & Mr Martin Fairweather

11 Marine Studies Excursion

 

Year 11 Marine Studies Kayaking Excursion – Martin Fairweather

Jingi Walla – Hello SJC community

We are nearly at the end of Term 2 and what a busy term it has been. 

We as a school community acknowledged National Reconciliation Week recently and one of the beautiful ways in which we did it was by the construction of our ‘Reconciliation tree’ in the library.  This was a wonderful collaboration from students and staff with it resulting in a beautiful ‘house colours’ paper tree displaying our school’s collective efforts towards reconciliation.  Students and staff were invited to add their leaf to the tree and over the week it grew into an amazing display of respectfulness, support and community.  Well done, our St Joey’s community!! 

Next week we have three of our Indigenous students attending ‘winter school’ university experiences in the school holidays.  These students were selected from students from around Australia and had to meet certain academic and cultural requirements.  Tiabella Close and Alysha Whitehouse from Year 11 will attend the Indigenous Australian Engineering School held at the University of Sydney, and Thomas Busbridge from Year 10 was selected to attend the InspireU STEM camp at University of Queensland, Brisbane.  We congratulate these students and wish them well for what we know will be an amazing week of experiences, culture and leadership.

Finally in news our Tweed Coast community will celebrate NAIDOC Week beginning on Sunday 3 July and ending on Sunday 10 July.  This year’s theme is ‘Get up, Stand up, Show up’ and there will a multitude of events in and around the Tweed and Gold Coast regions for everyone to participate in and I encourage you to go along to some of these fun and enjoyable experiences of learning, sharing and immersion of our beautiful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

St Joey’s will celebrate NAIDOC Week within our school in Week 2 of Term 3 and we look forward to that great week of festivities and collaboration.

Have a wonderful winter break everyone!!

Bugalwan – beautiful blessings

Mrs Lexe Busbridge
Indigenous Education Worker

Recent weeks have seen two opportunities for career development for our Year 10 and 11 students.  The first involved a Health Pathways day at Kingscliff TAFE where students attended workshops to explore a number of occupations including occupational therapy, nursing, fitness and sport and exercise science.  The workshops involved hands-on activities.  The students wore special glasses to gain an understanding of the difficulties a person with vision impairment experiences and tried out tools modified to assist people in completing simple everyday tasks.  They were shown how to assess postural issues and tried out some of the exercises that can be assigned as a treatment.  In the nursing workshop students were instructed in correct handwashing procedures and were surprised when infrared lighting showed just how many germs were still there even though they thought they had done an expert job of washing their hands.  They also heard about the technology involved in modern nursing training and patient care and learnt how to take blood pressure readings.  A Q&A session enabled students to interact with and hear about the diverse career journeys of a panel of people in a range of health careers.

Another group of students explored construction trades at Kingscliff TAFE that involved activities in Electrotechnology, carpentry and horticulture.  They were then treated to a tour of the new Tweed Valley Hospital site and Try-a-Trade activities organised by the construction company LendLease and their contractors.  The activities were very hands-on and the students thoroughly enjoyed concreting, scaffolding, wall plastering, surveying, plumbing and electrical trades.  They were instructed in crane operation and the procedures and safety requirements for lifting loads.  All of the tradies involved were engaging, passionate about their trades and keen to encourage young people into their professions.  Thanks also to the organisers and LendLease for providing this opportunity.  The students had a fantastic day.

A nice surprise was to find 2020 graduate, Ellie Paddon amongst the electricians talking with students.  Ellie said that she was the first female tradie to work on the hospital site and that she is enjoying the job and happy to be achieving her dream of becoming an electrician.

Recent workshops with Year 10 students have provided access to a number of careers resources and encouraged students to start thinking about their first steps to transitioning from school to post-school options.  On Tuesday this week Southern Cross University representatives will run workshops introducing university life and completing a career profiling assessment with students.  This assessment results in a quite comprehensive personalised report that is emailed to students and their parents.  Students will need a fully charged laptop for the session and are asked to ensure they are in attendance on Tuesday and do not miss this opportunity.  School delivered careers lessons will also continue this week.  Students have access to the College Careers Website and other careers resources to help them explore options and occupations.  These resources are also great conversation starters so if your child has not yet told you about them or our careers workshops please ask them to show them to you.

It has been a busy term of career development.  The following clip provides a summary.

Riviera Apprenticeships Information Evening

Australian Industry Trade College has advised that Riviera Australia will be hosting their Annual Apprentice Program Information Evening on TUESDAY 12 JULY 2022.

This invitation is extended to any current Year 11 & 12 Students (plus Parent) who would be interested in becoming a School Based Apprentice / Full Time Apprentice for 2023.

They will be having guest speakers of past apprentices, current apprentices, and current school-based apprentices and also be conducting a twilight factory tour.

The night is scheduled to start at 5:30pm Sharp

Current trades on Offer:
Cert III in Polymer Processing (Composite)
Cert III in Electrotechnology (Pre-requisite Cert II in Electrotechnology)
Cert III in Timber & Composites Machining
Cert III in Marine Craft Construction 
Cert III in Furniture Finishing (French Polishing)
Cert III in Cabinetmaking
Cert III in Engineering – Diesel Fitting
Cert III in Engineering – Fabrication – Welding
Cert III in Engineering – Fabrication – Surface Finishing
Cert III in Upholstery

To RSVP please click on the link - https://www.rivieraaustralia.com/career-opportunities/apprentice-rsvp-form/ - once you have registered please let Jeremy Welsh know you will be in attendance, on 0420 385 680.  Please get in quick to book as spots are limited.

Ms Frances Mason
Leader of Careers and EVET

At St Joseph’s College, we celebrate the diversity that each student brings to our school.

Autism spectrum is often incorrectly considered to be a linear condition, with individuals being ‘high functioning’ or ‘low functioning’.  However, Autism is experienced and displayed differently for everyone, making each person unique.  Autism is just seeing the world from different angles.

The support we offer students at school helps to empower all our students to experience a quality life filled with opportunities.  St Joseph’s College has been invited to participate in a research project with the Commonwealth Department of Health, Southern Cross University and Flinders University.  This research is exploring ‘what works’ in relation to supporting the wellbeing of students with autism.

Similar interviews have been undertaken in schools in NSW and South Australia.  The data will be drawn together to identify key strategies and co-design resources that reflect the perspectives of students with autism.

We are excited to be part of a project that provides a voice to students and families, while improving outcomes.

Ms Amie Nugent
Leader of Inclusion and Diversity

We’ve had an extremely colourful past couple of weeks, starting with the Reconciliation Display in which our wonderful Indigenous Education Worker, Mrs Busbridge, organised for all students and staff to decorate, sign and create messages on leaves in house colours to adorn a reconciliation tree.  Many students have commented on how much they like the tree, and it’s been an absolute joy to have such bright and bursting colour adorning the display wall.  In the past couple of years, I’ve been actively accruing more Indigenous Australian fiction and non-fiction into the library – so Reconciliation Week is also a great opportunity to display some new additions to our collection.

On Thursday, the library held our third annual Write a Book in a Day event in aid of the Kids’ Cancer Project charity.  Over a hundred students from Year 7 through to Year 11 donated $980.  They formed fourteen teams to write and illustrate 3500-5000 word books from the start of Period 1 through to 8pm, for children aged 10-16 years in hospitals throughout Australia.

The enthusiasm was immense – with the numbers of students wanting to be involved increasing each year and the excitement leading up to the day, completely contagious.  From the start of this school year we’ve been repeatedly asked, “When will it be Write a Book in a Day?”  Followed by, “It’s the best day ever!”  So this year, while zipping between all the teams tucked into their cubbies and corrals, when students expressed how much they were loving it, I asked them to tell me more.

There’s general consensus that all the snacks (a veritable collective truckload of sugar…), dressing in oodies, hanging out with friends (including getting to run around the quad on break at night - they were supervised!) is fun, but also an awareness that if it was only that they’d eventually become bored.  What really makes it special for students is the challenge of working as a team to create entire books (the parameters are only given to each team at the start of the day so there can be no pre-planning of the story) along with knowing these stories will be sent to kids who aren’t so fortunate as to be able to be at school participating in such an event.

What I personally love is that it isn’t solely the writery/arty students who get involved - there are a lot of students who simply want to be part of the fun, but in the process benefit from learning more about creative collaboration.  I also deeply appreciate how it takes energy, dedication, time, and big hearted love from a whole other type of team to support the event, as you’ll see in our Write a Book in a Day 1-minute video.  Mr Jones, Mrs Pratt, Ms Predi, Mrs Serone, Mrs Busbridge, Mr Campbell etc. were all stars - along with the amazing can-do willingness of the Maintenance team to shift heavy furniture and ferret out reclusive whiteboards from across the school for the event…

We’ll be printing this year’s books to join our collection of the previous two years and all are welcome to come along and enjoy our students’ creative efforts!

Ms Melaina Faranda
Teacher/Librarian