12 April 2024

A Message from the Principal

Each year we set aside a day to celebrate the blessings of St Joseph in our school, our connection to the Sisters of St Joseph and how we live our call as Christian people. Importantly we also take the time to spend time together in community. On Wednesday we commenced the day with a beautiful liturgy led by staff and students. Sr Maureen Salmon, one of our Lochinvar Sisters of St Joseph provided a beautiful reflection which she has graciously given permission to share with you all.

“We have just heard your student leaders proclaim the Gospel, telling us how Jesus came to be born.  In this account from Matthew’s Gospel, there are a number of references to St Joseph – probably the most we hear about him in any of the gospels.

As you listened, did you notice how many times we heard the phrase: an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream?   My count makes it four times.  What do the words mean?  Did an angel appear before him and tell him what to do?  Maybe. 

However, I prefer to think of it this way.  An angel is a messenger from God and we receive messages in many different ways.  Have you ever wondered about what action you might take to resolve a problem or situation and been told to sleep on it?  Strangely, when you awoke in the morning the way forward was clear to you.  How did that happen?  Some inspiration had come to you, an unexpected thought flashed into your mind.  Had an angel appeared to you?

From this reading, we could get the idea that Joseph took refuge in a dream world.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Joseph was a man of action.  Once he knew what to do, he acted immediately.    Let us look at each of those four occasions:

When told not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, he did what the angel of God had commanded to do thus shielding her from the disgrace of not abiding by the law.  He became her protector and loved and cared for her.

When the astrologers from the East came to Jerusalem asking where they could find the child born king of the Jews, Joseph was warned of Herod’s evil intentions.  Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother by night left for Egypt and stayed there until the death of Herod.  .  He acted immediately.

 When Herod died, an angel of God appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him all was safe to return home, Joseph got up, and, taking the child and his mother went to the land of Israel.

When Joseph heard that Herod’s son had been made king, he was warned not to stay there.  So he withdrew to the region of Galilee to a town called Nazareth.  Again, he acted immediately.

So what does this tell us about the kind of person Joseph was.  I think he was -

• a man of faith, believing in God’s plan for him in his life;
• aware of what was happening around him;
• strong and determined to look after the child Jesus and Mary;
• brave and resourceful, providing for them in a foreign land as refugees;
• a tradesman, working with his hands as a carpenter;
• content to live quietly as a husband and father.

Have you ever wondered what it must have like for Joseph, a humble, ordinary person, to realise that he was the man chosen by God to raise Jesus to manhood?  To be his mentor, his earthly father? 

There is a song that I would like you to listen to called, How could it be?  The songwriter tries to answer these questions.  How would you answer them?

St Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods had a great devotion to St Joseph.  They named their new community of Sisters for him and their first school at Penola and every school they founded in his honour.  We here at Lochinvar are in that long line of schools.

Let us try to absorb the spirit of St Joseph and live with his faith, love, compassion and devotion to the values that he lived.  St Joseph pray for us.  Amen.

Link to Joseph’s Song

Wishing all our staff, students and families joyous, restful and safe Autumn holidays. Thank you for a wonderful Term 1 2024.

Mrs Patricia Hales
College Principal

Principal’s Jottings

Pupil Free Dates 2024

All Catholic Secondary Schools in Maitland Newcastle Diocese are entitled to 7 pupil free days each year for staff to complete required training and professional learning. This year St Joseph’s will have 8 pupil free days as we are in the 6^th year of our Child Protection Training.

• Term 1 – Monday & Tuesday 30^th & 31^st January and Tuesday 2^nd April
• Term 2 – Monday 29^th April
• Term 3 – Monday 22^nd July
• Term 4 – Monday 14^th October, Thursday 19^th December & Friday 20^th December

IMPORTANT - 2024 Calendar Dates 

Ministry Musings

Last week on Holy Thursday, the College came together to celebrate an Easter Liturgy, in which we were joined by Father George Anthicad, Parish Priest of Chisholm Region. The purpose of our liturgy was to celebrate the Paschal Triduum, the holiest three days within the Church’s Calendar (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday). The Paschal Triduum is a time to celebrate the triumph of life over death, light over darkness, good over evil, and hope over despair. It is a moment that we recognise that Jesus is Lord, and he has saved us all! I would like to say a big thank you to the MacKillop Team, College Leaders and the Executive Staff for their contribution and participation in the liturgy, as it truly was a powerful experience, one that truly prepared the College.

Easter Raffle Chocolate Winners

Congratulations to all of our winners for the Easter Raffle last Holy Thursday, however a massive thank you to the MacKillop Team for their organisation and Josephite service, Ms Madden for donating the 2023 Broncos Jersey signed by the Grand Final team and thank you to the generosity of the St Joseph community for their donation of chocolates and purchasing of tickets. We were able to raise a WHOPPING $2870 through ticket sales, all of which will be going to Caritas Australia to support their initiative Project Compassion.

Sunday Reflection - Sunday of Divine Mercy

The Day the Lord Has Made

Three times in today’s Psalm we cry out a victory shout: “His mercy endures forever.” Truly we’ve known the everlasting love of God, who has come to us as our Saviour. By the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ pierced side (Johns 19: 34), we’ve been made God’s children, as we hear in today’s Epistle.

Yet, we’ve never met Jesus. We’ve never heard Him teach. We didn’t see Him raised from the dead. His saving Word came to us in the Church – through ministry of the Apostles, who in today’s Gope are sent as He was sent.

He was made a life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15: 45), and He filled His Apostles with that Spirit. As w hear in today’s First Reding, they bore witness to His Resurrection with great power. And through their witness, handed down in the Church through the centuries, their teachings and traditions have reached us (Acts 2:42).

We encounter Him as the Apostles did: in the breaking of the bread on the Lord’s Day (Acts 20: 7, 1 Corinthians 16: 2, Revelation 1:10). There is something liturgical about the way today’s Gospel scenes unfold. It’s as if John is trying to show us how the risen Lord comes to us in the liturgy and sacraments.

In both scenes it is Sunday night. The doors are bolted tight; yet, Jesus mysteriously comes. He greets them with an expression, “Peace be with you,” used elsewhere by divine messengers (Daniel 10:19; Judges 6:23). He shows them signs of His real bodily presence. And on both nights the disciples respond by joyfully receiving Jesus as their “Lord.”

Isn’t this what happens in the Mass, where Our Lord speaks to us in His Word and gives Himself to us in the sacrament of His Body and Blood? Let us approach the altar with joy, knowing that every Eucharist is the day the Lord has made, when the victory of Easter is again made wonderful in our eyes.

By Scott Hahn and Ken Ogorek, Breaking the Bread

God Bless

Mr Taylor Zahra
Leader of College Ministry

From the Assistant Principals....

This week, Term One Student Reviews have been published to the Parent and Student Portal of Compass for students in Years 7-11.

The Student Review is an evaluation process conducted during the school year in Terms One and Three. It aims to provide feedback to families, about their child as a learner in each of their subjects, rather than provide a specific focus on academic achievement.

The following statements describe the learning qualities of a student at St Joseph's College who is meeting or exceeding our expectation(s):

The following are the performance levels used for each of the learning statements:

Families are asked, to direct comments or concerns regarding their child's Student Review to the relevant Leader of Learning.

Updated Website

St. Joseph's College has been working on updating our website and we are pleased to inform you that this has now been finalised. The link is still the same, however we have streamlined the site with easily accessible tabs that contain relevant information for the community. These tabs are:

• Our College - a welcome to the College and broad overview including our Mission, our facilities and our people.
• Our Community - information about our faith community, Catholic identity and links to Compass.
• Learning & Wellbeing - this section has combined aspects about learning with wellbeing as we believe that these two areas are inextricably linked. In this section, you will find information about curriculum and what subjects are offered in stage 4, 5 and 6; student leadership at the College; student wellbeing, the support available and initiatives; Co-curricular opportunities at St Joseph's College Lochinvar, and lastly Students support that covers the Penola and Yalawa centres.
• For Parents - this part of the website covers Parent Engagement, Uniform, Code of Conduct, Finance and Newsletters.

Please use the link below to access our updated site.

Year 10

I would like to alert parents to an event that is coming up on Monday 3^rd June week 6 Term 2, which is the year 11 2025 Subject Evening. This event will endeavour to provide information for students and their families about the subjects that could be on offer for 2025. Therefore, now is the time to start having conversations with your child about what they would like to do after year 10, subjects they might like to study, possible career and or employment pathways. More information will be provided to parents early next term.

Mr Paul Dart  & Mrs Elizabeth Stokes
Assistant Principals

From the Counsellor’s Desk

Ms Caitlin French & Ms Julia Preistley
St Joseph’s Professional Officers

Wellbeing

What a term it has been for the Wellbeing of our students here at St Joseph’s CollegeLochinvar. With our individual year groups focussing on Belonging, Compassions, Respect, Responsibility, Faith and Service. Each of these focus groups have been unpacked, through community days, school camps, liturgies, LMG activities, fund raising activities or school community days (such as International Women’s Day). With the unpacking of each of these focus values, students have acquired the skills of compassion, respect, service, belonging, faith and responsibility and have applied them to their everyday lives. Assisting in improving the well being of themselves, as well as the wellbeing of those they interact with on a daily basis. 
We cannot thank the students and staff enough on their active, and willing involvement with all 
the opportunities that have been presented. And we look forward to our St Joseph’s day 
celebrations on Wednesday 10th April.

With school holidays imminent, we are sincerely hoping that the wellbeing of our students and 
families are well maintained. Here are some activities that may be of some assistance to both 
the parents and the students for the coming holidays. 

Maitland Council

Cessnock Council

Singleton Council

These activities are for both parents and students of all ages and include a combination of free and paid activities. The activities provided focus on a range of cultural, sporting, socialising, engaging and wellbeing opportunities to accommodate for the interests of all families. 

Please remember, if you are concerned for you or your child’s wellbeing, there is always 
support available through the school or the community. Please contact the wellbeing staff if 
you have any concerns for your child. 

Have the most wonderful holiday and stay safe and remember to be kind to yourself and others.
From the Wellbeing team.

Mr Chris Johns, Miss Alison Lynch, Ms Alberta Kauter, and Mrs Abbie Marston
Leaders of Learning-Wellbeing

Curriculum News (KLA’s)

Mathematics News

Solution Puzzle 3

1. First choose 10 coins. This group will have between 0 and 10 HEADS. Call the number of HEADS . There are  HEADS in the first group and  TAILS. There are also  HEADS in the remaining 90 coin group. Flip all of the coins in the first group and there are now  TAILS and  HEADS, which is the same number of HEADS as in the group of 90 coins.

2. A round peg in a square hole takes up approximately 79% of the space; a square peg in a round hole takes up approximately 64% of the space.

3. 6 fish

Puzzle 4

1. Fill in the circles using the numbers from 1 to 7 so that the sum of each line is equal.

2. Three friends each have a cup of different sizes: 250 mL, 550 mL and 650 mL. They also have a 1.2 L bottle of lemonade that they would like to share equally between themselves.

Without any other equipment, how can they pour out the lemonade to ensure each person receives exactly the same amount?

3. Mervyn, Melvin and Morton are each adults stranded on the south side of a river that they cannot swim across. Amy and Anna come to their rescue. Amy and Anna are children and they have a small canoe. The canoe can carry two children or one adult, but no more.

How many trips will it take to get Mervyn, Melvin and Morton across to the north side of the river and return the canoe to the children?

St Joseph's Students Success at 2024 Da Vinci Decathlon

St Joseph’s students Samuel Ramsay (Yr 8), Leo Ramsay (Yr7) and Jayan Paris (Yr7) recently competed at the da Vinci Decathlon representing the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office with a range of students from across the diocese. The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. The theme for the 2024 da Vinci Decathlon – Hunter Region was Technology and Innovation.

Students competed in teams of eight across 10 disciplines:

• Mathematics – problem-solving, number patterns and logic puzzles
• English – spelling, word origins, definitions, textual analysis and writing tasks
• Science – engage with higher-level scientific concepts and test your ability to apply them
• Code Breaking – decipher complex, mysterious codes
• Engineering Challenge – a design task that tests problem-solving skills, creativity and ingenuity
• Ideation – The process of creating NEW ideas
• Creative Producers – create and perform a short drama or commercial to promote a product
• Art and Poetry – develop an original poem and a connected artwork on a given theme
• Cartography – interpret spatial information, decipher and create imaginative maps
• Legacy – A relatively new category, Legacy will replace the task previously known as General Knowledge, with a focus on honouring significant people, inventions and events from the past and the present.

We are thrilled to announce that the Year 7 team, which included Leo and Jayan, placed 1^st overall on the day. This secures the team entry into the State Competition later in the year. The SJL community would like to extend a huge congratulations to these students who represented our College in such an exemplary way and wish Leo and Jayan all the best at State!

Well done boys, Lochinvar students can do anything!

Mrs Caroline Donohoe
Gifted Education Mentor

School Musical 2024

Our talented Musical Theatre group have been tirelessly rehearsing our 2024 musical.

But which musical have we chosen to perform? How do we possibly follow our triumphant Matilda Jr from 2022? Will we have live musicians performing on stage during the show? Will we learn how to fly? High? These questions and more will be answered in the coming weeks.

Keep an eye on our St Joseph’s College Lochinvar Facebook page for updates.

The musical will be occurring during Week 9 of Term 2 at St Joseph’s, Lochinvar.

Miss Emma Clunies-Ross
Music Teacher

Careers – Opportunities & Notices

Mrs Vikki Jordan
Careers Advisor
vikki.jordan@mn.catholic.edu.au

Yalawa Yarnings

Anikanya (Hello)!

Deadly Achievements

Congratulations to Fred Richardson who competed at the Junior State Swimming Championships in Sydney last month. Fred competed in the 50m butterfly with pleasing results. He will also travel to Sydney again in a few weeks to compete at NSW CCC swimming championships. Keep up the sensational work, Fred!

Congratulations also goes to Jaydah Corney (year 10) and Brock Wishart (year 8) who have both been chosen as SRC representatives for their respective year levels. This process involves students self-nominating which is then followed by peer and staff voting. We are very proud of both Brock and Jaydah for their commitment to improving the school and highlighting important student issues.

Recent Events

In week 7 the Yalawa staff welcomes Miss Anabel Holle to the Aboriginal Education team. Anabel will work in Yalawa on Wednesday to Friday. Anabel also teaches English at St Joseph’s of a Monday and Tuesday.

Upcoming Events

Hunter Academy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Talent ID Day.

National Indigenous Tennis Day

Community Events

This online Language course may be of interest to families with children in Year 4

Student Support

If there are any issues that we can support students with or that you think that we need to be aware of please do not hesitate to contact one of us.

If your student is also doing amazing things in the community, please let us know so we can give them a shout out in the ‘Yalawa Yarnings.’

Ms Zara Francisco, Mrs Hannah Allen and Mr Frank Hales
Aboriginal Education Teachers

Message from the Finance Office

2024 School fee account can be viewed at any time through Compass and updated statements are emailed at the beginning of each month, please check your emails and also your junk emails.  Families who have a nil balance will not receive a statement. 

Thank you to the families who have commenced their payment of school fees, it is important to pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments regularly which are due in full by 30/11/24. 

If payment preference is via a lump sum payment please finalise by 30/06/24. 

Please contact me to discuss fee issues and any concerns in meeting the 30/11/24 due date.

Bpay is our preferred method of payment, however payment can also be made via Credit Card, Cash, Cheque and Centrepay.

Health Care Card and Pension Card Holders - 2024 Tuition Fee Discount

If you are a current holder of an Australian Government Health Care Card/Pension card you may be intitled to a discount on your school fees, please complete the attached forms and return with a copy of your card to finance@lochinvarsj.catholic.edu.au

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle offer a lower tuition fee to ‘means tested’ low income families such as Health Care and Pension Card holders. This rate is 50% of the Diocesan Tuition Fee full rate for each child

Mrs Cathy Duff
Finance Officer

General News

Lost Property

Students can collect their lost property at the Student Services window during break time and before and after school each day.

It is helpful if all property is clearly labelled with the students name so these items can be returned directly to the student.

If you recognise any of the items below please collect them from Student Services, there is also a number of jewellery items that have been handed in please describe these items when collecting.

Canteen News

Lunch Orders

Lunch Orders are still available through the QKR app. Orders made via QKR need to be placed by 8.15am.

Canteen Menu

Qkr! – Getting Started

Mrs Tania Cullity
Food Operations Manager

Contact us (Email addresses)

In order to keep our records up to date:

FOR STUDENT SERVICES – Please email studentservices@lochinvarsj.catholic.edu.au 

FOR FINANCE – Please email finance@lochinvarsj.catholic.edu.au

ALL OTHER MATTERS (other than Finance) - please use the email admin@lochinvarsj.catholic.edu.au

Alinta Uniform Shop

Shop Opening Hours

The uniform shop will be closed in the upcoming school holidays. Any web orders that are placed during the holidays will be packed the first day we are open for regular trade.

Blazers

Due to the lead time associated with the delivery of blazers for our senior students we are asking if parents/carers could place their orders as soon as possible. This will alleviate any delays as the weather gets cooler.

Community Announcements