8 August 2024

From the Assistant Principals....

A Message From the Assistant Principals

The 8^th of August is an important date in the life of a Josephite College, as it is the feast day of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop.  This year’s theme is Be Fierce for Fair, celebrating Mary’s indomitable determination to make the world a better place for all she encountered.

Mary Mackillop continues to provide hope and inspiration to all those who know and listen to her story. Her spirit lives on in the daily life of the College through the work of the Mackillop Team, who are always jumping in to support those in need, most recently supporting the Vinnies Winter Appeal.

We particularly keep our Year 12 students in our prayers as they complete their Trial examinations and may the Mackillop spirit live on in each of you during this time.

Semester One Awards 2024

As a College, we enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate our Semester One Awards ceremony on Friday 2^nd August 2024.  Students were honoured for Academic Endeavour, Academic Growth and Academic Excellence.  Below is a transcript of the speech given to students during the assembly.

“During this last week, I have taken the opportunity to enjoy something that rolls around every four years, the Olympics.

The 2024 Paris Olympics have captured my imagination. Last Saturday morning I woke up early to be mesmerised by the opening ceremony.  I've read lots of articles this week and heard lots of commentary about whether or not the opening ceremony should have been in the traditional stadium setting, but for me, the uniqueness of seeing the ceremony taking place in the Paris streets allowed the city to shine and the Olympians to enjoy the experience.  There are not many times in the life of a person where they float down the Sienne representing their country, celebrating the friendship that sport can deliver.

For me, one of the great highlights was seeing the story of France told through the different events of the opening ceremony. A country renowned for its unique culture and beauty, Its love of the arts music and culture, I couldn't help but be captured by the incredible colours and those stolen moments across the rooftops as the Olympic torchbearer parkoured his way across the city. Watching the Eiffel Tower express the story of its city through coloured lights was so quintessentially Parisian. In those moments I thought about the many creative minds that came together and decided where to place things and what to showcase to the world.

Two of my great loves, English and history came together during this ceremony. The 1789 revolution in France was one of my favourite topics of modern history in years 11 and 12 and seeing a little part of it retold in this ceremony was such a great reminder of this fascinating time in history. Almost 250 years later the world came together to view this beautiful city and to celebrate competition, friendship across nations and hard work.  It was a joy!

On Tuesday evening, I was captivated by a sport that I had never watched before, skateboarding.  In particular, I was captivated by the sheer bravery of the young women on skateboards especially 14-year-old Australian skateboard, Chloe Covell, who was hoping to become the youngest gold medal winner in our nation’s history.  Watching her different tricks and her natural talent as well as her determination to achieve gave me a great sense of pride.  I thought about 14-year-old Chloe, her age so similar to so many of our students, and watched her continuously fall over along with her other competitors. I was reminded in that moment of a conversation I'd had with Mr Hickling a week earlier about year 11 students who bravely took on the slopes of Smiggin Holes on their ski trip and maybe didn’t always land quite in the right direction.  Like many of our new skiers, Chloe herself attempted things that didn't land. But she kept getting up and chasing that target. Chloe didn't end up earning the gold medal and her disappointment was caught on camera. But that didn't stop her dad from giving her the biggest hug in the world and cheering her on. He was so proud of his little girl. I am hopeful that we will see Chloe at the LA Olympics in 2028, still chasing that goal.   

Today, students, many of you have achieved great results. You may have only been a short moment up on the stage to recognise your achievement, but that represents so much more. It represents having goals, spending extra time on things when you would rather be relaxing, asking people for help, and doing your work instead of getting AI to create your assignment. It represents thoughts and considerations on marking sheets by teachers, late night trips to Officeworks to print things out or get more equipment, it recognises the importance of the extra one or two marks that moved your results from C to a B or B to an A. It recognises opening your report card, and taking a nervous breath out when that final result was a little bit better than you expected. One student said to me yesterday that his grade point average wasn't as good as some of the other students but he was here because he'd improved by 0.5. It's easy to compare gold with bronze or silver,  but it doesn't take away the importance of each of those stories and the incredible spirit it takes to keep pushing yourself to achieve, no matter the ultimate destination.

This year whilst teaching some delightful Y7 students in English, some wonderful year 9 students in religious studies and some very hard-working Year 11 students in studies of religion, I have often thought about those small moments in class like the moment of sheer surprise that a teacher gets when a student answers a question with so much more insight than you can ever imagine or when a student turns up having completed all of their homework only to check in with you to make sure it's correct. These are the special joys of teachers.  We may not all jump around like Arianna Titmus’ very excitable coach, but these moments are packed away within each of our hearts as educators. And when gold medal cyclist Grace Brown won the first Olympic gold medal for Australia, the camera quickly panned to her very excited mum and dad. Students in the room today, your families are beaming with equal amounts of pride. Your medal or certificates won't feature on tonight's news or be counted as part of a medal tally for the nation, but there is an important story behind all student achievements in our hall today.

Congratulations to our St Joseph’s learning Olympians – those on the podium and those still striving.  We are very proud of each of you.”

I particularly wish to congratulate Isabella Drinkwater and Connor McKay, both in Year 9, who achieved a grade point average of 5.0. This represents an “A” in every subject studied during Semester One.

                                        Isabella Drinkwater                                                     Connor McKay

In addition, the following Year 11 Students received 80 or above in 8 or more units of study during Semester One.

                       Olivia Bradbury                                     Tom Carvosso                                  Harrison Coleman

                                            Matthew Ferraro                                                     Layla Kostrzewski                               

                                         Madison O'Donnell                                                    Keara Tebble

Year 11 Ski Trip

Thank you to the staff who attended the Year 11 Ski Tri, Mr. Perrin, Mrs. McCormack, Ms. Small and Mr. Johns.  A huge thank you to Mr. Hickling for the huge organisation involved in bringing together this experience for students.

Year 12

Students have almost completed their first week of the Trial HSC exams and I would like to congratulate them all for the manner in which they have sat the exams. In the next few weeks after the exams have concluded, students will begin to receive their marks. Some students may achieve marks that they were hoping for, whilst others might be a little disappointed. I would encourage all students not to invest too much emotional energy in the results of these exams. By this I mean, if you didn't get the marks you were hoping for, don't spend a lot of time being upset. Instead, use this as a growth opportunity and carefully consider the feedback from your teacher and use this to improve on areas of learning from now to the HSC exams. I have been speaking to year 12 students all year about the 'power of 5'; that is, how can I improve my marks by 5? This is an achievable goal and could include any number of the ideas below:

• Complete more practice papers
• complete more questions where I have needed to improve based on my trial marks
• complete all formative tasks, read the feedback, apply the feedback and then re-submit the task for more feedback
• Look at how you study - has this been the best way to do this
• Adopt 'active' study techniques such as practice papers, study groups, creating mind maps and study notes, use Quizlet to test your on formulas and dates, ask your parents to 'test' you on dates and formulas
• ask your teacher "what do I need to do to improve my marks?"

Year 8

Thank you to all students who selected their Elective subjects so quickly. We have had an initial look at these selections and hope to release the choices and lines in the near future.

Mr Paul Dart  & Mrs Elizabeth Stokes
Assistant Principals

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

Welcome back to another exciting term. We hope you had a restful break and are ready for the enriching experiences and opportunities that Term 3 will bring.

Our term began with a fantastic Spirituality Day for our staff, held at the beautiful venue Noah’s On The Beach and facilitated by the inspiring Ryan Gato. This event set a positive tone for the term, centering around the diocesan theme "Follow me."

During this enriching day, we delved into the Christian concept of ‘service,’ reflecting on the example set by Jesus Christ. We explored how ‘servant leadership’ is an expression of love, guided by the commandment to love one’s neighbour as oneself (Mt 22:39). Our discussions highlighted that service is more than individual acts of kindness; it encompasses a commitment to the well-being and flourishing of our entire community. The day was filled with moments of joy as we identified God’s love in our actions and experienced the profound fulfillment that comes from serving others.

We are excited to carry these insights and renewed energy into Term 3, fostering a community where service and love for one another are at the forefront of everything we do.

For the remainder of the term We have an array of wonderful events and activities within the ministry sphere which include:

• Year 9 Formation Day: Our Year 9 students will visit Tocal Agricultural Centre to explore their year group theme of ‘respect.’ This day promises to be an insightful and formative experience, emphasizing the importance of respect in all aspects of life.
• Feast of Mary MacKillop: On Friday, 9th August, we will celebrate the Feast of Mary MacKillop with the Sisters of St Joseph. This significant day in our school calendar is a time to honour Australia's first saint and reflect on her legacy of faith, service, and dedication to education.
• Year 12 Thanksgiving Mass and Passing of the Light Ceremony: We will celebrate and give thanks to God for the successes of our Year 12 students at our Year 12 Thanksgiving Mass. This will be followed by the poignant Passing of the Light Ceremony, symbolizing the transition of leadership from our outgoing Year 12 students to the next cohort.

Lastly, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to our school community for coming together to support the Vinnies Winter Appeal. Your generous donations are greatly appreciated and will go directly to those who are deserving and experiencing hardship. The St Vincent de Paul Society was extremely appreciative of our contributions.

This act of giving beautifully reflects our Josephite charism and the enduring legacy of the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar. The spirit of service and compassion that they instilled in our community continues to live on, inspiring us to support and uplift those in need.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community.

Ministry Calendar

From the Counsellor’s Desk

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

Wellbeing

Welcome back to term 3. The Wellbeing team is excited for another busy term filled with great initiatives.

College Theme:

The college’s focus for Term 3 is “Upstander -Our Culture”. An upstander is someone who recognises when something is wrong and does something to make it right. If an upstander sees or hears about bullying, he or she will do something. This could mean stopping the bully, reporting the event, or otherwise helping the victim even after the fact. Upstanders do their best to support and protect their peers. Students have taken the time to complete surveys based on their current understanding of the term and their experiences within the college. A key finding for the LOWE team from the survey was that whilst the overwhelming majority of students at St Joseph’s can recognise what an upstander is and could recall a time when they have seen this in action, less than half the student population could identify a time when they themselves had acted as an Upstander. Data collated has guided the LOWE team to produce what we hope will be both engaging and educational bite sized activities for use during LMG throughout the term, attempting at boosting the skills and confidence in students around this area. Three focus areas include: Upstanding in society, Upstanding in the classroom and Upstanding online.

Below are some keys events occurring this term:

-Goodluck to Year 12 on their final days of the trial examinations

-Year 9 will have their formation day on Monday 12^th August. Enjoy this opportunity with your peers

-Book week will be occurring week 5. Listen out to notices from Mrs Clarke

-Sunnyside up week is happening again in Week 6. This is run by the Wellbeing team. During the week there will be a range of opportunities for students and staff to engage in activities where you will both “see” and “be” the sunshine! We will forward details soon in relation to these planned activities.

-Year 11 are busy finalising content and preparing for their final examinations in week 8 & 9. We wish them all the best

During Term 2 Year 8 and Year 9 students engaged in police liaison talks. The sessions were extremely valuable in educating young people on how to be cyber safe and steps to avoid/deal with cyber bullying. Below is an information sheet for parents to look over and discuss with their child.

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

Careers – Opportunities & Notices

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

Yalawa Yarnings

Anikanya (Hello)!

Deadly Achievements

Congratulations to Porschea Longbottom in year 11 who is this year’s Yalawa Art award winner. Porschea’s self-portrait explores the significant aspects of her life- her Aboriginal culture, BMX racing and her love of reading. She wanted to emphasise how they intertwine and influence her day-to-day life. Well done, Porschea.

Another congratulations goes out to Willow Garnham, Xavier Martin and Taya Syron who have been selected by the Hunter Academy to be part of their 6-week training program. These three students were selected from a carnival they attended last term which had them participating in fitness testing and round robin sports.

Well done to all students who received awards at the recent Semester award ceremony. The following students obtained awards for Improved GPA, Growth and First in class: Shonoa Appelkamp, Lisa Olive, Jasmine Demamiel, Scarlet Holmes, Imani Brind, Gracie Dunn, Alexis Lantry, Amy Crick, Charlie Marsh and Sarah Wymarra.

Recent Events

NAIDOC Assembly

A huge shout out goes to all students involved in our NAIDOC ceremony last term. We had many students off sick on the day and in the lead up however the students who were in attendance stepped up and fulfilled multiple roles during the ceremony. They all did an amazing job and should be proud of themselves for embracing their culture and bravely getting up on stage.

In conjunction with our NAIDOC ceremony, we also recognised and farewelled Mr Frank Hales who has worked as an Aboriginal Education Teacher at St Joseph’s for several years. Mr Hales has well and truly earned his retirement after teaching for 49 years in the Diocese many of which involved supporting and advocating for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students.

Indigenous All Stars vs Year 12 Leaders Volleyball Game

During our school’s NAIDOC week celebrations, the Yalawa staff organised an Indigenous all-stars vs Student Leaders sport game. Whilst it started as Oz tag, the fields were too wet, so it was changed to volleyball. This game was a huge success with many students suggesting we run these events each term. These events are open to all Indigenous students from year 7-12 and we hope to have even more participation next term.

Cultural Netball Carnival

To continue with our NAIDOC events last term, 10 students attended the Cultural netball Day at San Clemente High school Mayfield. This is always a fantastic day which involves round robin netball games and cultural activities such as art, music and weaving. The students who attended this day cannot be faulted on their behaviour, enthusiasm and efforts on the netball court. These players include Jasmyn Chenery, Xavier Martin, Joan Rafferty, Riley Meers, Willow Garnham, Charli Fairlie, Addyson Kirby, Isabella Milgate, Brayden Ross and Rosena Welbourne.

Upcoming Events

YAKKA Career Program

Next term several Year 10 students will complete a 6-week Careers Program run by Yakka. The program is free for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and will teach the students vital skills in writing resumes, finding Apprenticeships as well as employability tips.

Community Events

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.’

Mrs Hannah Allen, Ms Anabel Holle and Mr Thomas Germon
Aboriginal Education Teachers

Message from the Finance Office

2024 School Fees 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 indicated a lump sum payment and have now paid. Please contact finance to discuss if needed as this is now overdue.

It is important to pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments regularly which are due in full by 30/11/2024, thank you to the families who continue with these regular payments.

If you have any concerns in meeting the 30/11/2024 due date please contact me on 0249 307 291 or email finance@lochinvarsj.catholic.edu.au 

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 entitled to a discount on your school fees, please email 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

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

Our opening hours have changed, please see new hours below:

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.