14 Jun 2023

A Message from the Principal

So much energy, so much talent! People of Strength, Faith & Hope

Over the last few weeks in particular we have seen a huge number of students and staff involved in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. Students have shone on the sporting field, on the stage, in leading assemblies and in community events. Often the media as the ‘source of truth’ reports statistics that highlight the deficits of society or a negative image of the life experience of young people and while there are certainly areas of concern and individuals that suffer incredible challenges, at St Joseph’s we are people of Strength, Faith & Hope. What does this mean in reality?

From the perspective of St Joseph’s, those with hope live the resurrection story trusting the transforming power of God, so that they act with integrity and serve with joy. They respond to challenges with optimism, they seek opportunities to promote right relationships with others and the environment. Empowered by the Spirit, they become people of hope who foster aspiration and compassion to create a better world.

As a college, we aspire to promote an innovative, future-focused culture of learning based on research and best practice, within and beyond the education sector, to enable students to “become confident and creative individuals, successful life-long learners, and active and informed members of the community”. (Alice Springs Education Declaration 2019)  

We have seen ‘living, breathing’ evidence of confident and creative individuals throughout this term. This was especially highlighted when our students took to the stage for the 2023 DioSounds Concert held at the Civic Theatre last Thursday evening. While we often reflect on the power of one to bring about change, the power of each individual was a beating heart of joy and hope, but together, the cast demonstrated the power of cooperation, collective vision, encouragement and joy. Of special note, was the leadership of our senior students and the mentoring that they provided to our junior students. The future is certainly in good hands.

Mrs Patricia Hales
College Principal

Principal’s Jottings

Year 10 Retreat

Congratulations to our Year 10 students who participated so positively in the retreat experience last week. Teachers who accompanied the students commented on the maturity that students demonstrated in their small group sessions, their openness to engaging in new ideas, willingness to form new friendships and to make the most of the time to shift away from the usual day to day busyness of life. The staff of the retreat sites at Collaroy and Benedict commented about how polite and cooperative the students were and said they were a credit to the school. Special thanks to the following staff for giving up their time to accompany students on this overnight experience – Ms. Bielby, Ms. Madden, Mrs. Schultz, Mr Johns, Mr Horder, Mr. Bain, Ms. FitzGerald, Mrs. Peattie, Mrs Stokes, Mr. Goodwin, Ms Hirst, Ms Holmes, Mr Reilly, Ms Blanch and Ms. Clunies-Ross. Special thanks to Mr. Zahra for his leadership in forming the retreat. Of course, these experiences cannot happen without staff who remain at school covering classes.

Continued success on the sporting field

Students have been involved in a wide variety of sporting competitions this term. Congratulations to all students and thank you to our staff coaches who so willingly give up their time to provide these opportunities. Special thanks to Ms Jen Corben for her work as Leader of Representative Sport. Special Congratulations to our Junior Boys Soccer Team who recently won the Diocesan Gala Day in a very competitive tournament. They now progress to the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges State Knockout.

2023 Important Dates

Note that Staff Development – Pupil Free Days are also highlighted

Pupil Free Dates 2023

Term 3 – Monday 17^th July
Term 4 – Monday 18^th & Tuesday 19^th December

IMPORTANT - 2023 Calendar Dates

Ministry Musings

Last week Year 10 attended retreat at two separate locations, The Collaroy Retreat Centre and Benedict XVI Retreat Centre. This Retreat is a crucial component to the spiritual development of our students, providing them with an opportunity to take time to think about their lives, relationships with others, and God. It is a chance for them to heed Mary MacKillop's call to "believe in the whisperings of God in your own heart." And bring this whisper into the world.

Additionally, Year 10 students explored the theme of True Grit, which means to have courage and show the strength of one’s character. ... A person with true grit has passion and perseverance, in which goals are set and followed through … A person who works really hard to follow through on commitments has true grit. Each student applied themselves to the challenging activities and conversations and revealed their inner true grit. During the Retreat, students withdrew themselves from the usual routines and constant demands of everyday life, consciously setting aside time to change their focus to introspectively examine oneself and come together as a community to reflect. Students took time to explore and nurture their spirituality while aligning it with the Josephite values of living simply, being present in the moment, trusting in God's will, practicing compassion, and service. They participated in various activities that helped them build friendships, connections, lasting memories and unpacked how they would apply their knowledge once they have stepped back into everyday life.

We extend our gratitude and thanks to all the students, for their participation in the various activities. Furthermore, thank you to all the staff who volunteered their time to guide our students through the retreat, particularly Ms Blandford and Mrs Stokes for their facilitation of the program.

Formation Dates

God Bless
Mr Taylor Zahra
Leader of College Ministry

From the Assistant Principals....

Upcoming Parent Teacher Interviews

St. Joseph’s will be providing two opportunities for parents to speak with their child’s teacher; Thursday 29^th June from 4-7pm and Friday 30^th June from 8.30 – 2pm. This is a valuable time for parents to seek feedback on their child’s learning which can be couched around the following questions published by Dr. Lynn Sharratt.

1. What is my child learning?
2. How is she or he doing?
3. How do you know (how she or he is doing)?
4. How can she or he improve?
5. What supports can I provide and can you provide if she or he is struggling? When can we check in again?

These questions mirror those that are asked of students when we engage in our learning walks. In addition, I would encourage students to read through their Semester 1 report and use the comments for improvement in setting their goals for the remainder of the year.

Tell Them From Me postponed

As you may be aware, each year around this time, the Catholic Schools Office asks that teachers, students and parents complete the Tell Them From Me survey. This survey gives schools valuable feedback that can be considered when developing strategic plans.

The Catholic Schools Office has postponed this year’s survey to allow for greater time between surveys and therefore more accurate gathering of data.

NAPLAN results – Years 7 and 9

NAPLAN results will be released to schools in late June and will be reported using proficiency standards. Please click on the link to find out more about the Proficiency Standards.

Change of Assessment Dates

From the Counsellor’s Desk

Coach 2 Cope Event

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

Wellbeing

Its been another busy fortnight at the College with many students completing assessments and preparing for upcoming exams, particularly our senior students. Below are some helpful tips for students to use to strengthen their mental health prior to assessments.

7 Tips To Strengthen Mental Health Before Exams

If you get stressed when exams are around the corner, you should know you’re not alone. The exam period is quite daunting for many students. Some even get stressed despite being fully prepared and ready for the exams.

All students need to find ways of strengthening their mental health before exams. This is quite essential because you’ll be depending entirely on your mental state throughout the exam period.

An exhausted and worried mind cannot perform at its best. You need to be well rested and prepared before sitting for your first exam.

Here are seven tips that will help you strengthen your mental health.

1. Get Enough Sleep - Before getting into an exam room, your mind should have had enough time to rest and rejuvenate. You'd have an easier time remembering answers to the exam questions if you had enough sleep the previous night.

As a young person, you need to get at least eight hours of sleep every night, so your brain functions at its best.            The last thing you want to do when exams are around the corner is pulling all-nighters.

2. Take Time to Study - The main reason why people worry when exams are close is that they didn’t study enough. It’s hard not to be stressed when you know full well you’re not ready to sit for exams.

Throughout the semester, take time to study so that you don’t struggle to complete the coursework a week to             the exam date.

 For better success at studying, make sure you surround yourself with success-oriented students. You also need             to join discussion groups that will help you understand complex concepts in a shorter time.

3. Consult Your Teachers - Life is much easier when you seek help each time you're stuck.

The teachers are there to help you with whatever you need; academic or otherwise. Always seek helps instead of struggling to solve a problem on your own.

4. Eat Healthy Foods - Did you know that the foods you eat determine how productive you can be? Avoid just food because this only causes you to be slow and unproductive. Invest in fruits and vegetables as these foods have the nutrients to boost your brain activity.

When you get into an exam room, you need your brain as active as possible so that you can remember what you studied throughout the semester.

5. Cut Yourself Some Slack  The truth is there will always be that one question whose answer you cannot remember. Before you get into an exam room, understand that you're human, and perfection is only an illusion.

6. Exercise  A simple morning run can go a long way in ensuring that your mental state is a table before and during exams.

7. Believe in Yourself - If you’ve gone through all your notes, you have no reason to be worried.

We hope students and parents find these study tips useful.

In the coming weeks Year 11 students will have the opportunity to participate in some one off study skill sessions for individual KLA areas. These will be quite timely with Year 11 preparing for their upcoming exams. The study sessions will be held on a Wednesday morning during Flexi-learning time. Students will opt-in to a Compass Event by the Sunday night prior to the session and a note will be sent out to students in the coming days. A session on wellbeing around study and exam time will be held and we encourage all students to be involved in this valuable session.

We encourage all students to reach out to any member of the Wellbeing team if they need assistance in any areas of their schooling. With three weeks to go until school holidays we hope all students finish the term strong and continue to make each day an enjoyable day at the College.

Ms Alison Lynch, Ms Abbie Marston, Mr Geoffrey and Mr Bain.
Leaders of Learning-Wellbeing

Curriculum News (KLA’s)

3: Numbering all the pages of a book, I use exactly 2929 digits. How many pages does the book have?

HSIE News

St Joseph's College win secondary schools Young Environmental Champions Award.

On Friday, 12^th May 2023,  Year 8 students Rose Martin, Adelaide Harding, Isabella Newman and Charles Wilson represented St Josephs at the Hunter Regions Young Environmental Champions held at Newcastle Museum. The event organised by Action for Agriculture and Youth4Action, combined to give a voice to its young citizens to investigate and instigate current environmental concerns in their community and appeal directly to current NSW leaders. Our team took home the championship with a compelling Q&A regarding plans for urban development and potential flooding risks in the local area.  There was a pool of 10 schools competing on the day, with St Joseph’s coming away with a win.

Big thank you to the combined efforts of the HSIE and Agricultural teams for supporting the students entry. Lochinvar students can do anything!

Ms Renee Wilcher
Leaders of Learning HSIE

Careers – Opportunities & Notices

Seniors Newsletter

Yalawa Yarnings

Anikanya (Hello)!

Deadly achievements

Thank you and well done to all students who volunteered to participate in Reconciliation Week activities. There were approximately 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander and non-Indigenous students who were involved in creating videos, compass messages, and the assembly, which was held on Friday. The Aboriginal Education team were both appreciative and proud that so many students put up their hand to send the strong message of action and unity for a more reconciled tomorrow.

An additional shout out goes to Charlie Marsh and Kurtis Leverton who performed the didgeridoo on stage with respected Bunjalung man (who now lives on Wonnarua land), Johnny Robinson. Johnny conducted a didgeridoo session with 8 of our male students and Kurtis and Charlie then volunteered to play on stage at the Catholic Schools Week assembly. They all did a fantastic job, and we are so proud.

Upcoming events

NAIDOC assembly will occur on Tuesday 27^th June. All families of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students are invited and welcome to this assembly which will be held at 10.30am in Mackillop Place. We would love for you to attend and encourage you to promote these events to your child/children whether that be being part of the assembly or attending cultural events at lunch time which include traditional Aboriginal games, weaving, didgeridoo.

Community events

Please see the following cultural events happening in July which are being run by the Catholic Schools Office;

• NAIDOC Week Prayer Service:  Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sunday 2 July from 1pm for a 2pm start – the event is in collaboration with the Newcastle Anglican Diocese and other local faith communities and commences the start of NAIDOC Week.

                                      Register here: https://NAIDOCprayerservice.eventbrite.com.au

• NAIDOC Week Community Festival: Monday 3 July. Commencing at 9am with a flag-raising in Civic Park and procession to Foreshore Park, Newcastle where a community Festival, hosted by Awabakal Ltd will take place from 10am-3pm. The Diocese and CatholicCare Social Services have taken out a sponsorship tent at the festival. There are opportunities for staff to volunteer at this event by filling in the following form:  https://forms.office.com/r/xVUrq64nqH
• An Evening with Noel Pearson: The Toohey Room on Sunday 16 July from 5pm - 8pm. Listen to Noel’s connection to Aboriginal Spirituality, his work on the Uluru Statement from the Heart and The Voice to Parliament. Concluding with a Q&A panel session that will include Noel, Louise Campbell (Catholic Schools Office) and Aunty Di Langham (Anglican Diocese). Register here: https://NP2023.eventbrite.com.au
• Common Grace, Listen to the Heart, Training Workshop– The Victor Peters Suite, Tuesday 18 July, 10am – 12:30pm. An event to educate the importance of voting and spark conversations so you can make an informed decision when voting later in the year.  Register here: https://listentotheheart.eventbrite.com.au

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. The earlier that we can intervene with matters, the better the chance of a successful outcome. Below is a table of when our Aboriginal Education Teachers are on site and relevant contact details.

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

Thank you to those families who have settled 2023 School Fees and those who are making regular payments towards the annual account. 

Statements were emailed on Friday, 2^nd June, please review your balance and ensure regular payments with fees to be finalised by 30^th November 2023.   

If you have any concerns in regard to your account please 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

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. 

If you are a current holder of an Australian Government Health Care Card or Pension card you may be intitled to a discount on your school fees.  Please complete the attached forms and email to finance@lochinvarsj.catholic.edu.au along with a copy of your current health care card or pension card.

General News

ASPIRE The Pirate Code

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

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