Congratulations to our students and staff for your contributions to the Vinnies Winter Appeal. It looks impressive in the foyer and I hope students continue to be generous to those who are  less fortunate than themselves. 

It is part of our Christian duty to look out for those in need. Sometimes that need is not a physical need, but an emotional one - everyone deserves respect and to be listened to. This can be done daily when at school or in the workplace. It does not mean you have to be best friends but it means you are polite and acknowledge them as people who you go to school or work with. Kindness always matters.

Our Year 12 students met with Bishop Brian Mascord on Thursday and were engaged in his discussion and asked questions of him that hopefully will lead to an increase in understanding of the role of the Bishop in the Diocese. Thank you to Year 12 for their excellent behaviour and presentation.

The Push-up challenge has been a great initiative of awareness raising for our young people. Year 9’s participation in YAM (Youth and Mental Health) this week was excellent. Thank you to our external presenters for such a positive engagement with our young people.

Thank you to the staff who are acting in different positions during my absence. I will be on  leave from Wednesday next week. During this time Mr Shelton is Acting Principal, Ms Biddle is Acting Assistant Principal and Mrs Curcio-Borg is Acting REC.

Mr Greg Miller is acting as Leader of Student Wellbeing while Mr Dribbus is on leave and Mrs Musgrave is taking on Ms Powers duties as Sports Coordinator and Stage 5 PAL.

Next week we will welcome Ms Jennifer Madden who will be joining our English faculty for the remainder of 2024.

Ms Amanda Wilson

Principal

Parents in Partnership

Year 12

Trial HSC exam schedules have been distributed to students this week. Most student’s have a number of assessments due over the next couple of weeks. Students are reminded that they should also be allocating time at home and at school in study periods to prepare for these exams. Class teachers are the best source for help in preparing but common tips to consider include summary notes, tables, practice exam questions/past papers, mind maps linking key points and content, flash cards for key terms/concepts. A reminder that understanding the syllabus should also be a priority when preparing for exams.

Year 11

Year 11 have end of year exams at the end of Term 3. Similar to Year 12, there will also be a number of assessments students will need to complete either at the end of this term or early in Term 3. Students should use the time now to prepare a revision/study schedule to help manage the workload and begin preparing for these exams.

Year 10

Thanks to the students and families who attended the Year 11 2025 Information night last week as well as the staff/students who gave up their time to speak to those in attendance. We are wrapping up the preparation phase of the process over the next week holding mentor interviews with students and their parents/carers. Please make an appointment on Compass for an interview if you have not done so already. The initial phase of subject selection should take place in Week 8 or 9.

The next round of Minimum Standards Testing will take place in Week 10. More details on specific days for the tests will be provided in coming days. Students need to be at school when these tests are on.

Year_11_2025_Subject_Information_Handbook.pdf

Year 8

The Elective Information Handbook has been distributed to students this week (document link provided below). Next Tuesday evening we will be holding an information session for students and their families in the school gym.

The event will start at 5:30pm with LoL’s/Teachers from each of the KLA’s who run elective courses available to answer any questions you may have about any elective course you may be interested in. This will be followed by a short 30min information session regarding NESA requirements for electives and Stage 5 education as well as the process for choosing electives. All students are expected to attend preferably with a family member where possible.

Stage_5_Subject_Information_Handbook_2025.pdf

Years 7-10 Reports

Semester 1 reports for students in Years 7-10 will be distributed in Week 10.

Reports are a valuable means to provide feedback on academic progress across the semester. Reviewing reports and making an appointment with a student’s teacher should be seen as a priority to help students reassess their learning goals so they continue to achieve academic growth in Semester 2.

Mr Brett Moran

Curriculum Coordinator

CAN DRIVE

Donations are still welcome. The cans will be collected at the front office where students will receive TWO house points for every can donated. This fundraiser will run from Term 2, Week 4 until the end of Term 2, Week 10. 

 

We understand that not everyone can give at this time, so if you cannot support our fundraiser we ask that you please keep the vulnerable in our communities in your prayers. 

CAN_DRIVE_2_.pdf

CAN_DRIVE_2 pdf 602.45 KB

Winter Warmer - Soup for Sale

Next week, Thursday 27th June during lunch, the SRC students will be selling freshly made soup prepared by the Hospitality students. There will be three different flavours to choose from:

• Potato and Leek
• Cream of Chicken and Corn
• Cream of Tomato and Fennel

 All soup will be served with a crusty buttered bread slice for $2.00.

Comfy Day/ Lunchtime Movie

During Week 10, Thursday 4th of July students will be permitted to wear appropriate comfortable clothing such as hoodies, sweatpants, ugg boots, etc. suitable for a cold winter's day.  Students will also be permitted to bring pillows and blankets.

Students will be required to bring a gold coin donation and all proceeds will go to the Vinnies Winter Appeal. Then at lunchtime, a movie will be playing in the hall and students have the option of purchasing Hot Popcorn for $2.00 and/or Fairy Floss for $3.00.

All proceeds go to the Vinnies Winter Appeal

TERM 2 2024

June

25th - Year 9 2025 Subject Selection Information Evening

2nd - Years 7-10 Parent Teacher Interviews via zoom

TERM 3 2024

July

22nd - Staff Development Day - Spirituality

23rd - Term 3 Commences. Years 7-10 Parent-Teacher Interviews

August

2nd - Diocesan Athletics Carnival

5th - 19th - Trial HSC Exams

8th - Feast of Mary of the Cross Mackillop

15th - Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

19th - Staff Development Day - New Curriculum Implementation

September

12th - R U OK? Day

16th - 27th - Year 11 Preliminary Exams

16th - 20th - Year 12 HSC Intensive Week

20th - Final House Assembly, Year 12 Activity Afternoon

25th - Year 12 Final Assembly & Year 12 Graduation (Day Events)

27th - Last Day Term 3

Year 9 & 10 Food Technology

Year 9 Food Technology made Lebanese wraps with spiced/roasted chickpeas, tabouli and tzatziki. All enjoyed the change of proteins.

Year 9 & 10 also made a Margherita Pizza this week.

Year 11 Cookery (Hospitality)

This week Year 11 Cookery made a couple of recipes of gnocchi. Potato gnocchi with brown butter, sage and pine nuts. Then Spinach and ricotta gnocchi with tomato sugo.

Mackillop Class

This week the students cooked non baked cheesecake cupcakes as well as rice paper rolls. These were delicious and wonderful success!

Students learnt measurement of ingredients, combining ingredients and folding cream into the cheesecake bowl. 

Year 12 Biology classes attended a field trip to The Museum of Human Disease at the University of New South Wales.

The students got to learn about a wide range of diseases and how they affect the body and see real specimens of organs that have been affected by these diseases. In the afternoon the students then got to partake in a series of activities to do with genetics and how traits are passed down through generations.

Students had a fantastic day and left with an increased knowledge in these key areas of the Biology syllabus.

Diocesan Athletics Team

Congratulations on all students selected to represent St Joseph’s Catholic High School in the Diocesan Athletics Team. The team will compete at the Wollongong Diocesan Secondary Athletics Championships to be held at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Friday 2nd August. A charter bus has been organised to transport students to and from the event. Students will need to arrive at school bright and early at 6:15am.

Permission notes have been put onto Compass so could all parents/guardians please pay and give consent ASAP. It is expected that all students will attend this event. If students cannot attend (e.g due to injury), we need time to be able to fill their spots so that St Joseph’s can have maximum representation at the carnival. If unable to attend, please decline the event and ask your child to let Mrs Musgrave know why they are unable to attend (email musgravec01@dow.catholic.edu.au).

The team that has been selected can be found at this link:

Diocesan Athletics Team

Athletics Age Champions

Congratulations to the following students who are age champion or runner-up age champion from the school athletics carnival.

Year 10 PASS helping at St Paul's Athletics Carnival 13th June 2024 

On Thursday, the 13th of June, 18 students from the Year 10 PASS Class attended the St. Paul's Athletics Carnival at Croome Rd to assist in the smooth running of events. This is part of one of their modules exploring opportunities and pathways in the sporting industry, which they will be learning about later in Term 4.

The students embraced the opportunity to run novelty races, timekeep, and encourage the students to participate in field events. A highlight of the day was seeing Tasman Rippon run the 100m with a Kinder student who was hesitant to compete on his own. It was a wonderful display of support and encouragement. Well done to the Year 10 PASS Class.

A big thank you to Mrs Foster for supervising the students on the day.

The St Joseph’s students’ behaviour was so good that we received this email from the Principal of St Paul’s:

“Dear Teachers and students of St Joseph's,

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to each one of you for your invaluable assistance during our athletics carnival last Thursday. Your enthusiasm, and hard work played a crucial role in making the event a success.

Your willingness to step up and help in various capacities ensured that the carnival ran smoothly and efficiently. From setting up equipment to managing activities and cheering on the participants, your contributions did not go unnoticed. The positive energy and team spirit you brought were truly inspiring and greatly appreciated by everyone involved.

Once again, thank you for your support and for being such wonderful representatives of St Joseph's. We look forward to collaborating with you in future events.

Warm regards,

Angela Pecnik

Principal

St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary School, Albion Park

Basketball NSW CCC Qualifying Tournament 13th June 2024

On Thursday the 12th June, the Intermediate Boys Basketball contested the annual invitational knockout competition to challenge for a spot in the NSW CCC Basketball Championships.

The team trained in the early morning before school for most of Term 1 and 2. They were pumped and ready for their first game together.

Being a knockout competition, we needed to win our first game against Edmund Rice.

The boys started out well, matching Edmund Rice, basket for basket in the first half. Joey's went into the half time break being 1 point ahead. Unfortunately, the second half did not start too well. The one point lead quickly became a 12 point deficit. Unfortunately, we could not compete with the depth and experience of the Edmund Rice team, who won the game 47 to 67. Congratulations boys. You showed that you can mix it with the best. An awesome effort for a team who had not played together before and one that consisted of many Year 7 & 8 players.

Next Year !!!!

A huge thank you to Mrs Linsley who trained the boys before school on Tuesday mornings all year. Thanks also to all the parents who have driven their boys to these early morning training sessions. Training will start again as we get closer to the basketball gala day which will be held in Term 4.

The team consisted of Thomas Hoffman, Solomon Liu, Nash Burling, Jake Burling, Alex Sipka, Archie Faulks, Jack Woodward, Brody Tomasi, Jake Eager, Jack Rabay. Reserves Chase Goodman, Jaxon Moran. Injured Taj Miller.

Diocesan Netball Gala Day 14th June 2024

Thanks so much to Mrs Foster, Miss Allen, Mrs Madaschi and Miss Sumner who have given up their time to train and coach the girls.

A big ‘Thank you’ goes to Mrs Behl and Mrs Sharkey who put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to organise the Diocesean Netball carnival and ensure the smooth running of the day.

Junior Team A

Team B

Intermediate

Senior

Our seniors played  in Division 2 this year, competing in 5 games against some very strong teams. Despite not securing any wins they all played some great Netball. Kiana Rieck gave shooting a try and Kelsey May was very skilled picking up lots of rebounds in the defensive end. Bella Sacco was a late call up, had never played before and contributed to the team's efforts in a midcourt position. The girls enjoyed a great day of Netball and for some, it was their last Dio Carnival.

Push-Up Challenge

Lots of St Joseph’s students and staff have been taking part in the Push-Up challenge. The point of the challenge is to raise awareness of the number of lives lost to suicide in Australia and to raise awareness of mental health issues. Money raised in this challenge goes towards programs supporting the mental health.

Every Friday lunch in the COLA, teachers and students have been coming together to do push-ups which has been a lovely way to raise awareness and have fun as a Joey’s community.

Checkout the Joey's team if you would like to have a look at all the students and teachers involved and leave a message of support.

https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/fundraiser/stjosephscatholichighschoolalbionpark

Solomon Liu (Year 9) - Basketball

Congratulations to Sol who will be representing NSW Country at the upcoming U16 National Basketball Tournament to be held in Bendigo in July. This is a huge achievement. St Joseph’s will be cheering you on.

Emily Hollingsworth - AFL

Congratulations to Emily who has been selected to be part of the AFL’s 2024 National Woomeras Program to take place in Brisbane from 11th-13th July. Emily will be able to develop her football and leadership skills through this program. Congratulations Emily!

If your child has had sporting success outside of school we want to hear about it. 

Please email details to Mrs Musgrave - Acting Sports Coordinator (musgravec01@dow.catholic.edu.au)

St Joseph’s Sports Instagram Page 

For all things sports follow social media page @SJCHSSPORTS

CAREER NEWS BULLETIN

Please see below the Career News Bulletin for this week's career news. 

For more information or to book an appointment, please contact:

Sue Kennedy

Transition and Pathways Specialist/ Career Adviser

kennedys01@dow.catholic.edu.au

• The Premier's Reading Challenge - 26/2/24 -23/8/24
• NAIDOC Week - 7/7/24 - 14/7/24
• The Paris Olympics which begins on 26/7/24
• CBCA Book Week "Reading is Magic" - 17- 23 August 2024

A huge thank you to Mr Sutton’s Year 11 Numeracy class who have been sorting through the yellow recycling bins and recording and removing all contaminants in them.

They have been producing graphs for the school community about the number of contaminants (including soft plastics and paper towels) in each bin and tracking progress overtime. They have also been removing all 10c eligible bottles so that this money can go to families in need in our community.

This is a wonderful example of numeracy skills being put to the very valuable task of ensuring all materials put in the recycling bin are recyclable.

Thank you Mr Sutton and his numeracy class!

Being a part of the Saint Joseph's School vocal ensemble has a myriad of benefits that extend beyond musical proficiency. The Saint Joseph's School vocal ensemble fosters a sense of community and camaraderie, offering a supportive environment where individuals collaborate towards a shared artistic goal.

Through regular rehearsals (every Wednesday Week B Lunchtime in Music room E01) and performances, students develop discipline, time management skills, and resilience in overcoming challenges. Vocal groups also provide a platform for self-expression, allowing students to explore their creativity and build confidence in their abilities. Not to mention singing is also loads of fun!

All levels of vocal ability and every year group from 7-12 are invited to attend. 

Happy Singing!

Mrs Minns 

SJCHS will again celebrate Book Week this year between 17th-23rd August 2024. The theme is "Reading is Magic". So put on your thinking hats and start thinking of ideas for this year's dress up!

SJCHS is also participating in the Premier's Reading Challenge for 2024, so don't forget to log all the books you are reading into the PRC online. Your English teacher will have your username and passwords.

The Library Staff

UNIFORM SHOP WILL BE CLOSED THIS SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

The school uniform shop will not be trading during the upcoming Winter Holidays. 

The Last day of trade for Term 2 will be Thursday 4th July, 2024 and resume normal trading hours for Term 3 will be on Monday 22nd July, 2024. 

UNIFORM REMINDER

A reminder to all students regarding your Blazers. Please ensure your Name is clearly labelled on your blazer incase you misplace it. There have been blazers handed in with no name and it is important that they have a name on them so they can be returned to the student.

NORMAL TRADING HOURS

Monday 11:30 am - 4:30pm

Thursday 8:30am - 1:30pm

ORDERING UNIFORMS

Online Ordering - click link below

ONLINE ORDERING

By Appointment - click link below

BY APPOINTMENT

This is an opportunity for you and your supervisor to experience a variety of driving conditions including night time driving to increase safe driver behaviour.

All learner drivers must have 40 or more log book hours.

Bookings are essential click on the link to register. https://forms.office.com/r/kBM2Vdzgr8