Our celebration of Catholic Schools Week culminated with St Joseph’s Open Day on Saturday. It is a testament to the school that over 110 students gave up their time on Saturday to showcase the wonderful opportunities that students have at St Joseph’s. Thank you to the staff for their unwavering support and especially to the students who are magnificent ambassadors for the school community.

On Thursday, students experienced Eric Genuis  - a huge thank you to Fr Mark De Baptista from Port Kembla Parish, for initiating this opportunity for the students. Eric was not only a musical genius and composer, and was supported by world-class musicians in Violin and Cello, but presented an inspirational message to students about what is really important in life. To only bring things into our lives that enrich us and are positive, is not advisable. The music that you listen to is an influence on you too. We need to have positive people influencing us in all aspects of our lives.

This message was reiterated by our guest speaker at our International Women’s Day assembly on Monday; past student of St Joseph’s, Kaliah Calabas. Kaliah was gracious in sharing her life story. She is an actress on the international stage, however, her central message was around the importance of positive relationships in our lives – follow your dreams, however remembering to nourish and enrich the relationships closest to us is also important. Congratulations to all our award recipients for International Women's Day.

Catholic schools are places of hope – hope for a future that holds positive relationships and the capacity to go out and make a difference. It is honouring the teachings of Jesus to be tolerant and love one another and to always act justly. Having choices in our education system is very important; choosing a faith-based school is choosing the values that are important to the social development of young people – as well as a quality education that develops critical thinking skills and the ability to communicate and collaborate.

This Friday, we have a whole school carnival for the Cross Country. Participation on this day is compulsory as it supports the social and physical development of your child. Schooling is a ‘package’ deal – you take on all aspects and ‘have a go’ at everything. Thank you to the staff for all their organisation of these events.

You should notice that our Newsletter has a new and improved format. We believe that this will make it easier for parents to access relevant information and it also has an alternate language selection. Family members and friends will be able to read information in an alternate language. Isn’t technology useful!

NAPLAN 2019
Students in Years 7 and 9 will this year be taking part in NAPLAN testing in Term 2 from 14 - 17 May.  This year NAPLAN will be online and students will be using their own digital devices to access the testing platform.  To ensure the smooth running of the testing period, year 7 and 9 students will be participating in a training session and practise test.  These will take place over the coming weeks and students will be provided with full details.

Contact Details and Medical Information

If your contact details have changed, please telephone the school office on 4230 8500.  For convenience, you may also email your contact details to the school at info@sjchdow.catholic.edu.au.

Please ensure the school office has up to date medical information for your child's medical condition.

St Joseph's Cross Country Carnival  
The St Joseph’s Annual Cross Country Carnival is being held at the Kembla Joggers Cross Country Running Park at Brownsville this Friday 15th March. The Cross Country Carnival is compulsory for all students in Years 7-12. Students may make their own way to the venue or they can catch their normal school bus to St Joseph's and catch the shuttle bus to and from the venue.

Students will form teams of 6 within their year group and will participate in a tabloid of events. Prizes will be awarded and the aim of the day is for maximum participation and enjoyment. It's a great day to build school community! Teams are encouraged to dress and prizes for the best-dressed teams will be awarded. The organisation of teams will take place at year meetings prior to the event. A Google form will be sent to all students to assist in the organisation of the event. All students are required to complete this form.

A Canteen will be operating on the day and the Mission Team will be taking orders for Vegetarian or Cheese pizza's which will be delivered at lunchtime.  Refer to Sentral notices next week for ordering details.

Students are reminded to please ensure that you have sunblock, any asthma or other medication (if applicable) and water bottles. And a final reminder to ensure that appropriate clothing is worn.

 CROSS COUNTRY - FRIDAY 15TH MARCH

Representative Sport Update
NSW Country Championships Athletics  
Grace Shaw of Year 11, kept herself busy during the school holidays working on her skills in high jump. From the 25th-27th of January Grace competed at the NSW Country Championships in Newcastle in both the U18's and Opens Women's High Jump event and won gold in both events. Grace is now the NSW Country Championship in both U18's and Opens division.   

On Sunday 3rd March, Grace competed at the State Youth Titles in the U18's High Jump at Sydney Olympic Park and achieved Bronze which has qualified her to compete at the Australian Track and Field Championships held in early April. Grace is also competing above her age division and is 12 months younger than her opponents, this is due to new age changes in athletics.  Grace has started training with one of the Australian coaches, who snapped Grace up after watching her performance at the Australian Championships. Congratulations Grace and good luck with your upcoming training and events!

NSW Country Championships Swimming  
Matt Leembruggen of Year 8 recently competed at the NSW Swimming Country Championships. Matt achieved some great results again in the pool, inclusive of two individual medals silver in the 200m Backstroke and bronze in the 100m Backstroke. Matt also achieved silver for the medley relay and a bronze for the freestyle relay; Matt swam PB’s in other events he competed in. Matt was also able to clock two National Age Championship qualifying times and so Matt will get the opportunity to compete in Adelaide in April. Congratulations Matt and good luck with your upcoming events!

NSW All Schools Triathlon  
On Friday the 1^st March, St Joseph’s entered two female Triathlon teams in the NSW All Schools Triathlon held in Penrith, which produced some tough conditions due to the heat. The Junior team made up of Serena Woolfe (Cycle), Anastasia Bierczynski (Swim) and Tayissa Buchanan (Run) who entered their second consecutive Triathlon as a team, made improvements as individuals and as a team finishing the event midfield. The senior team was made up of Sophie Mills (Swim), Tahlia Dole (Cycle) and Ruby Sawtell (Run). Similar to the Junior team the girls had entered their second consecutive All Schools Triathlon event. The Senior team again produced some very impressive results coming 3^rd overall and claiming the silver amongst the NSWCCC division. A special mention goes to Sophie Mills who backed up for her team after partaking in the Individual event on the previous day. Sophie had an amazing swim leg and finished very strongly in a distance she had not competed in before. Congratulations to all involved on the day.

NSW State Surf Life Saving Championships  
Xavier Davis of Year 8, competed at the NSW State Surf Life Saving Championships from the 1st - 3rd March. Xavier achieved some outstanding results, inclusive of a bronze medal for his efforts in the U13s Surf Swim team. Congratulations to you and your team mates Xavier and good luck at your future carnivals.

Diocesan Touch Football Gala Day  

On Wednesday 27th February the Joey's girls touch teams took on schools from around the region at the Diocesan Touch Football Gala Day at Dalton Park. We had strong teams entering the U13s, U15s and Opens competitions, with all students working hard to play nine fast-paced games throughout the day. The U13s team, coached by Mr Kyriacou, performed very well on the day, finishing up fourth in their pool. Thank you to Taylah Vella, Rome McGrath and Will McLaughlin who helped referee the games all day. All students were outstanding ambassadors for St Joseph's, displaying a positive attitude and good sportsmanship in every game they played.  

War on Waste - Doing Great Things!

Together with the 2 week Red Bin Challenge, Ocean in Focus, Oak Flats High School, Warilla High School and St Joseph's took to the shores of Little Lake for Clean Up Australia Day.  We collected over 200 cigarette butts, straws, bottle tops, fishing line, rope, small plastics, soft plastics, 9 full garbage bins that will go to landfill, a dumped suitcase and a bag of clothes!  We are extremely proud of the 6 students that attended last Friday.  They were all so enthusiastic and not at all worried about handling the rubbish.  As we collected rubbish, there was lots of talk about how we can better educate the whole school community with regard to waste management.  Our job on the day was to collect as much rubbish as we could to prevent it from ending up in the ocean.  Most of what we collected, did end up in landfill, but nonetheless, it didn't end up in a fish, bird or turtles stomach.

Our students were also featured in the Illawarra Mercury for their outstanding contribution.  Please read the great article here!

Presentation at Nazareth Primary School
On Friday 1st March, Callum Ellis from Year 12 was invited to attend Nazareth Primary School to give 3 x 45 minute presentations to our Primary Year 6 Leaders at a Leadership Day focusing on 'Journeys'.  Callum was accompanied by Mr Casolin and Mr Fenech, along with our whole VR system and he amazed all the Year 6 leaders with his presentation on his VR Journey in animation as well as a great opportunity to showcase St Joseph's.  Labor MP Anna Watson and the Principal of Nazareth Primary School were extremely impressed with Callum's display and the way that Joseph's goes above and beyond to support students in developing their career paths.  Congratulations Callum on an outstanding presentation.

Ash Wednesday 
On Shrove Tuesday 5th March, Ms Wilson, Mr Fenech and members of our Mission Team attended a Mass at Stella Maris Primary School, celebrated by Father Bryan Jones and attended by representatives from surrounding Diocesan schools, to collect ashes which were used at our own Ash Wednesday Liturgy.  

Year 11 Hospitality 
Year 11 Hospitality students have completed their first few practical lessons. Learning how to hold, use and clean a range of knives to cut a variety of vegetables into various classical French cuisine shapes and sizes-jardiniere, julienne, brunoise etc. They also made clarified butter (ready to cook croutons in for Caesar salad next week), crushed garlic and each student cut 2kg of onions into finely diced (brunoise) and finely sliced half rings. This fortnight we used these precision knife/cutting skills to make Thai Beef salad and Rice paper rolls.

GAP YEAR DEFENCE FORCES -the chance to experience life in the ADF – with no commitment beyond one year.

Applications are now open for ADF Gap Year roles across the Navy, Army and Air Force. Unlike any ordinary gap year, this gives your students the opportunity to:

• Get involved in fulfilling and worthwhile work
• Gain valuable skills and work experience
• Enjoy a good salary package
• Live a varied, active and healthy life
• Make friends with like-minded people
• See more of Australia

LANDSCAPE Construction APPRENTICESHIPs - for the Sydney area  
Our Apprenticeship program is unique. We don’t just move you from project to project. You will have the chance to work in all sectors of the landscaping industry across three different businesses: residential, mid-scale commercial and large scale landscape construction. This program allows you to gain experience in all areas of Landscape Construction, ultimately giving you the tools to secure your future.

YOU WILL REQUIRE:

•    Willingness to learn, a can-do and positive attitude
•    Drivers Licence and access to a car
•    Interest in landscaping and landscape construction

If you are interested in applying; please send a CV to rebecca@explorecareers.com.au   – please indicate that you wish to apply for an apprentice position.

We would like to invite all Parents, Friends and Carers to attend the Parent’s & Friends Annual General Meeting on Monday 18^th March, at 7 pm.  It is an opportunity for parent discussion and the promotion of support, sharing and communication within the school community.  The committee promotes ideas and discussions on any relevant issues that will benefit the education and learning experience of students, and to work to provide valuable resources for students and staff.

As a committee, we strive to enhance the sense of community by working together to encourage parent involvement in activities including social, sporting, spiritual and educational life of the school community.  We provide a friendly and relaxed environment in which to meet other parents and staff and support our school in a positive and active way.  We encourage any involvement and appreciate the commitment and dedication of all involved and hope to see as many enthusiastic and motivated people as possible. Please join us to work towards a future that benefits students, staff and the school community.  
Rachel Woolfe, Treasurer

As we are now in the season of Lent, the Canteen will not be serving meat or chicken products on Friday's.  Lent Menu 2019.  Monday to Thursdays will be our usual menu.

Please click the link below to be directed to the School website for access to current Permission Notes.

Uniform Shop - WE HAVE MOVED!  
The Uniform Shop has now relocated to the front of the school.  Please access the new Uniform Shop via the pathway (laid by our Construction students as part of their practical assessment) that runs parallel to the front of the Administration building.

New Uniform Shop phone number is: 0413 441 892
Hours: Monday 12 pm - 4 pm and Thursday 8:30 am - 1:30 pm