A reminder about school fees for those families who have significant amounts still outstanding.

We have been asked by the CEO to follow up outstanding school fees. We ask that you address any outstanding fees as soon as possible.

We appreciate your support with the payment of your fees. If you are experiencing significant financial difficulties, please do not hesitate to speak to the finance office.

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you and your family enjoyed a good Easter break. For Christians it is the most important time of the year. I often reflect on what type of person I am whether I am a Good Friday person - looking at the horror and pain of the crucifixion through life or an Easter Sunday person who looks at the joy of the risen Lord and celebrates all that life can bring? It is an interesting thought exercise but in reality you need to have both elements to be a full human being.

STAFFING

We are working in such interesting times. The teacher shortage has really affected our casual pool of teachers who are available to cover teachers when absent.  Mr Invernon has also resigned and that position is currently advertised. We also have a current advertisement ( 2nd time advertised for an English teacher to replace Ms Williams when she goes on parental leave (soon!). Mrs Oliverio has taken an opportunity at another school and is not returning to St Joseph’s therefore there have been class changes to English and HSIE classes. We welcome Mr Young to HSIE, Ms Anazlone and Mrs Smith to English, Ms Sneddon to Science and we welcome back Mr McGuire to TAS. 

CAMPS

We are making some changes to events for this term. I am concerned with running camps for students in a whole year group situation in the winter months due to the forecasted flu season. This health concern combined with lack of available casual teachers to support the school has made staffing the Year group camps impossible as I cannot meet the staffing ratios required, as well as operate for the remainder of the school community, in particular for our senior students. We have already tried to move the camps to Term 4 but the venues are unavailable. We have prioritised the Year 12 Retreat and the curriculum based excursions such as PASS and PDHPE. Therefore, we are moving the booked camps for Year 8 and 9 to day only events. Parents will receive a partial credit as part of their fees. Students will still be participating in the activities for the camp over the two day period but will be bused to the venue each day. More details and permission notes will be forwarded closer to the event. 

COVID

I wish to inform parents we have created a Health Plan for the school for Terms 2 and 3 

as COVID and the usual winter infections affect staff and students.

No students or staff are to be at school if symptomatic of any infection. Those with chronic conditions, such as asthma, should be supported with a doctor’s certificate. 

Each faculty has created a plan for continuity of work for students if staff are absent so that student learning is the priority.

Hopefully we will not come to the point of needing to enact this plan for the school but I would like for parents to know of the planning that goes on behind the scenes and hopefully we can keep everyone healthy throughout the winter months. 

• If we reach 12  teaching staff absent (sick/carers leave)  we will implement other strategies that may include students learning from home or the combination of classes for the next 5 days. We will also request support from the CEO for staffing at this point. A mask mandate will be reintroduced. 
• If we reach a point of 15  - 20 teaching staff absent (sick leave - not on excursions/PD etc) for 2 or more days we will return to remote learning for 5 days. To create a ‘stop gap’ measure to allow staff to recover and to assist with the reduction of infection rates.   
• If we reach 40% of a year group student absent we may deem it appropriate for a year group to return to remote learning for 3 -5 days.

If your child has not collected their third issue of RAT kits please ask them to get them from the office. 

SRC

Our senior SRC students requested that we look at brightening up the toilet blocks. We have started with the senior toilets. We have painted the doors with Blackboard paint and over the next few weeks the senior SRC students will be selecting sayings they think will inspire them to be strong and more confident in their identity. These will be written on the painted area. If this is respected and looked after we will roll the idea out through all the toilet blocks. I thank you for your great idea and assisting in making it all happen. 

School Cyclic Review May 10 and 11 2022 

Every five years a school cyclic review takes place . It is an opportunity to see how far the school has come and for an independent panel to make recommendations and commendations. An invitation already went out to parents to be part of the interviews about the school. Selected Students - including Captains, SRC and general students, staff and the local parish priest are also part of the process. An executive summary will be published to parents at the completion of the review. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Expression of Interest for a Northern Territory trip 

You will be receiving information for a school trip to the Northern Territory during school holidays . Students will be participating in working on a mission as well as seeing the sights of the far north. Please keep an eye out for the expression of interest form coming your way. It looks like an amazing opportunity for students. 

Ms Amanda Wilson

Principal

Diocesan Swimming Carnival 

Our small but enthusiastic swim team represented St Joey’s at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival on Friday 18th March. A massive thankyou to the students who came into the team at short notice to replace our sick and injured swimmers. Along with the students who competed in extra events on the day, they showed outstanding school spirit. Many thanks to our wonderful timekeepers: Jayden Allen, Tracy Whalan, Jane Aperau-Bob, Cheryl Blissett and Scott Wells. Ms Sharkey, Mrs McNamara and Mrs Schneider did a fantastic job assisting in the administration of the event. 

Congratulations to Halle Bone who was 3rd place age champion in the U17 girls and to Flynn Gould-Anthony who won the U15 boys 50m Breaststroke event. Flynn represented the Wollongong Diocese at the NSWCCC Swimming Championships at the Sydney Aquatic Centre and won his event. This is an outstanding achievement given the calibre of swimmers at this level. Congratulations Flynn and good luck at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championship in June. 

Congratulations and Good Luck

We would like to congratulate and wish the following students the best of luck in their upcoming sporting endeavours: 

- Finlay Galway was selected to attend the NSWCCC Tennis Trials. Unfortunately sickness resulted in him unable to make the trip to Bathurst.

- Alex Tololeska and Jackson Rieck were selected in the Wollongong Diocese U15 Touch Football team. This event in Nelson’s Bay was cancelled due to the wet weather and ground closures. Jackson has also been selected in the Diocesan Open Rugby League team. He is representing Wollongong at the Southern Country Championships to be held at Wagga this week. 

        

- Our awesome track athletes Grace Pomery, Tayissa Buchanan and Lochie Haining competed at the recent National Athletics Championships at Sydney Olympic Park. Tayissa finished 4th in the U17 800m final. It was a sprint finish down the home straight and missed the bronze by 2/100ths of a second. 4th in Australia is a massive achievement! She also finished 7th in the U17 400m Final. Grace finished 12th in the U18 800m and Lochie finished 17th in the U18 2000m Steeplechase. 

- Cody Cartwright & Jae Narciso represented the Illawarra at the 2022 Little League Baseball State Championships. Both were amongst a 13 man squad picked to represent our region & have done both the Illawarra and Joey’s proud. The Illawarra’s starting pitcher and first base man, Cody, was exceptional throughout the tournament both in the field & in the batter’s box. Jae, one of Illawarra’s allrounders, was very competitive in the field and at bat. The boys should both be proud of themselves and their achievements. Illawarra ended the championship as runners up, going down to Newcastle in the Grand Final.

                    

- Good luck to Daniella Avtarovski and Kiana Rieck who are attending the NSWCCC Netball Trials and to Lewis Mercieca who is attending the NSWCCC Baseball Trials. 

                      

School Cross Country 

It was a glorious sunny day for our school cross country ‘Parkrun’ at the end of last term. The venue through Puckey’s Estate Nature Reserve in Wollongong proved to be an excellent choice due to there being minimal grass areas and only one puddle to jump! 60 competitors ran the course and are to be commended on their commitment and enthusiasm. We couldn’t have run the event safely without the assistance of our student helpers. The Year 10 PASS, Year 11 SLR students and our Sports Captains stepped up once again and did a marvellous job on the checkpoints and at the finish line. The event was safe and successful due to the excellent supervision of Mr Sutton and Miss Corradini on their bikes, Mr Hetherington and Mr Heywood on checkpoints and Mr Perini supervising at the clubhouse. 

Due to the ongoing wet weather and the unsafe conditions at Kembla Joggers Running Park, we have postponed our full school community day to later in the term. The date will be communicated shortly. Students who ordered pizzas for lunch will receive them then. Save your dress up ideas. Hopefully the event will be well worth the wait. 

Congratulations to the following students who are our 2022 Cross Country Age Champions:

Best of luck to our team of athletes who will represent St Joseph’s at the Diocesan Cross Country Championships on Monday 23rd May. The extra 3 weeks will give you valuable training time to prepare and get fitter for the hilly Nowra course. 

Mrs Michelle Garbutt

Representative Sports Coordinator

Upcoming Events

CAREERS EXPO  MAY 11 Year 10,11 and 12

Students in Years 10,11 and 12 are attending the Careers Expo next Wednesday May 11.

The aim of the EXPO is to provide students with support and help with their transition from school to their future career. The EXPO will have over 90 exhibitors, employers, educational facilities and apprenticeship information to name a few. Parents have been asked to give permission for their child to attend via the Compass Parent Portal. Please see attached the Careers Expo Booklet for your information. Parents are encouraged to discuss the EXPO with their children and students have been asked to plan which exhibitors they wish to speak with and what questions they would like to gain information on from the exhibitors. For mor information please see the booklet and the parent portal.

Careers_Expo_Booklet_1_.pdf

Careers_Expo_Booklet_1 pdf 650.26 KB

University of Wollongong

Welcome to your child’s HSC year ahead! This is no doubt exciting, yet daunting at the same time, however the UOW Outreach & Widening Participation Team is here to help!

The Year 12 Future Talk Program is a series of online information sessions designed specifically for a student's "support crew". If you're a parent or carer who is seeking support in navigating your child’s HSC journey and post-school decision making, we’re here for you. Year 12 can be a particularly stressful time for students and family/carers.

The pressure to succeed and make life changing decisions can be overwhelming for students and those who are trying to support them navigate their HSC journey.

Sessions dates & topics are listed below;

Receive a weekly email with conversation starters, resources and advice to help you navigate the stresses of the HSC.

Be a part of Future Talk for 2022 by gaining access to our free informative and interactive zoom sessions and helpful weekly emails. You can join us for all 5 x sessions, or dip in whenever suits, this is flexible and accessible dependent on your requirements & availability.

See the attached flyer and registration link below to find out more and to register for this exciting opportunity ahead!

CLICK HERE & APPLY NOW TO BE A PART OF 2022 FUTURE TALK

Our team looks forward to working with you in 2022 to help support your child’s Year 12 journey ahead!

Kind regards,

UOW Outreach & Widening Participation Team

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Mrs Sue Kennedy

Careers Adviser 

Term 2 week 2

NAPLAN 2022

Naplan exams begin next Wednesday (11/5) for Year 7 and 9 students. Writing will be the first test, the final test will be Numeracy on Monday 16/5. Students absent for any of the exams will have an opportunity to catch up missed exams from Tuesday 17/5 - Friday 20/5. Catch up exams will be coordinated by the Curriculum Office and students will be advised of details for these exams as required but generally will take place as early in the week as possible. Yr 9 PASS students will miss the Numeracy exam due to their PASS Camp. These students will need to be at school on Thursday 19th to ensure they complete the exam.

Again a reminder all students need to ensure they have done the following to allow them to complete NAPLAN tests:

• Devices are fully charged at the start of each day
• They have the NAPLAN Lockdown Browser installed on their device (check with IT if not sure)
• Each student will need earphones/earbuds to access questions with audio files. Students with earbuds need to ensure they are also charged and synched to the device they are using before each exam
• Students should also take time to access the practice tests on the NAPLAN Public Demonstration Site. These sample tests provide an opportunity to interact with the same platform that is used for the tests and is important to support students to complete the tests as best they can by understanding how to access the support resources e.g. ruler, calculator etc as well as the type of questions they will be exposed to. Sample videos on accessing the Public Demonstration Site can be found on our school NAPLAN Classroom pages
• Sample tests with answers are also available for practice on our school NAPLAN Classroom pages to help with your preparations.

2023 Subject Selection Process

The process of subject selection for electives in Year 11, Year 10 and Year 9 2023 will begin this term.

The process will start with Yr 10 (Yr 11 2023) in coming weeks, Yrs 9 and 8 will begin later in the term. This is both an exciting and apprehensive time for students as they start to make decisions about the subjects they wish to include in their ongoing pattern of study. 

The process is always more effective if students, parents and the school work together throughout this process. As always there will be lots of support provided to students (face to face, online etc). If there are any questions about subject selection please access these resources or contact the Curriculum Office at any time.

Year 7 Japanese - Kendo Incursion

At the end of last term the Yr 7 Japanese class had the opportunity to participate in a Kendo demonstration lesson. We were fortunate to have representatives of the Wollongong Kendo Club visit us and provide their expertise on the day. Students were given the opportunity to learn more about this ancient martial art by observing and also participating in a range of hands-on activities. Thanks to David and Andrew from Wollongong Kendo for giving up their time on the day as well as Ie Sensei, Batten Sensei and Abel Sensei for organising this opportunity.

Brett Moran

Curriculum Coordinator 

On the 6th May, Year 7 and 8 will be watching 'The Hurting Game.' It is a production that deals with wellbeing and anti-bullying. The idea is to help foster resilience, help-seeking, online safety and positive relationships in our students.

Yr 11 Student, Sam Morris had the honour of leading the Air Force cadets in the ANZAC Day parades. He also got to read the 23rd Psalm at a dawn service whilst in charge of his squadron.

Year 10 Food technology class commemorated Anzac day by making some Anzac biscuits. They learnt about why our troops were sent these types of biscuits and how to make them.

Thank you to all the families that make such an effort to ensure that their fees are up to date. School fees are essential for the financial viability of Catholic schools. School principals have the responsibility of ensuring school fees are collected. If you are experiencing financial difficulties and are unable to make payments, please contact the finance office or email accounts@sjchsdow.catholic.edu.au for a fee concession application form or use the form provided below:

Forget about the petrol, notice your grocery bills increasing, odds on your families are noticing it too. Therefore I feel this is a perfect opportunity to

1. Introduce myself, my name is Kerre Burley from The Smith Family, I have replaced Laura Wilson ( who is on maternity leave) as the Illawarra Dapto Saver Plus program co-ordinator and
2. Remind you we have one more month left for the Back to School capaign for your school to accumalate points by assisting us with spreading the word to your families about the benefits of this unique program.

In the past, you have kindly advertised in your school newsletter about “Saver Plus” and I am keen to be able to circulate this information to your families again if space permits. With the looming threat of the cost of living and expenses increasing by 10 – 30 % looming over the families. I cannot think of a better time for us to be proactive.

To date, we have assisted more than 1100 families in the Illawarra/Dapto area with education costs like uniforms, laptops and excursions as many families can find this extremely difficult.

This program is about empowing parents to learn the benefits of saving long term and planning for the future. The success rate has 87% of participant’s saving long term (music to our ears!)-(prior to joining only 18% save long term). By joining the dollar for dollar matched saving program also reduces pressure on schools resources, as parents learn the tools to sustain their finances so they’re better prepared for future costs.

Promoting the Program to others,

If you would be happy to disperse information regarding our program to your families via newsletters, facebook or any other means please reach out at your earliest convenience.  I am also available to speak or present virtually details of our program to any of your stakeholders through engagement opportunities, team meetings or huddles or other platforms you deem appropriate  interested in this life changing program, its benefits and outcomes.

I look forward to hearing from potentially new families benefitting from your school, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any queries or questions regarding this request.

Kerre Burley

Saver Plus Co-ordinator

The Smith Family

Suite 5 160 – 162 Princess Highway

Dapto 2530. N.S.W

Mobile  0427 439 234 kerre.burley@thesmithfamily.com.au

Know someone who could use some support to achieve positive change in their life right now?

They may find what they are looking for in our group sessions. These group sessions are available to adults who would like to strengthen relationships, support children's development and build resilience within a supportive environment, alongside others who share similar life experiences.

Click below to view our Term 2, 2022 courses.  

A church choir for students from Year 4 to high school age will begin next Monday 9th May in the Kiama Catholic Church. This is an opportunity to learn new contemporary repertoire for the Mass, to engage in singing in harmony and to work towards having the choir sing at some Masses throughout the year. Rehearsals will be on Mondays from 5pm-6pm.

Angela Quinn: 0418403691