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It has been a busy time at school! We have had significant water issues and I thank the school and the staff for their patience when the water has been off. Our main water lines to the fire hydrants is a galvanised pipe that is reaching the end of its life. So as one section is fixed another busts due to the increased pressure. The front of the school is barricaded off and I ask all students and visitors to be careful in the area and respectful of the signage.
Harmony Day occurred last week and I encourage all parents to view our Facebook posts. Our Years 7, 8 and 9 students were wonderful ambassadors for the school on our visit to Amity College at Shellharbour. Students participated in activities for music, sport and creative arts. Amity provided an excellent lunch and recess and we had a great group photo at the end of the day. Thank you to Dr Mehmet Aslan for the invitation and to Mr Stephen Jones local MP, and Mr John Lo Cascio from the Catholic Education Office for their attendance.
I asked students this morning to speak with their parents about what are the four top apps you have used on your phone in the last week and how are they positively contributing to your life? Is the time that you spend on them aligned with the values you want in your life? This is just a discussion point for our young people, so as to be more reflective of how their time is being spent and whether it is good for them.
For example, is Facebook or Twitter a better way to use your time? Are you socially connecting with others or using it as a passive way to gather information? This is not about whether it is right or wrong but just a recognition of the purpose behind the way you spend your time. Is gaming time wasting and contributing to aggressive behaviour, or is it a way to connect and talk to others? Is it a good use of your time? Rather than just looking at how much time you spend on a device look behind that to what is the purpose, and create a discussion at a family level. Are the values that are important to you as a family being reflected in your time on devices? If not what do you do about it?
NAPLAN 2019
Thank you to all students in Years 7 and 9 who this week participated in NAPLAN Online Trial Testing. This was an excellent opportunity to familiarise students with the online platform that they will be using when we formally sit NAPLAN Tests in Term 2 from 14 - 17 May.
Year 11 and Year 12 Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent Teacher Interviews for students in Years 11 and 12 will be held on Tuesday 9th April in the school Gym commencing at 3:50 pm until 8 pm. Bookings for interviews can be made through the Parent Portal. Bookings are now open and will close on Monday 8th April at 3 pm. We look forward to seeing as many parents attend as possible so that we can work in partnership to ensure all students are achieving at their full potential.
If you have any issues accessing the Parent Portal, please email Penny Corradini via the link below for assistance. Parent Portal Enquiry
Assessment Policies
Parents and students are reminded to please be aware of assessment policies and procedures. Stage 6 students are reminded that if you are absent the day before an assessment task, you must complete an Illness/Misadventure Form and provide a medical certificate or misadventure explanation. If you are absent on the day of a task, Illness Misadventure documentation and a medical certificate must be received within 3 days from the date of the task. For hand-in tasks or online submissions, every effort must be made to submit on the due date. Policies are in place to ensure equity for all students and are in accordance with NESA regulations and we again ask that all students familiarise themselves with the Illness/Misadventure procedure. This information for all year groups is available on the left sidebar of this newsletter and on the school website. All Stage 6 Illness/Misadventure is handled by the Curriculum Office and students are to speak with either Miss Janson or Mrs Corradini if they require Illness/Misadventure.
Year 12 - Do you need help with Time Management?
Northfields Psychology Clinic is running a HSC workshop in Term 2. This workshop is intended for Year 12 students to help them with time management, studying effectively and coping with stress to bolster them for their final year of school.
Where: 8/5 to 29/5 (4 consecutive days)
Time: 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Price: $60 0r $30 concession
For more information please contact the clinic on 4221 3747.
The application portal for University Admissions will open on 3 April. UAC will be hosting a Facebook Live demonstration of an undergraduate application including SRS and EAS applications.
Year 12 students are encouraged to access this link if possible to assist with their University applications.
When catching the bus:
- When waiting for buses, junior students are to sit in the designated area between the Year 8-10 toilets and the basketball courts
- Senior students stand outside the gate behind the bollards
- Ball game free area
- Walk when your bus number is displayed
- Seniors board first
- Share seats (place school bags on the floor)
- Scan opal card
- Follow instructions given by the school staff and transport staff
St Joseph's Cross Country Carnival
We were blessed with glorious sunny weather for our annual school cross country carnival on Tuesday. It was a fabulous day with lots of active student participation. Lots of fun and enjoyment was had as teams battled it out for points in activities such as Human Naughts and Crosses, Egg and Spoon Relay, Heads and Tails, Trivia and Challenge games such as Waiter and Cookie Face. Students competed in a team cross country event for additional points and competitive runners took on the cross country course.
12s Girls-Lara Grimson, Keira Toohey 12s Boys - Dominic King
Wollongong Diocesan Swimming Championships 2019
On Thursday the 14th of March, 21 of our St Joseph’s students attended the Wollongong Diocesan Swimming Carnival. Every student who proudly represented St Joseph's from this small squad gave 100% in the events they competed in, showing great sportsmanship and determination, displaying some great results. Over the day we had some amazing efforts and results.
Matthew Leembruggen from Year 8 won the 50m freestyle with a time of a 27.38 and also set a new record for the 50 Butterfly with a time of 29.49. Matthew also placed first in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1.09.55 setting a new record. Congratulations to Matthew who received Age Champion for the 14 yrs boys.
Sophie Mills from Year 11 placed second in the 50m freestyle with a time of 29.76. Sophie also received 3rd Age Champion for 17 yrs girls.
Both Matt and Sophie will be moving on to represent our school and the Wollongong Diocese at the Combined Catholic Schools level next month. We wish them well.
A special thank you to both Mr Hetherington and Mrs Mercieca for volunteering to take time out of their day, to supervise and support the students as well as make the day enjoyable for the students. Also a special thanks to Mitchell Austin from Year 11, for putting his hand up to assist the Wollongong Diocese with recording and timekeeping, in order for the day to run smoothly. Thank you also to Mrs Leembruggen who was our timekeeper for the day.
Congratulations to Toumanda Fohrman Ranked No.1 Indigenous Student in HSC Aboriginal Studies in the State!
NESA delegates, family, friends and representatives from St Joseph’s gathered on Friday evening 15 March at the NSW AECG AGM and General Meeting, Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour to celebrate Toumanda’s outstanding achievement in the 2018 HSC. Toumanda is a proud Dharawal woman and has strong family connections to her culture. She said that her major project in her course gave her the opportunity to talk with elders and the community and this was vital to her success. Toumanda believes that Aboriginal Studies should be mandatory and every school should offer the course. Toumanda is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Cultural Studies and a double degree in Law at UOW. Toumanda has also been employed at Joey’s as an Aboriginal Education Assistance. She plans to work in the Aboriginal Legal Service, enter politics and one day become Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. In her speech, she spoke about coping with the distance education offered by Lismore Diocese and the support she gained from our school especially Sue Kennedy. We are all so proud of her achievement and wish her all the best for her bright future.
Year 12 Hospitality Seafood Master Class
Year 12 classes recently sat in on a Seafood Master class. A variety of seafood was cleaned, prepared and cooked for the students to gain an understanding of these important skills. A plate of a dozen oysters natural were served with brown bread and butter and a lemon wedge, the oysters then were turned into oysters Kilpatrick where bacon that had been cut into brunoise and pan fried was added with a small amount of Worcestershire sauce, these were served on a traditional bed of rock salt so the natural juices and sauce did not run out of the shell.
Year 11 and 12 Hospitality have been perfecting their cookery skills. Year 11 classes have been making cupcakes with frosting and Bruschetta. Skills attained and assessed were; measuring liquids and solids, mixing/folding, baking, cooling, piping and presenting a baked product. The Bruschetta required the students to prepare tomato concasse (skinned deseeded tomato cut into brunoise -2mm cubed dice) this was mixed with chiffonade basil, brunoise of red onion and virgin olive oil and served on grilled sourdough.
St Joseph's Day Mass
Last Thursday to celebrate Harmony Day, 38 students from Year 7, 8 and 9 accepted an invitation from Amity College, Shellharbour. It was a day where St Joseph students listened to presentations, made their own Harmony Day song, participated in art projects and were generously feed by the staff, parents and students of Amity College. The day concluded with a friendly touch football match in which there was some serious competition between St Joseph's students and Amity College students. Both students and staff had a great day getting to know each other. A big thank you to Bailey and Zali in Year 8 who wrote and presented an excellent speech about the importance of Harmony Day. They did an amazing job.
This week's focus is on returning the Personalised Learning Plan documents to Mr Brown. This is critical to be able to greater assist students in their learning this year. Permission notes for the local significant sites excursion, the Bangarra Wilay excursion and the Shellharbour flag walk will all be sent home over the next couple of weeks. In Term 2 we will be having some important assemblies. Please save the date and come and join us for these events.
Monday 3rd June 9:00 - 10:00am - Reconciliation Assembly including ochre painting of all students and staff.
Monday 24th June 9:00 - 10:00am - NAIDOC Assembly
This week our Year 12 students will be meeting with Michelle Wilson from the NRL transition program who will be discussing with them a mentoring program, which assists students in transitioning from high school. This will involve meeting with Michelle for one hour per month, and this also can carry through next year after they have finished high school.
School fees should now be paid in full unless arrangements have been made to pay your fees periodically. To access this arrangement, families must complete a School Fee Agreement Form (available left) and return it to the finance office. A new form is required each school year.
New families to the school experiencing financial hardship may wish to contact the school to organise an appointment with our Principal to discuss financial support.
UOW INFORMATION SESSION for Year 10 and Year 12 Students
The University of Wollongong is hosting an information session on TUESDAY APRIL 9 to speak to students and parents who would like to know more about studying at UOW. The information evening will be at the UOW Wollongong campus from 6pm. They will talk about:
· UOW Early Admission
· Your ATAR and selection rank (and what it means)
· Important dates and key things to remember for UAC applications
· Scholarships
· Subject selection for Year 10 students, and much more! Head to http://bit.ly/UOW-infosession for more information, and to register. Click here for more Careers 22 March.
Thank you for joining our Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) schools across the Illawarra, Macarthur, Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands, and Catholic school communities across NSW, in celebrating Catholic Schools Week for 2019. It's been a wonderful week of open days, activities, masses, liturgies and other special events - including the Diocesan Education Mass, which was a significant highlight of CSW. Read more about the Mass and listen to Director of Schools, Peter Turner's speech here.
Catholic Schools Week has showcased some of the fantastic things happening in our schools every day, and has very much highlighted our local Catholic schools - including yours! - as vibrant places of learning, faith, hope and opportunity. Thank you for your involvement.
We'd like to share with you our small Catholic Schools Week video that has been promoted throughout last week. Can you spot the students from your school in this video?
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop will re-open on Monday 29th April. Students will return to school in Term 2 wearing Winter Uniform. So now is the time to check your blazers, long pant, ties etc. The Uniform Shop has Blazers, Boys Trousers, Ties and Girls long pants all in stock. No appointment required for fittings so please visit the uniform shop to make your winter uniform purchases.
New Uniform Shop phone number is: 0413 441 892
Hours: Monday 12 pm - 4 pm and Thursday 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
Please click the link below to be directed to the School website for access to current Permission Notes.
An invitation is extended to all families to join the St Paul's Parish and Primary School Team and support the Shellharbour Relay for Life on Saturday 6 April - Sunday 7 April at Tom "Scout" Willoughby Oval, Shellharbour. The theme is 'Life's a Beach". The relay is a chance for all to recognise and celebrate local cancer survivors, patients and their carers, to honour and remember loved ones and to raise money to help save lives. If you can't make it on the day, you are welcome to make a donation to the St Paul's Team. Donate now