Easter Liturgies

Over the past week, St. Joseph’s students have been invited through our Easter liturgy, this week’s school assembly, and in Religion Catholic Studies classes to reflect on the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the significance that these events that happened over two thousand years ago continue to have in our lives today. The school community was reminded of the peace, joy and hope that the particular season brings, and through role play, Ms Wilson’s invited us to meet Jesus in the Resurrection as new life for the world.

During our class liturgies, just as when Jesus experienced His agony in the garden, students prayed that He will fill them with courage and strength when they feel beaten and scared; that He will show them His compassion and give them His transforming hope. Just as Catholics commemorate Jesus' passion on Good Friday, students prayed that He will show them the way of peace and strong moral courage, transform timidity into authenticity, and aggression into seeking justice for those without a voice. They also asked for Jesus’ help to be respectful and true to their values. Just as occurred for the women who found Jesus’ tomb empty, students were reminded that His new life brings hope and trust that every situation can be transformed into goodness and peace.
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World Autism Awareness Day

To highlight the significance of World Autism Awareness Day on Sunday, 2 April, during our school assembly this week, Chloe Norris, Katelyn Blissett, and Lelya Crnogorcevic
delivered an inspirational and meaningful presentation. They are to be highly commended for eloquently explaining the purpose of this day and raising students’ awareness of autism and the importance of providing support for the autistic people in our community. On Tuesday, students were encouraged to show support for those with autism by wearing a blue accessory for a gold coin donation towards Autism Awareness Australia - an organisation that provides much needed resources, education, tools, and fun activities to autistic individuals and their families.

Chrism Mass

The school’s Student Leaders were also invited by the Bishop of Wollongong, Brian Mascord to attend the Chrism Mass held at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Wollongong on Tuesday, 4 April.
The congregation gathered to pray with the bishop and priests of the diocese, in thanksgiving and praise to God, and to pray for them as they renewed their commitment to the service of God and His priestly people. The Chrism Mass is named after one of the holy oils, which is used to anoint priests and bishops when they are ordained. During this Mass, the three oils used in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Anointing of the Sick were blessed and distributed to priests for use in their Parishes. Sincere thanks to the following Year 12 Senior Leaders who proudly represented St. Joseph’s at this special Mass: Year 12 School Captain - Tayissa Buchanan, Vice Captains - Grace Pomery and Jett Stroemer, and SRC Senior Leader - Indiana (Indi) Taylor.

Principal’s Awards

Congratulations to the following students who were presented with Principal’s Gold Awards at Monday’s School Assembly:

The following students are also congratulated for receiving Principal’s Awards this term:

School Winter Uniform for Term 2 & the New Winter School Jacket

Students will return to school in Term 2 in full winter school uniform including ties for boys and tights for girls. All students are required to wear their blazers to and from school every day in Terms 2 and 3.

Please note the School’s Uniform Shop now has a new school jacket in stock. This may be worn as an over the school blazer jacket by those students who wish to have an extra layer of warmth in winter. These are available at the cost of……….

Upcoming Public Holidays, Staff Development Days, and Returning in Winter Uniform

With a pupil free Staff Development Day scheduled for Monday, 24 April and the ANZAC Day Public Holiday on Tuesday, 25 April, Term 2 will commence for all students on Wednesday, 26 April.

Please note a second pupil free Staff Development Day is scheduled to be held in Week 2 of Term 2 on Tuesday, 2 May.

We wish all our families a very holy, blessed, and happy Easter!

Mrs Jenny Bell
Acting Principal

Use of AI sites to complete Homework/Assessments

As technology continues to advance, we are starting to see students beginning to turn to AI websites to help them complete assessments. While these websites may seem like a quick and easy solution, they come with several risks that students and parents need to be aware of. First and foremost, using AI websites to complete assessments can be considered academic dishonesty, which can result in severe consequences starting with failing the assignment.

Furthermore, using AI websites can also undermine the entire purpose of assessments, which is to evaluate a student's understanding of a particular topic. If a student relies on an AI website to complete an assessment, they are not truly demonstrating their own understanding of the material and may not be adequately prepared for future assessments or real-world applications of the knowledge they are supposed to be acquiring eg formal exams. Students need to prioritise their education and take pride in their own abilities, rather than looking for shortcuts that may ultimately harm their academic progress and integrity.

In the interest of full disclosure, the two paragraphs above were generated using an AI platform to demonstrate the capacity of these platforms. We will be having further discussions regarding the use of AI as staff next term and will be talking further with students and parents/carers about this issue as well. For now, we ask parents/carers to chat with students about this and suggest ways to support students to not turn to these sites such as being organised and starting tasks early, using platforms such as Google Docs where the revision history of the work completed can be checked/monitored as well as working with class teachers to get feedback in regards to task requirements and feedback on progress. 

Years 11 and 12 Reports

Half Yearly Reports for Years 11 and 12 will be distributed via Compass at the beginning of next term. This is an opportune time for students and families to use these reports to evaluate current progress and make the adjustments necessary to support continued academic progress. This is of particular value to Year 12 students leading into HSC Trial Exams at the beginning of Term 3.

Year 11 2023 Subject Selection Process

The process of meeting with Year 10 regarding choosing subjects for Year 11 2023 will begin early next term. Students and their parents/carers are again encouraged to spend time over the holidays thinking, discussing and researching potential pathways beyond Year 10 eg: University, TAFE, apprenticeships, etc, and start investigating the requirements needed to assist in achieving those outcomes. To get started students may consider looking at online career aptitude sites/quizzes to get an idea of careers that they may be interested in/suited to. Examples can be found on websites such as:

• MyFuture
• Skillsroad
• What Career is right for me?
• Open Colleges
• CareerFitter

TAFE and University websites also have information on the courses they offer and potential careers that are linked to those courses. 

Whilst we are not expecting students to 100% lock in their future career aspirations at this point in time, exploring and having an idea of the possible options you are considering does make the process of subject selection a lot easier in most cases.

Photo Consent

There are still some outstanding approvals for photo consent. No pictures can be posted online unless these consent forms are approved by you through your compass portals. Please ensure this is checked if you are still yet to do so.

Compass

Please ensure you are checking Compass regularly. All Important information and urgent announcements including Events, wet weather arrangements, cancellations, and any other general announcements will be posted through Compass.

School Fees

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 finance office or email accounts@sjchsdow.catholic.edu.au. 

Dear St. Joseph’s Community,

The launch of the House System has been exciting and rewarding. The five Houses have experienced community, cultural, and sporting activities designed to enhance their connection and involvement in the school. Staff, students, and parents/carers have been exposed to the Josephite values in a positive, proactive way. A big congratulations must go to all those who have taken up the range of opportunities available in order to enhance their experience at St. Joseph’s.

I would like to thank all the members of the community for completing the recent survey to determine the effectiveness of the initial steps in the process. The creation of an awareness and understanding of what the House System is and focusing all school based activities around the Josephite values of the school it is hoped will reconnect all students to the community. It is anticipated that there would be evidence of improved connection and involvement by all members of the community. In completing this survey you are providing important feedback as to how successful or otherwise we are going.

Some of the highlights have been the introduction of CASA for Years 7 - 9, the Token System of acknowledging the positive things students do around the school outside of the classroom, the morning updates via the Vivi network, the large numbers of students representing the school at Diocesan events, the environmental initiatives such as “Clean-up St Joseph’s” and House Liturgies where we have so far seen Macquarie come together in faith celebration. These would not be possible without the amazing support of the Staff House Patrons and the Student Leadership Group.

Below is a summary of how points have been distributed so far. You will notice a large number of Merits contributing to the points tallies, which is an early indication of an increased Respect for Learning, Self, Others, and the Environment. Unfortunately, we lost the community aspect of the Cross Country which would have been our first major community event for the year.

Congratulations to all students who have involved themselves in their learning, in leadership, in liturgical oportunities, and in sporting events that have led to this distribution.

To finish the term, Warrigal House has taken the lead. Outstanding participation in a wide range of events and activities has enabled them to finish so strongly. Macquarie and Kembla Houses have been neck and neck all term, with Keira and Marshall Houses just warming up for Term 2. Initial feedback from the students is quite positive concerning the impact the House System is having on the school. Around 78% of surveyed students believe that there is a positive effect.

I would again like to thank the Staff, Students, and Parents for their support and we all look forward to improving the visibility, understanding, and impact that the House System has. I encourage all parents and carers to talk with their children about the positive things they can do to build the dynamic and energetic community that St. Joseph’s is becoming.

Thanks also to Noah Casolin for his design work of our House Logos!! These will be added to our House banners that will be purchased for display around the school.

Regards

On Monday the 27^th March, 38 students, along with Mrs Gregory and Miss Janson partook in the Academy for Enterprising Girls workshop. It is run by the Young Change Agents Organisation. Young Change Agents' social entrepreneurship programs help youth to see problems as opportunities.

Students worked in teams in this "hackathon-style" workshop to identify problems within their communities then ideate, validate, prototype and pitch. Eight social enterprise ideas were pitched to a panel of judges.

Community Problems Identified

Students discussed what community meant to them and worked to identify problems and create a vision for the future they want to create. Community problems identified by youth included:

• Lack of important topics covered in sex ed classes.
• Teenagers feeling isolated and judged due to social pressure and bullying.
• Girls treating each other negatively due to societal insecurity.
• Children of sweatshop workers being unable to get an education.

Student Social Enterprise Ideas

• The judge's choice award went to: Let's talk about Sex Ed, a modern education company that provides effective sex-ed for high school students through highly qualified professionals.

Other ideas included:

• An educational events company that raises awareness around cultural assumptions and stereotypes.
• A wearables company that provides affordable emergency support for those without mobile phones.
• A company that provides tampons and pads in machines with subsidised products for young women.
• A mentoring platform connecting young girls with female mentors to help them reach their full potential.

Skills Developed

Throughout the program youth teams worked their way through a number of activities, developing skills in multiple core competencies whilst preparing for the final pitch. Identifying a problem, creating a social enterprise solution and developing an idea which solves a problem they care about and pitching for feedback.

• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Problem solving
• Storytelling
• Decision making
• Pitching
• Leadership
• Design thinking
• Budgeting
• Managing time

The Student Leaders IFTAR is an annual prestigious event organised by Amity College as a platform for constructive dialogue, social harmony, and professional development amongst student leaders. On Monday, 3 Mrs Bell accompanied Year 12 School Captain, Bailey Miller along with Sports Captains, Myah Quinn and Monica Tololeska and SRC Senior Leader, Cassandra Lau to this event which was held at Amity College, Prestons. Thank you to these students, who were fine St. Joseph’s representatives and thoroughly enjoyed participating in this valuable experience of connecting with other school leaders.

Thank you to our Religious Education Coordinator, Miss Biddle and Assistant Religious Education Coordinator, Mrs Curcio-Borg, and the following SRC Leaders who proudly represented the school at the Annual Student Leaders IFTAR held at Amity College, Shellharbour on Wednesday 5 April: Year 10 students - Maryam Barakat, Leyla Crnogorcevic, Matthew Shepherd and Year 11 students - Lucas Thompson and Olivia Wishart.

As we finish off the term, I would like to thank every student who has signed up and been nominated for a school team and also put their hand up to assist with any coaching and refereeing at games. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the coaches who have taken time out of their busy lives to coach students and take teams away. Without our coaches, we would not be able to give students these opportunities. 

I am looking forward to another action packed term ahead beginning with Open Soccer, Dio Cross Country and School Athletics all in the first 2 weeks. Please keep encouraging your children to sign up for a team. There are plenty of new opportunities for students to try next term.

Any questions, please feel free to email me: powers01@dow.catholic.edu.au

Thank you,

Miss Power

Sports Coordinator

Cross Country 

Last week we held our competitor's only school Cross Country. The students who attended faced muddy and wet conditions but persevered to complete their race. Congratulations to all who attended on the day.

Cross Country Age Champions

Diocesan Team

Congratulations to the students who have been selected to represent our school at the next level.

2023 St Joseph’s Representative Team

School Athletics Carnival

Junior Soccer

Congratulations to our Junior Soccer Teams who competed at the Diocesan Gala Day last Friday.

MVPs: 

13yr Girls: 10th Place - Lucinda Akele

7-9 Pathway Girls: 9th Place - Lola Garcia

13yr Boys: 10th Place - Joshua Thiruthanathi

8-10 Pathway Boys: 10th Place - Kade Briant

I would also like to thank our three referees and coaches who attended on the day and helped coach in the lead up to this event.

Referees and assistant coaches:

Noah Bechara, Munesu Marevanhema, Jett Stroemer, Mackenzie Best, Jack Levy, Cohen Smith, Zane Stroemer, Ashton Kouzan

Coaches:

Mrs Luis, Mrs Linsley, Miss Power & Mr Dowdell

13 Girls - Mrs Luis

A great day was had by all the girls. I commend them on their continued efforts throughout the day and their sportsmanship with other teams. Some outstanding skill development is coming through in this team including Lucinda Akele who received MVP on the day. These girls were so motivated in training and it was a pleasure coaching them. 

7-9 Pathways Girls - Mrs Linsley

What a wonderful day! Congratulations to all members of this team who showed determination, perseverance, and enthusiasm. As the day progressed, the team improved, leading to a very dominant game against Corpus, a nil all draw against St John's Nowra, and finally a win against John Therry. A special mention to Kate Mainsbridge, who was thrown at the last minute as the goalie. She made some amazing saves. 

13 Boys - Miss Power

This team showed so much pride and commitment to their training and to each other on the day. It was a pleasure coaching them and watching them grow as a group. Our boys showed fierce determination in every game they played and improved their strategies and tactics as the day went along. Credit to captain Joshua Thiruthanathi who worked hard on the field to bring the ball up to our forwards, even taking the most incredible free kick to just miss the goal. Another special mention goes to goalie Sam Goodwin, who never gave up and the number of goals he saved was unreal! Well done boys, we’ll get them next time! Proud of you all!

8-10 Pathways Boys - Mr Dowdell

On Friday, the Pathway Years 8 - 9 boys travelled to Mt Carmel to play in a CCHS gala day. The day was enjoyed by both players, coaches, and helpers as the weather was perfect and the games were competitive. Unfortunately, we played some powerhouse teams but we were competitive in every game and never gave up.

Open Soccer Teams

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected in our Open Soccer Teams. They will compete at the Diocesan Gala day on Thursday 27th April (Term 2).

St Joseph’s Dance Company

Earlier this week dance auditions were held for the 2023 Dance Company. This company will begin in Term 2, Week 3, Tuesday 8am. The first competition is Wollongong Eisteddfod which will be held on Saturday 1st July at Wollongong IPAC. 

Congratulations to the following students on your selection:

• Myah Bramstedt
• Michaela Pereira
• Chanicqua Cachia
• Zahlia Sinclair
• Hannah Klein
• Alyssa Shepherd
• Emma Judd
• Nikita Toseski
• Amelie Johnston
• Tahlia Tanevski

Term 2 Sporting Teams

JNR Boys & Girls AFL

Nominations Close: Thursday 6th April

Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/tXRUgXN2UFAWpVoD8

Netball

Teams available:

7/8 Girls

9/10 Girls

11/12 Girls

Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/nx6NjZPgDpmpgFN67

Nominations Close: Thursday 6th April

Hockey

Nominations Close: Monday, 1st May

Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/L4eZTsYmmdczHbR39

JNR & SNR Boys Basketball

Nominations Close: Friday 28th April

Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/pzXbtW6gTHg8y86F7

Volleyball

Nominations Close: Monday, 1st May

Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/TtadJQTqbd1wZ1im8

Upcoming NSWCCC Trials

Registrations are now open for the 2023 NSWCCC trials.

If your child plays at a high/rep level for their sport and is keen on trialling for an NSWCCC team, please register via the link below:

https://csnsw.sport/

Please note: 

- No late entries are accepted.

- Students attending these trials should be at a representative level/standard.

- Further information regarding each sport is available on the website (see link above)

For assistance with registering your child please see the document below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kFW57cps5mTHPK7PfJMvpVK4qtM651keNVZcu014gVQ/edit

If there are any further issues please contact me:

powers01@dow.catholic.edu.au

Term 2 - Upcoming Events:

NSWCCC WATER POLO SELECTIONS Open Boys & Girls @ Ryde 1 May CLOSE DATE: 21 April @5pm

NSWCCC AFL SELECTIONS U15s Girls @Wagga Wagga 1 & 2 May CLOSE DATE: 14 April @5pm

NSWCCC Basketball SELECTIONS Open Boys & Girls @ Sutherland 8th May CLOSE DATE: 28 April @5pm

NSWCCC Basketball SELECTIONS U16's Boys & Girls @Sutherland Sutherland 9th May CLOSE DATE: 28 April @5pm

NSWCCC Football SELECTIONS U16's Boys @ Kareela 10 May CLOSE DATE: CLOSE DATE: 28 April @5pm

Sporting Success

From the 30th of March to the 2nd April, the Australian Track and Field Championships were held in Brisbane. Grace qualified to compete at the championships in three events- U20 3000m, 1500m, and 800m. 

Grace decided to drop the 3000m and concentrate on the 800m and 1500m. Running in the first of three heats for the 800m, Grace had a great run crossing the line in 5th position with a new PB of 2.13.62 and finishing in 14th Position overall (the 12th Australian and 3rd NSW competitors across the line as two New Zealanders also competed in the race). Two days later Grace backed up to run the 1500m. With two heats run, Grace finished a credible 17th overall in the final placings - 16th Australian and 4th NSW competitor.   

Overall, Grace had a great weekend of racing at the top level against Australia’s best U20 women. Grace's PB in the 800m also qualifies her to compete at the 2024 Australian Track and Field Championships.  

Congratulations to Tayissa Buchanan who placed 8th in the Australian U20s 800m. She also ran a Youth Games Qualifier to make the National Final. This is an exceptional effort after coming back from injury to find shape at the pointy end of the season. 

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

Please email details to Miss Power (powers01@dow.catholic.edu.au)

St Joseph’s Sports Instagram Page 

For all things sports follow our new social media page.

@SJCHSSPORTS

Hospitality 

Year 7 in action this week making the traditional spiced, sweet, raisin filled Hot Cross buns. Hot Cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday so as their last practical lesson before the Easter holidays students used their skills of measuring, weighing, kneading, and piping to create this classic easter treat.

Wrapping up a great first term meant a few assessment tasks for our seniors, who did a great job - well done and now go into a well deserved Easter break. As Newton once said, “I need a comfy chair to work well” and anyone walking past Labs F3 and F6 will get a look at some comfy new chairs!

IMPROVING HANDWRITING

Most tests and examinations still require students to handwrite. To improve your handwriting, first consider how healthy you are in the four elements of legible handwriting:  letter formation, sizing, alignment on the line and spacing between words.  Then use the steps below to start to improve your handwriting:

- FIND THE BEST PEN FOR YOU: Experiment with different pens to see which is the easiest to write with and which one gives you the neatest handwriting. Use the same pen all the time.

- GOOD GRIP: Hold the pen/pencil gently and do not grip too tightly or push too hard on the paper.

- USE ARM MUSCLES: Always write with your forearm and shoulder NOT with your fingers or wrist. This way your strokes will flow much better. It may take you some time to retrain your arm and hand but be aware of these movements when you practise. The muscles in your forearm and shoulder tire less easily than your fingers.

- BEGIN WITH LARGE STROKES: practise initially on a whiteboard (or even tracing letters in the air) using large strokes until you feel comfortable with using your forearm and shoulder muscles. When you feel you have conquered this, it is time to begin practising on paper. Keep using large strokes, gradually reducing them in size as your control of the muscles increases. Once you have accomplished this it is time to begin practising in your exercise book forming normal sized letters.

- POSTURE: Ensure you practise your handwriting skills at a desk or table. Sit up straight using a good chair.

- RULED LINED BOOK: Buy a ruled exercise book (like a primary cursive pad) for practice use. Always write on lined paper and take note of how you are writing and how your work looks on the page.

- COPY STYLE: Look for an example of a handwriting style that you like and can use to copy from. Keep this in front of you at all times to inspire you towards improving your style.

- INDIVIDUAL LETTERS: Begin with individual letters and practise writing at least one letter per day concentrating on the four elements of legible handwriting.

- WHOLE WORDS: Once you have worked your way through individual letters in the alphabet practise writing whole words. Be aware of the flow from one letter to the next as well as spacing between each word.

- TEST SENTENCE: Choose a test sentence for yourself and write it at the top of your first practice page. Each week write this sentence at the top of a new page to check for improvement in your writing.

- SPECIAL SENTENCE: Frequently practise writing the sentence ‘the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ in small and capital letters. This sentence contains all the letters in the alphabet and gives you good overall practice of each letter.

- WRITE SLOWLY TO START: Write slowly when practicing until you are happy with the quality of your handwriting. Then increase the speed. 

- REALISTIC GOALS: Don’t set impractical goals for improvement. Improvement will take time and is a matter for persistence – it all comes down to practice, practice and then more practice!
- LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO WRITE: Try and handwrite whenever possible.

Once your handwriting style has improved, you can then focus on improving the speed of your handwriting. Every day, practise writing at speed. Choose a particular passage and write it out neatly. Time yourself. The next day write it out neatly again but try and speed up a bit and time yourself again. The goal is to get to the point where you can write the passage out quickly but still maintain neat handwriting. Doing this for just 5 minutes every day will really help you to improve your handwriting. If your cursive (running) writing is really bad, you may find it easier to learn to print really fast in exams rather than focus on improving your cursive style.

You can also try writing with a pen that is weighted on the end to build up the muscles in your hand used for writing. When you get to the exams take the weight off the end and feel the benefits of a lighter pen!  And for people with serious handwriting issues, check out the special pens in the handwriting section of the Writing Skills unit.

www.studyskillshandbook.com.au

School's Username: stjosephsalbionpark

School's Password: marymackillop

Remember too that our school also has access to all of the video lessons in the Study Samurai Library. Just click on the green link at the top of the page when you log in.

To access the online library, go to studysamurailibrary.com and login with the above username and password.

Please note, the above username and password is for the use of the parents and students AT OUR SCHOOL ONLY – please do not pass our school’s details onto students or parents from other schools or other individuals or organisations as this is a prosecutable breach of copyright and also will result in frequent password changes for our school.