Newsletter - Term 1 - Week 6 - Issue 80

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Students

On Wednesday we came together in our Joey’s Way groups for Ash Wednesday and to acknowledge the beginning of the Lenten period. Lent is often a time given over to “holy” words of repentance and promises of self-reform. As a member of the St Joseph’s College Community, we are called in our Mission Statement to “…demonstrate care and respect for each other and an awareness of the total human family...” and as part of our liturgy, we further explored our understanding of our focus point for our community this year, ‘Together at One Table.’ This focus incorporates nicely into the Lenten period and asks us to consider how we welcome people to the table. Reflecting upon how we welcome others as members of our single human family that is equally marvellous, fascinating, and perhaps threatening in its diversity is an important practice. I would like to thank Miss Ford and the liturgy group for their work in preparing our liturgy for us.

When discussing with the students the importance of the Lenten period and possible Lenten commitments several Joey’s Way groups decided to research how people participate in Lent. As a result of this research, they came across a list of ways that The Catholic Weekly suggest that families may wish to engage in the message of Lent, preparing together for the celebration and miracle of Easter. We hope that these suggestions may be useful for our community.

1. Talk about Lent.

A great way to begin Lent is to talk with your kids about what Lent is. The roots of Lent go back to the early Church, when those wishing to become Christian would undergo a period of preparation before their baptism. Eventually, the whole Church adopted the practice of renewing baptismal promises through a period of penance and recommitment to the Christian life. We are not called just to abstain during Lent, but to true conversion of our hearts and minds as followers of Christ, after all! For younger kids, Lent is a time when we practice new ways of giving up sin, and doing good, so we can be closer to God

2. Give up something you enjoy.

Jesus fasted for forty days. That is no small amount of time! Fasting and abstinence are the practice of giving up something in order to draw closer to God. Not only does giving something up make room for God, but it puts us in solidarity with those less fortunate around us. For the little ones, maybe give up your favourite type of chocolate or lollies for Lent. For those a little older, try giving something up such as your favourite drinks and soft drinks and just drink water through the day in solidarity with those who have no access to clean water.

3. Give up your place.

If your kids are fighting about who gets to sit where, or who gets to be first, then maybe Mark 10:41-45 is a good start. Challenge your kids to live out Jesus’ words about the “first” and the “last”. This could mean allowing others to serve their dinner plates first, or taking the back seat in the car and allowing their siblings to call shotgun.

4. Serve 40 ways in 40 days.

Get creative about ways in which you can help those who you interact with every day. This could be as simple as helping mum bring the shopping bags in from the car after a shopping trip, or volunteering to take the rubbish out, or even just cleaning up a room in the house without bragging about it. Doing it secretly makes it more fun, anyway.

5. Practice being present

This one applies especially to older kids and young teens. Commit to putting down your phones (or other electronic device) whenever someone is present with them. Even better, create phone-free zones around the house, like the dinner table or living rooms. Learn to spend good quality time with those around you. Learn to spend good quality time with those around you.

6. Make a Lenten piggy bank

Have a small jar where your kids can put in a coin a day to put towards their favourite charity. If cash isn’t something that is normally lying around, then keep a list of small acts of giving that your kids can perform through the day. Encourage them to keep track of these acts of giving. By Good Friday, count up their acts of kindness and donate a dollar for every act of giving.

7. Do an examen at the end of the day

An examination of conscience is one of the most powerful practices in our daily lives. Set aside 5-10 minutes at the end of every day to “examine” your day to see where God was present, and to try and discern how God wants you to grow. Practicing this is a great way to prepare for receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, too!

8. Get to know Jesus

Get to know more about Jesus by reading the Gospels this Lent. Or, listen to one of the many great Bible stories on podcasts or YouTube! Fr Mike Schmitz’s The Bible in a Year is great for the 12-14 range. Make a visit to the Stations of the Cross at your local church, and stop for a minute or two before each station. Take a look at what is happening in Jesus’ life, and say a little prayer before each.

9. Make a set of Resurrection Eggs

If you’ve never seen resurrection eggs, they look like a simple set of plastic Easter eggs in various colours. But inside each egg is a symbol of the Easter story — a donkey for Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a die to represent the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes, etc. These are a perfect way to teach the mysteries of the Lenten and Easter season. 

10. Build a Lenten Cross

Similar to an Advent wreath, build a small cross out of 6 candles, one for each week of Lent. Light one each night, adding one every week until all are lit in Holy Week. This can be done as part of your nightly examen. 

10 ways to engage your family with Lent | The Catholic Weekly

Meet and Greet and Parent Partnership Forum Information Session

St Joseph's College warmly invites new families and current community members to a meet and greet event on Tuesday 15^th March. At this event our current Board Members and P&F Executive will welcome our families and briefly explain the College’s transition from the traditional models of a College Board and P&F to the Parent Partnership Forum.

So come along, bring a friend, introduce yourself to current parents and hear how you can become part of the PPF and support the work of the College Leadership Team and staff in implementing a comprehensive and contemporary education program.

Kort Goodman - Principal

From the Deputy Principal

COVID-19

We continue to implement our plans around a safe environment for the whole St Joseph’s College community. If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, please stay home. As you may be aware the Premier has announced changes to the current face mask restrictions. As of Friday 4 March at 6pm face masks will not be required in most settings, including schools. Of course if students, visitors or staff feel they would like to continue wearing masks we will certainly respect this choice. We continue to ensure that all students, staff and visitors to St Joseph’s College are adhering to the COVID-19 safety regulations, as instructed by Queensland Health.

Daily reporting of COVID-19 cases in the SJC community can be found here - 

Just Do It!

When we first see or hear these three words, you may instantly think of Nike, the sportswear company. This slogan has become synonymous with the tagline for a range of products and athletes. However, these three words are not just a slogan. They can be a powerful message.

For example, the alarm went off at 5am this morning and I contemplated getting up and facing my training session. I would rather have slept in. We often have that feeling to take the easy option. However, it is helpful to disregard your thoughts and just go when these feelings occur. I find that if I just get started on a task, in this case, I just get up, then I can then focus on what I am doing. What felt like a drag before I got started turned into positive feelings about what I am going to do.

It is Week 6 of the term; assignments are upon us, and exams and assessment due dates are just a few weeks away. We have spent the first part of the term getting to know new teachers and classmates, identifying new ways of working, getting organised, celebrating our academic achievements and talking about how we want to improve. However, the time for talk is over. Just Do It!

How? Take a small step first. Complete all your homework, start your revision now, revise over the notes and activities you engaged in two weeks ago, attend the tutoring sessions, actively practice tasts from weeks ago, consider how confident you are with particular concepts,  ask your teacher for assistance.

With a busy assessment period looming for all students, whatever you choose to do…. Just Do It!

Upcoming Events

Brendon Willocks - Deputy Principal  -  bwillocks@sjc.qld.edu.au

Student Voice - Captains

2022 is only two months young and has already presented the St Joseph’s College Community with a vast array of challenges.  Students have faced unprecedented times through online learning at home as a result of the ongoing pandemic, and over the past week, many families have faced unfortunate circumstances as a result of extreme weather events.  Whilst there have been difficulties faced, we firmly believe in the resilience of all learners at St Joseph’s and are ambitious that over the course of this year, we can all rise above the challenges and succeed in our vision as a collective.  Academics is at the core of St Joseph’s College which aims to prepare young people for the future, and as Academic Captains, we have established a vision for this year that aligns with the Strategic Plan for the future at the College.  Outlined in the plan were strategic intents, of which we have determined two which will be crucial to our endeavours throughout the year.  Firstly, the intent of students and their learning – through embracing a culture of learning to empower young people to pursue their passions and meet the demands of their future pathways.  Secondly, the intent of pastoral care and student wellbeing – through maximising engagement in learning and the wellbeing of students to grow as valued members of our community.  We have devised our own aspirations to achieve these intentions, and it is our vision to see St Joseph’s College students thrive academically not only this year, but to look forward to their successes in the many years to come.    

Vision 1:  Peer-Based Study Groups

A peer-based study group is an initiative that we are striving to implement this year. This is a group, where students can work collaboratively in the hopes of excelling in all things academia. It provides a space for students to work co-operatively and collaboratively, a place to ask questions and discuss queries.  It is our goal that this will promote improvements within learning areas including engagement, communicative competence, providing and applying feedback, as well as cultivating an environment for students to collaborate and further enhance their understanding and knowledge of the curriculum. The Academic Team have proposed peer-based study groups to be held every Thursday afternoon after school, alongside maths and science tutorials as well as the learning support programme held at the college, hopefully beginning Week 7 in the seminar rooms.  We would like to have a senior presence at these groups, to promote student attendance and provide student assistance to peers. These groups will also be supported by college staff and any juniors willing to give a helping hand. We believe strongly that learning from another like-minded student can be beneficial to reinforce the teaching that occurs in the classroom and wish to pursue these groups for the benefit of the entire student body. 

Vision 2: Learner Attribute Achievement

It is our ambition to promote not only the end product of achievement, but the path to reaching success through the aforementioned learner attributes.  The proposal of a ‘Blue Award’ aims to be placed alongside the gold, silver and bronze award presentations to students – corresponding with the colours of the principal’s award – as a form of recognition for those students who excel not only through their final grades, but also on the journey to achieving them.  This award would aim to recognise students who have achieved a high level of excellence in all their learner attributes, based on an overall accruement of VG (very good) assessments by classroom teachers for their application, participation, organisation, behaviour and punctuality. At St Joseph’s College, we believe that every student is capable of wholly applying themselves, being organised, punctual, participating in class and being well-behaved, and that all individuals have an opportunity to achieve the Blue Award once it is implemented.  We look forward to congratulating students accordingly, and hope that they aspire towards this remarkable achievement.

Vision 3:  Unity Between Learner Attribute Achievement and Academic Excellence

To further promote the path to reaching success, we are looking towards the possibility of how we can recognise not only academic excellence, but also the persistence and effort that students demonstrate along the journey at our Academic Morning Teas.  The possibility of recognising at both students who have achieved excellent results, and students who aptly apply themselves to their studies and demonstrate commendable learner attribute achievement, is a prospect we are investigating.  We hope that this will create a sense of unity between students with high academic grades and learner attributes, recognise students who have not only achieved impressive results but also those who work hard to receive their grades, showcase the academic excellence achieved by many students within the college and bring correlation between the input of work and the results obtained.  This prospect also aligns with the academic goal for the College to see a 25% growth in the number of VGs achieved across the board for all students and year levels, through acknowledging the importance of positive learner attributes being displayed by students at St Joseph’s.

Maddison Duggan and Zachary Vellacott - Academic Captains

Student Voice - Senior Co-Ordinators

The first Student Voice meeting has marked a great beginning to a year full of opportunity and innovation. The commencement of fortnightly meetings (Day 9 Lunch) provides the student body with a safe and respectful environment to discuss potential improvements and the issues facing both our school and its wider community. These meetings facilitate any concerns, queries and comments, students may have in a constructive and considerate way. We would appreciate any contribution the school community has in improving our school, whether in the form of attending meetings, getting involved in our initiatives, a quick email, or simply replying to a school-wide survey. We hope to see some new faces in the coming weeks!

Senior Coordinators,

Sophie Wagner and Romey Wiemers

From the Assistant Principal - Religious Education

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday begins our forty-day season of Lent that leads to Easter.  On Ash Wednesday, we come together like the people of the Old Testament to remind ourselves that we don’t always follow God’s ways and need to ask God for His mercy and forgiveness.

Traditionally, we wear ashes to show that we want to turn away from whatever keeps us from God, and to have a change of heart, so that we can live in right relationship with God and each other.

Following the Bishop’s guidance, we were unable to distribute ashes.  However, students completed a reflection and made personal commitments to more fully live our motto of ‘Serve Him in Others’ across the Lenten season.

Ash Wednesday

Pray for Ukraine

Our College is sending our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the people of Ukraine. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Caritas Australia are both calling for peace in the region and humanitarian support.

Our Chapel is open at morning tea and lunch to allow students the opportunity to reflect and share prayers of peace in this uncertain time.

St Joseph’s College Compassion Cup

The student House Captains of 2022 are proud to continue the Compassion Cup challenge.

As part of Lent, we are calling upon each Joey's Way group to give to Caritas. 

Each JW group has the opportunity to gain house points. At the end of the term, each JW group will be allocated points based on how much money has been raised. All points will then be combined in Houses to find the ULTIMATE HOUSE MISSION MONEY WINNER! 

If you wish to support your child/ren’s Joey’s Way group, you can donate on their donation page below:

Rosies

St Joseph’s College staff participated in our first Rosies Outreach for the year. I am thrilled to have so many staff willing to give of themselves and their time in service to our community.

Thank to Ms Markham and Ms Verster for the efforts in coordinating the Rosies outreach this year.

Kellie-Marie Ford - Assistant Principal - Religious Education  -  kford@sjc.qld.edu.au 

From the Assistant Principal - Curriculum

My role at the College is overseeing the Curriculum.  If you have any questions or concerns, students and parents are encouraged to talk to your Joey’s Way teacher but if it is a query about what you are learning I encourage you to contact the classroom teacher directly.  Further discussions can then be had with the Curriculum Middle Leader for the subject area before parents are contacting the Middle Years Learning Leader (Mrs Park-Ballay) or Senior Years Learning Leader (Mrs Tobin) or myself.

This includes any requests for Extensions for students. The College has an Extension Process that needs to be completed for any extension to be granted. Students should discuss this with the teacher first and then the relevant Curriculum Leader.  Extension forms are then provided by the Middle Years Learning Leader (Mrs Park-Ballay) or Senior Years Learning Leader (Mrs Tobin) or myself if there is a valid medical reason or extenuating situation.  These extensions need to be processed before the due date (3 days), unless illness or extenuating circumstances occur on the day. If this occurs, please make sure you contact us directly to discuss and be able to advise the process for you depending on the situation.

In the Senior School any extensions for the New QCE – so for our current Year 11 and 12 students must be discussed with Mrs Tobin or myself directly.  This is so we can support your son or daughter and explain relevant processes for when they are studying Units 3 and 4.

Students are not able to sit for exams early for family holidays. If a student misses an exam due to being taken out of school early for a family holiday, they will receive NR (not rated) and are at risk of not receiving a credit point towards their QCE.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate in contacting me.

Report Cards

This term we will be providing an Interim report for Years 7 to 10 on a 5 point scale based on formative and summative work completed in class. Please note that we no longer report using +plus and – minus.    We will also report on Learning Behaviours – Application, Participation, Punctuality, Organisation using VG (very good) , G (good), S (satisfactory) and N (needs improvement).

One of the College’s strategic intents is “St Joseph’s College maximises engagement in learning and the wellbeing of students to grow as valued members of our community”.  Our Target is to increase the VG and G learner attributes on student reports.  It would be wonderful if parents and carers could also focus conversations with their son or daughter around improving student engagement in this area.  We would like students to reflect on their goals and learning behaviours to continue to seek improvement and aspire to excellence. 

Finally, we report on attendance during the term up to the date the report is issued. Our College goal for attendance is 95%, however, we recognise in the world we live in and COVID restrictions this may not be possible.  We do provide learning online for students who are having to isolate, and teachers are able to monitor engagement in lessons via the analytics in Canvas so please discuss with your child the work they are meant to be completing if they are unfortunately at home sick or isolating.  When at home isolating, students are still expected to complete the work.  If students are too unwell to work, then please make sure you contact their teachers to let them know so adjustments can be implemented to support them.

In Year 11, students will receive an Interim report card in Week 7 on Unit 1. This will be on a 3-point scale of PW – Progressing Well, S- Satisfactory and U – Unsatisfactory progress.   Changes to subjects cannot occur now until students complete Unit 1.  Of course, any change in subject choice would need to be discussed with Mrs Tobin or myself as this has implications on QCE points and completed core.

For Year 12’s we will be reporting on students First Internal Assessment (IA1) which is based on a “Provisional” result. 

‘Provisional’ result for Internal Assessment 1 (IA1) is the result the teacher has given the student for their first piece after internal moderating processes have been completed.  This result cannot be confirmed until it has been through the QCAA confirmation process and students will see their final confirmed result in their myQCE account once this has been finalized. 

Teachers will indicate in point form areas of success and areas for improvement on their report card being emailed to families in Week 7.  As a College, we would encourage you to discuss this with your son or daughter when you receive their upcoming report cards.

Academic Support

The College will be moving to a new format for contacting parents requesting their son or daughter attend Academic Support if they have failed to submit an adequate draft or checkpoint.  Please be aware that a letter will be emailed to parents outlining what work the student has failed to complete and what they will need to work on during this time. Within the letter will be a form for you to click on and complete the relevant details giving permission for them to attend (3.15 – 4.15pm in the library seminar rooms).

If there is a reason where this is not possible, please complete the form with the reason why and the teacher will be in contact.  Please be aware, Academic support is to ensure students keep up to date with assessment so that they are not at risk of not submitting a final copy of the assignment before or on the due date.  If an assignment is not submitted on time, the last checkpoint is used to mark the student’s work.

If you have any questions, please contact your son or daughter’s teacher or relevant Curriculum Leader.

Academic Support

The College will be moving to a new format for contacting parents requesting their son or daughter attend Academic Support if they have failed to submit an adequate draft or checkpoint.  Please be aware that a letter will be emailed to parents outlining what work the student has failed to complete and what they will need to work on during this time. Within the letter will be a form for you to click on and complete the relevant details giving permission for them to attend (3.15 – 4.15pm in the library seminar rooms).

If there is a reason where this is not possible, please complete the form with the reason why and the teacher will be in contact.  Please be aware, Academic support is to ensure students keep up to date with assessment so that they are not at risk of not submitting a final copy of the assignment before or on the due date.  If an assignment is not submitted on time, the last checkpoint is used to mark the student’s work.

If you have any questions, please contact your son or daughter’s teacher or relevant Curriculum Leader.

Kerrie-Anne Fellenberg - Assistant Principal - Curriculum  -  kfellenberg@sjc.qld.edu.au 

From the Assistant Principal - Student Engagement

The Ignatius Room, What Is It All About?

Relationships between community members of St Joseph’s College are extremely important. Furthermore, the way we prioritise relationships (rather than rules) in response to incidents of wrongdoing or misunderstanding is an essential expression of our Catholic identity in the Edmund Rice tradition. George (2015) summarises this theology in this way.

“This is what Jesus won for the human family on the Cross. These gifts form an essential part of what followers of Christ must practise in any age under all circumstances” (NZCBC, 1995). It is precisely this reconciliation that restorative practices has as its primary aim – a reconciliation not only between offender and victim, but also reconciliation of the victim and offender to their own selves” (p.5)

St Joseph’s College uses Relational Pedagogy (RP) that provides a culture for empathetic problem-solving by using processes that are safe, respectful and dignified for everyone. All effective restorative meetings have these characteristics:

• Are invitational and between two people, no more.
• Minimise threat
• Are based on empathy, not investigation
• Each person gives their perspective
• Each person articulates their ideal future (e.g. “Imagine you are king/queen of the world, what happens next?”) Nobody can go back in time.
• The ideal futures form the basis for a mutual resolution
• Traditional sanctions may still have a place but must be part of the resolution.

Igantius is Edmund Rice’s religious name. The word comes for ‘ignite’ and, as such, the Ignatius room is about reigniting the passion of learning and The Joey’s Way.  At St Joseph’s College, the Ignatius Room is a space for resetting and reflecting and eventually re-engaging in learning. In the event that student is demonstrating behaviour that does not embody The Joey’s Way, the teacher will take the following steps:

If you have any further queries about The Ignatius Room, please contact your House Leader or a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Joe Cryle - Assistant Principal - Student Engagement  -  jcryle@sjc.qld.edu.au 

Senior Years

Since welcoming our students back to campus, it has been an energising time and we find ourselves already at the end of Week 6! Over the last week in Joey’s Way, students have been engaging in lessons that centre around the traits of Grit and Perseverance. Thanks to the New York Times best-seller, Grit, by Angel Duckworth (2017), this term has become somewhat of a buzzword. Duckworth (2017) defines Grit to be a ‘special blend of perseverance and passion’. She goes on to further make the link that grit (passion and perseverance) is the ‘hallmark of high achievers in every domain (Duckworth, 2017).  Perseverance and passion! What an excellent connection to our Joey’s Way imperatives. These imperatives link to learning dispositions that all our Senior students should be implementing to grow their agency and independence as learners.

Students in the Senior Years should be settling into their chosen pathways of study. I hope that they are finding enjoyment in their new subjects and electives and engaging fully in classes. I am sure that already students are realising that subtle changes in their learning behaviours may be necessary to achieve success.

Given we are nearing the end of Week 6, students will find themselves preparing for their first pieces of formative internal assessment (Year 11), summative internal assessment (Year 12) and Term 1 assessment (Year 10). It is important that students know and understand task requirements and task expectations and reflect on the important feedback that they will receive in the drafting process. The process of receiving feedback is an important component in learning – it provides an opportunity to grow and challenge our thinking.

Over the last few weeks, there have been some students who have been making minor changes to their course of study. It has been pleasing to see many students begin studying Certificate courses outside of the College. These alternative pathways are viable options for students to not only meet QCE requirements but develop skills to support career choices.

Speaking of career aspirations and pathway plans, it was a life-giving experience to engage in collaborative conversations with our Year 12 students for Academic Care interviews. Over the last 12 months, we have worked hard with our students to ensure they have the knowledge and an understanding of QCE requirements, and the conversations revealed that students have certainly taken agency over this. Academic Care conversations were not just focused on QCE tracking and ATAR predictions, students were also encouraged to set goals for each of their subjects or courses of study. This process centred on students developing specific goals for each subject/course, but more importantly, students thought about the ‘how’, and what they need to do to specifically achieve their set goals. These goal setting templates have been emailed to students. Why not have a conversation with your son or daughter about this?

Finally, at the start of the year, I talked about success in Years 10, 11, and 12 and how this begins with a consistent approach to learning. I offered five simple strategies that students could consider. Perhaps check in with your son or daughter to see how these strategies are going? Of importance was the idea of setting a domino habit – a habit that sparks a chain reaction. Here’s another reason why domino habits are important: domino habits are interconnected and can impact the formation of other habits! It sounds like a great idea to me!

Karen Tobin - Program Middle Leader - Senior Years Learning Leader - ktobin@sjc.qld.edu.au 

Mathematics

Rain, rain – go away …

Did you know that one career pathway that commonly stems from a Bachelor of Mathematics is modelling weather patterns for the Bureau of Meteorology? In what can either be seen as timely or ironic, our SJC Year 9 mathematicians have recently been exploring the connection between volume and capacity whilst our Year 11 Maths Methods students are this week embarking on a problem-solving and modelling task that revolves around rain gauges. Nature is helping us bring the real world into our Maths classrooms – almost literally this past Friday!  

Study Guides

The start to the 2022 school year has been as unpredictable as we’ve become accustomed to over the last few years but, we have in place several systems and strategies designed to ensure learning continues despite the challenges we may face – one of which is the Study Guide. This year, every student from Years 7-10 has a Maths Study Guide – a document that clearly outlines the skills they need to learn, the textbook exercises that will help them develop those skills, and the details of their assessment. This document is designed to help provide students and parents with clarity around learning goals in Maths for Term 1. If you are keen to know what your child is learning in Maths this term, why not ask to see their Study Guide? Likewise, if you are keen to know what your child should be practising to improve in Maths this term, why not ask to see their Study Guide? If they have misplaced their Study Guide, a blank copy is available in Canvas.

Maths Tutoring

Maths Tutoring is again offered on a weekly basis in 2022. This year, our enthusiastic Maths teachers are available to support your child every Thursday afternoon in the Library from 3-4pm. Maths Tutoring provides an extra opportunity to receive one-on-one support from a teacher. Some students come in groups to work together to complete their study whilst some prefer to use the time to work independently with the help of a teacher. It’s a wonderful opportunity for students to develop their maths skills in a supportive environment. Everyone is welcome!

Candice Brazier - Curriculum Leader - Mathematics - cbrazier@sjc.qld.edu.au

Brennan House

‘Care for Everyone’

This week we celebrated Ash Wednesday with liturgy in our Brennan JW groups.  It was amazing to be witness to how our JW groups reflected on the Lenten Season.  They made links with our College theme ‘Together at one table’, College motto ‘Serve him in others’ and our own Brennan motto ‘Care for everybody’

In this Lenten season I challenge Brennan students and the wider school community to bring together these three concepts of Togetherness, Service and Care and begin to apply these to our interactions with each other and the rest of the world.  There is plenty of pain and suffering in the world today, from the floods we are currently living through to the fighting over in Europe.  It is our responsibility, each and everyone of us, to look to our community and to see our God in every person, in every story.  This season as we remember that Jesus sacrificed himself for us, we also need to look to those in our community and ask what can we give of ourselves to help.  How can we ‘Care for Everybody’?

Swimming Carnival

Our College swimming carnival has been re-scheduled for this coming Wednesday and as a house we are striving for as much participation as possible.  At our last Brennan meeting we challenged every student of Brennan to strive to achieve to the best they can, whether that be shouting cheers, swimming across the pool or striving for age champion.

For a bit of fun, our leaders, Preston and Kaylee, have chosen Superheroes as our theme for the swimming carnival so get out your purple capes and masks and let’s show what heroes we can be in the pool.

Luke Logan - Student Engagenement Middle Leader - Brennan House - llogan@sjc.qld.edu.au

Sports

Darling Downs Teams

The first round of Darling Downs selection cluster days has been completed. We would like to congratulate the following students on making Darling Downs teams.

In the sport of Touchfootball, where they will travel to Cairns in June to compete at the State Championships:

• 13 – 15 years Girls – Indianna Kelly
• 13 – 15 years Boys – Darby Reid

Travelling to Townsville in May for the State Championships:

• 16 – 18 years Girls – Talia McEwan
• 16 – 18 years Boys – Blaise Prendergast and Bailey Deakin

In the sport of Softball, the state championships will be held in Redlands in late March:

• 13 – 19 years Girls – Bridie Nicol

Swimming Carnival Postponement

Unfortunately due to the very poor weather forecast for last Thursday, it was the only decision we could make for the welfare of students and teachers alike. The new date for the swimming carnival is Wednesday 9 March. 

Students who need to change their nominations should see or email Miss Newton. Further details regarding the 2022 swimming carnival is enclosed in an email sent to all families via Edsmart.

Darling Downs Swimming Trials

Another casualty of the rain was the Darling Downs Swimming Trials. They were transferred from the Gatton pool up into Toowoomba and went from Tuesday to Wednesday.

We had a team of 8 girls participate, however, unfortunately one had to withdraw because of a close contact with COVID, so 7 girls battled the heat on Wednesday to swim for a position in the team. I was hoping I would have all the results, but they did not come through in time for this newsletter.

I do know that Sienna Deurloo has made it with 10 events to her name and also setting a new record in the 17 years 100m Freestyle event with a time ofg 59.92 beating the old record 1:01.42. Also making it through were Romey Wiemers, Regan Gardner and a very happy Lilly Wiemers. Lilly-May Krause missed out this time by .07 of a second. Congratulations to all these young ladies as all their hard work has paid off.

Darling Downs Swimming Carnival

Deb Newton - Program Leader - Sports  -  dnewton@sjc.qld.edu.au

Career Pathways

February in Review: 

The Career Pathways Team has been busy planning for the Year 10 Work Experience students, hosting small group sessions, and planning for the upcoming Year 8 and 9 Career Days! 

Themes for the year level career days are Year 8 - Discover Who You Are. and Year 9 Career: It’s more than just a job! 

During each session, we will support students to discover and explore their strengths and limits and plan their next steps. 

Work Experience Readiness Workshops 

Reminder! Work Experience Seminars are held in the Library every Wednesday in May during lunch. 

• 1 March 2022  

• What is Work Experience?  
• The benefits of Work Experience  

• 8 March 2022  

• Identify potential work experience placements of interest  

• 15 March 2022  

• How to write a letter of introduction to an employer  

• 22 March 2022  

• Completing the Work Experience Agreement  

• 29 March 2022  

• Q & A  

• 26 April 2022  

• Tips and tricks for Work Experience  

• 3 May 2022  

• Tips and tricks for Work Experience  

If you haven’t already, please don’t forget to watch our Work Experience Parent Information Video where we discuss what is Work Experience, the benefits, and key dates. Watch the video here. 

 
Certificate of Appreciation 

To Alicia Pomfrett, Ella Woods, and Daniel Ooi for starting their School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeships! 

School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeship Photos

What can I do with my ATAR? 

Year 12 students it’s time to start thinking about your ATAR goal and the courses you may like to study or understand which pathways can lead you into your area of interest. QTAC is your one stop shop, listing all courses available and the ATAR score required to gain entry. Explore QTAC to see where your ATAR can take you. Discover here. 

What I wish I knew earlier about my student HELP debt.  

Read here about Ellie’s expensive lesson in student debt when she started at university. She discusses the below important lessons: 

• What is HELP debt and how does it work? 

• How does HELP debt get repaid? 
• Why switching courses can be expensive? 
• What you can't borrow for  

Current Vacancies: 

School Based Apprenticeships/Traineeships:  

• Certificate III Hospitality - Chipmunks Playland 
• Certificate III Hospitality - Checkers on Tor 
• Certificate III Hospitality - Café De Velo 
• Certificate III Hospitality - YodThai Restaurant 
• Certificate III Hospitality - GPO Bar and Café 

• Certificate III Hospitality - Subway 
• Certificate III Commercial Cookery – Burke and Wills 
• Certificate III Commercial Cookery – GPO Bar and Cafe 
• Certificate III Commercial Cookery – YodThai Restaurant 
• Certificate III Business (including retail electives) - Pacific Fuels 

• Certificate III Business (including retail electives) - Crackerjack Chicken 

Applications close 30 March. Please see the Career Pathways team for more information or to apply. 

Part-time/ Casual work:  

• Phat Burgers, Toowoomba City are seeking casual and part time workers. If you’re interested, please hand in your resume at Phat Burgers. 
• Coles Supermarket Team Members, Cleaning and Trolley Collection. Apply here 

Don't forget Careers has its own website! https://www.sjccareers.com.au/ 

The Career Pathways Team utilises two platforms to distribute career information, sjccareers.com.au website and Canvas. We invite to visit the sjccareers website.

For more information please contact the Careers Team

Charlotte Penner - Careers Support Officer  -  cpenner@sjc.qld.edu.au

Maree Harman - Career Development Practitioner  -  mharman@sjc.qld.edu.au

SJC - Community News

Our Parent Business Directory has begun and you may see some of our parents business in our coloum beside our newsletter! We would like to include more businesses. If you would like to be featured please send through any deatils and/or business graphics to: marketing@sjc.qld.edu.au

The Ellie Project

Interact held their first fundraiser for the year on Monday 21 February. Thanks to the generous donations, wearing of yellow and purchases through our stalls we were able to raise an astonishing $1000 for The Ellie Project. We are extremely humbled by the generosity of the community and look forward to passing this money on to The Ellie Project where it will be dispersed to Toowoomba families who are battling cancer!

Emily Chandler  - Interact President

Australian Government - Department of Education, Skills and Employement

Collection Notice for parents/guardians - 2022 Student Residential Address and Other Information 

Debating

Positive Partnerships Workshop

Positive Partnerships - working together to support school-aged students on the autism spectrum. Free 2 day workshop for parents and careers.

USQ 'Stem Futures' Camp

Explore engineering through researcher and industry site vists, tech-focused workshops and an entrepreneurial challenge with great prizes on offer!

40 spots available for students in Years 8 to 10 

Canteen Assistant Required

Our busy canteen has a part time role during term time (up to 20 hours per week).

The role is predominantly required for serving during lunch and morning tea.

Duties include serving, cash handling and food preparation.

Casual role with view to permanent part time.

Email Geoff Morgan, for more information and a role description if you or someone you know may be interested.

Geoff Morgan - Business Manager - gmorgan@sjc.qld.edu.au

Uniform Shop

School Masks still available in store for sale $5.00 navy and black washable.

Hat bands for formal boys and girls hats now available in store $12.00.

Flip-top school water bottles $18.00

Out of Stock:

Girls Sport Shorts Size Large

Senior Girls Formal Blouse Size 16A

EFTPOS only - No Cash accepted until further notice.

Please follow Queensland Government guidelines and check-in when visiting the uniform shop.

Online orders can be placed anytime and will be packed and ready for collection from our store during our open hours.

During the school terms we can deliver your parcel up to student entrance on our trading days for your child to collect from there.  Home delivery is also available for online orders at a cost.

Summer stock is now available.

Ordering Online Process

www.midford.com.au     pass phrase StJC1956

Second hand uniforms are also available at the Uniform Shop.

If you have used uniform items that would like to donate, please drop off to the Uniform Shop during opening hours.  Donations are greatly appreciated.

If you have used uniform items that you would like us to sell for you, please call into the uniform shop and collect a “Used Clothing” form. Used uniforms items MUST be in good condition, hems intact, no holes, stains or missing buttons. They also need to washed, ironed and be the current uniform. 

If you have any questions, please call us on 4631 8514 during opening hours.