Newsletter - Term 1 - Week 8 - Issue 81

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Students

As part of our SJC Towards 2024 Strategic Plan we have been working very hard to promote a culture of learning and growth with all members of our community. Two of the strategic intents that align with this work are:

• As an aspirational learning community, St Joseph’s College embraces a culture of learning to empower young people to pursue their passions and meet the demands of their future pathways.
• St Joseph’s College maximises engagement in learning and the wellbeing of students to grow as valued members of our community.

Whilst developing and embedding a culture of learning and striving for growth takes time, commitment, perseverance, and consistent effort, it is also very important to highlight and acknowledge short term success to maintain enthusiasm and desire.

An example of the success that are a result of the consistent targeted learning and efforts of the students and staff have been made available this week when ACARA released the NAPLAN reports for 2021.

These graphs below highlight the outstanding results of our current Year 8 students and the excellent growth achieved by our Year 10 students in 2021. As you can imagine this information has been well received by our community and highlights the great work our students and staff are doing in partnership with our parents and caregivers in ensuring students are achieving to the best of their ability. Congratulations Year 8 and Year 10 students and the staff of St Joseph’s College.

Further information can be accessed at 

Results

When reflecting upon these results and our desire to have our students continue to achieve growth in their learning, I remembered when I ran into a Year 12 student from my previous school earlier this year. This past student informed me that he had started university after working for a couple of years. He then went on to express how grateful he was of the support that the teachers provided him, and he wanted me to continue to emphasise to our current students the importance of perseverance and what he referred to as GRIT. When I asked him what he meant by GRIT he informed me that during his first lecture they played a TED talk that was closely linked to perseverance and GRIT, and this was what he thought he lacked during his senior years in school and why he was not successful with his learning at the time. When I had the chance I researched the TED talk that he spoke of and I thought that it aligned very nicely with the Joey’s Way framework that we are engaging the students in here.

The TED talk is presented by Angela Lee Duckworth who in her late 20s left a demanding job as a management consultant to teach maths in public schools in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York. After five years of teaching seventh graders, she went back to university to complete her Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is now an assistant professor in the psychology department. Her research subjects include students, West Point cadets, and corporate salespeople, all of whom she studies to determine how "grit" is a better indicator of success than factors such as IQ or family income.

This research on how a growth mindset and demonstrating “grit” in the form of perseverance, hard work and a drive to improve is the greatest determining factor for success validates and furthers our beliefs that the imperatives and lessons participated in as part of our Joey’s Way Program is of great benefit to our students.

For your information I have included the link to the TED talk below. It is approximately a six-minute segment and is well worth watching for parents and caregivers.

Our Program Leader for Senior Schooling Mrs Karen Tobin, expands on GRIT further in her section of the newsletter this week. 

This week, as our students continue to work on assignments and head into exams, we pray for the students at St Joseph’s College, that they may have the same belief in themselves that we the staff have in them. We hope that they take a positive and gritty mindset into their lessons and assessment, believing that they are capable of learning and improving each and every day.

May God give you the grace and grit to keep walking,

One foot in front of the other no matter how impossible the mountain feels to climb.

May He lead you by streams of living water, refresh your weary soul, and give you just what you need at every turn.

May He take your burdens and give you a new song to sing.

May He renew your faith to believe that fresh blessings await you just around the bend.

And tomorrow when the sun comes up,

May His new morning mercies feel as miraculous as they are.

Amen

(Prayer courtesy of Susie Larson)

Kort Goodman - Principal - KGoodman@sjc.qld.edu.au

From the Deputy Principal

COVID-19

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

Preparing for Exams

By now each and every young person at St Joseph’s College would have an established routine and study schedule. By planning small and regular reviews of content, students can “overcome the forgetting curve” and use important information more readily.

This is particularly important for Mathematics – where students often forget how to attack certain problems they did earlier in the term.

It is important that students are continually trying to turn around the effects of the ‘curve’. This can be achieved through regular practice and revision. Below are a couple of tips that may help to direct your study over the next week.

Complete practice questions

Use your textbook, Canvas courses, previous in-class questions or worksheets and revision quizzes to apply your knowledge. As you revise further, try and complete each question in an allocated period of time e.g. 1 minute per multiple-choice question or an introductory paragraph in 5 minutes. This will help you to perform under time pressure which is what happens when you reach the exam day.

Whip up some flashcards

A good use of your time is writing flashcards. These are valuable because they force you to condense information to fit in a small area. Making flashcards means that all the information is in front of you, so you don’t have to waste time looking through a giant stack of notes.

You can put questions on one side of the flashcard and answers on the other. You can draw miniature diagrams as well, such as the water cycle for Geography or a distillation set-up for Chemistry. Flashcards are particularly good for writing out facts or quotes that you need to drill into your head. It’s also wise to make them short, since there’s no use trying to commit paragraphs to memory.

Clear your head

Clear your head because clarity of thought will let you think rationally. If you are panicked, in revision or in the exam, then it will show in your work. Go for a run, play basketball, practice the piano or help your parents cook dinner and clear your head. Focus on what is in front of you rather than worrying about everything at once.

Vaping

As you would be aware from conversations in the media or with your child, the prevalence of vaping has increased over the last 18 months throughout Queensland. As parents, we need to plan to address this issue with our children. Here are some ideas from a recent article called Vaping: Risks, what parents need to know.

Talking to Teens: The key to every potentially tricky teen conversation is listening more than talking. The outcome you are looking for is to continue having open discussions about the topic.

Stay Calm: Try to remain calm when dealing with a vaping use issue with your child. Preload them with an 'If I find these. I’m going to confiscate them because I need to keep you safe' approach. Punitive measures in isolation may only cement rebellion.

A Taboo Topic: As parents, we need to be knowledgeable when talking about vapes. It can’t become a taboo topic. As always, SchoolTV is another good source of information for parents. The special report on Vaping last year can be found here.

St Joseph’s College prohibits vaping in any form at the College or associated events. The College is responsible for providing a safe environment where your child is not exposed to unnecessary dangers, including vaping. If you have any concerns with your child in this area, please contact the College for further discussion.

The current situation in Ukraine can be unsettling for students. Younger students may start to feel overwhelmed by the news cycle. This article titled, ‘How to cope with bad world news’, published by REACHOUT.com, is worth reading if you have a child prone to this issue.

Upcoming Events

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

Student Voice - Mission Captains

Our humble beginnings as an Edmund Rice school have become core to the religious and mission identities of St. Joseph’s College. As your Mission Captains for 2022, we strive and look forward to implementing and further developing the Joeys Way and what ultimately it all comes to – our motto, ‘Serve him in Others,’ not only in the St. Josephs’ College, but the wider Toowoomba community through social justice and service. Furthermore, we are overjoyed with our new opportunity to develop this year’s school theme ‘Coming together at one table,’ and further develop our religious celebrations to ensure relevance and engagement. With these aspirations in mind, the St. Josephs’ College 2022 Mission Captains have devised many goals to achieve these major intentions.

Goal 1: Improving Social Justice and Service Participation

Our first goal for this year is to improve participation in the social justice and service activities that are regularly offered at school. We intend to implement a number of initiatives to improve participation not only in our social justice groups but to those who participate in the events organised to raise money or donations. These groups and events are vital to the culture of the school as it gives students an explicit means to live out the school motto and teachings of Edmund Rice. We believe that our many initiatives such as further recognition for outstanding participation, extensive and strategic event advertising and set structures to event planning will result in not only more participation from the student body but additionally will lead to more elaborate and better planned events. With many of these initiatives already underway in many of our social justice groups, we not only expect these goals to be achieved but we are hopeful that these goals flourish into much more.

Goal 2 : Further Developing religious life at St. Joseph’s College

Our second goal for this year is to further develop religious life at St. Josephs’ College, specifically by making it more engaging and relevant for the St. Joseph’s Community while keeping to our fundamental teachings as an Edmund Rice school. Religious celebration and religious expression are key to the identity of our school as it connects our community to our traditions and culture as a Catholic School. We intend to do this through understanding the religious life of our community and what they expect when celebrating religious events as a community. Furthermore, we intend to keep with our fundamental teachings and tradition through – along side the Year 12 Liturgy Group, launching and progressively developing our school theme; ‘Coming Together at one table.’ In which boasts equality and leading through service just as Edmund Rice did. 

As your Mission Captains for 2022, this is what we are set out to do, and are seeing progress in our goals, and thus aspirations already. Hopefully, with the help of one another, these aspirations and more can be achieved to make St. Josephs’ College just that bit more special. 

Blake Troy and Waed Roumieh - Mission Captains

From the Assistant Principal - Religious Education

Feast of St Joseph

Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

On this Feast of St Joseph, we are called to come ‘Together at One Joey’s Table’ to celebrate all that St Joseph’s stands for. We are called to be people of welcome and kindness, to respect unconditionally, to use empathy, to celebrate diversity, and to Serve Him in Others.

May God give us a greater capacity to focus on the ways we can build a more positive and welcoming community. May God help us to better understand what this could look like at St Joseph’s.

Together at One Table Symbols

Each celebration we are adding new symbols to our table to build our understanding of what it looks like to be Together at One Table.

We began with a basic tabletop.

We added a coaster to represent the role our staff play in upholding our values and protecting our community.

We added a table cloth, to represent how we come prepared to share together and begin our new year with intention.

We added a fruit bowl, the fruit bowl symbolises the many different gifts and talents our Year 7 cohort brings to our community.

And we added a purple chair for Ash Wednesday, it reminds us during Lent to live the Brennan House motto of “Care for Everybody”.

Induction Symbol

In the Gospel, we read of the difficult decision Joseph made. He could have chosen to save face and quietly separate from Mary. Instead, he chose to welcome God’s messages and, in turn, welcome Jesus into his life.

Welcoming Jesus into our lives is not always easy. We might feel like having him at the table might make our other guests uncomfortable, we might not be sure how to speak to him or how to understand his story in our lives.

But as part of our faith, we are sure to invited Jesus to our table and so we also add a chair to symbolise his place in the centre of our lives. This chair symbolises our commitment as Catholic community to remember to welcome God and Jesus into our lives and be open to growing in faith.

Joey’s Day Symbol

The story of the beginning of St Joseph’s College, is also a story of people choosing to people of welcome.

In 1955, Mr Vince Crowley called a meeting to investigate the possibility of establishing a Catholic Boys school on the eastern side of Toowoomba to eliminate the need for the boys on the eastern side of town to ride their bikes, sometimes dangerously, to St Mary’s College.

When parents were trying to raise funds for another Brothers’ school to be established on the eastern side of town, they organised a significant raffle, the first prize for which was to be a silver tea pot. We believe Fr. Ray’s mother, Mrs Kit Crowley, was one of the main instigators of the raffle.

We add a silver teapot to our table to represent the efforts of those who first began our College. A beginning that shows commitment to building a longer table (or a school in this case) to welcome students safely and be a place of learning of growth.

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

From the Assistant Principal - Curriculum

Parent – Teacher – Student Interviews : Term 2

Date Claimer: As per the College Calendar, these interviews will occur on Wednesday 20 April from 1.50pm to 6pm.  Further details will be emailed to families at the end of Term 1 with instructions on how to book appointments through the Parent Portal.

Report Cards

All Year 11 and 12 parents and carers have been sent an email indicating that their report cards are available in the Parent Portal for viewing.  For Year 12, please note that General Subjects have completed their first Internal Assessment and the result is unconfirmed and provisional until it has gone through the QCAA confirmation process in Term 2.

Years 7 – 10 will receive their Interim report cards at the end of the term.

QCAA Confirmation

Confirmation is a quality assurance process that ensures the comparability of results for summative internal assessment in General and General (Extension) subjects. QCAA-trained assessors review a selected sample of student responses to summative internal assessments to check that schools have applied the instrument-specific marking guide (ISMG) accurately and consistently. In 2022, confirmation of a school’s first summative internal assessment for Units 3 and 4 in General and General (Extension) subjects will occur from April when schools upload provisional results.

Assessment Calendars

A reminder that students and parents have received a copy of the Semester One Assessment Calendar for 2022 earlier in the term.  If your child is involved in SBA’s or TAFE or other external courses, they are expected to attend school for all examinations here at the College on the day it is scheduled.

Assessment Calendars can also be located on the College Intranet (for students) and on the College Website:

If you have any questions about assessment, please contact your child's classroom teacher or Curriculum Leader.

St Joseph’s College is responsible for gathering evidence of student achievement on or before the due date for internal assessment instruments.

All students have electronic access to their assessment schedules and it is their responsibility to adhere to these due dates.

Students are responsible for planning and managing their time to meet the due dates.

Students and parents can contact teachers and Middle Leaders via Phoning or emailing to help with communication. Teachers are not able to grant extensions directly with students and parents/carers.

St Joseph’s College is required to adhere to QCAA policies about due dates accepting assignments only on or before the due date unless an extension through AARA processes has been approved.  For example, a student who is absent due to family holidays will not be granted an extension for an assignment as this doesn’t meet the AARA guidelines set by QCAA.

Academic Support

Each Thursday afternoon from 3.15pm – 4.15pm Academic support occurs in the College Seminar Rooms.

Teachers may request students attend these sessions if they have not met expectations at checkpoints or drafts for assignments.

This time is an opportunity for students to complete work and receive assistance if required. 

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

From the Assistant Principal - Student Engagement

What is Behaviour Support?

In the last fifteen years schools have moved deliberately way from a punitive approach to managing challenging behaviour. The reason for this move away from a punitive approach is twofold i) it is, at the very least, ethically questionable to punish a student into submission and ii) there is little evidence that this type of approach works.

St Joseph’s College utilise a model developed from Positive Psychology called Positive Behaviour for Learning. Firstly, this means determining the function of a particular behaviour. A student may struggle to meet expectations because and they are unclear what the expectations actually are, because they struggle to access the curriculum, because they have a disability or any other combination of reasons.

The essential challenge for our staff is to tailor specific types of support to students depending on their behavioural needs. These levels of support can be classified into Tier 1 Universal Behaviour Supports, Tier 2 Targeted Behaviour Supports and Tier 3 Intensive Behaviour Support. Among other data points we use our Ignatius Room referral data to help determine what type of support will best meet the needs of a student. A summary of our support map is below:

If you have any questions about the type of behaviour support being provided to your child, please contact your child’s House Leader.

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

Middle Years

What should home work look like at SJC? 

For the purpose of this article, home work is: “Tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are meant to be carried out during non-school hours” (Cooper, 1989, p.7 as cited in Hattie, 2009, p. 234). 

Research meta-analyses undertaken by John Hattie (2008) indicates that purposeful and precise homework at the secondary level can result in more than a year's growth for a year's worth of schooling. On the other hand however, a 10-year survey of more than 200 000 middle and high school students showed that home work was one of their biggest causes of stress (Pope, D 2020). 

St Joseph's College wants to get home work right. At the centre of our Teaching & Learning Framework is the Expert Learner. This is a learner who knows how to do learning really well. Also, Expert learners are self-advocates who develop independent learning skills throughout their secondary schooling. 

At SJC we understand that it is the parents and caregivers who support our students through their home learning and value your feedback on this matter.

Please take the time to complete this following survey.

The survey link will be active for one week until March 25^th.

If you are interested in reading more about the research around home work, please read the articles linked below:

Upcoming NAPLAN

Once again, this year, students in Years 7 and 9 will participate in a National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN is designed to test numeracy and literacy at the appropriate year levels. The results of these tests are released to the community on the website www.myschool.edu.au.

NAPLAN Online

Federal, state and territory education ministers agreed that NAPLAN would move online from 2017 – over a two-to-three-year period. COVID restrictions forced the cancellation of NAPLAN in 2020, but St Joseph’s College engaged with the NAPLAN Online platform in 2021 and will do so again in 2022.

Student Preparation

As a school we will continue to prepare students for the rigors of NAPLAN Online. Students have been working on a variety of Literacy & Numeracy activities and, in the coming weeks, will become familiar with the strategies in undertaking an online test. The various departments have been and will be undertaking the following preparation with the Year 7 & 9 students:

• Whole school Strategic Grammar and Punctuation Program
• Whole School Literacy focus
• Whole School Writing focus
• English Department – Writing (Persuasive and Narrative genre), Spelling, Guided Reading techniques, Grammar and Punctuation, Literacy Improvement English guided reading lessons.
• Mathematics Department – Numeracy (both with calculator and without calculator)
• Science Department – Numeracy
• Humanities Department – Literacy Improvement Humanities guided reading lessons, Spelling
• RE Department – Spelling, Guided Reading techniques, Grammar and Punctuation

Literacy and numeracy are crucial to success, and as such are considered fundamental in education. Completion of this preparation program may assist your learner’s performance in these examinations as well as their academic studies.

Key Dates

• 29 March - Year 7 students will participate a NAPLAN Online Practice Test
• 31 March – Year 9 s students will participate a NAPLAN Online Practice Test
• 10-13 May - Year 7 and 9 students will complete the NAPLAN Online Test over four days
• 16-20 May - Catch up testing window for students who were unable to complete one or more of the tests during the scheduled testing window

If you do not want your learner to undertake one or all of the NAPLAN tests, please contact the College for more information regarding withdrawal.

If you have any questions regarding the upcoming NAPLAN testing please do not hesitate to contact the College.

Cate Park-Ballay - Program Middle Leader: Middle School Learning/NAPLAN Co-Ordinator - CPark-Ballay@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 8! Over the last weeks 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 8, 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 - KTobin@sjc.qld.edu.au

Rice House

The start of 2022 has undoubtedly been a challenge and one that, unfortunately, we are becoming more common with facing over the last couple of years. In Rice House, we draw on Brother Edmund’s ‘gentle strength’ as we continue to rise above these challenges.

Joey’s Day

This Friday, we will gather as a whole College to celebrate Joey’s Day, an opportunity to celebrate our collective identity as a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice tradition. In the lead up to Friday, I encourage all students to attend to ensure they celebrate and feel the sense of community present at SJC. Many thanks to the numerous Rice students who have volunteered to support staff with the alternate activities; I am sure it will be a great success!

Students and Technology

As a Student Engagement Team, collaboratively, we are spending increased amounts of time supporting our students and having conversations around the effective use of technology. We have seen advancements in information communication technologies in the last 20 years, unlike any living generation. Our students are being consistently challenged to develop appropriate relationships in a new space and face behaviour that often doesn’t have clear consequences.

Within the SET, we often use the resources that the eSafety Commissioner provides to support our work and encourage parents to engage with their parent resources at 

Information packs regarding a variety of topics are present, as well as family tech agreements, gift guides and numerous videos to support parents.

More locally, we also have the SJC online safety hub, which provides further information to parents and carers on Family Zone, Cyber Safety Tech and an abundance of App and Game reviews. 

Swimming Carnival

With great disappointment, I write to outline that the streak is over. After a period of unbridled dominance from Rice House over the previous couple of years, we congratulate Murphy House on winning the 2022 Swimming Carnival. Whilst it was only a couple of hundred points deciding the overall winner, the fact that Rice had the least number of participants for the day was ultimately the deciding factor.

Congratulations to our Age Champions, who stood upon the podium at the end of the day. Your persistence and ability to strive for personal excellence is something to be admired. The 2022 Cross Country Carnival is in Week 10. The challenge set to Rice House to increase our attendance at Cross Country to set the record straight again. Remembering that a champion team will always beat a team of champions.

Thomas Moore - Student Engagenement Middle Leader - Rice House - TMoore@SJC.qld.edu.au

Enhanced Learning

As Term 1 nears completion it is an opportune time to reflect on the year to date within Enhanced Learning.

It has been pleasing to see how well the Year 7 students have settled into the routines and responsibilities of secondary school: negotiating their way between classrooms, learning teachers’ names, maintaining lockers, and completing homework and assessments on time. It is a big change transitioning from primary school to secondary school, and they appear to have handled it well.  At the other end, our Year 12 students are beginning their transition to post school life, through participation in SBA’s, Certificate courses and external and internal work experience.   

Homework Club is back up and running on Thursday afternoons from 3 – 4 pm during term time.  This continues to be an important aspect of support for a range of students who require assistance to organise and complete their homework and assessment in a timely manner. Success hinges on the creation of a supportive environment where students receive both teacher and peer support to take on academic challenges and experience success. Similarly, Room 29 remains a safe space for students to connect during breaktimes and develop networks with others who share common interests.

Of course, a professional, collaborative, and empathetic staff in Enhanced Learning is key to providing the right support at the right time for our students. This year our team has been enhanced by the arrival of our new Learning Support Teacher, Karyn Morrison, who will replace Janet Reed for 2022 while she is on leave.  Karyn has already connected with a network of students, staff, and families within her role. As always, our School Officers play a vital role not only in providing in-class student support, but in facilitating groups within the College’s Literacy Improvement Strategy and providing intervention support through the Macqlit program. A big congratulations goes out to a number of our School Officers who last year completed their Certificate 4 in Education Support.  It is great to see so many take on the challenge associated with further study.

At this early point in the year, we acknowledge the outstanding contribution of many of our students to the broader school community, whether it be through service groups, music ensembles, choirs, or sporting teams. It is wonderful to see our students shine when given the opportunity to use their strengths within a supportive environment.

We look forward to journeying with our students as 2022 unfolds.  

Darcy Goodall - Program Middle Leader - Enhanced Learning - DGoodall@sjc.qld.edu.au 

Science

Preparing for Exams in Science

While exams may seem like a long way away for most Science students, now is always the best time to start preparing for them!

At SJC here is how your child’s Science teachers are supporting them to get the best results in their exams.

Stay on task in Class

Class is the best place to learn and develop new concepts. Making sure that students stay focused, take notes and ask questions if they need clarification is the best way to start learning.

Know your Learning Intentions

Exam questions in Science are built from the learning intentions in the lessons. Learning intentions can be found at the top of all Stile lessons, Teacher’s PowerPoints or student notes.

Establish a revision timetable

Because exam questions come from work throughout the Semester it makes revision really important. Key items to revise include

• Definitions from the glossary (make a set of flash cards)
• Go over your notes from class (construct a 10% summary)
• Complete all the questions in Stile Lessons and Quizzes

Complete Guided Homework Questions

In Term 2, the Science department will be providing students with fortnightly homework sheets. These sheets will help students consolidate their learning at home. They will follow the topics we will be covering in class. The expectation is that students complete the work in their own time and will be given feedback on their performance each fortnight. Students who fail to meet these expectations will be offered academic support on Thursday afternoons.

If you have any questions about the specific needs of your child in Science, please contact their Science Teacher or the Curriculum Leader, Mr Bill Whiting.

Biology Excursion to Duggan Park

On Monday the two Senior Biology classes at St Joseph's College engaged in their annual day of fieldwork. While they were supposed to be enjoying data collection at North Stradbroke Island, COVID and flooding prevented this from occurring. Not wanting to dwell on what might have been, these students got stuck into exploring the terrestrial ecosystem at Duggan Park.

Biological field work involves students measuring the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) of an ecosystem and looking for a relationship between them.

The students were more than happy to get their hands dirty collecting information about soil type, moisture and temperature as well as using technology to calculate canopy cover and the diversity of plants in the ecosystem.

Back at school the hard work begins as students start to analyse all the data they collected and search for trends, patterns, and relationships. This information will be used to complete their second internal assessment.

Bill Whiting - Curriculum Leader - Science - BWhiting@sjc.qld.edu.au

Library

Things have been busy in the library this term! It has been wonderful to see students engage in our lunch time activities and responding to our discussion walls.

International Women’s Day display

Fun Fridays in the library were very festive this week with students engaging in an Easter sock activity.

Easter Sock Activitiy

As a part of our Tinker Thursday program, Ms. Bastion ran a STEAM activity that saw students build with Jelly Beans. The challenge was to build the highest tower possible using a set number of toothpicks and jelly beans. It needed to be structurally sound so many different designs were trialled, and the finalists needed to stay upright to be measured!

Tinker Thursday

Library Team - Library@sjc.qld.edu.au

Sports

Annual SJC Swimming Carnival

The carnival was held on March 9 after two postponements. Weather wise we had the perfect day for the carnival. For the students who did attend they seemed to have enjoyed the day competing for their Houses, dressing up in House colours and having success in the pool.

House points 

4^th Place McAuley            2563

3^rd Place Brennan             3923

2^nd Place Rice                     4524

1^st Place Murphy              4819

These points were calculated on individual swims in the 100m, 50m and 25m participation events. 100 points was awarded to Brennan House for the largest numbers of students in attendance, 72 points to each of Murphy and McAuley, who were equal in number and 25 points to Rice who had the lowest number in attendance.

Thanks must go to my fellow colleagues for all their help in making the day a success for the students. To Deb and Michelle in the tuckshop for providing lunch for the teachers who were at the pool all day, the food was very tasty. To Mrs Reeves who supported me in getting everything ready for the carnival, three times.

A big thank you to Mrs Hudson who worked the scoring-computer system all day. 

Interhouse Cross Country

A reminder that our interhouse cross country is coming up on Friday 1 April - Last day of Term 1

TSSS Swimming Carnival

This annual carnival was held on Thursday March 10 at the Milne Bay Pool Aquatic Centre. We took two teams this year. 14-year-old girls, Elizabeth Koch and Tameka Dyne did us proud as they competed strongly..

We also took an under 19 team of Sienna Duerloo, Romey Wiemers, Regan Gardner and Lilly-May Krause who competed in both the age group events as well as the open events.

The girls were fantastic and won both the Open event trophy as well as the age group trophy.

To top the day off, Sienna Duerloo was presented with the Owen Janetzki Trophy for the overall swimmer of the meet for the second year in a row. A wonderful team effort of all the girls.

Friday Night Basketball

The Friday Night competition will come to its conclusion this week with finals being played over 4 divisions. This is a new format for 2022 to encourage more students to be involved in basketball.

Last Friday, we started the night off at Glennie with the Year 7/8 girls playing St Saviours College. We had 7 very keen young ladies ready to take us to the finals of the Division 2 finals. Kaley Markey top point scorer for the night with 18 points and well supported by Sami Hunter with 9 points, Holly Robinson on 8 points, Krystal Timms scored 6 points, Sophie Troy put 4 points in the basket and Taylah Reynolds a very helpful 2 points.

St Saviours were tough competition, but we were lucky enough to come away with a 47 to 24 win. The girls are grateful for Bec Scott as their coach and will play Centenary Heights at Toowoomba Grammar on Court 2 at 4.00pm. 

Over at Toowoomba Grammar our 7/8 boys were down 26 to 4 at the start of the second quarter against St Mary’s. I think my mouth hit the fall when I saw the score. Everyone was just shooting and not much teamwork was occurring. Their coach Hayden Maripa had a thing or two to say about that and we started to play like a team. In fact, St Mary’s only scored 10 points over the next three quarters to see us take out a very exciting game 40 to 36. A brilliant comeback for the boys to put us in the Division 1 final against Toowoomba Grammar at Grammar at 5.00pm Friday on Court 1. 

The Year 9/10 girls team rocked up to play our very first game for the season but were so disappointed when Concordia failed to show. Our first game of the season was a bye, the next week was washed out by the flood waters, the following week was another bye. We have walked in the grand final against St Saviour’s on Court 1 at Toowoomba Grammar at 6.00pm. It will be great just to have them play.

The Year 9/10 boys had a hard-fought battle against St Mary’s and were unable to make it a trifecta for us into the grand final. We lost 44 to 32 but they certainly didn’t leave anything in the tank against the opposition.

Blake Burrows top point scorer with 8 points and Kizito Oryem, Oliver Smyth, Deng Bol Malek and Charlie Meyer all scoring 5 points each. Peter Onyayowang put 4 very valuable points in the basket. The boys will play at Glennie on Court 1 at 7.00pm against Harristown State High School. We wish them the best.

A big thank you to Mr Meara for taking control of this team during training and the games. We are very appreciative of his effort with the boys.

The open girls were hindered a bit by injuries and sickness. We had 6 very keen girls who tried to match a very pushy game against Toowoomba State High School. Unfortunately, we lost 32 to 13 but not once did they give up trying. The shots would just not fall for us. We do not have a team for the final game due to ball preparations. Next year!

The Open Boys played the perfect game against St Mary’s defeating them 52 to 21 to take their place in the open boys Division 1 final against Toowoomba Grammar. This game will be on Court 1 for a 9.00pm tip off. Again, I don’t have a copy of the score sheet, but we will cross our fingers for them to play another perfect game against Toowoomba Grammar. Many thanks to Mr Waters for stepping in to take control of this team. His time and efforts are appreciated.

Interschool Equestrian

On Saturday I travelled out to Pittsworth to watch young Sophie Delaney and Shania Joseph competed in the Fairholme College Interschool Equestrian competition at the Pittsworth Show grounds. Sophie did a wonderful job on her horse Lilly.

Sophie won first place in the 70cm dressage competition.

On the Sunday she had the show jumping part of the competition. Overall, Sophie placed third in the show jumping and dressage and missed out on first place by 2 points. What a terrific effort for this young lady as she was competing against Fairholme, Glennie, and Downlands who have strong equestrian teams.

Laura Geitz Netball Carnival

On Sunday, 8 very keen girls arrived at Downlands to start the quest for the Laura Geitz trophy. Speaking to Mrs Zillmann who was there helping umpires we were soon able to get Azarhia up and she joined the team to help us out.

The games were:

Fairholme lost 26 to 10

Glennie won 2 to 1

Roma won 7 to 2

Lockyer District won 13 to 6

St Ursula’s won 14 to 6

Our Lady of the Southern Cross lost 7 to 10

St Mary’s Boys won 12 to 2

Downlands lost 18 to 7

At the end of the round games, we finished equal with Downlands on percentage but because they beat us in the round games, we were relegated to 4^th place which meant we had to play Fairholme again for a place in the grand final.

We had a better game but by this time of the day our legs were getting tired as well as everything else. We lost 18 to 7 but had a much better game than in the morning.

This left us to Our Lady again for third and fourth place, unfortunetaly we lost by 2 points. 

My thanks go to Mrs Wright who scored for us, to Mr Wheeldon who was acting as a mentor to young umpires and to Dom Henningsen who helped coach the girls for the day. It was a big day for the girls, but they did St Joseph’s College proud playing with honesty and integrity. The team consisted of: Sophie Jensen, Jada Guok, Kenzie Van Zandbergen, Keelie Hilt, Mykah Bryant, Lily Fitzpatrick, Zoe Padget and Azariah Zillmann

Darling Downs News

Last week, Regan Liebke travelled to Rockhampton for the 16/19 years Schoolboys Cricket.  He was named captain and led the team for 3 very hot days.  The team finished 4th overall and only lost a couple of games by a few runs. 

Congratulations to Regan for a fantastic carnival and especially on being named as captain for this team. A great effort.

Congratulations also to our new DD recipients.

Bridie Nicol – 13 – 19 years Basketball

Sienna Duerloo, Regan Gardner, Lilly Wiemers and Romey Wiemers – 13 – 19 years Swimming

Leteena Medland – 14 – 15 years Rugby League

Elizabeth Koch, Gemma Leigh, Emmersyn Ranford, Hayley Simmons, Charlie Bucknell and Sienna Wilson – 13 – 15 years Girls AFL

Torin Edwards – 13 – 15 years Boys AFL

Please keep checking the Darling Downs website for all the news on Darling Downs sport trials.

11 and 12 years girls’ netball is currently being called for.

Sporting Photos

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

Career Pathways

Work Experience - Time is running out!

Work Experience Forms are DUE 24 March.

A very big thank you to those students who have already submitted their Work Experience Agreement!

For those that are still sturggling to source work experience, please follow the guide available through Canvas, SJCCareers and via your emails. If you need assistance, please schedule a meeting with Mrs Harman or Miss Penner through https://www.sjccareers.com.au/ or visit us in Murphy Block.

Work Experience Readiness Workshops

Reminder! Work Experience Sessions are held in the Library every Tuesday and Thursday in May during lunch.

We have been delighted with the number of students who have attended the lunch and learns over the past few weeks. Keep up the good work! If you haven’t joined us, you don’t know what you’re missing out on.

Upcoming Events

• 22 March 2022 – 5:30 – 6:30 pm Careers Parent Information Session hearing from guest speaker Karen Browning Outreach Career Development Practitioner at USQ
• 29 March 2022 – Year 9 Careers Day. Theme: Careers – It's not just a job.
• 30 March 2022 Year 8 Careers Day Period 1 – 4 Theme: Discover who you are!

Current Vacancies:

School Based Apprenticeships/Traineeships:

• Certificate III in Engineering Fabrication Trade – Condamine Drilling Group*NEW
• Certificate III in Signs and Graphics – Tierney Signs, Toowoomba *NEW
• Certificate III in Hospitality (front or back of house) – Stellarossa – 10, 11 or 12 *NEW
• Certificate II in Commercial Cookery – Stellarossa – 10,11 or 12 *NEW
• 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:

• Coles Supermarket Team Members, Deli Assistant, Cleaning and Trolley Collection. Apply here
• Knights Commercial Laundry (334/338 Anzac Ave, Harristown QLD 4350) is hiring a Laundry Assistant. For more information and to apply, please provide your resume to the team at Harristown
• IGA Hooper Centre (187 Hume St, Toowoomba City QLD 4350) is hiring a Junior Shop Assistant! Please provide your resume to the team at IGA.
• Priceline Westridge and Northpoint.
• Phat Burgers (513A Ruthven St, Toowoomba City QLD 4350) are seeking casual and part time workers. If you’re interested, please hand in your resume at Phat Burgers.

UCAT Preparation Workshop Registration is closing soon.

Registrations for the 19th of March 2022 Intensive UCAT Workshop are closing soon.

These workshops are ideal for any Year 12 students who are considering sitting the UCAT. Term 1 holidays are fast approaching, and this workshop will help current Year 12 students to fast-track their UCAT preparation so that they can use their holiday time more efficiently to prepare for this enduring test.

 Live online workshop date:

• Saturday 19th March 2022

In-person attendance:

• Brisbane (UQ, St Lucia) - 2 April 2022

ENROL & Workshop Details

Job Spotlight

How to become an Electrician

Electricians are responsible for installing, repairing, and maintaining electrical systems in a variety of settings, including domestic, commercial, and industrial. Electricians can work in a huge number of environments depending on their specialisation.

About you:

• Great problem solver
• Safety-conscious
• Excellent communicator
• Good with your hands
• Can work in teams and independently
• Great with technology
• Critical thinker
• Mathematically minded

The job:

• Installing and repairing electrical systems
• Examining blueprints and wiring diagrams
• Selecting and cutting appropriate wiring
• Testing existing systems and devices to find faults
• Replacing faulty and unsafe parts
• Connecting systems and devices to power supply
• Positioning and installing switchboards
• Performing general maintenance and repairs

Click here to learn how to become an Electrician in Australia.

Click here to read a career profile from an Electrician in Melbourne.

TAFE Taster Applications open Monday, 21 March 2022!

We are excited to announce that the Year 10 Taster Program applications open this Monday 21 March 2022, at 9am.

This allows eligible high school students to try out an industry area without needing to commit to a full qualification or apprenticeship.

Please find below the available courses for this year’s Year 10 Taster Program available locally:

• Year 10 Skills Taster – Health
• Year 10 Skills Taster - Salon Assistant (Hairdressing)
• Year 10 Skills Taster – Kitchen Operations (Cookery)
• Year 10 Trade Taster Program
• Year 10 Ag Taster Program (details to be confirmed).

How to Apply

To apply for the Year 10 Taster Programs, students will need to:

1. Go to com
2. Enter the application code of TQSW22TASTER

Please note – the application code will not work until applications open.

TAFE are expecting a very high level of interest in this program, and they cannot guarantee that all applicants will receive an offer of place.

What happens next?

Email offers will be sent to all students (and parent/guardians) from 25 March, and they are encouraged to accept by the deadline.

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

International Women's Day

On Tuesday 8^th March we celebrated International Women’s Day.

Joey’s Way groups completed trivia questions about this special day and about some of our female staff members. Our winning JWs were A7 with 22 out of 34 and R4 as runners up with 19 out of 34. Well done!

We welcomed guest speakers SJC Alumni Kirstie Nicholls (2008) and Jada Ferguson (2020) to share their experiences outside of school. Their stories were inspirational and demonstrated their resilience and endeavour in their life. In addition, we sought out other female SJC alumni to share what they have been achieving since leaving the College. We thank these wonderful women (Emily Banhidi née Myatt – 2008, Claire Spry – 2009 and Ashleigh Sullivan – 2011,) for updating us on their life outside of school, especially as they Serve Him in Others and Lead Through Service in their lines of work.

Emily Banhidi (née Myatt)

After finishing high school, I graduated from USQ with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours). After getting admitted as a solicitor, I worked in the legal industry for six years primarily assisting survivors of institutionalised abuse with their claims. Thanks to the wonderful educators who she encountered during her schooling years at St Joseph’s I am now following my passion to become a secondary teacher and am studying a Masters of Learning and Teaching. I hope to one day give back to the education community that helped shape me as a person. Presently, I work at Toowoomba Flexi School as a Teacher Aide and in my spare time I spend time with my young family.

“A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong.” – Unknown

Claire Spry

I am currently the Acting Nurse Unit Manager at a small rural hospital in St George (600kms from Brisbane) and studying to become a Nurse Practitioner. In my 10 years of nursing, I have seen so many things. From assisting with babies being born, treated patients having heart attacks, helping save multi-trauma patients, assisting the Anaesthetist with placing a breathing tube, to holding a hand of a dying patient. All these pivotal moments in a patient’s life, I am still able to recall. I have been lucky enough to work in many Rural QLD towns and in a major Emergency and Trauma Centre at the RBWH. The values I learnt whilst attending Joey’s are a part of my everyday life. I show compassion in my everyday practice as a Clinical nurse, show respect to self and others, I always endeavour to be ambitious to succeed and treat people with dignity. Coming from a family of nurses, I wouldn’t change my career choice for a moment. I see people at their best, and I get to help people when they are at their worst.

‘Save one person you’re a hero, save hundreds, you’re a nurse,’ (Unknown).

Ashleigh Sullivan

I graduated from UQ in 2016 with my Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Midwifery and have largely worked in regional towns. I completed my Masters not long after, which enabled me to get my endorsement to become a private practicing midwife. I have recently relocated to Brisbane to work in a private practice, providing continuity of care to women of the area. I was also elected to the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union Council and enjoy being involved in advocacy work for my colleagues. As an advocate for women, in a woman dominated profession, I always encourage women to boost each other up. There is such power in collectivism and women are unstoppable when given the space to thrive. I am fortunate enough to see this every day and this is what makes my job so fulfilling.

Past Students

Natasha Digweed - ndigweed@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

Australian Government - Department of Education, Skills and Employement

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

South West Queensland Thunder East Clinic

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Art Opportunities

Opportunity for Senior Artists - Art Competition

Senior Students in years 10-12 have the opportunity to participate in an art competition run by Sacred Square Publishing. If their artwork is selected it will be published in a children's picture book and they will receive a hard copy for free. This is a meaningful way to add to their personal visual art portfolios, have a purpose for creating and to do something outside the curriculum for fun. Please contact the organiser for more information.

Create for a Day

SAE Institute is opening its doors this April for a one-day program, designed to expand your skills and get you working on inspiring creative projects in the fields of Animation, Audio, Design, Film, Games, Music Production, or Songwriting.

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 

Uniform Shop

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

Out of Stock

Girls Sport Shorts Size Large

Senior Girls Formal Blouse Size 16

Junior Girls Formal Blouse Size 10

Boys Navy Socks 7A-11A

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.