Newsletter - Term 2 - Week 2 - Issue 64

From the Principal

ANZAC Day Liturgy

Last Friday at the end of our first week for term 2 we held our St Joseph’s College ANZAC Day ceremony. These ceremonies are always wonderful opportunities for our communities to come together to pay our respects to those who have gone to war to allow us to live the lives we do today. To watch our students, participate in school liturgies and community events with our heroic and esteemed current and ex-servicemen and women is one of the most touching and inspiring moments of any year. These events symbolise the respect and esteem that we have for our service member’s brave legacy and is a promise to them that their efforts will never be forgotten.

Unfortunately, I was not in attendance at our ceremony as I was involved in another College’s school review. However, I would still like to pay my respects and offer a number of public votes of thanks to those involved in making our ceremony the wonderful experience for our community, that was reported to me.

To Private Heidi Wilkie, Felicity West, Nicholas Dudly, Drew Holzworth your efforts to be at this occasion was greatly appreciated. To Hiedi and Felicity who provided the special addresses at the ceremony. The students shared with me that your insightful and thought-provoking reflection on ANZAC Day was very special.

I would also like to make a special mention or our St Joseph’s College colleague Ms Madeleine Minns and past student, Drew Holzworth, who played the bagpipes and trumpet respectively. Thank you, Ms Minns and Mr Holdsworth, your talent and skill is greatly admired, and a number of people have commented on the amazing atmosphere that was created by your performances.

To Miss Ford, Cultural Captains – Jordan McLachlan and Darby Carrol, the Year 11 liturgy group and the other members of our school who were involved in organising or leading the ceremony. Your efforts are greatly appreciated and ensure that our future generations develop a true understanding of the importance of the Anzac legend.

Finally, on behalf to the staff who made numerous comments, I would like to congratulate the students on the manner in which you read, sang, prayed and participated in the ceremony. From all reports the respect and reverence demonstrated was of the highest level.

This week we continue to pray as a community for all service men and women.

Remember, O’Lord,

All those, the brave and the true,

Who have died the death of honour and departed in the hope of resurrection to eternal life.

In that place of light from which sorrow and mourning are far banished,

give them rest, O’Lord, thou lover of men.

And grant to those of us who remain the spirit of service,

Which may make us worthy of their sacrifice.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Student Reports & Parent – Student - Teacher Interviews

At St Joseph’s College we really value and continue to emphasise the need for parents, students, and teachers to develop a working partnership so that we can assist each other to attain the best educational outcomes for our students. I thank the amazing number of our parents and carers who were able to attend the parent – student – teacher interviews conducted on Wednesday to discuss how we can work together to support our amazing young people. If you were unable to attend the interviews but would still like to have a conversation with your child’s teachers, we enthusiastically encourage you to contact your children’s teachers via email or phone.

Student Protection Contacts

A reminder for all parents and students that St Joseph’s College has eight nominated Student Protection Contacts who are staff members that students can raise concerns of abuse, harm, or inappropriate behaviour with.

At St Joseph’s College our student protection contacts are:

Mr Brendon Willocks

Mrs Melissa Zenke

Mr Rod Spain

Ms Cathie Barton

Mr Joe Cryle

Mrs Heather D’Arcy

Mr Kort Goodman

All staff receive regular training on student protection in order to be able to respond appropriately to any student protection concerns. Further information regarding student protection policy and procedures can be accessed at www.twb.catholic.edu.au/parents-and-community/student-protection/

Uniform Term 2

A big thank you to our parents, carers, and students for the outstanding way in which the students have presented in their uniforms for the start of term 2. We thank you for your continued support in emphasising with the students that the uniform is an important part of living out The Joey’s Way imperatives of; Be Proud, Be Humble; Respect Unconditionally; Leave it better than you found it; and setting a great standard for the College community.

Kort Goodman, Principal

From the Deputy Principal

Welcome back to Term 2

Welcome back to Term 2! I am very much looking forward to another full and opportunistic term of learning and positive interaction with your learners. I trust that you, as parents, will encourage your son/daughter to be fully involved in the many and varied opportunities available throughout the term. These opportunities may present through academic endeavours, arts, extra-curricular activities, on the sporting fields, spiritually or socially. I believe that a busy learner with a varied and balanced life can be healthier and lead to better learning outcomes. Do encourage your son/daughter to be involved in the many and various opportunities term two presents.

Reflecting on Term 1

Reports were sent home at the end of last term. When having conversations with your children I would suggest that you focus on the improvement comments and talk with them about how far they have moved forward, what they have learned and improved and what is next in the learning process. This conversation sets them up to be successful learners for the next part of their learning program and into the future.

You can use the learning behaviour (application, behaviour, participation, organisation, punctuality) ratings to strong effect. If your child has very good (VG) or good (G) learning behaviours, it is possible that they are achieving well in the achievement rating. Similarly, if learning behaviours are lower, then there is a real chance that some simple steps will aid improvement.

Over the coming weeks we will be encouraging students to set raised goals for both performance and learning for the new term. They will need to be very specific about ways to improve. Then their learning is quite targeted on improvement.

Mobile Phones

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and students that all communication between parents and students during the school day should go through the office. Students should not be using phones throughout the school day as this can affect their ability to concentrate in class, develop their own strategies for resilience and interact socially with their peers in a face-to-face environment. Occasionally, staff may request that student use their phones for learning purposes (to film performances, experiments, etc) but this would be exceptional rather than common occurrence. Please encourage your child to avoid personal mobile phone use throughout the day. 

Please refer to the attached page from the Website that outlines our procedures and expectations in relation to mobile phones.

Teacher Emails

If you need to contact a staff member at SJC all of our email addresses have the same format. For example, Brendon Willocks – bwillocks@sjc.qld.edu.au.

Launch of the Parent Portal and Sentral App

This week we are launching the St Joseph’s College Parent Portal and App. Earlier this week you would have received a unique key and registration invitation to Sentral.

This new Parent Portal will enable parents’ access to student records, family records and student report cards. It will also give you the ability to provide absentee notices through the App. As a College, we are keen to engage our parent community in discussions around how you would like to interact with and use this technology.

As a starting point, we encourage you to download the app to your phone and explore all that is available to you in the Portal.

Please see attached an instruction booklet outlining the setup process and highlights of key features that would be commonly used by families.

Upcoming Events

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

From the Assistant Principal- Religious Education

Reflection 

Jesus Calls His First Disciples 

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.  

When he had gone a little farther, he say James sone of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.  

By the shore, we bend to our task.  
There seem to be the usual ones:  
jobs that we are tied down to,  
caught up in,  
flapping about in, 
trying to get out of,  
eager to start,  
excited to go deeper into,  
hopeful of catching harvest.  

Ever ready to our hands are the nets which the Fisher God has sown for us.  
Cords of faith, stretched and plaited, by our study of scripture, our observation of the world, the many threads of our imagination and understanding.  
There are the loops and twirls of our experiences,  
who we were,  
are at this moment,  
are becoming,  
will change as the year goes on.  

There is the weaving that links us to one another,  
a tie here,  
a knot there,  
a mistake leaving a gap,  
rough handling causing a tear,  
an extra thread twisted into mend and renew. 

Fisher God, you have chosen us to cast the net of your word into the waters of the world. Give us the wisdom, as we commence this new year, to be well prepared for the task of kingdom mission.  

May we see where the sea is full of opportunity and where there is real need for us to respond to.  

May we work with endurance, and yet, have time for rest, and prayer.  

May we watch for Jesus walking by, and stop our throwing and mending to listen to his challenge. This we ask in His name.  

Amen

Anzac Day 

On Friday 23 April, we stopped and gathered as community to commemorate and reflect on the sacrifice of our ANZACs. The ceremony was lead with respect and reverence by our Cultural Captains, Jordan McLachlan and Darby Carrol, along with the Year 11 Liturgy Group. During this service, we took the time to recommit ourselves to work towards peace in our hearts, our families, our community and our world. 

We were very privileged to welcome Veteran, Nicholas Dudley who represented the Toowoomba United Returned Service League Sub-Branch. Along with Private Heidi Wilkie, alumni of SJC 2015. Private Wilkie shared with students her career journey and reflected on the role St Joseph’s played in shaping her into the young woman she is today. 

Past student of 2014, Drew Holzworth, also joined us and shared his musical talents by playing the trumpet for our ceremony. Ms Minns also bravely shared her talents by performing ‘Amazing Grace’ on the bagpipes. Both Mr Holzworth’s and Ms Minns’ contributions created a sense of occasion and reflection.  

Finally, I would like thank Ms Felicity West, a parent of our SJC community. Ms West gave the key address in which she shared her own experience of service and loss, and her reflections on the meaning of Anzac Day, particularly the significance of the Ode, ‘Lest we Forget’.  

We were truly grateful to mark such an occasion with the contributions of so many valued members of our community. We hope our students found the occasion a meaningful way to learn about and reflect on those who have served our country in times of war, especially our ANZACs. May it serve to remind us to recommit ourselves to living lives of peace and being people who promote justice and equality for all members of our world. 

Anzac Day Wreath Laying Ceremony

College Captains, Jemma Bradshaw and Mitchell Berg, represented St Joseph’s at the Toowoomba Regional Council Citizens’ Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Mothers’ Memorial on Anzac Day morning.  They joined representatives from community groups and schools from our region. The morning was a great opportunity to show our College support for those who have served our nation and those that continue to.

Liturgy of the Word

To give our students further opportunity to engage in the ritual celebrations of our faith at the College, we are commencing the Joey’s Way celebrations of the Liturgy of the Word.

This will allow each group to gather and celebrate the Word and for students to experience liturgy in a more intimate setting. It is important we ensure students understand the value and significance of these celebrations. To gather and share the Word of God as a community is an important way we nourish our faith and create an opportunity to grow together as a group.

Each Joey’s Way group will be celebrating the Liturgy of the Word as a group across the rest of the year. The times for these are scheduled in Joey’s Way time and will be held in the Chapel and Room 51.

Schedule 

From the Assistant Principal - Curriculum

Term 1 Reporting and Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews

During the holidays, Years 7 – 10 would have received an interim report card based on formative and summative work.  Year 11 received a report card completed by teachers in Week 7 before some summative work had been completed, whilst Year 12 report cards were based on the completion of IA1 (Internal Assessment piece 1) for all General and most applied subjects.  Parent-Teacher-Student interviews were conducted on Wednesday 28 April, and I would like to thank those parents and students who were able to attend.  Of course, if you have any questions about your son or daughter’s progress you are encouraged to contact the classroom teacher directly to discuss.

QCE post review

Share your views on the new QCE system processes

Following the initial implementation of the new QCE system in 2019 and 2020, the QCAA is conducting a post-cycle review of its processes and procedures. Current Year 11 and 12 students and their parents/carers are invited to have their say by completing an anonymous online survey by Friday 7 May. The survey can be accessed at : www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/about/initiatives-reviews/post-cycle-review-qce-system.

Confirmation

Confirmation is the quality assurance process for ensuring the comparability of student results for summative internal assessments in General and General (Extension) subjects.

The confirmation process involves QCAA assessors reviewing student responses to summative internal assessments for every subject in every school to check that teachers have used the instrument-specific marking guide (ISMG) accurately and consistently when marking their students’ work.

Our teachers administer the summative internal assessments that have been endorsed by the QCAA and mark student work using an ISMG provided by the QCAA.

Our College then internally moderates judgments within the school to ensure consistency of marks for each subject.

We then submit provisional marks by criteria for all students to the QCAA via the Student Management application in the QCAA Portal.

Schools are required to submit the samples and annotated (marked) ISMGs to the QCAA via the Confirmation application in the QCAA Portal.

Confirmation is a quality assurance process that is focused on checking the accuracy and consistency of the judgments made by teachers to ensure comparability of student results across Queensland.  Our College has many confirmers and lead confirmers involved in this process.

Last week I was involved in the General Maths Confirmation process for two days.  I would like to also recognise the following staff who were involved in the Confirmation process by being appointed QCAA Assessors and thank them for their ongoing contribution and expertise :

• Gabrielle O’Reilly – Lead Confirmer Chemistry
• Megan Scott – Lead Confirmer Music
• Bill Whiting – Lead Confirmer Biology
• Cathie Barton – Confirmer Drama
• Nadia Spain – Confirmer Drama
• Chrissy Dwyer – Confirmer Visual Art
• Kellie Ford – Confirmer Study of Religion
• Peter Keightley – Confirmer Specialist Mathematics
• Mitchell Wheeldon – Confirmer Specialist Mathematics

Other staff at the College are currently accredited as confirmers but were unavailable for the dates requested. These staff include: Cate Park-Ballay (Literature), Maree Harman (Economics), Angela Harris (Chief Confirmer – Mathematical Methods) and Emily Whiting (Dance).

Junior School

Thank you to Cate Park-Ballay for her work on preparing students with the upcoming Naplan testing.

Students in Years 7 and 9 will be undertaking NAPLAN testing online in May (Week 4). Our Year 7 cohort participated in a NAPLAN Online practice test this last Thursday which proved to be an excellent opportunity for the Year 7s to familiarise themselves with the testing environment using a 45-minute omnibus test (a combination of reading, conventions of language and numeracy items) in the MacKillop Centre where NAPLAN will take place in Week 4 of this term.

As with the actual test in Week 4, if parents have any questions about this test or wish to discuss their child’s participation in any of the real tests, please contact Cate Park-Ballay, Darcy Goodall or Brendon Willocks.

Senior Years

We were fortunate to have completed the practical component of the first aid course conducted by Embark College to over 100 students in Years 10 – 12 this week.  These students enrolled in the Certificate III Landscaping course offered last term and successfully completed their online tests and practical. This was rescheduled after the covid lockdowns in the last week of term.  Thank you to the students for their commitment and work in completing these modules which will earn them 2 credits towards their QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education).

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

From the Assistant Principal - Student Engagement

What Does it Mean to Aspire to Excellence? 

 Each Imperative in The Joey’s Way is attached to two things: i) a piece of scripture and ii) The Personal and Social Capabilities as identified by the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA). We connect our imperatives to scripture because they are an essential expression of our Catholic Identity in the Edmund Rice tradition. We also connect our imperatives to the Australian Curriculum because we know that if we live out our imperatives to the best of our ability, we’ll be great learners.  

The gospel of Matthew (5: 13-16) calls us to aspire to excellence:  

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 

‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven'. 

 To be the light of the world, we have to give ourselves permission to shine and shine brightly.  

‘Let your light shine before others’. We are all amazing and capable human beings as our Creator God has equipped us with gifts and talents. But too often, out of fear of being seen or being noticed, we hide our true capabilities.  

St Joseph’s College is a learning institution, which means that we don’t expect excellence from all our communities all the time. What we do expect, however, is that we aspire to excellent in all areas of College life. Aspiring to excellence means committing wholly to our learning, being resilient in the face of failure and disappointment and, vitally, embracing feedback.  

The Joey’s Way calls us to aspire to be the best that we can be in all that we do. To be excellent means to go beyond expectations and reach outstanding levels. Excellence is not just achieving straight As or winning the grand final. Any individual who has reached a level excellence in a particular field will remind us that complacency is the antithesis of excellence. In other words, the moment we believe ourselves to have reached a level of excellence, is the moment we are not.  

Jesus offers us the perfect model to aspire to. As Catholics, we strive to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who showed excellence in compassion, teaching and learning, and inclusion.   

Aspiring to Excellence Looks Like: 

• Developing effective study habits 
• Applying yourself in each class 
• Completing all homework tasks 
• Self-editing assessment  
• Peer-editing assessment 
• Giving effective feedback 
• Participating in range of school activities
• Setting SMART Goals
• Monitoring your growth in all areas (academic, sport, culture) 

Aspiring to Excellence Sounds Like: 

• Positive self-talk 
• Encouraging others  
• Acceptance of all strengths and interests 
• Giving and receiving effective feedback 
• Celebrating academic success 
• Celebrating sporting and cultural success 

Aspiring to Excellence Feels Like: 

• Exciting as we reach our goals 
• Challenging as we stretch ourselves further 
• Pride in ourselves and others
• The joy of learning
• Being consistent and persistent
• Recognising your talents and your weaknesses 

No single human being has mastered all aspects of life, aspiring to excellence is a fundamental driver behind this vibrant community of teacher learners, student learners, leader learners and parent learners.

Mr Joe Cryle, Assistant Principal - Student Engagtement   jcryle@sjc.qld.edu.au 

Student Voice

As the Cultural Captains for 2021, we are very excited to introduce ourselves and develop the College’s cultural life in terms of music, performing arts, visual arts, and community events. Currently, the College is working towards this year’s musical production of Legally Blonde, in which we both hold lead roles. Ms Cathie Barton, Ms Meghan Scott and Ms Madeleine Minns have proved invaluable to this process, alongside the aid of the visual arts department, the manual arts department, and many more volunteers. We encourage everyone to get involved and attend this production. The production will be held at the Armitage Centre from 27-29 May at 7pm. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased directly through the Empire Theatre.

Another cultural event we are in the process of organising is the Creative Writing Arts Competition, which will hopefully be organised and furthermore announcements will be made shortly.  

We look forward to sharing our College’s cultural achievements with the wider St Joseph’s community and hope to hear of more students taking up the challenge to be involved in the many cultural opportunities provided. If you have any questions about cultural opportunities make sure to contact Darby and Jordan or the appropriate staff members.  

Jordan McLachlan and Darby Carroll  - Cultural Captians 

Curriculum Focus

 NAPLAN – 2021 Information for Parents

What is NAPLAN?

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual national assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Students in these year levels participate in tests covering reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. In 2021 St Joseph's College will continue to be involved in NAPLAN Online.

When is the NAPLAN testing?

In 2021 the NAPLAN Tests will be conducted within a 9-day test window from 11^th May to 21^st May and will be conducted using the students’ Surface Pro devices. Catch up testing for students who miss a test will also occur during the testing window or the following week.

Why do students do NAPLAN tests?

NAPLAN is the measure through which governments, education authorities, schools, teachers and parents can determine whether young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy. The tests provide learners, parents and schools with an understanding of how the individual learner is performing at the time of the tests. They also provide schools, states and territories with information about how education programs are working and what areas need to be prioritised for improvement. S Joseph's College also has many other standardised tests to track your child’s learning.

What will be tested and how?

NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for your child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. NAPLAN Online uses a variety of question types such as multiple-choice, check box, short answer, draw lines, drag and drop, hot text. The writing task requires students to write a text in response to a stimulus and students may be asked to write either a persuasive or a narrative text. To give you an idea of what the tests look like, sample questions and a sample writing task are available on the NAP website

Who will administer the tests?

NAPLAN tests will be conducted in the MacKillop Centre for Year 7 learners and in regular classrooms for Year 9 learners. The tests will be administered by College teachers.

How will tailored testing work?

During the test, students are presented with sets of questions based on their performance. Many of these questions are of mid-range complexity for each year level, but some are of higher or lower complexity. For example, students who struggle with questions early in the test are directed to questions that are less complex. Students performing to a higher level in the test will have an opportunity to answer questions that are more complex.

Will students be completing the same test?

NAPLAN questions have always assessed within a wide range of difficulty. In the online test is targeted questions of either higher or lower complexity are allocated, depending on the individual learner’s performance. These targeted questions are designed to provide more focused and detailed results that can be used by teachers to target teach at an individual level.

What happens if my child is absent from school on test days?

Where possible, the College will organise for individual students to complete missed tests at another time during the testing window.   As per normal procedure, please contact the College office to notify them of your child’s absence over these test days.

How can I help my child prepare for the tests?

The College is already preparing students with test strategies, however, there are some simple suggestions which you can use to provide further support to your child’s NAPLAN preparation:

• Encourage your child to have a go at every question.

• Encourage your child to read the whole question before deciding on an answer.

• Encourage your child to view the tests as another learning experience rather than something to be feared or dismissed.

• There will be questions that are difficult, so encourage your child not to stress, rather step through them and do their best.

• Ensure your child has the necessary tools needed for the test (e.g., Working headphones, charged laptop, pencils, pens, eraser—for working out and planning).

• Each question is worth 1 point so encourage your child to do all the questions they can do first, then to go back and work on the others—the test does not have to be done in order.

• If your child tends to stress easily, talk about relaxation (e.g. deep breathing).

• Make sure your child is well rested and well fed.

How is NAPLAN performance measured?

NAPLAN is not a pass-or-fail type test. Individual learner performance is shown on a national achievement scale for each test. Each test scale has 10 bands, and all year levels are reported on the same scale. Six bands are reported for each year level for each test. One of these bands represents the national minimum standard for learners at each year level. A result at the national minimum standard indicates that the student demonstrated the basic literacy and numeracy skills needed to participate fully in that year level. The performance of individual students can be compared to the average performance of all students in Australia.

Will I receive a report on my child’s performance?

A NAPLAN report will be issued by the College later in the year. The College will notify you when the reports are being sent to you.

2021 NAPLAN Online test timings

The following is a summary of NAPLAN online test times.

Where can I get more information?

More NAPLAN Online information can be obtained by:

• Contacting the College
• Accessing the NAPLAN website
• Accessing the My School Website
• Accessing the NAPLAN Online Public Demonstration Site 

Cate Park-Ballay, Middle School Learning Leader - cpark-ballay@sjc.qld.edu.au 

Tutorials

Getting to know our new staff members.

Welcome Bhargav Karnik.  BK will be working in our IT department.  He has come to us from Charleville. 

Welcome Shauna Green.  Shauna will be working as one of our Councellors at St Joseph's.  She comes with year of experience in her industry and a wealth of knowledge to share.

Focus on Technologies

 This year, we saw three smaller departments (Design Technology – Manual Arts; Design Technology – Home Economics; Digital Technology) combine to one Department – Technologies.

Each area is unique in their own way, but we all share the same ideals – giving students the best opportunity we can, to allow all learners to achieve the best results that they can.

We offer students a variety of opportunities to experience different aspects of education, which may allow them to choose a ‘pathway’ to a chosen career along the lines associated with our subject areas.

In saying this, within each of these ‘areas’ we have various skill sets that students can learn about and put into practice. Our subjects also give students experiences that will serve them well as they embark on ‘part-time’ job opportunities (including School Based Apprenticeships - SBA’s and Traineeships) while still being a student at St Joseph’s College.

The subjects on offer within the Technology Department include:

Junior Students

• Design Technology – Wood
• Design Technology – Metal                   
• Design Technology – Graphics
• Design Technology – Food
• Design Technology – Fibre
• Digital Technology

Senior Students

• Design
• Furnishing                                             
• Fashion
• Digital Solutions
• Certificate 1 – Construction
• Certificate 2 – Engineering Pathways
• Certificate 2 – Kitchen Operations
• Certificate 1 - Information Digital Media & Technology
• Certificate 3 – Information Digital Media & Technology

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the members of the Technologies department.

Teaching Staff:

Mark Holdsworth; Shane Ramage; Ben Gehrmann; Andrew Keighran; Dean Garside; Jessica Skinner; Nina Marshall; Mandy Goodman; Kerrie-Anne Fellenberg; Debbie Newton; Rod Spain; Amanda Wighton; Brian Cantwell.

Staff Officers:

Brad Hodges; Pam Hensler; Jaye Singleton; Julianne Kruger.

It has been encouraging to see very few instances when students have not had the correct footwear for practical classes. This is just one aspect of the Personal Protective Equipment that students are required to wear while undertaking work in the practical classes of the Technologies department.

With there being such a wide variety of subjects within the Technologies Department, only a few will be included below. The remaining subjects will be highlighted in future newsletters throughout the year.

The Year 7 and 8 Design Technology Wood/Metal students have completed their first project in the Wood Technology workshops and they will now move to the Metal Technology workshop to complete their next project which will focus on Metalworking hand skills.

Year 11 and 12 students undertaking ‘Certificate 1 – Construction’ have been undertaking the theory components of the course (via ‘Bluedog’ RTO) as well as various practical components.

This course along with the ‘ Certificate 2 – Engineering Pathways’ is a competency based course, and students are rated as being ‘Competent’ or ‘Not Yet Competent’.

This year, there is a new ‘Certificate 2 - Kitchen Operations’ course that is being undertaken by Year 11 students. This is being delivered by St Joseph’s College, under the ‘IVET’ Registered Training Organisation (RTO). This is a great introduction for students who are aspiring to find employment in the Hospitality Industry.

Digital Technology

Year 7 and 8

Our Year 7 and 8 students are being immersed in programming robots this term as an introduction to structured programming. Students will be using Ozobots to demonstrate their learning.

Year 9

Junior school students have worked with Lego Robotics and data using Excel. In term 2 students will be introduced to design programming using Minecraft: Education Edition and Makecode to develop structure programming skill and develop their design knowledge and project management skills.

Year 11

This year, there is a new Certificate III in Information, Digital Media and Technology course that is being undertaken by Year 11 students. This is being delivered by St Joseph’s College, under the ‘IVET’ Registered Training Organisation (RTO). This a competency-based course, and students are rated as being ‘Competent’ or ‘Not Yet Competent’. Students are developing their I.C.T. skills via this course in structured way to support this cross currcicular skill sets.

We look forward to working with your children over the course of the year.

Thank you.

Mr Brian Cantwell, Curriculum Leader - Technologies   bcantwell@sjc.qld.edu.au 

Focus on the Arts

The Arts delivers 21^st Century Skills required for successful learners

   Fact: The first language you learn is not spoken. It’s actually visual and aural, that is, images and sounds! As we grow we learn how to articulate our thoughts, feelings and ideas through oral language. But what does that have to with the Arts you might be thinking? Well, the Arts IS the universal language as it is communicated through visual, oral, and aural codes and symbol systems. This also makes it a very complex discipline to understand and interpret, therefore the ability to problem-solve and critically understand is essential. 

The Arts may seem like a loose, expressionistic discipline to some; however, the Arts is just as academic and rigorous as Maths, English or Science. The difference is this: instead of a rigid, structured, formulaic approach, the Arts explores deep analytical and conceptual learning: it exposes students to critical thinking routines and innovative problem-solving processes through a creative lens. The World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2020, stated that some of the most sought after Skills of 2025 will be: analytical thinking and innovation; complex problem solving; critical thinking and analysis; creativity, originality and innovation; reasoning, problem-solving and ideation; just to name a few. The best part is, these “soft skills” or transferable skills, and are highly desirable attributes for employers of today’s world and are taught through the Arts. With this in mind, if your child is wanting a career in Marketing or Business, Architecture, Engineering, Health Services, Design or Education, then these are all skills that would be highly beneficial to not only these industries, but many other professions too. Likewise, creativity and critical thinking are not only top employability skills, they are embedded in the Arts curriculum.

   Clearly, the importance and benefits of creativity being a part of 21^st century education was recognised as an important skill by the Australian Government when the Australian Curriculum was designed. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), has identified Critical and Creative Thinking as a skill that needs to be taught as a necessity for future success and therefore it is embedded as a General Capability across many subject areas. ACARA recognised that for our students to be ready for their futures (as a way to add depth and richness to student learning), they need to be prepared for a changing world.  The Arts specifically addresses this skill by the very nature of the discipline. “There is a strong relationship between the cognitive capacities developed through learning and communicating in dance, drama, media arts, music and the visual arts, and students’ academic and social skills” (National Advocates for Arts Education, 2021). Today’s students need to be passionately curious, to drive their imagination and take risks to express their ideas creatively. Our world and society are rapidly changing and requires students to be flexible and adaptable.

   In our lifetime, we have witnessed no greater need than now for turning to the Arts for our own mental and emotional well-being. Recently, a study over 40 Houston Texas schools conducted over a two years of more than 10 000 students involved in a reinvigorating arts education program found that it had “a substantial increase in arts educational experiences [with]… remarkable impacts on students’ academic, social, and emotional outcome”. As the world was suddenly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue suffering the effects long into the future, the lack of social connection, due to mandated isolation, highlighted the vital human need to turn to a greater force that can sustain our mental wellbeing: books, YouTube, music, arts and culture, and particularly those at home with young children, crafts, just to name a few. Not only was this about entertainment and keeping oneself occupied, but it was also about an outlet for expression.

   Overall, learning through at least one branch of the arts will, not only develop a strong and deep connection with creative and critical thinking and higher-order thinking capabilities but will also benefit students through a holistic lens to help to make learning successful. In this time of massive cultural shifts and social uncertainty, the Arts is needed more than ever for our students to have bright and successful futures plus for their own social and emotional well-being, not to mention the improvement and increase in academic outcomes which will only benefit their future employability skills and career journey.

Spotlight on the Arts at SJC

St Joseph’s College has successfully had 3 Senior Visual Art Students have their artwork selected for the Future Visions exhibition curated by the University of Southern Queensland, School of Creative Arts. Congratulations to Year 12 Visual Art students; Bronte Higgs, Emily Gebbett and Matthew Fuller. The public will be able to view this exhibition in during the month of May at the university Gallery.

The Arts @ SJC are M.A.D. (Music, Art, Drama)

We have a dedicated team of discipline specific arts specialist teachers who are passionate about curriculum as well as extra-curricula opportunities for their students.

VISUAL ART

The Visual Arts teachers, Ms Aleesha Degen and myself, organised a cultural experience for the Senior Visual Art and Visual Art in Practice students in early Term 1 to visit the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). For some, this was the first time the students have visited a gallery. Students were in awe of the artworks on show. The purpose was to provide an insight into possibilities of art making and professional presentation for their future studies. Later in the term, Senior Visual Art students will have the privilege of experiencing a practising professional artist incursion workshop to learn new skills, techniques and processes which will contribute to their future assessment outcomes.

This year, the middle years elective art students in year 9 and 10 will have the opportunity to experience local gallery and cultural experiences. Coming up in early Term 2, Year 9 Art students will embark on an urban walk through the Toowoomba CBD to see up close world renown street murals to inspire their own art making.

Junior Rock Band

Rehearses Thursday lunchtime.
Year 7 & Year 8 students
DO you play guitar, bass, drums or keyboard?
Do you like to sing?
Would you like to be in a Rock Band?
Come along on Thursday lunch.

DRAMA

Students from years 9 – 12 Drama had the opportunity to watch Mashed Theatre’s performance of ‘Pressure’ in term one. The performance was used as a stimulus for 12 Drama’s IA2 and the junior students utilised their analytical skills, critiquing the performance in their responding tasks. Mashed theatre, a local theatre company, will be back late term two, to run a physical theatre workshop for the 11/12 Drama/DIP classes. We are also very fortunate to have past student and well-known playwright, David Burton, to now be lecturing at USQ Toowoomba, which allows him to be accessible for workshops, for our students.

MUSIC

One of our dedicated music specialists, Ms Megan Scott, has shown her passion for her subject area so much she has timetabled (with student dedication too) her senior Music Extension class to run outside of normal class hours. Thank you, Ms Scott, for your early morning lessons in order to deliver opportunities of learning experiences to our students.

Chrissy Dwyer, Curriculum Leader -Arts     cdwyer@sjc.qld.edu.au 

St Joseph's College Musical

Showcases 27-29 May

Armitage Centre (Empire Theatre)

Cast and band students have been working hard during Term 1 to prepare an outstanding performance of Legally Blonde the Musical. As the term draws to a close, Ms Barton, Miss Scott and I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all the cast and band for their outstanding commitment and energy during the term.

Students have worked on choreography for the dances every Wednesday with Miss Sarah McCarthy and have learnt all the songs under the direction of Miss Megan Scott. This year students have had access to a digital App called RehearScore and this resource is providing valuable assistance to all the cast as they sing to their hearts content and practise their songs at home and at school.

The leads have been working on extra rehearsals twice a week before school with Ms Cathie Barton and already they have their scripts learnt. They are “phenomenal” says Ms Barton.

The musical band has also started rehearsing the very challenging parts. We have invited some past students back to supplement the band, as well as 2 or 3 of our College tutors. 

The sets are well underway with a great team working in Woodwork each Wednesday. Thank you to Mr Brad Hodges for his leadership here.

Tickets are on sale!

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Sports

State of Origin Touch Teams

It was reported on the website that three of our former students had been selected in the State of Origin touch teams. This was technically correct as two of these players were selected in the mixed team – Sam Carmody, Chloe Watt and then Ashleigh Kearney was selected in the Open women’s team but we also had two other players – Jada Ferguson and Emily Ward selected in the ladies under 20’s State of Origin side. All five players hang proudly on the Wall of Fame in the MacKillop Centre. Lachlan Watt was also named in the Under 20 men’s team but am unsure as to whether he was going to play. Lachlan also hangs on the Wall of Fame.

The State of Origin games are scheduled for Friday 18 and Saturday 19 June at C. ex International Stadium Coffs Harbour.

This is an exceptional honour for all players, and we wish them all the success at this carnival.

Jada Ferguson

Former student Jada Ferguson is also making a name for herself in the world of Rugby League.

This report was found on the Tweed Seagull RLFC post.

What a signing for the Seagulls!! Jada was on fire on the weekend.

Young gun Jada Ferguson will add to the attacking prowess of the Tweed Seagulls. The Australian Youth Sevens Rugby Development Player will join the team for the 2021 BHP Premiership season.

Jada originally from Toowoomba, has swapped the cold, windy mountain climate for sun and sand on the Gold Coast.

Converted from 7’s she’s trying to make her way into Rugby League, and you couldn’t pick a better half combination to help kick-start your career than the experience of Killaroo Tarryn Aiken.

We can’t wait to see what these two come up with.

Great to see Jada trying new sports and I am sure that what ever she puts her hands on she will be successful.

Darling Downs Teams

I did apoligise last newsletter for missing represtative students but I did miss the 15 girls netball.

Congratulations to Mercia Zillmann and Pypah Ferguson on making the 13 – 15 years team.

And congratulations also to:

• Evie King – 12 years girls softball
• Xander Jackson – 12 years boys softball
• Zoe Woods has also been called up into the 15 years Rugby League team as well.

Date Claimers

Darling Downs Cross Country 13 – 19 years will take place on May 24 and students wishing to nominate must get their paperwork as soon as possible.

Girsl 12 years Zone rugby league trials – June 8.

Girls Golden Glove May 25 – anyone interested please contact Miss Newton.

Junior and Senior ALF Competition May 18 and 19.

Term 3 Schools Hockey Cup – nominate if you wish to play in this event (see Miss Newton).

National Swimming

Sienna Deurloo has continued her good form travelling to the Australian Age Swimming Championships in Sydney.

Sienna won a bronze medal in the Girls 15 years 1500m freestyle with a 6 second PB.

Her other results for the week were

6^th in the final of 400m freestyle with a 4 second PB

4^th in the final of 800m freestyle

Second reserve (12^th placing) in the 200m freestyle with a 1 second PB

She also swam in the 50m freestyle and 200m backstroke events but was unplaced in these events.

This is a terrific effort from this young lady and she truly deserves all the accolades coming her way.

National Athletics

Jorden Wright went to Sydney in the second week of the Easter holidays to compete in the 110m and 400m hurdles at the National Athletics.

Jorden finished 16^th in the under 20 110m hurdles event. He then went on make the final of the 400m hurdles where he finished in 8^th place. Jorden was running a great race until he clipped a hurdle with his knee, and this influenced the way he finished the race. What a great feeling to know that you are the 8^th fastest in the nation over 400m hurdles. Well done Jorden, you can be very proud of yourself as I know the College is.

Softball News

On the holidays Evie King and Addyson Jones (pictured) continued their development with their softball. They both competed in the 2021 Softball Under 14’s Championships in Maryborough and overall, they finished in second place. Addyson Jones went on to be selected in the Queensland Squad. Toowoomba also won the Country Champions award.

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

Library News

It was wonderful to welcome the students back after the holidays. We hope that all of our SJC families were able to enjoy some time with family as they celebrated Easter.

At the end of Term 1, we farewelled Miss Hesson and so, Term 2 has seen us welcome the amazing Mrs. Holly Roche, who has generously come to assist us while we complete the recruitment process for Miss Hesson’s replacement. Mrs Roche is the Library Assistant at St Anthony’s Primary School so many of our students may recognise her. If you see Mrs Roche in the Library, please make her feel welcome.

Week One saw us pay homage to those Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in war, so that we can enjoy the freedoms afforded to us today. To pay our respects in the library, we created a display about ANZAC Day, complete with a recipe for the Australian favourite of ANZAC biscuits. 

Over the holiday break, we also had a lot of new books arrive, especially in our Non-Fiction collection. In Term 1, many students expressed interest in us acquiring ‘How-To’ style books and so, we now have a great range on display at the front door. Topics include: sewing, woodwork, drawing, photography, terrarium building, short-film making, sheet-metal fabrication and vehicle repair. We would encourage all students to come and take a look to see if they can develop a new skill or improve on existing ones.

Kirstie Andrews, Librarian - kandrews@sjc.qld.edu.au

From the Counsellors

At St Joseph’s College, we recognise that the young people in our care are bound to encounter life challenges that interfere with their ability to function effectively and engage with the learning process.  As part of the College pastoral care program, two registered psychologists work as School Guidance Counsellors (SGC’s) at St Joseph’s, namely:

We work collaboratively within the school community to promote the achievement, participation and well-being of all students.  Our core role is to provide individual counselling to students.  Students can present with a broad range of concerns, including:

• Challenging life issues and events (unwanted change, family separation, grief and loss)
• Managing difficult emotions (stress and anxiety, low mood, anger, and so on)
• Relationship issues (conflict, bullying, assertiveness, communication and social skills)
• Learning difficulties (exam stress, study skills, disengagement)

The role of the SGC can include group work, student advocacy and family support.  We are also passionate about ‘positive psychology’ principles and practices, so we contribute to whole school initiatives that are aimed at promoting personal growth and well-being in our school community.

It is important to understand that SGC’s have a different role to that of private psychologists within the community.  We provide short-term support when student’s personal problems are having an adverse impact on their school engagement.   If we find that the student and/or their family requires on-going personal or family counselling, we will recommend a referral to a relevant external support service.

To access the counselling service, students can email us directly, or ask a trusted staff member to arrange it for them (e.g. via the student entrance; their JW teacher; a classroom teacher, or their House Leader).   As a parent/guardian, please feel free to email us directly, or contact the main office.  One of us will get back to you as soon as possible.

Tribute to Mothers for Mothers Day

Motherhood is watching your heart walk around outside your body.

Motherhood is too often forgetting you’re allowed to be a person too.

It’s being too sick to get out of bed but feeling guilty about being unproductive.

It’s accepting decades of both sleep deprivation and worry.

Motherhood is having strength so fierce it can lift a car or fight a lion, while tenderly nurturing everyone and everything you love, with your practiced hands and gentle heart.

Motherhood is thousands of hard, messy, beautiful things, but most of all motherhood is simply showing up and loving somebody.

Anonymous

Career Pathways

The Career Development Team has been busily planning activities for National Careers Week.  This event will be held in Week 6, commencing 24 May 2021.  The aim of National Careers Week is to celebrate careers, career development and career development services.

The objectives of National Careers Week are to:

• Develop community awareness the concepts, benefit and value of career development.
• Raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes, and broaden horizons about careers.
• Highlight the need for ongoing reskilling and upskilling to support careers throughout life.
• Identify the changing nature of work and its impact on all Australians.
• Showcase industries and the career opportunities available in them.
• Provide opportunities to partner with key stakeholders.

At St Joseph’s College, the theme for National Careers Week is:

It’s never too young to start exploring!!

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE

Work Experience is closely approaching for our Year 10 students.  The Career Development Team would like to remind students to submit their Work Experience forms to the Career Development Office as soon as possible.  Thank you to those students who have already submitted their forms.  The Career Development Team is available for anyone who requires assistance with organising their placement.

QTAC

You can talk to QTAC anytime by asking Google or Alexa your ATAR questions and you will receive a response straight away. All you need to do is ask your questions by saying “Hey Google/Alexa, ask QTAC”, followed by your question about your ATAR and you will receive a response right away. Find out more here.

During the Parent/Teacher Interview afternoon, Mrs Harman will be presenting two Parent Information Sessions on QTAC.  The first Parent Information Sessions is scheduled at 3.30pm and will be repeated at 5pm in the Mackillop Centre.

KEY DATES – APPLICATIONS FOR 2022

ANU

Applications close on 24 May 2021.

Bond University

Applications open on 1 May 2021.

For further information please contact a member of the Career Development Team.

ENRICHMENT PROGRAM

Thank you to all the parents that responded to our correspondence regarding the Enrichment Program for Term 2. We are excited to be providing the flexibility for our students to participate in an enrichment activity, remain at the College to undertake supervised self-guided study sessions or go home to study or attend work placements.

The Enrichment Program will be commencing in Week 3, Wednesday 5^th May. By now you would have received an email confirming arrangements for your child. If there is a cost for the enrichment activity you have selected, you will need to make payment as soon as possible via the QKR App to secure your placement in this activity. Instructions for the Qkr App can be found here.

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

Vocational Education

SEMESTER 2 INTAKE

We are excited to again, offer a few programs from our TAFE at School suite, for mid-year, Semester 2 intakes.

The programs for Semester 2 intake are as follows:

Applications for the TAFE Queensland, South West Region Semester 2 intake open on Wednesday 28^th April 2021 at 9:00am.

To submit an application, please go to www.tafeapply.com and enter the code: TQSW2102

Hastings Deering 2022 Apprentice Intake

School Based Trainees

Congratulations Zoe Skuse New School Based Trainee at Tilly’s Crawler Parts Certificate III in Business Administration.

P & F Association

NEXT MEETING
May 4 - 7pm - Library

At the next P&F Meeting we will be discussing options for presentations to be conducted at future P&F events in 2021.

We will also be discussing the future direction of the P&F at St Joseph’s College. 

I encourage anyone interested in joining us for these discussions to come along.

Carmen Humphries, P & F President - p&f@sjc.qld.edu.au  

Canteen

We need your help!

We are seeking volunteers to help out in the Canteen throughout the year.  Volunteers are required between the hours of 8am and 3pm each school day, however we understand people may not be able to assist for entire day -  if you only have an hour or 2 to lend, it would be a great help as well. We appreciate any time that is given to help out and would appreciate the opportunity to get to know some of the parents in our school community, especially the new families this year.  You do not need experience to volunteer in Tuckshop, we are happy to guide you along the way - it’s a fun day of helping out and your children will enjoy seeing you at school for the day.  Volunteers are required to wear closed in shoes, neat hair and a great smile 😊.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the College  with your availability as soon as possible so we can put together a roster for term 1.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Deb Ditchmen and Michelle Tully, Canteen Convenors

E dditchmen@sjc.qld.edu.au
E mtully@sjc.qld.edu.au

Uniform Shop

Covid restrictions apply – EFTPOS only - No Cash accepted until further notice.

Winter stock is now available.

We are currently taking appointments for winter uniform fittings.   Appointment bookings will take preference over walk-ins if the shop is busy.

https://MidfordBooking.as.me/StJosephsCollegeToowoomba

Blazers are available for the cold weather  - all sizes available.

Jumpers ETA is now the 20^th May due to Lockdown in Fiji.

New stock into the shop 

• TIES - Attention all Year 12 girls – The correct Senior Girl ties have arrived at the Uniform Shop.  Please return your current knot tie to the uniform shop to be exchanged for a girls tie.
• Formal Girl long pants.
• Face Masks – navy  (washable/reusable) S & L
• 150ml hand sanitiser

Online ordering available at :-  www.midford.com.au

pass phrase StJC1956

Currently out of stock

• Boys Formal Hat, size M                                              ETA 04/06         

• Jumpers, Size 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 & 24         ETA 06/05

TRADING HOURS

TUES & THURS        –        8AM TO 12PM

WED                            –         8AM TO 4PM

Maximum 4 people in the store at once.

Midford Retail COID – 19 03 2020

Click here to view Refund Policy

Click here to view College Uniform Price List 2020/2021

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.