Our School in Focus – No. 21 – 2026

Our new look website is up and running and looks fantastic!  There are still a few small teething changes that need to be looked at and fixed: please let us know if you come across any link that may not be working correctly for you.  We have only just been given administration access to our website.

Please feel free to contact the school on 9621 3500 or email admin@sjsnortham.wa.edu.au if you need help navigating the new site.

Thank you for your patience.

Snapshot of our new Website

Many families will be aware that Catholic Education Western Australia has proposed that all Catholic schools will move to a 3 week holiday for students in the July. Unfortunately, I am still unable to give definite dates for this yet as there are still some issues being resolved. As soon as we are able, I will inform families of the dates for the holidays next year.

The news was announced at the end of last term, that I will be ending my time in Northam at the end of the year. I have been successful in being appointed as Principal to Prendiville Catholic College in Ocean Reef from January 2027. It really is a bittersweet time for myself and my family as our time in Northam has been incredible and, as exciting as the next chapter is, we are sad to be leaving. The process for appointing a new Principal will begin this term.

Earlier in the week all families received an email regarding the restructure and re-launch of our Parents & Friends group as the Friends of St Jo’s. We have had a few people respond that they are happy to be considered for roles but are still looking for a few more people to form the committee. Please consider nominating yourself to help with the new committee.

This term, our HASS focus is History – where we have (and will) be exploring the Federation of Australia!

We are currently focusing on the Key Stakeholders of the Federation, including Alfred Deakin, Edmund Barton and Samuel Griffith. Both classes created hanging information lanterns on their chosen important figure, researching information about how the role these people played in our Federation.

In the upcoming weeks, we are beginning to research famous migrants that call Australia home and the major events in the Federation of Australia and how the political, economic and natural environments has changed over the many years since.

Little Joeys Stay & Play will return in Term 3.  Please keep an eye out for dates in week 1.

It is a free playgroup for children aged 0 – 4years, offering fun, music, crafts and stories.  Everyone is welcome and you don’t need to be a current family to attend – we love meeting new faces!

Please click on this link and complete the form.

It has been a busy semester with fourteen year 11’s starting their VET qualifications at Central Regional TAFE and 13 Year 11’s starting their VET qualification at school in 2026.  Congratulations to Year 12’s Abbey Rector, Pia McAlpine, Charli Forbes, Natalia Ryall and one other (name withheld) who all completed their Cert III TAFE qualifications ahead of time in Semester 1. 

Students in Year 10,11 and 12 have been completing a variety of workplace learning placements in Building and Construction, Agricultural and Commercial Heavy Diesel, Education, Retail, Real Estate, Public Administration and Safety, and Health and Nursing. 

During Term 2 a select group of Year 9s who nominated for different Career Taster opportunities and attended TAFE in Northam to try their hand at a variety of career pathways in including Automotive, STEM Robotics, and Shire Ranger.  This term offerings of Early Childhood Education will be arranged for week 10 of term. 

To assist students in making subject selections for 2027, all year 10 students attended the TAFE Open Day in May.  This event provided opportunities for students to explore vocational courses, meet lecturers, and tour the Northam campus.  The VETDSS study guide for 2027 should be available soon. 

This term students are diving into new Humanities topics. 

Year 7 

Our Year 7s have started their ‘Deep Time’ topic and are investigating how long Aboriginal People have been in Australia. They are learning to develop an understanding of words to do with time, including chronological, BCE and CE as well as words related to evidence such as artefact, archaeologist and primary source. 

Year 8 

This term in Year 8 HASS, students have been exploring continuity and change in Medieval Europe by investigating how society developed over time. In small groups, they researched one aspect of medieval life: crime and punishment, military and defence systems, or towns, cities and commerce, and presented their findings to the class. Next, students will explore the lives and achievements of significant individuals from Medieval Europe and examine the influence they had on history. 

Year 9 

The year 9 class are completing their study on Civics, by conducting an investigation on a high profile court case. As a case study, the class investigated the Lindy Chamberlain case from the 1980s. When students have finished their own research, they will share their information with their peers. The next topic for Year 9s in Geography with a focus on biomes and sustainable food production. 

Year 10 

This year, the Year 10 classes are trialing a ‘semester swap’ as they move to a new teacher for the new topic. Mrs Parker’s class are starting geography and are doing a deep dive into topographic mapping skills while Mrs Marasco’s class begin their history topic on World War Two and the rise of Nazism. The year 10s completed some excellent community service in Founders’ Week, planting 768 trees in a gully to combat the problem of salinity. This linked to geography and the study of environmental change for both classes.

The Primary Canteen is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Both the school and P&F Facebook pages are updated regularly and I encourage everyone to check both pages for up to date information.