From the Principal's Desk

Dear Members of St Joseph’s Family,

It is safe to say that we are slowly returning back to normal levels of attendance for both staff and students and we feel like teaching and learning might have a chance of getting back to some kind of normalcy.  We are, however, starting to see some contract COVID for a second time.  The same regulations apply for Round 2, in that students need to isolate at home for 7 days if they test positive.

Just a reminder that if you have not yet collected your supply of free RATs, you can do so from the Primary or Secondary Admin desks and to continue reporting positive results on the self-reporting portal on the home page of the school website.

Primary Building Works

This week, Primary students have been settling into the organised chaos of the next six months as they deal with fencing and temporary toilets.  While the disruptions are not ideal, the builders are doing all they can to limit the noise and distractions. 

Next week the demolition of the existing toilet block will begin so some classes may need to work in the PAC for a few days while the worst of it is taking place.  Each day will be a new adventure but it will be worth it when we have new toilets, a new classroom and a roof out over the PAC.

Founders’ Day

On Friday 10 June we will be celebrating Founders’ Day across both campuses.  Primary students are required to come to school as normal, we will then walk to the Northam Recreation Centre for a whole School Mass and Assembly.  Students will have morning tea at the Recreation Centre.  They will be provided with a cupcake and a juice box, but may like to bring a small bag with additional morning tea and a water bottle.

We will then walk back to Primary for a lunchtime concert from our School Bands and all students will be provided with a free sausage sizzle lunch.  If your child does not eat hotdogs, please make them lunch as normal.  All students will then participate in Tabloid Sports run by our Year 10 students and will be dismissed from this campus (bus contractors have been advised of this change).  We ask all students to wear their sports uniform on this day. 

We look forward to finally being able to come together as a whole school for this special celebration.

School Photos

School photos for both campuses will be held across Monday 13 June and Tuesday 14 June.  Primary class photos will take place on Monday and Secondary on Tuesday.  Each student will receive their individual Fotomakers envelope in the coming week to allow families to place orders.

ACC Cross Country

Congratulations to those Secondary students who represented our School so well at the ACC Cross Country event today.  They had a very early start as they left town at 6:30am!  Results are included in the Secondary Section below but I am pleased to announce that Lily Parker performed so well she has been named in the ACC All Stars Team for 2022.  Well done!

Student Success

We congratulate Nathan Collins who has been nominated to represent Australia in the World Curling Federation Youth Camp in Norway later this year.  Australia has been invited to attend this camp as one of only eight successful nations from the original field of forty, and Nathan is one of only 4 young athletes chosen to represent.  Attendance at the WCF Youth Training Camp is a step towards attendance at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2024, to be held in South Korea.  Nathan’s ultimate goal is to follow in the footsteps of Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill, our first ever Olympic curlers.  Australia has relatively low numbers of junior curlers, and by attending the WCF Youth Training Camp it forms part of the Australian Curling Federation's strategy planning goals of developing juniors.  We wish Nathan all the best!

Volunteer Work

We congratulate Nate Blackhurst who recently completed 7 continuous days (for approximately 11 hours each day) volunteering on the Logistics and Catering team of the 2022 Gibb Challenge.

This was a fundraising event that facilitated 450 bicycle riders on an endurance challenge along the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley, raising more than $550k for the Kyle Andrews Foundation (supporting sick children and their families).

This was a valuable learning experience for Nate and included an opportunity to bond with kids from the Yiramalay Aboriginal community, learning about inclusivity and acceptance of difference. 

                                                     

Enjoy your long weekend!  Stay well.

God Bless

Andrea Woodgate
Principal 

Faith in Action

Parish Sacramental Program

The Parish Sacramental Program Coordinator, Mrs Kathy Pollard, wishes to advise families that the Parish is considering holding the Commitment Ceremony for each Sacrament prior to or at the first parent/student workshop.  If you have any queries regarding the Sacramental Program, please contact Kathy on 0429 685 632.

Primary News                                            

Dear Families & Friends,

I hope you are all keeping healthy and well.

Canteen

Due to COVID disruptions, our Canteen will be closed from Tuesday 7 June until Friday 10 June.  We apologise for any inconvenience caused.  We look forward to the Canteen re-opening for service on Tuesday 14 June.

Primary Cross Country Carnival

On Thursday 9 June we will be holding our Primary Cross Country Carnival on our school oval.  Families are welcome to come along and cheer on our students from Years 1 to 6.  The approximate times for the races are:

9:00am	Year 3	1km	1 lap
9:30am	Year 2	1km	1 lap
10:00am	Year 1	1km	1 lap
Recess
11:00am	Year 4	1km	1 lap
11:30am	Year 5	1.5km	2 laps
Lunch
1:00pm	Year 6	2km	2 laps

Bread Bag Collection

Wonder (the bread company) are running a competition for Primary schools.  Wonder is asking schools to collect empty bread bags.  These cannot be recycled in your normal household recycling, but can be recycled as part of this drive.  Collection boxes have been set up at the Canteen, PAC and outside our Kindy and Pre-Primary classrooms.  For every bag that is collected, our School will earn credit points to receive free sporting equipment.  We will be collecting bags from now until September.  Thank you for your support.

May you all have a wonderful WA Day long weekend.  We look forward to having students back on Tuesday 7 June.

Michelle Christian
Head of Primary

Class in Focus:  Pre Primary Gold

Wow, what a busy time we have had in Pre Primary Gold!  The last five weeks have flown by, we have had so much fun learning about all the different types of animals that we could keep as pets.

Throughout the term we have been learning about the Alphabet and the sounds the letters make, practicing our letter formations and identifying words that rhyme.  We love getting messy when we complete our activities and get to play with colourful playdoh, coloured rice, paint, slime and shaving cream.

                        
In Numeracy, we have been learning to count to 20, practicing our number formations, recognising what numbers come before and after and learning to play Bingo.  We all look forward to Fridays when we can watch our weekly episode of Numberjacks.

During our Religion lessons, we have been learning about how we are all special and how God made us unique.  There are no two people who are the same.  Being different does not mean being better.  It means that each person is called to use their unique gifts in their lives to be a good friend, a good family person, a good school person and a good community person.

               

A few weeks ago, we had a visit from our Year 5 Buddies.  We all loved playing with our new friends and get very excited when they come to say hello to us when we are out for recess and lunch break.  We can’t wait for our next Buddy session.

     

We can’t wait to see what the next four weeks of term have in store for us and we are very excited to go on our excursion to Jungle Gym next Wednesday.

Liz Grubisa & Kym McCarthy
Pre Primary Gold Teachers

Class in Focus:  Year 1 Gold

Year 1 Gold have been writing up a storm!  These are our instructions for making fairy bread and this is us following them and making some fairy bread to eat. 

It was yum!

Peta Robinson
Year 1 Gold Teacher

Sporting Schools Activity

Thank you to all the wonderful girls who joined us for four weeks of AFLW!  It was a pleasure to see your kicking improve so much and the determination showed by so many!  Thank you to Mr Watson, Mr Matthys and Mr Natkanski for helping out, it could not be done without you!

Our boys AFL sessions start in June, so please remind students who signed up for these sessions - they will run each Tuesday in June starting at 3.15pm and finishing at 4.15pm.

Ali Hince
Sporting Schools Coordinator

Secondary News

Hello from Secondary and welcome back to Term 2!

Thank you to all the students and parents who participated in our Pyjama Day on 23 May and for all the lovely blankets, sleeping bags and tinned food to be donated to those families in need this winter.  Your generosity is certainly going to be appreciated.

It has been fairly quiet on the Secondary Campus with students in Years 9 to 12 very busy with exams and many of our Years 11 and 12 General students doing a fabulous job out in the community on work placements.  Kudos to the wonderful job Mrs Caroline Marriott is doing in the Vocational Training area.  If you have a student in Year 10 and would like to have a look at some of the avenues, they can explore in Years 11 and 12 please go to our website and look at the VET portal for some information.

I am looking forward to the Year 8 Camino Cabagniol walk next Wednesday.  It will be nice to get away from the desk and piles of marking and administration and onto the trail getting to know these wonderful Year 8s.

Sharon Cusack
Head of Secondary

Learning Area in Focus:  Religious Education

Secondary LifeLink Launch

On Thursday 19 May, Year 12 and Year 9 Religious Education classes were involved in the Bishops’ Secondary Online LifeLink Launch for 2022.

Students attended the Launch with Catholic School students from all across Western Australia to officially begin efforts to raise much needed funds for LifeLink agencies.  These agencies include:
- Catholic Ministry for People who are Deaf or Hearing Impaired
- Catholic Outreach
- Centacare Employment and Training
- Centrecare Inc
- Emmanuel Centre
- Emmaus Community
- Daydawn Advocacy Centre
- Identitywa
- Samaritan Projects
- The Shopfront

Students were able to listen to a Keynote Speech from Archbishop Timothy Costelloe and then were free to ask questions of the Archbishop, along with Bishop Sproxton and Dr Debra Sayce.  The event was a great success in its ability to capture a wide audience online and have students engage with each other across schools.

We look forward to continuing the drive to raise awareness and funds for LifeLink throughout the rest of Term 2.

Year 8 Retreat

The Year 8 Retreat was held on Wednesday 18 May.  Students were thrilled to have the 24/7 Ministry Team of Western Australia facilitate the day which involved games, skits and an incredible afternoon prayer/reflection session on our development as a 'whole person.'  

The theme for the day was 'God's Creation' and specific topics covered were:
- Appreciating our uniqueness
- The complications of changing behaviour for acceptance
- Value and dignity

Our school community extends a huge thank you to 24/7 and the students look forward to seeing the team return to Northam in years to come.

Year 9 Retreat

The Year 9 Retreat was held on Friday 20 May.  Throughout the day, students were involved in reflection time, games, skits and Q & A sessions with the Youth Ministry Team of Western Australia.

The theme for the day was 'self image' and specific topics covered were:
- Appreciating our uniqueness
- The complications of changing behaviour for acceptance
- Value and dignity

Our school community extends a huge thank you to YMT and the students look forward to seeing the team return to Northam next term for the Year 11 Retreat.

 

Past Student News

As a school community, we congratulate past student and 2020 School Captain, Isabelle Ochtman, on her appointment as the Western Australian director of Marist Youth Ministry.

Isabelle takes over the role in June and will work alongside National MYM Coordinator Mr Edwin Bakker.  In the role, Isabelle will oversee the Marist Youth Ministry gatherings along with the highly successful 'Gamechangers' Youth groups throughout Western Australia.

We look forward to working with Isabelle in her new role and are excited to discover the ways in which she will bring her Faith and love of Christs to young people across WA.

 

Year 8 Camino

We are excited next week to embark on our second Camino stage for the year 2022.  On Wednesday 8 June, the Year 8's will journey by foot from Bakers Hill to Wooroloo and the focus for the journey will be our attachment to being people, 'Like St Joseph.'

We welcome any Year 8 parents who also wish to participate in this exciting adventure.

Daniel Matthys, Syona Fernandez, Andrea Woodgate, Amanda McLaughlin, Renee Marasco, Nicki Parker & Lloyd Reidy
Secondary Religious Education Staff

Learning Area in Focus:  Physical Education

Outdoor Education

Students in Year 9 Outdoor Education have started building their shelters.  The task is to build a shelter out of as much natural material as possible, that is effective at keeping each group safe from the elements.  Students have researched different methods for building shelters, collecting water and how to safely create a camp fire.  Over the next 3 weeks, students will be putting their knowledge into practice and creating shelters, collecting water and designing a safe fire pit to ‘survive’ in the wilderness.

ACC Cross Country

Today, we took a squad of students to the ACC X Country competition at Perry Lakes Reserve.  Each of our runners had an outstanding performance and achieved massive PB’s. 

                                                      

Honourable mention is made of the following students for making it into the top 100 of their event:

U13	3 km run	Isabelle Dymnicki	96th	13.29.17
U16	4 km run	Lily Parker	5th	16.30.25
		Madison Dymnicki	66th	19.35.53

                                 

We are so proud of each student’s sportsmanship and effort!  Thank you to Rhonda Oliver and Gerhard Vogel for your help in making the event run smoothly and Justin Boccardo and Lloyd Reidy for assisting with the squad training.

Upcoming Sporting Events:

Eagles Football Cup	16 June
Wheatbelt/Goldfields Netball Cup	23 June

Adrienne Suckling
Head of Learning Area:  PE & Health

2022 Senior School Ball

It was a warm and enchanted evening on Friday 20 May when the Years 11 and 12 students stepped out in their finest evening wear for the St Joseph’s Senior School Ball.  They all looked fabulous!

The photos at Beavis Place Park were taken by professional photographer, Angie Roe.  The evening light was soft and golden, adding to the magic of the occasion.  The students needed no help to look impressive as they already looked so mature and beautiful.  A bit of excitement was added to the occasion by Joe Hancock arriving on horseback!

     

After the light faded, it was time to move to the Country Club for mocktails and canapes on the front patio.  Students (and staff) enjoyed seeing the arrival of others, including several in vintage vehicles.

The ballroom was truly ‘enchanted’, with vines and fairy lights decorating the walls and tables.  Master of Ceremonies, Mr Lloyd Reidy,  started the formalities with Grace, and a few bad ‘Dad jokes’, then dinner followed.  The meal was roast beef or chicken, roast vegetables, potato bake and a range of salads.  A few thanks and toasts were given between main and dessert.  Dessert was either cheesecake or chocolate cake, both of which were declared delicious.  The food was excellent.

After dessert, many students took advantage of the photo booth, to pose with friends and catch the moment.  Then DJ Scott-e turned up the music and the senior students danced the night away.  Ms Cusack proved she is an expert at the ‘Nutbush’, Mr Gargano can still shake it (80s style), and Joe taught the crowd a few ‘cowboy’ moves.

Huge thanks must go the Northam Country Club for the fantastic venue and food.  Thank you to Mrs Rosemary Power and Mrs Raelene Ashman from the School Drug and Alcohol Education group for the mocktails.  Thanks to the many people who made this occasion possible: Angie Roe Photography, Adept Photo Booth, Elite DJ Scott-e, Ms Lucie Lombardini for the decorations, parent helpers Mrs Rhonda Lawrence and Mrs Tracey Ashworth plus all the parents who helped their child prepare for the occasion.

We look forward to another successful Senior School Ball in 2023!

Nicki Parker
Senior School Ball Organiser

Our School

School Calendar

We advise the school community that the 2022 School Calendar has temporarily gone missing from our website and we are investigating the reason for this.  In the meantime, a PDF version of the 2022 term by term calendar is available from the Class Information page and also attached to the newsletter.  There have been several events updated so please do check this for upcoming events that may involve your family.

Andrea Woodgate

Uniform Shop

Opening Times:                             Mondays - 3.15pm to 4.45pm       
                                                      Thursdays - 2.45pm to 4.15pm    

Families wishing to access the Uniform Shop are advised that the online shop is the preferred method of ordering uniforms.  If items are required to be tried on, then an appointment should be made by contacting the Primary Admin on 9621 3500.  We are continuing to limit numbers in the Uniform Shop so an appointment is preferred.  Please note we can not accept email or telephone orders.

Please also keep in mind when ordering, that your items will go home Tuesday and Friday of each week, as Monday and Thursday are the days the Shop is open.  When placing an order via the Online Shop, it will appear on a report the following day.  For example; if you place your order on Monday, the report issues on Tuesday which means it will not be organised until Thursday and so go home on Friday.

Michelle James 
Primary - 9621 3524

Canteen News 

Canteen Support - Volunteers Required

The Primary Canteen has available to families the easy 'birthday treat' for your child's class.  We are offering a choice of a birthday bucket of icy poles (value is $30), bucket of chocolates (value is $30) or a bucket of lollypops (value is $20).  Each bucket contains a birthday badge, two balloons for the birthday child and enough icy poles, chocolates or lollypops for the children in that particular classroom.  These birthday treats should be ordered at least two days in advance and can be ordered through the online shop. (Please note that the bucket will need to be returned to Canteen and is not included in the price) 

The Canteen is now operating with the Winter Menu and you are encouraged to check out the daily menu options before ordering lunches.  If we experience connectivity issues with the online ordering, please revert to using lunch bags to place orders for that day. 

Recess or snack items ordered online are available for students to collect from the Canteen at their Recess break.  Milo pops and icypoles can be collected from the Canteen following the second lunch bell.  

As our School grows so does the number of lunches that we supply daily.  Due to high demand on our quality food and service we need helpers to ensure that our kids get their lunches on time.  In order to function to our highest potential, we ideally need 2 or more  volunteers a day.  Volunteering is a great way to teach your kids about giving, modelling them for the future.  Also, every shift you do at our School helps you towards qualifying for a Parent Participation discount on your annual fees.  We would love to welcome you into our fun, and busy environment and see the smiles on your children’s faces when they see you in their school.  This year is a busy year and we would love to have some new faces in our canteen.  If you are able help, please sign up online at   https://signup.com/go/LQaHAbC

Our Primary Canteen Helper Roster for the next two weeks of Term 2 is below.  Volunteers are urgently needed so please consider offering an hour or two one morning.   

Primary - Week 7  

Tuesday	7 Jun	Canteen closed
Wednesday	8 Jun	Canteen closed
Thursday	9 Jun	Canteen closed
Friday	10 Jun	Founders' Day:  Sausage Sizzle   Trent Nankivell, Mat Sandrini,   Liz Davies, Desrae Smith

Primary - Week 8

Tuesday	14 Jun	no volunteer
Wednesday	15 Jun	no volunteer
Thursday	16 Jun	no volunteer
Friday	17 Jun	Lisa Hasson

I look forward to working with you.  If you have any queries, you are always welcome to contact the Canteen on the number below.

Angela
Canteen - 9621 3525 

Our P&F

Quiz Night

Hold the press – all tickets have been sold!!
A reminder is given that we are holding a Quiz Night next Friday 10 June at the Northam Recreation Centre.  Doors open at 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start.  Cash or EFTPOS available.  Please note: no BYO Drinks as full bar is available.  Heaps of games and raffles throughout the evening.  BYO snacks.  For all details, please see the flyer attached to this newsletter.

See our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1764507137145087/?ref=share for more updates.

Lauren Holten
President

Our Community 

Extend B&ASC

Extend offers after-school care during term time.  During Term 2, we have a number of fun activities on offer including arts and craft, cooking, a talent show and fun games.  Check out these by visiting: www.extend.com.au/families/initiatives/.  Enrolling is easy and ensures we have the information to safely care for your child so enrol now and book via extend.com.au.