From the Principal's Desk

Dear Members of St Joseph’s Family,

Welcome to the 2020 school year.  A very special welcome is extended to all our new families, we hope that the transition to schooling at St Joseph’s has been a positive one for you.  We are looking forward to getting to know you all. 

Change to the Newsletter 

The newsletter will no longer be produced weekly, instead it will be a fortnightly look back at what has been happening in the School for that fortnight.  It will not be a place to inform you about upcoming events but rather a celebration of all that has happened.  The best place to find upcoming events is on the School’s Facebook page, the School calendar and notifications on the Schoolzine App. 

New Staff 

We welcome the following new staff to our School:
Primary
Ms Sandra Murgia (Pre Primary), Mr Tim Natkanski (Year 5), Ms Bonnie Norrish (Year 1), Ms Shari Van Welie (EA), Sr Anitta (Kindy) 
Secondary
Ms Amanda McLaughlin (RE), Mr Jada Yengkopiong (Maths/Science), Mr Damon Keizer (English), Mr Locky Patterson (HASS/Geography), Mrs Kylie Wallis (Maths/Home Ec), Ms Beth Beglin (EA), Mrs Michelle O’Driscoll (Home Ec EA). 

2020 Theme 

This year, each student and staff member received a small gold badge in the shape of a wrapped gift.  Our theme for this year is “Your life is a gift and you have many gifts to share with others”.   At our Mass last week, I spoke with the students about the fact that we are given gifts and talents by God in order that they be used, but like anything, if it is not used or practised, then it will never grow.  Sometimes we bury those gifts and talents under other priorities or insecurities and so we are called this year to try to work on some of those gifts that we have neglected for a while.  Students were challenged to think about how they might use their gifts in a way that benefits others and include that in their choice of MaJEC activities.

Extend Before & After School Care

Our Before and After School Care, through Extend, has had a very successful start to the year with large numbers booked in for every afternoon and increasing numbers for the morning sessions.  The Coordinator of our centre is Ms Steph Richardson.  Steph has many years of experience in the child care industry and has worked in other day care centres around Northam.  We welcome her and the rest of the Extend team to St Joseph’s School. 

A reminder to parents dropping their children off and collecting in the afternoon, please use the Kiss & Ride bays to park, not the staff parking. 

New Classrooms 

Our Secondary students and staff are very much enjoying their new classrooms.  The spaces are cool, calming and conducive to a lot of learning and everyone is getting used to the steep stairs or winding ramps to get to them.  We will be waiting to officially open them until the new Administration block and staff work room is complete later in the year. 

Secondary Leaders Camp 

Last weekend Mr Vernede and I spent 2 days away with this year’s Secondary student leaders.  It was a wonderful camp and it became very evident that this year’s group of leaders are full of enthusiasm and great ideas.  We are looking forward to seeing what they can bring to the Secondary campus life. 

Parking on both Campuses 

As we begin a new school year I urge all parents who pick up their children at the end of the school day to mindful of our neighbours and other road/carpark users.  

Those coming to the Primary campus, please respect the driveways and verges of our neighbours.  We had complaints at the end of last year from neighbours whose lawn/reticulation was being destroyed and one whose driveway was being blocked on a regular basis.  

Those picking up students from the Secondary campus are asked to follow the arrows around the Church and not double park in front of other cars.  There is plenty of parking both around the Church and across the road at the shopping centre.  If you are using the pick-up line, please pull as far forward as you can so that we can get the cars off Wellington Street.  Cars must enter from the driveway closest to the School and exit from the driveway closest to the Parish hall. 

The new rear driveway between the basketball courts and the oval is now operational.  The gates will be open at drop off and pick up times but closed during the school day to allow the students to safely walk back and forth between the oval and the rest of the school grounds.  If you are using this driveway, please be extra vigilant when pulling out as the buses will be pulling in very close by.  

Student Achievements

During the summer holiday break we were advised of the success of two of our Secondary students, Matilda Lyne and Amy Duckworth, who each won the Toodyay RSL Award of a Sandakhan tour in the April holidays.  We congratulate these students and will invite them to share some of their trip highlights with the School community in a newsletter next term.

We also offer our congratulations to Cody Peipi, Year 10, who was awarded the Shire of York’s Junior Sports Person of the year at their Australia Day Awards.  

Calendar 

The 2020 calendar is now available to download from the School’s website.  It can be found under the Class Information tab.  The information is also currently being placed on the online calendar on the School app and the website.  This will be completed shortly.  We apologise for getting this out to our community later than usual.

Key dates coming up: 

15 February  School Community Mass at St Joseph’s Church @ 5:30pm 

18 February  Year 6 camp parent meeting in Year 6 Gold classroom @ 6:00pm 

21 February   Primary Assembly - Year 3 Gold @ 8:50am

27 February   Years 4-12 Inter-house Swimming Carnival @ 3:30pm 

God Bless 

Andrea Woodgate
Principal 

Our Primary Students

Change to Term 1 Swimming Lessons

We advise our Primary families that, unfortunately, the Years 3 and 4 students are unable to be accommodated in the first round of swimming lessons scheduled to take place next week due to the lack of available swimming instructors.  This information has just been provided to us. 

Families of students in Years Pre Primary to Year 2 are encouraged to check the information available under the Class Information tab for details of lesson times and individual requirements.

Rebecca Clarke
Head of Primary

Classroom in Focus:  Pre Primary Blue

It sure has been a busy, but enjoyable start to the year in Pre-Primary Blue.  We have all had the chance to put our archaeologist hats on to discover some dinosaur bones in our ‘Dino Dig’ home corner.  Upon walking into our classroom for the first time, we were surprised to see that Triceratops’ and Stegosaurs’ were hanging out in our room!

In English, we have been working on our letter formation, focusing on letter ‘s’ and ‘a’.  We have been practising to write these letters in coloured rice, sand and paint bags.  We have even started to learn how to write these letters on lines!  Fine motor skills have also been a focus for us these past couple of weeks.  We balanced pom-poms on pool noodles, used natural materials to follow different lines and rescued dinosaurs from a swamp using tweezers.

In Maths, we have been counting dinosaurs and making numbers using muddy playdough.  We ordered the spikes on a dinosaur from one to ten and played ‘smack the number’ using fly swats.  We loved using whiteboards during our mat session, to write numbers, and learnt some little rhymes to help us remember how to write each number.

In Religious Education, we have been celebrating that each and every one of us are special.  We painted pictures of what makes us special and read a story called ‘Chrysanthemum’, which helped us understand that our names are unique, just like the girl in the story.

We can’t believe how much we have achieved in just a short two weeks and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the term has in store for us!

Lauren Marino
Pre Primary Blue Teacher

Classroom in Focus: Year 6 Gold

Welcome to Year 6 Gold for 2020.  Our class has been enjoying getting to know each other, particularly as there are new students joining our cohort this year. 

The students have investigated the 'ingredients' that are required to produce the perfect friendship food and have created some delectable recipes. 

This year, our room has adopted a 'chill out' area.  This has been decked out with ottomans, carpet square and a beanbag.  The students are able to play games or read while enjoying the company of their classmates.

Year 6 Gold students and I look forward to an exciting year of fun and learning.

Year 6 Gold is a lot of fun! We have met a lot of new students who have come from other schools.  We have had some fun activities such as ‘friendship recipes’ and tests.  It is a pleasure to be in Year 6 Gold with Mrs Marasco.  Drahcir & Emily

Renee Marasco
Year 6 Gold Teacher

Our Secondary Students

Welcome back to our Secondary students.  We would like to thank the students for the way that they have so cooperatively adapted to our new rule of ‘no iPads/phones before school’.  It now lovely to walk in to the school grounds in the morning and hear students chatting and laughing amongst themselves rather than all sitting in a line with their heads down on a device.

Zulu Desk/Securly Roll Out

This is now almost complete and we thank you for your patience with this.  It has been a massive task but we are confident that it will keep our students much safer online while they are at school.  For those who have not had the software installed yet or who have removed it, we ask that this is done next week when the technician is in the school.  At the moment, Securly has not yet been activated as we were waiting till we had the majority of the students installed.  We are hoping to activate this next week.  An email will be sent to both parents and students informing them when this is going to happen.  This should not impact them at home.

Year 11 Mathematics Essential

Practical Application:  Students were very busy today gathering measurements from the new oval so they could complete the challenge set to work out the volume of top dressing required to be put on to a depth of 0.1m.

Caroline Parnham
Head of Secondary

                             

 

Learning Area in Focus:  Health & Physical Education

Health and Physical Education has started the new year exploring many topics and sports, introducing new students to the St Joseph’s community and welcoming back old students.  In Physical Education, students have been nominating for Swimming events at the inter-house carnival and participating in swimming trials and swimming performance.  Health has introduced the students to different way of analyse health, how to critic health information and discover the wonders of health as a career pathway.  Years 11 and 12 Physical Education Studies ATAR have both started smoothly with students working hard to learn the Functional Anatomy of the human body.

Last but not least, Outdoor Education in Years 9 to 12 has welcomed the new double periods to maximise our productivity in areas such as swimming, water safety, orienteering and bush craft.  We would like to wish everyone all the best for this new school year - we are looking forward to another exciting year!

Adrienne Suckling
Secondary Sports Coordinator

Curriculum Matters

Welcome back to all students.  We should all be refreshed and energised to begin the next chapter of our educational story, which has additional meaning for those commencing their secondary journey in Year 7, or the very exciting world of senior secondary in Year 11 or their final year, with only three terms to go.  At this stage, it is all very thrilling, with new books, new files, new teachers, new work, new technology - we may have even started a little homework, or perhaps not!  If there is no assigned work, which is required for the next day or lesson, does this mean I have a free night?  The answer here is of course, NO.

The way to keep up with the curriculum, or even be prepared for upcoming content is to read relevant materials.  You could check your program or outline, and overview the current chapter that you are discussing in class or the next section you are covering.  Another idea is to examine the key words in a chapter or covered in class and ensure you know their meaning, perhaps construct a glossary.  If there are topics or themes being discussed, maybe use other resources, like the internet to examine background material or other inter-related information - if you do find materials of interest, save the link, it could be useful for any assignments later in the term; and share it with others.  The way we acquire knowledge and apply our thinking and reasoning skills is through collaboration with others.

Also, you know how well you performed last year.  On your End of Year report from 2019, you have your grades listed.  Keep these in mind. Were these grades justified? Why did you receive those grades? If your grade was due to poor performance, and not understanding part of the content, then begin to create strategies to enable adequate time to review for assessments and prepare for tests and exams.  Do you have a study plan?

As for homework, page 66 of this year’s School Diary gives guidelines for this from Years 1 to 12, ranging from 15 minutes reading to a minimum of three hours, five times a week (wow, senior secondary students, that’s interesting.  To complete your course successfully you should spend at least 14 hours a week on your courses).  Another important read can be found on pages 70 to 75, which outlines our School’s Assessment and Reporting Policy, which includes details about responsibilities of submitting work and the consequences for not doing so, along with testing and examinations procedures, which this year has an important update regarding missing examinations for non-medical reasons and the associated penalties.

At this stage slow and steady, but it will not be for long.  So progress into a routine, and be prepared to maintain this, as within the next few weeks we will be into our regular structure, with all areas well immersed into the programs.  This means juggling regular homework, reading, worksheets, assignments, essays, projects and all the other essential items that will demonstrate your learning.  By developing this routine now, your educational story for 2020 should be a great read.

2019 Academic Celebrations

Well done to all our Year 12 graduates from 2019, with many moving onto finding apprenticeships, employment and tertiary courses.  A few ATAR highlights from last year’s graduating class:

Yves (Miguel) Reyes – 86.20 UWA- Bachelor of Science (Genetics)
Kana Moulton – 85.65
Ryan Post– 85.15- Murdoch University- Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
Ashlynne Beckett 78.70 - ECU- International Hotel Management/Tourism
Emily Bayliss- Murdoch University- Psychology/Forensic Science. 
Kayla Abbey (ECU- Health and Physical Education)
Elijah May (ECU- Mathematics Education)

Congratulations to all our students.  We look forward to reading of your future successes and wish you all the best for 2020.  So what about some of our previous graduates…

St Joseph’s School Alumni “Where are they now?”

Gabriella Ochtman - Class of 2017
To say the last two years have been amazing would be an understatement.  From eating pasta in Italy to swimming with turtles off the Gili Islands to boating in Greece.  Since graduating from St Joseph’s in 2017, I’ve been lucky enough to continue my studies at university, move out of home, travel, work, make many new friends and tick lots off my long bucket list.

The first two years of my university study have been both challenging and rewarding as I’ve worked hard to study my passion.  I am now beginning my third and final year of study at Murdoch University, and plan to graduate with a Bachelor Degree in Science majoring in marine science, along with two minors in nature-based tourism and sustainability, ecosystems and community development.

After leaving St Joseph’s, I was able to find a job that has helped me move forward in my career in marine science and also be able to afford living on my own.  For the last two years I’ve been working as a tour guide and deckhand on wildlife cruises, which allows me to share my passion with others and meet so many incredible people from all over the world!

Throughout 2019, I put all my savings towards travel and visited a total of nine different countries!  I started off by taking on some of Europe and visiting some incredible places with incredible people on a Contiki tour.  I then finished the year with a trip to Indonesia where I ticked ‘swimming with turtles’ off my bucket list.  This year, I plan to head to Coral Bay to complete a university research unit to complete my studies.

Meg Lawrence - Class of 2017
This time three years ago, I was beginning Year 12 as a student in the first graduating class of St Joseph’s School.  I find it hard to believe that now, I am about to embark on the third year of my bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at UWA.  Like most university students, I have really enjoyed my time at university.  Yes, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but I have learnt and grown so much more than I could have ever imagined as a Year 12 student dreaming of becoming a doctor.

I was told that university would be a breeze once I finished high school.  However, nothing could have prepared me for the many challenges that accompanied moving out of home to attend UWA.  Prioritisation has become my best friend (along with the $3 coffee at the UWA library), as I’ve had to juggle work and countless hours of study.  The hard work is paying off and I am proud to say I am continuing to achieve high distinctions in many of my medical science units.  With this year set to be the hardest yet, I am looking forward to the challenge and the potential to learn so many new things about the fascinating world of medicine.

My peers at university are probably sick of me talking about St Joseph’s School and Northam, but I have so many fond and cherished memories that I can’t help but share.  Now when I come back to visit, I see so many plans unfolding at the school that were merely dreams when I first began in 2004.  It is truly very exciting.  My education may be at UWA now, however, I think I’ll always be a St Joseph’s School student through and through – even in four years’ time when I finally graduate and become a doctor.

Tia Hunt - Class of 2018
Well, what a year 2019 was for me: a year of lots of firsts.  It started with initially accepting my university offering to Curtin University for Semester One 2019 into a Bachelor of Health Science.  Whilst studying at university, I also lived on campus at Curtin University, and wow was that an experience!

By living on campus I had to learn how to cook, clean, wash and take care of myself while everyone was 1.5 hours away in Northam.  My first day of university was actually my 18th birthday and it was the ultimate “Welcome to Adulthood’ experience I could ever imagine.  At the beginning of the university experience, I was really dreading if I had made the correct choice.  However, as the weeks continued and the semester got busier, I began to enjoy the experience of university life.

Throughout the semester, I was consistently trying to get into Occupational Therapy to prove to myself and others that your ATAR score does not define what you do in life, and after the semester was completed I was able to score 3 distinctions and 1 credit, achieving an above 75% semester weighting allowing me to enter the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) program.

Alongside studying, I also joined a social netball team and the Curtin Netball Club where I played with other students from a rural background.  Throughout semester two, I was able to pick up some casual work.  I began working at Newman College as a Marist Mentor.  This is where I would help students within the College in their homework program twice a week.  I worked at Penrhos College in term three and coordinated a netball program for year 5 and 6 girls.  I also worked at a private swim school in Mount Lawley throughout all of fourth term.

Semester Two was a little harder at university as the units have become more in depth and course specific.  However, it is still very interesting.  The end of November to the end of February is university summer break and throughout this break, I have been living back in Northam and been working as a swim instructor / lifeguard.  I also have completed my first ever university practicum at Senses Australia, Northam Hub, to observe Occupational Therapy in practice.  I also attended more social events and outings in second semester, such as my first university ball.

If I could give some advice to anyone thinking of going to university, it would be to have patience and work especially hard throughout Years 11 and 12.  Best wishes to all the St Joseph’s School community for 2020.

Belinda Johnson - Class of 2018
2019, the year of change.  This past year has flown by extremely quickly but still so much has happened, let me give you a rundown of some highlights.

At the beginning of the year, I was getting organised for my first year of university doing a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at UWA, majoring in microbiology and immunology with a second major of pathology and laboratory medicine (so many words, I know).  To say I was nervous was an understatement, I was moving from a school which had 20 Year 12 students to a university with over 20 000 people in it, all of which were complete strangers.

Eventually the end of February came around and it was time to move down to my grandparents’ house in Perth and commence university.  During ‘O-week’, I managed to make new friends who I kept in contact with during the semester, some of which were even in my classes which is even better!

My first semester was really enjoyable, I was only doing 2 units and didn’t have to be in class for many hours, so I had time to walk around the campus and Perth and do things I wanted to do.  I would come back to Northam every Wednesday night to work Friday to Sunday and some Thursdays so I could still earn some money and not be a completely broke student!  At the end of the semester, I decided to change my majors around so now I’m just doing a single major in pathology and lab medicine.

Second semester got a bit more hectic.  I was now doing 3 units (one of which was biochemistry, which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world) and I was working up to 21 hours a week.  I’d also spend quite a lot of time studying as I wanted to do well and I actually found most of the information I was learning very interesting.  This resulted in me having very little free time but I would still make an effort to spend time with my friends, family and boyfriend which made it all a lot easier.

Overall, this year has been one of my favourites.  So many challenges and changes have occurred but I feel content and happy with where I am now.  University has been a really fun experience and I’m genuinely looking forward to going back for second year.

Mark Gargano
Teaching & Learning Coordinator Years 7-12

Our P&F

2020

At the end of last year, a very enthusiastic and hard working group of parents spent a weekend painting the Primary toilet blocks.  This is part of our “Toilet Transformation Project” and included painting the walls, doors, tiles and also cubicle walls.  They are now nice and bright in appearance and make for a more positive place.  I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who contributed over that weekend - if it wasn’t for you this project would never have got started let alone finished!!  And a huge ‘shout-out’ to the businesses who donated items towards the project.  It is greatly appreciated. 

We still have Part II to complete which will involve putting up inspirational quotes, positive affirmations and sayings and many other things for the students to benefit from.  Studies show many children hide in the toilets when they are sad, lonely, angry, hurt, etc. and also children avoid the toilets due to them being cold, dull, smelly, etc.  The P&F are working towards making these a happy, positive and safe environment for the children.  We hope to finish the final stages during the next school holidays. 

This year, we will be holding night and day time meetings to accommodate more working families who wish to be involved with the P&F. Everyone is welcome to attend meetings, you don’t have to be on the committee to come along.  See below for upcoming meeting dates and times.  Due to our major fundraising event being the Colour Fun Run (Friday 3 April) we will be holding extra meetings this term as we prepare for it. 

Next meeting:  Thursday 20 February @ 6.45pm held at the Duke’s Inn (Duke Street, Northam)
Following meetings: 
Thursday 5 March @ 1.00pm in the Primary campus Meeting Room
Thursday 19 March @ 6.45pm held at Dukes Inn

The Colour Fun Run is on again this year!  Following on from last year’s success, we will be holding another fun event on Friday 3 April. We have taken on board many suggestions of things that did and didn’t work to make this year’s Run even better!!  More information will be provided to students in coming weeks.   To register as a volunteer during the day, please click on the link below; 
http://signup.com/go/SiFEOXN

Georgia Haddrill
P&F President

Our Community

School Entry Health Assessment

A friendly reminder to the new Kindy parents to complete and return the Health Assessment form sent home with your child this week. With your consent, the School Health nurse will check your child’s vision, hearing, growth and general development.  You will receive a summary of the results, and the nurse will talk with you if any potential problems are found.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.
Aimee Leeson, Community Health Nurse, School Health Avon & Central Primary Health Service (Ph: 9690 1320).

WANSLEA Parent Workshop

A free "Keeping Kids Injury Free in the Wheatbelt" workshop will be held at Bridgeley Community Centre,  93 Wellington Street Northam, on Tuesday 18 February 2020 between 10.00am and 11.00am.  This session, delivered by KidsafeWA, and partnered with Parenting Connection WA,  will be suitable for all parents, carers, child care workers, child care nurses, health professionals or any one interested in child safety.  This session will provide practical steps on how to reduce the risk of injuries, covering topics such as poisoning, falls, burns, car restraints, drive way and farm safety.  To register your interest in attending this workshop, email Jeni Pages at Wanslea Northam (JPages@wanslea.asn.au) or call 0447 622 736.

Uniform Shop 

Opening Times:                             Mondays - 3.15pm-4.45pm
                                                      Thursdays - 2.45pm to 4.15pm
Can’t Get To The Shop?

Families who find they are unable to attend the Uniform Shop during opening hours are able to place an order by sending in a request by email to the School’s email address : admin@sjsnortham.wa.edu.au  or families can now use the SchoolZine app to place an order.    Orders will be filled and distributed to students or sent to the relevant Campus Admin Office for collection as soon as practical.

Michelle James 
Primary - 9621 3524

Primary Canteen

Canteen Roster for Term One :

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
3	Angela Sandrini   Julie Sandrini	Cheri Trinder Jacqui O'Driscoll	Liezl De Beer Gill Chrimes	Geraldine Anderson Natasha Fitzgerald	Julie Sandrini Michelle Donnellan
4	Rebecca Pearce Julie Sandrini	Jahaan Baig Karen Carter	Narelle Jongen Jade Dempster	Anne Baer Crystal Dennis	Tresna Rochford Vibha Bhat

Ash Wednesday & Lent

The Canteen will be offering Fish Fingers at the price of 0.50c each as an option for lunch on Wednesday 26 February and each Friday until the end of Term.

Canteen Assistance

Families are asked to complete the Canteen Helper form distributed this week as soon as possible to allow me to set up a Roster for the term.  Any assistance is appreciated, even if you only have an hour or two of a morning.

Carmel Moore
Canteen - 9621 3525