Dear Parents and Carers,
The media love to write about schools and the perceived strengths and shortcomings of different schools and different systems. Earlier this week I read of booming enrolments in faith-based independent schools. Last month the imminent demise of single gender boys’ schools was reported. In between there have been many stories that either praise or criticise individual schools. Somehow because everybody has been to school they feel a degree of expertise as to what good schooling looks like.
St Joseph’s strives to provide a holistic education. This has multiple meanings. The first is to help individual students be well-rounded with a range of skills and attributes. The second is for each cohort of students to have individual students excelling in their specialty, (hopefully while maintaining some degree of competence and achievement in the others). The third, and arguably most important, is to provide opportunities for a range of individuals, the gifted, the learning impaired, the wealthy, and the disadvantaged.
Is it more important to achieve excellent academic results, demonstrate outstanding musicianship, display the skill and drive to become a professional sportsman, have and live out faith or simply be a good citizen? Of course, the answer is that they are all important, in different measures to different people. I’m biased but I think we do holistic education pretty well and provide good schooling.
Sometimes people suggest that an emphasis on one element necessarily compromises another. The reality is that academic study, sport, music and other activities develop transferable skills, including self-discipline, resilience and respect for rules and teamwork. Each also boosts self-esteem and promotes physical and mental health.
While we celebrate the achievements of past students, it is worth remembering that we don’t have sport and music programs in the school for the benefit of the few who will go on to become professionals any more than we teach writing expecting that all our pupils will become famous authors. We have these programs because they are good for everybody.
Historically the College has experienced much success in sport and music but not so much in public speaking and debating. I am delighted to report that earlier this week our junior public speaking team of Aemmon O, Lachlan S, Darby G and Hamish V (who had the highest individual score of the day) were winners of the Associated Catholic Colleges public speaking competition earlier this week.
Also, our Year 12 students are finishing their exams at about this time. I’m very grateful for the work of Brad Smith, Jules Holt, Peter Ryan and Lisa Pope in ensuring the exams have run smoothly.
We recently received the 2022 NAPLAN results which provide us with valuable data on our student's academic performance. In conjunction with other test data these affirm success in some areas and identify some areas of challenge. I am grateful to Lisa Pope, our Deputy Principal – Learning, for providing the following analysis and commentary.
The Student Growth report allows our staff to see which of our students are achieving expected growth, and those with lower or higher growth than expected between Year 7 and 9. NAPLAN testing did not occur in 2020, therefore we cannot use NAPLAN to gauge growth in our current year 9’s.
Fortunately NAPLAN is not the only form of testing at St Joseph’s. We use a range of measures (both formative and summative) to monitor student growth. We establish a baseline through our Grade 6 Allwell testing procedures which include an educational skills profile for each of our incoming students. Tests measure General Reasoning, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Spelling and Written Expression. They are then repeated in Year 8 and Year 10 to gain further insight into our student's growth over time.
The Grade 6 testing data provides a baseline to profile each of our students. We then identify if we need further and more specific testing for students whose results indicate more extensive intervention in their learning is required. Similarly, we identify students who are above the standard expected and identify ways to engage them at their point of need. We identify trends in class data to target our teaching, especially if we can address specific gaps in their learning. In this case, reteaching and relearning the concept may be the focus.
This year’s NAPLAN data indicated that, when compared to other boys in the state, our Year 7 boys at were only slightly below the state median for reading and writing, but have significantly lower medians for spelling and grammar. Our Numeracy data on the other hand was above the state median for all students.
This trend was replicated in Year 9. However, what was great to see was an increase in the number of our boys in the top 2 bands for both reading and numeracy. Additionally, our Year 8 and 10 students’ Allwell test results show we are making a difference in shifting our boys along the learning continuum.
The percentage of boys who start in the low category (bottom 25% nationally) across all areas of literacy, numeracy and general reasoning is significantly reduced over time. This shift sees an increase in the number of boys that are now in the middle band or above. Those students whose performance is not shifting over time, have further intervention and support strategies implemented. It also enables us to identify students who demonstrate the readiness to begin a VCE or VET subject early, knowing they have a solid foundation to work from. The trends in our data over the past 4 years can be seen in the tables below.
General Reasoning
Mathematics
Reading
Writing
For those students who then go on to complete scored assessments in their VCE program, our median study score has consistently hovered above the state average. Whilst much is to be said about standardised testing, the reality for schools is how well the data is used and analysed. What story does it tell? Are there trends that need to be addressed and where do we need to focus our resources so that we can support the learning needs of our students? Using data to monitor the learning progress of our students, gives us a greater understanding of the effectiveness of our programs, and the impact of our teaching, as well as the opportunity to support and guide our boys to build confidence in learning.
God Bless
Are you up to the challenge? Students who are currently in Years 9 and 10 are welcome to submit their expressions of interest to join the trek in 2023. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to immerse yourself in the story about ordinary young Australians in extraordinary circumstances. It is also a unique experience as students can trek solo or be accompanied by a family member. Limited places will be available, email your interest to make sure you don't miss any upcoming information sessions to Mr Cashin or Mr Jones. Notices will also be posted on SIMON daily messages. Dates of the trip will be the last week of term 2 into the first week of the holidays in 2023. Check out the Australian Kokoda Tours website for more information on what is involved in trekking Kokoda. Be prepared to walk in the footsteps of heroes.
Unit 3/4 VCE exams
The exams are going quite well and we still have many Year 12 students opting to study together on site and take advantage of their teachers’ expertise and guidance in the timetabled allocations. The first exam was English on Wednesday 26 October and the final exams will be held next Wednesday 16 November. We wish all our VCE Year 12 students the best in this period of time and we offer a big thank you to our Year 12 teachers who work in overdrive to get them prepared.
End of Term 4 key dates and information
Our 2022 classes are all in their culminating stage and many classes will finish teaching explicit content at the end of this week and will start preparing students for the end-of-year exams the following week. Exam week looks different in the three subschools and will be clearly explained to our students in the weekly bulletin, gatherings and assemblies prior.
Waterford – Year 7 students will not be sitting exams but will be completing all task work, projects and assessments. Year 8 students will all sit an English and Mathematics exam together in the gym and will sit other exams in the double lessons of their subject during that week.
Westcourt - Year 9 students will all sit a Think, Mathematics and Science exam together in the Westcourt gym and will sit other exams in the double lessons of their subject during that week.
Mt Sion – Run exams each day but the Year 10 and 11 students are only expected to be at school on the days they have exams. A detailed schedule and set of instructions have been sent out this week to all Mt Sion students and families.
Year 9 into 10 transition - Thursday 24 November
Our Year 9 students will have some closure to their Year 9 journey at Westcourt on this day and will all take part in a morning exam, end-of-year liturgy and final clean up before being bussed to the Edmund Rice Campus for transition. The Year 9s will be greeted with a year level assembly, BBQ, house assemblies and house activities. The aim is to be familiarised into the vertical house structure and become familiar with the Mt Sion learning and behavioural expectations and norms.
Pupil Free day – Friday 25 November
This day is to allow students and staff time to prepare for the Head Start program and classes whilst allowing time to finish off and provide feedback for exams and reports. We will also transition all of our new 2023 students who will be joining the SJC community on this day who will start classes in Head Start.
Head Start program – Monday 28 November
On Monday 28 November all students commence their 2023 timetable with their 2023 teachers. This program allows for quality teaching and learning to take place right until the final lesson on Thursday 8 December 2022, whilst also providing a platform for healthy relationships between teacher and student as our expectations are re-set. The 2023 school year recommences on Tuesday 31 January, 2023.
Child Safety forums with Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA)
EREA have offered face-to-face and online sessions for our staff, students and families in recent weeks. These sessions have provided opportunities for our SJC community to connect with EREA as they communicate and reiterate their child safeguarding commitment as a governing body to all of their schools. All sessions have been valuable and have helped the SJC child safety committee set some healthy goals to continue to grow our child safety culture at SJC.
Remembrance Day 2022
Tomorrow members of our College community will join the St Joseph’s Old Collegians Association to hold a Remembrance Mass on Friday 11 November at 10.00am in our St Joseph’s Chapel. We will gather in memory of deceased Old Collegians, staff and benefactors of St Joseph’s College Geelong. We will pay our respects to these classmates, teachers, friends and colleagues who have all been part of the St Joseph’s College story. We will welcome Fr Philip Gambin from St Thomas Parish who has graciously offered to join us as our celebrant for the Mass. November is when the Church remembers those who have gone before us. As the war continues in Ukraine and violence occurs in countries throughout the world, we continue to pray for peace. We will also pray for members of the Australian armed forces who, time and again this year, have been called to aid in recovery efforts after flooding and other natural disasters.
Year 7 Renewal Days - ‘Journeying with Christ.’
Recently, the Year 7s had their first Renewal day, celebrating the theme ‘Journeying with Christ.’ Belinda Milverton, our Faith Development Coordinator prepared the interactive and reflective days with support from the guest speakers and staff leading the pilgrimage stations. The students were fortunate to hear from two key note guest speakers, our Deputy Principal Learning - Lisa Pope who shared her inspiring reflections on her journey, and Old Collegian Shannan Gove. They both imparted messages they had gained through their own journeys. Shannon shared his journey from his time as a St Joseph's student to his co-ownership in his current business ‘Rosterfy’, ‘With a mission to connect communities to events and causes they are passionate about through their workforce engagement solution, Rosterfy, now has over 1 million users worldwide. From the Super Bowl to tin rattlers for local non-profits and charities, Rosterfy helps organisations recruit, screen, train, engage and manage volunteers and casual staff to ensure the success of workforce programs big and small.’
Students then experienced a College pilgrimage, visiting sacred and historical sites around the school. After a shared BBQ lunch, they gathered in our St Joseph’s Chapel to conclude the day in the sacred centre of the College, to reflect on their own journeys with Christ in a liturgy.
Carey Oval Embankment (South)
Nyurra wurriyn, Kim barne barre Wathaurong. Kitjarra ngitj, bitjarra ngala, mok-barra tjarra ngitj ba ngawirring tjarra ngitj. Ngamadjiyt ba kin bil ngitj Nyatne.
Translation: Hello, this is Wathaurong country. Let us talk together in friendship. Let us walk together, let us not fight, let’s have peace and learn, black and white together.
In 2016, seeds collected from Queens Park, Limeburners, East Geelong and Mertciam Avalon, were propagated, and in 2017 students planted the seedlings on the Carey Oval south embankment, launching the Carey Oval Revegetation project. In our fifth year since the commencement of the project, Sustainability Leaders, 10 Environmental Science students and students undertaking Enviroservice, have each contributed to planting approximately 1000 plants around the embankments of the oval, which currently incorporates 48 endemic and indigenous species.
The Reconciliation Garden
The Reconciliation Garden was Opened on 14 February 2017 by Principal Tony Paatsch. The Garden and its design were created with the help of past staff member Jo Hart. The design of the garden is of Bunjil the Wedge -Tailed Eagle the Creator Spirit of Wadawurrung Country of the Kulin Nation. The two large parts of the Garden are Bunjil’s wings and the tiled piece is Bunjil’s eye. Ms Jenkins has played a pivotal part with the sustainability and purchasing local native plants for the garden. The plants have been planted by students and staff. The Art piece Bunjil which lights up at sunrise and dusk was created by Daniel McDonnell from Steele Art Australia in Meredith.
The Paul Tobias Courtyard
This is a common area that Mount Sion students use for down-ball, but it also holds significance with its display of Australia’s Indigenous flora. The buildings around this area as well as the courtyard were named after St Joseph’s previous principal Paul Tobias who served at our College for many years. As part of our College’s goal to support reconciliation as well as sustainability, we recognise the importance of caring for Indigenous flora and fauna.
B Block
The St Augustine’s Orphanage was opened on 28 August 1857 on the Feast of St Augustine. Mr Daniel O’Driscol was appointed resident manager and also continued teaching. When the Orphans left in 1935, there were 170 Students at St Joseph’s College and after extensive renovations and refurbishment, the original bluestone building became part of St Joseph's. Over the years it has been used as a dormitory, senior classrooms, a gymnasium, Brothers residence, boarders dining room, music rooms, canteen and audio-visual centre. Today B Block is The Brother Howe Creative Arts Centre.
St Joseph’s Statue
To recognise St Joseph whom our College is named after, Sculptor Pauline Clayton was commissioned in 2004 to work as an Artist in Residence with St Joseph’s College students from Year 10, 11 and 12 to complete a life size bronze sculpture of St Joseph the worker. In March 2005, the long-anticipated project came to fruition when Bishop Mark Coleridge blessed the College’s new life-sized bronze sculpture of St Joseph with the adolescent Jesus. The magnificent piece at the Aphrasia St entrance to the College greets the students daily as they arrive off the bus each morning, and is the tangible result of the three-year project. Among the large crowd of visitors at the unveiling were Old Collegians from the first decade and the late Brother Jim Ahearn, who was present at St Joseph’s opening day on 3 February 1935.
Recycling Shed
The Applied Learning Shed is a multipurpose space that enables our VCAL and Year 10 applied learning students the opportunity to implement projects.
It also houses the School’s Polymer Recycling Plant.
Some of the functions of the space are;
- Plastics Recycling
- Project implementation for VCAL – eg Cubby House Unit and Passata Unit
- Applied Learning – Trade Taster Program
- Veggie Patch
Our Year 7s learnt that just as Christ journeyed with trusted friends to share his hope-filled messages of love, forgiveness and compassion, we are on an ever-evolving innovative journey, where, ‘Anything is possible, with God’, by our side.
Congratulations to Year 9 student Tobias S who participated in the Athletics Victoria, Victorian All Schools Track and Field Championships on Sunday 30 October.
The Championship competition sees athletes compete against one another in their preferred discipline. Athletes compete for personal bests, and the opportunity to represent their state at the Australian All Schools Track & Field Championships.
Tobias won a Silver Medal in the 400m, which qualifies him to compete in the Australian Championships in Adelaide in December.
Join Team St MOseph's! Grow a mo, set a MOVEmber challenge, or support a fellow MoTeam (such as St MOseph's.... for example) and raise awareness for men's health.
Find our MOvember team at: https://movember.com/t/sjcgeelong
St MOseph's Movember Totals - 1 Week in
Money Raised - $3400/10,000
MOVES - 149km/1000
Team Members - 82 / 220 (the 220 member goal is around 10% of our school community)
Conversations promoting men's health. Countless, but impactful.
With our goal of $10,000, 1000km and 220 members. We are on track. We would love to exceed all these goals by the end of the month. Sign up, get involved and change the statistics surrounding men's health.
Congratulations to our Junior Public Speaking Team who took part in the ACC Public Speaking Championship at St Bernard's College on Monday 7 November. The team of Hamish V, Eammon O, Darby G and Lachlan S won their competition. Our Junior Debating Teams also took part in three debates on the day and came 6th in their group, a wonderful effort from Noah M, Jonathan L, Taha P and Sasindu C.
The 2023 St Joseph’s College booklists for each year level will be listed when available to download on this page. Submission of booklists is to be done online – please do not return the booklist to the College.
Ordering Online
1. Visit www.campion.com.au
2. Choose to set up an account, sign in or continue without an account.
3. Type in the code: “MH3J”
4. Select the relevant year level booklist
5. Complete and submit the order by the due date. Please check carefully that all compulsory items have been selected.
All orders will be home delivered.
CURRENT BOOKLISTS AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
- Applied Learning Booklist
- VCE Units 1-4 Booklist
- Year 7 Booklist
- Year 8 Booklist
- Year 9 Booklist
- Year 10 Booklist
Year 7 2023 Booklist
Year 8 2023 Booklist
Year 9 2023 Booklist
Mt Sion 2023 Booklists
Applied Learning 2023 Booklist
Sustainable School Shop – Booklist items
The College is working with Sustainable School Shop to provide parents with the ability to trade second-hand items via www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au The service is very accessible, it preferences our school first and then provides access to buy and sell items with families attending other schools. Many schools use this service. Access to second-hand textbooks, uniforms, calculators, stationery, musical equipment, etc is available all year. For the best results:
• Register on the Sustainable School Shop website and nominate the school
• A subscription to the service will be provided to you
• List your items for sale
• List wanted ads for those items you are looking to buy (if you’re buying texts, please ensure that it is the booklisted edition and that digital codes are current)
• The College’s uniform and book lists are loaded into the system to make listing ads easy
• The system matches the ads of buyers with sellers and notifies the buyer via email
• Buyers contact sellers and arrange where and when to trade
• Most trading will occur with other parents from our school
• Parents are well supported via Sustainable School Shop’s telephone (0438 743 444) and email help lines
• The system is simple and easy to use. If you don’t have a computer, internet access or an email address, please call the Sustainable School Shop for assistance.
• You can pre-arrange the transaction and then trade after the texts are not required.
The College is providing this service so there is no cost for families. Each family that registers on the Sustainable School Shop will be given a subscription.
Additional Secondhand School suppliers:
Facebook Group: St Joseph's College Geelong Second Hand Uniforms and Books
On Wednesday 2 November, the SJC Junior Band Academy took to the road to play for the students of St Thomas Aquinas, Norlane. The band played a wonderful variety of music for the students and involved them in the percussion section and as guest conductors for the finale with Power Rock. It was great to see our SJC students helping each other out with loading the bus up with all the music equipment, setting up and packing up. They all showed the true St Joseph's touchstone values throughout the day. Congratulations to all the students and staff involved in what was a very successful day.
All students, staff and family
members are invited to join other local school students and members of the
Zonta Club of Geelong to raise awareness and walk in solidarity with victim-survivors of family violence and violence against women.
Friday 25 November 2022
5.00pm - 7.00pm Meet at Cunningham Pier, Geelong
Walk from Cunningham Pier to Eastern Beach and return.
Please wear ORANGE to help us Orange the World.
EMAIL [email protected] TO
REGISTER
Students receive Service Learning credit for participation. 2 hours and 2 House points towards their 2023 tally.
Waterford Assembly Awards
At our final Waterford Assembly for 2022, we were thrilled to be able to reward and highlight many achievements of our Year 7 & 8 students.
A few major awards were as follows:
Waterford Writing Award – Congratulations to Mitchell W from 8C. His text response essay based on the novel ‘Runner’ was selected by a panel of judges and determined to be the best piece of writing in Year 8. Mitchell became the first student to have his name engraved on the perpetual trophy, and he received a $50 Dymocks voucher.
Music Solo Night 2022 – Well done to three of our talented musicians.
First Place – Hunter S 7I
Second Place - Harry S 7G
Third Place – Dante L 7B
Australian Mathematics Competition – We had over 80 participants this year participating in the competition. We were delighted to see all of our entrants receive a minimum of a credit, a proficiency or distinction certificate. Two students took out top honors:
Certificate of High Distinction – Cain V 7B
Best in School – Spencer M 8A
Spencer will be the first student to have his name engraved on our perpetual Australian Maths Competition Trophy and he received a $50 JB HiFi voucher.
TERM 4 UPCOMING EVENTS
7-13 November National Recycling Week
21 November World Fisheries Day
NATIONAL RECYCLING WEEK
As we celebrate Recycling Week across the nation this week, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of our Sustainability leaders who have been industrious in their endeavours, introducing stickers at many of the drink stations throughout the College (to ensure taps are turned off) and counting hundreds of plastic items collected during the month of October for the Year 7 Plastic Collection competitions.
In alignment with the re-introduction of compost buckets and REDcycle bins, our Year 7 Recycling Responsibilities Initiative has also been recommenced, as a means to reinforce recycling techniques to students. Over the past two weeks, students from 7H have been diligent in their efforts to manage the compost and REDcycling from the staffroom, incorporating the use of our worm farm and bokashi bins to compost food waste. 7H will continue this duty throughout National Recycling Week and 7B will commence the duty next week.
It is a timely reminder for all families to reconsider their waste management at home and take the time to establish new opportunities for recycling. If you could find an extra minute in your day, please consider saving and washing your plastic items with numbers 2 or 4 to donate to reception for our recycling endeavours including the new Eddie Coin.
For further information regarding our recycling regime visit the sustainability page on the school website.
YEAR 7 PLASTIC ITEM COLLECTION COMPETITIONS
I would like to congratulate students, family members and the broader community, that have engaged in the collection of number 2 and 4 plastics and sentimental plastic items over the past month, for the purpose of providing raw material for both our new Eddie Coin and for our commissioned artwork by UK artist Jane Perkins.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the winners of each Year 7 competition:
|
Competition |
Winners |
Prize |
|
Number 2 and 4 Plastic Collection |
7A |
Pizza Lunch |
|
Jane Perkins Sentimental Plastic Item |
7K |
Icy – pole each |
ENVIROSERVICE
On Thursday 3 November, 12 student volunteers participated in Enviroservice after school, fulfilling part of their Service Learning requirements. Commencing at the Gate 5 entrance, the boys applied themselves in an industrious manner planting 87 native She-oak species commonly known as Cousin It (Casuarina Glauca). This was followed by maintaining the entrance and garden beds outside the gate. The afternoon concluded with a revamp of the Reconciliation Garden and education regarding the use of the indigenous flora species by the First Nations people.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
CALLING FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO COLLECT PLASTIC ITEMS (NUMBERS 2 AND 4 ONLY)
In order to keep the production line running, we are still calling for all members of our community to assist in the collection of raw materials needed - Number 4 plastics!
Common items made of Number 4 plastic include; Sauce bottles, Milk bottles and plastic bottle lids. Please ensure donated items are washed and dried before donating and tops are removed from containers. Items may be delivered to Reception at either Campus.
Notice to Parents/Guardians of School Bus Travellers
Dear Parent/Guardian,
We operate a school bus that services your child’s school, and we have always made your child’s safety and wellbeing our highest priority when providing our school bus services.
We have operated under the 2016 Victorian Child Safe Standards since they came into force. We wish to advise that this year Victoria revised the Standards with effect from 1 July 2022, and we have updated our policies and procedures to reflect the revised Standards.
Policies
We have a new Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy that states that all children have a right to be and feel safe. The welfare of the children we convey will always be our priority and we do not tolerate child abuse and harm. We aim to create an environment where children are safe and feel safe being transported in our fleet.
We also have a new Code of Conduct that sets out the behaviour expected of all our staff and relevant contractors who engage with children in regard to keeping children safe. Our policy is available from our website www.mcharrys.com.au and by email from [email protected] .
Does your child feel safe?
We encourage children to tell someone – you, a teacher, or their bus driver – if they have any concerns that make them feel unsafe. We also encourage you to be alert to any concerns that your child may express about feeling safe, and to let the school know of these concerns.
Complaints Process
Our Policy outlines the process for making a complaint, and as mentioned is available from our website www.mcharrys.com.au and by email from [email protected].
Your child’s safety will be the priority in our handling of any complaints or concerns. If you have any questions about this notice, please call us on 5223 2111.
Regards,
The Management Team
McHarry’s Buslines
November 2022
Run 4 Geelong
Any staff or students who are participating in RUN4Geelong can sign up for our school team. You can choose to run in the 5km or 10km event.
Participants can wear an SJC running singlet. You will be able to pick this up from Mr. Newton in the timetable office.
Details for the event can be found on the event website https://run4geelong.com.au/
The team name is St Joseph's College Track Club and the password is sjcgeelong
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The team at Run 4 Geelong are really needing some volunteers for this Sunday 13 November.
Their main need is marshalling throughout the course – they would be required from 6:00am until 10:00am and will be briefed on the day.
They also have roles assisting with water stations and fruit stations which will be similar timings.
Contact Leah Irving at the College for more information or to apply.
Claivaux Carnivale - Saturday 19 November
Join the fun at the Clairvaux Carnivale from 10:00am - 3:00pm.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
There are many areas you can help out with at the Carnivale, see the sign up link below:
