Issue 9 SJC News 2020

One night last week I watched the evening news where I saw protesters pulling the statue of a historical figure from its podium before rolling it into a river. A few nights later a reporter stood in the centre of London in front of an enormous box covering a statue of Winston Churchill to prevent it from suffering a similar fate. Churchill was a polarising figure. A bellicose orator, who stood up to Adolf Hitler and united the British behind him during the dark days of World War II, he is regarded by many as a hero, but by some as a racist and a misogynistic bully. As in most cases the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Churchill left many memorable quotes including “we make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give”. At school in recent weeks as we have responded to sadness and tragedy, there has been a surge in giving and kindness between people. There is tremendous power in doing small acts of goodness and kindness. Individually they might not mean much but collectively they make a powerful statement about how in this community we care for each other.

On 6 August, 1945 a nuclear bomb disarmingly codenamed ‘little boy’ was detonated above the city of Hiroshima. Hundreds of thousands died either in the immediate blast or of radiation sickness later. In a park near the city centre and epicenter of the blast there is a eucalypt tree which somehow survived the bomb over 70 years ago. It is alive and thriving. Similarly in a park on the site of the World Trade Centre in New York there is a tree which survived the 2001 terrorist attack. While showing the scars of the event, it is well and growing.

Winston Churchill’s was the voice of British resilience in the face of adversity. The trees in Hiroshima and New York are great examples of resilience. They have recovered and thrived after catastrophic events. We will recover and learn to be more resilient after the events of this semester. We pray for strength and resilience as we work together and support each other confident that better times lie ahead.

Remote learning was a great experience which saw some students working and learning effectively and others struggling for motivation. In the last few weeks it has been a real joy to have everyone on campus for face-to-face teaching. The best teaching involves relationships and interpersonal interaction and screen-based interaction just isn’t quite the same.

It has been good to spend less time interacting with a screen! So much of our communication is now online with social media facilitating public conversation and the airing of personal views. Like any public conversation, ones contribution can either be positive and encouraging or negative and demeaning. I’d like to think that the change in the way we have seen boys treating each other at school in recent weeks would be reflected in their online interaction.

At school we often find conflict between students has its genesis in abusive exchanges online. If you wouldn’t say it to someone face-to-face then you shouldn’t say it online. If it is helpful positive and kind say it, if it is unhelpful negative and mean don’t. Perhaps it really is as simple as Scripture suggests “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk 12:31)

In recent weeks we have been planning for the possibility of a positive COVID-19 test in the St Joseph’s community. Should this occur we will follow directions from the Department of Health and Human Services but it is possible we will need to conduct a ‘reactive school closure’. This means closing the school during the course of a school day.

All families will receive a CareMonkey notice explaining our procedure should a reactive school closure occur. It will ask for your direction as to whether your son may be dismissed or if he will stay at school until the end of the school day. It is important that we receive this direction. It is also important that no parent comes onto the school site if this eventuates.

Michelle Brodrick completes her time at St Joseph’s next week to take up her new role as Principal of Loreto College Ballarat in Semester 2. Michelle has made an enormous contribution to St Joseph's in the last eight years. She has been the force behind many strategic initiatives and has been a powerful advocate for curriculum reform, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues and Women in Education. Leaving a school in a better place than when you arrived is the hallmark of success for any educator. We are very grateful for the contribution Michelle has made to St Joseph’s and wish her well at Loreto.

This is the final newsletter of this semester. I wish you and your families a restful and restorative break.

God Bless

This is my final newsletter as Deputy Principal of St Joseph’s and I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the past nine years, which has had such a meaningful impact on me. My association with the College began in 1999 when my husband, Ric, began teaching here. Our son Jack, was a student from 2009-2014.

Firstly, it has been a privilege to work with the St Joseph’s students and the staff, who are so dedicated and committed to the College. I am also grateful to the Leadership Team, both present and past members led by Tony Paatsch and previously by Paul Tobias, who have supported me throughout this time.

I once heard Jim Nickoloff, an expert on liberation theology, speak to a group of staff at St Joseph’s. He spoke about three paths to God – through justice, intellect and beauty. Justice, reason and intellect is evident in so many aspects of what we do in our College, particularly when it comes to social justice and the capacity of our students and staff to support the poor and marginalised.

Former principal, Paul Tobias, demonstrated through actions how we should be a voice for the poor and marginalised. He enabled our staff, students and families to expand their understanding and embrace the whole person. Jesus consistently takes particular care to stand with the economically poor and the socially marginalised — those who are outcasts for various reasons. As a College we continue to be inclusive of all. Over the past twenty years we have strived to challenge gender stereotypes and support the LGBTQI community. Advocacy is such an integral part of our identity.

The path to God through justice and intellect is quite practical and one that we apply often in our daily lives at St Joseph’s. But at this time of uncertainty and considerable change, the third path to God, through beauty, can provide solace and comfort. When we experience the sacredness of great beauty we are touched by God, and touch God. Encountering something profoundly beautiful brings us towards an encounter with the divine. This resonates with many of our students when they think about admiring something in nature such as the ocean or when we look at a sunrise or sunset. In times of isolation due to COVID19, I often saw families walking along the beach and enjoying the beauty of the coast. This is such a positive experience from the lockdown period.

I am proud to be part of this College and will always remain connected as a Foundation member and Josephine. The Parents and Friends have been a joy to work with so I hope I can make it to a few events in the future. I would particularly like to thank Mark Kennedy who has been incredibly supportive working together as Deputies over the past six years. He is a true gentleman who has a genuine commitment to enabling our students to learn, grow and be respectful and resilient young men.

I would like to finish with a reflection from Scottish poet John O’Donohue, who, like Jim Nickoloff, insists on beauty as a defining aspect of God. It is called Beannact (BAN-OTH) which means ‘blessing’. If you would like to hear it read in a lovely Scottish brogue please use the following link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfvS2LYbZLQ

I wish everyone in the St Joseph’s community all the best and look forward to remaining connected in the future.

Beannacht

(Blessing)

On the day when

The weight deadens

On your shoulders

And you stumble,

May the clay dance

To balance you.

And when your eyes

Freeze behind

The grey window

And the ghost of loss

Gets into you,

May a flock of colours,

Indigo, red, green

And azure blue,

Come to awaken in you

A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

In the currach of thought

And a stain of ocean

Blackens beneath you,

May there come across the waters

A path of yellow moonlight

To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

May the clarity of light be yours,

May the fluency of the ocean be yours,

May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

Wind work these words

Of love around you,

An invisible cloak

To mind your life

- John O’Donohue

Our community has been blessed to have Michelle Brodrick lead us as our Deputy of Learning and Identity. We congratulate her on her new appointment commencing as Principal of Loreto College, Ballarat at the start of Term 3. We thank Michelle for her dedication to living out the Edmund Rice touchstones and values of compassion, innovation and integrity in the many initiatives she has initiated and developed with staff and students.

Upcoming events:

VCAL Geelong Food Relief Appeal donations of non-perishable food are being collected from Homerooms until the end of the term.

Launch of our St Joseph’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and presentation of our Possum Skin Cloak – Week 11

Service Learning Event: Students can fulfil the minimum three hours required by joining in this year’s Winter Sleep out for homelessness. Save the date Friday 24 July Week 2 Term 3 when all members of the SJC community are invited to sleep out at home. More details to come from Leah Irving.

Refugee Week: This year, we will celebrate Refugee Week at St Joseph’s during Week 3 next term with the theme, the “Year of Welcome”. Each year across Australia and the world, we celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees in our society and communities.

Year 12 Renewal: The date has been set for Tuesday 11 August, Week 5 of Term 3.

Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, which celebrates and commemorates the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

For the last two weeks I have been invited by phone, by my parish to attend Mass with up to 50 others, we arrive early, sign in, and sanitise our hands. The Mass is filmed live online for the rest of the Parishioners, we nod or wave our sign of peace. It is comforting to see familiar faces and to share once more in the Eucharist celebration.

We call the meal of breaking the bread and sharing the wine, the Eucharist; this name means ‘giving thanks’. The symbol of the meal is significant. In Jesus’ time, every item of food had to be prepared, and the ingredients needed to be gathered and used before they spoiled. Preparing and cooking food for a meal was a major job.

Meals are very important events. Not only do we physically need food and drink to keep ourselves alive, but we use meals to mark occasions and celebrate events: birthdays; weddings; dates; achievements; disappointments; gathering after a funeral and for reunions. There is a sacredness about gathering with friends and family and sharing a meal together. Stories are told; memories shared; the food is appreciated and more often than not there’s a drink to accompany the meal. Especially after our COVID-19 experience, we treat such occasions with gratitude – as blessed moments of grace – we are living out the Eucharistic reality of welcoming Jesus into our lives and seeking to be more like him.

It was so encouraging for us to be back last week all together as a community after so long, and after the emotional journey we have shared, it was nurturing to gather with our homerooms to connect off screen. At the end of the week, staff gathered, socially distancing in the staffroom at both Edmund Rice Campus and Westcourt to be Eucharistic to each other, sharing word, food and a drink. To nourish and transform our souls with human companionship, welcoming hospitality and a listening ear.

This week we hear the message from Matthew’s gospel, ‘Do not be afraid!’ Jesus told them, ‘What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight’. He shed light upon them so they could spread his message. We too should be inspired by these words. So many of us keep hidden our thoughts, our struggles and even our faith. Our feelings and emotions are what makes us human. The joyful ones, but more importantly, the distressing ones, should be illuminated and kept out of the dark.

We should all try to learn from Jesus’ message that ‘there is no need to be afraid.’ We should not have to walk alone. Although we are not about to ‘proclaim from the rooftops’ our inner most fears, we need to be wise enough to talk through them, share our worries, confess our guilts, and accept support from others around us.

Let’s all put our arms around each other and continue to support everyone in the St Joseph’s community, as we head into the holidays. Let’s keep the light shining on all of us.

We pray that all of our staff and our young men have a peaceful holiday and return safe, renewed and hope filled for the second semester.

PLANTER REVAMP

With a continued focus of teaching students about the Natural World and our commitment to increase biodiversity at the College, preparation is underway for Stage 4 of the Carey Oval Embankment Revegetation Project. Year 10 Environmental Science students are scheduled to plant indigenous shrubs on the South embankment in the final week of Term 2.

In addition, new Sustainability Leaders and staff member George Devine have wasted no time back at school, embracing the opportunity to toil the soil and revamp our planter boxes, by planting a variety of vegetables for the winter months.

CALLING FOR PLASTIC BOTTLE TOPS AND BREAD CLIPS

If you have been collecting plastic bottle tops (numbers 2 & 4) in support of the VCAL student's recycling endeavours and bread tags to support the "Bread Tags for Wheelchairs" project, these may now be dropped off at Reception of either campus.

For more information regarding Envision's recycling programs visit: https://envision.org.au/envision-hands/

For more information regarding the Bread Tags for Wheelchairs project, visit Facebook.com/aussiebreadtags

COMMUNITY NEWS

DISCOUNT ON BATTERY PURCHASES

A reminder to all SJC families that your household batteries (excluding car batteries) may be recycled at St Joseph's College.

In addition, as participants of the program, all members of the St Joseph’s College community receive 15% off purchases any time at Battery World Geelong, upon mentioning this newsletter article.

For more information regarding batteries, visit: https://www.batteryworld.com.au/

Due to COVID-19 there has been a significant increase in the number of local people, our neighbours, who need assistance.

Students can fulfil their minimum three Service Learning hours by joining in this year’s Winter Sleep out for homelessness.

SAVE THE DATE for this year’s Sleep Out: Friday 24 July when all members of the SJC community are invited to sleep out at home.

Sleep rough in your backyard, or the deck or in the garage.

Students will receive three hours of service learning credit which is the minimum number of hours required at EACH YEAR LEVEL.

There will be some tasks and authentication process to undertake to earn the hours.

Further details to follow…

St Joseph’s College office will be closed during the second week of the school holidays from 6 – 10 July inclusive.

The College will reopen on Monday 13 July at 8.30am

Handbooks for 2021 at all year levels are available now through SJC Website (Click on OUR LEARNING and find your year level) or through SIMON in student links. The subject selection process is beginning shortly so please have a look at the handbooks with your parents and have a think about your subjects for 2021. If you have any questions please talk to your subject or homeroom teacher.

The College currently has some students seeking Structured Workplace Learning in the following areas: Carpentry, Plumbing, Mechanics and Electrical. We would be grateful if the greater St Joseph's community with contacts or businesses in these fields would consider taking on a student each Friday of Term 3. Please contact Tom Elliot on 52618145 or [email protected] for further details.

Year 8 boys are strongly encouraged to bring a mouthguard to PE for Term 3. We will be doing a unit focusing on AFL and although games will be structured to maximise safety, a mouthguard is a wise piece of equipment and was part of your booklist for this year! If you don't currently have a mouthguard, these can be purchased relatively cheaply from places like Rebel Sport and DeGrandi's.

The Year 11 VCAL students need your help!

We are assisting the homeless community around Geelong. To contribute to this cause, you can:

· Donate blankets/coats to the front office.

· Purchase a "HoMie" branded beanie from the VCAL coffee shop for $10

Donation baskets will be at the front office. Blankets/coats can be new or in usable condition. If used, please ensure they are laundered first.

Money raised from the beanie sales will go towards purchasing sanitary items to be donated to the homeless community. There are very limited Beanies available, so be quick.

Thank you, on behalf of the VCAL students.

This Friday 19 June, will be FEEL-GOOD FRIDAY! Students and staff are encouraged to come to school in clothes that make them feel comfortable. Be it your favourite comfy outfit or something that makes you feel good (e.g. footy jumper, favourite band t-shirt). We encourage you all to ignite some really important conversations around mental health and wellbeing with your peers to build strong and meaningful connections with each other.

No cost involved. It's all about being comfortable. Comfortable to talk.

READ 20 in 2020 - Enter the competition for prizes drawn before the holidays.

This year the library is promoting a challenge to all students to Read 20 books in 2020. The challenge is to read 20 books throughout the year: one book from each of the 20 different categories on the challenge grid.

You can enter the competition as you complete a row of 4 or 5 books on the Challenge grid, or you can enter your completed form if you have completed the Challenge and read 20 books! Complete the details of the books that you have read, and enter the competition in the library. There are canteen voucher and book voucher prizes.

We have a LibGuide to support the challenge and there is also information on the library homepage.

For more information, ask at the library desk.

Happy reading 20 in 2020!

Due to the additional pressures families are feeling this year, we are giving our future students more time to make their choice for secondary education.

We welcome you to join our community. We welcome all boys from all Primary Schools.

Limited places available for 2021 enrolment.

http://www.sjc.vic.edu.au/new/Join%20Us/enrolments.html

G'Day St Joey's boys, we hope you all are well. It has been a very hard time for everyone due to the COVID-19. As you may know, most shelters have been shut down and people are in need of food more than ever. Every night 815 people in Geelong are homeless and many more go hungry. However, we can help. We are asking the students of St Joseph's in Year 7 and 8 to bring in canned or non-perishable food for Geelong Food Relief.

Items such as:

• Baked beans
• Canned spaghetti
• Two Minute noodles
• Pasta
• Canned Soups
• Coffee
• Tea
• Long life Milk

The food appeal starts on 9 June and finishes on 23 June.

The Homeroom that brings the most items wins a free pizza lunch. Thanks boys.

Our canteen is operating but to reduce contact and lines at the moment they are not accepting cash sales. Students can order their recess or lunch online via the College shop.

Orders must be completed before Homeroom.

Login to the College shop using your email address, if you have not used the shop before, put in your email address and select 'forgot password' to setup a password.

https://shop.sjc.vic.edu.au

Students will return to school on Tuesday 14 July. We wish all our students and families a safe and happy term break.

Monday 22 June is a student free day.

It’s that time of year again when subject information for 2021 is released and students (and parents/carers) have to start to think about their future subject choices. For those parents/carers who are facing these choices for the first time it can be daunting as students don’t always discuss all of the information they receive at school. Parents/carers are encouraged to refer to the Year Level Handbooks that are available through the school website. They contain a wealth of information and provide a base to then explore the options that are on offer. This year the process has changed to adapt to COVID19 restrictions. Opportunities to hear about subjects will be available online as will the information evenings. The first of these will be the Mt Sion Subject Expo on Thursday 16 July. All subjects selections will take place next term.

SENIOR YEARS SUBJECT EXPO & INFORMATION EVENING

Thursday 16 July

7:00pm Online session

Accessed through the Careers website.

https://www.sjccareers.com/custom-page/2