Newsletter Term 3, Week 8 2023

Dear Members of the St Joseph's College Family,

“That roast dinner was awesome!” or “That swim of yours was just awesome!” or “I hope your HSC results are awesome because you deserve it!”  So awesome is a word that is used in many different contexts.  But one thing is certain … awesome is one of the most positive of all adjectives.  In her book, How To Get To Awesome, Rhonda Sciortino describes awesome not only as a frame of mind but a way of being.  She writes:

            It is an attitude.  It is a journey that, along the way, becomes a lifestyle.  Ultimately, awesomeness is a destination.

(page 1)

Rhonda identifies ten key characteristics that make people awesome:

1. Awesome people choose to be optimistic.
2. Awesome people are purposeful.
3. Awesome people are honest.
4. Awesome people are generous.
5. Awesome people are good leaders.
6. Awesome people value good relationships.
7. Awesome people are responsible.
8. Awesome people are good communicators.
9. Awesome people are resourceful.
10. Awesome people are effective.

There’s a lot to this list!  I don’t think it’s about being all things at all times.  For we are all human.  We have good days and bad days.  Not even Jesus had perfect days every day.  Things upset him.  People were in awe of him whilst others made it their business to undermine him; notably members of the Sanhedrin, the scribes and pharisees of his day.  These were the leaders of the Jewish faith.  Those who were supposed to be dictators of the way to God.

I’d like to refer to the first characteristic:

Awesome people choose to be optimistic

Let’s refer to them as the glass half full people.  Rhonda offers ten steps or pieces of advice in choosing to be optimistic:

1. Choose to look for the possibility for good.
2. When you feel unhappy, retrace your steps until you figure out what led to you feeling this way.
3. You cannot be awesome and negative at the same time.
4. It is inevitable that you’ll face challenges in life. Know that it is possible to grow because of challenging times and be better off as a result.
5. Decide to celebrate life!
6. When was the last time you were enthusiastic about something?
7. Laugh!
8. Be on the lookout for good characteristics and achievement in others.
9. Be genuine and sincere.
10. Most of the worries that chip away at our sense of optimism never actually occur.

(pages 21-22)

Great advice.  Factor that in with Jesus’ golden rule of Matthew 7:12:

In everything do to others as you have them do for you; for this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets.

Let’s all make the effort to be awesome in the coming weeks.

Yours in Jesus, Mary and St Joseph,

Mr Peter McLoughlin
College Principal

4 September 2023

Principal's Notes

Father’s Day

Belated best wishes to all fathers and grandfathers for Father’s Day yesterday, September 3^rd.  Our College is named after St Joseph, the foster father of Jesus.  Fathers are supposed to be about protection, guidance, wisdom, courage, humility and sincerity.  I’d like to share with you a prayer for fathers:

“GOD OUR FATHER, WE GIVE YOU THANKS AND PRAISE FOR FATHERS YOUNG AND OLD.

WE PRAY FOR YOUNG FATHERS, NEWLY EMBRACING THEIR VOCATION; MAY THEY FIND COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE TO BALANCE WORK, FAMILY AND FAITH IN JOY AND SACRIFICE.

WE PRAY FOR OUR OWN FATHERS AROUND THE WORLD WHOSE CHILDREN ARE LOST OR SUFFERING; MAY THEY KNOW THAT THE GOD OF COMPASSION WALKS WITH THEM IN THEIR SORROW.

WE PRAY FOR MEN WHO ARE NOT FATHERS BUT STILL MENTOR AND GUIDE US WITH FATHERLY LOVE AND ADVICE.

WE REMEMBER FATHERS, GRANDFATHERS, AND GREAT GRANDFATHERS WHO ARE NO LONGER WITH US BUT WHO LIVE FOREVER IN OUR MEMORY AND NOURISH US WITH THEIR LOVE. AMEN.”

St Joseph's Parish

St Joseph's Catholic Church
56 Frances Street, Tweed Heads

Weekday Mass times

• • Monday to Friday – 9:10am

Weekend Mass times

• • Saturday – 9:00am
  • Saturday Vigil Mass – 5:00pm
  • Sunday – 7:00am & 9:00am

St Camillus Catholic Church
36 Urliup Road, Bilambil

• • Sunday – 9:00am

St Anthony's Parish

St Anthony’s Church, Kingscliff
12-14 Pearl Street, Kingscliff

Weekday Mass times

• • Wednesday – 8:00am
  • Thursday – 9:00am in the school term and 8:00am in the holiday period
  • Friday – 8:00am

Weekend Mass times

• • Saturday – 5:00pm (6pm during DST)
  • Sunday – 9:00am

Sts Mary & Ambrose Catholic Church
1 Charles Street, Pottsville

Weekday Mass times

• • Tuesday – 9:15am

Weekend Mass times

• • Sunday – 7:30am

Reconciliation Times

• Kingscliff – Saturday 5:00 – 5:30pm 
• Pottsville – Sunday 7:00 – 7:25am

Last week was Teacher Aide Appreciation Week and the perfect time to celebrate the wonderful work of our teacher aides, and also acknowledge, appreciate and recognise the positive impact they have in the lives of students, teachers and families. 

We are fortunate here at St Joseph’s College to have amazing teacher aides who each day continually strive, adapt, support, mentor, assist, guide, offer a happy smiling face and so much more to support the students, as well as contribute to the entire school community. 

On behalf of our school, we say a big THANK YOU to all the amazing Teacher Aides we have here.  We are lucky to have you. 

Jingi Walla - Hello SJC community

In Week 2, we were lucky enough to celebrate SJC NAIDOC week as a school community and had a whole range of interactive activities on offer for staff and students over the week.  This year's NAIDOC theme ‘for our elders’ meant we had to make it a special week, and we think it was the biggest NAIDOC week SJC has experienced.  Starting off the week with a new opportunity with a few of our Indigenous students taking stroll across the road to Little Grommets Childcare facility in which the students got the chance to interact with some of the toddlers from the childcare and run some activities such as dot painting and also dreamtime stories, this was a great way to start the week and cannot thank the Little Grommets' staff enough for giving us this opportunity and look forward to working with them again in the near future.

On Tuesday we hosted an assembly where ‘Our Elders’ were able to be a part of the celebration along with our Bishop Gregory.  They had a yarn onstage with Tom Busbridge and Alysha Whitehouse and answered questions about their life and offered some advice for the future to our students.  We also heard real life experiences around growing up as a Indigenous kid and how much society and life has changed over the years.  We enjoyed the Goodjingburra Aboriginal dance group along with Year 7 student Dakina who performed wonderful local cultural dances.  The assembly was a success receiving a lot of positive feedback from both students, teachers, parents and special guests that were in attendance.

Students and staff Learnt a new Bundjalung word/phrase each day, Listened to Indigenous artists themed bells, Viewed a Library display of some of the students' elders/family.  We also had two fantastic workshops which involved learning the Didgeridoo with Mr Glenn Barry providing some great instruction and performance for the gents and a weaving workshops for the girls.

Also a highlight of the week as always was our annual All Stars Touch match, which was played on the wednesday with the Indigenous team winning 4-2 in a great match with Lily Blundell and Levi Baker being named the best and fairest during the match and it was awesome to see the whole school down on the oval supporting both teams.

Thank you to all students and staff and the local community who participated and supported our SJC NAIDOC week for 2023.  We hope you enjoyed all the activities and learnt a little bit more about our local Indigenous culture and history.  Also a big shout out to everyone who helped out during the week your help did not go unnoticed and we truly appreciate all the hard work that was put in behind the scenes for another successful NAIDOC.

Lastly, we would like to congratulate our six Year 12 Indigenous students on their up and coming graduation and wish them good luck for their HSC and all the best for the future, they have represented our College, their families and their local Indigenous community well over during their time at St Joeys, Bugalwan Alysha, Bianca, Beau, Eva, Olivia and Tiabella.

Bugalwan (good blessings)

Mr Jack Field
Indigenous Education Worker

Year 12 - the final weeks!

Some reminders for our Year 12 families today.  The following text comes from the End of Year Preparations letter Year 12 students received a couple of weeks ago:

Graduation Mass

Our Year 12 Graduation Mass will be held at St Joseph’s Parish Church, Tweed Heads, on Tuesday 19 September commencing at 6:00pm.  This Eucharistic celebration is for students, their families and staff.  This is a significant moment in the graduation experience of Year 12 students.  Students are required to make their own way to and from the church with their families.  Students are asked to assemble at the Church at 5:40pm.  Students are asked to wear a freshly pressed formal uniform for this special function (boys are required to wear ties).

Please note that there will be a light supper provided in the Parish Hall after the Graduation Mass.  All are warmly welcome.

Graduation Assembly and College Farewell

At 9:30am on Wednesday 20 September, our Year 12 group will be farewelled in the Doyle Centre.  This is a wonderful rite of passage for our students.  There will be seating available for parents and family members who might wish to attend.  However, as seating is limited, we will require an indication of numbers who will be attending prior to the day.  Please complete this Google form to indicate how many guests would like to attend.

Jersey Day 2023

The College staff and students were encouraged to wear their favourite sporting jersey last Friday for Jersey Day, in an effort to raise awareness for organ donation.

There were all manner of jerseys worn on Friday; vintage ones as well as jerseys from across all sporting codes, it was a colourful and fun way for us all to "start the conversation" as encouraged by the national organisers.

From the Mission Team

SHINE 2023

On 24 and 25 August, our College was fortunate enough to be able to send the Year 9 and Year 10 Ministry classes and a few Year 11 students, to the SHINE gathering which was held at St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour.

The theme for this year’s Shine was ‘The House’, which was centred around making the students feel welcomed and a part of God’s house.

With approximately 600 students and staff from schools all over the diocese, the conference was a huge success. Shine consisted of worship rallies, prayer, games, dramas, small groups, keynote speakers and workshops, all of which were enjoyed by students.

My Shine experience started on Thursday morning when I hopped on the bus with all my friends.  Everyone was very excited and keen for a great time!  After a long bus ride, we arrived at SJPC in Coffs Harbour, we all got off the bus excited for what was to come.  Once it all started, we got to have a worship rally with all the other schools and listen to Hogan Rogers, a keynote speaker, who encouraged us to make the most of our time here at Shine.  Later that night we had a night rally and experienced adoration for the first time, which was a good time to reflect on myself.  The next day we had another breakout session and we went to a sisterhood workshop run by Bianca, where we learnt about the inspiring women in our lives and what they do that inspires us.  Overall, Shine was a great experience and a great opportunity to explore my faith with those around me.

Nataya Monahan (Year 10)

St Joseph’s is so proud of all of its students who attended Shine and the ways they represented the College.  A special mention to Thomas Bisbridge of Year 11 for sharing his testimony.  He did such a great job of sharing how God is present in all of the little moments in our lives.

A very special thank you to Mrs Tabitha Norton and Mr Guy Davoren for giving up their time to be the supervising teachers for our students at Shine.

Thank you to members of the CSO and all who contributed to the facilitation and organisation of Shine 2023.

God bless, 

Mission Team

ATAR Notes - HSC revision and Free Online Lectures

For more than ten years, ATAR Notes has offered a wide range of free resources to help high school students succeed.  ATAR Notes is again offering our students the chance to revise and prepare for exams with their exclusive Exam Revision Lectures.  Our students can register any time, and these lectures will be live premiering from 25-29 September 2023.

Mr Matthew Hall
Leader of Curriculum

Science Week

It has been a fantastic couple of weeks in Science.  We celebrated Science Week from 10-14 August.  This year's theme was innovation powering industries.  Students from Years 7, 8 and 9 enjoyed escape room fun, science competitions and trivia in their science lessons, students from Years 9 and 11 showcased some of their experiment and investigation work with a display in the library and finally we hosted a lunch to launch our Science Club.  This will be held on Friday lunch every odd week and everybody is welcome.

Tweed’s Solar panel array opening

SJC was invited to select a couple of students to attend the official Mayoral opening of the Tweed’s biggest solar array on Thursday 31 August.  Harriet Magnus and Cleo Malihom from Year 9 represented our College with pride, confidently answering questions from the media and making conversation with the Tweed Shire Council Mayor, Chris Cherry.  

We were fascinated to learn that there are 1208 solar panels just across the road from the College that cover the size of a football field and the amount of solar energy they produce will increase the Council’s renewable energy capacity by 40 percent.  While we were there, we also had a tour of the wastewater plant that serves half of the Tweed shire and learned how our water is purified.  It was a wonderful opportunity for the girls to observe science in the real world and connect with our local community.

Mrs Joanna Burnett
Leader of Learning - Science

Study Skills Tips for September:  Last Minute Study

Northern Dio Touch Football

Open Girls

On Friday 18 August, we traveled to Ballina on a sunny and windy day to take part in the Northern Diocesan Touch Football championships.  We were drawn to play Trinity and Mount St Patrick College in two 40-minute touch football games.  Our first opponent, Trinity, was very strong through the middle of the park and scored three quick tries.  However, we used speed in the links and managed to stay in the game, scoring 2 tries in the second half. Unfortunately, we lost 3-2 in a tight second half. Our second game was against 7MSPC, and we had a rough first half going in at the half at 4-1 down. With a few minor adjustments to gameplay and a stronger focus on rucking the ball we came over the top of MSPC in the last three minutes and one 5-4. This put us in a three vs four playoff against McAuley Catholic College Grafton. The girls had developed some great combinations and gameplay and came away winners 5-1. We finished third overall in the carnival with some great individual performances by Lily Blundell, Fallon Twindley and Maddie Peisley and great determination shown from all girls. It was a pleasure to take them away, as they showed fantastic sportsmanship. Thank you to injured managers Summer Barton, Evie Richardson and hype coordinator Seren Owen.

Open Boys

We're pleased to highlight the achievements of our Open Boys' Touch Football team at the recent Northern Dio Touch Football Competition. The team demonstrated strong skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork, which left us proud of their efforts on the field.

Their journey commenced with a noteworthy performance in the pool stage. They opened with a comfortable 10-3 victory against Mount St. Patrick's College, showcasing their proficiency in both offense and defense.

The second pool game against Trinity College provided an exciting contest, with both teams trading tries in the early stages. However, our boys' determination and strength eventually secured a 7-4 victory, positioning them at the top of their group.

In the championship game, our boys faced McAuley College, winners of Pool 1, in a challenging battle. Despite McAuley's strong touch football skills and additional substitutes, the halftime score was close at 3-2. Our boys gave their all, but McAuley's fresh legs in the second half led to a 10-5 victory.

Although the outcome didn't favor us, our boys exhibited unwavering determination and exceptional sportsmanship throughout the match, earning the respect and admiration of all present.

15 Girls

The Under 15 Girls competed well and persevered through the challenge of back-to-back games to win against Trinity 5 to 3, but unfortunately went down against MSP 10 to 4.  They had a few quick touches that led to a number of tries, throughout the day.  They finished the day playing St Mary’s Casino, where they came away winners 5 to nil.  There was a lot of consistent effort from Sienna Westall and Jenna Walker. Peyton Farr and Jayda Lammon are also to be commended for their efforts, but it was Eva Liles who ran hard and communicated well with the girls, earning herself MVP.

15 Boys

The under 15 boys played three exhilarating games, each one a testament to their dedication and skill. In the first game against MSP, they secured a win with the score being 8 points to 3.  Despite a rocky start, the boys slowly came together as a team over the course of the match.  The second game showcased their prowess once again, securing a strong victory over Trinity College 9-1.  Though the last game presented a challenge, and despite the score being 2-2 at half-time, McAuley Catholic College managed to start outpacing us, resulting in a 8-4 loss. Although we didn’t get the desired result, the boys won with behaviour, sportsmanship and commitment.

A huge thank you to all coaches and players who helped in the lead up to the carnival, as well as those who helped with some refereeing on the day.

Diocesan Athletics Carnival

On Wednesday 23 August, 34 students rose early for the trek to Coffs Harbour to compete in the Diocesan Athletics Carnival.  The early start did not dampen their enthusiasm to compete the best they could in their events. 

At this level, there is always tough competition, yet our students took on the various challenges with determination and tried their best till the finish line, never giving up. 

Two notable performances came from Lucca Lasser in Year 7 who came 1st in High Jump, 3rd in 200m and 4th in Javelin and Leilani Cort, Year 10, who beat all others to a 1st place in Shot Put with a powerhouse throw as well as a 2nd place in Javelin.  She was closely followed by Clair Cropp, also in Year 10 who came 2nd in Shot Put. 

Some other significant results from the day include: Travis Aussieker, Year 10, who came 2nd in Discus and 3rd in Shot Put; Matthew Mellor, Year 10, with a 3rd in High Jump; Chase Bellenger, Year 9, who placed third in Javelin; Jalen Beatty in Year 8, sprinted across the line with 3rd fastest in the 200m, and 4th fastest from all the heats in the 100m; and finally David Conallin from Year 7 who did well across a range of events - 4th in the 400m, and 3rd in both Long Jump and Discuss. 

Big congratulations to all those students and to the rest of the team who gave it their all on the day.  Thank you also to the following teachers, Mr Jordan Attenborough-Doyle, Mr Martin Fairweather, Mrs Cherie Fenn, and Ms Celia Pennay for all of their efforts.

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