4 May 2021

Principal’s Reflection

The May Day long weekend is a celebration of ‘Work’. It is a celebration of the place Trade Unionism has in our nation and the rights and benefits won for workers. All Australians should be grateful for Justice Higgins and the Trade Union movement for the ‘Harvester Judgement’ delivered in 1907. Interesting story short, the decision created the first ‘minimum wage’. In 1907 that was 7 shillings a day for an unskilled worker which Justice Higgins determined was the amount the average worker needed to feed his family at a basic level. A few years before this and 130 years ago this month, Pope Leo XIII wrote the Papal Letter, ‘Rerum Novarum’ which defended the rights of workers to form Trade Unions. Pope Leo’s letter called on owners of business to provide reasonable conditions and wages for workers. This seems pretty obvious now but, at the time, it was a revolutionary document. It was a very courageous defence of working people at a time when the exploitation of the poor was all too common. ‘Rerum Novarum’ recognized that power for powerless people resided in the collective.These are among the reasons why we should celebrate the May Day long weekend.

Work is really important. We all want to work in a career that we enjoy and value. Some of us are lucky enough to love the work that we do. Others, not so much. Some people work too hard and some don’t have enough work to provide for their needs. Work should give our lives a framework through which to provide a better life for ourselves and those we love. Work is really important but it shouldn’t dominate our lives. Work is a means to an end and not an end in itself. In 2019, along with a group of Shalom students, I visited the site of Dachau Concentration Camp.

The sign above the gate through which thousands of prisoners passed, read, ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ – roughly translated as, ‘Work Sets You Free’. Obviously, it didn’t for millions of souls in Germany during World War II and sadly, sometimes, it doesn’t for many people today – but not with the same consequences. One of our very primary aims at Shalom is to equip young people to enter the world of work. They must have the literacy and numeracy skills along with the interpersonal skills to find gainful employment. For many, that will mean more study and application. A career that you love does not always fall in your lap. But that is what we, as parents, wish for our children. To be fully employed, to enjoy the work that they will do and to be able to provide for themselves and their children a good lifestyle. We all know that sometimes, even in jobs we love, work is hard and challenges have to be met. Nothing good very often happens easily. The May long weekend is a chance to celebrate work and the fact that we live in a country where rights and responsibilities are enshrined in law. That has occurred because a lot of people before us were prepared to make sacrifices to ensure it happened. A bit like our ANZAC commemoration last weekend.

Two New Houses in 2022. As our school population will continue to grow and, hopefully, max out in 2022, we will take the opportunity to introduce two new Houses. Ten Houses will enable all Houses to have about 160 students – about the number we had when we introduced four new Houses in 2010. We have quite a bit of work to do to enable this process to move forward smoothly –

What will the names of the new Houses be?
Where will they be situated?
Who will be the House Coordinators and House staff?
What colours will we use for the new Houses?
How will students be moved from a current House to a new House?

We have already begun working on those questions and others and I will keep parents informed fully throughout the process. In regard to the first question on names of the new Houses, the Diocesan Director will have the final say on that but we will be looking for names linked closely to our Catholic identity and people whose life was heroic and inspiring. This will be an exciting development for the College and one that will help me ensure to parents that the Pastoral Care you have come to expect from Shalom for your children will continue.

Year 7 & 8 Parent Teacher Conferences - we had a very strong turn out of parents keen to discuss their child’s progress with their Core Studies teachers last Friday. Thank you to parents for making this a priority. It is a very powerful statement to your child that you are committed to their education. I hope parents who had not had a chance to have a look at the Waterford building were able to do so. We are very happy with how this building is working and the facilities it provides for our younger students.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
McmahonD@shalomcollege.com

Newsletter Articles

Tutoring

Term 2 tutoring has begun; please refer to the updated tutoring timetable below.

Mrs Kim O’Shea-Hard
Assistant Principal – Staff
Kim_Hard@shalomcollege.com

Parent Communications - NAPLAN Online

Letter for parents of students in Year 7 or Year 9

NAPLAN Online update #2

Students in Years 7 and 9 participated in a practice NAPLAN Online test in week 1 of this term. This was done to familiarise students with the platform and provide teachers the opportunity to administer the test, as well as to fine tune our technical arrangements for testing in May week 4 and 5. The practice test was not an assessment of student knowledge and there will be no reporting of student results.

Attached is the timetable for NAPLAN testing in week 4 and 5. There are four testing domains: Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy.

Our Year 7 students will use their laptops for testing whilst Year 9 students will complete testing on computers in our computer labs. All students MUST have headphones or earphones to undertake the NAPLAN Online testing. This is the responsibility of families to ensure that students have their earphones or headphones for all test days. These headphones/earphones must have a 3.5mm standard jack. Wireless headphones (e.g. Apple air pods) are not compatible. If you need to purchase headphones or earphones, we suggest you do this as soon as possible. The uniform shop has a small supply of earphones for $6.

Parents and caregivers of students in these NAPLAN year levels, can read details about the online assessment on the National Assessment Program’s website

You may also familiarise yourself with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the Online NAPLAN assessments here –

ACARA has developed a video (the general accessibility video) which features students with disability, their parents/carers and teachers telling their stories and outlining various adjustments available on NAPLAN Online -

If you have any concerns about NAPLAN Online, please contact Megan Munckton, Middle School Coordinator. Megan_Munckton@shalomcollege.com

Administration

Learner Conferences (Formerly Parent/Teacher Interviews) 25 May 3.30pm - 6.30pm

Learner Conferences (for all subjects other than Year 7 & 8 Core Studies) will be available on Tuesday 25 May from 3.30pm-6.30pm in the Sports Centre. The aim of the Learner Conferences is to provide an opportunity for parents to meet with teachers to discuss the progress and learning needs of their children. Interviews will be of ten minutes duration. Students are encouraged to attend and participate in the conference. Your child’s progress is crucial to all of us and it is a significant benefit in this process if your child can be a part of the discussion.

Learner Conferences may be arranged online via the Parent Lounge at any time from 8:00am Tuesday 11 May until 3:00pm Thursday 20 May using the Parent Teacher Interviews tab in the menu on the left-hand side. Please note that Kylie Giles, Darren Roche, Sandra Freeman, Mary Taylor and Michael Zardus will not be available on the day. Please feel free to contact these teachers to arrange a mutually convenient time if you wish to meet with them.

Please remember that you can also access detailed assessment information and results in Parent Lounge under the Curricular Activities Due tab. This is useful to review before attending Leaner Conferences.

Mr Brendan Maher
Assistant Principal – Administration
Brendan_Maher@shalomcollege.com

Mission

Bishop Michael visited Bundaberg last week specially to Confirm the young people who had been preparing to receive their Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist. We are very proud to say that Shalom College had 5 students who received these sacraments. They are:-

Nicota Fish
Thomas Warham
Jameisen Bush
Presley Graw
Michael Richardson

Mrs Mary Taylor
Assistant Principal – Mission
TaylorM@shalomcollege.com

Student Drivers

Parents and Carers of Year 11 & 12 Students

If your child has obtained their Provisional Licence and wishes to drive to and from school you are required to fill out a Permission to Drive Form and return it to Student Reception for approval by Mrs Elizabeth Austin-Campbell. Once approved the details will be placed on our School Register.

Thanks to those Parents who have already completed this form for their child.

Mrs Amanda O’Mara
Executive Assistant to the Principal/ Enrolment Officer
amanda_omara@shalomcollege.com

Absentees

FOR ALL ABSENTEES

Preferred option is Email absentees@shalomcollege.com or Phone Absentee line 41558181

ALL student absentees should be notified to the office by 9am each day. If no notification has been received, an absentee text message will be sent out to parents to advise of the student’s absence.

Business Challenge

Year 12 students, Abbe Shoobridge, Heath Jacobs, Lane Cooney and Bianca Matthews, from our Accounting, Business and Legal Studies classes competed in the CQUniversity Business Challenge last Tuesday night. Our Shalom team competed within the Wide Bay category which included seven schools, in a combined televised event with 20 other regional Queensland schools including Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Gladstone.

The Business Challenge requires teams to answer 10 multiple choice questions from the four categories of Accounting, Business and Management, Economics and Law, and General Knowledge. There is a time limit for students to confer with their team members and scores are updated at the end of each category.

The Shalom Team showed outstanding skills and knowledge leading the competition across Queensland for the first three of the four categories. Unfortunately, we were not as successful in the General Knowledge category and we came in 1 point behind the winning schools.

This was a high quality performance by Shalom who were the strongest team State-wide in the subjects taught in our Business and IT Faculty. Well done Team Shalom!

Heath Jacobs, Lane Cooney, Abbe Shoobridge and Bianca Matthews

Mrs Stacey Cowan
Learning Area Coordinator – Business
Stacey_cowan@shalomcollege.com

SCASA - Term 2 2021

Shalom College After School Activities (SCASA)

Shalom College is offering students the opportunity to participate in organised after school activities conducted by coaches and teachers. SCASA also includes a light afternoon tea from 3.15 pm for the students and all activities will conclude at 4.45 pm.

Days

Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the 3 available afternoons for SCASA.

Dates

SCASA commences in Week 2 of each Term and continues for 8 continuous weeks of each Term.

Times

3.00 pm - School lessons completed.
3.15 pm - Roll Call and afternoon tea (supplied) at College tuck shop and set up time for coaches
3.30 pm - Activities/ Coaching starts (various venues within school grounds)
4.30 pm - Activities/ Coaching finished
4.45 pm - Students help pack up and return equipment and picked up by parents at front of school.

SCASA Activities - see below

Monday -

Option 1 - Netball with Charlotte Boge (SC or Hangar)
Option 2 - ABC's and Minor Games with Fiona Stevenson (Oval or Hangar)
Option 3 - Basketball with Thomas Laycock (SC or Hangar)
Option 3 - Running Training with Mat Grills (Oval)

Tuesday

Option 1 - Dance with Abby McMillan (Dance Studio)
Option 2 - e-Sports with Gavin Hill, Lockie Capell and Kael Yunus (Hogan classrooms)
Option 3 - Touch Football and OzTag with Riley Dingle (Oval)

Thursday

Option 1 - Next-Jenner-ation Running training with Rebecca Jenner (Oval)
Option 2 - Tennis with Brendan Maher (Tennis Courts)
Option 3 - e-Sports with Gavin Hill, Lockie Capell and Kael Yunus (Hogan classrooms)
Option 4 - Junior Book Club with Louise Hume ( Beeralem Resource Centre/ Library)

• e-Sports = electronic Sports
• ABC's = Agility, Balance and Coordination skills and games
• Book Club - "Join with likeminded people to read and discuss great books. Throughout the term, we will read two books as a group and complete a variety of fun activities reflecting on the novels we have read." Mrs Hume.

Cost

The SCASA Fee is $20.00 per term for each student.
This is to help cover the afternoon tea and instructors/coach costs.
This flat fee of $20.00 is for one, two or all three afternoons activities.
This is to encourage participation in SCASA activities.

After completing the SCASA sign on google form, at approx. week 3 of term - you will receive an invitation on Parent Lounge regarding SCASA.

Please wait until week 3 of term then login to Parent Lounge to give permission for your child to attend SCASA and pay the $20.00 fee.

Once there click on the ‘Tours and Excursions’ tab and you will find a link to SCASA Term 3 - Here you will be able to give permission for your child to attend and pay the fee.

Please also check your contact details and phone numbers are current, as we will be using this information to contact you if needed.

It is very important that all information in Parent Lounge is current as teachers will use this information in case of an emergency and to support the welfare of your child.

Please make sure that you click SAVE before logging out.

If you require assistance with Parent Lounge login, please contact the College Office.

Other school sporting teams will continue to have their own training sessions as usual under the direction of their coaches e.g Strength and Conditioning training, Rugby League, Netball, Touch Football etc.

This SCASA program is designed to give extra opportunities for Shalom College students to become involved in supervised physical activities after school.

Please complete the student and parent details in the google form below

REMINDER - no confirming phone calls are made by the school to confirm you are in the program - as once you sign on and you receive an online response - your child has been registered and please turn up starting week 2.

SPECIAL NOTE - Once an activity is full - I will omit it from the selections below - so it cannot be selected.

Mr Peter Robinson
High Performance Program
After School Activities
Peter_Robinson@shalomcollege.com

Footloose the Musical

Footloose has completely SOLD OUT for all three shows! But not to worry, there may be an additional show announced very soon. Stay tuned for more details…

Are you ready to cut footloose?! Kick off your Sunday shoes!

Performance dates are as follows:

Thursday 17 June 7:00pm SOLD OUT
Friday 18 June 7:00pm SOLD OUT
Saturday 19 June 7:00pm SOLD OUT

Ms Cassie Hoiberg
Performing Arts Coordinator
Cassandra_Hoiberg@shalomcollege.com

IT Department

Did you know you can read more about the apps and games your children are downloading on the new Cyber Safety Hub?

Providing parents with a wealth of information on popular apps such as TikTok and Snapchat, and trending games such as Among Us and Fall Guys, be sure to visit the link below for advice on keeping your family safe online.

Mr Matthew Mills
IT Manager
millsm@shalomcollege.com

Pathways

CQU Experience Day

After the cancellation of the Year 12 CQUniversity Experience Day in 2020 due to the pandemic, students came out in droves to attend the Bundaberg Campus event on Thursday, 22 May.

Students from local high schools in the region attended the free one-day event with thirty-five Shalom College students taking advantage of the opportunity to explore the university and attend information sessions. Students participated in a number of interactive sessions that were aligned with their courses of interest which ranged from aircraft inspections (Bachelor of Aviation) to gameplay testing (Bachelor of Digital Media), simulations (Paramedic Science / Nursing / Medical Science) and so much more.

The experience really immersed students in uni life for a day, providing them with a representation of what they can expect if they enrol into post-secondary education at CQU.

Bianca Matthews tries out the gameplay testing activity

Joel Clancy tests out equipment used by the Bachelor of Engineering students

Chelsey Bainisavu testing blood samples

Students attending a lecture at the CQU Experience Day

Year13 Digital Careers Expo

The Year 13 Expo 2021 is 100% free and completely online from May 17-19. The Expo is designed to help you find your passion and plan your future. Over the three days, with the help of 30+ incredible speakers and over a hundred exhibitors, you will be able to get detailed and realistic career information and tips you can actually use. The inspiring speaker line-up has been carefully crafted to include a wide range of stories, experiences, job titles and brands from presenters who have followed their passions and climbed to the top of their industries.

You can access the Expo from anywhere you have internet as it’s all delivered online. To tune into live sessions, you just need to RSVP to attend:

If the days/times don’t work for you – no worries – all sessions will be made on-demand so you can catch up on missed sessions at your leisure.

The Good Universities Guide

As Australia’s premier resource on higher education, The Good Universities Guide enables students to make an informed choice when selecting a course and provider to achieve their career goals.

The Good Universities Guide 2021 is the most comprehensive edition to date, featuring:

institution profiles grouped by state
entry requirements and ATAR cut-off scores
financial assistance, fees and scholarships
an updated editorial section.

Compare institutions easily with rankings and ratings on:

diversity and number of students
student experience and graduate satisfaction
learning resources and student support
graduate salaries, career prospects and much more.

The Good Universities Guide is a valuable product for parents and students. You can download the free e-book here (you will need to register to log in) or the book is also available for purchase in hard copy here:

Position Available for Graduated Student

Hains Solicitors contacted us this week seeking a graduated student who might be interested in their entry level administration position. They are seeking a computer literate, detail orientated person who is willing to learn and prepared to work a full-time, five-day-a-week position.

Please submit your resume, now, as a PDF to team1@h-law.com.au

The Pathways Team
Mrs Liza O’Donnell, Mrs Kathy Laing & Mrs Julia Fox
Liza_ODonnell@shalomcollege.com
LaingK@shalomcollege.com
Julia_Fox@shalomcollege.com

Quiet Achiever

Year 8 student Chloe Wheatley is MacKillop’s Quiet Achiever this week. Chloe is a happy and polite student at all times. She is supportive of all of MacKillop’s House activities which was highlighted recently by contributing generously towards a treasure hunt challenge by providing painted rocks. Chloe’s generosity was the difference between the activity being cancelled and proceeding. Chloe has demonstrated the values of MacKillop House throughout her time at the College so far. Thank you Chloe, keep up the great House Spirit!

Mrs Michelle Moller
MacKillop House Coordinator
MollerM@shalomcollege.com

Team Photo Schedule

Please see link to the Team Photo Schedule for all Summer Sport Teams as well as Rowing, BDSSS Swimming and Cross Country Team and T20 Cricket.

All photos are taken at Mackillop 2 at either Lunchtime or Afternoon Tea.

Students are to wear formal school uniform - including ties for Boys.

Please encourage student to place their team photo date in their student record book.

Tennis

Summer Sport – Finals Day

Summer Sports Finals Day saw some great tennis from the Shalom teams after all teams qualified for the Finals Day.

In A-division, Shalom Black consisting of Zain Ali and Harrison Keightley came runners-up to St Luke’s in a tightly contested final. Despite a powerhouse performance by Zain Ali, backed up by the reliable young-gun Harrison, the team narrowly missed taking out the premiership by one game 14-13. The Shalom Red team of Lachlan Campbell, Poppy Loeskow and Emily Downs played some impressive tennis to finish third on the day with the Shalom White team of Sophie Maher and Katie Maher finishing fourth. The fact that Shalom took out 2nd, 3rd and 4th place is testament to the depth of tennis talent we are fortunate to have at Shalom.

Division B also proved to see Shalom narrowly missing the trophy. Shalom Red consisting of Lara Bemet, Laura Davenport, Sithuki Weerasinghe and Chanel Gordon finished on top of the table after the season, however unfortunately went down in the major semi-final to a strong North Bundy High team. Redemption remained a possibility however as the Shalom Black team of Liam Haase, Hamish Haase, Jacob O’Brien, Eli Sewell and William Cole-Bloore progressed to the Grand Final. Despite some spirited performances, North Bundy was too strong and Shalom Black finished second overall.

Congratulations to all the teams who competed this year. The tennis displayed was skilful and lots of fun was had by all.

Queensland Secondary Schools Teams (QSST) Event

Best of luck to our boys and girls’ teams who once again have won through to the State Finals of the QSSTT event to be played in Rockhampton on the 17 and 18 June. This is always a challenging event where Shalom takes on the best tennis schools from around Queensland. With the Schools of Excellence in Tennis from around the State attending, this is always a tough event and a good gauge on where Shalom tennis sits in the State.

Mr Brendan Maher
Shalom Tennis Convenor
maherb@shalomcollege.com

T20 Cricket

Shalom were successful on Friday in winning the Wide Bay Open Schools Division of the State wide T20 Knockout Comp.

In the first game against a strong team from Murgon SHS, with several Wide Bay reps, Murgon batted first making 6/152 in their 20 overs. In a nail biting finish, Shalom chased the total down on the last ball, finishing 6/153.

In the second game, Xavier CC batted first, making 5/140 in their 20 overs, thanks largely to 87 from their Qld Rep player, however Shalom chased down this total in 14 overs, finishing 5/141

Thanks to Mr Bond for driving the bus and helping with officiating on the day. The team will now face off against the winners from the Sunshine Coast in Term 3

Game 1 - Murgon SHS - 6/152 - Shalom College - 5/153
Mathew Parker 2/15, David Felstead 2/15, Zach Richters 38, Jonty McMahon 32, Ned Jenner 25

Game 2 - Xavier CC - 5/140 - Shalom College - 5/141
Nicholas Clarke 3/11, Ronan Dempsey 37, Zach Richters 27

Mr Simon Gills
Sports Coordinator
GillsS@shalomcollege.com

Golf

Congratulations to Year 10 Student Kate McFarlane who has just been selected into the QLD School Sport Golf Team. This is following her recent strong performance representing Wide Bay at the State Championships at the Gold Coast. As there are no Nationals for School Sport Australia this year, this is a QLD Merit team which means they still select a state team. That’s Outstanding! Congratulations Kate!

Kate McFarlane

Touch Football

Congratulations to the following teams winning Premierships at the Summer Sports Finals on Thursday.

Years 7/8 Girls
Years 9/10 Girls
Years 11/12 Girls
Years 11/12 Boys

Second place to Years 9/10 Boys team and

3rd place to Years 7/8 Boys team

Thanks to all our Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Referees and our Administartion team.

Special Thanks to Stacey Murdoch, Helen and Dean Leggett and Joy Zunker for their work in the administration area all season.

Thanks to Bundaberg Touch Assocaition for their grounds and facilities for the season too.

Years 11/12 Boys

Years 7/8 Girls

Years 9/10 Girls

Years 11/12 Girls

Mr Peter Robinson
High Performance Program
After School Activities
Peter_Robinson@shalomcollege.com

Year 7 Camps 2021

Year 10 Camps 2021

Mr Peter Robinson
High Performance Program
After School Activities
Peter_Robinson@shalomcollege.com

Uniform Shop Opening Hours

MONDAY to THURSDAY - 8:00am – 12:00pm

FRIDAY – CLOSED

Size 12 and size 14 Navy Jackets are now in stock.

Out of stock Boys Formal Socks Sizes 8-11 and 11 -14

Mrs Leanne Barker
Uniform Shop Co-ordinator
barkerl@shalomcollege.com
Phone : 41 558 121

Term Dates for 2021

Term 1: Wednesday 27th January - Thursday 1st April (10 weeks)
Term 2: Monday 19th April - Friday 25th June (10 weeks)
Term 3: Monday 12th July - Friday 17th September (10 weeks)
Term 4: Tuesday 5th October - Friday 3th December (9 weeks)

Parent and Carer Tuckshop Volunteers

At the start of each school year we ask parents to indicate their availability for volunteering in the College tuckshop.

Life is busy and forever changing, so for this reason we have set up a booking system that will not only accommodate our very much appreciated regular volunteers, but also families who may not be able to commit on a regular basis and who may have a day here or there throughout the year to come along and lend a hand and support our students. The beauty of this system is that you can select your day and manage your booking, so if something comes up, you can quickly and easily go online to reschedule or cancel. Your booking will generate a confirmation email with links to manage your booking, it can be synched with your calendar and an SMS is sent the day before as a reminder. Of course, we are also here to help - simply contact Shalom College on 41 55 8111.

For those of you who are regular volunteers your shifts have already been added to the schedule for this year and you should have received an e-mail for each booked shift.

Shifts last from 2 to 3 hours (school drop off to around 11.30 am).

No experience required!

Tuckshop

Breakfast

Breakfast is now available in the tuckshop for purchase each morning 8:00am – 8:30am.

Bacon & Egg Muffins - $3.50
Ham & Cheese Croissant - $3.50
Porridge & Cereal - $3 (self-service option with milk and bowl & cutlery are supplied)
Fresh Fruit - $1 (seasonal fruits such as; Bananas, Apples, Mandarins etc.)
Plus, the already available items of Yoghurt Pots, Up n Go drinks & Flavoured Milk

Students who train before school need to consider utilising the breakfast menu to replenish energy lost during their training sessions, however must be dressed appropriately before entering the tuckshop and must not be late for class.

Shalom Sunday Markets

Shalom Markets will continue to operate (with restrictions) until further notice!

• Fresh food stalls fruit, vegetable & local food products
• BBQ and tuckshop are operating, social distancing practices are in place
• Social distancing to include gaps between stalls (all outdoors)

SHALOM MARKETS 6AM TO 12PM EVERY SUNDAY!

Markets Tuckshop Roster

New volunteers are DESPERATELY required for the Markets Tuckshop or BBQ, if you have any queries please contact Leanne via email – barkerl@shalomcollege.com

Markets BBQ Roster

Community Notice Board

Rice Trivia Night

Shalom Rowing High Tea

Join Shalom Rowing for our first fundraising event for 2021.

Pick up your glass of bubbly on the way through to the beautifully decorated tables ready with delicious nibbles and steaming teas. There will be fashion parades, as you are entertained by the dulcet tones of Matt Barker as well as gift bags for everyone, raffles and lucky door prizes. All proceeds of the event go directly to the purchase of new racing boats for the Shalom Rowing crews.

Come alone or fill a table for a wonderful afternoon of food, entertainment and gathering of friends, old and new.

Qld Government Autism Hub

The Autism Hub is offering a range of professional development sessions online.

Love Bites

Youth Support

Headspace

Link to Survey below

Find Out More below

The Catholic Parish of Bundaberg

Office Hours: 9:00 - 1:00 Monday to Friday
Parish Office: Rossolini Place Level 1, 66 Woongarra St
Ph: 07 4151 6666 PO Box 79 Bundaberg QLD 4670
Email: sbundaberg@rok.catholic.net.au
AFTER HOURS: Anointing of the sick for medical emergencies
phone 4151 6666 and follow the prompt
UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF MARY MOTHER OF CHURCH

Current Parish Bulletin

Letter from the Bishop

Current Roster (Term 1, 2021)

FOCUS by: Monica White
Principal St Joseph's Primary School

To date St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School has had a wonderful 2021, with many great learning experiences occurring throughout the school. We were very excited to learn that, in December, Pope Francis had declared 2021 to be the Year of St Joseph, giving us the opportunity to really celebrate the aspiring qualities of our school’s namesake throughout the year, not just on our St Joseph’s Feast Day. During the Feast Day, all of our students were presented with a St Joseph Cross and the Year of St Joseph prayer card.

Along with our fellow diocesan Catholic Schools, St Joseph’s has introduced a new Religion Curriculum this year, starting its implementation in Prep to Year Two. This new Religion Curriculum focuses on the importance of dialogue to link Catholic Tradition with cultural context and personal experiences. In the new Religion Curriculum, learning and teaching engage explicitly and comprehensively with the elements of the Catholic Tradition in ways that do not reduce the tradition to values not clearly anchored within it. Catholic Social Teaching has also been embedded in the curriculum documents from P-6 as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and spirituality. The local context of the school is also taken into account, so for our St Joseph’s school this is the Charism of the Josephites, our Gospel values, the language of Making Jesus Real (MJR) and our Catholic Earthcare certification.

Catholic Earthcare certification is recognition from Catholic Earthcare Australia of the good works happening in our school to address ecological challenges with practical steps that engage our community to care for the Earth, our Common Home. At St Joseph’s we have a very dedicated team of staff and students who are passionate about caring for our environment and the sustainability of our world and together they seek to educate and involve our school in actions that support this.

We have a number of action plans moving forward including creating nature gardens that encourage and foster bee and butterfly colonies, and we would welcome involvement from interested parishioners. Please contact the St Joseph’s School Office if you would like more information about our Earthcare group.

"Enjoy reading this year's edition of the 'Good News Magazine: 2020 New Vision', a look at the year that was and how we adapted to a new way of doing thins."

Please click on the link to access the digital copy of the magazine.

Catholic Youth Groups

Triple P

The State Government is funding free access to Triple P, which is the world’s most evidence-based parenting program and has helped more than four million children and their parents around the world develop closer, more positive relationships.

Please click on this link, which will take you to the website where you can access information relevant to your situation.

This link will remain in our Newsletter with Triple P sending us regular updates and helpful tips.