Pastoral Care and Wellbeing
Term 3 Wrap Up
While the term has been winding down for many of us, the opposite is happening for our Year 12 students. Final SACs have been completed and students will be well into the depths of exam revision over the holidays. We congratulate them for their efforts thus far, but we are completely aware that the job is not done yet. And if any Year 12 student is thinking they have left it all a bit late: start now and change your ending. It is never too late to have a go. Year 12 students attended an ‘Ace your exams” session this week, and hopefully that has motivated them to keep going and to finish strong. The first week of the holidays will be spent undertaking practice exams over the course of the week. This will help them to set up their revision program for the second week, and will provide rich feedback for teachers as they prepare for the final two weeks of formal classes.
For our Year 7 to 11 students, you get to pause, rest and rejuvenate for a fast paced final term for the year. We encourage all families to look over the Term 3 reports and consider: Did I try my best? Am I engaging in my learning? Which learning behaviours do I need to commit to improving in Term 4? What were/are my stepping stones for growth? How am I being brave with my learning? Celebrate the successes and set goals for further improvement in Term 4. Year 10 and 11 students can start preparing for their exams - they will come around very quickly!
At the start of the term we launched the Positive Behaviour Cards. These are designed as a way to capture the good learning habits being displayed by our students and to acknowledge these endeavours. There have been over 1300 positive behaviour cards awarded throughout the term. Each week there is a winner for each House (canteen voucher) and twice a term there is a winner from each Campus ($30 voucher from a selected local business). So far our Campus winners were Tahnee Jardine (Chisholm) and Ruby Green (Delany).
Thursday 14 September was national R U OK? Day?
R U OK? Day urges people to invest time in personal relationships and empowering informal support networks to identify signs of distress. On this day we urged members of our College community to take part, emphasising the value of genuine human relationships and reminding everyone to ask the important question, “Are you OK?”
Check out the R U OK? Website for further information. https://www.ruok.org.au/
And remember just one conversation could change a life.
General reminders in preparation for Term 4:
With the weather warming up, the holidays can be used to ensure summer uniforms are ready to go for the start of the term. Students are encouraged to try on their uniform to check they have all required items and that everything still fits. Many students will have grown over the course of the year. It is time to dig out school hats and an extra reminder about wearing white socks with the summer uniform (shorts or dress). Please see the school website for the full list of summer uniform items.
Brigidine Campus News:
Chisholm 3 - LM Netball champions for 2023.
Each year we have an LM-based netball competition played at lunchtimes over the course of a term. The aim is to build connectivity within LM groups through healthy competition between the other LMs. After 8 weeks and 35 games Chisholm 3 played Patrick 4 in the grand final last week. Chisholm 3 had a strong first half which allowed them to hold on after a strong comeback from Patrick 4. The final score was 11-9.
Well done to all students who joined in with their LM to play, or cheer from the sidelines. A huge thank you to Meaghan Gould and Imogen Balnaves who umpired almost every game and to Michaela Williams who helped out over the finals.
Well done Chisholm 3!
Kildare Campus News:
To finish a busy and eventful term Kildare Campus had a footy colours/sports colours day on Wednesday where staff and students were invited to wear apparel associated with the team/club that they support. There was a staff versus students netball game at lunchtime and an afternoon of activities which included students and staff participating in basketball shooting, longest kick and tunnel ball just to name a few!
On Thursday we were fortunate to host a Kildare Campus Mass in our central plaza. We were excited to welcome Father Novie to facilitate the Mass and to gather as a faith community. Our students have been learning about Mass in their Religious Education classes and it is important that we continue to celebrate our College and our tradition.
On behalf of the Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Team at St Joseph’s we would like to wish our students, staff and wider community a relaxing and rejuvenating break.
Ged Ryan
Brigidine Campus Director
Jarrod O'Brien
Kildare Campus Director