As a learning and teaching team, we are looking forward to another great year at St Joseph’s College Mildura in 2024. As always there is lots happening and lots to reflect on.

2023 VCE RESULTS

We were particularly pleased with our Year 12 results in 2023 and we are excited to see what additional benefits we can reap from the changes that have been made to the timetable for this year.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Congratulations to our Year 12 students who were fortunate to receive the following scholarships for their tertiary studies:

La Trobe University Regional Benefits Scholarship
Deakin University Scholarship for Excellence
The University of Melbourne Narrm Scholarship
The University of Melbourne Principal’s Scholarship
St Vincent de Paul Scholarship
Torrens University Love What You Do Scholarship
Regional Benefits Scholarship

Unfortunately, due to confidentiality we are unable to name the recipients.

COLLEGE AWARDS ASSEMBLY

On Thursday 15 February, all students gathered in the Sacred Heart Church with community members for the awards assembly of 2024. This is a rich tradition at St Joseph’s College, where we take the time to celebrate our Year 12 students and their achievements from the previous year.

Congratulations to our 2023 cohort for their resilience, courage, and confidence to complete their VCE, VET, and VCE VM studies. As a college community, we are so proud of all the times our students have tested themselves and shown intellectual courage and strong leadership.

Their results acknowledge the efforts of our community, which has supported these young people in their final two years of schooling.

We pride ourselves on providing a holistic education for students, one that supports them in their journey to become well-rounded young people who are prepared for their future. Although a single score never fully defines success, we are pleased that our students have received results that will open doors to further learning and opportunities. We are fortunate to have such dedicated, caring teachers at St Joseph’s College and would like to acknowledge the hard work of all our teachers who have played a part in the success of our students.

YEAR 12 2023 ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARDS

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE – 40+

Shelby Couch – Health & Human Development

Caitlin D'Amico – General Mathematics

Anthony DeMaria – Mathematical Methods, Physics, Chemistry

Matisse Hill – Health & Human Development, English

William Holland – Systems Engineering

Millie Kuhne – Psychology, Physical Education

Lily Lawrence – English, Physics

Darcy Noonan – Systems Engineering

Ned Oldham – Mathematical Methods, Physics

Maddalena Petrolo – Health & Human Development, Business Management, English

Chelsea Pollifrone – Business Management, Health & Human Development

Hayley Ryan – Health & Human Development

Noel Siju – Physical Education

Darcy Toms – Health & Human Development

Laila Zappia – Business Management, Economics

ATAR ABOVE 90

Lily Bruhn

Anthony DeMaria

Matisse Hill

Millie Kuhne

Lily Lawrence

Ned Oldham

Maddalena Petrolo

Laila Zappia

PROXIME ACCESSIT

The award of Proxime Accessit (runner up to Dux) was presented to Ned Oldham.

DUX

Congratulations to our 2023 Dux, Anthony DeMaria.

DUX SPEECH

Anthony DeMaria

Good afternoon Mrs Blythman, staff, families, and students.

It is an honour and a privilege to be speaking before you all as the 2023 St Joseph’s College Dux. Firstly, I would like to congratulate my fellow award recipients on their amazing results. I am extremely grateful for their friendship, work ethic, and shared goal of success. I wish you all the best for the future.

None of this would have been possible without the amazing teachers at the college. I would like to thank all of my teachers for their hard work and dedication. I would also like to especially thank the Year 12 teachers who went above and beyond to help me achieve my best. I would like to particularly thank Ms Rupa, Mr Paolucci, and Mr McGlashan for running additional early morning science classes. Also, a shoutout to Mr Blows, the leader of the 'Mathletes'. Thank you for helping me achieve a scaled 50 in Specialist Maths.

To Mrs Blythman and the wider St Joseph’s College community, thank you for the fantastic six years, endless support, and unwavering commitment to my education. I would also like to thank the college for the generous postgraduate scholarship and awards.

Thank you to my family. Mum and Dad have provided my sisters and I with so many opportunities and they have instilled in me many important life lessons. I am so grateful for your never-ending support, encouragement, and guidance. Most of all, I thank you for your unconditional love. To my Nonno, Nonna, and Grandma who I am proud to have here today, thank you for your inspiration, wisdom, and love.

When I was in Year 7, I had a maths test. When I left for school, I asked my Dad, 'Why didn’t you wish me good luck?' He replied, 'If you have done the work, luck won’t come into it.' Ever since I have always tried to be in control of my education and luck does not come into it.

Year 12 was a challenging year, and there were times when it felt like there was an endless amount of notes I needed to take, questions I had to answer, and a growing pile of exams on the floor next to my desk. Despite this, I still found the year extremely rewarding. I am glad to say that my hard work paid off and that I will be studying Medicine at Monash University this year. I am looking forward to this challenge and a career where I can help others.

In 1931, nearly one hundred years ago, my great Nonno left his home in Calabria Italy bound for Australia in search of a better life and opportunity for his family. At this time, Italy had lived through one World War, the Spanish Flu, and the Great Depression. Like many others, he made a brave decision to start a new life for his family and future generations. This is why I understand the value of opportunity and hard work.

Everyone in this church has one thing in common, and that is the opportunities that St Joseph's College provides, whether they be academic, sporting, creative, or leadership. I encourage all of you to take these opportunities and not look back and ask 'what if?'. Opportunities cost nothing, desire to improve costs nothing, and hard work costs nothing. Our brains weigh an average of one thousand, three hundred grams and contain eighty to six billion neurons. It is how you use your brain and how you take your opportunities that matter. Opportunity is everywhere. Sometimes it is obvious and sometimes it is hidden in adversity, but it is always there. Everyone in this college has opportunities, and you can all strive to be your best. Make it your goal to learn something new, encourage each other, become better, and become smarter together. Start today. Year 12 is so much easier if you start working hard in Year 7. If you don’t want to learn, please don’t stop other people from being their best.

In the song 'Lose Yourself' Eminem sang, 'This opportunity comes once in a lifetime..' –But respectfully, Slim Shady, I disagree. There are opportunities all around us. It is up to you to make the most of them.

I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life and I look forward to hearing of many St Joseph's College success stories in the years to come.

Finally, I would like to leave you with one last thought: education is never lost and it will be your key to a lifetime of success.

ST JOSEPH'S COLLEGE YEAR 12 SPIRIT AWARD

In 2019, the college introduced the Year 12 Spirit Award. This award is given to a student in Year 12 who:

has faced challenges and worked consistently all year.
has contributed to the college community through various roles, e.g. music, Seeds of Justice, leadership, and volunteering.
has worked through hardships during the year but has persisted with their schooling.

We are very pleased to announce Lucais Hampton as the winner of the 2023 St Joseph’s College Year 12 Spirit Award.

VCE VM AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Each year the college awards one Year 12 VCE VM student the VCE VM Award for Excellence Scholarship. To be eligible for this scholarship, each interested student must submit an application to the scholarship committee. The application addresses criteria based on VCE VM achievement, personal conduct, college community participation, and a confidential reference by a college VCE VM teacher. The winner of the 2023 VCE VM Award for Excellence Scholarship was Frankie Strangio.

Frankie demonstrated comprehensive excellence in both his area of study as well as his involvement in the college community.

2024 YEAR 11 FOUNDING SISTERS OF MERCY SCHOLARSHIP

In 2017, the college introduced a scholarship program to encourage and support the continued education of a deserving group of dedicated, hard-working students who have demonstrated a proven ability to strive for and achieve excellence in their education. Once again, we are pleased to recognise and reward students who were successful in the 2024 application process.

It brings a sense of great pride knowing the high quality of students we have here at St Joseph’s College, and we are very pleased to acknowledge so many worthy recipients. The successful applicants embody all that we ask of our students:

They work hard.
They strive for excellence.
They are committed to their studies at St Joseph’s College.

The Year 11 Founding Sisters of Mercy Scholarships will assist the recipients as they move into their senior years of study at St Joseph’s College. The scholarships consist of a two-part payment totalling $1500 during Year 11 at St Joseph’s College. When determining the recipients of these scholarships, the selection panel considered the following criteria:

Academic Excellence
- Top 20% of the Year 10 cohort as measured by report grades.
Leadership
- Any leadership positions the students have held or applied for in the college.
Volunteering
- Any volunteering/charity work that the students have participated in either within the college or outside of the college.
Attendance
- The student has a good attendance record.
Conduct
- The Selection Panel reviewed the applicant’s behaviour and uniform tracking.
Involvement in the college community
- The applicant can provide multiple examples of contributions they have made to the college community.

Applicants were also required to write and submit a personal statement outlining why they believe they should be the recipient of a scholarship, with reference to the selection criteria.

The 2024 Year 11 Founding Sisters of Mercy Scholarship recipients are:

Aleisha Hoyle – Catherine McAuley Scholarship

Peter Argiro – Ursula Frayne Scholarship

Makayla Pel – Mary Vincent Whitty Scholarship

Adam Ryan – Anna Maria Doyle Scholarship

Mabel Morrison – Juliana Hardman Scholarship

Estelle Floramo – Elizabeth Moore Scholarship

Alice Ryan – Clare Augustine Moore Scholarship

Rhianna Neyland – Virtue Conquers Scholarship

Sarinna Chun – Virtue Conquers Scholarship

Sumaya Maaroof – Virtue Conquers Scholarship

ENRICHMENT MERCY ACADEMIC INTERNAL SCHOLARSHIPS

The college also offers Enrichment Mercy Academic Internal Scholarships. These scholarships were offered based on academic merit to students continuing Years 11 and 12 at the college in 2024 and 2025. The scholarships have a tenure of two years and are for the remission of 50% of the school fee. These scholarships are offered to a limited number of Year 10 students based on internal academic grades from 2023.

We congratulate the following recipients for 2024:

Ella Byra

Fiona Denny

Lily Detenon

Charlotte Ferdelja

Makenna French

Abbie Gibson

Taylor Gregg

Rebecca Hayes

Sebastien Klarich

Bailey McLaughlan

Mayah Midgley

Juliet Moodley

Annabelle Munn

Evie Oldham

Harneer Singh

Giorgia Zappia

Bolin Zhu

YEAR 12 VCE TEN YEAR TREND DATA

We are very pleased with our ten-year trend data for VCE in all categories. Whilst there are variations year to year, longterm trend data provides a very realistic reflection of where our college is heading academically. An example of this data is the percentage of students who are achieving an ATAR of 80 or greater.

It is a similar story with the percentage of students who are achieving an ATAR of 70 or greater. To have 45% of our students achieve an ATAR of 70 or above last year was a fantastic result.

NEW TIMETABLE STRUCTURE

With the advent of the new agreement for staff coming into effect, it was an opportune time to review the timetable. As a result, we have a new timetable structure where every VCE class will get an additional 35 minutes of instruction time per week. That is an increase of 12% in direct instruction time and provides an amazing opportunity, ensuring teachers have time to complete courses with ample time for exam preparation.

We have also removed many of the interruptions to teaching with the advent of Extended Pastoral Care time being integrated into the timetable and by having most of our Masses, presentations, assemblies, etc. in this time, rather than in teaching time. These two aspects were the key outcomes from our VCE Review meetings in Term 1 of 2023. We look forward to this development having a positive impact on the learning outcomes of our students.

YEAR 7 INDUCTION PROGRAM

I would like to thank Mr Emmet Brown and his team for the Year 7 Induction Program that was held on the first two days of school. This program has become a significant part of our welcome to St Joseph’s College.

Mr Greg Kluske

Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching

OPEN EVENING