COLLEGE NEWS

IMPORTANT DATES

Read upcoming important dates here. 

YEAR 11 INFORMATION EVENING - WELCOME TO VCE/VET/VCAL

Year 11 students and their parents/guardians will gain valuable insight into VCE/VET/VCAL at the Year 11 Information Evening on Wednesday, 26 February. Commencing at 7:30pm in the Holland Room at the Mercy Campus, the first half of the hour will provide students with key information on study options to help them decide how to best meet their individual learning needs. The second half of the evening will allow families and teachers to meet and discuss their student’s progress thus far this year. We look forward to seeing you there and discovering possibilities together.

Mr Mel Ficarra

Head of VCE/VET/VCAL

COLLEGE OPENING MASS

The College Opening Mass will be celebrated on Thursday February 27 at the Mercy Campus Stadium, commencing at 9am. This mass will welcome Year 7 students and those students who are new to the College in 2020 as well as the presentation of badges and welcome to all Student Leaders. 

All parents/guardians are most welcome to attend, especially those with Year 7 and other new students - for catering and seating purposes, please RSVP to Mrs Tracy Aston, PA to Principal by Tuesday February 25.  

Miss Paula Cox

Director Catholic Identity 

YEAR 7 OPEN WATER LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Students from Year 7 participated in the Open Water Learning Experience conducted by Life Saving Victoria this week. Our students learned about safety, rescue and more during the 2- hour session.

Participation was very high. 94% of students participated in these engaging activities:

• ‘Be Aware & Be Prepared’
• Survival Strategies
• DRABCD (CPR/First Aid)
• Rescue Strategies
• Safe Body Boarding.

Thanks to all staff and lifeguards who assisted on the day. One of our lifeguards was former St Joseph’s College student and another had appeared on ‘Bondi Rescue’. This was a highly rewarding and valuable river experience for all our Year 7 students.

Mr John Fleming

Sports Coordinator

COLLEGE AWARDS ASSEMBLY - CELEBRATING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF YEAR 12 2019

On Monday February 3, the College gathered in the Sacred Heart Church with members of the community for the first assembly of 2020. 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.

Read more here. 

YEAR 9, 10, 11 AND 12 SEMINAR DAYS

As the start of the school Year, the College has  a three day seminar program as a component of the overall Religious Education program for our students.  Mr Chris Doyle from Karis Ministries of Sydney conducted the Year 9 and 11 seminar days and Mr Scott Darlow led our Year 10 and 12 students for one day each; while Dr Tony Finn conducted the first seminar day for our Year 12 students.  

These seminar days aim to give students the opportunity to commence the year at St Joseph’s College as year level groups, with time to reflect on the key beliefs and practices of the Catholic Tradition, the Values of our College and students’ personal values in regard to relationships and a range of issues.

These days provide a chance to build a sense of community within the year level groups and to ensure that 2020 is a time of mutual support and respect for each other.

Students were given the opportunity to further develop their knowledge and understanding of the Catholic vision of social justice and the challenge that this brings to us as a community and as individuals.  All students participated in the seminar days with a positive attitude and a willingness to make the most of the experience it provided time for personal reflection and group interaction.

Read individual student reflections here. 

Miss Paula Cox

Director of Catholic Identity 

SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Students participated in the annual Swimming Carnival last Thursday February 13. Despite the challenging heat and humidity, the students showed great spirit in participating throughout the day and gaining points for their house. The competition between the Houses was great to see all day, with the Xavier House winning the overall trophy - congratulations Xavier House. Special thanks to all staff who withstood the heat and assisted throughout the day. 

Mr John Fleming

Sports Coordinator

MERCY HERITAGE CENTRE

Hello from the Convent…

It is lovely to be back working with the college, but in a role that I am truly passionate about.   I am so excited and honoured to be given the opportunity as Mercy Heritage Curator to share with staff and students the vision and progress of the projects that we have for the new Mercy Heritage Centre in the St Joseph’s College Convent and in other areas throughout the college.

I have had the opportunity within this first three short weeks to gain an understanding of the magnitude, and surely only a mere glimpse of the beautiful and rich history that we have developed and the vision and charism of the Sisters of Mercy that we have continued over the past 114 years.  I am truly grateful to Mrs Pat Riordan for the creation and richness of our current collection.

My hope is that the Mercy Heritage Centre will be a space that truly reflects and respects our college history and the work of the Sisters of Mercy. 

To provide a brief update, E7 is the proposed space for the new Mercy Heritage Centre which was originally the Sisters Community Room.  The concept for this room will be to permanently display our history in a chronological manner so that students, staff and visitors are able to walk through and around displays, or at times sit and watch relevant short documentaries, testimonies or even short films.

There is some necessary re-stumping and foundation repairs to be made to this area of the building prior to this project commencing in this room.

I will keep our community updated regularly as to the progress of this project throughout the year.

Mrs Belinda Gemits

Mercy Heritage Curator

CATHERINE MCAULEY BRONZE

The vision for images of the college's history is continued with the installation of a bronze statue of Catherine McAuley in reception.  The vision for this bronze has been re-created beautifully with the assistance of Mr Kyle Carrington who has built the plinth for the statue which is a very welcoming addition to our reception area and a reminder to everyone, staff, students, families and the Sunraysia community of our heritage and history.  

Thank you to our Principal, Mrs Marg Blythman for organising this elegant addition and the planning that went in to our very own reminder of how far Catherine's vision has come.  There is more to come so please "watch this space".

NEW CANTEEN MENU

View the new canteen menu here. 

SECONDARY SCHOOL VACCINATION PROGRAM 2020

Year 7 (12-13 year old) secondary school vaccination program, recommended vaccines:

• dTp = diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (1 dose)
• HPV = human papillomavirus vaccine (2 doses)

Immunisation dates for Year 7 students;

• Round 1 – Wednesday April 15, 2020
• Round 2 – Wednesday October 28, 2020

Year 10 (or age equivalent) secondary school vaccination program, recommended vaccine:

• Meningococcal ACWY (1 dose)

Immunisation dates for the Year 10 Students will be held on;

Thursday May 7, 2020 - (there will be the ability for the Year 10 students who don’t make it to this date to catch up at the Year 7 Immunisation session on the Wednesday October  28, 2020).

Consent for vaccination

Children and young people under 18 generally require parent/guardian consent to be vaccinated. Consent forms will be sent home with students in the coming weeks. It is imperative that the forms are read thoroughly, completed and returned to the College by Monday April 6, 2020.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the College Nurse, Mrs Louise Clohesy.

Mrs Louise Clohesy

College Nurse

SHROVE TUESDAY

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent. Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Giving up foods; but not wasting them.

In the old days there were many foods that observant Christians would not eat during Lent, such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

Mercy Action Group will hold a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Stall at Enright Campus (near the Canteen) on Tuesday February 25 at recess. And at the Mercy Campus on the same day, students and staff can buy delicious pancakes at the Canteen. The cost is $2.00 per pancake, with all money raised donated to Project Compassion.

Miss Paula Cox 

Director of Catholic Identity 

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

In this edition of achievements:

• Lindsay Barbary
• Ella Beard
• Ross and Mark Armstrong, Paddy McLaughlan and Logan Mattschoss
• Isaac Hallam.