Term 3 Week 6 - 25th August 2023

National Day Against Bullying and Violence

SJRC supports the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. On the 8th August students were involved in a range of 'growing connections' activities which supports research findings, that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and help enable positive, help-seeking behaviours in students.

As a College community, during PC time, students adopted the theme of ‘making connections' through activities to support others and stand up against bullying behaviours. Students had the opportunity to discuss bullying, its forms and its effects. They also discussed the difference between being a 'Bystander' or an 'Upstander'. They made woollen FRIENDSHIP bracelets and drew symbols, words of support and tips on the concrete paths around the College.

'SJRC says NO WAY to bullying'

Principal's Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Principal's Award at this week's assembly.

Tanya Daley
Principal

Luminosity Youth Summit

On the 26th and 27th of July, a group of SJRC students attended the Luminosity Youth Summit. This week at assembly, we heard from Year 10 students Kieran Copeland, Esther Cummins and Kayden Cook about their experiences.

Keiran Copeland -

Luminosity is a youth summit where large groups of young leaders meet together and it has been running for over 10 years. It is designed to inspire and uplift young people to become better leaders in the future through listening to leaders who have done amazing things with their lives. By listening to the experiences of other leaders it inspires and sparks creativity in us to go out and make a change in the world. You are given choices of masterclasses which are smaller group activities with more in-depth teachings and activities. I was one of the lucky few who were selected to be sponsored to go and would highly recommend everyone to try and go next year.

Esther Cummins -

The first keynote speaker who we heard from was miracle survivor Sophie Delezio who spoke to us about the importance of embracing fear, taking risks and pursuing our curiosity. We were then given the opportunity to hear the stories and experiences of Hunter Mitchell, a 16 year old conservationist who travelled from South Africa to share his story with us. He encouraged us to step up in our communities to create real world changes, no matter how small of an impact that we think it might have. Port Macquarie local, Co-founder of Lemonade Crew, Motor Neuron Disease advocate and children’s author Bianca Adkins shared with us her heartbreaking story of grief and immense courage and strength after losing her husband to Motor Neuron Disease.

Throughout the rest of day one we were inspired by the many stories of Ellie Cole - Australia’s ‘Most Decorated Female Paralympian’, We got to listen to a discussion panel of specialists in artificial intelligence and local students who discussed their diverse opinions on the guiding question of ‘Is AI a dangerous thing? Does it make us more or less connected as humans?’ We heard from Ben Cudmore, a local mental health advocate, were inspired by Courtney Webeck, Blind Sports Australia Ambassador and winner of national titles in multiple sports and finally, we listened to former SJRC student and emerging national weightlifting champion, Taylah Debreceny. Day one concluded with a good laugh during a couch interview with comedian Tanya Hennessy and a live performance by the local band, ‘Group Therapy’.

Day two of the summit began with a talk by Holly Ransom, a global facilitator and leadership trailblazer, who shared her experiences of following her curiosity to create her own unique path to success. Next, proud Gamilaraay man, Port Macquarie local and founder and CEO of DeadlyScience, an organisation working in remote Aboriginal communities to give Indigenous youth equal access to STEM resources and learning opportunities while in school and STEM career pathways to undertake after school. Corey inspired us by sharing his own journey in discovering that there are in fact multiple pathways to success and discovering our life’s purpose. International basketball players and coaches Andre McPhail, Andre Woodhard and Robert Linton spoke about their journeys of persistence and determination.

We then participated in a masterclass of our choice, which were run by various experts in the fields of art, finance, backstage operations, boxing and fitness, magic, selling yourself through social media, creating a leading resume, Caring for Country, focus and meditation, paramedicine, basketball skills, and dancing and choreography. The afternoon was spent listening to Sid Mathur, one of Australia’s leading multi-disciplinary entertainment specialists, listening to a health careers discussion panel, and hearing from Dr Brett Szmajda the Executive Manager at the National Artificial Intelligence CSIRO and finally Olivia Boyd-Smith the founder and director of Australia’s ingestible beauty brand Par Olive. The final evening concluded with a performance by the local band DYMK and the opportunity to write ourselves a letter which will be mailed to us next year, detailing goals that we want to achieve and ‘dangerous ideas’ which we want to put into practice in our lives between now and next year’s Luminosity Youth Summit.

Kayden Cook - 

Luminosity was awesome. I learned so much from all of our speakers, everything from life skills, never giving up and money skills. My favourite part of the day was the masterclasses, where I did Money Matters which was about personal money skills, mainly financial goals, budgeting, debt, and asset classes. Basically, I learned all of the essential basic money skills that I will use for the rest of my life.

From our speakers, we heard stories like going from working as an alpaca shearer to a bioscientist. And through these stories, we learned to chase our dreams, work hard and most importantly don’t give up.

I would absolutely recommend going next year, the school and many other organisations offer sponsorships so if you get offered one make sure you take it. All of what we learned were useful life skills, and best of all even fun.

Debating Certificates

Congratulations to the following students for participating in the 2023 CSDA finals recently at MacKillop College.

Ian Lutton
Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

Year 8 Camp Parent Information Night

Parents and carers of Year 8 students are kindly requested to save the date for a Camp Information Night to be held at the College Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday 12 September from 6 pm to 7 pm. During the evening we will discuss all things Year 8 camp including the rationale and learning outcomes of the camp experience; daily schedules; equipment requirements; tent groupings; pre-camp PDHPE learning focus and handy tips and tricks for how parents can support their child to have the best possible experience whilst they are on camp. The camp will be held on Week 3 Term 4, 23 to 26 October, 2023.

Blue Tree Project: A Student-led Wellbeing Initiative

Our Student Wellbeing Team delivered an excellent presentation at this week’s Assembly on their SJRC Blue Tree Project initiative. As we heard from our student-leaders, “The Blue Tree Project is a movement, founded by Kendall Whyte, which is devoted to improving mental health. The idea of the movement is to help spark difficult conversations and encourage people to speak up when they are experiencing mental health challenges.” SJRC will be hosting its own Blue Tree Project activities throughout next week. We thank our Student Wellbeing Team, supported by Mrs Hyde, for their initiative and look forward to raising further awareness around mental health support in our school community. Keep your eye on our social media pages as the project unfolds.

Jennifer Furney
Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care

Shine Conference 2023

Over the past two days, more than 40 of our students have participated in the Shine Conference at St John Paull College in Coffs Harbour. This Conference draws students from all high schools in our Diocese. The conference offers students the opportunity to explore and deepen their Christian faith through praise and worship and a range of workshops. We look forward to hearing about our students’ experiences when they return to school next week.

Connecting to Country

Along with Josh Wright, one of our Indigenous Education Workers, I have had the privilege of attending ‘Connecting to Country’ a cultural immersion where we were able to listen to and gain knowledge from local Aboriginal Elders, learn about and visit significant cultural sites and engage in a range of cultural activities. All of this is aimed at providing educators with deeper insights into the rich, ancient, but still very present experiences of our local indigenous peoples.

We learned about some of the incredible community partnerships that the local Aboriginal Lands Councils (Birpai and Bunyah) developed with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and other stakeholders including Cowarra Dam and the new development at Wild Nets. It was also inspiring to see how local Aboriginal knowledge is being utilised to manage the natural environment.

We look forward to sharing our learning with staff and students over the weeks ahead.

Make a Difference PMQ

In the coming weeks, we will be commencing a partnership with the Make a Difference Foundation by taking on a weekly shift to provide breakfast and social connections with people who are experiencing various forms of homelessness in our area. A number of staff and senior students have signed up to be trained and rostered to assist in providing this service. We look forward to engaging in this hands-on form of service to our community.

A gentle reminder to those who have completed the Expression of Interest that you now need to sign up through the Volaby link sent by Erin.

Introducing the Parish Youth Coordinator

Zac Parnell is the new Youth Coordinator for St Agnes’ Catholic Parish. He is a graduate of St Joseph’s Regional College and has recently moved back from Brisbane with his family for the role. He loves music, exercise, learning and sharing his faith. In his role, he helps run a weekly Youth Group every Sunday at the St Agnes’ Catholic Parish Hall from 6-8PM. He will also be on school grounds every Tuesday so feel free to ask him more about it then.

Hotdogs, live music, games, glory stories, and prayer, that’s what you can expect at Rock Youth this Sunday.

If you’re coming, please get your parents to fill out this permission form -

Digital Permission

• St Agnes’ Catholic Parish Hall
• This Sunday from 6-8pm
• $5 for dinner

Hastings Education Fund

The Hastings Education Fund supports Year 12 students in regional communities moving into further education. This could include those intending to enrol at university, TAFE, or with other approved training providers, and those undertaking apprenticeships or traineeships. HEF grants are based upon financial need, and we also provide mentoring support.

Applications are open now and close on 30 September. What is the Hastings Education Fund? Why should I apply?

Take a moment to hear what previous recipients have to say about how the HEF grant funds helped them.

This week's Almuni is Luke Banks, Class of 2022

We applaud former SJRC student Luke Banks who, after completing the HSC in 2022, took up an Australian Defence Force Gap Year, and has decided to enlist and forge a career with the Royal Australian Air Force.
Congratulations Luke!

#aaHSC4opportunity #wherearetheynow

Volunteers Wanted

We cannot run the canteen without you; as the saying goes:

"Many Hands Make Light Work".

If you are able to spare an hour or so of your time, we would
love for you to join us.

Please contact Breeanna Stone through the College Office on 5525 4100.

The Canteen opens at 8.00 am every school day.

CLICK HERE for the Canteen's everyday menu.

Breeanna Stone
Food Services Manager

College Uniform 

St Joseph's Regional College has a number of different social media platforms. We would love for you to follow us.

St Joseph's Regional College

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St Joseph's Regional College - 50 year Celebrations

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Digital Ministry

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Library

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Careers

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