Term 3 Week 1 - 16th July 2021

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Families,

I write to thank you for your understanding and ongoing support with regard to COVID restrictions now in place in our schools.

In this regard, I wish to be very clear that we are doing everything possible to keep our community safe and all actions are in line with the requirements of the NSW Department of Health. I am conscious that the current restrictions place limitations on parents entering College premises. I appreciate your support in this regard and hope that our situation moves in a more positive direction in the near future.

As we move forward, in order to protect our community; staff, and students, I would remind any families who enter the Greater Sydney Lockdown area to adhere to the 14 day self-isolation period. In this regard, I thank you in advance for helping us keep our community safe.

During this period of time, it is never lost on me, our distinct desire to enable our young people at St Joseph’s Regional College to lead as normal lives as feasibly possible. Let us continue to do nothing but the best for our young people.

SJRC Athletics Carnival

SJRC was welcomed back to Term 3 to a beautiful sun-filled day for our annual Athletics Carnival. I sincerely thank Mr Michael Cannon for his organisation of the day. I commend students for their level of participation throughout the day. 

Congratulations to Wilson House who have won the shield for the first time.

Photos from the day can be found on our College Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/SJRCPort

I refer you to the report prepared by Mr Cannon in the following article.

God bless
Mr Jim Dempsey
Principal

On Tuesday the 13th of July our annual athletics carnival was held at the College.  We were blessed with a beautiful day as temperatures topped 22 degrees at 1pm – not bad for the depths of winter. The prize was the CC Adams Shield which is awarded to the winning House.

The day began with the first of six rotations. All students competed in the 100m, 200m, Javelin, Shot Putt, Discus and Long Jump before lunch.  Our wonderful staff officiated all events and and assisted with recording, marshaling, & catering.  A big thank you to the hospitality students who catered the whole day with the help of our TAS staff.  After lunch the 100m finals were contested followed by the double points relays.

Congratulations to Wilson House who won the shield for the first time.  Full results, age champions and records – please read on.

The SJRC Athletics Squad to compete at the Lismore Diocesan Carnival in Coffs Harbour will be posted shortly.

House Points Tally:

Girls Age Champions:

Girls Results Spreadsheet

Boys Age Champions:

Boys Results Spreadsheet

Records:

Congratulations to Mischa Kennedy (Yr 8) who broke the SJRC 14 Girls Javelin record with a throw of 26.19m.  The old record was held by Amahli Kennedy (Mischa's sister 25.57m) and has stood since 2019.

Congratulations to Keira Donovan (Yr 7) who broke the SJRC 13 Girls 1500m record with a time of 5min 35.67s.  The old record was held by Madi Roberts (5min 36.76s) and has stood since 2007. 

Congratulations to Grace Smith (Yr 8) who broke the SJRC 13 Girls High Jump record today clearing a height of 1.45m.  The old record was held by Eliza Smith (Grace's sister 1.44m) and has stood since 2019.

SJRC Records Page

Michael Cannon
SJRC Leader of Sport

14th July 2021

Keeping our College Community Safe!

Families will continue to receive updated correspondence in regards to COVID restrictions. The safety and wellbeing of students, staff and visitors to the College are very important to us. We always enjoy parents and families being welcomed into our College for activities and events and are deeply disappointed that these current restrictions prevent this. However, these restrictions do not prevent us from our primary purpose, that is, the delivery of quality Catholic education to your children in a safe, caring, and supportive environment.

We thank you in advance for your understanding and support throughout this. To keep our College community as safe as possible, we ask that:

• ALL visitors comply with the mandatory Two-Step QR Sign in.
  Under the current Public Health Order, all visitors must sign in to both the Service NSW COVID Safe Check-In AND WOL (Who’s on Location). This allows us to meet child protection and emergency management legal requirements, as well as Public Health Order requirements. Unfortunately, no one system will meet all current legal requirements.

• ALL visitors MUST wear a mask when entering College grounds.

• Wherever possible, we ask that you stay in your car and call the office 5525 4100 for assistance. 

• Only three visitors in the College Office foyer at any time. 

Drop off and pick up
Parents and carers are asked to follow changes to drop off and pick up including:

• If safe to do so, when:
  - collecting your child early, please stay in your car and call the office, we will send your child out to you;
  - dropping off your child, please stay in your car and call the office to notify us of their late arrival.
• Maintain physical distancing by avoiding gathering outside of school gates.
• Remain outside of school grounds (note some exceptions may apply regarding schools for specific purposes, vulnerable students, or students with a disability).
• Follow mask-wearing requirements and wear your mask correctly.

Unwell students, staff, and visitors

If your child has cold or flu symptoms, please follow the health advice, get tested and stay at home while unwell. Students who are unwell and attend school will be sent home with the request to get tested. This also applies to staff who are unwell. Visitors who have cold or flu symptoms will not be permitted to enter the school.

Mask requirements

NSW Health and Catholic Schools NSW, although not mandatory, have recommended that all staff wear masks. All visitors must wear masks upon entering school grounds.

Metal Drink bottles

It is our recommendation that students use plastic or sustainable type of drink bottles in preference to metal drink bottles. 

Thank you for your support.

Uniform Reminder

A gentle reminder, please support us in our efforts to keep the College uniform level of presentation to a high standard. We ask that families check their child's uniform, particularly, the length of girls skirts, which should be worn to the knee. The Code of Presentation can be found on pages 10, 11 & 12 of the College Diary.

Lost Property

We have a large number of unclaimed jumpers and jackets without names on them. If you are missing a uniform item or belong to a item below, please contact the College office.

There will be a choice of two times to attend the Zoom Q & A Information Session. Please click on your preferred session to access the zoom meeting. 

2.00pm Year 11 2022 Zoom Q & A Information Session

​6.00pm Year 11 2022 Zoom Q & A Information Session

Year 11 2022 Subject Information Day - Friday, 23rd July 2021

Students will attend a series of information sessions at the College on subjects of their choice to assist in their subject selection. Students will receive a program for this day, they will then be able to choose the sessions they wish to attend.

Please note: Students who are absolutely certain that they are not attending Year 11 at St Joseph's Regional College, do not have to attend school on this day.

Year 11, 2022 Enrolment Interviews - Wednesday, 28th July 2021

Interviews will be conducted for students intending to enter Year 11 in 2022 at St Joseph's Regional College.

When and Where are the Interviews?

• Face-to-Face Interviews will be conducted in the College Library from 8.00am to 3.30pm. 
• Interviews via Zoom will be available from 4.00pm till 6.45pm.

What students need to bring to the interview:

• Subject Selection Survey,
• Parent and Student Agreement.

COVID Restrictions

Due to the current COVID restrictions, we have had to change some aspects of the interview process this year. Students will attend a 15-minute face to face interview in the College Library with ONLY ONE parent or guardian allowed.

Under the current Public Health Order, all visitors must sign in to both the Service NSW COVID Safe Check-In AND WOL (Who’s on Location). This allows us to meet child protection and emergency management legal requirements and the Public Health Order requirements. Face masks must be worn.

How do I book an Enrolment Interview?

All enrolment interview bookings are made through an online platform. You will need the following booking code: jknyp to access the times available.

Click on the following link to book your enrolment interview

www.schoolinterviews.com.au

Online bookings open at 8.00am Tuesday, 20th July 2021,

Online bookings close at 11.00am on Monday, 26th July 2021.

Should the above arrangements not be suitable, please contact Michelle Reynolds, our Enrolment Officer in the College Office on 5525 4100 to arrange an alternative time.

2022 Year 11 Enrolment Timeline

Uniform Changes 2022

Click for further information regarding enrolment into

Year 11 2022 at Newman Senior Technical College

YHQ @ SJRC Presentation Wrap Up

Families, staff, special guests and an expert panel of judges were treated to an impressive evening of entrepreneurial pitches by our brave and enthusiastic Year 10 students on Wednesday, 23rd June in the Performing Arts Centre. The presentation night was the culmination of six weeks of collaboration, creativity and critical thinking by our six teams of future entrepreneurs.

The 27 students, who had elected to participate in the Youth Headquarters project (YHQ@SJRC), were presented with a challenge for which they needed to develop a commercial solution. The judges and audience expressed their amazement at the professionalism, creativity and maturity displayed and felt assured that the future is bright in the very capable hands of our young people.

The special guests included: Mr Steven Pares, Coordinating Executive Officer for St Agnes’ Parish Education; Ms Jo Stuart, Education Officer with the Catholic Schools Office and Mr Tim McCosker, Assistant Principal of Curriculum at SJRC.

The judging panel offered their time and expertise and had the unenviable task to select a runner up and a winning team. We extend our gratitude to the judges:

• Kath Bowler, General Manager at Holley Nethercoate Lawyers with a long-standing career in financial compliance.
• Liesa Davies, the Group Manager of Economic and Cultural development at Port Macquarie Hastings Council who has worked in the private and public sector with a wealth of experience in economic development.
• Shane Ryan, the Managing Director at Ryan Advisory Group. A qualified accountant, Shane has held CFO roles in the public and private sectors and volunteers his time on the board of several not-for-profit organisations.

All teams are to be congratulated on their tenacity, perseverance and collaboration throughout the project and, as Shane Ryan stated on the evening, all of the students involved are winners. The runner up team was ‘Hastings Eco Accommodation and Lifestyle’ and the winning team was ‘Growing in Balance’. A fantastic effort by all involved.

In the words of some of our parents:

“It was a great opportunity, learning how to follow a brief, interpret it to meet a criteria and grow from this experience both within himself and as part of a team, learning to troubleshoot, receive and take on board constructive criticism and create something new that the whole team believed in and worked hard on, supporting each other and the other teams as well. Overall a brilliant learning experience”.

“Our son thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the YHQ programme. He enjoyed the group work and the adrenaline rush of the evening - they were all so brave to stand up in front of everyone and present. It was easy to forget they were all only around 15. He has gained a lot from the programme and spoke very highly of all of the teachers’ commitment to them. It was great that all students could elect to participate if they wished”.

“Our child was very engaged in the program. He was particularly interested in getting experience with presenting, communication and critical thinking. He told us he very much enjoyed the format of the program - the involvement of external people, and looking at trying to solve a real-world problem in a collaborative environment. He mentioned the rapport the kids developed during the program was an extremely positive additional benefit of the program. The sense of achievement was immense, and being treated and valued as young adults”.

And in the words of some of our students:

“I really enjoyed the idea of being involved in a project and having the process of creating the idea and eventually receiving feedback to change and develop our project. I enjoyed working with different people and just creating an idea”.

“The Library was the perfect place for this project. We were able to easily collaborate with our team as well as utilising a range of different technologies and such to work and complete our project”.

“I spoke with Mr Lutton prior to this course starting, asking him if it would be a good idea for me seeing as I’m wanting to go to University and he said absolutely. It helped develop my problem-solving skills, my outside the box thinking skills and most importantly, my public speaking skills, something I need to work on as I want to join the senior leadership team”.

A special thank you to all of the teaching and support staff involved in facilitating this opportunity for our students, particularly Mr Shaun Ninness, Mr Ian Lutton, Mrs Christine Harmer, Mrs Karen Bale and Mr Jeremy Bate.

Amanda Cassegrain
Leader of High Potential Learners

NAIDOC Week Prayer - Heal Country

During the holidays, Australia celebrated NAIDOC Week.  The following video is a prayer sung by NATSIC Councillor, Aunty Dolly. The song 'To You Oh Lord' is accompanied by iconic images from the country and people of the Diocese of Lismore.

The theme of NAIDOC Week 2021 is Heal Country. As you watch the video, take a moment to consider the country within and around you. Where do you seek healing?

Mrs Carly Taylor and Mr Braydan Sagger
Indigenous Education Workers

Year 8 Textiles

Year 8 Textile elective students completed two projects last semester. Their first project was to construct boxer shorts using a simple pattern. The students learnt how to construct seams, casing and hem. The second project saw students design and create a cushion cover. A variety of techniques were used to decorate their cushion cover. This included patchwork, applique, machine and hand embroidery.

Mrs Diana Walsh
Assistant Leader of TAS

Year 12 - Successful Transitions - Format Shift

Attention Year 12 students and parents - please note that the Successful Transitions evening originally planned for next week has been format shifted as a result of the current COVID situation in NSW. Please see below details about the re-formatted event with Year 12 hearing the presentation on Wednesday 21st July, and the presentation plus additional materials becoming available for parents - on our website again next Wednesday.

Thank you for your attention to this.

https://www.sjrcportcareers.com/

Mrs Leanne Tinsey
Leader of Careers and University Transition

This week's Parent Library focus is "Odd girl out" by Rachel Simmons. It is easy to miss the subtle signs of aggression in girls--the dirty looks, the taunting notes, or the exclusion from the group-that send girls home crying. In Odd Girl Out, Rachel Simmons focuses on these interactions and provides language for the indirect aggression that runs through the lives and friendships of girls. These exchanges take place within intimate circles--the importance of friends and the fear of losing them is key. Without the cultural consent to express their anger or to resolve their conflicts, girls express their aggression in covert but damaging ways. Every generation of women can tell stories of being bullied, but Odd Girl Out explores and explains these experiences for the first time.

Word of the Week: CONSIDERATION

Meaning: Thoughtfulness and sensitivity towards others.

We all need to be considerate of each other in these trying times.
Do what is right for yourself and everyone.

Alumnus Lachlan Morton (2008) has ridden the 2021 Tour de France in front of the field. It was a charity ride where he completed the whole tour including the transitions.

The finish and start points are very rarely in the same place during the tour. Riders are normally bused from the finish lines to the next start point at the end of each day. Lachlan rode the extra kilometres as well as the stage distance.

Why did he put himself through it? It was all in the name of charity for World Bicycle Relief. Bicycles for those who may not otherwise be able to afford one.

Congratulations, Lachlan. Please click the link below for the full story.

2021 Alt-Tour de France (Sydney Morning Herald Article)

Michael Cannon
Leader of Sports

15th July 2021

Congratulations to Adam Jennings who represented Port Macquarie/Hastings in the NSW State Hockey Championships in Parkes during the recent holidays.

This was a 3 day event hosted at the McGlynn Sporting Complex hosting over 20 teams in 3 divisions. The Port Macquarie team were in division 2. Adam was selected to the team which comprised boys from all clubs and schools in the area. The boys played 3 games in their pool of 4 teams and after a tight initial 1-1 draw with Grafton first up, then put together 2 solid wins against Orange and the Southern Highlands; 8-1 and 3-0 respectively.

This then gave them second in the pool by goal difference and a quarter-final against Wagga Wagga. This game was exceptionally one-sided and was a 15-0 trouncing. This earned them a semi-final against a solid Tamworth side which they were able to win 5-0 and earn themselves a rematch with Grafton in the Final.

The final was a very tight game with some great play from both sides. Great attack and even better defence. After 4 quarters of nerve-wracking play where no one wanted to lose, the game finished as a 0-0 all draw. Appropriately so after 2 games and 80 minutes of play, the two sides could not be separated and were named joint State Champions

Here are some comments from Coach Ash Grummitt;

“Across the 6 games played, the boys remained undefeated with 4 wins and 2 tight draws against the other deserving joint winners Grafton. We scored 32 goals but more importantly only conceded 2.. while the focus may have been on our ability to score goals, I think a big shout out needs to go to our defence as every good team is founded on how well the team can defend. What is equally impressive is that those 2 goals were conceded on the first day, with no goals against on Saturday and Sunday. The boys talked about how those goals were scored, and learnt from them - ultimately that is what the weekend is all about and I'm sure you all agree that the boys got better and better with every game and played some amazing hockey.

It is simply an awesome experience for them and winning a State Championships doesn't happen that often, so they should be very proud of their achievement! Thanks again to you all for your contribution and commitment to the boys' hockey.”

Michael Cannon
Leader of Sport

15th July 2021

Our College canteen is in need of volunteers. If you are able to spare an hour or so of your time, we would love for you to join us. Please contact Donna Hamlin through the College Office on 5525 4100 to arrange.

Weekly Lunch Specials

The Canteen opens at 8.00am every school day.

Ms Donna Hamlin
Food Services Manager

The St Agnes' Uniform Store Trading Hours

Monday to Friday - 12 noon-5.00pm
Saturday - 9.00am-12 noon

 6 Boronia Street, Port Macquarie

Items in short supply at the St Agnes' Parish Uniform Store

We have been informed that the SAPPS sports socks are in low supply at the Uniform Store.

If your child requires new socks and you are unable to purchase them, please write a note in your child's diary explaining this. Plain white sports socks can be worn in the interim.