Dear Lord,

We ask you to bless St Joseph's School Community.

We pray that you guide us to be just and to see,

listen, speak and act like St Joseph.

May we be inspired by our Founders to be the best
that we can be.

May we always keep Jesus at the centre of all we do.

St Emilie          Pray for us

St Marcellin      Pray for us

St Joseph         Pray for us 

And may we always remember to pray for one another.

AMEN

Dear Members of St Joseph's Community

This week saw the end of the Year 12 ATAR exams.  I have no doubt that all students gave it their best shot and I am confident that their hard will work pay off at Results time later in December.  The entire School Community wishes these students well and hope they achieve the marks needed to get into their chosen University courses. 

This week, we held our Annual Community Meetings for both the P&F and the School Advisory Council.  Despite disappointingly low numbers, the meetings were able to go ahead.  A copy of the Principal's Report and the SAC Chair’s Report can be found here at https://sjsnortham.schoolzineplus.com/school-advisory-council. Onto the School Advisory Council, we welcome Jo Smith and Shane Buck. 

Our new garden space on the Primary Campus is finally complete!  St Emilie’s Corner, at the base of the stairs of Fermoy House, has been designed to be a lovely space that students and parents are able to use when they just want somewhere to sit and chat. The Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition have generously offered to contribute towards this project and we look forward to welcoming the Sisters to the school next year to officially open the space. 

As we approach the pointy end of the year, it is important that uniform and hair standards are maintained, that students continue to attend school and that final tests and assessments are completed.  It is often difficult for students to stay focused during this busy time, so we ask parents to help keep them organised and aware of what is happening each day. 

Weekly Gospel Reflection

Please view the Gospel reflection for this week.

This week's clip has a focus on "Heaven" (Gratitude).

Primary Choir Christmas Carols

On Tuesday 15 November the Primary Choir were invited to perform Christmas Carols to officially launch the K-Hub (K-Mart) Wishing Tree in Northam. The K-Mart wishing tree across the nation donates thousands of hampers and gifts to needy families during the Christmas celebrations in December.

Our choir were thrilled to be invited and performed brilliantly for the Boulevard shoppers who were passing by, yet were drawn in to watch and listen to the positive holiday tunes.

Annual Thanksgiving Mass

On Wednesday 16 November the Secondary Campus gathered for our Annual Thanksgiving Mass. The celebration of Eucharist was fantastic and included members of the wider Parish community. 

At the conclusion of Mass, the 2022 Student Leaders were thanked and awarded a Certificate for their year of service.  The new 2023 Secondary Leaders were  announced and presented in front of the School community and their family members.

Lloyd Reidy
Religious Education Teacher

Parish Sacramental Program

The Parish Sacramental Program Coordinator, Mrs Kathy Pollard, wishes to advise families that the Parish is considering holding the Commitment Ceremony for each Sacrament prior to or at the first parent/student workshop.  If you have any queries regarding the Sacramental Program, please contact Kathy Pollard on 0429 685 632.

Dear Families & Friends, 

Last week I had the pleasure of attending our very first Year 5 Camp. The students enthusiastically participated in archery, African drumming, night-time torch games and team building/leadership activities at Lake Leschenaultia.  Thank you to these students for representing our School so well, and to Mr Matthys, Mrs Smith, Mr Natkanski and Miss Fernandez for attending the camp and making the experience so enjoyable for our students.    

Celebrating Cultures 

On Friday 25 November, our Year 6 Student Leaders will be holding a special Assembly to celebrate the different cultures we have at St Joseph's. Students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 are invited to come dressed in clothing to represent their family's heritage. This may take the form of traditional dress, colours of your country's flag or sporting attire from a national team. 
 
Please note; this is not a general free dress day and any students not wearing clothing to represent their family's heritage are asked to wear their school uniform as normal. No gold coin donations required. 

Step-Up Day 

On Tuesday 29 November, students from Kindy to Year 6 will be participating in Step-Up Day.  Step-Up Day provides students with the opportunity to meet their 2023 classroom teacher and to know the students who will be in their class. Our Year 6 students will be spending the day at our Secondary Campus.  

Canteen Menu

For the last 3 weeks of term, the Primary Canteen will have a reduced menu available. This is due to a high increase in orders and a lack of volunteers to assist in making lunches. If you are able to volunteer some time please contact Primary Admin, all assistance is greatly appreciated.  

May you all have a beautiful weekend.  

Michelle Christian
Head of Primary

Year 4 Scitech Excursion

In Week 6, the Year 4 classes visited SciTech for their excursion. Students, teachers and helpers participated in the ‘Hot and Cold Show’ and the Crime Scene Investigation "The Heist", before exploring SciTech in free play.

During the ‘Hot and Cold’ show students, teachers and parents learnt about how heat is created and transferred, and how we use heat in our everyday lives. A highlight of the ‘Hot and Cold Show’ was the experiment, where water in a balloon protected it from popping when fire was applied directly to the section of the balloon filled with water. The presenter used a thermal camera to show how heat is transferred and how frogs view the world!  During the show, students also learnt that when gas is heated up it separates and enters the fourth stage of matter called plasma. An example of plasma is lightning. Scientists are working on controlling plasma and using it to generate renewable electricity.

The next activity was a Crime Scene Investigation, where students learnt how to use and analyse evidence to solve a crime. Together, we discovered that there are many factors to consider when solving a crime, and that the evidence needs to be carefully analysed around the context of the suspects’ circumstances, i.e. does the suspect work at the scene of the crime?

At the end of the visit, the students had free play, where they explored several science concepts through interactive inventions. A highlight of free play included exploring sound travel at the sound dishes, where one student spoke into a sound dish and another student could hear them through the second sound dish at a distance. Miss Armarego (Year 4 Gold) enjoyed watching the students test their knowledge of structural integrity when an earthquake simulator shook students’ built creations.

A big thank you to the parents who came to assist us and explore with us on our excursion to SciTech - you’re the best!

Stay curious!

Ms Armarego (Miss A), Mrs Nadia Golding, Mr Edward Ewing
Year 4 Teachers

Class in Focus:  Year 4 Gold

We have had a busy couple of weeks in Year 4 Gold this term, working hard on lots of different projects and activities.

During Maths, we have been consolidating our learning and practising our skills in a variety of interactive games. We have played Hit the Button with our times tables, trying to get the most correct answers in a minute, and Mrs Golding taught us a new game that we call ‘Shoot the Hoop’, where every correct answer we got on our whiteboards, we received a point and then a free shoot into the bin for some Dojo points. We have loved getting our competitive side out and learning at the same time.

During writing we have been learning about Persuasive writing with our model text being, ‘Make PlayStations Available at School’. Wasn’t this a hit for the boys in our class who got very excited when they heard the PlayStation opening tune play in the background as our Hook for this topic?  As this was a very controversial topic in the class, we had a class debate about whether we should have them at school. This was very interesting as we had some great ideas as to why they should be and why they shouldn’t be. We definitely have some convincing people in our class!  

As part of our Technologies unit, we have being learning about our editing skills when creating a Movie on iMovie. We completed our diary entries in Writing at the beginning of the term that was linked to last term’s History unit of the First Fleet and convicts, which we then acted out in front of a green screen. Once our editing was completed we had to edit them all together to create a movie, using the different techniques to reflect the time period of First Fleet.  This was so much fun!

During Science we have been looking at waste management and biodegradability, where last week we sorted out our recess and lunch time rubbish into the correct bins to create a class display in the classroom. We then buried a banana peel, milk bottle, sandwich bag, piece of paper and a piece of fabric into the soil just outside of class, where we made predictions on whether it would decompose over time or not. We are super excited to see what has happened with our rubbish over time and to see whether our predictions were correct.

Although we have had lots of fun this term, we are very much excited for some relaxation time, Christmas craft and just enjoying the time we have together as Year 4 Gold.

Mrs Nadia Golding and Ms Krystal Armarego
Year 4G Teacher and ECU Pre-Service Teacher

Class in Focus: Year 1 Gold

What busy, busy bees Year 1 Gold have been this Semester.  Exploring where food comes from, how its availability can dictate what we eat before getting to taste delicious foods from around the world. Yum!

Sharing what we have been learning and our favourite places at school with our Grandparents after hosting the special Assembly was a special treat. We had some fun tasting things that were sweet, sour, salty and bitter [yuck!] and trying to identify an object by its smell [not as easy as it sounds].

The excursion to Scitech with Year 1 Blue continued our investigation of the seasons and why when it is summer here in the Southern hemisphere it is winter in the Northern hemisphere.  Did you know that when the sun is low our shadows are longer?  We even attended a puppet show and learnt all about sound, how it is made of vibrations, that you can muffle it to make it softer and when you put different vibrations together, it makes music!

We have two weeks minus one day of swimming in not always the warmest of weather but the days have been heating up and we have had lots of fun.

Now that the year is almost over, we are learning all about the true meaning behind Christmas with the Jesse Tree.

It has been a great year and we are all very tired but still eager to keep learning.

Peta Robinson
Year 1 Gold Teacher

Head of Secondary

Term 4 has seen us very busy with examinations and catching up on events that were postponed from Semester 1. Our Year 12's have now completed all their examinations and Certificates and are ready to take on the world! Our Year 11's have also finished up with school for the year and I would like to express my gratitude to the wonderful parents who came in to help with exam supervision. We really appreciate our community help. Volunteers make a significant contribution to Catholic schools and form an integral part of Catholic school communities. Thank you. 

I would like to remind our Secondary community that when students bring phones into school, they need to go into their lockers at the beginning of the day and stay there until the final school bell.  The Canteen supports purchasing items online, by card or with cash. Students are not permitted to use their phones to pay for items at the Canteen. Thank you for supporting us with this.  

The Year 7 Orientation and Open Night was a wonderful night and it was lovely to see such a huge turn out of students and parents to have a look around the school and participate in activities.  

We held a beautiful Thanksgiving Mass on Wednesday, thanks to Fr Konrad and Mr Reidy. Our outgoing Student Leaders made a lasting impression on the school and gave great words of wisdom to next year’s Student Leaders. I would like to congratulate the 2023 Student leaders and thank them in advance for all of the hard work they will need to put in next year.  A special congratulations to Frederick and Stephanie as the 2023 School Captains. 

The 2023 Student Leaders are:  

Year 8 Student Leaders
Lulu Arkeveld	Samuel Candeloro
Year 9 Student Leaders
Alan John	Emily Street
Year 10 Student Leaders
Maisey Jones	Jesica Tony
Leonard House Captains
Kate Riches	Nate Blackhurst	Patricia Moyo
De Vialar House Captains
Antoinette Matres	Liam Elliott	Kate Gentle
Lenihan House Captains
Mason Dymnicki	Hannah Morrell	Madison Dymnicki
Marcellin House Captains
Mason Barr	Hugh Rocas	Lily Parker
Ministry Leaders
Gubek Yengkopiong	Zsavinah Teodoro
School Captains
Fred Ochtman	Stephanie Irvin

We wish this group all the best on their journey as leaders in our school community next year. 

Thank you

Sharon Cusack
Head of Secondary

Learning Area: Science

Hills Discovery Excursion

The Year 7 Science students went to the Hills Discovery Centre on Friday 4 November.  We participated in counting the biodiversity in the Beelu National Park, met some rescued native animals and went on a bush walk to learn about the beautiful trees, wildflowers and fauna found in the hills. We patted the cheeky rescued echidna Lulu, who quickly became the highlight of the day.

A big thanks to Mrs Kerrie Cook and Mrs Mel Rowling, our brave parent volunteers, as well as Mr Bundock and Mrs C for all your help.  We had a great day!

Kylie Wallis and Amanda McLaughlin

da Vinci Club Open Night

On our 2023 Open Night, the da Vinci Club students presented a series of three experiments in Room 10.

Jesica Tony and Josna Jojo ran the pop-test experiment and explained how Hydrochloric acid reacted with metals to form Hydrogen gas and then tested the gas with a controlled explosion.

Zackary Bowles and Susu Phung demonstrated the flame test experiment, showing how metal salts burn with different coloured flames, whilst Leah Morrell oversaw and explained gel electrophoresis and PCR to the visitors.

In Room 9, James Marwick displayed the microcontrollers using the Arduino kits. The Arduinos had been made into various projects including a spaceship interface and motorised pinwheel.

Callum Opray, Bailey Naughton and Akshi Jayakumar programmed the Lego Ev3 robots to respond to their environment via a series of sensors. The robots can complete task such as locating a particular object and then moving it.

Fredrick de Beer, Emily Street, Jonti Leeson, Sophie McKenzie, Alya Grogan, Jasmine Flint and Madison Potocznyj discussed the process behind the astrophotography rotation.  This includes programming remote telescopes to capture a series of images. These files are then edited using software to produce a final clear image of an object deep in the night sky.

The da Vinci students did an awesome job with a lot of very positive feedback received from our visitors.

Mr Mike Hillyer and Dr Mark Bundock

From the VET Office

Year 9 Career Taster Murdoch University Excursion

The McGowan Governments WA Jobs Plan committed to fund the Year 9 Career Taster Program (CTP). This program has been developed to inspire secondary school students about potential career and further study opportunities and assist them in making more informed decisions on their subject selections and post school options.

The CTP aims to support Year 9 students to become ‘career curious’ and complement the existing career development and taster opportunities already provided by schools and industry.

In Week 4, our Year 9 cohort went on an excursion to Murdoch University as part of the Year 9 Career Taster Program.

Students experienced a lecture theatre setting and then participated in two sessions facilitated by student ambassadors on the topics of Marine Biology and Bio-Med.

Students made a model of a cell using coloured playdough and learned about the differences between sharks and rays before relaxing in beanbags with other University student to eat their lunch on the campus green space.

The career taster at Murdoch was a valuable and enjoyable experience for the Year 9 students.

Caroline Marriott
VET Co-ordinator

Secondary Sporting News

Year 9 Sports Science Afternoon

The Year 9 Sports Science students have been learning about different coaching styles and specifically methods and techniques in coaching junior athletes. This unit of work was assessed by the students running their own coaching session on our Year 3 students at the Primary Campus.

We had eight groups consisting of different sports with 6-8 participants in each group for the Year 9s to work with.  The Year 9's did a fantastic job of planning, organising, and running their sessions.  The Year 3's were excellent participants and everyone was extremely pleased all round.  A great afternoon was had by all.

Special thanks to Mr Natkanski and Ms D’Silva for allowing us to use their classes to run the sessions and to Ms Frost for allowing us to use the Primary School facilities and equipment.

St Joseph’s Tennis Competition

On Tuesday 15 November, St Joseph’s Interschool tennis competition took place at the Northam Country Club.  The tournament was in place of the annual Herbert Edwards tennis which was unfortunately cancelled for 2022.

The day was met with fantastic support from the students with forty eight students from Years 7 to 10 nominating to play doubles and singles. It was a perfect 30-degree day with the grass courts at the Country Club freshly rolled and we were ready for a brilliant day.

We started the day at 9.30am with the singles tournament. The boys were in a single-elimination knockout tournament and the girls placed in pools to help determine our winners. The doubles were played in the afternoon with all competitors in a single-elimination knockout tournament. Tennis was played at a very high level and all players competed extremely well. Special mention goes to Connor Oliver for being Runner-up in the Singles and Champion in the Doubles and Kayla Willmott who was Champion for both Singles and Doubles.

Our winners and runners up were as follows:

Singles:

Year 7/8 Girls – Runner-up: Jonti Leeson, Champion: Kayla Willmott

Year 7/8 Boys – Runner-up: Connor Oliver, Champion: Jayden Oliver (sibling bragging rights)

Year 9/10 Girls – Runner-up: Imogen Ferguson, Champion: Antoinette Matres

Year 9/10 Boys – Runner-up: Swaka Yengkopiong, Champion: Isaac Childs

Doubles:

Year 7 – Runner-up: Ezra McLaughlin & Bailey Naughton, Champion: Connor Oliver & Benji Park

Year 8/9 – Runner-up: Ben Longmire & Jayden Oliver, Champion: Jianna Matres & Kayla Willmott

Year 10 – Runner up: Mason Dymnicki & Caleb Monaghan, Champion: Jacob Roberts & Jake Brennan

Well done to all our students who participated.  Whether you take tennis seriously, socially or you just wanted to be involved it was fantastic to see so many kids on the court and helping the day run as well as it did.

It sounds like there may just be a staff v students tennis competition over the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Adrienne Suckling
Head of Learning Area - Health & Physical Education

Year 7 Immunisations

The Avon and Central Wheatbelt Community Nurse Immunisation Team will be visiting St Joseph’s on Wednesday 23 November 2022. This will be to administer the second round of the school based immunisation program to all Year 7 students (females and males). 

The Health Department letter can be found on our Website under the Class Information section or by clicking on this link:

School Calendar

As we have transitioned over to our new website you will be able to access our school calender via the website or the Schoolzine app. Please ensure that you keep refering to this calendar as events planned at the start of the term may have been moved or cancelled and new events added. 

There are many events planned for Term 4, and you are encouraged to check the calendar for upcoming events that may involve your family.

Important events coming up

End of Year Primary Assemblies

Andrea Woodgate

Parent Participation Scheme

Parent Participation Levy cards are now due to be handed in to the Business Manager as soon as practical.  These can be dropped into either Admin Office and Ms Quinn will arrange for the deduction of the Levy from your School Fees Account.

Sharon Quinn
Business Manager

Parish Priest - Fr George James

Assistant Priest - Fr Konrad Gagatek

Mass Times ~ Saturday Vigil @ 5.30pm

                   ~ Sunday Mass @ 8.00am  

Presbytery Phone: 08 9622 5411
Email: northamcatholicchurch@iinet.net.au
Website:  www.northamchurch.com

Parish News ~ Children's Liturgy 
Children’s Liturgy sessions are held during the 8.00am Sunday Mass.

Opening Times:                           Mondays -   3.15pm to 4.45pm       
                                                     Thursdays - 2.45pm to 4.15pm    

We are now in Term 4 where students are required to wear their summer uniform.

Please also keep in mind when ordering, that your items will go home Tuesday and Friday of each week, as Monday and Thursday are the days the Shop is open.  When placing an order via the Online Shop, it will appear on a report the following day.  For example; if you place your order on Monday, the report issues on Tuesday which means it will not be organised until Thursday, and will go home on Friday.

Michelle James 
Primary - 9621 3524

Canteen Support - Volunteers Required

Due to the lack of helpers, the Primary Canteen has a new reduced Summer Menu in Term 4.  Please check the current menu and daily specials before ordering. 

You are encouraged to order online.  If we experience connectivity issues with the online ordering, please revert to using lunch bags to place orders for that day. 

Recess or snack items ordered online are available for students to collect from the Canteen at their Recess break.  Milo pops and icypoles can be collected from the Canteen following the second lunch bell.  

Due to high demand on our quality food and service we need helpers to ensure that our kids get their lunches on time. In order to function to our highest potential, we ideally need 2 or more volunteers a day. Volunteering is a great way to teach your kids about giving, modelling them for the future. Also, every shift you do at our School helps you towards qualifying for a Parent Participation discount on your annual fees.  

We would love to welcome you into our fun, and busy environment and see the smiles on your children’s faces when they see you in their school.  If you are able help, please sign up online at the new sign up link https://signup.com/go/esPvGqK

Our Primary Canteen Helper Roster for the next two weeks of Term 4 is below.  Volunteers are urgently needed so please consider offering an hour or two one morning.

Primary - Week 7  

Primary - Week 8

Primary - Week 9

I look forward to working with you.  If you have any queries, you are always welcome to contact the Canteen on the number below.

Angela Sandrini
Canteen - 9621 3525 

P&F AGM Wednesday 16 November

The P&F AGM was held on Wednseday 16 November with a small contingent of families present.  We will now hold a meeting in the next week or two to elect the members to Executive positions.  A full report from the AGM and the new Executive will be announced in the next Newsletter.  Thank you to those parents who attended on Wednesday.

Class/Library Book Covering

Ever wanted to help from the comfort of your home?

We have boxes of books processed and ready to be covered, all supplies (tape and plastic) provided. Pick-up is from our Primary Campus.

Anyone family member, grandparents and friends can cover on your behalf.

All support and help is appreciated.

Please don't forget to complete your Parent Participation Form.

Email: Kylie Dymnicki, Education and Library Assistant: 8605svc_library@cewa.edu.au

Canteen Assistance

A reminder about Canteen assistance: if parents have an hour to spare after dropping off their kids, or between 11.30am and 12.50pm, Angela would appreciate any help you can offer her.  The number of lunch orders coming in is the highest it's ever been, which means more food to get ready.  You can also have these volunteer hours marked off on your Parent Participation Card, which deducts $100.00 from your School Fees Account plus your children will love seeing their parents at School!

See our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1764507137145087/?ref=share for more updates.

Lauren Holten
President

World Youth Day Festival

Astrotourism WA ~ Spectacular Night Skies

FACET Workshop on Dark Sky Tourism

The FACET Workshop on Dark Sky Tourism has been rescheduled to 29 November 2022. It will be a fantastic opportunity to meet solar eclipse expert, Dr Kate Russo!

Find more stargazing tips and country events at www.astrotourismwa.com.au.  If you’re a budding “astro-enthusiast”, check out… Stargazers Club WA’s telescope classes and astronomy events for beginners at: www.stargazersclubwa.com.au.

Aquatic Exercise Classes

The Shire of Northam will be commencing weekly classes from Monday 21/11/22 at the Northam Aquatic Facility as follows

Monday 9am-10am - Stretch and Flex

Tuesday 9am-10am - Cardio Blast 

Wednesday 5.15pm-6.15pm - Aqua Strength

Saturday 10.15-11.15am - Weekend Warrior

Classes are $8 per person

For enquiries please call Northam Recreation Centre on 9622 5153