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

As we inch ever closer to the end of Term 1, we also get closer to having to farewell Mrs Christian from the Head of Primary role as she prepares to move to her new school, St Michael’s in Bassendean. Mrs Christian’s contribution to the school over the last three years has been vast – not only has she skilfully led the Primary campus, but she has also been a presence across the Secondary campus as required. Mrs Christian’s patience, kindness and genuine love of our community will be sorely missed and, while she goes with our fondest and best wishes, she will leave lasting memories in the hearts of many. We will be holding an assembly to farewell her with the primary students on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30pm in the PAC. Parents are very welcome to attend if they wish. 

There has been a myriad of sporting carnivals over the last few weeks and I would like to congratulate not only the students who competed, but also the staff and parents who organised and accompanied the groups of students. Carnivals of any kind require a high level of input and we are very lucky to have dedicated PE staff and generous parents to help bring them all together as opportunities for our students. 

Congratulations to our Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 students who survived NAPLAN week. It is always a stressful time, but it is important to remember that it is just one test on one day and while the results will give a general indication of ability, the results are more useful for the school to rack student progress over time. Results will not be available until later in the year. 

As there will not be a newsletter next week, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a happy and holy Easter. I hope you can spend some beautiful time with your families and take the opportunity to get away.

Weekly Gospel Reflection

This week's clip has a focus on 'Covenant' and how we find good examples in the people of Jesus, Joseph and positive role models.

Marist Youth Ministry Connect Night Camp

On Wednesday 13 March, some of our Senior Secondary Students journeyed to Bunbury to participate in the first Marist Youth 'Connect' Night in WA for 2024.

Our students gathered with other students from Newman College and Bunbury Catholic College to discuss elements of God's plan for us and avenues where we can see the Light of Christ in our World.

The night included games, Liturgy and a Q & A session that allowed students to learn about God's plans for us in amongst a Marist setting.

Our students enjoyed the time away to reflect and develop as a group and we thank Issy Ochtman, Marist Youth Ministry, Ms Cusack and Bunbury Catholic College for hosting us during our visit.

Lloyd Reidy
Head of Religious Education

"Spirit of Jesus" Award 

Congratulations to our "Spirit of Jesus" Award winners for this fortnight: Aaron Clements and Kaizer Winch-Buist.

Project Compassion - Palm Sunday

Dear Families & Friends,  

It is with genuine love for our community that I write this, my last newsletter article for St Joseph’s. This week began with lots of crying, and I am sure the tears will continue, as I experience my ‘last’ of everything. As I experience these ‘lasts’, the tears shed are a mixture of how much I am going to miss our community and happiness that I was blessed to work in such a special place for the last three and a bit years.

To all of our Parents, Grandparents & Guardians, thank you for your support and trusting me with your children. To all of our students, thank you for making every day exciting, for your smiles and your love; remember that each of you are special and capable of greatness in your own way. To our staff, there are not enough words to express what an incredible team you are. It has been a privilege working with you all.

Last week, I had the joy of attending Year 6 Camp, and loved that I was able to spend quality time with our Year 6 students. They participated in activities including beach raft building, rock climbing, coastal bike riding, ziplining and had lots of time in the ocean. Thank you to Miss Thomas, Mr Watson, Mrs Curtis and Mr Ewing for attending camp and looking after our students so well. Special thanks to Father Ruben who visited us at Woodman Point to celebrate a very special Mass with our students.

May you all have a blessed Easter and many opportunities to spend quality time together as a family.

Michelle Christian
Head of Primary

Class in Focus: Year Three Gold

Year 3 Gold sat down this week to discuss what has been happening in our classroom this term and we were astounded by just how much we have already accomplished! No wonder we are all ready for holidays!

In Maths this term, Mrs Kaur has been teaching us about measurement and we have had some wonderful hands-on learning using assorted tools to measure small, medium and large objects around the school, using things such as trundle wheels, tape measures and rulers. Mrs Kaur has also taught us how to construct tally charts and graphs during Mathematics. Our favourite lesson was definitely having to tally the Smarties, as we got to eat them at the end.

Mrs Adams has been teaching us all about number and we have been working on recognising and making 5 and 6 digit numbers using MABs and expanded notation. We have also been looking at the characteristics of odd and even numbers and conducting a small investigation into addition and subtraction using odd and even numbers.

Mr Matthys takes us for Science and this term we have been learning about living and non living things, including conducting an experiment to determine whether larger seeds will sprout and grow faster than smaller seeds. We have also been having lots of fun demonstrating our Science learning through Blooket quizzes.

In English we have been sharing the BFG as our class novel and creating our own narrative story, containing the suspense features we have been learning about in class. This year the Year 3 classes are also learning spelling through a new program called SpellEx. We are all thoroughly enjoying learning our tricky words, as well as the meanings of special spelling words such as phonemes, graphemes, prefixes and suffixes.

During HASS, Mrs Kaur has been teaching us all about rules and laws and how we can contribute in our community. We also took a secret ballot within the classroom to vote on our class rules.

Religion has taught us all about the Church community and all the different people who are welcomed into the Church. The last few weeks we have also been learning about Lent and Easter, which is a very special liturgical celebration in the Church community.

When you add to that Harmony Week activities, NAPLAN, Art with Mrs Smith where we have been using scratch art to create dragons, PE with Mr Watson and Technologies and Health with Mr James, it is no wonder we are all exhausted! Lucky it is not long to go until holidays!

Ruth Adams & Harpreet Kaur  
Three Gold Teachers 

Join the St Joseph's Equestrian Interschools Team!

Are you passionate about horses and riding? Do you dream of competing against other schools in thrilling equestrian events? St Joseph's School invites both Primary and Secondary students to express their interest in joining our Equestrian Interschools Team!

Event Details:

• Date: Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th April (Easter School Holidays)
  
• Location: State Equestrian Centre 303 Cathedral Ave Brigadoon
• Events:

• Dressage
• Eventing
• ShowJumping
• Combined training (Dressage & Showjumping/no cross-country)
• ShowHorse (Hacking)

Requirements:
Students must be a member of EWA (Equestrian Western Australia), either as competitive or participant members.

Most competitive interschool classes require a qualifying event (except prep dressage and showhorse). Participant classes do not need qualifications.

Expression of Interest: Interested Primary students should talk to Ms Thomas in Year 6 Gold or email mikala.thomas@cewa.edu.au for any inquiries and to express their interest.

End of Term 1 already! It has been a very busy term. We wish Mrs Michelle Christian all our love and prayers as she leaves to take on her new role as Principal at St Michael’s. 

Thank you to Mr Lloyd Reidy for driving myself and 16 of our Year 11 and 12 students to Bunbury Catholic College last week for an overnight Marist Youth Ministry Night. It was a very long but enjoyable overnight camp.  

Thank you to Miss Adrienne Suckling and Ms Natalie Williamson-Holley and the HPE team for organising and supporting our students in a very successful ACC Swimming Carnival last week. Thank you also to the parents who attended. Being able to watch our students compete over “Live Stream” was a lot of fun and built school camaraderie.  

Thank you to Mr Mark Gargano and Mrs Nita Budas for taking our Year 10A Science class to Burlong Farm for the Rocket Launch excursion. The Year 10s came back very excited after all of their rockets launched! 

NAPLAN is all but finished for another year. Results won’t be due out until August. I will keep you updated as we get any information.  

The Year 10s are off to the RAC Bstreetsmart Event in Perth on Wednesday. This is a valuable excursion before they start driving. It will also help them towards successfully completing their Keys for Life in Term 2 & 3. Some parts of the presentation can be confronting; however, it is very important for students to see and hear the results of silly, impulsive decisions to ensure their safety for the future. 

The Secondary Social was held on Thursday night, and we had a huge turnout of students who enjoyed hanging out with their friends on a school night over way too much Taylor Swift. Thank you to dads Jimmy Martin and Rikk Hargrave and the many teachers who stayed behind to ensure our students had a wonderful and safe time. Special thanks to Lucie Lombardini for her creative flair and the students who helped her decorate.

The Interim School Reports are due out next Thursday, 28 March. These are an indication of how your child is working in class, both academically and behaviourally. There are no grades attached to the Interim Reports, but teachers may indicate that they would like you to come in for an interview to discuss your child’s progress in their class. Parent Teacher interviews take place in Week 3 of next term, on Thursday 2 May. I will email out the steps for booking an interview next Thursday with the reports so that you can make the appointments needed. 

Have a safe and 'hoppy' Easter. 

God bless,

Sharon Cusack
Head of Secondary

Harmony Day

On Thursday 21 March, Harmony Day was celebrated at the Secondary Campus with a beautiful performance and workshop of highland dancing, multicultural tunes being played, orange bracelets and a delicious shared lunch where students and staff bought food from their culture and talked about how it was made and its origins. We are so very proud of our diversity and thoroughly enjoyed sharing our differences.

Carol Farson
Secondary Teacher

Year 8 Food

The Year 8 Food class designed and produced their own burgers in Week 7. They did an amazing job!

Carol Farson
Secondary Food Teacher

Year 8 Solar Car Challenge

Last week, four of the Year 8 students from our da Vinci Club competed in the Synergy Schools Solar Car Challenge, North Metropolitan Heat at St Mark's Anglican Community School in Hillarys. Jacob Petchell, Zoey Grant, Keeley Bell and Will Grant had an exciting day and managed to gain fifth place, after winning the race off for the 'best of the rest', for all the teams who missed out getting into the semi-finals.

After spending the last five weeks learning how to build their car, then constructing and testing it here at school, their vehicle needed to pass scrutineering and then they were given 45 minutes to build their competition car from scratch, using a brand new kit. It was a little bit hectic, but the students worked well together to achieve their aim. 

After a number of races, our crew were quite excited to receive an award, and were very impressed with their prize - they all received re-useable Synergy metal straws!

A fun day was had by all. Many thanks to Mrs Budas for all the additional behind-the-scenes work during da Vinci Club, such as track construction for practice runs, and bus driving on the day.

Mark Gargano
Secondary da Vinci Club Coordinator

Da Vinci Club Workshops

After the recent competitions that our students have been involved with, the Solar Car challenge and the da Vinci decathlon, the last couple of sessions for our da Vinci Club students have taken a different focus. They involved our students participating in workshops with an external presenter to extend themselves further in a specialist area.

To follow on from our previous Astronomy work over the last few years, our students ran through some advanced features in astrophotography, learning how to request images from the ICRAR (International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research) remote and robotic SPIRIT telescopes, which are based in Mardella and run through UWA and Curtin. 

The students then downloaded the images and learnt how to take a series of individual images to create a composite colour image of their intended target using Photoshop. These skills will be further developed over the next week to create a final image.

I would like to thank Tim Young, the ICRAR SPIRIT Coordinator, for providing this opportunity to our students on Wednesday and during ISP time on Friday. In addition to these fresh skills, the students heard about activities, research and development in astronomy, upcoming work experience for academic students and the Square Kilometre Array project, the world's largest scientific project, which is based in WA.

Mark Gargano
Secondary da Vinci Club Coordinator

Earthquake Proof Buildings

Over the last 4 weeks, the Year 9 students have been studying Earthquakes and Volcanoes in their Science classes. As part of the topic they were asked to work in groups and build a model of a three storey building designed to withstand an earthquake, or in this case a vibrating exercise machine.

The models ranged in design, materials and overall finish, but they managed to withstand (in most cases) the earthquake, although there were some fatalities to some of the occupiers - a pirate, knight and a reindeer (who often got decapitated during the tremors!).

David Bundock
Secondary Teacher

Year 10 Rocket Launch

The Year 10 Science Course A students conducted a successful rocket launch on Monday 18 March. During the previous week, the students used class time to construct their rockets in groups. The aim of the rocket launch is to learn more about forces on objects and be able to collect data on the day to determine key information about different aspects of the rocket, enabling a better understanding of the laws of motion and how these apply to authentic real-world situations.

The students are all currently working on using the data gathered to calculate characteristics of their rocket, including how fast the rocket flew, how high the rocket travelled and the amount of energy used in lifting off.

Early data generated appears to show that the highest altitudes attained were close to 200 metres with the rockets experiencing around 20 gs at lift off. This explains why some rockets were damaged after taking off, although attaching a working parachute would also prevent this!

Thank you to Mrs Budas, our laboratory technician, for all the support and assistance during the investigation and also thanks to the Fox family for allowing us once again to use Burlong Farm as our launch facility for this project.

Mark Gargano
Head of Science

Year 11 Geography

On Wednesday 20 March, the Year 11 Geography class journeyed to Meckering and Cunderdin to try to understand the 1968 earthquake which destroyed the town of Meckering.

Students had a close look at the information board at Meckering and at the signs which indicated the buildings which existed prior to the earthquake. Students discovered that Meckering was a town of significant size with many productive businesses. After the earthquake the majority of the town had to be bulldozed as the brick and stone buildings were damaged beyond repair.

Students also investigated the ruins of Salisbury house which was the home of the Snooke family. Students heard the story of survival of people whose whole lives were shattered in 40 seconds.

After Meckering we travelled to Cunderdin to the museum where we experienced the shaking earthquake house and recorded more information about the experiences of individuals.

Lastly, we went to see the remaining fault line on Quellington Rd and examined the change in land height and viewed the different topography on each side of the fault line.

Students enjoyed the day and increased their knowledge on earthquakes in Western Australia. Thanks to Mr Hargraves for driving the bus and to the students for being so cooperative.

Nicole Parker
Secondary Teacher

Year 12 FlexiTrack High

Year 12 FlexiTrack High Students had a talk from a Murdoch University Student Pathways Relationships Officer on Tuesday 19 March about how to apply to Murdoch.

Gerhard Vogel
FlexiTrack High Coordinator

Pastoral Care

Year 9 de Vialar students enjoying team building activities during Positive pastoral Care time on Friday 8 March.

Rebecca Doughty
De Vialar House Coordinator

ACC Swimming Carnival

On Thursday 14 March, the St Joseph’s Secondary Swimming squad travelled to Perth for the Interschool ACC Swimming Carnival. Although we only had a small team, our students demonstrated some outstanding skills and talent in the pool.

Thank you so much to Ms Natalie Williamson-Holley for her support with the carnival and helping our students achieve their best.  

Adrienne Suckling
Head of Health & Physical Education

From the VET Office 

It has been a very busy term with workplace e-learning placements for students in Years 10, 11 and 12. Students have been gaining workplace skills in Early Childhood Education, Construction, Engineering, Electrical Services, Agricultural Heavy Diesel Mechanics and Law Enforcement.  

Of special note is Cooper Adams who is currently completing a placement at the Northam Post Office. This is Cooper's first experience with the world of work and he is developing fantastic skills and learning a lot about the postal services.

Congratulations also to Hugh Rocas who has recently completed his Certificate IV in Health and Nursing.

ASDAN

On Thursday 14 March, the ASDAN 'Community and Citizenship' students visited a number of community facilities that support people in need and/or provide valuable support and assistance.  

The students plan to obtain and refurbish unclaimed bikes from the Northam Police station in Term 2 and donate them to people in need of transport to community facilities in Northam.

Caroline Marriott
VET Coordinator

Cookie Central

Cookie Central is back! The students did an amazing job at getting all the cookies baked before recess on Friday 15 March and sold 274 cookies.  

Cookies will be on sale every Friday at recess, 50cents each.

Sally Clements
Education Assistant

Join the St Joseph's Equestrian Interschools Team!

Are you passionate about horses and riding? Do you dream of competing against other schools in thrilling equestrian events? St Joseph's School invites both Primary and Secondary students to express their interest in joining our Equestrian Interschools Team!

Event Details:

• Date: Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th April (Easter School Holidays)
• Location: State Equestrian Centre 303 Cathedral Ave Brigadoon
• Events:
  • Dressage
  • Eventing
  • ShowJumping
  • Combined training (Dressage & Showjumping/no cross-country)
  • ShowHorse (Hacking)

Requirements:

Students must be a member of EWA (Equestrian Western Australia), either as competitive or participant members.

Most competitive interschool classes require a qualifying event (except prep dressage and showhorse). Participant classes do not need qualifications.

Expression of Interest: Interested Secondary students should reach out to Ms Natalie Williamson-Holley at natalie.williamson-h@cewa.edu.au for any inquiries and to express their interest.

School Calendar

The school calender is accessed via the School website or the Schoolzine app. Please ensure that you keep refering to this calendar throughout the year.

You are encouraged to check the calendar for upcoming events that may involve your family.

Andrea Woodgate
Principal

Parent Participation Scheme

Did you know that the School offers a reduction in your school fees?

Families have the ability to work off a portion of their fees through voluntary help at the School. This is a great way to get involved and set a wonderful example of vollunteering for your child.

Whilst assisting in the Canteen is an obvious way to help, other activities encouraged include:

• Classroom assistance
• Reading assistance
• Officiating at swimming & athletics carnivals
• Gardening
• Running or assisting with fundraising activities
• Covering books for the Library

Forms and pamphlets are available from the Primary Office or to download from the website at https://sjsnortham.schoolzineplus.com/_file/media/86/parent_participation_card.pdf

Once completed, please hand in to the Business Manager, Ms Quinn, by the end of Term 3 - the forms can be dropped into either the Primary or Secondary Admin Office and Ms Quinn will arrange for the deduction of the Levy from your School Fees Account.

Sharon Quinn
Business Manager

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

REMINDER: Students will be required to wear their winter uniform for Term 2 and 3.

Easter Holiday Opening

The Uniform Shop will be open on Friday 12 April from 9am - 4pm, with appointments for current families available in the morning and new families in the afternoon. To make an appointment, please call the Primary Admin Office on 9621 3500.

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.

Disclaimer:

All returns and or exchanges of uniforms to be made within the school term (3 months) of initial purchase.

Michelle James 
Primary - 9621 3524

The Primary Canteen is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. 

The Secondary Canteen is open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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.

Canteen Support - Volunteers Required

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 send back your Canteen Assistance form or, for Primary, sign up online: the new Term 1 Volunteer Sign-up Page is now up and running - click here.  

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 (Primary)    Desrae Smith (Secondary)
9621 3525                                   9621 8104

Year 7 Parent Sundowner
A big thankyou to everyone who came to our Sundowner event for Year 7 parents.

Easter Raffle
Our annual Easter Raffle is here! The last day for donations from parents is Monday 25 March. Donations can be anything Easter; chocolate, books, decorations etc. Please hand all donations in at either the Primary or Secondary admin office.

Raffle tickets are on sale until Tuesday 26 March. These can be purchased before school or at lunch. Tickets are 50c each or 3 for $1.

The Raffle will be drawn on Wednesday 27 March.

Movie Night
This year we will be holding a family movie night. This will be held on Saturday 4 May. More details on this event will be released closer to the date.

Bingo Night
Our first big fundraiser for the year! This year we will be raising funds to go toward the senior school Health program. In particular to provide extra resources for mental health. Bingo night will be an adults only event. It will be held on Friday 7 June. Further details are to come.

If you wish to help out in any of the above mentioned events, please do not hesitate to contact myself or the school.

Our next meeting will be held on Monday 22 April at 6.00pm in the PAC at the Primary campus.  

If you require more information or would like to discuss any school or P&F issue, you can contact me at anytime 0424 288 354. No question is too silly, I am here to help in any way. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out!  

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 Library.

We welcome anyone, and grandparents and friends can cover on your behalf.  All support and help is appreciated.  

Please remember to complete your parent participation form.

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

Follow us on Facebook

To stay up to date with the P&F please follow our Facebook page for more updates. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1764507137145087

Casey Pearse
P&F Chair

Parish Priest - Fr Stephen Jean Paul Victor

Assistant Priest - Fr Rubenson Cardona

Mass Times ~ Saturday Vigil @ 5.30pm

                      ~ Sunday Mass @ 8.00am  

Presbytery Phone: 08 9622 5411
Email: northam@perthcatholic.org.au *
Website: www.northamchurch.com

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

*Please note the new email address.

Holy Week & Easter Mass Times 2024