Events in the Next Week: Week 2

Term 4 Dates for your Diary

Wow, Term Four already! We are so excited to welcome our Pre-Primary students back to school, ready for another wonderful term of learning and fun. This term, students have many exciting events to look forward to, including swimming lessons, Grandparents Day, an excursion, and lots of end-of-year celebrations. The children have returned with big smiles, full of energy and curiosity. In Inquiry, we are exploring farms and how they sustain us, with engaging play areas that inspire imagination and hands-on learning. As we move towards the end of the term, our classroom will transform into a Christmas workshop and play space, where we will celebrate the joy and meaning of Christmas and the birth of Jesus together. But for now, here are some of our favourite memories from term 3. 

Year 9 & 10 Outdoor Education

The Year 9 and 10 Outdoor Ed classes spent Term 3 canoeing on the beautiful Avon River. They’ve been practicing various strokes, having races and completing challenges. The teamwork shown by these students over the 10 weeks was excellent to see. The Year 10s will use these new skills next week when they go on the Outdoor Ed Camp to Dwellingup and take part in canoeing, mountain biking and a high ropes course as a culmination of Outdoor Ed this year.

Health Expo

Recently, Year 11 General Health students created several stalls for Year 6-12 students to engage in as part of the expo for Wellness week. Health issues such as Road Safety and Fitness were researched and then senior students worked to create interesting, interactive stalls that got students involved in completing quizzes and doing fitness testing activities to win prizes. These stalls were run alongside various community stalls, with the focus on improving student wellbeing and access to services. Well done to the Year 11s for the effort they put into their stalls.

Health – Road Safety Expo

The Year 7 & 8 students were lucky enough to have the Road Safety Commission come out to Northam recently to conduct an incursion. Students were placed into groups and competed in various virtual reality competitions related to being safe on the road. Challenges explored wearing seatbelts, driver fatigue, reaction time, distractions, peer pressure, protective gear and speeding. They loved the hands-on activities and were fully engaged in the competitions and challenges.

Year 11 & 12 Outdoor Ed Camp

Braving inclement weather and hiking 32 kilometres over three days while carrying all their supplies, the Year 11 and 12 Outdoor Education classes hiked from Collie to Wellington Dam. The first day consisted of a long bus ride, straight into a 14 km trek, with Day 2 being a more challenging 15 km hike with long hills and rain the majority of the day. Day 3 was a short 3 km hike to the Dam and a well-earned rest on the bus ride home. The 11 and 12 students overcame challenges such as staying dry, sleeping on thin camp mats, and managing chafing. Culinary skills were demonstrated with gourmet meals — including well-done, sandy chicken schnitzel burgers, dehydrated vegetables and noodles, beef stroganoff, and tinned beans — being cooked on trangias and eagerly devoured. The students’ resilience shone through as the entire group completed the hike up and down slippery hills with minimal complaints. They encouraged one another to keep pushing, shared food and water with those in need, and some demonstrated strong leadership by taking charge of navigation, briefings, and debriefings. We hope this experience inspires a lifelong interest in camping and other outdoor pursuits.

Girls  AFL

St Joseph's played Northam Senior High School in the AFL Freo Dockers Cup on Wednesday September 24.  The day was organised by Glen Collins, our Regional Football Specialist. Our St Joseph's girls trained for the event all of Term 3 and this paid dividends with the girls getting an early jump on the scoreboard in the first quarter.  They kept NSHS scoreless for the first half of the game before the NSHS girls started to gel together as a team and put the pressure back on St Joseph's for the second half.  The early lead by St Joseph's was too much to overcome however, and St Joseph's  ended up winning 74pts to 10pts. There were many contributors, but Henna Garnett was named best player for St Joseph's.  All the girls from both schools should be proud of the spirit in which they played they game.  They showed equal amounts of endeavour and fair play.

Boys AFL

Recently selected Year 8 and 9 students competed in the Eagles School Boys Cup against NSHS and a combined East Avon Team. The boys showed great team spirit and sportsmanship across their two games. Oliver Clarke was awarded best on ground for St Joseph’s for his dominate display of ruck work

ACC Athletics

On September 5, St Joseph’s Secondary sent over 50 students to ACC Athletics in Perth. All students battled the weather and displayed amazing sportsmanship and effort. A massive congratulations to the team who finished 2nd overall on 1224 points (33 points behind)

Individual Results in top 5 overall:

Dani Simmons U13 Female Champion Girl

Nicholas Elliott U13 Male 2nd place overall 

Will James U14 Male Champion Boy 

Henna Garnett U15 Female Champion Girl