SJRC Newsletter: Term 4 Week 4 - 7th November 2025

SPARK Arts Festival – Have you booked your tickets?

Join us for the 2025 SPARK Arts Festival on Thursday 20 November at the Glasshouse, Port Macquarie, a vibrant celebration of creativity, community and the arts across St Agnes’ Education.

Students from St Joseph’s Regional College, MacKillop College and Newman Senior Technical College will showcase their incredible work in music, dance, drama, and visual arts through performances, exhibitions, and twilight events.

With live performances, art installations, courtyard jazz, shared dining, and large-scale projections under the stars, SPARK is more than a show, it’s a full festival experience!

Don’t miss out!

https://artsnest.com.au/

Year 11 Semester Two Awards

This week, we celebrated the end of the Year 11 Preliminary course academic results. It was pleasing to see so many students receive awards for consistent academic performance and a commitment to their learning. At the awards ceremony, Mr Lutton, Assistant Principal, Learning and Teaching, acknowledged the hard work of this dedicated cohort and how quickly the next 12 months will pass. He also encouraged students to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle outside of school; finding balance as they move towards the HSC examinations is crucial.

Thank you to the parents, carers, family and friends who were able to join us for this celebration. Well done, Year 11 and keep challenging yourself academically as you work towards the end of your secondary schooling.

Congratulations to the following students on receiving first place in their course.

English Advanced Health & Movement Science Mathematics Advanced Studies of Religion 11 Textiles & Design	Erin Little
Drama Studies of Religion I Visual Arts	Sophie Pynaert
Mathematics Standard Modern History	Jack Duff
Chemistry Economics	Kailas Nath Praveen Remya
Biology Investigating Science	Maya Curtis
Physics	Cooper Watts
Music 1	Samuel Duff
Mathematics Extension 1	Sheridan Barker
Legal Studies	Oliver Koivu
Hospitality	Emma Galafassi-Barnes
Geography	Sarah Fiorenza
English Standard	Zenden Babekuhl
Engineering Studies	James Hiam
Earth and Environmental Science	Tayla Mackey
Design and Technology	Summer Kelly
Dance	Taytum Moylan
Community & Family Studies	Tahnee Dimon
Catholic Faith in Action	Sophie Wiggers
Business Studies	Keira Le Bailly
Ancient History	Akir Baird-Philp

Sheridan Barker
Erin Little

Sophie Pynaert

To receive an Outstanding Application Award, students in Year 11 must have received Application Awards in five or more subjects. 

Congratulations to the Outstanding Application Award recipients:

Akir Baird-Philp Imogen Baker Ava Bourne Emily Cook Sophie Cooper Maya Curtis Jack Daley Tahnee Dimon Jack Duff Samuel Duff Sarah Fiorenza Hayden Forster Jaime Franklin

Ava Garrett Sienna Goldring Lily Greenwell James Hiam Paige Hudson Adam Jennings Summer Kelly Elijah Koivu Oliver Koivu Cody Lynch Tayla Mackey Arshak Martirosian Airlia Matthews

Jhed Monckton Taytum Moylan Ava Nowlan Kailas Nath Praveen Remya Harley Rayment Lauren Reeves Charlie Smith Tahlia Van Den Boom Cooper Watts Phoebe White Airlie Wilson

Victor Chang School Science Awards

We are pleased to announce that this year, our College is participating in the Victor Chang School Science Awards. This award is in honour of pioneering cardiac surgeon Dr Victor Chang. The Award recognises gifted students in science and encourages interest and growth in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Two students were successfully nominated by their teachers for their tenacity, curiosity, and commitment to their studies

Congratulations to Tayla Mackey and Kailas Nath Praveen Remya.

Zonta Young Woman in Leadership Award

We are proud to acknowledge a student for an award that speaks directly to
the future of service and advocacy: the Zonta Young Woman in Leadership Award.

This international award, sponsored by the Zonta Club, is specifically designed to honour young women aged 16 to 19 who demonstrate a strong commitment to leadership in public policy, government, and volunteer organisations. Its goal is to recognise and encourage candidates for their dedication to volunteerism and their efforts toward building a better world for women and girls through service and advocacy.

Today, we celebrate a truly deserving runner-up. This young lady is a lovely presence, a skilled communicator, and a proven leader both within our school and in the wider community.

It is my great pleasure to congratulate Ava Nowlan, the runner-up for the prestigious Zonta Young Woman in Leadership Award!

The Macquarie University Emerging Leaders Award

Recognises Year 11 students who have shown academic achievement and have made significant contributions to school life and offers them exclusive opportunities, such as a Leadership Forum and access to the HSC Study Lab.

Congratulations to oUr two very worthy recipients: Paige Hudson and Adam Jennings.

Ian Lutton

Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

Mrs Tanya Daley
Principal

Catholic Mission fundraising

What an incredible sight! On Friday, November 7th, SJRC was a vibrant sea of stripes, polka dots, and wild designs as we celebrated Crazy Sock Day to raise money for Catholic Mission. Your enthusiasm and generosity have made a genuine difference in the lives of children thousands of miles away.

Catholic Mission, the Pope’s international mission agency, works to help communities around the world flourish by supporting vital grassroots projects like healthcare, education, and spiritual care.

This year, our focus was on supporting communities in Zambia. Thanks to your gold coin donations, we will be helping to ensure children there have access to food and education, offering them the opportunity to build a much brighter future. Every single donation helps unlock a child’s potential.

The competition for the Craziest PC Photo was fierce! Seeing every PC group decked out in their wildest hosiery was a fantastic reminder of our community spirit. Congratulations to the winning PC - Vincent 2! enjoy that well-deserved hot chip lunch!

We also had a tremendous response to our milkshake sale at lunch. Selling delicious milkshakes for $4 each provided a welcome treat and boosted our fundraising

 total significantly.

Thank you to everyone who wore a crazy pair of socks, brought a gold coin, and purchased a milkshake. Your
collective efforts have raised just over $1000 that will directly support Catholic Mission’s essential work in Zambia. It truly shows what we can achieve when we come together as a community!

Be the Hands of Christ: SJRC Christmas Hamper Drive 2025

This Advent season, we are called to prepare our hearts by remembering and sharing the greatest gift of all: Christ's love for us. Our annual Christmas Hamper Drive is a powerful way for the entire SJRC community to put our faith into action, mirroring Christ's message of service and care for our neighbours in need.

Every Pastoral Care (PC) class will collaborate as one team to create a special Christmas hamper for families in St Agnes' Parish. This collective act of generosity embodies the true meaning of Christmas. The most important way you can serve is by collecting and bringing in items for your PC class's assigned hamper.

Bring in Your Donations

Start collecting now! Your PC class has received a plastic tub, labelled with your family's number. You can place your donations in this tub.
As disciples, we are called to share what we have. We are collecting two main types of items:

Festive Food & Pantry Staples

• Vouchers for Fresh Food (Fruit/Veg/Meat) to ensure a full, fresh meal on Christmas Day.
• Christmas Cake, Fruit mince pies, Shortbread, Sweets & Chocolates, Bon Bons, and Bags of Chips.
• Custard & Tin Fruit, Pasta and Bolognese Sauce, Cereals, Rice, UHT milk, Juice/Soft drinks, Tea/Coffee/Milo.

Gifts

• A new gift for each member of the family (e.g., a game, toy, aftershave, perfume, or jewellery).
• We suggest a small $5 contribution toward buying these gifts to ensure every family member receives something special.

Remember Hamper Day!

Thursday November 27th is our big collection day, and it's an Out of Uniform Day!

We encourage everyone to bring in their contributions on this special day. Let the halls be filled with the generosity of our community as we prepare these gifts of hope.

A Quick Note on Donations

In honour of the dignity of every person, please ensure all donated items are new. Do not bring used goods, alcohol, or tinned foods like spaghetti and baked beans. Please give any individual gifts you buy to your PC Teacher so they can be wrapped and labeled for the recipient.

If you have any questions about the drive, please speak to your PC Teacher.

Let's make this Christmas blessed and be a sign of hope to others!

Year 7 Reflection Day: Come and See!

We are excited to share the essential details for the upcoming Year 7 Reflection Day, a key event in the Year 7 calendar.

Essential Details and Attendance

When: Tuesday November 11 2025 in Term 4, Week 5.
Where: St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie.
Uniform: Students are required to wear their sports uniform.
Attendance: This is a compulsory attendance day for all Year 7 students.
Books: Bring books and laptop for period one.

Catholic Faith in Action Class Update

Catholic Faith in Action is a HSC course which allows senior students to grow their faith, spirituality and understanding of what it means to be Catholic through the lens of actively supporting those less fortunate in our community. This year, CFiA students have delivered a number of fundraising events and a food drive to support Catholic organisations like Catholic Mission, St Agnes' Parish My Place initiative and the St Vincent de Paul Society ‘Winter Appeal’. The students of CFiA would like to thank the SJRC community for their ongoing support throughout the year. Wrapping up 2025, the students of CFiA ran a very successful raffle with donations being sent to Catholic Mission to support underprivileged children in Zambia. Again, many thanks to those who were called to donate to this great cause, and congratulations to the lucky prize winners.

Deacon Shane Hyland
Acting Assistant Principal - Mission

Digital Thumbprint Workshops

At SJRC we are committed to the holistic education of our young people. We aim to prepare our students for the complexity of the world beyond the school gates. Please see information below relating to three upcoming programs that students from Years 7 - 11 will be participating in during the weeks ahead. By tapping into staff expertise, chasing grant money and seeking out community partnerships, these programs are all made available to students at zero cost.

Students in Years 7 - 10 will attend one hour Digital Thumbprint Workshops during timetabled classes on 18th November. Digital Thumbprint is an organisation that is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a trusted provider of digital education for young people. Workshop topics for each year group are:

Year 7: Cyberbullying
Year 8: Protecting Your Personal Information
Year 9: Digital Discernment
Year 10: Digital Identity

All Year 11 students will once again be participating in the RYDA Driver Education Program. This year’s program is scheduled for Wednesday 26th November Periods 1 - 4. Information has been emailed to parents of Year 11 students. The contact person for this event is Ms Kellie Croft, Year 11 Leader of Student Wellbeing.

On 27th November, all Year 9 Students will participate in the one day “Love Bites” respectful relationships program. Year 9 parents will shortly receive Compass correspondence outlining arrangements for the day. As we have staff trained in program facilitation, we are able to offer this essential learning for our students at zero cost. More information about the Love Bites Program can be found at THIS LINK. This program is part of our school-wide focus on respectful relationships and consent education.

In partnership with the Council of Catholic School Parents, the eSafety Commissioner is hosting a free educational webinar for parents of young people in Catholic Schools. The webinar is entitled “The changing face of cyberbullying: Protecting your child - Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT”. This online event will take place from 7-7.45pm on Wednesday 12th November. More information and registration at the link below:

Webinar Registration Link

Mrs Jennifer Furney
Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care

The 16s rugby league team contested the Northern Final of the statewide NRL 9's tournament in Week 2.

Game 1 saw a tough fought battle against St John's College Woodlawn. The team fought hard with limited possession and defended well but unfortunately walked away with a loss. The team bounced back for Game 2 defeating Toormina High and progressed easily passed Mt St Pats Murwillumbah in Game 3. This result set the stage for a rematch against Woodlawn in the final.

Confident they could get the job done, the team came out strong with tries to Ryan Eggert and Koby Bedwell but a late surge from Woodlawn saw the half-time score 11-10. Feeling somewhat down about letting them back into the match, the boys were determined to hit back early in the second half. Three straight tries to Regional sealed the match with the final score 25-16.

This is the end of the pathway for this competition. Congratulations on becoming Northern State Champions and thank you to coach Mr Gudgeon for you work with our team.

Damien Kelly

Leader of Sport

7th  November 2025

Encounter Youth

The Encounter Youth Program is held every Friday at the Youth Hub. 

Come along and join in the fun.

What’s better than hanging out with your mates on a Friday night?
Eating hot dogs with your mates on Friday nights at Encounter!

We’ve got some friends from NET Ministries joining us, we’re continuing our journey with Alpha, and we will welcome some Encounter Kids!

Remember, Alpha is a great opportunity to invite a friend!

This Friday, our Encounter YA community and senior students will be joining some staff members from NET Ministries for a Mission Mindset night.
Everyone will meet at the Youth Hub from 5:30pm for some fellowship before heading to their own session later in the night.

Encounter Kick Ons (Sundays after the 5.00 pm Mass)

 Group games and supper - Come and join us!

Zac Parnell

We have a delicious variety of 'Lunch Specials', available for $7.00 from Wednesday to Friday, and an everyday menu.

CLICK HERE to view the Canteen's everyday menu.

Breeanna Stone
Food Services Manager

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