Term 2 Week 7 - 4th June 2021

The Interactive Parents Assembly resource on Family Online Safety

Last week I provided some information in the newsletter from the Safe on Social presentation for parents, hosted by the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Parent Assembly. As a follow up to that information, they have provided the following Family Online Safety resource. This interactive resource contains links to templates to assist you with developing a Family Device or Technology agreement, the Beacon app, the e-safety Commissioner, Safe on Social and the Catholic Schools Office e-book on online safety for children.

The below PDF flyer is interactive, please download it to view links to further information.

Family_Online_Safety_Flyer_Safe_on_Social_2021_A4.pdf

Family_Online_Safety_Flyer_Safe_on_Social_2021_A4 _pdf 709.28 KB

Collecting Students Early

We ask that families endeavour not to pick students up, unless in an emergency, prior to 3.15pm.

Arriving late and departing early: 

• places increased pressure on students in relation to catching up on missed work,
• it is also disruptive for other students and teachers when students enter or leave a lesson during class time.

Wherever possible, please ensure appointments are made outside of school hours. However, if this is not possible, it would be appreciated if collection times can be arranged for the end of a period.

When collecting students early from the College, please follow the procedure below.
Note from parent/guardian. Noting the reason for early leave, time student will be leaving and who will be collecting your child.

• Students are to report to the College Office prior to morning PC. Present the Office ladies with their note from home, an Early Leave Pass will then be issued.
• The student shows the pass to their respective class teacher at the beginning of the lesson they will be leaving from. When close to departure time, the student will then politely inform the class teacher that it is time for them to go to the office to be collected.

Please note: If a student does not come to the office at the arranged time, or if the above procedures are not followed,  we may not be able to call the classroom or use our internal or external systems. This may result in parents having to wait until the end of the period to collect their child. 

Students Messaging Parents

Students in Years 7-10 are not permitted to use their mobile phones throughout the day. Year 11 and 12 are allowed to check their phone, however, if your child contacts you to collect them early for any reason; we would appreciate it if you ask them to go to the office. The office ladies will then contact you. This will avoid interrupting classes during learning time.

We thank you for your cooperation with these procedures.

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.

Mrs Tanya Daley
Assistant Principal - Mission

College Subject and Activity Accounts

Your College Subject and Activity account will be emailed to you in the coming days. We ask that if you don't receive your account, please check the Spam folder. To avoid missing an important email from the College please add the sending email address to your contacts.  

WARNING: This story contains images of Indigenous people who have died.

Mabo Day

For more than 200 years, the Australian governments acted under the presumption that Australia belonged to no one before colonisation.

The legal concept, known as "terra nullius", stripped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of their traditional rights to their lands and attempted to sever connections to cultures dating back 65,000 years.

June 3rd, 1992, marks the day that the High Court of Australia delivered a landmark decision overturning the legal fiction of terra nullius, recognising the special relationship Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have with the land, paving the way for Native Title. Today we remember a great Australian and his cultural and human rights legacy, Eddie Mabo.

Who was Eddie Mabo?

Eddie Koiki Sambo was born on June 29, 1936, on the Torres Strait island of Mer, also known as Murray Island.

His mother died during childbirth and he was raised by his mother's brother, Benny Mabo, whose surname he adopted.

Mabo settled in the Queensland city of Townsville in 1959 with his wife, Bonita.

Eddie Mabo was an activist for the Torres Strait Islander community and co-founded one of Australia's first black community schools. Bonita, Eddie's wife, also co-founded the school and worked there as a teacher's aide.

In 1974, while working as a gardener at James Cook University, Mabo learned from academics Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds that, under Australian law, Mer was Crown land owned by the Australian government — not by the Meriam people.

Mabo gave a speech about Mer's land inheritance system at a Land Rights Conference in 1981, and a lawyer in the audience suggested there should be a test case to claim land rights in court.

A year later, Mabo and four other Meriam people — Celuia Mapo Salee, James Rice, David Passi and Sam Passi — took their legal claim for ownership of the lands of Mer to the High Court. Sadly, Mabo did not live to see his victory, having died of cancer five months earlier aged 55. Mrs Salee and Sam Passi also passed away before the decision was handed down.

Why was the Mabo decision so important?

The Mabo decision acknowledged the traditional rights of Indigenous people to their land and waters, and paved the way for native title in Australia.

It also recognised that Indigenous people occupied Australia for tens of thousands of years before the British arrived in 1788.

The Australian government passed the Native Title Act in 1993 after 51 hours and 49 minutes of debate in the Senate, the longest-ever debate at the time.

The law set out the framework for Indigenous people to claim native title on Crown land. But, many see native title as an imperfect system which has brought heartache to many First Nations because the onerous conditions required to prove it can make it difficult to obtain.

Reference: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-03/what-is-mabo-day-eddie-high-court-decision-terra-nullius/100180516

Indigenous Boys Group

Year 7 and 8 Indigenous Boys group have been learning about traditional hunting and gathering techniques and the engineering expertise of traditional aboriginal tools. The group learnt about traditional Woomeras (spear throwers) and their real world applications. In groups, they then had the opportunity to create their own spears and woomeras and test their creative ability. They will have the opportunity to test them out at a later date.

Bicentennial Indigenous Dance Performance 

Last term, Year 12 student, Melodie Cicak, performed with other Indigenous students to mark the beginning of the bicentennial celebrations which aims to acknowledge our past and the importance of truth-telling through the medium of dance. I invite you to read a few words from Melodie about her experience. 

Gumba, was a beautiful, significant and moving piece of contemporary dance performed on town green by dancers from across the mid north coast, choreographed by Bangarra Dance Theatre dancer, Ryan Pearson, a proud locally raised Biripi man. The music and audio for the project were created specifically for the purpose of this performance, incorporating traditional indigenous music with contemporary audios along with spoken word segments from local elders and national significant persons. The piece itself worked to reconcile and provide insight into the indigenous cultures and significant histories, informing the community of thematics such as colonisation, invasion, the stolen generation, rights movements, Kevin Rudd’s, 2007 apology and reconciliation.

I, Melodie Cicak, a proud Aboriginal Year 12 student at St Joseph's Regional College, had the opportunity to be involved in this project. I hold this experience very close to my heart as it enabled me to gain further understanding of my ancestors' history and my culture, and was a great way to connect with other students creating bonds that we will cherish forever.

Melodie Cicak

Mrs Carly Taylor and Mr Braden Saggers
Indigenous Education Officers

"Just wanted to thank you for your support of our Incitare student day today. The Year 9 and 10 students that supported the day were fantastic ambassadors for the College. The way they led and encouraged our students in a really authentic way was so nice. The YMO’s, Matt and Emily, were also really influential and took great initiative within the day. These opportunities are really special for our students. Thanks for making it happen!"

This exciting conference is back again in September, starting on the first Wednesday of the school holidays. The Catholic Schools Office, Diocese of Lismore ("CSO"), will be organising the trip, which is open to students from Years 9-12 at St Joseph's Regional College. The cost will be subsidised by the CSO to make it more affordable and accessible. Student participants will be asked to make a co-contribution of $245.00 which contributes towards travel, accommodation, registration and most meals, and is the equivalent of the registration fee alone.

To secure your registration for Ignite, students will need to collect a form from the College office and return it by Friday 11th June. Please include payment of $245.00 (non-refundable) with the permission note and return it to the College office. Registration as a group will be completed once an idea of numbers is known.

Further details on the conference are below:

Mr Timo Gobius
Leader of Evangelisation

YHQ@SRJC

This week, it was with great excitement that we welcomed the judging panel to the YHQ (Youth Headquarters) @SRJC. Our Year 10 students were nervous and excited as they pitched their Minimum Viable Product in 90 seconds to our three external judges, Shane Ryan, Director Ryan Financial (ex-alumni), Kath Bowler, General Manager HN Law, and Liesa Davies, Group Manager Economic & Cultural Development Port Macquarie Hastings Council.

All groups answered questions from the judging panel and received feedback to refine their product. The experience challenged our students to think critically about their concept, and what modifications were needed to meet the design brief. Congratulations to all YHQ students on the impressive way they were able to communicate their ideas.

Mrs Amanda Cassegrain
Leader of High Potential Learners 

University of New England School Acquisitive Art Prize (UNESAP)

The University of New England School Acquisitive Art Prize (UNESAP) is held annually with the purpose of encouraging talented young artists in Regional New South Wales. UNESAP has been developed through an ongoing partnership with the University of New England and is in its seventeenth year.

This year, SJRC entered the works of four incredibly talented Art students from Years 9 and 10.

We are delighted to share the news that Lorena Dionigi's work has been selected in the 60 finalists from over 470 artworks entered. Lorena's self-portrait will now be sent over to the New England Art Museum in Armidale where it will be exhibited in the 'Let's Hang It!' exhibition featuring the 60 finalists.

We are sure her talent will shine brightly in this exhibition. Congratulations, Lorena!

Tracy Pares
Art Teacher

Mrs Diana Walsh
Assistant Leader of TAS

Kids Lit Quiz

We had heaps of fun being masters of literary trivia at the Mid-North Coast heat of the Kids Lit Quiz. Our three teams performed exceptionally well, with SJRC1 taking 4th place for the day. Our participants showed this week that a background of wide reading has armed them with a myriad of learnings, understandings, knowledge and information.

Congratulations and very well done to our teams:

SJRC1 - Lillian Habben-Leister, Matilda Ewart, Amelia Riley and Mia Williamson;

SJRC2 - Ethan Begley, Oliver Koivu, Elijah Koivu and Kieran Copeland;

SJRC3 - Hannah Thompson, Tiana Daly, Meisha Mabey and Julia Martin.

Parent Library

If you would like to borrow from our Parent Library, please send an email to pmreg-lib@lism.catholic.edu.au and we will organise this for you.

SORA

We have an exciting reading service available through Sora, the student reading app, which provides free 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks. What better way to engage your student’s mind than through reading?

Starting 5th May – 20th August 2021, the Sora Sweet Reads program will offer a collection of Juvenile and Young Adult titles that will be prominently displayed in Sora for quick and easy unlimited access. You can explore the title offerings and learn more about the program here: https://resources.overdrive.com/sora-sweet-reads/.
How does it work?

Sora provides the quickest and easiest way to get started with digital titles from our school. Students can simply log in and instantly access hundreds of ebooks and audiobooks on virtually any device. Get started today at https://soraapp.com or download the free Sora app for Android or iOS. For easy access, our school’s setup code is ACEN.

AudioBook Sync

Over the next few weeks, various audiobooks will be made available for free download and lifetime ownership. See the attached flyers for more detail. See below for FAQ about getting set up for downloading your free audiobooks.

Mrs Karen Bale - Teacher Librarian (Monday-Thursday)
Mrs Michelle Lawler - Teacher Librarian (Friday)

Word of the Week: TOTEM

Meaning: Aboriginal totems are believed to be descendants of the Dreamtime, heroes or totemic beings.

Year 10 students are collaborating with St Joseph's Primary for a local Totem Art Project

Congratulations to Phoebe Bentley (Yr 12) who competed at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships last week in Sydney as part of the NSW Catholic Combined Colleges Team.  Phoebe competed in six events, her results are listed below:

• Event 18: Girls 17+ 50m Freestyle - 2nd in 27.02s Q
• Event 40: Girls 17+ 50m Butterfly - 6th in 29.91s
• Event 50: Girls 17+ 200m Freestyle - 4th in 2.09.87s
• Event 103: Girls 17+ 100m Freestyle - 2nd in 58.48s Q NR
• Event 132: Girls 17+ 200 IM - 6th in 2.27.90s
• Event 163: Girls 17+ 400m IM - 3rd in 5.16.63s Q NR

Phoebe broke her own college records in the following events:

• NR 100m Freestyle - new record 58.48s, old record 58.86s
• NR 400m Individual Medley - new record 5.16.63s, no old record

Q Due to COVID there are no School Sport Australia events in 2021.  Students who finished top three in their event were listed in the NSW All Schools Merit Squad.  Phoebe made this squad for three events.

SJRC Sport Records

Michael Cannon
SJRC Leader of Sport

31st May 2021

The annual SJRC Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 13th July (Term 3 Week 1).  Due to the size of our College, we are unable to run all events on carnival day.  For that reason some of the events are run at the end of Term 2 – they are listed below.  All high jump events require parents to provide permission on the official form.  All events are optional.  Points accumulated will count towards age champion tallies.

All Year 7 & 8 students will be provided with Fosbury Flop (high jump) tuition during sport classes so they are prepared for their high jump event if they choose to enter.

2021 SJRC High Jump Permission Form

Pre-Carnival Events

Term 2

Week 8
Thur 10th Jun - Athletics 1500m All Ages (Oval - lunch)
Fri 11th Jun - Athletics 800m All Ages (Oval - lunch)

Week 9
Mon 14th Jun - Queens B'day Public Holiday
Tue 15th Jun - Athletics Triple Jump All Ages (Oval - lunch)
Wed 16th Jun - Athletics 400m All Ages (Oval - lunch)
Thur 17th Jun - Athletics 16s High Jump (Hall - lunch)
Fri 18th Jun - Athletics 15s High Jump (Hall - lunch)

Week 10
Mon 21st-Thur 24th Jun - Yr 9 Canberra Excursion
Tue 22nd Jun - Athletics 13s High Jump (Hall - lunch)
Wed 23rd Jun - Athletics 17+ High Jump (Hall - lunch)
Thur 24th Jun - Athletics 12s High Jump (Hall - lunch)
Thur 24th Jun - 14 Boys Cochrane Cup Rugby League Gala Day @ Port Macq
Fri 25th Jun - Athletics 14s High Jump (Hall - lunch)

Term 3

Week 1
Mon 12th Jul - Pupil Free Day
Tue 13th Jul - SJRC Athletics Carnival

Week 5
Thur 12th Aug - Diocesan Athletics @Coffs Harbour

To qualify for the SJRC Athletics Squad, students need to finish in the top 2 of each event.  More information regarding this year's carnival will be out before the end of term.

Mr Michael Cannon
Leader of Sport

12th May 2021

Each year we run a volleyball competition at lunch and recess.  Anyone can enter a team of eight and there is no restriction on combination (ie. any year group, any gender, staff may enter a team too or be part of a student team).  Please read on for details.

Congratulations to The Defending Champions who defended their title.  Teachers 2 - Students 0

• The Defending Champions (46) def  McLovin (42)

Entry:

• Please read the competition rules (below) before entering
• Teams can be made up of any combination of year group and gender.
• Entries now closed

 Rules:

• 20 minute games
• Draw posted daily on the notices 
• Rally Point Scoring – every rally counts for a point
• 6 on the court at any one time
• Same person keeps serving until they lose
• When receiving the ball back each person MUST rotate one place clockwise
• Serve from the back right hand corner of the court
• May come up to the blue line to serve
• 3 touches only
• Touch the net – point to the other team
• Captains to sign results card at the end of each match

 Prizes:

• 1st = Perpetual Trophy + Pizza Lunch + Out of Uniform Day (same day)

Draw:

• Double Elimination Knockout Competition
• Guaranteed 2 Matches
• Draw
• Games to start in week 3 of term 2.
• Team Lists

Times:

• Recess 11:10 – 11:30
• Lunch 1:45 – 2:05

Results:

Wednesday 9th June (Grand Final)

• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05 (Grand Final)
  • Match 52 - Court B: The Defending Champions (46) def  McLovin (42)

Tuesday 8th June

• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 51 - Court B: Oreos (44) lost to McLovin (32)

Monday 7th June

• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  
  • Match 50 - Court B: McLovin (51) def Empire Spikes Back (33)

Friday 4th June

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  • Match 46 - Court A: Empire Spikes Back (46) def DNA Smashers (30)
  • Match 47 - Court C: McLovin (44) def Jacob's Bar Mitzva (37)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 48 - Court A: Hunter's Honeys II (31) lost to Empire Spikes Back (36)
  • Match 49 - Court C: Oreos (35) lost to The Defending Champions (39)

Tuesday 1st June

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  • Match 40 - Court A: Flat Caps Were Back (35) lost to Jacob's Bar Mitzva (43)
  • Match 41 - Court B: The Rookies (31) lost to Empire Spikes Back (46)
  • Match 42 - Court C: Year 13 (37) lost to DNA Smashers (45)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 43 - Court A: Oreos (35) def Hunters Honeys II (34)
  • Match 44 - Court B: The Defending Champions (37) def McLovin (33)
  • Match 45 - Court C: How I Set Your Mother (36) lost to Jacob's Bar Mitzva (42)

Monday 31st May

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  • Match 34 - Court A: McLovin (47) def Year 13 (34)
  • Match 35 - Court B: How I Set Your Mother (43) def Over the Top (34)
  • Match 36 - Court C: Sets in the City (37) lost to Jacob's Bar Mitzva (47)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 37 - Court A: Empire Spikes Back (55) def Year 12 Girls (26)
  • Match 38 - Court B: Spike That (28) lost to DNA Smashers (49)
  • Match 39 - Court C: Green Machine (28) lost to How I set Your Mother (45)

Friday 28th May

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  • Match 28 - Court A: Over the Top (40) def Blazing Aces (39)
  • Match 29 - Court B: Yr 12 Girls (45) def Set & Forget (41)
  • Match 30 - Court C: DNA Smashers (55) def Hot Shots (28)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 31 - Court A: Oreos (36) def Green Machine (25)
  • Match 32 - Court B: Hunters Honey's II (45) def Flat Caps Were Back (27)
  • Match 33 - Court C: The Defending Champions (41) def The Rookies (36)

Thursday 27th May

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  
  • Match 23 - Court A: How I Set Your Mother (45) def Little Digs (43)
  • Match 26 - Court B: Empire Spikes Back (41) def Team Extreme 3.0 (29)
  • Match 24 - Court C: Sets in the City (45) def Big Dig Hitters (37)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 25 - Court A: Dave's Devon Devils (46) lost to Jacob's Bar Mitzva (49)
  • Match 27 - Court C: We Showed Up (41) lost to Spike That (52)

Friday 7th May

• • Recess: 11:10am - 11:30am
    • Match 3 - Green Machine def Hasting's Serv-ivors (Forfeit)
    • Match 4 - Big Dig Hitters (24) lost to We Showed Up (36)
    • Match 11 - Dave's Devon Devils (36) def Dream (19)
  • Lunch: 1:45pm - 2:05pm
    • Match 9 - Court A: Sets and the City (50) def Spike That (32)
    • Match 7 - Court C: Set & Forget (43) lost to The Rookies (52)

Monday 10th May

• • Recess: 11:10am - 11:30am
    • Match 1 - Court A: Little Digs (31) lost to Empire Spikes Back (43)
    • Match 2 - Court B: Year 12 Girls (41) def Blazing Aces (27)
    • Match 5 - Court C: Jacob's Bar Mitzva (33) lost to Flat Caps Were Back (41)
  • Lunch: 1:45pm - 2:05pm
    • Match 8 - Court A: Over the Top (53) def Setters of Catan (33)
    • Match 10 - Court B: Year 13 (46) def Hot Shots (44)
    • Match 6 - Court C: How I Set Your Mother(50) def Team Extreme 3 (33)

Monday 24th May

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  • Match 12 - Court A: Blazing Aces (44) def Hasting's Serv-ivors (29)
  • Match 13 - Court B: Set & Forget (38) def Setters of Catan (27)
  • Match 14 - Court C: Hot Shots (67) def Dream (14)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 15 - Court A: Oreos (36) def Empire Spikes Back (34)
  • Match 16 - Court B: Hunter's Honeys II (60) def We Showed Up (25)
  • Match 17 - Court C: DNA Smashers (38) lost to Flat Caps Were Back (39)

Wednesday 26th May

• Recess: 11:10 - 11:30
  
  • Match 20 - Court A: Yr 12 Girls (36) lost to Green Machine (43)
  • Match 21 - Court C: The Rookies (37) def Over the Top (27)
• Lunch: 1:45 - 2:05
  • Match 18 - Court A: The Defending Champions (48) def How I Set Your Mother (30)
  • Match 19 - Court B: McLovin (61) def Sets in the City (25)
  • Match 22 - Court C: Year 13 (44) def Dave's Devon Devils (35)

Mr Michael Cannon

Leader of Sport

23rd April 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 5525 4100 to arrange.

Weekly Lunch Specials

The Canteen opens at 8.00am every school day.

Ms Donna Hamlin
Food Services Manager

JHI offering Short Courses

Interested in working with people in need of care and prefer to work hands-on?

If you want to learn the skills involved in this type of role, JHI is running a number of nationally recognised short courses in June 2021 through which you gain the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to take on person-centred support roles.

View the available courses and express your interest here: Courses – John Henry Institute

The St Agnes' Uniform Store is open from:

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

 6 Boronia Street, Port Macquarie

Further Post School Information For Students and Families

The following link has a wealth of information for young people with disabilities and their families navigating the next steps to further employment or study after Year 12: https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/finding-keeping-and-changing-jobs/leaving-school