Author: jmckay

This Friday the SJC OBU will host a commemorative Mass and luncheon to honour all Old Boys who have been involved in conflict and for those who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country.

At 11.00am, the bells of the College will ring out, as they did across the Western Front and around the world, heralding the end of what the world hoped would be the war to end all wars.

As a feature of the commemoration of Armistice and Remembrance Day 2018, ‘The Poppy Project’ has involved our community. It is estimated more than 6000 poppies have been received. The depth of feeling that went into the making of these poppies, and the stories of families who participated in remembrance of someone they knew who has served, represent the love, honour and respect of those who participated. These are now displayed on the Circular Lawn and on the cross in the Chapel.

With the support of the Religion and TAS departments, the Resource Centre has had each student from Years 7 to 11 attach a poppy to the cross or a stem to a poppy while acknowledging the name and date of the fallen, often a member of their family.

With home games at the College this weekend, there will be limited parking on the College Grounds. There will be no parking until 2.30pm.

With the Spring Fair this Sunday there will also be no car access Sunday morning.

At the Headmasters Assembly today, Fr Gavin led the College in prayer. He began by informing the students that Thursday November 1, is All Saints Day. You will be pleased to note that Fr Gavin refereed to you all, the parents, as Saints!!! How accurate he was.

Fr Gavin then discussed that All Souls Day is celebrated on Friday November 2 and that this is a time to stop and reflect on our loved ones who have passed. The Year 7 boys will have the opportunity both in the Religious Education classes and in some free time, to write a message to someone special to them that has passed. The boys can place this message in the All Souls chest in the Chapel. Fr Gavin with then bless these messages.

All Saints Day and All Souls Day stem from the belief that there is a powerful bond between those in heaven and the living. November is therefore a very special month and a time for us all to remember and pray for those who has passed.

Next Tuesday, the Year 7 boy will attend a Science Excursion at the Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park in Gosford. The excursion will take place all day with the boys returning at approx. 3.30pm. The boys have been given the details for the day from their Science teacher but they need to wear neat casual clothes for the day. A hat should be worn along with closed in shoes (no thongs). Recess and lunch will be provided at the venue.

Family Mass – Sunday November 11

Spring Fair – Sunday November 11

College Swimming Carnival – Wednesday November 14

Dear NSW Rural Parents and Carers,

Please continue reading if you wish to book a seat for your son(s) to travel home to Rural NSW with TrainLink (Regional School Coach & Rail Services)
Bookings are now open for boarding students wishing to travel home to Rural NSW in Term Four.
To reserve a seat for End of Term 4 please submit your booking by Friday 2 November 2018.
We ask that you now complete your son’s booking form by the closing date. The college is required to comply with the cut-off date specified by TrainLink. We urge you to make your bookings for your son now through the College, even if you are not sure; bookings may be cancelled without administration fees if done so by the cancellation date. Bookings not made by the due date cannot be accepted by the College.
Please follow below steps to access the Country Boarders Travel Booking site.
1. Click on the link below to access the Joeys Travel Bookings for Country Boarders link (or copy and paste into your browser)
https://ilearn.joeys.org/homepage/16816/
If you are not already logged into ilearn, you will be taken to the entry splash screen to log onto the site
2. Enter Parent Joeys ID example 12345@joeys.org
3. Enter Password if you have forgotten your password click on Forgot user id/password at the bottom of the splash screen (see image below)
Once you have entered the site you should be on the MAIN Travel bookings page. If you still need to navigate to this page, please go to https://ilearn.joeys.org/homepage/16816/

4. Select Make a booking

Bookings close Friday 2 November 2018

Should you have any questions, please reply to travel@joeys.org

Thank you for your attention to this matter

Regards

Joeys Travel Team

Just a reminder about the Music Concert this Friday night in the Music Centre. Only a small number of boys (21) are performing and they have been contacted in relation to this. Dinner will be provide for them and will be served at 5.45pm. The boys need to be in the Music Centre at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

Dear SJC parents and carers,

Welcome back to the final term of 2018 as we prepare for the celebration of Spring Fair, following Family Mass on Sunday 11 November. With a little over three weeks to go we are really ramping up the organisation and energy.

VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS
As we all know, our Fair would not be a success without our enormous contingent of amazing volunteers from all year groups. We thank you for your participation and appreciate your ongoing support. Please click on these links to volunteer your time and meet more of your fellow parents.

The Year 7 Parents each year, look after the White Elephant Stall. We are calling all parents to come along and assist for a few hours on Friday 9 November, Saturday 10 November or/and Sunday 11 November. It is a great way to make new friends and it is a lot of fun and a great way to raise funds for the College. If you are able to volunteer some time can you please indicate this on the ink below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e49aba72ea3f49-white

Being the final term and a short term at that, I thought it would be a good opportunity to promote the idea of taking a Year 7 Boarding Student home for the weekend or even a nice home cooked meal. Although the Day Students and Boarders mingle on a daily basis I think some time together away from the College is a good opportunity for boys from different backgrounds to come together and form tight bonds.

We have promoted this a bit with the boys throughout the year and it was pleasing to see a number of Day Students head home with some Boarders at the end of Term 3.

For this to take place, the parents of each boy would need to communicate the specifics of the leave and the parents of the Boarding Student would then need to put a leave through on Boardingware.

As discussed earlier in the week via email, Lunch Leaves will not be available for week 3. This will commence on Monday October 29 and will finish on Friday November 2 pending an improvement in the boys behaviour.

Regretfully I have made this decision based on recent events and correspondence from staff, parents and members of the wider community.

Free webinar for parents from The Black Dog Institute
Navigating Your Teen’s Mental Health
24 October 2018, 6.30pm-7.30pm

Delivered by a trained presenter with lived experience of mental illness, you will gain an insight into what it’s like to grow up as a young person with a mental illness.

You will learn:
• about anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder
• how to spot early warning signs in young people
• when and where to seek help
• how to support a young person you care about

For further information, please click on this link https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/navigating-your-teens-mental-health-webinar-mental-health-month-registration-49836651767