Upcoming events for Year 9

February 26, 2016February 26, 2016mblair

There are a number of events for Year 9 coming up which Parents and Carers should be aware of:

Monday – College Athletics Carnival

Boys wear joggers, college shorts and a plain t-shirt in the colour of their house to school. The carnival will conclude around 4:45pm. Parents of day students should adjust departure times in the portal before Sunday night if they wish for their sons to leave at 5pm.

All boys are expected to attend the carnival. I realise that there will be a few boys (and parents) who have already decided to have the day off. I spoke to the boys about the importance of giving everything a go, even it is not ‘their thing’. This is part of the Joeys culture and, I believe, a good attitude to have towards everything in life. We do ask for your support with this and please let me know if you wish to discuss it further.

Tuesday 1 March

7:45am: Dance practice in the basketball gym for the upcoming dance with Loreto.

6:15pm (during night study): Session on academic and personal goal setting with myself and David Hill.

Friday 4 March

7:45am: Dance practice in the basketball gym for the upcoming dance with Loreto.

Saturday 5 March

Summer sports rally in the Hall at 6:30pm. All boys are expected to attend, dress is blues.

Wednesday 9 March

6:30 Dance with Loreto Normanhurst in the Hall at SJC. Day boys can depart around 8:45pm

Saturday 12 March

Head of the River at Penrith followed by Rowing Rally in the Hall. All boys are expected to attend.

La Valla School, Cambodia

February 23, 2016mblair

On Thursday Mr Paul Brooks came to the Year 9 division meeting to tell the boys about the La Valla school in Cambodia. Mr Brooks visited the Marist school last year. Joeys are raising money for this school for our Lenten appeal.

The school was established by the Marist Brothers in 1998. it is the only government approved school providing a full primary education to students with disabilities. La Valla School provides a safe, welcoming and caring environment for students who would otherwise not have the opportunity of an education. It also provides health services and a range of other support to students often through volunteer doctors and other medical personnel.

La Valla is a boarding school for primary education, although children not primary school aged due to delay in accessing education. Students complete primary school in three years by attending morning and afternoon. The school has about 100 students and most have a physical and/or other disability.

Joeys raised over $20,000 in 2015, with Year 8 (current Year 9) having the highest average donation per student. Hopefully we can do the same this year.

Mouthguards

February 23, 2016February 23, 2016mblair

Mobile Dental Services will be at the College on Wednesday 24 February for mouthguard impressions and return on Wednesday 9 March for fittings and further impressions.

The mouthguards will be delivered to the College on Friday 4 March and will be distributed to Boarding Coordinators this day.

Any questions, please see the details on the form below.

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Pilbara Immersion

February 16, 2016mblair

Below is the information sent to parents regarding the 2016 Immersion to the Pilbara. Applications are being received for any Year 9 student who wishes to apply.

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Colo pre-camp reminders to parents

February 16, 2016July 10, 2016mblair

Dates for Colo camps for Year 9 are listed in this post.

A letter with some pre-camp reminders to parents from Mr Mark Brackenreg is included below. Parents will be emailed this information before their son goes to Colo.

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Colo – what to bring

February 16, 2016July 10, 2016mblair

Dates for Colo camps for Year 9 are listed in this post.

A list for parents and boys of what to bring to Colo is below. This information will be sent to parents prior to their son going to Colo.

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Mobile Phones

February 10, 2016February 8, 2016mblair

Your son’s communication with you while he is not in your care is very important, both for you and him. For the boarders, having a chat to you on the phone regularly is very important.

Many boys at Joeys now have their own mobile phone. It is important for you to understand that while we are happy for boys to have their phone at school, it is their responsibility and we have some strong guidelines in place regarding their use which the boys must follow.

Mobile Phones

Boys are allowed to have mobile phones at the College and use them under the following conditions.

Mobile phones are not to be carried or used;

on campus from 8.30am until 3.30pm.

in dining rooms

at sport

during evening study

after lights out

During these times boys are required to store mobile phones securely in their boarding lockers.

Mobile phones brought to school by boys are the responsibility of the owner. The school does not take responsibility for the loss or damage of mobile phones.

Boys are also reminded that transmission of inappropriate communication is unacceptable at any time.

Students are permitted to make and receive calls, send and receive SMS messages, on their personal mobile phones DURING THEIR FREE TIME as designated by their Boarding Coordinator.

NOTE:

Each mobile phone must be switched to the SILENT MODE at all times. Each mobile phone must be SWITCHED OFF outside the times listed above.

Students who are unable to follow these directions above will have their phone confiscated for 24 hours and will be handed to the students Board Coordinator or Academic Coordinator.

Students are required to register their mobile phone with their Boarding Coordinator. This means giving him the phone number, serial number and the model of their mobile phone.

Please note that in Year 9, boarders’ phones are away by 9:30pm and locked in a safe area overnight. Boys can collect them again the next day after school.

There is certainly a time and a place for mobile phone use and the College rules attempt to educate the boys in this. Parents can support these guidelines by not calling or texting boys during times when they should not be using their phones. Your support on this would be very much appreciated.

For further information you may wish to look at this study which found that students who were not using their mobile phones wrote down 62% more information in their notes, took more detailed notes, were able to recall more detailed information from a lecture, and scored a full letter grade and a half higher on a multiple choice test than those students who were actively using their mobile phones.

Jeffrey H. Kuznekoff & Scott Titsworth (2013) The Impact of Mobile
Phone Usage on Student Learning, Communication Education, 62:3, 233-252, DOI:
10.1080/03634523.2013.767917
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2013.767917

Joeys Basketball trivia night

February 9, 2016mblair

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Colo dates

February 9, 2016July 10, 2016mblair

2016 Year 9 Colo camp dates: (these are recently confirmed)

Year 9 Colo groups are the same class group as for RE, PDHPE. Geography/History

Year 9 Colo 1. 22 – 26 Feb Term 1, Week 5

Year 9 Colo 2. 14 – 18 March Term 1, Week 8

Year 9 Colo 3. 2 – 6 May Term 2, Week 2

Year 9 Colo 4. 16 – 20 May Term 2, Week 4

Year 9 Colo 5. 25 – 29 July Term 3, Week 2

Year 9 Colo 6. 17 – 21 October Term 4, Week 2

Year 9 Colo 7. 31 Oct – 4 Nov Term 4, Week 4

The optional Father/Son weekend will be held on 17^th and 18^th September. Information regarding the weekend will be e-mailed in second term, and also be available via iLearn.

Books and blokes breakfast – Tom and Meg Keneally

February 9, 2016mblair

Books & Blokes Breakfast with multi award-winning author Thomas Keneally and daughter Meg Keneally

DATE:	Friday 18 March, 2016
TIME:	Breakfast 7:30am, talk 7:40am
VENUE:	Resources Centre, St Joseph’s College
COST:	Free
RSVP:	Please click here to RSVP

Thomas Keneally is an Australian treasure. He is a novelist, playwright and non-fiction author who holds a special place in Australia’s literary history as the country’s first-ever winner of a Booker Prize for Schindler’s Ark, later made into the film Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg. He is also twice winner of the Miles Franklin Award and a prolific author of over 50 novels and non-fiction titles, as well as essays, plays and scripts.

He will be joined by his daughter Meg with whom he wrote his latest book The Soldier’s Curse.

Academic Newsletter February

February 9, 2016February 8, 2016mblair

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Meet the Year 9 Boarding Staff

February 8, 2016February 8, 2016mblair

We are fortunate to have a very experienced boarding staff looking after your son this year. Boarding staff assist and care for both boarders and day students during evening study, free time and at various College events. I would like to briefly introduce each of the boarding staff to you.

I have worked at Joeys in boarding since 2007 in years 9, 10 and 11 and I teach Mathematics. Before working in schools I was an Operations Manager at an engineering consultancy. I formerly refereed rugby Union in Sydney up to the Shute Shield level. Now I run the referees program at Joeys, convene Rugby age groups and am one of the match day team organising rugby at Joeys.

Mr Peter Tucker is the Assistant Boarding Coordinator. He is an English teacher and was Acting Year 8 Academic Coordinator for part of last year. As a result he already knows the boys very well. This year he is coaching rugby and is recently a very proud father to Georgia Belle.

Mr David Hill has been a teacher for 16 years across a variety of subjects including History, English, Religion and Commerce. He has been teaching at St Joseph’s College for 10 years, exclusively teaching Ancient and History. He has worked in boarding since 2007 and was the Assistant Boarding Coordinator in Year 7 from 2009-2012. He has been the Year 9 Academic Coordinator for three years. He is married with a 5 year old son and is a long suffering supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Ms Courtney Berriman is Head of Languages and an avid traveler, having visited 40 countries. She assists the boys with Languages, Mathematics, Science, Geography and English. She has recently organised a Language peer tutoring program where Year 11 boys tutor the Year 9 boys in French, Japanese and Latin during night study.

Mr Martin Gillogly is an Old Boy of the College and has worked in boarding since 1998. He is a PE Teacher and Sport Coordinator at another Catholic School in Sydney and can assist the boys with PDHPE and Religious Education subjects.

Mr John and Mrs Lesley Haines have been married for 35 years with 3 children and a black dog. They owned and ran a tennis centre in Boronia Park for many years. John is the Convenor of Tennis at the College and has been a professional tennis coach for 40 years. They look after the boys every Saturday night and share their stories of growing up in the city while the boys tell them their stories of growing up in the bush. They find it a very rewarding experience.

Mr Billy Hodgetts is an Old Boy of the College and is the Year 9 live-in supervisor who lives in an apartment in the Year 9 dorms. He teaches at Gladesville Public School.

Mr Jeremy Lane is a Mathematics and Computing Studies teacher and has tutored in those subjects for over 20 years. He has previously been involved in boarding at All Saints’ College Bathurst. He is married with two young boys and lives on an acreage in the Hawkesbury region.

Mr John O’Halloran lives in Drummoyne with his wife and two teenage children. He rotates between the Year 9 and Year 10 Coordinator at Cerdon College, Merrylands and has taught History, Geography, Commerce and Business. He has a keen interest in student welfare and loves the welcoming nature of the boys and staff at Joeys. He is a long suffering Parramatta supporter and will chat to anyone who will tell him their 30 year drought will break.

Mr Matt Rollo is an Old Boy of the College and is currently Acting Head of PDHPE. He is the Convenor of Athletics and coaches the 14A’s rugby during the winter. He has worked as an Assistant Boarding Coordinator for many years and is an avid fisherman.

Mr Anthony Rooskie is a Mathematics and Computing Studies teacher who currently teaches at the John Berne School in Lewisham. He was previously Boarding Coordinator in Year 7 and Year 8 at Joeys. Prior to his teaching career he served in the Australian Army.

Mrs Romina Wills has been teaching for 11 years and is a member of the Joeys staff, working in the Religious Education Department. She is also a trained History teacher, specialising in Australian and Modern History. She is married and loves sport, particularly rugby league. She also loves travelling and spending time with her family.

Reading

February 3, 2016mblair

At least twice a week the boarders spend time quietly reading before bed.

Attached is a list of recommended reading books which are available from the Resources Centre.

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Evening Study

February 3, 2016February 4, 2016mblair

In Year 9 the evening study schedule changes significantly from what the boys would be used to from years 7 and 9 in order to align with the study schedule used in the senior years. Study times are as follows:

6:15pm: Session 1 commences
8:00pm: Study break, day boys leaving at 8 check out

8:15pm: Session 2 commences
8:45pm: Session 2 ends

As well as leaving at 5:00pm, day students can elect to depart at 8:00pm or 9:00pm each day if they wish to take advantage of the evening study sessions.

During study the boys are supervised by the boarding staff who have a range of areas in which they can assist the boys. Each night during study there are also 2 homework support tutors who are available at no charge for the boys to get assistance with their work.

Part of each night is “technology free” where the boys put aside their laptops and use the “old fashioned” pen and paper.

We don’t allow the boys to use mobile phones during study in an effort to keep them focused on their work. Parents could greatly assist us by only making phone calls or text messages to your sons before or after study, or during the study break.

Study Skills

February 2, 2016February 3, 2016mblair

Tonight the Academic Coordinator, Mr David Hill, ran the first of a number of study skills sessions which will be run throughout the year. The aim is to develop study habits which will assist the boys in the future, especially as they transition to the senior years.