During Term 3 we have taken further steps to ensure that the boys are given high levels of support each night during evening study. As you may know, each night on study there are three supervisors who each specialise in different subject areas. In Year 7, we are particularly lucky with our supervisors who are not only incredibly experienced but also diverse in their subject areas. We have Mr Lee MacMaster (Director of Teaching and Learning and a Technology and Religion  teacher), Mr Mark Williams (The Dean of Studies and a Maths teacher), Ms Michelle Tinta (Head of Visual Art), Mr Peter Ross (Academic Coordinator and a Technology teacher), Ms Anne Reading (English Teacher) and Mr JP Elias (Studying Law at University). In addition, Mr David Hill (History) and I (Maths, PDHPE and Religion) are also available. Therefore, all year the boys have had access to assistance across a huge range of subjects.

Term 3 has seen us extend this by employing Mr Jim Hartnett as an extra assistance for the boys. Mr Hartnett is a teacher at Knox College of vast experience. He has taught both History and English across all age groups both in NSW and also interstate. His pastoral care experience is also incredibly valuable in ensuring that the boys can organise and plan their assignments.

All the boys have access to ask Mr Hartnett questions at any time during night study and from speaking to the boys, I know that he has been incredibly supportive for them. In less than one month of working with the boys, he has assisted on over 190 occasions.

Peter Ross and I are continually encouraging the boys seek assistance if they need it. Jim is not responsible for anythiny else in study apart from homework support … therefore the boys simply need to put their hand up and go and see him! The addition of Jim to our staff each night in study gives the boys ample opportunity to get help whenever they need it.

Pictured in Photo 1:  Nick Rowell (Collaroy)gets assistance from Mr Jim Hartnett.

Written by Ms Veronica Bressi
(Acting Assistant Head of Mathematics)

Year Seven participated in the Reach for the Stars activity during National Numeracy and Literacy Week in Term 3. St Joseph’s students participated in a shuttle run competition amongst 77 700 other Australian students where nearly one million shuttles were dropped into containers.

Each class was divided into four teams and each team member in turn ran 20 metres to place a shuttle (paddle pop stick) in a container and then ran 20 metres back to their team. The shuttles were run across three intervals: 2 minutes, 4 minutes and 6 minutes. Over 2500 shuttles were dropped by the boys at Joeys.

All classes made a serious and concerted effort on the day. Some classes were running in wet conditions whilst other classes ran in the mud. Despite the weather, the boys enjoyed the challenge of aiming to be the best school in Australia. Evidently, every class in year 7 beat the average number of shuttles for each period of time.

The purpose for participation in this event is that the boys now have access to all the data from the national results and can use this large amount of data to make a significant analysis of this data and discuss the mathematical relevance of it during class time.

Pictured in Photo 1:  Lochie Simpson (Chifley), Lachlan Walker (Balmain), Tom Wright (Waverley)

Pictured in Photo 2:  Sam Reimer (Killara)

Visual Arts is one of our incredibly dynamic subjects here at Joeys. It is an opportunity for the boys to express themselves in many different ways and there is absolutely no doubt at all that we have some awesome talent here at Joeys when it comes to Art.

Coming up in just under a month is our Student Art Exhibition and shortly you will receive an invitation to this wonderful event in the mail. In the meantime, however, we thought that you may enjoy a small taste of what the Year 7 boys have been up to so far this year in their Art classes.

The video below is a short presentation of some great Year 7 artwork. If you have a fast Internet connection the you can hit the HQ button on the video player to see more crisp images. You may like to try going full screen (the little box in the bottom right corner of the video player) to get the best experience … especially if you are in High Quality mode.

Enjoy!

Written Mostly by Hamish McDonald (Hunters Hill), and some by Dom Maurici (Hunters Hill)

Today Year 7 attended the Sydney Symphony Concert, at the Sydney Olympic Park Sport Centre in Homebush Bay. Here we saw the talent of many young yet experienced and incredibly talented musicians. In-between the performance, we were also able to see all the technical aspects of a symphony. Several other schools also attended the performance with us. Due to the concert all the boys had to give up three periods of normal classes in order to attend.

During the performance, a couple of us were invited up on stage to conduct the symphony. This was particularly entertaining for everyone! The original conductor Warwick was a very energetic conductor who liked to get the crowd involved in the performance in order to make it a much more entertaining performance.

The symphony included the Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Base Drum, Snare and many more exceptional instruments. The teachers who kindly accompanied us were Mr Ellis, Mr Cox, Mrs Bell and Mr Ross. We also had three of our new Gappies (Sebastian, Max and Dermot) come along with us which was great.

Over all Year 7 enjoyed the performance greatly and would love to see another production like this. It was a great chance for us to see a symphony but also learn a lot about the instruments and also what it is like to be part of such a wonderful ensemble. Thank you to the teachers and Gappies that attended the concert and a special thanks to the musicians and conductor who made it such a wonderful experience!

Pictured in Photo 1: Hamish McDonald (Hunters Hill) conducting the symphony.

Pictured in Photo 2:  Tom Cullen (Tennyson Point), Jack Campbell (Gladesville), Charlie Smith (Bellata) and Cain Nelson (Putney).