Newsletter Term 2 Weeks 3 - 6 2023

Principal's Report

Dear Members of the St John’s Catholic College Community, 

Dearest Lord,

Lift us high on Eagles’ wings,

teach us to be Strong in Faith,

St John the Evangelist guides us to live Your Word,

giving witness to compassion and courage,

                                                              welcome and truth.

                                                                                                                                  Amen

Ordination of Father Dean Taberdo 

Congratulations to Father Dean Taberdo who was ordained by Bishop Charles Gauci at St Mary’s Star of the Sea Cathedral on Wednesday 24 May. Father Dean is well known to St John’s and has been part of our community for the past year. We congratulate Father Dean and wish him God’s blessings in his ministry.    

Reconciliation Week

Thank you to Student Leaders: Hayden Jansz, Samuel Tinal, Isadora Lorenzo, Lawrence Puno and Precilla Campbell for leading our Reconciliation Week Liturgy. National Reconciliation Week was initiated in 1996 by Reconciliation Australia to celebrate Aboriginal and Islander history and culture in Australia and foster reconciliation discussion and activities. Reconciliation Week is not only a symbolic gesture, it is a week that recounts significant milestones in our history and development as a Nation. 

26 May – National Sorry Day: National Sorry Day provides an opportunity for people to come together and share the journey towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities.

27 May – Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum: The 1967 Referendum was a landmark achievement following decades of activism by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people, where more than 90 percent of Australians voted in favour of amending two sections of the Australian Constitution.

27 May to 3 June – National Reconciliation Week: National Reconciliation Week celebrations commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the anniversaries of the successful 1967 Referendum and the High Court Mabo Decision.

3 June – Mabo Day: On June 3 1992, the High Court of Australia overturned the principle of “terra nullius” or “nobody’s land” as claimed by the British when they first arrived in this country. The decision has paved the way for Native Title legislation.

Open Days

The enrolment process for 2024 has already commenced. This term the College will host three open days for students in Years 5 / 6: 

• Wednesday 17 May – St Mary’s Catholic Primary School + interested students from local Government Schools (completed)
• Wednesday 31 May – Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School + interested students from local Government Schools
• Wednesday 7 June – St Paul’s Catholic Primary School + interested students from local Government Schools

The focus of the days is for students to experience a regular school day at St John’s rather than an intense Open Day type event. We hope that through participating in these days, students will become familiar with: the buildings and classrooms, routines of St John’s, start to form friendships with current St John’s students, develop confidence and reduce stress around transitioning from Primary School to Secondary School. Parents / Guardians of students at other Catholic and Government Schools are requested to contact Mrs Ann-Maree Christianson on 8982 2222 or ann-maree.christianson@nt.catholic.edu.au should you wish for your son or daughter to attend.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School – Upper School Athletics Carnival 

A group of St John’s students recently returned to their primary school to assist St Mary’s Catholic Primary School with the running of their upper school athletics carnival. Thank you to Vincent D, Ethan C, Willian T, Mitchell H, Cooper H, Samar C, Abhaydeep M and Zack H for their leadership. Thank you to Mr Samweli Msafiri for coordinating and supervising the day.   

Graduation Day

Congratulations to current St John’s staff members on their recent graduation from Charles Darwin University: Lizete Mutalemba, Bachelor of Nursing and Izaac Thomas, Masters of Teaching. 

Pro Diligentia Awards 

Congratulations to our recent recipients of the Pro Diligentia Awards. These awards were based on the Interim Academic Reports from the ‘Application’ indicator. Thank you to our keynote speaker who provided the College Community with a biography of Father Ignatius Tyson Doneley MSC, the patron of our new House.

Year 7

Stavroula Halkitis

Sienna Jerrett

Johara Lubguban

Kyana McNamee

Divine Mwirambwe

Makanaka Pawandiwa

Olivia Pledger

Samantha Rocio

Diana Karn Silva

Callum Smith

Anastasia Thomas

William Thurgood

Hunter Watling

Ava Wauchope

Year 8

William Bingham

Dolly Forshaw

Tate Hall

Grace Harris

Felicity Idama

Maria Helina Ravini Jansz

Aliza Mahmood

Abhaydeep Mahlhi

Lachlan Meredith

Renae Miller

Marlon Jr Puno

Gabriel Rajput

Chloe Ryan

Maki Ushindi

Year 9    

Ella Corrie

Isidore De Zylva

Anne Go Cabo Chan

Mitchell Hancock

Zachary Hancock

Safari Lacaille

Alifah Mahmood

Catrina Meldrum

Year 10

Afia Azam

Jorja Brisbane

Harvey Chin

Lavaigne Elambo

Kayla Glynatsis

Ester Nirigi

Emma Ryan

Kiara Ryan

Thanner Rynne

Year 11

Luca Abate

Aeiden Arulkumar

Finn Blizzard

Nicholas Brisbane

Raquel Caldwell

Gabrielle Hall

Marie Itongwa

Hayden Jansz

Thomas Mack

Munashe Matizanadzo

Lyarni Mayo

Rishi Mishra

Lachlan Moffat

Nathania Palendeng

Sofia Serventi

Joshua Winters

Angelica Witarmin

Year 12

Marie Helisha Radhini Jansz

Isadora Lorenzo

Mirabelle Matyorautah

Samuel Tinal

Policy Update

In 2022 the College was successful in obtaining a grant through the Commonwealth Government’s Block Grant Authority (BGA) for the installation of a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) system. Installation has commenced, and the system should be operational from the beginning of Semester 2, 2023. The College Leadership Team in consultation with the College Advisory Board are developing a policy to manage the operation of the CCTV system. As part of the consultation process, please find attached the DRAFT CCTV Policy. Feedback regarding the policy can by submitted to the Operations Manager at: Gayan.Abeysekara@nt.catholic.edu.au   

JACARANDA Textbook eLibrary

With the implementation of the BYODD program, all students in years 7 – 12 are provided with access to the Jacaranda Textbook eLibrary (JacPLUS) and the associated online activities (LearnON). The Jacaranda textbook eLibrary includes textbooks for all middle school core subjects (except Religious Education) and for selected senior school subjects. Please note that selected middle school electives and Stage 1&2 subjects may require additional texts.

JacPlus:  https://www.jacplus.com.au

MATHLETICS

With the implementation of the BYODD program, all Students in years 7-10 and the Intensive English unit (IEU) are provided with access to mathletics. This resource compliments the Mathematics teaching and learning program and provides an engaging support and/or extension resource.

Mathletics: https://login.mathletics.com

Teachers, parents and students are being encouraged to take part in a national survey to help shape the future of school education.  

The survey is being released today as part of the Expert Panel Review into the next National School Reform Agreement.

This is all about ensuring those directly involved in the education system get a say in how we make it better and fairer.

Survey participants can have their say on range of issues including:

• Improving education outcomes
• Supporting student health and wellbeing, and
• Supporting and retaining teachers.

The Expert Panel, led by Dr Lisa O’Brien AM, will report to Education Ministers at the end of October on the practical reforms that should be tied to funding in the next National School Reform Agreement.

The survey is available to complete here and will be open until Friday, 23 June 2023.

Fortes in Fide,

Cameron Hughes

Principal 

Principal's Photos

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Assistant Principal: Teaching and Learning

Dear St John’s Catholic College Community,

Stage 2 Students – Halfway there!

A reminder to Year 12 students that all coursework for your subjects will be completed by Friday Week 10 Term 3. All school-based assessment should be completed by this date. The first version of the SACE Exam timetable is now available; however, is subject to change and does not yet include the languages oral and written exams.

Students are required to achieve a ‘C-‘ or better in 3 subjects (60 credits) at Stage 2 in order to qualify for the NTCET. This is in conjunction with the 140 credits at a ‘C’ grade or better at a Stage 1 or 2 level and the successful completion of the compulsory subjects (PLP, 2 x literacy, 1 x numeracy units).

To achieve an ATAR (university entrance score), students are required to undertake 90 credits worth of Stage 2 subjects.

StudentsOnline – SACE Results portal for students

Year 12 students must log into StudentsOnline, the SACE results portal for students, in order to
access their results and ATAR at the end of the year. Students must log into the portal and ensure
that they have ticked ‘yes’ to the sharing preferences. By not doing this, you may restrict your result access, which may include not generating an ATAR as you have not ticked ‘yes’ to sharing with SATAC.

NTCET Tracking

St John’s Catholic College senior students (Years 10 – 12) undertake the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training (NTCET). The College regularly monitors the academic progress of all senior students to support successful NTCET completion.

As part of the monitoring process, a traffic light style tracking has taken place. Students have been highlighted in one of three colours to indicate their current progress in a Stage 2 subject and Stage 1 subjects as pictured below:

On Track: Students who have submitted all work to date and are on track to potentially earn a C- or higher will receive a green highlight.

Of Concern: Students who may have a missing task or some tasks not at a potential C- or higher will receive an orange highlight.

At Risk of Failure: Students who may have multiple missing tasks and/or multiple tasks not at a potential C- or higher and are therefore at risk of failing a subject will receive a red highlight.

Students are reminded to meet with their Heads of House if they are flagged as ‘of concern’ or ‘at risk of failure’, in order to complete a study plan. It is also highly recommended that students utilise the Learning Nest to complete their assessment tasks, catch up on work and receive advice from our tutors.

Students who are flagged as ‘at risk’ of achieving the NTCET will receive a letter detailing their current progress and recommendations regarding the NTCET completion. If the requirements for each year level are not met, students may be required to undertake another year of their current year level.

Year 10 Students

A reminder to Year 10 students that by the endo the year you are required to have the following criteria in order to progress to Year 11 and be on track to achieve the NTCET:

• Minimum of 40 credits at a ‘C’ or higher
• PLP achieved at a ‘C’ grade or higher
• English subject achieved at a ‘C’ grade or higher

Year 11 Students

A reminder to Year 11 students, that by the end of the year you are required to have met the following criteria in order to progress to Year 12 and be on track to complete the NTCET:

• 140 credits at a ‘C’ grade or higher

• All compulsories completed at a ‘C’ or higher – 2 x English subjects, 1 x Maths subject, 1 x PLP

https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/studying/your-sace/what-is-students-online

Teaching & Learning Team

The Teaching & Learning Team members for 2023 are as follows:

APRE                                                      Mr Richard Bryant   Richard.Brysant@nt.catholic.edu.au

SACE Coordinator                            Mr Nelson Tio            Nelson.Tio@nt.catholic.edu.au

Inclusion Support                             Ms Shinead Love       Shinead.Love@nt.catholic.edu.au

VET/Careers                                        Ms Tracey Ingui         Tracey.Ingui@nt.catholic.edu.au

ACARA Coordinator – STEAM     Mr Hasan Talduker  Hasan.Talukder@nt.catholic.edu.au 

Please make contact with the relevant Coordinator if you have questions.

May God Bless you all,

Cherilyn Hughes

Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning

Director of Boarding

To our St. John’s Community,

Senior Boarding Camp:

We had a very positive weekend away and a great experience with our senior boarding students. We left campus around 10am on Saturday morning with tents, sleeping bags and food packed away.

Driving through Berry Springs to Litchfield via the back road, we arrived at our camp at the Environmental Education Centre at about 12.30pm. Students and staff unpacked vehicles and set up tents before having lunch.

We drove to the car park of Buley Rockhole and walked down Florence creek to Florence Falls where we enjoyed a swim. The water was flowing strongly and we were there for about an hour and half before walking back to Buley via the creek. The walk was about 1.5kms each way, (although the kids will tell you it was 15!!) We had a quick swim at Buley before heading back to camp around 530pm.

Unfortunately the gas bottles were empty for the BBQ (not expected) so we had to cook on the stove top. Students, Lapa Dhurrkay and Sasha Kelantumama cooked all the sausages, and I managed to burn a few steaks, which were served with some interesting side salads and lashings of tomato sauce!!

Everyone did their own dishes and helped pack up and clean up the kitchen. We got the fire going and toasted marshmallows and enjoyed some chocolate treats from Deputy-Director Zuleika.  Senior student, Tyrell Lindsay dominated the storytelling around the fire as expected but the movie game was the biggest hit with Isadora Lorenzo and Crishaune Carter being the biggest movie buffs and clear winners of the game.

Bed time was 1030, Houseparents James and Rosie had the worst of the conditions, camping in close proximity to the students tents and having to keep the talking and laughing under wraps. A cloudy night and a full moon meant it was a bit steamy and very bright in the tents, but eventually some sleep was had and we woke to a crisp morning with some freshly brewed coffee and music to wake up to.

After breakfast, the pack up and final clean-up was excellent, then off to Buley for a morning swim before driving to Wangi Falls to view the waterfall (no swimming) and have lunch. We packed up and left at 1200pm arriving back at the College at 2pm.

It really was a great weekend, the positive nature and real enjoyment from the students was visible, as was the energy and positive attitude of the staff.  We have a great group of senior students and will follow up around how we can engender and capture more of the spirit we saw on the weekend.

Thanks to all involved for help and support. We are definitely locked in again for next year.

Enjoy your week,

Kind regards

Scott Mannion

Director of Boarding

Senior Camp

Finance Manager

Dear College Community,

I wish to thank all families who made their semester 1 fee payments on time, and would like to request families who still have outstanding fees to ensure fees are paid in full before the end of the semester. 

To facilitate the payment process, we offer several convenient payment options including weekly / fortnightly direct debits, online payments, credit card payments and in-person payments at our finance office. If you have any questions about the payment options available to you, please do not hesitate to contact our finance team.

The finance team is committed to providing seamless support services to the College to ensure the best possible education outcomes for our students.

Ruth Suriyagoda CA, CPA, FCA (SL)

Finance Manager

Burford Head of House

Burford House Spirit Day 

The scripture reading that guides us at St John’s is, “I come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10

House Spirit Days are about coming together and enjoying that full life as a school.  On Friday 12th May, Burford House enjoyed their House Spirit Day.  As a house we gathered in the morning and had some fun dressing up extra green beyond our usual house shirts for the day.  At lunch we shared a BBQ with other students in the school community, listened to music and did some face painting.  It was great to see students from Burford and the whole school come together to enjoy some lovely dry season weather as a group.

kind regards,

Rebecca young

Burford Head of House

Burford House Spirit Day

Daley Head Of House

Congratulation to everyone in Daley house for winning the Swimming Carnival. You all performed leading up to the carnival by practicing chants and getting organized and right through to the last few races.  Thank you to the students for your engagement in swimming and cheering, Mrs. Graham for the ice cups and the Homeroom Teachers, Ms. Anthony, Mr. Nhue and Mr. Sheihk for motivating their classes. I know we can continue this through the year and win the House Cup again.

Friday 21April, Mrs. Martinson, myself and group of year 10 students attended the P.A.R.T.Y. Program excursion presented by Royal Darwin Hospital. Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) is a dynamic and interactive health promotion. Program for teenagers aged 14 years and over. The P.A.R.T.Y. Program is intended to promote injury prevention through reality education. The Program incorporates a mock trauma scenario and is accompanied by a series of presentations from physicians, nurses, paramedics, allied health, and injury survivors. Students will be involved in a range of activities to experience some of the difficulties injury survivors face.

Presentations were from:

Trista and Craig – Drugs and Alcohol and Jayden’s story

Mick – Intensive care paramedic

Clair – ICU and First Aid using “Suzie” the patient doll. Basically a full body version of Annie the recusation doll.

Lee and Brook – After trauma recovery. Occupational and Physical Therapy and organ donation

Kind regards,

Carlo Di Donato

Daley Head of House

Swimming Carnival - Daley

PARTY Program

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ACARA Co-ordinator - STEAM

ACARA Version 9.0 Implementation Progress 

This semester, we made significant progress in implementing the new version of the Australian Curriculum for Mathematics across our middle years. Our Year 7 students had the exciting opportunity to learn about mathematical modelling for the very first time, a crucial skill that will serve them well as they progress towards senior years. We are proud to have successfully rolled out the new curriculum in Mathematics and are excited to continue our implementation efforts. By Semester 2, we plan to implement additional subjects such as Science, HPE, and Technologies, allowing our students to benefit from the updated and innovative curriculum.

Final Assessments for the Semester Being Completed 

As we approach the end of the semester, students are wrapping up their final assessments by Week 6. Our approach this semester has been to create engaging, practical, and innovative assessments that enable us to gauge our students' interests and build 21st-century skills for their holistic development. From designing interactive websites in Digital Technologies to investigating surrealistic artworks in Visual Arts, our students have had the opportunity to showcase their creativity and critical thinking abilities. We are proud of the work our students have accomplished this semester and look forward to continuing to provide engaging and innovative assessments in the future.

Hasan Ahmed Talukder, 

ACARA Coordinator – STEAM

St John’s Catholic College.

Good News Stories

Student Tyrell has officially been promoted in his Army Cadet unit to a Full Corporal, Congratulations Tyrell.

Good News Story