St. Josephs Catholic College Katherine eNewsletter Term 04 - Week 03
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to Term 4! It’s hard to believe we are already in the last term of the year—it feels like 2024 has flown by in the blink of an eye. With only a seven weeks remaining, we are gearing up for a strong finish to what has been a wonderful year full of learning, growth, and community spirit.
We had the pleasure of hosting our Secondary Thanksgiving and Awards Night recently. It was an incredible evening celebrating the achievements and hard work of our students. Congratulations to all the award winners! Your dedication and perseverance have been inspiring, and we couldn’t be prouder. A special thank you to all the staff and families who made the night so memorable.
In addition to our Awards Night, we also had an absolute blast at the Colour Run our major fund raiser for this year. The joy and enthusiasm of the students were infectious as they raced through the course, covered in vibrant colours. A huge thank you to Amanda McPherson for organizing this exciting event! It was fantastic to see so many students participate and a special shout out to the local Fire Brigade for joining us and keeping everyone cool with their refreshing sprays.
On a different note, I’d like to share a reflective piece as we head into the final months of the year, focusing on a challenge many of our students face—peer pressure. The verse below, written by a young adult named Calvin Hart, beautifully captures this universal struggle:
“Sometimes in life it’s hard to tell,
What we should or should not do.
Just because my friends do something,
Does that mean I should do it too?
I want so much to be accepted,
I want so bad to just fit in,
Should I join in and just follow the crowd,
Although, what they do might be a sin?”
Peer pressure often peaks during adolescence, and as parents, it’s important to be aware of its impact. Our children are navigating complex social landscapes, trying to define who they are while also striving to fit in. This can be a vulnerable time, but it’s also an opportunity to strengthen the bonds we share with them.
By fostering open communication, listening without judgment, and encouraging them to stand up for their beliefs, we can help our children develop the confidence they need to make positive choices, even in the face of peer pressure. It’s a journey we take together as families, providing love, guidance, and support every step of the way.
As always, we look forward to a productive and joyful final term. Thank you for your continued support throughout the year, and may we all continue to work towards a great Term 4.
Peace and best wishes,
Sunniva Antonucci
Principal
Primary News
Transition
In Transition we love to work collaboratively together when we work on learning new concepts and skills. We are able to hold discussions, take turns, share resources and ideas. We do this when we are in Investigations, during Literacy and Numeracy groups and any other lessons where we need to work together.
The 1/2W Cohort have enjoyed exploring persuasive texts this term.
Transition Orientation Sessions
There have been two 2025 Transition Orientation Sessions so far this term, with up to 16 students in attendance. What a great turn out! The children have been engaged in a range of structured and open-ended learning experiences within their new classroom that have encouraged them to draw on their creative thinking skills, problem solving skills, and early literacy and numeracy skills. These sessions are paramount in supporting students to feel safe in their new environments and feel confident to navigate the wider school community. There are two more orientation mornings that will be running from 8:30-10:30 am on the 30/10 and the 6/11. If you have a child that will be commencing Transition in 2025 and you would like them to attend, please email natalie.walker@nt.catholic.
Secondary News
SRC -Annual Bake Sale
Last week on Friday SRC ran their annual Bake sale in front of the library, this was a huge turnout with special goods from students, staff and parents. This year was a little more special as all money raised went towards the Bernard family. Thankyou to everyone who was involved to make this happen
Farewell To All Our Yr 12
Congratulations and farewell to all our Year 12 students who have just finished their last week of schooling EVER! From all the students, staff and leadership at St Joseph's we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Good luck to all the students who have exams over the next three weeks!
Little Joeys News
October has been a very busy month at Little Joey’s ELC.
With the season changing to Jungalk or the dry hot season the children have been busy exploring weather concepts through Information Technology such as the BOM App and then creating their interpretation by drawing their own radar design in a map of the NT. We were pleasantly surprised with some early rain events and the children had an amazing and joyful time running in the first rain of the season.
Waterplay has been a fantastic way to explore sensory experiences and cool down during the hot weather. We have been focusing on building collaborative skills to work together by connect pipes to transport water in the sandpit and extract objects out of large ice blocks. Boats and sea animals have also featured in our water trough.
Many of our children are interested in drawing animals they have found in the river or out fishing such as cherabin and barramundi. They continuously astound us with the complex designs, ideas, and artwork.
Communal cooking and tea rituals have been a lovely way to come together within our community, practice following instructions and mathematical concepts. We also really enjoyed interacting in the ambulance visit, bake sale and colour fun run with our wider school community.
The preschool group have been excited as they start to explore going to big school and visiting Transition for their orientation sessions. Our preschool graduation will be held in the school hall on Monday the 11th of November at 4pm. Invitations will be sent home to families with more information next week.
Lastly. we are currently in the process of confirming our 2025 enrolment places. Families already on our waitlist should receive a phone call by the end of next week confirming their place.
Our preschool places are filling fast but we still have vacancies in our 3 year old group.
If you would like your child to go onto our waitlist please go to https://www.stjoeys.college/early-learning
For more information about enrolling your child please contact Director Rachelle Balfour-Quinn at Rachelle.balfour-qui@nt.catholic.edu.au or via telephone 89723864.
Sports News
Netball NT
We kicked off Term 4 in Primary PE by diving into Netball skills, enhanced by engaging Netball Clinics during our lessons. Miss Skye from Netball NT brought her expertise, leading students through fun games, throwing drills, shooting practice, and scratch matches.
Our Secondary students also showed enthusiasm by participating in a development session tailored for those who played on our College netball team this year. Skye provided valuable tips on effectively utilizing space on the court and improving ball movement into the shooting circle.
We hope our students enjoyed expanding their Netball knowledge and skills. We look forward to inviting Netball NT back next year to continue supporting our emerging players!
Under 15 Netball Trials
Library News
School News
Greetings from the new Defence School Mentor (DSM)
My name is Debra Carlon or ‘Miss Deb’ to the students. I have just taken over from Madison Ahern in the role of Defence School Mentor here at St Joseph’s. I have a background in teaching and am passionate about student inclusion, wellbeing and success.
In my day-to-day role I will assist all Defence students within their classroom, both in small groups and targeted one-on-one activities. My role is also to support families, so know that I am here to help, please reach out for a chat anytime.
My working hours are Monday- Thursday 8am-1pm.
I’m here to help, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Debra Carlon
debra.carlon@nt.catholic.edu.au
Colour Fun Run: A Spectacular Day of Colour and Community!
On Friday, October 18th, our entire college gathered on the Secondary Oval for the much-anticipated Colour Fun Run! This vibrant fundraising event brought together students from ELC to Year 12, who raced around the course while being showered with colorful chalk and water.
Teachers and staff joined in the fun, enthusiastically tossing chalk at the students, resulting in a joyful scene of laughter and excitement. The atmosphere was electric, with everyone getting involved to the sound of lively music. To cap off the afternoon, everyone enjoyed refreshing icy poles to cool down!
A special thanks goes out to the Katherine Fire Brigade, who were on hand to help cool off students by spraying them with water, adding an extra splash of fun to the day. We also want to extend our gratitude to Jo Hersey for taking time out of her busy schedule to join us.
A huge thank you to all who contributed to the organisation of this fantastic event—whether it was setting up, supervising, or supporting our college in various ways. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!
We are thrilled to announce that we raised over $7,000 thanks to the generosity of our school community. These funds will go towards installing a shelter over the Secondary basketball court, which will serve as a multipurpose space for future college events and assemblies.
Thank you once again for making the Colour Fun Run a memorable day!