I hope that all students and families have enjoyed a wonderful start to the 2021 school year. Across the school, there is a sense of enthusiasm and purpose amongst all the students and my hope is this will translate into academic success for all our students as we move through the year.
Parents and students should have received assessment calendars and subject overviews for Semester One via email recently. These resources are designed to ensure collaboration and conversation around academic deadlines, and I encourage parents to be proactive in communicating with staff in relation to your child’s academic workload. Positive and proactive communication between staff, parents and students are key to ensuring improvement for all students in their academic journey.
At the Year 7 Parent Information and Laptop night, I spoke to parents about our major focal points as a school and what we value within the St Joseph’s community. For me, one extremely important and valuable part of St Joseph’s is the sense of community and the fact the we, as parents, students and staff, really look after each other and allow all members to grow. Secondly, it is about quality teaching and learning in every classroom. I am confident, that as a school and staff, we are implementing high impact strategies, such as Inspire Mathematics, Literacy Improvement strategy and Visible Learning, that will allow all our students to be the best they can be.
I welcome the new staff who have commenced in teaching roles this year. We welcome them to our community, and I am certain they will have positive impact on the students at our school:
Grace Coxon – English and History
Robyn Ryan – English, History and Religion
Andrew Robertson – Physics, STEM, Maths and Science
Karen Petrie – Head of McAuley House, Home Economics and Physical Education
Damian Petrie – Head of Sport, Geography and Physical Education
Finally, we enjoyed an excellent and fun-filled day at the Stanthorpe Swimming pool for the Secondary swimming carnival. Congratulations to all the students who participated in the day and also to the students who won the major individual awards. It was a great day and a special thank you to all the staff and parents for your support and assistance on the day.
As always, never hesitate to contact me if there any questions or concerns.
God Bless
Matthew Brown
Deputy Principal