We are now halfway through Term 4 and the end of the academic year is almost in sight.  Last week we welcomed children from C&K to our Prep classroom and it was lovely to see the way in which the Prep students interacted with their visitors. It is hard to remember them a year ago as they embarked on their first foray into ‘big school’. Such a lot has happened for them this year. Over the next two weeks we will hold two ‘Prep Practice Mornings’ for those commencing school in 2020. This is an important part of the transition process and I thank Mrs Glenda McNichol and Miss Hollie Grasso for the work that has gone in to preparing for these days. I have also had the pleasure recently to speak with a number of students who will be joining us across the rest of the Primary Campus in 2020. We look forward to welcoming all the new families to the St Joseph’s School community, where I am sure they will be made to feel very welcome.

Over the next few weeks students across the campus will be undertaking ‘Rumbles Quest’. This is an online survey presented as a video story where the students will be asked questions related to their social and emotional wellbeing. All information is de-personalised but it will provide us with valuable data that we can use moving forward into 2020 and beyond. Schools are very good at using academic data to improve learning paths and outcomes for students but few reliable tools exist for assessing the social and emotional wellbeing of students. ‘Rumble’s Quest’ has been sourced from Griffith University by Mrs Cathy Mills and I thank her for her organisation of this project. 

In relation to ‘Rumble’s Quest’, our Visible Learning journey and also our focus on the Gospel values, I encourage parents to ask their children the following questions about their day at school:

• What did you learn today?
• How did you show resilience today?
• What was the best part of the day? Why?
• What made you happy/sad today? Why?
• How did you show the spirit of Jesus today?

Please feel free to share their responses with the teachers. 

Sarah Yates
Assistant to the Principal Primary