It has been an incredibly busy yet productive start to the 2020 academic year. There is a wonderful sense of business and collaboration in the learning process in all classrooms throughout the school. Students in Years 7-12 has engaged positively with all staff and a working incredibly hard in improving themselves both in and outside of the classroom. 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 Data informed practice, Reading Improvement and Visible Learning, that will allow all our students to be the best they can be.

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 are any questions or concerns.

Matthew Brown
Deputy Principal