Dear Parents, Carers and the St Joseph’s Community,

I was a little lost for inspiration for the newsletter this week… but then went to Pope Francis and he again said it perfectly –

Journeying is an art because if we’re always in a hurry, we get tired and don’t arrive at our journey’s goal… If we stop, we don’t go forward and we also miss the goal. Journeying is precisely the art of looking toward the horizon, thinking where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue of the journey, which is sometimes difficult. There are dark days, even days when we fail, even days when we fall… but always think of this; Don’t be afraid of failures. Don’t be afraid of falling. What matters in the art of journeying isn’t not falling down but not staying down. Get up right away and continue going forward. This is what’s beautiful; This is working every day, this is journeying as humans. But also, it’s bad walking alone; it’s bad and boring. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us, that helps us. It helps us to arrive precisely at that goal, that ‘there’ where we’re supposed to arrive.

Pope Francis’ Little Book of Wisdom

As we journey together at this time, as a school community, in our families, and in the wider society, I hope that the horizon continues to meet us where we are… where we’re supposed to arrive.

School Board

The School Board met last week to further plans for the coming years. Pleasingly we are soon to begin the playground works at the Boronia Drive end of the oval, a major project for the Board in recent years. The addition of this nature playground is due to the great efforts of the whole school community, funded solely by the school. As part of this playground, we have added a double slide - which is a contribution from the P&F, using some of the fundraising in 2022. This includes the Nachos Days, and other activities that will be held during the year.

I expect that the contractors will begin putting up fences in the coming weeks and will be undertaking the works over the next 6 – 8 weeks. I am looking forward to the students being able to watch it unfold, ready for the middle of Term 2. The Board also were advised of the general expenditure budget for 2022, which includes a significant investment in new ICT across the school. New staff laptops, 30 additional student iPads to go into classrooms, a new LCD screen in the Hub and upgrades to the Hall AV, are all planned for the first half of 2022.

COVID-19

In recent weeks, the St Joseph’s school community has experienced a spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19. While these have been centred on a number of year groups in particular, it is worth mentioning that we continue to prioritise good hygiene and COVID-safe practices across our school to minimise the spread of germs and to keep everyone safe. I am aware that the restrictions, and the number of cases, continue to impact our school, but I am hopeful that the upcoming school break will allow for everyone in our community to rest and recover, ready for a wonderful Term 2. We wish all those impacted by COVID-19 at this time a very speedy recovery. Please see below the measures that continue to be in place at St Joseph’s.