Principal's Message
‘We must restore hope to young people,
help the old, be open to the future,
spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need
to include the excluded and preach peace.’
Pope Francis’ Little Book of Wisdom
Dear parents and carers,
This week I have returned to Pope Francis’ Little Book of Wisdom for a prayer focus. Hope underpins an active and engaged community. Offering hope to our children and students is a key objective as parents and as teachers. Offering hope allows dreams and aspirations to appear, empowers action to help others, and fosters self-reliance and confidence. My prayer this week, is that St Joseph’s continues to be a community of hope, for those within, and for those who can be impacted by our outward actions.
Letter from the Archbishop – Calvary Hospital.
Many of you will be aware of the decision of the ACT Government last week to introduce legislation to acquire the Catholic-owned Calvary Public Hospital. Archbishop Christopher Prowse has composed a letter to members of the Archdiocese stating his views on the situation and inviting participation in an online petition. Archbishop Christopher’s letter can be found here.
Disco
Get your dancing shoes ready for the disco this Friday 19 May! A DJ has been booked, and the sausage sizzle and lolly bags are being arranged. Children from Foundation to Year 6 are welcome to attend, as are ELC kids who are accompanied by a parent or carer. Tickets are $5 per child, and available through QKR!
Staff doing great things
In recent years, St Joseph’s has welcomed families from all parts of the world. From this has come a need to support students with English as a second language. Courtney Bonner, our Year 3 Navy teacher, has been supporting these students, introducing a couple of excellent programs that are making a real difference. Story Dogs is a program where a trained dog spends time in the school, along with their trained carer, allowing students to read aloud to the dog in a safe, fun, non-judgmental environment that supports emerging readers with their reading confidence and fluency. We have Jodie and Winston who read with the Year 3s on Wednesdays and Tonia and Skipper who read with the Year 2s on Tuesday.
Further to this, Courtney has this year introduced a new program facilitated by St Vincent de Paul called the Migrant and Refugee School’s Program. Justin, Kate and Joseph from SVDP work with selected students on a program that is strengths based, trauma informed, and relationship focused. They read with the students and play sound/tricky words games that reiterate the learning from in class/MiniLit/MacqLit programs.
Melanie Stratford, our Year 4 Green teacher, has been successful in being invited to join the Digital Technologies Hub Project (DTH) being run by Education Services Australia. This working party of educators from around Australia is being tasked with developing teaching and learning resources to be used to access the new Digital Technologies Australian Curriculum. Melanie attended the first workshop in Melbourne earlier in the term, and has returned with great insights into how this will benefit the development of STEM and digital technologies here at St Joseph’s. As part of this program, the school also receives a small amount of funding that can be used to support new programs and further professional learning for our teachers.
Semester 1 Reports
As we head into the second half of Term 2, a priority for our teachers is assessment and reporting of student achievement during Semester 1. In line with guidelines across all Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn schools, the Semester 1 Reports will again provide A – E grading for all subject areas taught, along with attendance and further school involvement. As in recent years, the Semester 1 Report will not include written comments. Instead, Parent / Teacher interviews will again be held in Week 9, allowing for teachers and parents to engage in valuable conversation around areas of growth and priority areas going forward. Further information about the Parent / Teacher interviews will be sent closer to the time.
The Semester 2 Reports, sent out a the end of Term 2 will include a written comment providing a summative comment for the year, areas of achievement and areas to focus on for the following year.
COVID
We are currently experiencing a higher number of positive COVID cases within our school community. Parents are asked to be aware of this and ensure that children do not attend school if they are unwell. At school, we are again reminding the students to practice good hygiene and to use the hand sanitiser available in each classroom. A reminder that families are able to access additional RATs from the school if required.
Yours in Christ,
Cameron Tarrant
