Principal's Welcome Message
Dear Parents, Carers and the St Joseph’s Community,
Knock, knock… (this isn’t a joke)… knock, knock…
On Sunday, Archbishop Christopher Prowse celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation with our St Joseph’s community. His message to us was that our faith is something that is proposed, not imposed. In this way, and on Sunday he demonstrated this by knocking on the pew with his knuckles, God continues to knock on our lives waiting patiently for when we answer. We congratulate our Year 6 students who on Sunday answered that ‘knocking’ by God in their lives.
This week, in some little way, I encourage us all to be aware of the opportunity to hear the ‘knocking’ in our lives.
Welcome back to all our students and families for Term 4. I trust that everyone enjoyed some time away from the routines of school and had time together with family and friends. We have a busy term ahead and I look forward to welcoming our community to a number of important events as we journey to the end of the school year.
Annual Improvement Plan and Strategic Plan 2019 – 2021
At the start of 2019, we focused on a new Strategic Plan with three key priorities:
As a school community, we have worked throughout the year to maintain a focus on these priorities which continue to drive our planning for 2020 and beyond. As a staff, our 2019 efforts have been centred on the following three annual improvement goals:
- A knowledge, understanding and use of the Australian Curriculum Achievement standards is evident in planning, teaching, learning and assessment.
- Implement and effectively use the Archdiocesan Diagnostic Assessment Program and school-based assessment tools to collect and utilise data to inform teaching and learning and to show growth.
- Implement a student-centred inquiry approach to teaching and learning, specifically in Religious Education and Numeracy.
These three goals have been met to varying degrees through our continued efforts to meet the needs of all students. Most challenging, but at the same time rewarding for the students and teachers, has been the efforts to foster a student-centred inquiry approach to learning. We know that the students have responded well to posing questions in their learning and to developing a more conceptual understanding.
A focus throughout this term is to review what has been achieved, including analysing the responses to the Satisfaction Surveys conducted in Term 3, and to begin planning for 2020. Another aspect of this planning is through reviewing the 2019 NAPLAN data. St Joseph’s has continued to perform well in all areas against the national average. What has become evident through the new NAPLAN data available, is that when compared with Statistically Similar School Groups (SSSG), as a school we can perform better. This is particularly evident in extending those students who are performing well, but are not being challenged to go beyond.
Staffing
Today it was announced that following an application process, Kerri Kerr has accepted a transfer to St Jude’s at Holder. Her new position will be as Classroom Support Teacher, a role she is very much looking forward to. On behalf of all at St Joseph’s I congratulate Kerri and wish her every success at her new school. We are also losing our wonderful Canteen Manager, Michelle Welch. After almost 3 years at St Joseph’s, Michelle has been offered additional days at the preschool at which she also works. We thank Michelle for her care and efforts in our canteen and wish her the best as she finishes on Friday Week 2. As in any school or organisation, staffing change is expected and in many ways important to maintain new ideas and vision. As we head into Term 4, staffing planning is underway and will be communicated with the community when these plans are finalised.
2020 Classes
One of the priorities in coming weeks is to place the students into their new classes for 2020. This is always a very carefully considered process that begins with the current teacher and what they know of each student and, first and foremost, their learning. At the same time, all social aspects of friendships and new opportunities are taken into account. All students in Foundation – Year 5 will be given the chance to consider 3 friends that they would like to be in a class with in 2020. The intention is to ensure that each student is paired with at least one of their friends they nominate.
If there is specific information that parents would like to advise me of to assist the composition of classes for 2020, then this must be done so in writing to me either via email or letter by no later than Friday 8 November. This does not include requests for particular teachers, nor does it include considerations other than the learning needs of your child. Each year is a new start for all students, and teachers, and therefore only information provided this year is taken into consideration when putting classes together for 2020.
New Classrooms
When you have visited the school this week, you will hopefully have seen our two new temporary classrooms that have been installed on the oval adjacent to the Hub. These classrooms have been added to take the pressure off our school over the next 12 months as the building works are undertaken. While the installation is complete, there is still work to be done to have the classrooms ready for classes to move in. We may utilise the space before the end of the year, but they are particularly in place for 2020.
Have a great end to the week.
Yours in Christ,
Cameron Tarrant
Principal