Welcome  back all.

We are fortunate indeed to have had a two-week break to rest, renew and plan for this Term.

Our school community members may have noticed I used the words “Fourth Quarter” on our Queens Road sign over the break; this is in reference to our last Term for the 2019 school year. Like in many sports the final quarter goes well if we all maintain our focus, commitment and energy. If we do this we all reap the fruits of the “Hard Yards” earlier in the year.

Many teams have lost games they should have won due to poor last quarters. Usually, attitudes of complacency, ignorance and a lack of attention to detail mean cohesion, effort and energy drop. This message of staying in the game and working hard is important for us all; students, staff and families alike. It does not mean we can’t celebrate achievement and effort; in fact, we should commemorate success and endeavour. We will do this in many school settings including shared classroom meals, fun excursions in December, final assemblies and graduation ceremonies. I commend everyone for the work thus far and encourage all to maintain the focus this Term.

2020 Planning Updates

Class Grouping, Transition and Orientation Programs will commence this Term and will be communicated via our newsletters, notes and school app. These messages will have information and details of dates and processes supporting all, as we prepare for 2020. Parent co-operation and support will be valued and appreciated as we support our students in preparing for 2020.

To support student learning, curriculum implementation and focused teaching we move to straight grades over the next two years. The classrooms will also have a capped ceiling of 25 students per room. To support this plan we have added a new double portable. Minor works will be carried out on the building over this Term in readiness for 2020. Thanks to Cathy Duynhoven, David Carlin (School Contract Builder) and our Grounds crew for this work over the break.

As per the above classroom work, we have a small committee working with our school architect on our New Master Plan; this document will lead our work on continuined renovations, refurbisments and re-builds ensuring St. Joseph’s is well placed as a leading 21st Century school community.

Leadership

This Term, we welcome back Jim Guinan from leave. Jim will resume his Deputy Principal role. A very big thanks to Maryanne Evans, Nick Murrell and Pat Allen for their work last Term as Assistants to the Principal in Jim’s absence. They also assisted while I was in Japan with our students visiting our partnership school Doshisha Elementary School in Kyoto. This program will again run in September in 2020 and is available for interested students in Grade 6.

Reflecting on the last Term

I congratulate everyone for your response and support of the Arts. The special week engendered wonderful learning and creativity. Also impressive was the Middle School Inquiry unit focusing on the Arts last Term. Again the creativity, talent, commitment and imagination of this work was stunning. Many enjoyed the display in the hall and all our students valued and appreciated family and community support.

I also acknowledge the 12 students attending Japan last term. It is amazing the resilience capacity building this type of program is for us all. Especially as all our students are in a new school for a week, stayed with host families for five nights, persevered with their language skills and managed an amazing array of ways to travel. Congratulations all and a reminder for those who attended this year we have a parent/school review meeting this Thursday at 4 pm in the St. Joseph’s Church Hall.

In Memory

We remember Danny Frawley’s (AFL Footballer and Media Identity) recent passing. This has been a very difficult time for his family, many friends, colleagues and the AFL football community in general.

Danny was well known to Fr. John who played football with Danny at Bungaree near Ballarat. Danny also played a significant part, along with his wife Anita here at St. Joseph’s when a past pupil, Pippa Rea then in Grade 4, passed away as a result of a rare type of brain cancer. Anita is a very good friend of Pippa’s  mum, Virginia. At this time of Virginia’s need and support, Danny’s spirit shone through; he and Anita made a significant impact on me during this time. They were both compassionate, caring, helpful and true friends and supported Virginia when her family were experiencing a terrible tragedy.

At this difficult time I offer our communities thoughts and prayers. Fr John, in a recent mass homily, shared the following clip of Wayne Schwass, ex AFL player and Warrnambool family sharing his thoughts about depression at the recent celebration of Danny's life. The link to this talk, if you have not seen it, is well worth watching, especially in relation to depression. The last two years here at St. Joseph’s our PSA have supported sessions for families around resilience, speaking up when needing help and the importance of networks of support. Both Danny and Wayne are advocates of expressing emotions and working at staying well. See Wayne’s message at the following link.

Regards
Michael Gray, Principal