Last week I attended an overnight Siloam at the Redemptorist Retreat at Galong, a small town near Boorowa. Siloam takes place once a term for Principals within our system and allows for spiritual reflection and a little social down time. Our focus this year has been on truth, beauty, and goodness. This time we unpacked the parable of the Good Samaritan.  

One reflection that was shared with us was from Pope Frances’ encyclical, Fratelli Tutti - a call to universal fraternity and social friendship. Pope Francis says - 

We are called to change the world. “Each day offers us a new opportunity, a new possibility. We should not expect everything from those who govern us, for that would be childish. We have the space we need for co-responsibility in creating and putting into place new processes and changes. Let us take an active part in renewing and supporting our troubled societies.” 77

While there is always a great deal that I take from these moments of Siloam, I feel this insight from Pope Francis informs our purpose as a school, and more broadly, for us all. We need to be active in our responsibility in creating and putting into place new processes and changes that have a positive impact on those around us and I pray that we do this here at St Joseph’s. As parents and teachers, we have a wonderful responsibility to provide this new opportunity and new possibility for the children in our care.

Father’s Day

We can’t wait to welcome all of our dads and grandads and the special men and others in our lives to our Father’s Day Breakfast and Prayer Celebration on Friday morning. Please make sure that you have RSVP’d via Qkr! So that we can have enough bacon and egg rolls ready to go!

Don’t forget to also purchase your tickets for the ELC Father’s Day Raffle – these are also available on Qkr!

Carpark

Once again I remind all parents and carers to take every care and precaution when using the carpark. It is very important that the attached guidelines are known and followed, to ensure everyone’s safety here at St Joseph’s.

Carpark Guidelines

Trivia Night

Only 10 more days until our School Community Council Olympics-themed Trivia Night. This promises to be another fantastic night with fabulous trivia, great prizes and lots of laughs. There are still tables available or if you are looking to join a table, please get in and purchase your tickets via Qkr! Thank you to the volunteers and helpers who are currently working away on ensuring it is a great night!

This fundraising effort will go towards further improvements in the playground, this time focused on the area at the end of oval closest to MacArthur Ave. We have some great ideas for some passive play and seating areas.

School Community Open Meeting

Save the date! Wednesday 11 September 6.30pm

Our next School Community Council Open Meeting will include –

• An an opportunity to see our new LEGO Spike programmable STEM equipment and how it will be used in the upper grades.
• A high level look at the recent NAPLAN data that shows St Joseph’s is continuing to do very well.
• A chance to hear more about the school’s focus on the Science of Learning and how this is used in the classroom to improve student outcomes

The evening will be low key but informative. All parents and carers are warmly invited to come along and to enjoy some drinks and nibbles in a social setting.

More information to come next week.

Behaviour Learning

In recent weeks, the staff have reviewed the Behaviour Learning Statement of Practice to better support students in their learning at St Joseph’s. Throughout the year I have shared with parents the various priorities and areas for attention to ensure students are able to learn and enjoy their time at school.

The changes to the Behaviour Management Statement of Practice, which is linked below and available on the school website, will better inform parents when behaviours are needing to improve. Students are well aware of the expectations at St Joseph’s, but in the coming days I will speak with each grade about how we will better communicate with parents and also reinforce the positive behaviours we want in our school.

Please take some time to read the Statement of Practice. I am happy to receive feedback as we continue to work together to support the students.

Behaviour Management Statement of Practice