Our 2019 - 2021 Strategic Plan articulates our priorities as a St Joseph’s School community. Our Mission priority is to deepen our St Joseph’s Catholic identity.

As a school founded by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, our identity is grounded in Saint Mary Mackillop’s spirituality and teachings. At the beginning of 2020, staff participated in an overnight retreat which focussed on developing our own understanding of Saint Mary Mackillop’s spirituality and her teachings. Throughout the retreat, staff collaborated to identify which Josephite values are a key part of our St Joseph’s O’Connor identity. The fruit of this collaboration was the development of our St Joseph’s Values which are based on the Josephite Charism.

The word Charism is Greek for ‘gift’ and is a gift of the Holy Spirit which is taken up by a group to carry out the mission of Jesus with a special spirit. A charism is expressed in the values that lead to ways of being and acting. Our goal is for every person in our St Joseph’s community to know our St Joseph’s Values and to live them in their thoughts, words and actions.

During prayer led by Year 6 this Friday, we will begin to unpack the first of our St Joseph’s Values.

The word respectful is defined as, “feeling or showing of respect.” Respect is frequently something that has to be earned. Dignity, on the other hand, is, “the state or quality of being worthy of respect” and is our fundamental human right.  Throughout her life, Saint Mary Mackillop’s example of caring for the dignity of all is something we can all strive to follow.