Principal's Page
Dear Families,
It is hard to believe that the school year will be finishing in just over four weeks time. At the beginning of the year I wrote about us having two foci, being the attendance and engagement levels of students and families. I can happily report that student attendance has improved markedly compared to last year and so too has students' engagement levels in their learning. We will continue to focus on family engagement in 2024 according to our recent perception data. This was also revealed in our recent review process.
Review
Thank you to the parents, students and staff who contributed to the review process. We have received an extremely positive report back from Trish Cowling. Below are the main identified strengths, opportunities and recommendations.
Strengths:
School-parish relationships are strong; students, staff and families value the Catholic identity of the school and the connection with the local parish church.
•There is a well embedded understanding amongst teachers and students of learning intentions and success criteria.
•The contemporary use of flexible learning spaces enables teachers to collaborate effectively and provide greater options for enabling and extending learning opportunities for students.
•Clear and consistent communications with parents, parish and the wider community foster family engagement and high regard in the local community.
•School leaders support a positive learning culture in a safe and orderly school environment.
Opportunities:
Continuing to build the capacity of all teachers to apply the Pedagogy of Encounter approach in faith-based inquiry (and other curriculum areas) and to speak with students confidently about matters of faith.
•Continuing to ensure that a personalised approach to learning is available to all students by enhancing opportunities for staff professional learning in differentiation.
•Continuing to ensure that school-wide positive behaviour policies, procedures and approaches are consistently understood and applied by students, parents and staff.
•Continuing to build upon the positive collaboration between learning support officers and classroom teachers to further engage LSOs in curriculum planning and design to maximise the learning opportunities for all students.
•Continuing to develop partnerships within the local community, links with local schools and parent engagement initiatives to enhance the school’s positive reputation.
Recommendations:
•Renew the whole school focus on learning achievement in literacy and numeracy
•Establish a stronger and more explicit focus on wellbeing and learning as co-drivers for school improvement
•Enhance student engagement
•Establish renewed ways to re-engage parents and guardians as members of a learning community
The whole review process has presented some exciting opportunities for the future of St Joseph's School Community. The next steps for us is to use the recommendations to create our School Improvement Plan which will guide us for the next four years.
Berry Street Education Model
Staff benefited greatly from our school closure day last Wednesday. Staff explored the importance of relationships, unconditional regard for others and building strong relationships through micro-moments of interaction. Managing adverse behaviour, relational feedback and active constructive responding were also explored.
Italian Day
We had a wonderful day celebrating all things Italian yesterday. Thank you Signora Maria Scandizzo for organising such a wonderful day and to to our parents and students for supporting the day. Learning languages in addition to English extends students' literacy repertoires and their capacity to communicate. It strengthens students’ understanding of the nature of language, culture, and the processes of communication.
Oak's Day Function
A huge thank you to Tahnee for organising this function. It is so important that community members have an opportunity to connect with one another.
Fathering Project
All dads and father figures are invited to come along to an hour of fun and games next Wednesday at 5:00pm. Please check the Operoo sent home recently.
Free Dress for Boomerang Bags
It is a free dress day next Frday in support of the Boomerang Bag Ladies. A gold coin or any donation of fabric will be greatly appreciated. Boomerang Bags will be on sale in the office for $2 or $5 for families interested.
School Advisory Council
The School Advisory Council will meet for the final time for 2023 next Thursday 23 November at 5:00pm. It will be the AGM. Members of the school community are most welcome to attend also. Thank you to Adriana, Assunta, Tahnee, Jessie and Natalie for their contributions this year. We will be needing new members next year, so please let me know if you are interested.
Medical Forms
Any student who requires medication to be administered at school will now need a Medical Authority Form signed by a registered medical practitioner. We will be sending these forms to appropriate families in the next few weeks.
Wall Update
The Wall Project has been through the tender process and we have a building company ready to begin.
A Note from Paula our Instrumental Teacher
Congratulations to some St Joseph’s piano students who performed on a grand piano in Frankston to a packed supportive audience last Saturday. Eric and Tong Tong presented and played beautifully.
If any parents would like to enquire about piano or violin lessons Grade 1 and above at the school for 2024 please contact Paula ( Suzuki qualified classically trained teacher) 0481374746 or concombre54@gmail.com to be put on the waiting list now. Thanks - Paula
Working Bee
There will be a working bee this coming Saturday between 9:00am - 11:00am. We have some sand being delivered and general gardening to be done. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Have a great week,
Monica