Deputy Principal

What an amazing year it has been, despite the challenges of Covid still lurking close by.   The last term seems to have flown past and finally, the year has come to an end.  We have been very fortunate this year to have had every day at school and I think with this normality, we have been totally exhausted!  I myself am ready for a rest!

This year it has been lovely to see families once again engaged in community events, being in and about the school and participating in activities that make our school so great.

I would like to thank every parent and student for their resilience this year and their kindness towards each other and the staff at St Joseph's.  We are lucky to be part of such an amazing community where we have amazing students, families and community members to support us here at St Joseph's.

This week we celebrated some students in our school with educational grants from Vinnies, Mount Lilydale/Cerini Centre, and Upper Yarra Secondary School.  

Every year Vinnies offers educational grants to students who demonstrate a positive approach to learning, resilience, attitude to learning and a positive and caring attitude to both other students and teachers over their time at St Joseph's.  

This year there were many nominations from staff who looked at different students across the school who are very worthy of being nominated for an award.  

The recipient of the May O'Connor Educational Grant for 2022 is Cooper Mc Intyre- Robbins.

An additional award this year was in collaboration with Vinnies and the Ricketson Foundation.  This award was given to 12 primary schools in the Upper Yarra Valley for a current year 6 student who is attending Mount Lilydale College.  St Joseph's put forward many worthy year 6 students who were nominated and who demonstrated respect, and academic rigour and have demonstrated Gospel values throughout their primary school years. The recipient of this award was Elena Tarquinio.

Mount Lilydale and the Cerini Centre in conjunction with St Joseph's offer an educational grant in the memory of Father Charles Cerini to a student who is attending Mount Lilydale College in 2022.  This year's recipient is Tarrin Birthisel.

Upper Yarra Secondary School also offers Educational grants and this year the recipient was Sophie Kangru.

Over the years (and it has been many for me) I have loved getting to know each family and student who has been such an integral part of our school.  And through my own children's journey to Mount Lilydale, I still get a thrill when I see past students and the accomplishments they have had.  

This week I was lucky enough to be invited to Mount Lilydale's award presentations where each year level recognises students who have contributed to their community, upholding the values of the school and demonstrating excellence in academics or their commitment to the values of the school.  Once again it was a delight to see so many of our past St Joseph's students recognised for awards, demonstrating their leadership skills and upholding their values for learning.  

Congratulations to all past students at both Mount Lilydale and Upper Yarra Secondary College who have also concluded their time at Secondary school this year.