Principal’s News

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have enjoyed some beautiful weather this week but it looks like it is about to turn.  Winter is only a day away and it sure feels like it too. I pray that you all stay well and safe on our roads this weekend and enjoy all the good that winter brings us - rain to refresh our earth, snow to cover the mountains, slow-cooked meals to warm us and footy to keep us entertained (unless you are a Kangas supporter - not that entertaining at the moment).

Reconciliation Week

We have had a strong focus on Indigenous Reconciliation this week.  Our FIRE Carrier Student Leaders planned activities for the whole school to engage in to explore the need for reconciliation and to promote Indigenous Culture. Click here to read about the Reconciliation Week activities at St Joseph's.

Parent Helpers Course - Monday 3 June

Parent engagement in learning is known to lead to improved outcomes for students of all ages. Schools and teachers can support parent engagement by building partnerships to connect learning at home and school.  In order to support parent involvement, St Joseph's School offers a Parent Helpers Course which will:

• ensure our students are kept safe, in line with Child Safe Standards

• give you an understanding of the legislative requirements of a classroom helper

• develop your understanding of the expectations of classroom helpers at St Joseph’s School

• develop your understanding of some of the roles you may have within the classroom or on excursions.

Participation in this course is a pre-requisite for helping in the classroom or on excursions.  Parent helpers also require a Working with Children's Check and must agree to the terms and conditions of our Parent Code of Conduct.  Once these requirements are covered, parent helpers are good to go.

This Monday 3 June, we will be offering an online parent helpers course via Zoom. Our last one was extremely well attended and participants enthusiastically took part. 

Please click the link below if you would like to register. 

If you do not have a Google Account, you may find it easier to respond to the form sent via email.

Professional Learning - Vision for Instruction

Staff at St Joseph’s School are currently engaged in professional learning in support of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Vision for Instruction. This document advocates the use of coherent, knowledge-rich teaching and learning programs.  It guides us, not only in What to teach but also in the How and Why of what we teach. This research-based system-wide approach is underpinned by the goals of excellence and equity for all students. The document and the associated professional learning will assist us to navigate our implementation journey - a cycle of stages to build on existing good practice. 

Our school-based implementation journey will be enacted through a four staged implementation process

As our progress is unlikely to be straightforward or predictable, we will collectively act, monitor and adjust throughout the journey. Our path towards full implementation of the Vision for Instruction will likely work through the 4E process multiple times, as we collectively build knowledge and change instructional habits across different prioritised focus areas. Ultimately, we aim for our young, flourishing learners to become life-long learners with opportunity-rich lives.

For more detail on the learning we are engaged in, please refer to the Deputy Principal, Mathematics and Literacy pages in this newsletter.  Katie, Simone and Lisa are providing regular updates about our work with our School Improvement Learning Collaborative, Teaching for Impact in Mathematics Initiative and the work we are engaging in relating to the Science of Learning. I am very grateful to Katie, Simone and Lisa for their assistance with leadership of our professional learning in these areas.

Student Attendance - Notifying School of Absences

If your child is unable to attend school on any given day, please notify the office by emailing office@sjyarrajunction.catholic.edu.au and CC in your child's teacher.

Alternately, please call the school on 59671183 and leave a message on the voice mail. Please ensure you include the reason for the absence. We are mandated to include this information in our attendance register.

If we do not receive notification, Alison has to follow up with families to ensure we know where your child is.  This is a legal requirement.  On any given day, Alison has to contact quite a number of families which adds unnecessarily to her workload.  You can help by sending a quick email or leaving a voicemail.

School Uniform

Special thanks to the children and their families for the continued improvement with School Uniform.  We will be drawing our raffle on Monday for each class.  

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Go Roos,

Nick.

Nicholas Boyhan

Principal