Principal's Report 

At this time, when the hurt to Indigenous Australians is still so raw, and the week of silence has ended, it is important to comment on our care, respect and love of our Aboriginal students and their families. I trust that they know here at St Joseph’s College they will always be welcomed, loved and respected and that their concerns are concerns we want to journey through together. May we always walk with and work with our First Nations people in the spirit of reconciliation. We are joy-filled when we celebrate the longest living culture, we are blessed when we listen to their story and we are embraced by their love and determination to build a relationship that is open, honest and transformative; something that can truly only be achieved with an open and listening heart.

The Year 12 celebrations have been exciting for all. The Mass was a wonderful way to farewell our Year 12 students and celebrate their achievements with their families. We were even treated with some of Father Novie’s dance techniques!

These celebrations are important to our community and the way our Year 12s finish must be respectful and within our College boundaries and expectations. The good behaviour of all students is both an expectation and requirement of all St Joseph’s students. There will be consequences for students who act in a way that is disrespectful, deliberately defiant or uncooperative and that will usually include a conversation with their parents or carers. I kindly ask parents to work in partnership with our staff to address these issues or any other matters of concern.

Term 4 brings many challenges for our students, the change to summer uniform and remembering to wear our hats, planning for the year ahead, as well as an increase in assessments and of course examinations. While these situations can be stressful, it is important to remember that these are all moments in time. Examinations are just one form of assessment; they are not the only element that gets taken into account when providing reports for students and their parents. Nonetheless, students are asked to prepare well for their examinations and seek the assistance of their teachers and families where required.

Anne Marie Cairns

Principal