Dear Parents and Carers,

A warm welcome back to Term 3, 2026! I look forward to all of the Term 3 events emerging such as 100 days of Prep, Book week, Athletics, STEM day and many more.

Celebrating Our Journey: School Review

This week, we warmly welcome our school reviewer, Dr. Judi Gurvich. Judi will conduct her initial visit this Wednesday, 15th July, followed by our official school review days on Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th July. Review is wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements St. Joseph’s has made over the past four years, while also focussing on our goals for future growth.

Academic Excellence and Student Support

At St. Joseph’s, our purpose is to ensure every child reaches their full potential—both academically and in their unique areas of strength. We achieve this through an explicit teaching model aligned with the MACS Vision for Instruction, focusing on two core pillars: equity and excellence for every student.

Following our celebrations of student growth in Semester 1, our focus on literacy and numeracy continues with momentum this term.

To ensure every child flourishes across learning, behavior, and wellbeing, we utilize a supportive, multi-tiered approach:

Tier 1 (Classroom Excellence): High-quality, differentiated teaching tailored to every child's current needs across all subjects.
Tier 2 (Targeted Support): Specialized, targeted intervention and extension programs across all year levels to lift and stretch learners.
Tier 3 (Specialist Partnership): Close collaboration with health professionals and consultants to provide deep, individualized support for students in specific areas of need.

We are also so proud of all of the work we are doing in line with MACS Vision for Engagement ensuring every student flourishes in our care. The MACS Vision for Engagement is for all students to be actively engaged in their learning, equipping them to thrive and make meaningful contributions to the world through a sense of belonging, strong attendance, mental health and wellbeing, teaching respectful behaviour, enabling motivation and targeting individual needs.

Shared Goals: How We Partner At Home

We are honored to work in partnership with you to nurture your child academically, spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. This term, we ask that you support your child's growth at home by focusing on two key areas:

Daily Reading & Learning Fluency: We ask all families to spend time completing math fluency tasks and vocabulary work each week, and to read together each night. Sitting with your child to discuss a story, asking questions, and making connections to real life rapidly boosts their comprehension, oral language skills, and general knowledge. Please remember, if you ever find it difficult to complete daily reading at home, we are always here to support you.

2. Prioritizing Attendance: Every day counts. Our goal is for every student to maintain at least a 90% attendance rate. Regular attendance ensures your child doesn’t miss crucial learning building blocks or social connections.

A Note on Participation: Building resilience is a lifelong skill. We highly encourage our students to fully participate in all subject areas and school activities—even the ones they find challenging.

Giving everything a go sends a powerful message to our children about their own capability and determination. We see at times students being able to go home early so they can opt out of important school activities and ask that this not occur unless there is illness or emergency.

If your child is ill and cannot attend school, please remember to call our absentee line on 5983 9374 by 9:00 AM every morning of their absence.

Culture, Community, and Creativity

This week, we proudly celebrate National NAIDOC Week 2026. This year's milestone theme, "50 Years of Deadly," marks five decades of NAIDOC Week as an official national movement. We honor the survival, resilience, and history of First Nations communities, celebrating the Elders, leaders, and artists who have shaped our nation.

At the heart of our Catholic Social Teachings is the call to be stewards of the Earth. We look to the incredible example of the oldest living continuous culture on Earth, who have cared for our country for over 60,000 years, to keep reconciliation and deep care for one another at the forefront of our school community.

Finally, our overarching Inquiry Theme for Term 3 is Creativity. Together, we will ignite a love of learning and a passion for discovery, exploration, and creative thinking in all that we do.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or wonderful ideas. Together, we continue to ensure St. Joseph’s is a community of excellence, hope, and belonging for all.

Yours in Partnership,

Gab Espenschied

Principal

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