Principal's Report

Our collective focus on excellence at St Joseph's School can be measured in many concrete ways. Most recently our parents, staff and students completed the 2023 School Satisfaction Surveys. I am pleased to report that across a 3-point scale, all three of the stakeholder groups responded positively and increased their level of satisfaction in comparison to the 2022 scores. And, of course, these types of sentiment surveys are not reflective of the work of individuals - they are quite clearly the result of collective community effort and teamwork. As I have written many times in previous newsletters, our teams of skilful helpful adults working in partnership with the parish and the parent community turn a good school into a great school. Thank you on behalf of our staff teams for making that active and positive contribution to our great school.

Similarly, you do not need to do too much research about school enrolments to tell you that “word-of-mouth” beats all other forms of advertising hands down! As the School Satisfaction Surveys attest - there is something great happening at our school and people are talking about it! Families that send their kids to great schools don’t stand around in car parks gossiping negatively about the school. Families in great schools talk to teachers and Principals quickly, privately and in the spirit of “nipping things in the bud” before they become larger concerns. That is our culture here and I commend families for their proactive nature in both teaching resilience and coping strategies at home, as well as letting us know ASAP if there is an issue. It takes a village to raise a child and in Glen Innes, we are doing a great job with our village kids.

As we draw towards the end of the year, it is worth remembering that research proves that if children can read and write at age-appropriate levels by the end of Year 2 then we are future-proofing them for successful life outcomes in their post-school years. Hence, it is encouraging to note the PM Benchmark levels presented below that represent our children’s reading level at the end of Term 3. With 84% of Year 2 children at benchmark and only 3 kids left to meet the Year 2 target, our St Joseph's children are definitely setting themselves up for future success. Even Kinder and Year 1 only have a few children left to meet their age-appropriate levels by the end of the year. Well done to our teaching teams of skilful helpful adults for their dedication and hard work in supporting and future-proofing our great kids!

Finally, I offer public commendation and heartfelt thanks to the local Lions Club in Glen Innes for their kind donation of $264 to our school from their community fundraising efforts throughout 2023. The beautiful irony of their generous volunteer work lies in the fact that they actively provide a reliable and tasty service to our children and families at so many of our community events and then they choose to donate back to us after we pay for their service!? What wonderful, caring and generous people! Thank you so much!

Until next time.

May our God go with you

Geoff McManus

Principal