Principal's News

Week 3 Reflection

It has been a busy and eventful couple of weeks at school and a personal highlight has been meeting our 2024 preps and their families; as these meetings start earlier in the school day, Martin has been 'running the gate' while I meet with families, so apologies for my absences on these days.

It seems like such a short time ago that I met with our current prep families in preparation for them starting 'big school', and what a journey they are having with their two exceptional teachers guiding them along the way. I am deeply grateful to Jasmine, Dean and Jo for their care of our preps and for celebrating the 100 days of prep in typical St Joseph's style!

100 Days of Prep

Today our prep students reached a significant milestone in their educational journey– 100 days of school!  On this very special day, they participated in many different and fun learning activities that related to the number 100. The prep parade in assembly was particularly cute, with some added risk from rogue walking sticks and inflatable walking frames!

Students came to school dressed as a 100-year-old and costumes included white hair, glasses, wrinkles, walking sticks, ties, long dresses and false very bushy eyebrows! etc. And the prep teachers, Dean and Jasmine, did not disappoint with their amazing costumes. 

The prep students also had class celebrations with food to share, dancing, 100 themed activities…it was an amazing experience and I’m sure one they will remember for many years to come.

Thank you to all the family members who supported the day, including attending the assembly and donating party food. Dean, Jasmine and the team were most grateful to you all.

Naplan 2023 Update

Now that all Australian students are taking NAPLAN tests online, and with the move to an earlier NAPLAN in March, education ministers have changed how the testing data is presented to schools and parents.

New proficiency standards with 4 levels of achievement for each year level have replaced the previous 10-band structure.

The following 4 levels of achievement have replaced the old numerical NAPLAN bands and the national minimum standard: 

• Exceeding 

• Strong 

• Developing 

• Needs additional support. 

Student reports continue to show the national average and the range of achievement for the middle 60 per cent of students in each year level, allowing comparison of a child’s achievement against these measures. 

At St Joseph’s our Year 3 and Year 5 students overwhelmingly scored in the ‘strong’ and ‘exceeding’ categories, with a handful of ‘developing’ levels in various strands.

We are incredibly proud of our students and their hard work, not just during Naplan testing. 

Some of our school highlights:

• We do not have any Year 3 or Year 5 students in any subject graded as ‘needs additional support’.
• Year 3 Writing for all students was graded as ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’
• Year 5 Reading for all students was graded as ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’

The good news is that the relatively early release of data allows us to dig deeper into individual student data and provide direction and support in Semester Two. With those students who received a 'developing' grade, our first point of analysis is to assess whether the student actually completed the full test; we then look at additional supports that are already in place for individuals, followed by some analysis of gaps and future support needed. Targeted intervention is essential!

As a data set, it has proven to be a far more valuable form of assessment than receiving this important information in September or October.

Well done to all of our students and staff for their hard work and dedication to learning.

Online ‘Stuff’

I don’t envy parents having to navigate the online world with their primary-aged children- what a minefield it is for you all.

Thank goodness my own children grew up in the days of Penguin Club and MySpace! Very early on my husband and I felt we were trailblazers using software such as 'net nanny' to filter content for our children. Unfortunately, music file-sharing software such as Napster evaded the system and left us with large internet bills! Life was pretty simple then! We still had to be vigilant, but children had to look really hard to find inappropriate content online back in those days. 

Now inappropriate and disturbing content is everywhere and you can 100% guarantee that if your child has unrestricted and/ or unsupervised access to the internet, they will have encountered significantly inappropriate content. This is guaranteed and it’s everywhere.

At St Joseph’s we have a very deliberate policy of not setting online homework and we do not require students to complete anything online outside of school hours. During the school day, we monitor online activity, not only by walking around the classroom and engaging with children but also by using Hapara- an online safety suite that shows teachers- in real-time- exactly what is on a student’s screen, the tabs open, their browsing history and their sent/ received emails. This is in addition to the MACS level of firewalls and filters.

If your child uses the internet and has unlimited or unsupervised access to anything they want, you really have a parenting responsibility to check the content they are accessing. If you allow your child to engage in any form of online messaging and content sharing, you have a responsibility (and a right) to check the contents of messages. I really can’t emphasise this enough.

Some tips:

• Maintain Open Communication: Encourage your children to talk openly about their online activities, concerns, and experiences. By fostering a trusting and non-judgmental environment, they will feel more comfortable approaching you if they encounter any issues online.
• Teach Responsible Digital Citizenship: Help your children understand the concept of responsible digital citizenship. Emphasise the importance of treating others with kindness and respect online and the significance of responsible sharing of personal information. Encourage them to think critically before posting or sharing anything online.
• Set Privacy and Security Measures: Guide your children in setting strong, unique passwords for their accounts and remind them to never share their passwords with anyone. Ensure that their social media profiles and other online accounts have appropriate privacy settings to restrict access to personal information.
• Online Stranger Awareness: Educate your children about the potential risks of interacting with strangers online. Encourage them to be cautious when communicating with individuals they do not know in real life and remind them to avoid sharing personal details or arranging meetings with online acquaintances without your knowledge and permission.
• Recognise and Report Cyberbullying: Discuss the importance of kindness and empathy online, and encourage your children to report any instances of cyberbullying, either directed towards them or witnessed by them. Help them understand the consequences of their online actions and the impact they can have on others. You absolutely have the right to speak to another parent and let them know if their child is sharing inappropriate content.
• Supervise Online Activities: Maintain regular supervision of your children's online activities. Consider keeping devices in shared spaces, especially for younger children, to enable easier monitoring and to ensure they are engaging in appropriate content.
• Educate Yourself: Stay informed about the latest online trends, social media platforms, and potential risks that children might encounter (SnapChat, Instagram, TikTok etc… are all 13yr+ applications). Familiarize yourself with the privacy policies and security features of the websites and applications your children use.

Remember, protecting our children online is a collective effort, and your active involvement is essential. By working together, we can create a safe digital environment that allows our students to explore, learn, and connect with others responsibly.

I highly recommend regular visits to the eSafety government website to stay up to date with the latest developments in online safety and new apps:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

2023 Semester 2 SRC Leaders

Congratulations to the following students who were selected by their peers to represent them on our 2023 Semester 2 Student Representative Council:

I look forward to working alongside these students and the Year 6 leaders to ensure that 'Student Voice' is a priority in our school. Their assistance in driving student events, and gathering student feedback is invaluable.

Hooptime

Well done to our year 3 and 4 students who represented St Joseph’s at MSAC on Thursday and our 5s and 6s who competed in Hooptime last Friday.

Hoop Time brings together school kids from across Victoria for single-day round-robin tournaments held at local basketball stadiums. The Hoop Time program offers students in Grades 3 and 4 (junior) and Grades 5 and 6 (senior) the opportunity to play in a fun competition with qualified referees. The program culminates at the end of each year with Regional Finals and a State Grand Final day.

Our students displayed great teamwork throughout the day and most of all, they had fun doing so. A sincere thank you to all parents and teachers who helped make the day run smoothly. 

Beachside Soccer

Following their magnificent victory in the Dendy District Soccer lightning premiership, our senior boys represented St Joseph’s at the Beachside soccer tournament earlier in the week. Although they didn’t bring home a trophy, they had a ‘ball’ on the day and by all accounts represented our school beautifully! Well done to all!

Staff Absences and Classroom Cover

Although it is unseasonably warm, the dreaded cold/ flu season is upon us.

When a teacher is absent we do our very best to engage the services of our part-time staff to cover additional days. When this is not possible, we use teaching agencies and unfortunately for the past three weeks, there has been a dire shortage of agency emergency teachers. I am most grateful to Martin, Stacey, Amanda and other team members who have shuffled their workload to step into classrooms without fuss, and indeed, with great enthusiasm! When we have exhausted all avenues, and as an absolute last resort, we may have to split a grade across the school, with each classroom teacher receiving the day's work from the classroom teacher and monitored in each lesson. Whilst I have not had any parent question this (you are such a supportive community!) I thought I'd clarify our processes in the event of staff absence.

St Joseph's Fundraiser and Social event: Studio 54 Revisited!

What an amazing job from the P+F team behind the scenes and be sure to read the booking information later in this newsletter. We encourage all families to attend, and donate something, however small, to the raffles/auctions etc on the right. 

I'm sure this will be an amazing event!

Congratulations Callum and Alexis!

We congratulate both students on their sporting achievements this year.

Callum represented St Joseph's at the State Cross Country Championships held at Yarra Valley Racecourse on 13th July and placed 11th in the U9/10 boys age group! It was a tough (and muddy!) course, some of which was on the actual race track. Mum and Dad could only see him once he hit the home straight with about 200m to go! We are so proud of him and I know his family are very grateful for the support from his teachers, classmates, and the wider school community. Callum has also been chosen for the State Swimming Team!

Alexis continues to take the swimming world by storm in various state and regional swimming competitions, breaking personal bests and swimming records, often competing against swimmers in their twenties. Alexis will participate in the Victorian Metropolitan Championships this weekend, as will Callum!

The events will be live-streamed via Youtube and we wish both students the best of luck!

We are so proud of you!

And finally....

After just 100 days of prep, this is the standard of work we are seeing across the 40+ prep students; this is an indication of what can be achieved with great teachers, great teaching, supportive parents and amazing students! (this is all independent work)

Have a great weekend,

Michelle