DEPUTY PRINCIPAL LEARNING AND TEACHING
The start of the year and all of Term 1 is very busy. That busyness has been reflected in the good vibe that currently exists at St Joseph’s College. Thank you to the staff and students who have been positive in their start to the school year.
LAPTOP BAGS
As you would be aware, most students in the college received new laptops this year with laptop bags. A friendly reminder to our students, laptops must be carried in the supplied laptop bags in between classes. The new laptops are touchscreen and any screen damage will be relatively expensive to repair. A random laptop bag audit was recently held and it was concerning to see about a third of students were not using their laptop bags. We ask families to please remind and encourage their child to carry their laptops in the designated bags.
REPORTS
Mid Semester Reports will be released on Thursday April 1, 2021. Please take the time to read through the report with your child and talk to them about what the report says. If there are questions or if there are things that you are not sure about, please contact the college or the relevant teacher.
PARENT STUDENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Parent Student Teacher Interviews will take place in Term 2, on Monday April 28 from 12.00pm to 8.00pm. Bookings for the Parent Student Teacher Interviews will open in PAM on Thursday April 1. After the success of the Zoom Parent Student Teacher Interviews held last year, we are offering parents/guardians the choice of either ‘Virtual’ or ‘Face to Face’ conferences for this cycle in 2021. Specific instructions will be forthcoming in the last week of Term 1.
LEARNING PEDAGOGY LEADERS
One of the new developments at the college in 2021 is the appointment of three Learning Pedagogy Leaders. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our three Learning Pedagogy Leaders, Mrs Rebecca Miller, Mrs Jodie Noblet and Mr Marcus Parker to the wider college community.
Mrs Rebecca Miller
Mrs Jodie Noblet
Mr Marcus Parker
Mrs Rebecca Miller
Mrs Jodie Noblet
Mr Marcus Parker
The Learning Pedagogy Leader's main role is to work with teachers to improve learning in the classroom. This may take place in various formats including working with Learning Areas, individual teachers and the whole college. One of the focus areas is Project Based Learning, which we have introduced on a small scale at Year 8 this year and will evaluate later in the year. The Learning Pedagogy Leaders have an important mentoring and coaching role within the teaching group at the college. We are very excited with the creation of these new roles and look forward to seeing improved student outcomes as a result of their work with our teachers.
VCE GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
I was fortunate enough to be able to take my VCE Geography class to Falls Creek recently to conduct their Fieldwork. A mandatory requirement of VCE Geography is data collection in the field and Falls Creek makes for a magnificent setting to undertake this work. The fieldwork primarily focuses on land use of the Falls Creek region. As part of this, we look closely at the new mountain bike trails being created in the area as well as looking at historical uses such as cattle grazing, water catchment, electricity production, tourism and recreation. The students enjoyed the opportunity to work in a very different environment for the week.
As Term 1 school holidays and Easter approach, I wish you all a joyful break. I look forward to seeing the great learning momentum we have set at the college continue during Term 2.
Happy Easter to you and your family as we celebrate Our Father's greatest sacrifice through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Mr Greg Kluske
Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching