Principal's Report

Catholic Education Week

Welcome to Catholic Education Week 2020

This week we reflect in our schools on the gift of grace and our response in faith which leads us to action in spreading the Good News of Jesus and making our world a better place.

Faith is being sure of something even though we cannot see it. As St. Paul writes to the Hebrews in Chapter 11, verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

In another letter to Timothy, St. Paul reminds the people to “fan into flame the gift that God has given us. God’s gift is not a spirit of timidity, but the spirit of boldness and love and self-control. You have been trusted with something precious; guard it and use it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in all of us”.

The goal of Catholic Education Week is to communicate and celebrate the distinctive mission of Catholic Education. It is an opportunity to celebrate and promote not only the great work being done in our schools but also our ethos.

Our College has every right to be proud of the part it plays in the wider story of the Catholic Church. Many, many students have benefited from the Gospel value based education provided and have graduated to make positive contributions to the communities to which they belong.

It is our ongoing prayer that each and every student makes the most of the opportunities presented to them during their time at the school.

Face-to-face teaching resumes

I am sure that everyone was delighted to hear on Tuesday morning Premier Andrews and Minister Merlino announce their plan for getting Victorian school students back into normal face-to-face classes before the end of Term 11.

Throughout this entire COVID 19 pandemic, Catholic education has committed to following the recommendations of the Victorian Chief health Minister and the Victorian government.

This has been stated regularly in communications from the Catholic Education Commission Victoria and St. Joseph’s College will be no different. As the specifics of the return to school plan unfold, we will work hard to implement them as best we can in our local setting.

Throughout this whole period there have been two things that have been the utmost priority for the College Leadership Team as it works with our wonderful team of compassionate, committed and collaborative staff to manage this unique situation. One has been the continuity of a quality teaching and learning program for the students entrusted to our care. The other has been the safety and well-being of our entire college community; staff students and families.

The leadership team will work with College staff and families as much as possible over the coming days to make sure that we are ready for when some Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 students return on 26th May and all students return to normal face-to-face teaching by 9th June.

There has been much wonderful work done that we can celebrate, and no doubt, we will continue to celebrate the strength of a community that has demonstrated adaptability and resilience in coping with these difficult times.

We look forward to welcoming students back to face-to-face teaching even though we know that it will be significantly different and bring its own challenges as we go forward.

The key dates again:

Monday 25 May - Pupil free day. With a very small number of exceptions, all staff return to work on-site.

Tuesday 26 May – Year 12, Year 11 and those Year 10 students who study a VCE subject return to on-site classes.

Tuesday 9 June – All students return to on-site classes.

Families and staff should monitor our newsletter, website, SIMON, PAM and social media for further information as we develop the systems and procedures required to ensure that we minimise, to the smallest amount possible the risk, of not containing the spread of COVID – 19.

Thank you for your support, resilience, and adaptability thus far. I have every confidence that our College community will display the same characteristics as we move forwards.

God bless.

Michael Delaney

Principal