2022 | Issue 7 | SJC Newsletter

Thank you to all of you who have taken up the invitation to join a range of our community events and initiatives we have held so far this term. Having families come into the school has been missed over the last few years and its such an important facet of the schooling journey for our students.

We were really pleased with the turn out to the Richie Hardcore community event where Iona and SJC families were treated to an informed session all about respect, consent and the harmful effects of social media & pornography on healthy relationships. Our Year 10, 11 and 12 students also heard from Richie and we have had overwhelming feedback that he has been the best speaker many of them have heard from since being at the college.

Our Mothers’ Day breakfast was also a really nice occasion and we were pleased to have over 400 in attendance. Our staff were up early preparing, cooking and setting up and it was nice to see many sons, Mums and guests spending some quality time together.

Our Music Band Showcase evening was also a great evening and I would like to congratulate Head of Music Amy Young and the team for this great evening and it was great to see the Performing Arts center at capacity with over 350 people in attendance.

I was pleased to see our NAPLAN testing go off with out a hitch and I thank families and staff for preparing our students to have a positive mindset about NAPLAN. We look forward to utilising the data to help progress the way we embed literacy and numeracy into our learning at St Joseph’s.

Our Edmund Rice Day was a huge success and all staff and students involved had a meaningful and fun day. Our fundraising efforts for our friends in Uganda eventually saw us raise over $40,000 which I am pleased with. There is still an opportunity for those who have not contributed to do so via the following link. Our Edmund Rice Day Liturgy involved former SJC teacher, Monika Ercoli sharing her experiences and reflections on her immersions to Manya and how the partnership and friendship with Manya commenced. Monika also explained how the funds raised will be put to use at the St Joseph’s Vocational School in Kensekka, Uganda.

We have been keeping an eye on the number of COVID cases as we have had a recent spike in the Year 9-year level for staff and students. Whilst we are committed to remaining open and continuing the learning of all our students we may need to continue to adopt measures that keep our students and staff safe. I will always communicate these updates with the cohorts that are affected. We encourage families to follow the usual process when notifying absences and to obviously keep their child at home if they have symptoms or test positive.

As always, I thank you all for your ongoing support.