2023 | ISSUE 3 | SJC Newsletter

For generations St Joseph’s has enjoyed a reputation for excellence. In recent years this has continued without impacting our strong focus on supporting students with specific learning needs. Despite being heavily oversubscribed for enrolments at times we have never succumbed to the temptation to selectively enrol highly capable students over those less capable. We have also deliberately chosen to fund bursaries to support of families in need rather than direct funds into scholarships for talented students.

Each year we have graduated young men with outstanding VCE results, work ready VCAL students, elite sportspeople and outstanding musicians. Annually over 250 young men leave St Joseph’s with the commitment and capacity to make a positive contribution to the world.

These things don’t just happen, they require commitment from the individual, support from families and an intentional focus on the part of the school. In the last few years we have been increasingly focused on creating and promoting opportunities to assist students pursue and achieve excellence. Some examples include the Westcourt sporting excellence program, an application based elective unit where students from a diverse range of sports, learn skills that will help their pathway to elite sporting success, our senior football and soccer players train together weekly and receive specialist coaching and of course the basis of our academic program is high quality classroom teaching augmented by additional support with tutoring available in the library after hours.

This week we were proud to announce our most recent initiative to support excellence in the College. We have entered a partnership with the Liverpool Football Club. (https://lfcacademy.com.au/vic/...) We will be offering a high-performance soccer school program delivered in partnership with LFC International Academy commencing this year. The importance of this announcement for the College and the region was emphasised by Cr Trent Sullivan, Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong who joined us for the launch.

We have many alumni who have had successful careers in the world game locally, nationally and internationally. Pre-eminent amongst these is Matthew Spiranovic (SJOC 2006) who played for Australia at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup We were delighted to welcome Matt back to the College for the launch where he spoke about the importance of the support that he received during his time at St Joseph’s school to balance his studies and football commitments.

The Liverpool Football Club program aligns with our values and the innovative curriculum and exceptional sporting opportunities we offer our students. I am really pleased that our students will have access to a world-class curriculum via this world-class soccer program and I am confident it will assist many more students in their ambitions to play at the highest level.

Our physical education staff and soccer coaches are currently receiving formal training from Liverpool football club International Academy coaches. This will ensure improved skill development and technical knowledge provided as part of the physical education curriculum. Our representative teams and elite players will now have coaches trained to deliver the same level of coaching experienced by young players on high-performance pathways elsewhere in the world. We also believe that the junior clinics held at St Joseph’s during the school holidays will expose more families to the high-quality facilities and programs available to St Joseph’s students.

Yesterday was International Women’s Day (IWD). Boys’ schools are sometimes criticised for a perceived lack of appreciation for, and recognition of, women. At St Joseph’s nothing could be further from the truth. On IWD I joined our year 9 student leaders for a breakfast function at Clonard College and a number of our staff attended a Deakin University IWD event.

The highlight of our celebration of IWD was our participation in the Respect cup at GMHBA stadium, with our first 18 playing St Patrick’s in the curtain raiser to the marquee game between Sacred Heart College and Loretto College Ballarat. Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved and happy IWD to the women in the College community.

Following this article is the text of a speech given by first 18 football captain Michael Rudd at the after match function for the respect cup. It accurately encapsulated the way that our students have embraced gender equality and the values behind International women’s day and the Respect cup.

Next week the first of 10 college tours for prospective students and families commence. This is an opportunity for those families considering their options for secondary education to see St Joseph’s in operation. We often hear stories of families who say they would have loved to enrol their son at St Joseph’s but didn’t apply because they were either non-Catholic or not in a Catholic primary school.

We enrol students from all primary schools in the region. We encourage families seeking an inclusive secondary school with a culture of care, achievement and strong values to join us for a tour and consider St Joseph’s for their son’s secondary education.

There are currently a small number of places available on the College Advisory Council and the two supporting committees; the Governance and Risk committee and the Finance and Planning committee. If you would like to express an interest or find out more please email Adrienne Tuck [email protected] or call Adrienne on 5226 8119.

God Bless

Tony Paatsch

Principal

RESPECT CUP SPEECH - Michael Rudd

Good afternoon to all players, students, parents and staff. Standing in front of you today, as a representative of our school, I believe it is first important to highlight the importance of this day, and the fact that it is not just another game of footy. Today, as many would already know, is International Women’s Day. This day is significant as we not only advocate for the equality of men and women, but it is also a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. In our case today, we acknowledge the sporting advancements, especially in football, that women have made over the past few years. Today’s event purposefully placed the boys game before the girls as well as all four schools wearing purple on their jerseys, representing the importance of women and our pledge to strive for equity and respect. St Pats and St Joeys, being both all boys schools, take pride in playing today and it means a lot to us that we are able to be a part of something so special. We can all take something out of this day, as we all have powerful women in our lives, and I believe we should all continue to strive for gender equality and respectful relationships.

On behalf of St Joseph’s College I would like to extend our thank yous to those who help set up this day. Firstly, thank you to the umpires for officiating both games. To the St Patrick’s boys, thank you for giving us such a great contest today, you are a great team and we look forward to meeting you later in the season. To Sacred Heart and Loreto, thank you for playing such an entertaining game of footy, you guys are the most important part of today and it was great to see you both battle it out, and of course congrats to St Joseph’s and Sacred Heart for taking home the cup. To the staff of both teams and coaches, this day wouldn’t run without your commitment and support and for that we are all thankful. And then just a few special mentions…

Leah Irving – You are the innovation behind this day, and each year you work so hard to have it on this stadium as well as for everything to go as planned. On behalf of everyone here, thank you for giving us this experience and your ongoing support.

Mark Kennedy – Our deputy principal, who was integral in combining all four schools as he was an old St Pats boy. Thank you again for your support and consistent effort.

Michelle Abbot – From Sacred Heart, thank you for MC-ing today’s event and presenting the awards. And of course congrats to all award winners.

Kardinia park trust – Finally thank you to the Kardinia park trust team for allowing us to play on this great ground and use their amazing facilities.

Today was a great experience and something we should all be grateful for.

Thanks

Michael Rudd
First 18 Football Captain