2023 | ISSUE 8 | SJC Newsletter

Matteo Bove and Liam Alsop have taken over the Principal’s desk, representing the Student Leadership of the College, to interview Acting Principal Lisa Pope and Acting Deputy Principal John Mitchell on the latest initiatives occurring at the College.

A copy of the questions and responses is provided below.

What has been happening around the College in the past fortnight?

Last week was a busy week, our Year 11 students participated in a Driver’s Education program at Costa Hall and we hosted the Interschool Chess competition on Friday. Our Music students showcased their talent last Thursday night in the Performing Art Centre and the Year 7 students held a languages afternoon inviting their parents into the College to share their work.

We also held our Year 8 Renewals last week, with our students participating in the Courage to Care Upstander Programs which educate about the dangers of racism, prejudice, discrimination and bystander behaviour.

This week our Gospel and Spirituality assembly was a great start to the week, as we celebrate reconciliation week. The Welcome to Country and our guest speaker, Tommy Nyawir, were definite highlights for me.

We understand that there are some changes to the timetable in 2024. A number of our leaders have asked some questions about the timetable and we are hoping you can share this with our community.

Why are there different bell times every day?

There are different bell times each day as we have implemented different lesson lengths to accommodate a range of learning styles. The length of lessons range from 40 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes. The other theory is no day looks the same in the world beyond school, and therefore creating opportunities to vary the way we work each day helps us to adapt to this.

Do we have Wednesdays off?

No, you certainly do not. Students in Years 7 to 11 are expected to be in class. All Year 12 students are expected in class until lunchtime. However, in Year 12 we are offering some flexibility to the following students (and it is by invitation only):

• Students who have completed a VCE Unit 3-4 in 2023 and have been part of our independent study group on a Wednesday afternoon. These students will be invited to learn from home if they can demonstrate readiness and maturity to do so.
• Students who are completing an Australian School Based Apprenticeship and it is part of their workday.
• Students who complete an offsite VETis program which impacts their Wednesday morning.
• Students who complete a University accelerated subject (online) or Hybrid unit.

Can we have a sample timetable and can it go on Simon on daily messages?

Yes, we can provide a sample of the timetable for Mt Sion students, but we have some finer tweaking of our timetables for Westcourt and Waterford in 2024.

Are start times and finishing times the same?

Yes, our plan for St Joseph’s model keeps a consistent start time of 9.00am and finishes at 3.20pm.

What sparked this change?

This project started before I came to the College and has been in discussions for over three years. It started prior to COVID, and we learnt lessons from this. Part of the reason to change for us was flexibility so many students who want to have a diverse range of options in their subject pathway could do so, including VETis, work placements and accelerated units from university.

The other key driver is the ability to develop self-regulated learners, who can understand how they learn and how they can control their learning environment. The environment is very different in university and TAFE settings as well as the workforce, with less structure and support and therefore we want to support our students to transition to these stages successfully.

What benefits will this have for the students and teachers?

For students in Years 7 to 10, this timetable will provide greater time to English and Mathematics, which we hope will improve our student's literacy and numeracy skills. It enables us to strengthen our connection with Sacred Heart College and offer our students a greater range of subject choices.

For our senior students, we hope it supports students who want to have diverse pathways. We also hope it will improve engagement and increase motivation by studying subjects of genuine interest. We also hope it promotes independent learning, and confidence to tackle learning challenges on their own and ultimately improve outcomes.

Our Year 12 students will have both Monday and Wednesday afternoon to study from home or school unless they have a SAC. This supports our sporting program and enables us to also reduce the need to run redemption SACs outside of school hours.

For teachers, it will challenge us to think about our teaching and how to best utilise the different lesson lengths. It provides greater chunks of preparation time, and teachers will ultimately teach fewer subjects, as we have increased time for most subjects across the school.

In regards to the new Arts & Learning Precinct being built, will any other blocks receive repairs or upgrades in the near future?

Definitely, we have a staged approach to how we can upgrade the facilities of the College such as the D Block classrooms.

I am a student doing a VCE VM course each Wednesday during Periods 5 to 6, will this new timetable structure affect my opportunities going forward?

No, we are hoping that it will help you, by enabling you to participate in more structured workplace learning and offsite activities. If you chose to study a VCE subject as part of your VCE VM, we hope this change will support students better.

How does the school plan to account for nearly 1800 students in light of teaching shortages?

We need to employ more staff and we have recently advertised to do so. We are excited about adding some more team members to our College to help assist us in implementing our new structure.

It has been discussed that we can only study five subjects in Year 12, has that changed and if you wanted to study six VCE subjects, can you do this?

The new timetable has not changed the number of subjects students study in Year 12, currently they have access to study five units and next year this is the same. If students wish to have six units in their ATAR, we highly encourage them to complete one of these units (VCE or VET) prior to Year 12.

We noticed the State government has announced that some private schools will lose their exemption from paying payroll tax. Will this impact St Joseph’s College and therefore our school fees?

St Joseph’s currently sit below the $7,500 threshold level of tuition fees, so at this stage, we shouldn’t lose our payroll tax exemption and therefore this change should not impact fees. By the parameters reported in the State government announcement, we do not fit into the category of a high fee paying school.

What is the current procedure with illness with COVID?

The College currently has a number of staff and students with COVID and also the flu. We are asking anyone with flu like symptoms to follow the recommended guidelines:

• Test using RATS for COVID if you have symptoms, no matter how mild.
• Test if you are household or social close contact.

Note: students and staff who report a positive COVID test result are recommended to isolate for a minimum of five days and not attend school until their symptoms have resolved.

Is there anything coming up in the next few weeks that we need to highlight to our community?

• This week is Year 10 Careers Week and our Careers Coordinator has been busy preparing activities for our students including Morrisby testing to help guide our students to think about life beyond the College.

• The GAT is on Thursday 15 June for all students who are completing Year 12 VCE or VCE VM and any student studying a Unit 3-4 VCE sequence (this day is a student free day for all other students).

• It is also important to remind our parents and students that Semester 1 exams for students in Years 8 to 11 will occur in the last week of term.

• The last day of term will be Thursday 22 June and reports will be released to parents and students on the first Monday of the holidays.

Lisa Pope
Acting Principal