From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Students

About ninety years ago the great English writer, G.K. Chesterton, did what a lot of us have been doing lately, as we continually are exposed to the ongoing incidents of inhumanity in our world and our own country. He looked at his society and was troubled by what he saw and he wrote the following:

There comes an hour in the afternoon when the child is tired of pretending, when he is weary of being a robber or a noble savage. It is then that he torments the cat. There comes a time in the routine of an ordered civilization, when the man is tired at playing at mythology and pretending. The effect of this staleness is the same everywhere; it is seen in all drug taking and dram drinking and every form of the tendency to increase the dose. Men seek stranger sins or more startling obscenities as stimulants to their jaded sense. They try to stab their nerves to life. They are walking in their sleep and try to wake themselves up with nightmares.

Whilst not all of Chesterton’s observations are still evident in our society, a number are, and our society has added a few more. The illegal drug trade is one of the biggest industries in the world, internet pornography is one of the biggest addictions in the world, excessive use of alcohol is everywhere, and drug dealers find a market among our school students. Many people in our society are trying to “stab their nerves to life” by increasing dosage of their particular addiction.

We live at a time when we have the most wonderful technologies available to us. We have the internet with its amazing breadth of interesting sites; we have phones, Ipads, games, Facebook, Twitter, that are linked to it. But with all this comes a problem: how to handle all this in a non-addictive way, how not to allow these technologies to control our lives.

Perhaps all this fits under the heading “Excess” about which Ron Rolheiser, columnist, and author, has this to say:

Excess is a substitute for genuine enjoyment. We go to excess in things because we can no longer enjoy them simply. It’s when we no longer enjoy a drink that we drink to excess; it’s when we no longer enjoy a simple party that we let things get out of hand; it’s when we no longer enjoy the taste of chocolate that we over-indulge. Excess isn’t just a substitute for enjoyment, it’s the very thing that drains all enjoyment from our lives; every recovering addict will tell us that.

So, how do we prevent our children from slipping into the world of excessive behaviours? For the most part, children don't know what “excess” is, unless adults introduce them to it. If a child is excessively involved with computer games and the like, maybe it’s because of loneliness. Maybe it is because no one has the time or interest to provide options such as belonging to a sports team, music group, hobby club, being involved in home cooking, gardening, board games, maybe visiting the local library or local park.

As parents and educators, we should endeavour to ensure that our children learn about the dangers of excess through conversations with their families. This is by far a more suitable option than having our children learn about “excess” by observing the behaviours of adults who might have succumbed to the pressures of life and so consume more, buy more, drink more, spend more than they should and genuinely substitute excess for enjoyment. By endeavouring to educate our children about these dangers we hope and pray that our children can learn that for life to be enjoyable it needs to be simple and void of ‘excess’.

Perhaps the mantra of Author Mary Jo Leddy has wisdom to offer us:

“It’s enough.
I have enough.
I am enough.
Life is enough.
I need to gratefully enjoy what I have.”

This week we pray that the adults in our community can have a positive impact in protecting our students by educating them about the dangers of excessive behaviours.

The Prayer of Protection

The Light of God surrounds us.
The Love of God engulfs us.
The Power of God protect us.
The Presence of God watches over us.
Wherever we are, God is,
And all is well.

James Dillet Freeman

St Joseph’s College Towards 2024 Strategic Plan

As I indicated in last fortnight’s newsletter it is my intent to share the strategic intents of the St Joseph’s College Towards 2024 Strategic Plan over the upcoming newsletters, so that our community is fully aware of our direction for the next four years. The strategic intents will be presented according to the domains outlined in the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese School Renewal and Improvement Procedure. The domains are: Teaching and Learning; Mission and Identity; School Renewal and Improvement; and Stewardship and Strategic Resourcing.

This week I will share the second and third sections of Domain 1 Teaching and Learning – Curriculum Structure and Provision and Pastoral Care and Student Wellbeing.

Domain - Teaching and Learning – Curriculum Structure and Provision

Strategic Intent: St Joseph’s College delivers a rigorous, diverse, and inspiring curriculum to challenge students to pursue their passions and aspire to excellence.

Key Improvement Strategies: 

In relation to curriculum structure and provisions the College will:

  • Commit to developing a rigorous and robust Professional Learning Community.
  • Continually review the current curriculum offerings and structure.
  • Ensure all teaching and learning programs address improvement in literacy and numeracy.
  • Initiate a career education program ensuring that all students graduate with a pathway.
  • Develop strong connections between academic and student engagement team.
  • Use Impact Cycles to improve student learning outcomes.
  • Aspire to high student participation in all co-curricular activities.
  • Aspire to excellence in co-curricular activities. 

Domain - Teaching and Learning – Pastoral Care and Student Wellbeing

Strategic Intent: St Joseph’s College maximises engagement in learning and the wellbeing of students to grow as valued members of our community.

Key Improvement Strategies:

The College will enhance staff understanding and exploration of Relational Pedagogy through:

  • Implementing relational pedagogy and the use of the Ignatius Room.
  • Developing a method of gathering student voice.
  • Knowing our learners through Student Engagement Data.
  • Implementing a mentoring program for our at-risk learners.
  • Continuing to develop and implement year level specific programs based around ‘The Joey’s Way’ imperatives.
  • Using, The Joey’s Way as a model of pedagogy to maximise student engagement in learning.
  • Embedding, The Joey’s Way Curriculum, built around the ACARA Personal and Social Capabilities.

A copy of the strategic plan is available to all families at the front office of the College, or on our St Joseph’s College website.

End of Term 2 Farewell, Best of Luck and Best Wishes

Firstly, I would like to take the opportunity to farewell and thank Mrs Sue Garry and Dr Gary Lake for their contributions to our College over the last ten weeks. Both Mrs Garry and Dr Lake have been very generous with their time and efforts to support their classes and this has been greatly appreciated.

Other staffing changes that will take place from the start of semester two include. Ms Deb Mischlewski will be returning from long service leave. Mr Trent Sellars will be joining us from St Ursula’s College as our Curriculum Leader English and Languages. Miss Taylor Jannusch will be joining us from Assumption College where she has been teaching Maths, HPE and Science for the last 12 months. Miss Brylee Tudge will be joining us from Woodridge SHS as our Library Technician and Ms Chelsea Moon will be joining us from Lockyer District SHS as a School Officer Administration. I am sure that you will join with me in warmly welcoming these staff in term 3.

Best of luck to our students who are participating in QISSN and QISSRL carnivals over the first week of the break. What a great achievement for our College to have three teams attending, including a female rugby league team participating as part of the inaugural QISSRL Girls Carnival. Thank you to the staff who are supporting these students.

Best wishes to our community for the break. Please be safe and take appropriate breaks when travelling. We look forward to students returning on Tuesday 13 July refreshed and ready to participate fully and give their best in semester two.

Best wishes

    Kort Goodman, Principal