From the Principal

Dear Parents and Friends of St Joseph’s College,

This week, I attended the National Catholic Education Conference in Cairns with 32 principal colleagues and senior leaders from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office. The opening address delivered by Sister Nathalie Becquart focussed on the concept of Synodality. This term refers to how we walk as Christians with Christ towards God’s Kingdom in unity with all humanity. Synodality is a path of spiritual renewal and structural reform that enables the Church to be more participatory and missionary so that it can walk with every person, radiating the light of Christ. Catholic schools, including St Joseph’s, play an important role in the dialogue between faith and culture and in providing moral education on values. St Joseph’s students are among the 818,000 students in Australia who receive a Catholic education, which sees students who perform academically above national and OECD averages, display increased well being and engage in practices which benefit the community.

NAPLAN results identifying school, state and national progress have been announced recently. I am pleased to advise that St Joseph’s College has once again performed exceptionally well, achieving above the state and national means in all dimensions for our Year 7 and 9 students. The results are an endorsement of the continuing work and dedication of our staff and students towards a literacy and numeracy improvement agenda which has been in place over the last four years. Over 95% of our teaching staff have completed training in Subject Discipline Literacy. This accredited professional development positions all teaching staff to deliver literacy imperatives specific to their teaching areas in a highly explicit manner. Additionally, all students in Year 7, 8 and 9 receive additional literacy instruction in English and Humanities.

Year 11 students are currently engaged in applying for student leadership positions for 2026. They have submitted their applications and are currently being interviewed for positions by members of the College Middle and Senior Leadership Teams. I was delighted to visit our students at the Emu Gully Leadership Camp recently and watch them engage in activities, before participating in liturgy and delivering an address on leadership. Both staff and students commented on the quality of the camp experience and the rich challenges they experienced. Outcomes of the leadership application process will be announced to candidates and their parents at the end of this term with a ceremonial changeover with the current leaders during Week 2 of next term.

God Bless,

Mr Jim Brennan - Principal – jbrennan@sjc.qld.edu.au