From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
Students are our greatest gift!
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition, St Joseph’s College has at its very centre, a genuine concern for the safety and welfare of every student. While delivering specific curriculum pathways and providing a variety of opportunities and experiences for our students is the means by which we assist in their formation, their ongoing health, safety and wellbeing is of particular importance.
Last week, the College recognised Child Protection Week. Child abuse and neglect is one of Australia’s most significant social problems. Last year, over 32,000 Australian children were proven to have been abused or neglected. The term ‘child abuse’ includes physical, psychological, sexual, neglect and exposure to family violence. As a College, we are committed to the protection of all children from all forms of child abuse and this week we have provided activities and information sessions that our students can use to keep themselves safe.
As a Toowoomba Catholic Diocese school our Commitment to Child Safety states:
The welfare and best interests of students are paramount and all students attending Catholic schools in the Diocese of Toowoomba have a right to protection from harm. Our policy expresses the commitment to providing a safe and supportive learning environment, the prevention of harm to students and appropriate responses when a staff member or volunteer reasonably suspects harm or risk of harm to students.
All staff members and volunteers in schools are required to support students who have been harmed, or are at risk of harm and, where appropriate and permitted by law, work in partnership with other statutory agencies. Schools have additional responsibilities for the care and wellbeing of children and young people and in providing child-safe environments.
These are:
- a duty of care to students
- a responsibility as mandatory reporters
- the provision of curriculum relevant to child protection for all students and
- a code of conduct
Children and young people who come to St Joseph’s College have a right to feel and be safe. We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. We are committed to providing a child-safe and child-friendly environment, where children and young people are safe and feel safe and are able to actively participate in decisions that affect their lives. We have a zero tolerance for child abuse and other harm and are committed to acting in students’ best interests and keeping them safe from harm.
The College regards its child safeguarding responsibilities with the utmost importance and is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and maintaining a child safe culture.
The Catholic Church in Australia marked Safeguarding Sunday last weekend and this day acknowledged the hurt that has occurred in the past in the church and its commitment to practices and protocols that create and maintain safe environments for all people, especially children and other people who are at risk. It invites people to pray for those harmed by abuse directly and indirectly.
Farewelling Staff
This week we farewell Mrs Jaye Singleton, Mrs Julianne Krueger, and Mrs Dani-L Pickering. We would like to thank each of these ladies for their dedication to the College over the years and their commitment to supporting the students and College. We wish them all the best with their new endeavours.
We also wish Dr Gabrielle O’Reilly and Mrs Lauren Geldard all the best for their long service and maternity leave respectively.
Information regarding the new staff joining us in term four will be communicated in the week one newsletter.
Reflecting on Term 3
After three quarters of the academic year, the students and staff of the College are looking forward to a well-earned break. Term 3 has been a busy and exciting one, filled with the challenges of study and many activities and achievements. As with any time that we take a rest from the hectic pace of the day-to-day, the break provides an opportunity to take stock of our personal and collective progress.
We are blessed to have many students who excel in a wide range of activities. We celebrate their achievements. In addition, we applaud those whose stories are not always told, but have achieved their personal goals. For some, these goals have been reached in the classroom where dedication and persistence has paid dividends. Not every student at St Joseph’s College will be an academic world-beater, but every student can set goals that will challenge and lead to improvement. To all who have taken up this challenge and stuck with it, I offer you my congratulations. I hope your gratitude mindset allows you to say thank you to God, your teachers, your parents and to yourself.
Taking stock is not only about recalling our successes; it also involves facing up to those times where we have missed the mark; our blind spots. As students reflect on Term 3, some will acknowledge that the effort may not have been enough. This is not always determined by the result, but by the self-knowledge that the potential was there to do better. As I have often told students, life is a learning opportunity, and we need to learn from our mistakes and to grow through our setbacks. For those whose results, whatever they may be, leave room for improvement. I hope there is time for reflection over this holiday break. Let us all commence the final term with the determination to be grateful, to improve and to see beyond our blind spots.
A reminder to all Parents and Carers that the College recommences for Term 4 on Tuesday, 5 October (Monday, 4 October is the Queen’s Birthday Holiday). Have a restful holiday and stay COVID safe.
Kort Goodman - Principal