From the Principal

St Joseph’s College Towards 2024 Strategic Plan

Last week I attended the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Term 2 Leadership Forum in Stanthorpe. This leadership forum involved the Principals from across the Toowoomba Diocese meeting with Executive Director Dr Pat Coughlan, Directors and Senior Education Leaders of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office and keynote speaker Dr William Sultmann, a former Director of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office.

The focus of these three days was very much based around the schools within our diocese being distinctive as opposed to different, and how a Catholic education adds value, meaning and purpose to people’s lives in a particular way.

Dr Coughlan highlighted that the education offered to our students is about maximising achievement in student learning, accompanying young people as they construct a personal identity open to faith, and helping young people bring the insights of faith and culture together in making sense of their life experiences. In achieving these goals, we are able to provide a distinctive Catholic education for our community.

As part of Dr Coughlan’s and Dr Sultmann’s sessions we were asked to reflect upon how our St Joseph’s College community endeavour to meet these goals. This process was really quite easy and rewarding for me personally. I was able to clearly identify current practices and strategic intents and initiatives in our St Joseph’s College Towards 2024 Strategic Plan, which will be launched next Monday, that support the attainment of these goals.

We would love our parents to join us, Dr Pat Coughlan, and other invited guests for the launch of the St Joseph’s College Towards 2024 Strategic Plan. At this event as we will take the time to acknowledge the outstanding historical success of the College and look forward to the exciting future that our plan clearly outlines for the next four years. Community members who wish to attend the official launch are asked to rsvp@sjc.qld.edu.au by Monday 8.30am at the latest. A copy of the strategic plan will be available to families at the front office of the College, or on our St Joseph’s College website from early next week.

NAPLAN Week

This week our students have been involved in the annual NAPLAN tests. These tests provide a wide range of relevant data for the College to use in assisting to improve the educational experiences and learning of our students, provided that the data is accurate. With this in mind we spoke to the Year 7 & 9 students at the beginning of the week to encourage them to give these tests their best possible shot, aspiring to excellence. I would like to thank and congratulate our students on responding to this challenge in how they engaged with the tests. We look forward to using the data we are provided to inform us of the areas for further development with our students.

St Joseph’s College Open Day

Next Wednesday we are hosting our annual open day from 8.30 – 11.30am. The aim of the morning is to provide families with an overview of the way the College provides a holistic education for the students, to give students an opportunity to participate in a range of activities and for all visitors to journey through the College on a normal school day.

It will be no surprise to anyone that in most communities, word of mouth is the most successful form of advertising for any school. We encourage current families to share their positive experiences of St Joseph’s College and remind prospective families to rsvp for the event to ensure that we provide the best experience for all our visitors.

RSVP by visiting our enrolments tab open day section register now button on the website or click the link below.

P&F Meeting June 1 – Parent Information Session

How to support your child prepare for the rigour of senior schooling!

On behalf of the St Joseph’s College P&F association I would like to invite parents to an information session on how to support your child prepare for the rigour of senior schooling. On this evening topics may include:

• Weekly routines
• Study spaces
• Preparation for exams
• Time management
• Dealing with the stress and anxiety of exams

If you wish to attend this event please RSVP to rsvp@sjc.qld.edu.au by Friday 28 May.

Kort Goodman, Principal