From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Students

Well done students, teachers, and community members!

Today I would like to take the opportunity to offer a vote of congratulations to a number of members of the St Joseph’s College community. These students, teachers and school officers are all very deserving of being congratulated on their efforts as they set a wonderful example of what we are endeavoring to achieve at St Joseph’s College. Aspiring to excellence through participation and perseverance demonstrating humility whilst being proud of our individual and collective achievements.

• Congratulations to Jan Lengren (Admin, Finance & Facilities Support), Karen Tobin (Excellence in Leadership – Middle Leadership), Emma Chalmers (Excellence in Teaching & Learning - Secondary Expert Teacher) and Jacqui Dignon (Excellence in Leadership - Emerging Leader). These wonderful people were nominated across the various sections of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Excellence Awards. We are so very grateful for the outstanding contributions these people make to our community. Best of luck to Emma and Jacqui who have progressed to the finals of these awards which will be announced next Thursday night.

• Last Wednesday we congratulated our Academic Excellence Award recipients for Semester One 2023 and next week we will congratulate our SJC Catholic Education Week Award recipients for 2023. These students are to be commended for their outstanding commitment and dedication to their learning and engagement with the Joey’s Way.

• Congratulations to the QISSRL and QISSN teams who represented the College with endeavour and humility over the mid-year break. Thank you also to the staff who so generously gave up some of their holidays to accompany the teams. It was a pleasure to watch you engage with each other, compete, and improve over the week.

• Congratulations to both the Junior Girls Soccer team and the Boys Open Futsal team on their outstanding efforts in representing the College gallantly against South-East Queensland powerhouse schools of sporting excellence this week. Both teams should be very proud of their efforts in making the Bill Turner Soccer Competition semi-final and the South Queensland Champion of Champions Futsal tournament. We also wish our junior girls futsal team all the best for their trip to the South Queensland Champion of Champions Futsal tournament next week.

• Congratulations to Paul Canning, Peter Keightley, Deb Newton, Kerrie-Anne Fellenberg, Madeleine Minns, and Mark Holdsworth who next week will be presented with Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Long Service Awards in recognition and appreciation of their service of between 25 and 45 years. We thank you for your commitment and dedication to Catholic Education.

Communication Protocols

We would like to take a moment to explain the importance of our communication guidelines. As educators, we believe in fostering a healthy balance for our dedicated teachers, while ensuring effective and timely communication with parents and students alike. By setting a 2-business day turnaround for communication, we aim to provide thorough and thoughtful responses to inquiries. This timeframe allows teachers to provide careful consideration to queries and provide well-rounded solutions. Additionally, we have established the hours of 6am to 6pm as the designated communication window for staff to respond to queries. We have requested that teachers refrain from emailing students and parents outside of these hours to foster a sustainable and healthy teaching environment. Thank you for your understanding and support in upholding these communication expectations. Together, we can create an environment where effective communication thrives, while respecting the personal boundaries of our dedicated educators.

Teen Mental Health First Aid

Adolescence is a time of important change and development. It is also a time when mental health problems such as depression and anxiety first emerge. During the high school years, mental health problems are among the leading causes of falling grades, problems with friends and relationships and substance use or abuse, and they can have a lifelong impact. That is why early intervention is so important and why we have made the decision to invest heavily in educating our students about Mental Health First Aid. These courses are held yearly with our Year 7 and 10 students and next week our Year 7 students will begin their Mental Health First Aid training/ These courses will be facilitated by Shauna Green (College Counsellor) and myself who are both MHFA facilitators. Further information for parents can be accessed via this link at the Mental Health First Aid Australia website https://mhfa.com.au/

Week 3 - Catholic Education Week

Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all Catholic schools to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

Catholic education:

• Is a faith-based education which places the values of Jesus at its centre.
• Is a high quality, holistic education for 1 in 5 young Queenslanders, educating them to be well-informed, highly skilled and constructive members of the community.
• Values diversity and treats each student with dignity enabling them in turn to promote and respect the dignity of all.
• Nurtures in students a commitment to social justice and a critical social consciousness.
• Prepares students for global responsibilities through stewardship of the earth’s resources.
• Is an integral part of the local and universal Church.
• Occurs in welcoming, inclusive, and connected communities.

We take the opportunity this week to congratulate and show our appreciation of the efforts of all students, teachers, school officers, and volunteers who are part of our community and we look forward to continuing on the great tradition of Catholic Education in the Toowoomba Diocese.

Every two years we ask parents, students and staff in our communities to share their views, to ‘check in’ on how each school within our community, and as a group of 31 schools together, we are bringing to life our purpose: to enable full and flourishing lives.

The Shaping our future – Toowoomba Catholic Schools perception survey was sent via Sentral on the Monday 17 July. This 15-minute survey closes on Sunday, 6 August, 2023. Please check your email for a link to the survey. We encourage all members of our community to complete the short survey. In addition, we would also ask each of our families to prompt another family who is part of our community to complete the survey to generate some enthusiasm and provide us with the most comprehensive feedback possible.

Prayer for Catholic Education Week

God the Father

You are the Creator and life giver

You are our shield and our rock

May we be people who honour and respect others.

May we support and challenge each other.

God the Son You are the light of the world

You are our teacher and healer

May we be people who listen to and care for each other.

May we reach out to those who are excluded and treated unfairly.

God the Holy Spirit You are our helper and friend

You inspire us and guide us

May we be people who speak the truth and share our gifts.

May we make a difference in our school community.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord

Amen

Kort Goodman - Principal - KGoodman@sjc.qld.edu.au