News from the Principal
Prayer for Harmony
Good and gracious God,
Who loves and delights in all people,
We stand before You,
Knowing that the spark of life within each person
on earth is the spark of Your divine life.
Differences among cultures ad races are multi-coloured
manifestations of Your light.
May our hearts and minds be open to celebrate similarities and
differences among our sisters and brothers.
We place our hopes for racial harmony in our committed action an d
In Your presence in our Neighbour.
May all peoples live in Peace.
AMEN
Dear parents and friends of St Joseph’s,
One of my favourite things about Australia is that we are a multicultural nation — from the oldest continuous culture of our First Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world. Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes Australia a great place to live.
All people who migrate to Australia bring with them some of their own cultural and religious traditions, as well as taking on many new traditions. Collectively, these traditions have enriched our nation.
We, parents and teachers, have a wonderful opportunity to help build a peaceful and productive future for our children by setting an example at home and at school of how to live in harmony with people from other cultures.
These are some fascinating statistics about Australia's diversity:
- (49 %) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was
- we identify with over 300 ancestries
- since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia
- 85% of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia
- apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi
- more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia
During Harmony Week (20-26th March) St Joseph's will be celebrating Australia's rich cultural diversity. On Monday we will celebrate with a special Harmony Day Liturgy beginning at 2pm in the flexible learning space and then on Harmony Day, Tuesday 21st March, our students are invited to wear orange and participate in different cultural activities from many countries around the world. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
Students are invited to bring along a gold coin donation to support Project Compassion, which supports many cultures around the world.
Congratulations St Joseph’s Families! Our current student attendance is at 91.9% of our student’s attendance above 90% of the time, which is the highest rate of student attendance we have ever had.
Attendance at school is the foundation of student engagement, learning, wellbeing and achievement. Learning gains, engagement to school and retention have all been strongly correlated with regular student attendance.
Current research and practice indicate that an individual student’s attendance rate of 90% or less is correlated with potential problems for the student in the short, medium and long terms. Such a rate has been described as Chronic Absenteeism (CA) and needs to be identified and responded to from the earliest indications. Put simply, an attendance rate of 90% equates to the following:
Ninety percent (90%) attendance (aka “regular attendance”):
= 1 day/fortnight absent
= 1 week/term absent
= 1 month/year absent
= 1 school year/P-9 absent
= almost 1 ½ years instruction lost P-12
The research is clear and extremely concerning, children with less than 90% attendance are:
- achieving lower levels of literacy and numeracy;
- achieve lower performance and learning grades/reports;
- reportedly experiencing more problems with peers (ie. peer conflict;)
- reporting higher levels of disorganisation and anxiety;
- reportedly experiencing less success in the classroom compared to their peers;
- more likely to experience unemployment, mental health difficulties, not complete Year 12, lower life expectancies and more likely to be involved in criminal activity as an adult.
Let’s keep up this great attendance and support our kids to achieve.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing for our Year 3 and 5 students started this week and will be completed by Tuesday next week.
Please note there are changes to NAPLAN reporting this year. There are new proficiency standards with four levels of achievement which will replace the 10-band structure seen in previous reports of student results. This means that results from 2008-2022 will not be able to be compared to the 2023 results. The four levels of achievement are: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs Additional Support.
Here are some good tips for keeping NAPLAN in perspective. It is a snapshot in time.
- NAPLAN is about making sure your child is on track in the important areas of literacy and numeracy
- NAPLAN helps you see your child’s growth and achievements
- NAPLAN isn’t high stakes testing and it amounts to less that 16 hours over 7 years of schooling.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Conferences are scheduled for next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
These interviews are most important and are designed to provide parents with the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of your child’s progress and wellbeing at school. They are also a great avenue for dialogue around achievements, areas which require some further improvement and ways parents can assist. Each teacher is required to have an interview sheet which parents are required to sign as record of the discussion. I thank you in advance for your presence at these interviews.
Prep Enrolments
It is that time of year again where we urgently request for any existing families who may have a child eligible for Prep in 2024 to ensure an enrolment application has been submitted. Children who are born between 1/07/2018 to 30/06/2019 are eligible to enter next year’s Prep program. It is vitally important that we have secured a place for children of existing families prior to offering places to new families.
Please spread the word about our wonderful school and encourage friends and neighbours to join our St Joseph’s community. We are aware that there are siblings who will be in the Prep class of 2024. Please ensure that you have enrolled online or collect your enrolment package from the office as soon as possible.
School Fees
Families should have received their first school fee invoices for the year about two weeks ago. Please double check your emails and if you have not received one, contact the office asap. We have several options for families to pay these fees. Please do not hesitate to contact the office to arrange internet banking, direct debit, repayment plans etc.
It is vital that all families meet their financial commitment to the school. Not only is regular payment of fees a condition of enrolment, but school fees are also a major source of income. Consequently, our ability to continue to provide the best possible staffing levels and student resources relies heavily on your timely payment of school fees and levies.
Why do school fees exist?
They exist because Catholic schools, only receive 74% (Federal 58.4%; State Gov 15.6%) of the total cost associated with per student funding compared to 96.8% (76.3% State Gov; 20.5% Fed Gov) which Ed. Qld schools receive. School fees and levies exist to bridge the government funding shortfall.
As you can see from the above figures, Ed. Qld schools’ main source of funding is received from the State Government while the majority of funding for Catholic Schools is sourced from the Federal Government.
Where do school fees & levies go?
As mentioned before, the fees and levies you pay are a major source of income and are directed towards additional teacher and support staff wages, classroom resourcing, capital projects, IT upgrades, building & grounds maintenance, library and curriculum resourcing and of course general operating expenses such as insurance, rates, electricity etc.
Families also need to keep in mind that the school always strives to keep fees and levies to an absolute minimum.
When you consider the resourcing levels and amount of free of charge opportunities available for students here at St Joseph’s, the level of fees is extremely reasonable. Of course, we do understand that from time to time, families fall on financial hardship. Our fees and levies are not designed to be a burden on any family. All we ask is that you contact the office to make an appointment to come in and discuss alternative payment options or concessions.
Wishing a great week ahead,
God Bless,
Megan