Dear Parents, Guardians and community members,

I am writing this week’s newsletter as I wait at the airport in Cairns where I have been attending the Principal’s Conference. These conferences are compulsory and designed to build school effectiveness across all schools in the Diocese. The focus of this terms conference has been on Student well being, Positive Behaviour for Learning, Child Protection, policies, procedures and compliance. Friday included presentations from Principal throughout the Diocese regarding innovations in learning that they have been successfully implementing.

Positive Reinforcements for Appropriate Behaviour

St Joseph’s Parish School is committed to continual improvement. This year we have been reviewing and updating our current Responsible Behaviour policies and procedures against Catholic Education Services guidelines for being a ‘Positive Behaviour For Learning’ School. 

With all new initiatives after a trial period we have reviewed and refined the Whole School Behaviour Reward System. We will be sending out an email early next week outlining these minor changes along with further explanation of our Behaviour Policy and Guidelines.

Mothers’ Day                                                                                                   

 Be it a skinned knee, a scary dream or a broken heart, kids instinctively reach for their mum. Such confidence in mothers’ compassion and care is born of experience from earliest days of love, nurture and protection.

Mothers’ Day brings us opportunity for both thanks giving and promise: thanks for our lived experience of all who care for us with mother-like love; and our promise to support the role of mothering at its best through our personal, family and community recognition, respect and support.

Motherly love and affection is depicted in so many ways. One of my favourite images, though, comes from Bil Keane’s newspaper comic series ‘Family Circus’. It depicts mum, Thel, coming home loaded up with groceries and her four kids hanging off her coat tails. When a neighbour inquires how she divides her love amongst her kids, she simply replies “My love isn’t divided; its multiplied!”. Isn’t that the truth; love never diminishes us – it enriches us all.

With a hug, a kiss, or a silent prayer, lets thank our mums for multiplying love through us!

God bless!

Megan