Dear families and friends,

On Thursday the 2nd September, we had the most wonderful celebration to bless and open the new administration building, classrooms and library. There were many significant guests who we appreciated being with us to share the occasion. Archbishop Patrick O’Reagan, Honourable John Gardner MP, Minister for Education, Professor Denis Ralph, Chair of SA Commission for Catholic Schools, Dr Neil McGoran, Director of Catholic Education SA  and a number of Catholic Education representatives, Mr Sam Duluk MP, state member for Waite. It was wonderful to have Sister Brigette Sipa, Provincial of Josephite Sisters as well as sisters, Liz Morris and Majella O’Sullivan, both with past connections to our school as well as Fr Bob Wilkinson, past parish priest.

The project totalled 2.2 million. We are very grateful to the State Government for the Capital Grant of $303,937 to help bring the project to fruition. We are grateful to the Catholic Development Fund for the loan and the contribution of families over the years who contributed to fund held by the school. The money was well spent, bringing together the old and new spaces to create a place where children can be inspired, imagine and flourish.

It was great to have so many past principals attend Monica Conway, Justin Cavuoto, Mark Corrigan, Amanda Humenick and Phil Shultz attend. Congratulations and acknowledgement was offered to Phil and the previous School Board, for their vision and passion to support St Joseph’s School to continue to be a place where children can thrive through wonderful infrastructure.

The senior students lead the way in the ceremony, showing wonderful leadership as they welcomed special guests, read and supported our guests. Special thanks to our beautiful choir, who provided flair to the opening ceremony. 

A lot of work went into preparing for the opening by many of the staff. I would like to particularly make mention and thank Christine Farrugia, Anne-Maria Stanton and Anna Principe for their commitment to detail to make the event so memorable. 

It would have been perfect to have shared this with more of the community. Hopefully you have had the opportunity to see the spaces and were able to view the blessing online. Importantly the children will reap the rewards!

Last Thursday, it was great to see so many parents attend the Positive Discipline Information Evening by Mahdavi Nawana Parker, from Positive Minds Australia. The session was entertaining, informative but most of all I think reminded all that we are all doing an amazing job as parents - I was very pleased to hear that all will be well if we do it right 75% of the time!

As I have mentioned, I have 2 children, Jasmine 6 and Jackson 8, and I can assure you having a classroom of 30 is easier than parenting 2! So a few tips from Mahdavi that I thought I would share:

• For the first 8 years, children will respond emotionally - especially to ‘no', as they have an underdeveloped brain. Learning, playing and being brave is exhausting work for them!
• Punishments are not logical, they are still learning the skills so they will still keep doing things. Ask, how are you going to make it better? Discipline by teaching and by leading by example. 
• When our children respond we need to respond calmly to their chaos - even if it means using the ‘Botox Brow’. Mahdavi suggested we practise the Botox Brow!
• Step out of the emergency lane, take time to calm then respond.
• We don’t always respond the right way, if we get it wrong, own it and repair it - I know this is something I do and they appreciate that I make mistakes.
• What matters is the relationship.
• Give attention to the ordinary moments - acknowledge the person they are not the awards they get - I love this!
• Focus on their strengths - What is it about your child that gives you joy
• Help them grow emotional intelligence: Don’t try to be the fixer, they need to experiences challenges, loss, disappointment. Let them know you care, by acknowledging the pain and being empathetic.

Finally, the best reminder for me was ‘children are childish!’, so they will act childish! It can be so infuriating when they are silly, loud, annoying, messy, etc - Hearing this reminded me why they find ‘toilet’ talk so funny and the fact they can say it a thousand times and still laugh is because they are childish!

Special thank you to the Parents and Friends for organising this event for our community. It is so important to have opportunities to develop our skills in this most important role of parenting. 

Kindest regards,

Jodie Higgins
Principal