Dear Families and Friends,

As you know, Connection is one of our core values at St Joseph’s School, Kingswood, with the other two being Excellence and Gratitude. A strong part of connection is community as well as communication. I had the pleasure of joining the recent Working Bee and reflecting on feedback from some of the wonderful volunteers, was how nice it was to connect and chat and how they felt more a part of the school from having the conversations and connecting moments as we worked together to achieve some pretty ambitious and amazing results for the school (thank you to everyone involved). 

Building upon the theme of how important it is to connect, I remind and encourage all parents and caregivers to chat/message via Seesaw with class teachers should you have queries or concerns, or if there’s important information to pass along (e.g. if your child is experiencing some change in their home life etc.). In addition to this, I also reiterate that the leadership team (myself, Vanessa and Christine) are also available and happy to be contacted should you wish to – it’s probably easiest to do this by calling the office to make a time in our diaries that is convenient for you or sending an email initially.  

We have had a recent increase in the number of enquiries for children from other schools, considering a move to St Joseph’s Kingswood– and it makes me wonder whether we have a handful of families who are also considering a change. Possibly your child has experienced some challenges whether they be social or learning and wondering if it’s easier to consider change. From my experience, a child who learns from the challenge, grows rather than avoiding.  I would urge anyone looking to do this, to make a time to chat with me first, before deciding. One of the many benefits of a small school like ours is that all the children are known by all the staff, however there are close to 250 students at the school and not everything about each child can be known by all staff. Another plus is that, due to our size, we are an agile motorboat able to change direction quickly, rather than a big cruise liner that takes a long time to change course. You only have to look at the Early Years courtyard to see how quickly and well simple and meaningful change can be enacted! Please don't hesitate to reach out for a conversation.

In term 3, there are a number of positive changes occurring as we introduce a new literacy program and continue our intensive focus on Maths for Professional Development for the remainder of the year. Stay tuned for more info and key dates for our parent/caregiver info nights so you can better understand and support your learner at home. 

Lastly, I hope the school holiday break enables us all to rest, Winter is always challenging with days inside, colds, COVID and flu. Take care, rest up, stay well.

In all things, Charity,

Jodie Higgins

Principal