Our celebration of Catholic Schools Week culminated with St Joseph’s Open Day on Saturday. It is a testament to the school that over 110 students gave up their time on Saturday to showcase the wonderful opportunities that students have at St Joseph’s. Thank you to the staff for their unwavering support and especially to the students who are magnificent ambassadors for the school community.

On Thursday, students experienced Eric Genuis  - a huge thank you to Fr Mark De Baptista from Port Kembla Parish, for initiating this opportunity for the students. Eric was not only a musical genius and composer, and was supported by world-class musicians in Violin and Cello, but presented an inspirational message to students about what is really important in life. To only bring things into our lives that enrich us and are positive, is not advisable. The music that you listen to is an influence on you too. We need to have positive people influencing us in all aspects of our lives.

This message was reiterated by our guest speaker at our International Women’s Day assembly on Monday; past student of St Joseph’s, Kaliah Calabas. Kaliah was gracious in sharing her life story. She is an actress on the international stage, however, her central message was around the importance of positive relationships in our lives – follow your dreams, however remembering to nourish and enrich the relationships closest to us is also important. Congratulations to all our award recipients for International Women's Day.

Catholic schools are places of hope – hope for a future that holds positive relationships and the capacity to go out and make a difference. It is honouring the teachings of Jesus to be tolerant and love one another and to always act justly. Having choices in our education system is very important; choosing a faith-based school is choosing the values that are important to the social development of young people – as well as a quality education that develops critical thinking skills and the ability to communicate and collaborate.

This Friday, we have a whole school carnival for the Cross Country. Participation on this day is compulsory as it supports the social and physical development of your child. Schooling is a ‘package’ deal – you take on all aspects and ‘have a go’ at everything. Thank you to the staff for all their organisation of these events.

You should notice that our Newsletter has a new and improved format. We believe that this will make it easier for parents to access relevant information and it also has an alternate language selection. Family members and friends will be able to read information in an alternate language. Isn’t technology useful!