Dear Families
Welcome to the 2023 School Year!
I wanted to start by thanking the students, staff and families of St Joseph’s Memorial School for welcoming me so warmly to the community. It is evident that the school is a nurturing place where all people are welcomed, valued, and respected. I deeply appreciate that our school has a strong culture of cooperation, fun, friendship and rich learning. My aim as Principal is to help engage children in learning that is relevant, purposeful and connected to their lives. It is evident the school fosters a strong sense of belonging and supports each child to achieve their goals and seek their best.
Across the whole school, we commenced the year with ‘Wellbeing Week.’ The purpose of the week was to provide the students with the opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and tools to understand and enhance their own wellbeing, as well as, build positive relationships with classmates and teachers. In conjunction with ‘Wellbeing Week’, the teachers participated in a workshop run by Kaine Volkov from Berry Street Education that focused on effective wellbeing practices and strategies aimed to positively benefit students in the classroom.
In the past two weeks, our Preschool and new ‘Ready for Reception’ groups have been buzzing with joyful learning experiences. The educators have set up learning opportunities in the spaces that enable the students to explore, investigate and problem-solve based on their interests and curiosities. The students have been making new friends and have enjoyed being creative through drawing, building and writing.
I have the strong belief that every student is a leader and as a school, our role is to provide opportunities for all students to develop and demonstrate leadership capabilities. The Year 6 students have already shown leadership by creating an ‘Uno’ club at break times for students to join in and play together. In addition to this, 
another initiative introduced by the Year 6 students this year has been the new ‘Buddy Bench,’ being a seated space provided during school break times for students to develop new friendships and talk with other peers. It has been wonderful to see the students leading and enjoying these wonderful initiatives.
I am looking forward to fostering a positive school climate by promoting a safe and supportive environment that builds effective home and school partnerships. This week we held parent-teacher learning conversations to provide an opportunity to meet and share information about goals for the year ahead.
The afterschool sport program has commenced for the year and I have been able to attend some of the netball and basketball games. It has been wonderful seeing the students represent the school so positively. I would like to acknowledge and share my appreciation for the efforts of the parents who give up their time each week to volunteer as coaches.
Yours sincerely
Adam Slater
Principal