Dear SJMS Community
On Tuesday we celebrated the Feast Day of St Joseph. Our day began with a Mass celebrated by Fr Paul Mullins and ended with the students gathering at the pool for a day of great celebration.
I received many emails from Josephite schools and centres around Australia marking and celebrating this significant day in the Josephite calendar.
St Joseph was often portrayed as a simple carpenter within the Scriptures. But as our students could tell us through their learnings he was anything but this. The little we know about Joseph from the Scriptures shows us a man of faith, honour and courage. He believes Mary even when he might have chosen to reject her story about the angel. He stands by her. Joseph is a man of integrity and truth. We live in a society obsessed with rights and a world that seems to reward the brash, pushy, and selfish. Joseph stands in stark contrast. He is a man characterised by compassion, strength, trust, respect, honesty, integrity, self-sacrifice and courage.
St Joseph is the patron of families, expectant mothers, fathers, workers, travelers, immigrants and of the dying.
Student Leadership
At St Joseph’s Memorial the opportunities to develop leadership skills are valued and varied. Leadership is a quality that all students are encouraged and supported to develop. Students from Reception to Year 7 take on the role of leaders of their own learning. Through the curriculum and extra curricula activities, all students are encouraged to develop the skills necessary to be a leader. This ensures that all students perceive themselves as leaders and have the opportunity and confidence to take on leadership roles.
Student leadership roles challenge individuals to develop a sense of vision and purpose as they take on responsibilities. They develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skills including communication, negotiation, team work and reflection.
Through their actions, St Joseph Memorial School Student Leaders reflect and demonstrate the characteristics of St Joseph and our school’s values: trust, respect, honesty and integrity.
At the Mass on Tuesday, I presented our school leaders with their Leadership badges. I would like to congratulate the following students for earning a Leadership role for 2019:
School Leaders
Annika, Nevada, Christian B, Naite
Library
Clarice, Natalie
Environment
Alessio, Joshua
House Captains
Woods: Hudson, Eliza
MacKillop: Walker, Lola
Joseph: Rina, Sammy
Tappeiner: Jonah, Addison
ICT
Jett, Karli, Sebastian, Koby, Mitchell
Social Justice
Madison, Emily, Lara, Sydney, Elena, Alicia
Peer Support
Sam, Jacob, Mackenzie, Georgia, Paula, Callum, Michaele, Christian M
Each role will allow students to become actively involved in making decisions and problem solving in the community.
However having said this, each of our students have a leadership role in our school whether they are in Year 7 or any other year level. There are many ways that each child can set an example for those around them, little things like; showing love in all actions, being a pillar of compassion and strength, to the more simple things like wearing their uniform with pride, putting their rubbish in the bin, moving to class on time after the bell, listening patiently to those around them, being kind to others; all are small but very important examples where students provided leadership to ensure our school continues to be a loving place.
Fun Run
I’d like to extend my gratitude to the legion of parents and caregivers who volunteered their time last week to prepare baked goods, stickers and prizes to raffle, all to add to the great fun had on Saturday at the SJMS annual Fun Run. We were blessed with magnificent weather and it was great to see everyone enjoying the event and coming together as a community.
Swimming
Last Tuesday saw Mr Martin and the St Joseph’s Swimming Team head to Magill Swimming Pool to compete in the South Australian Catholic Primary School Sports Association Swimming Carnival. Over the past years we have worked our way through the divisions to now be in Division 1. The Team competed well to finish 5th overall. I congratulate the whole team for their commitment and effort. A special congratulations to Benjamin Maher who made the East Adelaide team for the SAPSASA swim state day championships, where he will compete in the 4 x 100m Freestyle team.
Ride Your Bike To School Day
This Friday is National Ride2School Day (22 March 2019). I will ride to school on Friday along with Mr Siinmaa, as we join hundreds of schools across Australia celebrating riding, walking, scooting and skating to school!
Shave to Raise
I would like to congratulate Jesse Garratt who was determined to raise money for this great cause. Jesse raised an amazing $1873 by shaving his hair last Wednesday.
God Bless
Brady Stallard