Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

I would like to welcome you all to the start of the 2023 academic year at St Joseph’s Regional College. This year I start in a new role as Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching replacing Mr Tim McCosker who served the College and the Parish in a steadfast and remarkable capacity throughout his career. I would also like to welcome Ms Anne Marchment who is now the Leader of Curriculum in the College. Together, we both will support the learning and teaching focus within the College. Our mission is to ensure that each student has the opportunity to immerse themselves in our rich learning environment and achieve their personal goals as they journey through secondary education at the College.

For those who are new to the College, whilst the start of the year may appear to be overwhelming at times, especially for our new Year 7 students, you will soon settle into the routine of secondary education at the College. The start of any year is a great opportunity for students to reflect on what they wish to achieve this year and to formulate actions that will ultimately lead to each student achieving their goals.

As part of this journey to achieve our best during the year, three key focus areas will drive learning throughout 2023. The first is a focus on high expectations. Our goal at the College is to see each student believe in their capacity to achieve their potential. While there will be times when the challenges of schoolwork may appear difficult, the ability to persevere and work through the challenges will develop great personal skills that will serve us well after we complete our schooling and head into the next phase of our life.

The second focus area is around enhancing our culture of learning and improvement. As part of this, I challenge students to continue to reflect on the quality of work they produce and seek to deepen their understanding of course content and improve the quality of the work produced throughout the year.

The third focus area relates to starting the year fresh and, as we settle into our new classes and subjects, we reflect on those learning behaviours that will help each of us achieve our goals for the year.

Specifically, we believe that these six core learning behaviours detailed below will ensure the classroom is an environment conducive to learning. Embracing these learning behaviours allows all students to strive for high expectations and embed a culture of learning and improvement in every aspect of their learning journey over the course of 2023.

1. DEMONSTRATE a positive learning behaviour and be ENGAGED in your learning

2. DISPLAY respect for others

3. Use time EFFECTIVELY to complete homework and assessments

4. ACT on FEEDBACK to IMPROVE the quality of your work

5. BE self-managed and ORGANISED

6. Work COLLABORATIVELY with teachers and peers

Finally, Ms Anne Marchment (Leader of Curriculum) and myself, wish you all a great start to 2023 and look forward to the many opportunities that emerge throughout the course of the year.