Principal’s Report Welcome to the 2017 Virtus which will record the achievements of the College during another highly successful school year. At the outset I would like to record my gratitude to Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) for appointing me as Principal. I am also grateful to Paul Tobias and current leaders of the College for assisting my transition to the role. As a past parent and past staff member, returning to St Joseph’s felt like coming home in some ways and I’m very grateful to everyone who made me feel welcome this year. In this report I don’t intend to try to list all the achievements of the year, but would like to make some observations and point out a few events of significance.The reader can discover all the activities and successes of the year in the remainder of the magazine. The year commenced with 1738 students including 305 Year 7 students.We also welcomed new members of staff: teachers Quentin Lydall, Scott Harris, Greg Waller, Matt Walsh and Ben McDowell and support staff Tania Spence, Meg Wilson, Di Makings, Michelle Martin, Catherine Jones and Spencer Lupino. René Maltese, Kate McLaren, Coby Cunningham, Rebecca Westwood, Lauren Flint, Lauren Hall and Claire Connell returned from leave. Early in Term 1 we celebrated the academic achievements of senior students with our Senior Awards Ceremony with guest speaker and former staff member, Paul Hood. In December we received the results from the 2017 VCE students. 10% of students achieved study scores of 40 or above. 6.9% of our students received an ATAR of above 90. The mean study score this year was 31.4, the same as in 2016. There were many results this year of which individual students should be proud because they represented the student’s best efforts. I would like to congratulate all those for whom this is the case. Congratulations to Michael Bongiorno who is the 2017 Dux of the College having achieved an ATAR of 99.55 closely followed by Hugh McMahon with an ATAR of 99.45. The Aspire program for Year 12 students seeking to maximise their ATAR score continued again this year, with regular lunchtime meetings attracting solid numbers. The faith dimension of the College saw regular liturgies and
full school masses for significant events. For the last 17 years Fr Kevin Dillon has provided great support to the College celebrating many of these masses. It was fitting that his formal farewell to the Parish was held here at the College providing many from this community the chance to thank him for his contribution. Following Mass on Edmund Rice Day, students and staff forgot our first world problems and focussed on the needs of communities in the developing world and the marginalised of our own community. The Edmund Rice charism is a particularly robust and practical take on Catholicism. This was seen throughout the year with every student involved in service learning. In this area the staff led by example with many staff committed to supporting Samaritan House, Vinnie’s outreach and other local community agencies. Our student renewals program took a different form for each year level but provided every student with the opportunity for reflection and engagement with their faith. During 2017 the Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse continued to make findings public. EREA responded to these findings by making a formal apology for all abuse, including sexual abuse that had occurred in all our schools across Australia. This was an enormously significant event at most EREA schools. In our community this broad apology built on the public apology made by St Joseph’s to the Geelong community in 2001, and reinforced our commitment that such abuse must never be part of our story again. Indigenous issues and education continued to be prominent. Highlights included the opening of the Reconciliation Garden adjacent the bluestone Tom Howe Centre. Students immersed themselves in the communities at Daly River, the Tiwi Islands and Yeppoon as part of a practical commitment to reconciliation. Reconciliation Week was a highlight for those unable to be involved in immersions and we were delighted to welcome Indigenous elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr to St Joseph’s for this time. Student well-being and pastoral care was to the fore throughout the year. The senior years well-being and information night in Term 1 was a highlight. Diversity Day was again significant with the College student body publicly committing to a strong stance against homophobic bullying and celebrating our acceptance of diversity. We were pleased to be accepted as a lead school in the Victorian government
Edmund Rice Day
Father’s Day Breakfast
Reconciliation Garden Opening
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Big Fish
Mother’s Day Mass
