Principal’s Blog – Term Three, Week Five

The value of information cannot be understated. After all, as the saying goes, ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’

This past Tuesday 11 August, people all over the country completed the 2026 Census so that the federal government would have the information it needs to better govern our country. Here at St Joseph’s College, we also opened our own survey this week.

Parent & Caregiver Survey

St Joseph’s College values continuous improvement. Information about the experiences families have with the College helps us to understand where we need to improve and why.

On Monday 10 August, all parents and caregivers of St Joseph’s College students should have received an email with instructions on how to access a survey where they can have their say on various aspects of the College’s climate.

If you did not receive those details, you can access the survey here. When you arrive at the NSI Partnerships website, enter the code SJMparents into the ‘Start Questionnaire’ field.

The survey closes at the end of the day on 30 August. If you have any problems accessing it, please contact College Reception or the team at NSI via the email hyperlinks in this paragraph.

Australian Business Week

You may recall in last week’s blog post that Year 11 Commerce and Vocational Major students began Week 4 with team-building activities to break the ice on Australian Business Week.

After days of planning exciting resort concepts and meticulously bringing them to life, the judges evaluated each group’s stall on Friday 7 August. Before that, every group first prepared a business summary, including marketing plans, budgets, and more. They then provided this to the judges (acting as prospective investors) before formally presenting their resorts.

After listening to the presentations, the judges deliberated and announced Swiss Summit Enterprises as the Grand Champion Winners of Australian Business Week 2026.

Congratulations to Swiss Summit Enterprises and to all students who collaborated with their classmates and took on the challenge of setting up a virtual business. The five concepts are currently on display in the Haenan Library for everyone to admire.

Collecting Students for Appointments

Upholding Victoria’s Child Safe Standards is our greatest priority. With that in mind, there are certain steps that must be taken if a student has a planned appointment during school hours.  When a student must leave the College during the day, please follow these steps:

1. The student must bring a note to the College with details of the date, time and person picking them up for their appointment.
2. The student should give this note to their Homeroom teacher.
3. The Homeroom teacher will issue the student with a class pass.

Collecting Students:

• To collect a student in Years 7 to 10, parents must come into the College Office.
• Students in Years 11 and 12 need to exit via the Office after presenting their pass.

For more information, please see this letter that was sent out to all families.

Father’s Day Breakfast

Free tickets to this year’s Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday 4 September became available at 9:00am on Tuesday 11 August. By lunchtime, the event was fully booked.

–Hardly surprising, when you consider our guest speaker will be AFL legend, Kevin Sheedy AO.

We look forward to welcoming all the fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other fatherly figures in our community to a marvellous breakfast.

120 Years Celebration

Week 6 is Mercy Week, when we will celebrate 120 years of St Joseph’s College with a commemorative Mass on Thursday 20 August. The Bishop of Ballarat, Fr Mark Freeman, will officiate.

All students and staff will attend this Mass. To see a brief schedule of the day as it relates to students, please read this letter. Students must wear their full winter uniform, including blazer.

On this momentous occasion, the College will welcome visitors from the Diocese of Ballarat, Mercy Education, Mercy Ministry Companions, the Sisters of Mercy, and more. Look for an update and photos in Week 7’s blog post.

In the spirit of hope and faith,

Mr Greg Kluske
College Principal