Quality teaching is provided by exceptional educators at St Joseph’s and is very well resourced in terms of equipment and support personnel. St Joseph’s provides learning support services and special needs programs, including access to specialists in psychology, occupational therapy and speech pathology.
Providing a meaningful and inclusive learning program, St Joseph’s caters for the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social and physical dimensions of each student. It fosters the wellbeing of all students and other members within its school community so that each person is ‘empowered and challenged to become lifelong learners with optimism and hope for the future’.
St Joseph’s aims to provide a fully inclusive mainstream learning environment that reflects the principles of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) and the Disability Standards for Education (2005). All students are included in the activities of the school community and given opportunities and responsibilities that recognise their value to the community and provide positive learning and social experiences. Our commitment to the practices of purposeful inclusion reflects the Gospel values of respect, equality and social justice. Within a Christian framework, we provide a learning environment that is supportive and responsive to individual needs and differences and that recognises and celebrates the individual student’s abilities and strengths.
We aim to do this by:
- Helping all students reach their full potential, academically, socially and emotionally
- Identifying individual strengths and needs
- Providing appropriate interventions where necessary
- Fostering the growth of student confidence and independence in learning
- Working collaboratively with parents and other specialists for the benefit of each student
Students who are supported by special Learning Support at St Joseph’s have needs in one or more of the following areas:
- Mental or physical Disabilities (primary focus)
- Learning Difficulties
- English as Second Language (ESL)
- Behavioural difficulties
- Mental Health concerns
- Organisational Issues
- Social Skills
- Gifted and Talented identification
- Anger Management
- Literacy, Maths/Numeracy Support
- General Population (curriculum support)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background