{"id":330151,"date":"2023-03-21T14:21:45","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T04:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=330151"},"modified":"2023-03-21T17:23:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T07:23:42","slug":"st-joeys-celebrates-culture-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/21\/st-joeys-celebrates-culture-in-action\/","title":{"rendered":"St Joey’s Celebrates ‘Culture In Action’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Students at St Joseph’s, Murgon, are celebrating Harmony Week (Photo: BCE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 21, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Joseph’s Catholic School in Murgon is enthusiastically celebrating Harmony Week (March 20-26).<\/p>\n

Principal Tracey Gerrard said St Joseph’s was an example of “culture in action”.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love to nurture our multilingual students to speak and share their language at school,\u201d Tracey said.<\/p>\n

She said 66 per cent of the school\u2019s students were First Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our students speak a mix of Wakka Wakka language at school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it\u2019s important our students know their local First Nations language so they can connect and serve our community now and into the future.”<\/p>\n

Ms Gerrard said the school was in the process of introducing Wakka Wakka into its curriculum and classrooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students will be the ones to continue to Close the Gap in our region, and we want to equip them with the right skills to do so,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tracey started at St Joseph’s eight years ago, for the first year as Assistant Principal Religious Education and then seven as Principal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said she had “fallen in love” with St Joseph\u2019s and its students.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as a role became available, I applied and I was soon on my way to Murgon from Nanango,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Principal is so rewarding because I feel part of something larger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many opportunities for me to engage with our families and students outside of school and make strong and positive connections within our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important part of my role is to connect, engage and earn the trust of the Murgon community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have really worked hard to remove barriers, so our parent community and especially our Cherbourg parents, feel welcome and comfortable on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince our parent community has become more confident to enter our school and engage with our staff, our enrolments have soared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has also meant greater student engagement and more learning.”<\/p>\n

Tracey said there were many benefits to leading a rural school.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe school is small, so I know all our students their families and their needs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a community, we have worked hard to learn about our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures, and I feel blessed to be welcomed into their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking rurally has different challenges but it is extremely rewarding when I see my students achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor anyone considering working in a rural school, I would encourage them to take that opportunity as the rewards are amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationships with students, families, and staff are life-giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Footnote: Harmony Week is an opportunity to recognise diversity, bringing Australians together from all backgrounds. The week is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Principal Tracey Gerrard with some of her St Joseph’s students (Photo: BCE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Community<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Joseph’s Catholic School in Murgon is enthusiastically celebrating Harmony Week (March 20-26).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":330154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[402,3,395],"tags":[35],"yoast_head":"\nSt Joey's Celebrates 'Culture In Action' - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St Joseph's Catholic School in Murgon is enthusiastically celebrating Harmony Week (March 20-26).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/21\/st-joeys-celebrates-culture-in-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St Joey's Celebrates 'Culture In Action' - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St Joseph's Catholic School in Murgon is enthusiastically celebrating Harmony Week (March 20-26).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/21\/st-joeys-celebrates-culture-in-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-21T04:21:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-21T07:23:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230321stjoeys1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/21\/st-joeys-celebrates-culture-in-action\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/21\/st-joeys-celebrates-culture-in-action\/\",\"name\":\"St Joey's Celebrates 'Culture In Action' - 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