The Learning Zone

Raising Readers in a Screen Age

Sydney Catholic Schools has published a fantastic guide to help parents navigate digital distractions and foster a lifelong love of reading in their children. It offers practical everyday strategies, age-appropriate book recommendations, and tips to bridge the gap between bedtime stories and independent reading habits. Read the full article here.

Living Well, Learning Well Awards

At St Joseph’s, we proudly celebrate student success each week by presenting two class awards. The Learning Well Award honours a student who has shown pleasing effort, perseverance or achievement in a nominated area of the curriculum. The Living Well Award recognises a student who exemplifies our school values through respectful behaviour, positive attitudes and outstanding citizenship.

Mathematics - Retrieval Practice

Our mathematics lessons begin with a ten-minute warm-up. This isn’t just any activity; it's a short, focused exercise called retrieval practice. It’s a highly effective way to help your child's learning truly stick. 

See some examples below.

Kindergarten: How many more make 10?                                          

Stage 1: Which has more biscuits? 3 columns with 8 cookies in each column OR 4 rows with 6 cookies in each?

Think of retrieval practice as a brain workout to recall what they’ve learned from memory. When we ask our brains to pull information out, we’re strengthening the neural pathways that connect to that knowledge. The more we retrieve a memory, the stronger and more accessible it becomes. This simple act directly tackles the "forgetting curve" - the natural tendency for us to forget information over time. By consistently revisiting content, we’re helping to prevent that knowledge from fading away. 

Stage 2:

Stage 3