Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Friends,

This morning, our school community gathered to honour our fathers, grandfathers and father figures with a breakfast BBQ and Liturgy in recognition of Father’s Day this Sunday.

This was a special event where we were able to recognise the importance of positive male role models in the lives of our students and express our gratitude for fathers or those men who are significant in the lives of our students. I wish all of the fathers and grandfathers and the special men in the lives of the students of St Joseph’s a very happy Father's Day. I hope you are able to spend quality time with your family and your children on Sunday 1 September. Thank you for all that you bring to the life of our school community.

Praise Those Fathers

Let us praise those fathers who have striven to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice.

Let us praise those fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, 

have worked to become a worthy and virtuous father.

Let us praise those fathers who, despite marital discord, 

have remained in their children's lives.

Let us praise those fathers whose children are adopted, 

and whose love and support has nurtured a thriving life.

Let us praise those fathers who, as stepfathers, 

freely choose the obligation of fatherhood and earned their step children's love and respect.

Let us praise those fathers who have lost a child to death, 

and continue to hold the child in their heart.

Let us praise those men who have no children, 

but cherish the next generation as if they were their own.

Let us praise those men who are about to become fathers; 

may they openly delight in their children.

And let us praise those fathers who have died, 

but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us.

(Prayer of Kirk Loadman adapted by Debra Mooney, PhD)

A big shout out to all our mother helpers for making this years Fathers Day Breakfast a huge success.  Congratulations to all our raffle ticket winners.

Please meet Mrs Walls! 

• Mrs Walls works full time as our Mathematics Instructional Coach and as a Literacy and Numeracy Support Teacher in Year 6
• As part of her role leading Mathematics, Mrs Walls designs and delivers professional learning for staff. This year, her focus has been on developing teachers’ knowledge of the Revised NSW Mathematics Syllabus and quality assessments
• Mrs Walls schedules time to visit classrooms either modelling lessons for teachers, co-teaching lessons with teachers or teaching small groups 
• Mrs Walls is trained in the Mathematics Intervention Program, EMU, which she facilitates in Year 1
• Mrs Walls provides small group instruction to extend students in mathematics
• Purchasing of Mathematics resources across the school
• Facilitating grade Mathematics Collaborative Planning sessions 
• Mrs Walls leads our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff team to support the appreciation and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures across our school

Annual Improvement Plan Update 

Goal: Students will achieve excellent growth in Mathematics as a result of shared curriculum expectations and collaborative processes ensuring alignment of curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment.

Yesterday, we were excited to share with our parents and grandparents our AIP in action with invitations to our Maths Cafe and Open Classrooms:

• In celebration of Literacy & Numeracy Week, parents were invited to our first Maths Cafe to further develop parent’s understanding of mathematics learning and teaching. This session was facilitated by Mrs Walls and supported by Mrs Grose and I thank both teachers for this initiative. Thank you to the 40 parents and grandparents who were able to attend. We are looking forward to offering more Maths Cafes in the future. 

• Our Open Classroom yesterday afternoon showcased some of the mathematical activities students engage with daily. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to share and celebrate Mathematics learning as well as teach these to parents and grandparents.  

National Child Protection Week - Conversation is at the heart of this National Child Protection Week

Child Protection Week starts on the Sunday 1 September with the clear message that ‘every conversation matters’. Throughout next week, teachers will facilitate age appropriate lessons focussed on Cyber Safety and the responsible and respectful use of technology. Teaching and reteaching how to safely use technology is so important. Next week would be timely for parents to have a conversation with their children regarding such things as your digital footprint and never revealing personal information.

Recent Staff Professional Learning

Research tells us that the quality of the teacher is the greatest in-school influence on student achievement. Therefore high quality professional learning for teachers must be a priority to ensure improved teacher practice that leads to improved student learning growth. Professional learning undertaken by our staff over the past fortnight includes:

16 August 2024 - Religious Education Coordinator Network Day

Mrs Smith

22 & 23  August 2024 - Principal’s Retreat

Mrs Duffin

28 & 29  August 2024 - Assistant Principal’s Retreat

Mr Aguilera

School Captain's Report

Last week, St Joseph’s had a fun filled week all about books in celebration of Book Week. We had our Book Week parade, an author's talk featuring Gregg Dreise who shared with us his culture, his story and how to write books and a Harry Potter themed Escape Room that Mrs Pirie excellently put together. It was a great week of celebrations. 

On Friday, many students in Years 3-6 participated in Soccer Gala at Ocean Park. It was a very popular event.

This week, our school is celebrating Literacy and Numeracy Week. We celebrated with open classrooms so that our parents can see our work. 

Today, we celebrated Father’s Day with a breakfast and a liturgy. We also bought gifts for our fathers at the Father’s Day Gift Stall. Happy Father’s Day! 

On Friday night we have a Hot dog and Handball afternoon organised by the Fathering Project to celebrate Father’s Day - we all are excited to see you there.

Ned S - School Vice Captain

School Assembly

Our next whole school assembly will be held tomorrow, Friday 30 August at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

Kaylene Duffin

Principal, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Principal Awards

Our Principal awards are presented to students fortnightly on the even week.  

The following students will receive their Principal Awards at our assembly at 2.00pm,  tomorrow Friday 30 August  (Term 3 Week 6). 

How does my child receive a Principal's Award?

Class teachers nominate students for Blue Merit Awards which are presented at the weekly assembly.  When five Blue Merit Awards have been received, students send them to the school office to be recorded and are then eligible for a Principal’s Award. When students attain their 4th Principal Award, they are awarded a Principal’s Medallion at an assembly. End of Term awards can be included as part of the 5 awards.  Please see the "School Handbook" for a full list of eligible awards.

Acknowledgement to Country

St Joseph's Bulli acknowledges and pays respect to the Dharawal people past, present and emerging the traditional custodians of the land on which our school is built.