Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Friends,

OUR VISION

Our vision at St Joseph’s is to ignite in all our students the passion for learning with a Catholic ethos. 

OUR MISSION

Our mission at St Joseph’s is to develop in our students:

• Active and creative minds

• Understanding and compassion for others

• Courage to act upon their beliefs

We are guided in our mission by the example of Jesus and we surround our students with the traditions of our Catholic faith.

OUR SCHOOL CHARISM

The school community reflects its long tradition in the Josephite charism. Mary MacKillop’s words of “Never see a need without doing something about it” are fundamental to the culture.

The spirit of St Joseph’s Catholic Parish Primary School is captured in our crest and motto, 'Veritas et Lux' meaning 'Truth and Light'. This motto calls us to understand the value of truth and the knowledge that God’s love is the Light of the World. This provides all our students with a solid foundation on which the experiences of life and learning can be built.

Our current vision and mission statement, developed in 2007, will be reviewed this year to ensure it accurately represents our collective vision, mission, values and charism in this contemporary world. All stakeholders: staff, students, parents, carers, parishioners and Father Patrick will be encouraged to share their reflections and viewpoints in this process.

We will be guided by personnel from the Catholic Life, Education and Mission (CLEM) team at the Catholic Education Office with a view to this being completed early Term 4.

We will keep our community updated on this exciting piece of work. Being clear on our purpose and being able to articulate how we will provide a Christ centred environment to care for, nurture, and educate our students will strengthen our shared vision, guide our decision making, and ensure that every child is supported to grow in faith, learning, and wellbeing.

2026 Annual Improvement Plan 

Goal: Students will be challenged to maximise their learning growth in Writing and clearly articulate their learning goals, know their next steps, and monitor their progress.

Progress Update:

Our staff have engaged in a series of professional learning sessions aligned to our Annual Improvement Plan. Each fortnight, I will provide an update on the progress of this goal.

High Expectations for Writing Growth & Achievement

To maximise students’ learning growth in writing, teachers have developed Worked Examples at five levels aligned to the Common Grade Scale (Extensive, Thorough, Sound, Basic, Elementary). These Worked Examples are linked to the Writing Unit of Work, typically taught 4-5 weeks. During writing lessons, teachers unpack these with the students - highlighting pertinent features. This provides students with a clear understanding of what a successful piece of writing looks like and is supported to emulate these features in their own writing.

Our Staff Development Day on 28 January, focussed on using the NSW English Syllabus to create Worked Examples aligned to the Common Grade Scale. Teachers then moderated these Worked Examples within Stage teams to ensure consistency of judgement. Moderation of student writing samples remains a crucial component of recent professional learning.

Collaborative Planning Days 

This year, we have refined our Collaborative Planning model to give teachers time to conduct inquiry cycles focused on improving students’ writing. The current inquiry cycle focuses on the impact of students having learning goals to improve their writing.

Classroom and grade support teachers work with Instructional Coaches to assess student writing against Worked Examples aligned to the Common Grade Scale, identify next steps in learning, develop learning goals, design sequenced lessons, and co-teach.

At this point in time, Years 1–6 teachers have completed one collaborative planning day. Their second session this term will focus on moderating new writing samples against exemplars and identifying evidence of learning growth.

Rigorous Writing Classrooms

The Faith, Learning and Wellbeing Framework (FLW) was developed by CEDoW leaders and explicitly posits the integrated and interdependent nature of faith, learning and wellbeing within our Catholic Schools. The Framework represents the beliefs and practices that support our mission to create vibrant Catholic school communities where every student finds meaning and purpose in their life by experiencing continual growth in faith and improvement in learning.

The focus of our Week 4 Staff Meeting was unpacking Rigour (one of the 5 essential elements of the FLW Framework) through the lens of an effective Writing classroom and in particular what both staff and students would be demonstrating in a rigorous Writing lesson.

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. Upcoming Professional learning which will be undertaken by our staff over the fortnight includes:

2 March 2026

Senior School Support Officer Network Meeting

Mrs Wilson

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander AEA & School Contact Professional Learning Day

Mrs Walls

3 March 2026

Lamplighters Spirituality Course

Mr Walker

4 March 2026

Religious Education Coordinator Network Meeting

Mr Walker

5 March 2026

High Potential Gifted Education Network Meeting

Mr Aguilera & Mrs Van Gemert

6 March 2026

Principal and Assistant Principal Network Meeting

Mrs Duffin & Mr Aguilera

12 March 2026

K-2 English: Reading & Reading Instructions

Mrs Kalinikos, Mrs Walls, Mrs Liplyn, Mrs Clarkson

13 March 2026

Exploring the Gifts of Christian Meditation 

Mr Walker

SJB Parents & Friends Association (P&F)

Please join us for the P&F Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 4 March @ 7pm in the school hall. More information can be found on the Parents and Friends page of th9s newsletter

School Assemblies

Our next whole school assembly will be held this Friday 6 March at 2pm.  All are welcome!

Kaylene Duffin

Principal

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Principal Awards

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

The following students will receive their Principal's Awards at our whole school assembly, tomorrow, Friday 6 March (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