Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Friends,

This week, we enter the Liturgical Season of Advent - the time in the church year when we prepare and get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Advent occurs over four weeks and the symbol of the Advent Wreath guides us through this special time keeping our thoughts focused on the coming of Jesus at Christmas in the spirit of HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE. 

2025 School and Vice Captains

I am thrilled to announce the following formal Year 6 Student Leadership roles for 2025:

School Captains: Pria M & Felix P

Vice School Captains: Elizabeth K & Curtis V

Congratulations to these students!

I would like to acknowledge and express my deep pride in every student who nominated for these roles and presented speeches last week. The time spent in preparation and the courage it takes to stand for a leadership role knowing that there is a possibility of not receiving one, is not lost on myself and the staff. I would also like to express my pride in the manner in which all Year 5 students supported their peers once these positions were announced. It says a lot about the leadership capacity of every student moving into Year 6 next year. 

The process of selecting House Captains for 2025 will be completed in the coming days.

Parish Family End of Year Mass and Gathering

Families are warmly invited to attend our Parish Family End of Year Mass which begins at 5.30pm followed by a light meal provided in the courtyard which will begin at 6.30pm. It would be wonderful to see many of our students and families present.

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.

• Over the past few weeks, staff have been evaluating the success of this year’s Annual Improvement Plan using evidence of impact including student achievement data, student and staff perception data, observations of teaching practice and teacher reflections.

• There is much to celebrate:

• All students achieved learning growth in the area of Mathematics as evidenced in the PVAT Data (Place Value Assessment Test) and classroom assessment data. PAT Maths data showed 88% of students in Years 2-6 increased their learning growth

• Teacher knowledge and understanding of the revised NSW Mathematics Syllabus increased and as did the extent to which teachers have shared curriculum expectations for Mathematics.

• Teachers developed as a Professional Learning Community and held weekly Professional Learning Team meetings to discuss student data, identify next steps for learning and share and reflect on teaching practice.

• Areas to build on include:

• Refining our collaborative processes to ensure structures and processes are more effective

• Increase mentoring, coaching and feedback opportunities for teachers   

• Focus on feedback to students on their learning

This data will inform our Annual Improvement Plan for 2025 as well as other data sets acquired throughout the year, including data made available from the Tell Them From Me survey. Parents, staff and students in Years 4-6 were given the opportunity to complete this survey earlier in the year. A summary of the findings include:

Christmas Art Story

A Rest on the Journey

Emily Ayres, Year Six

My artwork is based on the scripture passage ‘The Flight to Egypt’ (Matthew 2:13-15). I wanted to conveyhow tiring the journey would’ve been for Mary and how much trust she would’ve had in God. My artworkcaptures what appears to be an ordinary moment when really this moment would’ve meant much morefor Mary. She stops to rest on their journey to safety, lost in thoughts of what the future might hold.I created my artwork by drawing an outline of Mary against a tree with a watercolour background becausewhen I think of God I think of the beautiful night sky and the colours of the sun rise. I love nature and thesky. The use of pink symbolises the love and compassion Mary had for Jesus. Blue symbolises peaceand stability, while the slight glimpses of purple symbolise the royalty of a new King. Different patternswere added to represent all the places that Mary traveled. I included the tree not only because Marywould have had to rest a lot along the journey, but also because a tree is sturdy and lasts for hundreds ofyears. It also shelters and supports Mary, just like Joseph.

The Holy Gifts

Lukas Cheema, Year 5

My artwork is inspired by the scripture passage ‘The Visit of the Magi’ (Matthew 2:9-12). For my artwork I chose to focus on the 3 gifts because for me they signify my mum, dad and brother. They have always acted like the best gifts for me since the day I was born. My dad is like the gift of gold, always being dependable and helping out anywhere he can. My mum is like the gift of frankincense, always showing acts of goodness and bringing a sense of calm. My brother is like the gift of myrrh, always there to help when I need him.I created my artwork by sketching and blending using 2B, 2H and 4B pencils. The grey shades representthe maturity of the Magi, the white background is for the hope that they will find baby Jesus and the blackshadowing is for the mystery of who this king will be. “They knelt down and paid him homage”.These giftsgiven to the new King are precious and show the respect and faith that the Magi had.

Maintaining High Expectations for the Remainder of the Year

Advent is a very exciting time for all of us and together with Christmas looming, transitioning to the next grade and class splits being announced, the last few weeks of school can often bring about some unsettled behaviours. Staff our consistently reminding students of our Respectful, Responsible and Safe expectations for behaviour and are being vigilant with supervision and support at all times. I would appreciate your cooperation in reminding children of such behaviours and ensuring they continue to wear the correct uniform for the remainder of the year.

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:

20 November 2024 - Principal and Clergy Day

Mrs Duffin and Father Patrick

21 November 2024 - Road Safety Management

Mrs Lantry

22 November 2024 - Leadership Planning day

Mrs Duffin, Mr Aguilera, Mrs Smith, Mrs Grose, Mrs Lantry, Mrs Clarkson, Mr Walker

Captain's Report 

Welcome back to this week's captains report! The school has been learning lots of new things and preparing for the Christmas concert. With the holidays right around the corner, Year 6 has been busy preparing for farewell and the highschool years to come. Let’s have a look into what some students have been learning during class these couple weeks. 

Year 5 have been busy creating their electricity project. They have also been making informative texts and their speeches for captains. 

Year 4 have been reading 200 Minutes of Danger as a class and have written summary paragraphs about it. They have also been making solar powered ovens during Science.

And finally, Year 1 have been making some amazing Christmas art and also been doing some challenging maths tasks. They have also had an amazing time playing sports.

Thank you for listening to this week's report. Stay tuned for more updates!

Learning Leap into 2025

The classes for 2025 have been finalised. Students will spend time in their new class on Monday 16 December and teachers are looking forward to meeting with their new students. This is an opportunity for students to take a Learning Leap into 2025.

Thank you to those parents who have made written requests, addressed to the Principal, regarding any information that may affect the placement of their child into a class for 2025. Wherever possible, efforts have been made to accommodate concerns and requests. No further requests can now be considered.

Allocating students into classes for 2025 is a complex process, and what may seem like a reasonable request for a parent may have unintended consequences for your child or other students. The academic, social and emotional needs of all students are considered, and teachers have a very good knowledge of their students and how they operate in the learning environment. Thank you for trusting the school in our decision-making.

Semester 2 Reports

Semester 2 student reports will be available via the COMPASS Parent Portal in the morning of Thursday 12 December.If you would like to discuss this report with your child's teacher, please contact the school office.

School Assembly

Our next school assembly will be held tomorrow, Friday 6 December at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

Our final assembly for the year will be held on Friday 13 December at 2pm with the presentation End of Term Awards, Merit Awards and final Principal Awards.

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 received their Principal Awards tomorrow, Friday 6 December.  

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.

End of Term Awards

The following student will be presented their End of Term 4 Achievement Awards to students on Friday 13 December 2024 (Term 4 Week 9). Parents of students receiving End of Term Awards are welcome to join the assembly.

Academic Achievement Awards

Habits of Mind Awards

Saint Mary MacKillop Award

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.