Principal's Page

Principal Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

This Sunday’s Gospel is from Matthew, The Feeding of the Five Thousand. Food is a metaphor for life. How we live depends on our nourishment of the body and of the spirit. Where do we find our soul food? 

Sr Patricia Stevenson rsj says, 

In Matthew’s story of the feeding of the crowd, Jesus calls his disciples to be hosts to the hungry. “There is no need to send them away, you feed them.” The disciples’ reply is often ours. “We haven’t got anything, except five loaves and a couple of fish.” In other words you couldn’t expect us to do much with this. 

Jesus said the blessing over the food, broke it and passed it on to the disciples, who in turn, gave the food to the people. 

As God so generously feeds us, so we must share this “food” with others. What has been given to us freely so we must give freely to others. 

We give the bread and wine of compassion, of mercy, of faithfulness, of, love, of joy. Not just in small doses, measured out, but pressed down flowing over, a banquet not a counter lunch. 

The Eucharist is the great sign to us that, as we are fed so must we feed. 

Our Year 3 students will soon begin preparation to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. We pray that they will grow in their faith, understand and apply the knowledge of the sacrament, and act on the Spiritual nourishment they will receive at Holy Communion. May each child in turn, freely give the nourishment of compassion, mercy, faithfulness, love, and joy to others.  

Families are currently able to attend Sunday Mass in the parish but need to book by phoning the parish office.

For all things at St Joseph’s, give thanks!

Jen Charadia

Principal

Celebrating Literacy Learning at St Joseph's

Since students have been back from remote learning, teachers have resumed the work of improving the way we provide quality literacy learning for students. This improvement has been quite substantial for all teachers over the last few years.

Spelling

Students now benefit from a school-wide approach to spelling through the K-2 Letters and Sounds Program and resources, and the Years 3 to 6 Words Their Way Program. It is wonderful to see students so enthusiastic about their daily word sorts and spelling activities in Year 3 to 6. 

Reading

K-2 teachers are teaching reading based on each students’ needs, and at reading levels that include not only reading fluency, and accuracy in decoding, but with an even greater focus on their ability to comprehend the text.

In Years 3 to 6, teachers are using set reading comprehension strategies that are explicitly taught to the whole class and in reading groups. Students practice and apply the comprehension strategies in reading centres, and reciprocal reading groups.

Learning and Assessment Framework

We are in the process of implementing a Learning and Assessment Framework that now sees students, at various levels, using:

Learning Intentions- making it very clear to students what they are learning about and why.

Success Criteria that paint an accurate picture for students of what is required for their learning and what will be assessed.

Descriptive Feedback is provided to students so that they can identify the next steps they will take to improve their learning.

Peer- and self-assessment- students gather information about, and reflect on, how to improve their own learning.

Individual goals setting - developing student ability to individually set goals and take ownership of their learning.

Kindergarten Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Kindergarten Bump It Up Wall- Teachers can provide descriptive feedback and students can self assess, and then improve their work.

Year 2 Learning Intentions and Success Criteria (note that the success criteria are constructed with the students as they learn more about the writing. This one is not quite finished yet.)

The Year 2 Bump It Up Wall is also in progress. 

Students are able to check their work and make improvements to 'Bump It Up.'

Year 3 Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.

Year 3 Bump It Up Wall- Students are able to go to the wall, self-assess or peer-assess, and then improve their writing. This is often done with the teacher providing feedback as well.

A Year 3 student in the writing process. Notice that there is a self-assessment sheet on the desk.

Year 6 Learning Intention and Success Criteria 

Year 6 Bump It Up Wall with writing exemplars so that students are able to check their own work against the samples, and make decisions about how to improve their own writing. This is often done with a partner or with the teacher.

School Handbook

Principal Awards and Merit Awards

The following students will receive their Principal Awards at our morning assembly on Friday 8 August 2020.  

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Acknowledgment to Country

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