School News

 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Handbook

PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning)

Whole School Expectation - Weekly Focus for Students

Respect each others’ personal space!

The PB4L Team

Road Safety Week 14-21 May 2023

Primary aged children are still developing an understanding of danger and safety. While they are often keen to do things for themselves, an adult must always be responsible for children in the traffic environment.

Children are vulnerable road users. They are still developing the skills that help them to judge the direction of sound and the speed and distance of vehicles. Children are physically small, making it harder for drivers to see them. They may be easily distracted. 

This means that they find it difficult to deal with sudden changes in the traffic environment. 

At St Joseph's, your child learns about road safety as part of Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) using 'Safety Town' resources. All classes will be learning about pedestrian, on wheels and passenger safety.

Please help them practise the road safety messages they learn at school by using and sharing them whenever you are out and about.

If you need any ideas to help support your child here is the link for 

Walk Safely to School Day - TOMORROW

St Joseph's will be celebrating and acknowledging 'Walk Safely to School Day' tomorrow, Friday 19 May 2023. This is a community initiative that aims to raise awareness of the health, road safety, transport, and environmental benefits that regular walking (especially to and from school) can provide for the long term well-being of our children.

Tomorrow we encourage families to walk together to school or park the car and walk part of the way to school. Some St Joseph's staff members will be meeting on the grass area near Bulli Beach Cafe at 8:20 am. We invite students to meet the teachers here and walk safely to school together! Parents are encouraged to join us to walk safely to school with the staff and students. 

Mothers Day Celebrations

Last Friday the school along with the Fathering Project celebrated the Mums, Grandmothers and special women in the lives of our St. Joseph's students. It was amazing to see so many of these wonderful women show up so they could have something to eat, drink and well deserved catch up with others. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your Mother's Day celebrations.

Thanks a million!

Stage 3 - The Best You Can Be Program  

Last Tuesday, three representatives from the St George Illawarra Dragons - ‘The Best You Can Be’ program visited our Year 5 & 6 students. The program aimed to teach students about values, teamwork and ways to contribute positively in team environments.  Our school really enjoyed the visit from the Dragons. They set up fun activities relating to footy and teamwork skills. We went through our booklets and did some activities that concentrated on having a positive attitude and being the best version of ourselves. We learnt so much and are very lucky to have that amazing experience. Thanks Dragons!

By Finn P and Isaac W

Illawarra Hawks Basketball - Community Engagement 

On Wednesday, the Illawarra Hawks Club representative visited our school as part of our People Healthy Habits program. During the visit, the students discussed the importance of leading an active lifestyle while putting their basketball skills to the test! 

Our school had a great time learning about the basic skills of basketball with Tim from the Illawarra Hawks basketball team last Tuesday. He taught us fun games to play which helped us with our shooting and dribbling skills and some of us won cool prizes from a mysterious box. 

Year 6 received basketball singlets emblazoned with the Illawarra Hawks logo. Tim also taught us three key messages:

• Social media is a tool; like a hammer, you can use it to do good and build a house or you can use it to hurt people.
• Never say something online that you would never say to somebody’s face in an elevator.
• You don’t have to be best friends with everyone, you just have to make good working relationships with people. 

We all loved that day and had a great time.

THANK YOU TIM!

By Rachel C and Imogen T

Mathematics at St Joseph's

During term 1, teachers at St Joseph's have participated in professional learning in Mathematics with Peter Sullivan (Emeritus Professor @ Monash University) and Mark Boss (Catholic Education Office). The teaching practice involves students being posed with open ended Maths problems where they are required to show a variety of solutions. Students are asked to work independently for a period of time before sharing their work. Students are given the opportunity to explain their thinking. During this time explicit teaching or clarification of misconceptions takes place. Students are then given further time to complete the task with opportunities for extension questions. 

This term a number of teachers  have had the opportunity to work with Mr Boss teaching in Kindergarten, Years 2, 4 and 5. Teachers have also been busy co-planning and co-teaching, putting into practise new skills. Following are samples of work from Year 2 and Year 4.

Regional da Vinci Decathlon 10 May

Congratulations to our Year 5 and Year 6 team who competed at the  Regional da Vinci Decathlon last Wednesday.

The Decathlon is an academic competition. Each team of eight students competes in ten disciplines:

• Mathematics – problem solving, number patterns and logic puzzles
• English – spelling, word origins, definitions, textual analysis and writing tasks
• Science – engage with higher level scientific concepts and test your ability to apply them
• Code Breaking – decipher complex, mysterious codes
• Engineering Challenge – a design task that tests problem solving skills, creativity and ingenuity
• Ideation – unleashing your skills of creativity, critical problem solving, collaboration and communication to solve real-world problems
• Creative Producers – create and perform a 60sec drama or 30sec commercial to promote a product
• Art and Poetry – develop an original poem and a connected art work on a given theme
• Cartography – interpret spatial information, decipher and create imaginative maps
• Legacy- honouring significant people, inventions and event past and present

The competition was fierce and Year 6 came 3rd in the coding event.

The day was a great day full of challenges and fun with 20 schools from the Illawarra and Sydney regions.

Decathlon was a really fun experience and I enjoyed working with my team. 

Finn P

We did our best, the questions were very hard but we persisted.  

Celie, Rosalind

Our creative minds were challenged during this exciting event.  

Sophie, Sophia

Students will receive certificates during Wk 4 assembly.

National Simultaneous Storytime - Wednesday 24 May

On Wednesday 24 May St Joseph’s will be participating in the National Simultaneous Storytime. On this day many schools, libraries, childcare centres, bookshops, preschools and more participate by reading the same book at 11am. This year the book is The Speedy Sloth written by Rebecca Young and illustrated by Heath McKenzie. 

We are excited to celebrate this day with a special reading and performance by the staff of St Joseph.

Lost Property - Label, Label, Label everything

The school office has been receiving a lot of jumpers, jackets and hats with no names. 

Please ensure that your child's name is on ALL clothing so these can be returned to their rightful owners.  Any items that are not identified will be sent to the second-hand clothing pool.

We have also had a number of enquiries regarding missing items that have been labelled. Please check your child's clothing to ensure you have the correct items.

If any of the following items belong to you, please collect from the school office.

Parking- are you getting it right?

A huge thank you to our wonderful parents who follow road rules in relation to parking. You are keeping students safe and you are respectful of other road users and our neighbours. Great job!

A reminder that when collecting your children from school that there is a No Parking zone on Rowan Street. This means that you are not able to leave your vehicle and come into the school to collect your child. You must remain with your vehicle.

• Thank you for not parking in the park across the road from the school as it is a pedestrian area.
• Thank you for respecting our neighbours by not parking across driveways.
• Thank you for not doing u-turns in dangerous places such at the bottom of Rowan Street or by pulling into driveways in Rowan St to turn around.
• Thank you for not stopping or parking in the Bus Zone and No Standing areas at the front of the school and church on Park Road.

While at times we have some problems the majority of parents are respecting the road rules and other drivers. We all appreciate you.

Library Class Times

Due to library visits being fortnightly students are able to borrow up to 4 books during their fortnightly library lessons.

Students library class visits for Term 2 will be as follows.

Parent engagement and literacy event – Corey Tutt OAM

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT is excited to be able to continue to provide our families across NSW and the ACT with opportunities to build their capacity to support their child’s learning.

We are delighted to present Corey Tutt OAM, a proud Kamilaroi man and the 2020 Young Australian of the Year for NSW to read a section of his book, The First Scientists to our children and young people.

Parents and carers are encouraged to register for this online event and, on the evening of 30 May, from the comfort of their home, they can connect with us online to hear Corey read to their children.

Registrations are now open.

The first 100 families to register will receive a FREE copy of the book “The First Scientists” to read along at home. 

All those who register, whether they receive a free book or not, will also receive helpful tips to support their child’s reading at home.

Winter School Uniform

Students began wearing the winter uniform on Monday 15 May. 

Parents may use their discretion in the 2 weeks following the change-over date.

Please note that the sports jacket should is typically  worn with the sports uniform however if as the weather is getting  cooler  it may be worn over the sloppy-joe for aded warmth. Navy scarves and gloves are permitted throughout winter. Please ensure you label your child's clothing.

The expectations for the school uniform are outlined in the School Handbook. You may also visit Lowes Schools Online.

Book Club, 2023 Issue 3 - CLOSED

Students have now received Book Club 2023 Issue 3.  Issue 3 is now close.

Books will be delivered in the week beginning Monday 22 May 2023.

2024 KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS ARE NOW OPEN (Kindergarten 2024)

2024 Kindergarten are now open and enrolment packages are available from the school office.

Kindergarten 2024 Enrolments Interviews

Thank you to all that have submitted a Kindergarten Enrolment for 2024.  Kindergarten interviews will take place on Saturday 20 May.  

If you haven't already submitted your enrolment form, please contact the school office.

Enrolments are still open and are available from the school office or through our school website.

School Photo Day - Did you forget to order your child's school photos?

St Joseph's recently participated in our annual School Photo Day .

All students had an individual photo taken.  If you forgot to order your child's school photos, it's not too late.  

Orders can be placed, however a late payment fee of $15 will now be incurred.

See the attached flyer with all the details.

Online CODE: LY9 LKX N18

Please see the image below on how to order your 2023 School Photos

Packages can be purchased ONLINE using VISA, Mastercard, PayPal or LatitudePay.  

Happy Birthday

Wishing all our students a very happy birthday who celebrated their special day over the last week.

12 May - Harper E Year 6 &  Logan R Year 3

14 May - Layne B Year 4

16 May - Nina C Year 1

Sports Uniform Days - Term 2 

Students will be required to wear their PE uniform on the following days.

Canteen

Open Monday to Friday for recess and lunch.

Cash purchases for snacks and drinks can be made at recess and lunchtime. Snacks and drinks can also be ordered via Quickcliq.

Lunch orders

Orders for lunch can only be made through QUICKCLIQ.  Please note that orders close at 9.15am daily.  Orders cannot be placed after this time.

Catholic Care

OOSH, Out of School Hours care at St Joseph's 

Email:   bullioosh@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Mobile:  0437 713 067

Booking Information

Enrolment Form

CatholicCare Website

Service hours

Before School Care

7:00am – 8:30am

After School Care

2:45pm – 6:00pm

If you require the use of OOSH for your child/ren you need to be enrolled in the service prior to commencing. 

Casual bookings

If your child already uses the service and you requireacasual booking please do this viathe Xplor app. 

Before School Care: Bookings are to be made no later than 5:30 pm the night before

After School Care: Bookings are to be made no later than 9:00 am that morning

Casual booking must be made as per the times above to ensure enough staff. If notice is not provided within these time frames and the service does not have sufficient staff your child/ren will be sent to the office for collection. This is something that we all wish to avoid, so please keep in mind the time frames to help support the service.

If there is an emergency and care is needed please phone and leave a message and we will see what we can do.

If you do have any questions, need clarification, or have any feedback please feel free to contact the service mobile during operating hours on 0437 713 067 or Jacinta, Team Leader – 0407 759 720.

Community Notices

HSC - Peter Pan Jr Producttion

Wollongong Running Festival

If you would like to be part of a running challenge to reach new heights at the Wollongong Running Festival, visit the link below. Did you know you can create a Primary School Team for the Peoplecare 2k Kids run? $1000 is up for grabs for the primary school with the most registrations and a chance to create the WRF Mascot!

Visit this link for more information