Principal's Page

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we celebrate Book Week and the importance of reading for children. We are all very excited about our Book Week events and in particular, the parade held today. Normally, this would have been an event where parents are warmly welcomed but unfortunately, it is not possible this year. Instead, we will be making a Book Week website that includes a video of today's parade, and other events for you to enjoy.

This Year’s theme is Curious Creatures, Wild Minds, and St Joseph’s students have certainly engaged themselves in the theme with various creations. I invite you to take a look at our special 'Book Week' page in this newsletter where you will find information about the events for the remainder of this week.

Reading develops children’s language skills and understanding of literature.   While Book Week focuses mostly on books, it is important that children experience a wide range of print, spoken, visual, media, multimedia and digital texts. At school, we educate students to become proficient readers but also develop comprehension skills, and the ability to interpret and express their views on what they read.

Reading to your child, no matter what age is not only quality time together but also:

• encourages a love of reading
• models good, fluent reading and expression
• models what good readers do when they make a mistake
• models what good readers do when they don’t understand what they have read e.g rereading the sentence or paragraph, finding out what new words mean
• promotes discussion about the book, characters, making predictions, asking questions such as ‘I wonder why…?’

St Francis of Assisi Awards 2020

Congratulations to our St Francis of Assisi Award winners. As Catholics, care for God’s creation is an important part of the way in which we carry out God’s mission within our school environment. Many students understand about caring for the school environment but we particularly acknowledge those students who have excelled in this area. I invite you to visit the ‘Our Catholic Identity’ page of this newsletter to read about this celebration and applaud our award recipients. 

Term 4 Events

This term, students have many exciting events to look forward to. Please see the Dates to Remember section of this newsletter.

Mental Health Month is celebrated each year in the month of October in NSW. This awareness month encourages all of us to think about our mental health and wellbeing, regardless of whether we may have a lived experience of mental illness or not. This month also gives us the opportunity to understand the importance of mental health in our everyday lives and encourages help-seeking behaviours when needed.

Supporting your child/ren's mental health, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic, remains a priority and some information is available on the 'Parenting Page'. Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any concerns about your child, we are happy to support.

The Theme for Mental Health Month is 'Tune In' 

'Tuning In' means being present, being aware of what’s happening within you, and in the world around you.  Tune In to your senses – what can you sense right now? What can you feel? Tune In to your communities – what’s happening that you can be part of, or that you can help others be part of? Tune In to stigma – how do attitudes and understandings of mental health and wellbeing impact people’s ability to live the lives they want?

Taking a moment to Tune In can help still and focus your mind, it can help you understand what’s going on for you and others. Tuning in can help you find a new perspective, and it can help you reflect and be present. 

Tuning In has been shown to help build self-awareness, help make effective choices, reduce the impact of worry, and build positive connections. Tuning In to communities and the impact of mental health stigma can help ensure that people who need support have safe places to talk about their experiences and reach out. 

Tune In to Mental Health Month and help create a world we can all Tune In to. 

(Mentalhealthmonth.wayahead.org.au)

We look forward to a term of improvement in learning and growth in faith for all students. Please feel free to contact teachers if you would like to discuss your child/ren's learning or wellbeing. 

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

Jen Charadia

Principal

School Handbook

Principal Awards and Merit Awards

The following students will receive their Principal Awards at our afternoon assembly on Thursday 22 October 2020.  

Acknowledgement 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.