Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Carers

Dear Parents and Carers

Over the last few years, the school has made requests to Wollongong City Council and consulted with the Traffic and Transport team regarding pedestrian safety and traffic around the school.

I have held on-site meetings with the Traffic and Transport team on two occasions over the last twelve months and they have recently worked to address some of the concerns including:

• Re-line marking the faded yellow continuous lines (‘No Stopping’) on Park Road, Rowan Street and Fowler Avenue. 
  • Many parents were stopping very close to corners as the line markings were difficult to see. Stopping close to corners puts students and families crossing roads at great risk.
     
• Re-line marking the faded yellow continuous lines (‘No Stopping’) outside the church and additional ‘No Stopping’ signage. 
  • This was requested to support parents and carers as many were not aware that a yellow line marking is a 'No Stopping' zone. 

• Re-line marking the centre line (double barrier line) on Park Road
  • These lines need to be clearly marked as parking within 3 meters is an enforceable infringement of the Road Rules.

In May, I met with Councillor Richard Martin to request his advocacy on the remaining areas of concern:

• A footpath on Hutton Ave
  • This has been raised with the council over several years. We have been advised that this location has been added to Council’s Footpath Priority list but is unlikely to be considered until at least the next financial year. 
• New ‘No Parking’ signage on Rowan Street.
  • The current signage is very faded.
• Consideration of the difficulty turning right onto Park Road from Rowan Street.
  • A resolution to this problem will alleviate traffic congestion around the school.
• Barrier/fencing at the park across from the church.
  • It is on the rare occasion now that parents or visitors park vehicles in the park or on the nature strip but when it occurs children are at high risk.

I appreciate the limited resources of the council and the required processes in order to resolve the requests made by the school. Yesterday, Councillor Martin met with me again and has been active in flagging these issues within the council and will continue to do so.

Council has also advised that residents have raised concerning driver behaviour and illegal parking in streets surrounding the school. This very concerning issue is often mentioned to me by other parents. Again, we ask that all drivers be considerate of our neighbours and other drivers. 

Of particular issue for other parents and neighbours is those who do a u-turn either on Rowan Street or at the bottom of Rowan Street during high traffic times.

Disregarding the road signage around the school is never acceptable. Council Rangers regularly visit and enforce the Road Rules with infringement notices.

The attached notice has been included in school newsletters since 2020 and the council advise that a new version will be available soon following an update of the NSW fines and demerits changes mid-2022.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those parents who do the right thing when driving, parking or stopping around the school. We are all very grateful to you. Gold star!

Every school experiences heavy traffic at drop off and pick-up times and I ask all parents and carers to:

• be responsible for following road rules
• be patient when unable to find parking at high-demand times
• care for the safety of our students and other road users. 

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

Jen Charadia - Principal

Principal Awards & Merits

The following students received their Principal Awards on Thursday 25 August (Term 3 Week 6).

How does my child receive a Principal's Award?

Class teachers nominate students for Blue Merit Awards and are presented at the weekly assembly.  When five Blue Merit Awards have been received, students are 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.

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.