Principal’s Message

Welcome to St Jerome’s Catholic Primary School Punchbowl where we see ourselves as a community of learners, striving for excellence in all we do. We value and celebrate peace, harmony and inclusiveness.

We encourage learners at all levels to achieve success by providing a range of opportunities and experiences – spiritual, academic, creative, sporting and social.

We strive to develop ways for parents to be involved in the school, as we believe success for each student is enhanced when school and community work together.

We were established by the Sisters of St Joseph in 1933. Links with the Catholic Sisters remain in the community, while the charism of St Mary Of The Cross MacKillop, who founded the Josephites, continues to inspire and challenge us.

As learners in the 21st century, we educate the students for the future, so that they have the skills and confidence to realise they can make a difference to a world needing tolerance, understanding and respect.

Thank you for visiting our website. Please take some time to explore its features. For more information contact us or come and visit the school where we would be pleased to welcome you personally.

Ms Carolynne Cavanagh
Principal

Principal seating down talking to students

Historystudents in offertory in a mass

In 1933, St Jerome’s was established by Father Eris O’Brien, parish priest of Bankstown, who arranged for the Sisters of St Joseph to staff St Jerome’s Catholic Primary School Punchbowl. Sr Grace Murphy, the first principal, enrolled 129 primary school boys and girls.

By 1949, the facilities could not accommodate the 440 students so a new school and hall were built on the same parish block. The new wing was later called O’Brien house after Father Eris O’Brien, who by then had been promoted to be Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn.

In 1959, a second storey of five classrooms was installed and the St Jerome’s pupils were taught by eight Sisters and two lay teachers, meaning that there must have been an average of 70 per class. Leadership remained with the Josephite Sisters until December 2003 when Mrs Christine McRae was appointed as the first lay principal.

Today St Jerome’s is a modern centre of learning which continues to operate within the Archdiocese of Sydney administered by Sydney Catholic Schools.

We value and continue our ongoing connection to the Josephite Sisters and aspire, in the words of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop to, ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’ We also seek to live by the words of Australia’s patron saint ‘we must teach more by example than by word’.

Love and service are part of the ethos of St Jerome’s Catholic Primary School Punchbowl. We have a high expectation that all staff, students and parents work cooperatively to make a positive contribution to the life of the school and to give their best.

The school motto is ‘Proclaim the Word’, through word and action.

Our MissionTeacher with student in knitting class

“Together in faith, engaging hearts, inspiring excellence”

We exist to educate children in the Catholic faith by modeling the Gospel in thought, word and action.

We use a holistic approach to education (focusing on spiritual, academic, emotional, social and physical development) so that children achieve their full potential.

We encourage the active involvement of parents in the life of the school and in the educational wellbeing of their children.

Through the example of St Mary MacKillop, we strive to serve each other and to participate fully as members of our multicultural community.

Our Vision

St Jerome’s Catholic Primary School Punchbowl is a Catholic primary school inspiring excellence in all students from Kindergarten to Year 6.

Our Values

Teaching and learning about the Catholic faith is central to what we do at St Jerome’s. We celebrate Jesus in our lives and use the values that flow from these teachings to build our relationship with God.

The role of the parents, parish priest and parish community is vital to the faith development of the child. It is within this wide community of believers that our students grow spiritually.

students inside a church during massSt Jerome’s Catholic Primary School Punchbowl and parish community are committed to maintaining a genuine partnership where all families are welcomed and supported in strengthening their faith lives.

We are very much a multicultural parish, gifted with a wide variety of backgrounds, traditions, languages and cultures where we truly see diversity and harmony coexisting.

The school is also directly involved in supporting those in need in our local community and our families demonstrate a strong desire to give back to the community and work in partnership with various charities.

The Sacramental program is lead by the Parish Sacramental team and is supported by our school staff.

Our shared parish and school motto is ‘Proclaim the Word”’which we, as a parish community, strive to live through both word and action as we bring Christ to others.

Parish Priest
Fr Joseph Gedeon

Mass Times

  • Tuesday to Saturday: 9.00am
  • Wednesday: 9.00am, 7.00pm
  • Saturday: 6.00pm (Vigil)
  • Sunday: 8.00am, 10.00am (including Children’s Liturgy), 11:00am (Italian)

Confession Times

  • Saturday: 9.30am, 5.15pm
  • Wednesday: 7.30pm (followed by Holy Hour)

Address: 2 Turner St, Punchbowl NSW 2196
Phone: (02) 9709 3223
Email: pp@stjerome.org.au
Website: www.stjerome.org.au

Proudly Part of the Community of Sydney Catholic Schools

Our school is part of a system of 147 low-fee Catholic schools in the Sydney Archdiocese.

Sydney Catholic Schools are thriving Catholic communities that ignite a love of Christ through excellent teaching and learning to empower students to reach their full potential.