Week 3, Term 3
Welcome
Dear Families,
Over the past week, our Church celebrated the Feast of Saints Anne & Joachim; the grandparents of Jesus. St Anne was the Blessed Virgin Mary’s mother, and according to early church tradition, St Anne lived with her husband, St Joachim, in Galilee before moving to Jerusalem. After St Joachim fasted and prayed for forty days in the desert, Angels appeared to them promising a child. The child was the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saints Anne and Joachim are considered the patron saints of grandparents, so on this celebration, we give thanks to Grandparents for the love, care, and support they offer the children in their lives.
Holy Mother and Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as parents, you guided and nurtured Mary and, under your protection and love, watched her grow in holiness. Through your examples of faithfulness and goodness, may all parents and grandparents be guided to a life of love and care for their children and grandchildren. Amen.
NAIDOC Week
In week 1 we celebrated NAIDOC week; a time to share and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities but by Australians from all walks of life. The week was a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. At school, our students shared a NAIDOC prayer at assembly and then participated in Indigenous dancing and culture throughout the day. We congratulate all involved in organising this event, especially our Indigenous Education Worker, Mrs Saunders.
School Improvement
The ultimate goal of the school improvement process is to enhance and facilitate better learning for students, including levels of achievement and wellbeing. For this reason, direct measures of student outcomes, and the collection and analysis of data, are essential components of the St James school improvement effort. The school has an ongoing school improvement process, which includes an overall improvement plan that has been developed over the past 12 months. This is detailed below and we thank Tanya Bishop (parent) for the graphic design work she completed on this project.
Springloaded
Currently, our Year 1 and 2 Students are enjoying a weekly visit to the Springloaded centre to explore the Gymnastics program and physical education curriculum. The smiling faces display the joy and learning they are receiving from this program!
Year 1/2 Springloaded
Trivia Event
The current COVID-19 restrictions for regional NSW enables us to hold our annual trivia event. We thank the organising committee for coordinating the event and St Joseph's College for allowing us to use the Doyle Centre, which provides more space for social distancing. We look forward to sharing this time of fun and reconnection with parents on Saturday July 31st.
Cans and Coins - Friday August 13
On Friday August 13 students are invited to bring a can of food and/or a gold coin donation to go to our local charities to support homelessness. This supports our Catholic Social teaching of the dignity of the human person and the common good for National Homelessness Week, showing our faith through actions. St James stood for the poor and disadvantaged and we continue to look out for those vulnerable in our society. Students can bring cans to the top playground in the morning where the Year 6 leaders will guide students to create a sign of God's love for others with the cans and collect all coin donations. A huge thank you to our St James community for your ongoing support for those in need.
COVID-19 Updates
Currently, the COVID-19 situation continues to put parameters in place for our school and community but also enables us to continue educating our students at school, which we are very grateful for! We understand that these parameters can be difficult and please note they will continue to be in place until at least August 28th, but we appreciate and thank families for their ongoing support.
Please remember these important parental requirements:
- Parents/vistors can not enter the school, unless given prior permission.
- Parents/visitors can not attend assembly, but we are live streaming this via our Facebook Page.
- When entering the office or school grounds parents/visitors are required to wear masks, sign in with the Service NSW App and maintain the 1.5 metre social distancing requirements.
A warm welcome
We have welcomed a new student recently to St James, Jack in Year 2, and we hope he settles well into his new educational home and quickly makes many new friends.
Thumbs-up
- All parents and students for working within the COVID-19 guidelines.
- Students for assisting with our NAIDOC celebration.
- Tanya Bishop for creating the school improvement flyer.
To conclude
Our Kindergarten Grade has reached the 100-day milestone of being at school; well-done kids on all you've achieved and the ways in which you've grown into big school students!
100 days I've been in school & my teacher says that's really cool!
I'm 100 days smarter, yes, it's true; 100 days of reading, writing and math too!
I've learned a lot of exciting things & let's see what the next 100 brings!
We're going to have fun, we'll let out a cheer, because our 100 days is finally here!
With blessings,
Nic.
100 Days of Kindergarten!
