Week 1, Term 1
Welcome
Dear St James Community,
Welcome to the 2022 school year! Our students have returned to school happily over the week and it's been tremendous to see them reconnect with their friends and teachers.
We especially welcome Isaac, Lakey, Flynn, Kirin, Grace, Ezekiel, Evie, Hype, Ivy, Kieran, Hudson, Leah, Beau and Jonah who are new students in Year 1-6 and have joined the St James 'Family in Christ.' We also welcome our new teachers: Elaine O'Gorman (Kindergarten), Bradley Bugden (Year 1), Maddie Smith (Year 2), Jenny Bradshaw (Year 3), Sam Kerlin (Year 4) & Holly Veitch (Year 4).
Next Monday we will welcome our 57 Kindergarten children who will start their 13-year journey of Catholic education; may their beginning of school be fun-filled as they make many new friends and explore their new surroundings.
We are grateful that our holiday break was peaceful and safe for our families and community and we pray that 2022 is joyful, safe and healthy for us all.
Gracious God, we come to you at the beginning of this academic year
with our many feelings, expectations, fears and hopes.
Help us to remember, we have the comforting
assurance from you as you told us: "I will always be with you."
Give us patience with ourselves as we transition as well as
patience with one another.
Give us a new perspective to see persons, events, and academic work as an
invitation to develop the many gifts you have given us to be used in service for others.
Give us the gift of discernment to make the right choices.
Grant us peace, joy, safety and great learning opportunities as we journey together through the 2022 school year.
Amen.
New members of our school
Parent Handbook
Our 2022 parent handbook can be found on the school’s website. This booklet contains all the information families require to understand the policies, procedures, and structures of St James Primary. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with this information and refer to the booklet as required.
Junior School Toilet Refurbishment
Our Girls and Boys Junior school toilets (Years Kinder, 1 & 2) were renovated during the holiday break; we thank Wade Maxworthy, our builder for creating these contemporary and fresh spaces for our students. The existing girls toilets have been converted into Girls/Boys toilets (2 of each) for our Kindergarten students, who now have access to them from their playground area; and the existing boys toilets have been converted into Girls/Boys toilets (3 of each) for our Year 1/2 students. We sincerely thank the Catholic Schools Office Lismore for their financial support for this project; later this year we will apply for another Grant for us to renovate the Year 3/4 Toilet block.
New Toilets
Term 1 Events/Dates
Please note the following events/dates scheduled for Term 1.
- February 7th: First day of school for Kindergarten (Cheers and Tears morning tea for parents)
- February 9th: Year 6 Student Leadership Induction (8:15am)
- February 10th: Welcome breakfast & Beginning of school year Mass (postponed - listed below)
- February 18th: Show your colours day
- February 21st: School Photos
- March 1st: Welcome Breakfast (Shrove Tuesday)
- March 2nd: Ash Wednesday/Beginning of school year Mass
- March 25th: School Cross Country
- April 8th: Holy Week celebration, Easter raffle & final day of Term 1
Information concerning particular events will be supplied closer to the date; please note that these events and their particulars will be subject to COVID guidelines of the time.
Thumbs-up
- To all families and students for returning to school happily.
- To our students for their work with the MAI (Math) assessments.
- To our maintenance crew who have ensured the school is clean and tidy for us to enjoy!
To conclude
We look forward to working with you and our students to promote academic, social and spiritual growth throughout the 2022 school year. We sincerely thank our staff for their work in preparing for the year ahead, and we congratulate all students and parents for the positive and joy-filled way we have returned to school. Welcome everyone; may 2022 be a faith-filled year of safety, joy, learning and good health.
With blessings,
Nic.
Bus Safety: Flashing Lights Campaign
Thursday 27 January - Saturday 12 February 2022 is the Transport NSW Flashing Lights Campaign.
Families can help keep children safe by:
- Sticking to the speed limit and following the road rules in school zones
- Slowing down to 40km/h when bus lights are flashing
- Looking out for children crossing the road near bus stops, in school zones or along bus routes
- Giving way to buses when they merge back into traffic.
- Never drop off or meet children on the opposite side of the road to the bus stop or call them across the road. Always drop them off or meet them on the same side of the road as the bus stop.
- Encouraging their children to be distraction-free around buses - put down their phone and take off their headphones.
Active Kids Program
The NSW Government is helping kids get active with the Active Kids program. The Active Kids program provides two $100 vouchers for parents, guardians and carers of school-enrolled children to use towards sport and active recreation costs each year. Voucher 1 is valid January to December and Voucher 2 is valid July to December.
Active Kids is funded until June 2023 so there’s still plenty of opportunity to be a part of the program.