Week 7, Term 1
Welcome
Dear St James Community,
St Joseph’s Feast Day (March 19th) is an annual observance of the Catholic Church that is popular in Australia and is especially important to us because our Parish holds a special observance to St Joseph. This week we pray that St Joseph, who protected and cared for the Holy Family will kindly keep us all united in the love of Christ.
Like Joseph who supported Mary and baby Jesus, we too are working towards helping and supporting those in need in our local and global community through our Project Compassion appeal. To date, we've raised $1,940.60, which will be used to support the local flood appeal and the people of Ukraine. The 'upcoming events' section of this newsletter outlines the project compassion events planned for the remainder of Term 1. We sincerely thank everyone for their generosity, care and compassion.
St. Joseph, watch over us and care for us just as you cared for the child Jesus; and by your help, may we come to know your Son, and so grow in strength and wisdom and the favour of God. Amen.
3-Way Conferences
We thank parents, students & teachers for engaging in the recent 3-Way Conferences. Over the past years, our reporting to parents strategy has evolved and changed, as such, we now hold 3-Way Conferences in Term 1, 2 & 3, which gives students and families significant opportunities to reflect upon achievements and set new aspirations for future learning. This, along with formal A-E reports, social & emotional tracking and celebration of learning events, create a cyclic package of communication about student learning and wellbeing with parents and teachers, with the child at the centre of the conversation.
This year we have embarked upon the next phase of our journey of improvement in this area by adding Essential Assessment to our suite of learning and teaching tools. Essential Assessment is an online platform that:
- Is a best practice Numeracy and Literacy whole school improvement model aligned to the Australian Curriculum and NSW Syllabus.
- Makes formative and summative assessment a personalised process that is aligned to our school’s teaching and learning program.
- Supports structured diagnostic assessment and differentiated curriculum.
- Supports data driven teaching by providing curriculum aligned data to plan and monitor growth of each student.
- Differentiates to the needs of each student through providing ongoing personalised assessment and curriculum to grow each student's knowledge from current understandings.
With this in mind, Essential Assessment truly aids teachers and students to create authentic, robust and data-informed learning glows and goals. At the recent conference, parents were given their log in details to this platform and I encourage you to explore the information which unpacks children's current and up-to-date areas of strength and focus areas for improvement. As we move into Term 2 3-Way conferences, further information from Essential Assessment will be used to illustrate growth over time.
Cross Country
The School Country will be held on Friday, March 25th. Parents/spectators are welcome to attend and watch the activities. Coloured hair spray (House colours) will be available for purchase for $2, with funds raised going to our Project Compassion appeal. Students are welcome and encouraged to wear house colours to school on this day. We sincerely thank Candice Davis-Taylor (current parent and proprietor of My Meraki Hair Co) for donating the coloured hair spray.
Upcoming events
Please note the upcoming events scheduled for Term 1.
- Friday, March 25th: School Cross Country, with parents & friends present (hair spray fundraiser, Gold coin donation).
- Friday, April 1st: Shopping Spree (Gold coin donation).
- April 8th: Celebration of Learning for Term 1 (including Holy Week Liturgy & Easter Raffle), with parents & friends present. (Further information below).
- April 26th: First day of Term 2 (Tuesday).
- April 27th: Frozen Musical excursion.
- Monday mornings: Playgroup has resumed each Monday morning in the Bali Room from 8:45am.
- Mini-Vinnie's fundraiser each Wednesday as advertised via the app and Facebook.
Easter Raffle/Holy Week:
Our Easter Raffle and Holy Week celebration will be held on the final day of Term 1, Friday, April 8th. The Parent Forum has asked for donations of Easter Eggs and raffle tickets have gone home with your child during the week, and in the meantime, I invite you to save the date and times!
- 12noon: Holy Week Liturgy in the MPC (parents and friends welcome).
- 1pm: Shared lunched (parents, students and friends welcome to order lunches from the Canteen)
- 1:30pm: Parents, students and friends enjoy games together.
- 2pm: Easter raffle in the MPC (parents and friends welcome).
- 3pm: Home time (happy holidays!)
Harmony Day
Friday 18th March, students were invited to participate in the Harmony Day treasure hunt, with funds raised going to the Project Compassion appeal. This was a fun-filled way for the children to learn more about peace and harmony, whilst supporting others. Stunning effort kids!
Harmony Day
Whole School Excursion - Frozen!
An Operoo has been sent to Kinder through to Year 5, seeking permission for students to attend Frozen - The Musical excursion. It also outlines the order of the day; please note that we are not expected back from the excursion on April 27th until around 5:30pm and therefore buses will not be available. For planning purposes please promptly reply to this operoo request. The student's excitement is building and we are all looking forward to this special and amazing school excursion.
St James Radio Shack
St James Radio Shack has commenced for the year. Our Year 6 students broadcast this each Wednesday afternoon from 2pm-3pm. To tune in please go to the Website (Portals & Links [St James Radio] and login [Username: stjames & Password 2486], then push 'play' to listen!) Please share these details with friends and family afar so that they can tune in and listen to the news and joy about our school.
Thumbs-up
- Everyone for engaging in the 3-Way Conferences.
- The tremendous support in our community for our Project Compassion appeal and for the assistance offered to others.
- Mini Vinnies team for the awesome work in raising awareness and funds for others.
To conclude
Enrolments for St James Primary for 2023 are now open. School tours and a parent information evening is planned for May 2nd, but families are welcome to collect enrolment packs from the school office and submit these now. We are looking forward to showcasing our beautiful school and promoting St James Primary as a school of excellence, where all students are known and loved and flourish as learners.
With blessings,
Nic.
