Week 7, Term 1 - 2023
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 of 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 $257, which will be used to support the less fortunate. This year our Mini Vinnies team is encouraging students to 'give without receiving'. 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.
Project Compassion
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 the two formal A-E reports, social & emotional tracking, and celebration of learning events, create a cyclic package of communication about student learning and well-being with the child at the centre of the conversation.
This year, the Assistant Director: Learning and Teaching (Michele McDonald), from the Catholic Schools Office, Lismore, visited during the conferences to see firsthand how St James is being contemporary, innovative, and family-focused to report on student progress and achievement at points in time. Michele was very impressed with how our students were engaged and leading the conversations, and she congratulated us on how families are so engaged at St James. Well done everyone!
Cross Country
The School Country will be held on Friday, March 24th. Parents and friends are welcome to attend and watch the activities. The course this year has changed (see below) so that we can utilise the new shade structure over the basketball courts. Students are welcome and encouraged to wear house colours to school on this day.
2024 Enrolments
On Wednesday, March 29th, our school will be open for enrolment tours during the day (9am-10:30am & 11:30am-1pm), which will be guided by our capable and excited Year 6 Leaders. Then at 7pm, there will be a Principal’s presentation in the MPC, where again we will proudly share how students who attend St James Primary are known and loved as members of our ‘Family in Christ'. 2024 Kindergarten enrolment packages are available from the school office and the parent prospectus can be viewed on the school website (link below); applications close on April 28th.
Cluckingham Palace
After months of anticipation, the coronation has occurred! 4 gorgeous chickens (hens) have arrived at Cluckingham Palace! Our 23-week-old chickens are settling well and the kids are enjoying seeing them grow and play in their hen house! They won't leave their cage for quite some time until they acclimatise to their new surroundings. Hopefully, they'll start laying eggs soon and we'll collect them and sell them back to the community in order for us to buy the food seed and upkeep the chickens. Thank you to all involved in this exciting project, especially our Parent Forum for their financial support.
Our chickens
Needlepoint & Woodwork
Needlepoint and Woodwork, our new social initiatives for parents commence this evening (Needlepoint) and next Friday (Woodwork).
Needlepoint: The first needlepoint for 2023 will be dinner and drinks at the Pavillions Tavern on Friday, March 17th (6:30pm). For booking purposes please email the school to indicate you intend to come along!
Woodwork: Our first Woodwork of 2023 will be on Friday, March 24th (7pm - AFL: Lions V Melbourne, NRL: Storm V West Tigers & Basketball: NBA Playoffs).
Upcoming Events - Term 1
Please note the upcoming events scheduled.
- Cross Country (March 24th)
- Celebration of Learning – Holy Week Liturgy & Easter raffle [final day of Term 1] (April 6th)
- Good Friday public holiday (April 7th)
- Monday mornings: Playgroup has resumed each Monday morning in the Bali Room from 8:45am for preschool children.
Easter Raffle/Holy Week:
Our Easter Raffle and Holy Week celebration will be held on the final day of Term 1, Thursday April 6th. The Parent Forum has asked for donations of Easter Eggs and raffle tickets will go home with this week, and in the meantime, I invite you to save the date and times!
- 12 noon: Holy Week Liturgy in the MPC (parents and friends welcome).
- 1pm: Shared lunch (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!)
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
Our Year 6 students enjoyed a tremendous camping experience in Brisbane recently. Camps build resilience and independence and give children opportunities to broaden their social networks and capabilities. The kids have shared many wonderful stories of fun, learning, and exploring. We thank God for their safe return and we extend our gratitude to Mr Holmes, Ms Dermody, Mrs Malone, Mrs Styman, Mrs Fitzhugh & Mr Keating for their extraordinary efforts in taking the children to Brisbane for camp in 2023.
With blessings,
Nic.
Year 6 Camp
