Week 3, Term 1 - 2024
Welcome
Dear St James Community,
On Wednesday, February 7th, we welcomed our 56 new Kindergarten students to St James Primary; they have transitioned to school confidently and happily, and are now settling into their new surroundings and routines of school. We pray that their 13-year journey of Catholic Education is filled with safety, faith, joy, and learning and that during their time at St James they live, learn, and grow in God’s love always.
Lord,
We entrust our children into your care, and as we do, may they grow in confidence and independence. May joy abound in their hearts and may they be filled with wonder, awe, and excitement. Help them make friends and grow as people of kindness and faith.
Amen.
Kindergarten - 2024
Year 6 Leaders
On Friday, February 9th our Year 6 students were inducted as leaders through our house system: Ryland - Learning for life; MacKillop - Seeds of justice; Hanly - Strength and gentleness & Polding - Stewards of creation. We congratulate our Year 6 students on achieving this milestone and we look forward to seeing the energy, input, and role modeling that they will present to the school in various ways during the year ahead. Congratulations kids!
Welcome to grade meetings
We will be holding Grade welcome meetings for parents next week. These gatherings will enable teachers to provide important information about the Grade structures and enable you to meet your child’s teachers and ask questions. The date and times of each meeting are as follows:
- Kindergarten - Thursday, February 22nd
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
- Year 1 - Thursday, February 22nd
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
- Year 2 - Thursday, February 22nd
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
- Year 3 – Wednesday, February 21st
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
- Year 4 – Wednesday, February 21st
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
- Year 5 – Tuesday, February 20th
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
- Year 6 – Tuesday, February 20th
- Session 1: 8:10am
- Session 2: 2:30pm
Each Grade will also video and distribute the event to families if they are unable to attend one of the sessions.
Grade Blogs
As mentioned in the last edition of the newsletter, the Grade Letters have been replaced with a live website/blog from each classroom/Grade, which will be updated each Friday. The weekly Grade Blogs will have:
- A blog that shows prior learning, with information about why this occurred and photos and/or videos.
- Information on what the students are learning in the week ahead and why, along with how you can support this at home.
- Celebration of awards and birthdays.
- Information about the Play is the Way life raft that students are focussing on for the week ahead.
- An overview of the learning for the Term in all Key learning areas.
The blogs can be accessed from the link below or via the school website under the Parents & Families - Grade Blogs section. The first publication of the Grade pages occurred on Friday, February 9th, with updates being provided today. Please read these each week.
Parent Forum - 2024
In 2024 we are required by the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Limited board to review our Parent Forum model; all schools in the Diocese need to choose 1 of 2 preferred options. We will have our review early in the year so that we can set up the 2024 Forum aligned with the Diocese model. To this end, the model presentation from the Catholic Schools Office to our community will be on Thursday, February 22nd, 3:30pm. This is an open meeting and we hope that many parents will attend to shape the future of our Parent Forum.
An evening with the Principal
In 2024 we are hosting some out-of-hours workshops for parents and families [without students]. The topics will vary over the year, with the first one being a wine and cheese 'Evening with the Principal' on Tuesday, February 27th at 7pm, and is titled 'The St James Way'. At the end of the presentation, there will be an anonymous Q&A time available with the Principal, then time to mingle and chat. Save the date!
New Bell Times (2024)
As outlined in the Parent Handbook [Page 18], the lunchtime bell times have changed for this year. Lunchtime is now 1:05pm-1:15pm [eating time] and 1:15pm-1:45pm [lunch time/play time]. This occurs every day and is designed to allow greater alignment of our timetable for English and Mathematics learning and teaching. All other bell times and start/end times are unchanged.
2025 Kindergarten Enrolments
Enrolments for Kindergarten 2025 are now open; the school open day tours and Principal's presentation will be on Tuesday, March 12th, with enrolments closing on Friday, April 5th.
School Improvement Goals: Fortnightly update
Short Term Goals
The previous short-term goal was centred on welcoming everyone back to school for the 2024 school year. I have witnessed a tremendous buzz of energy, joy, and productivity among students, staff, and families over the past weeks. Thus, I think we nailed this goal!
Our new short-term goal is 'We will engage in the Grade parent information sessions so that everyone is informed, involved, and included in the 2024 learning journey.'
Long Term Goals
One of the longer-term goals is centred on promoting practices that enhance student achievement. Over the past two weeks, we progressed this goal together by engaging students in the Mathematical Assessment Interview, which offers us great insights into the "what next" of maths learning for each student. Data from the MAI tells us that students have shown good growth in the areas of counting, multiplication and division and our next step as a school is deepening students' understanding of place value.
Upcoming events/Term calendar
Please note the following events/dates scheduled for the remainder of Term 1.
- February 20th, 21st & 22nd - Grade Meetings
- February 22nd Forum Meeting
- February 27th: An Evening with the Principal: The St James Way
- March 5th, 6th & 7th: Term 1 Learning Conferences
- March 22nd: Cross Country
- March 28th: Holy Week Liturgy & Easter Raffle
- March 29th: Good Friday Public Holiday
- April 1st: Easter Monday Public Holiday
- April 3rd: School Photos
- April 12th: Whole School Retreat [Yandihndi]
Thumbs-up
- All Kindergarten students and their families for starting school positively and with loads of joy!
- To our year 6 students for already being awesome leaders and role models of our school.
- To all students for the care and welcome that they have offered our new school students.
- To all the helpers who assisted with the cheers and tears morning tea and the pancake breakfast.
- The Smithwick and Elineau families for caring for our chickens over the past two weekends.
To conclude
Week 3 was a wonderful community celebration week. The schoolyard was busy on several occasions for the welcome breakfast, Ash Wednesday Mass, and Show Your Colours Day. Thank you to all involved in making these events opportunities for the kids to have fun and engage in new learnings, as well as promoting parent parentships, which is one of our specified school goals for 2024. It was wonderful to see our community coming together as a 'Family in Christ.'
With blessings,
Nic.
Community Celebrations
'Have A Say'
'Have A Say' about travel to and from school in NSW. Share the link to this page. Parents/carers can have a say on walking and bike riding to school by completing a survey, taking a quick poll or sharing their ideas.
Resilient Kids Program
Families can access free services for their children and young people through the Resilient Kids Program. The Resilient Kids Program will implement mental health and trauma-informed support for primary and secondary school-aged children impacted by the March 2022 Northern Rivers flood events. It is funded through a $10 million grant from the National Emergency Management Agency and is being delivered by Healthy North Coast.
Social Futures is delivering counselling services for children, young people and their families that can be accessed through wellbeing hubs situated a:
● MURWILLUMBAH
Murwillumbah Community Centre Knox Park. Monday to Friday.
● MULLUMBIMBY
Byron Youth Service. 34 Gordon Street Mullumbimby. Monday and Thursday.
Families can complete the Resilient Kids Enquiry Form and a Social Futures team member will be in contact to discuss your child’s referral, https://
Concussion
IMPORTANT - Please advise the school if your child suffers a concussion outside of school hours (e.g. while participating in community sport).
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school and themselves. Help your child to learn that going to school on time, every day is important.
Reinforcing the idea that attending school regularly is crucial for a positive school experience. Foster a love for learning by encouraging your child's natural curiosity.
Help your child to see school as a place to explore new ideas, discover interests, and develop a lifelong passion for learning. Foster positive social connections at school by encouraging friendships. Knowing that they have friends to look forward to can motivate children to attend school regularly.
Free Webinars for Parents and Carers
esafety provides free webinars for parents/ carers. These live webinars give parents/ carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children or young people to have safe online experiences.
Webinars include:
- Understanding how to support your child with online gaming (45min).
- Understanding parental controls to safeguard your child (30min).
- Online safety and social media: TikTok, YouTube and Instagram (30min).
To register go to esafety parent webinars.
