Week 3, Term 2 - 2024

Welcome

Dear St James Community,

The Feast of Mary Help of Christians is celebrated in Australia on May 24th.  This feast day is a commemoration of the assistance and protection that Mary, the mother of Jesus, provided to Christians in times of need. The devotion to Mary Help of Christians has a special significance in Australia because it is closely associated with the early history of the Catholic Church in the country.

At the same time, our community reflected and gave thanks to our Mothers, on Mother’s Day.  We extend our best wishes and love to all Mothers and Mother Figures.  Last week we held our special Mother’s Day breakfast at school and we hope everyone enjoyed this celebration, as we gathered to give thanks and love to our Mothers.  We thank all of the parent helpers who cooked, served, and cleaned for our mums! 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother's Day Breakfast

School Reviews

In recent weeks we completed our 3 year cylic review processes.  We thank the panel of reviewers, our students, staff, families, and the Catholic Schools Office for the tremndous support, celebrations and reflections that were offered during the reviews.

Early findings from the reviews celebrate St James as an outstanding place of learning, faith, wellbeing, and joy for students, staff and families.  It also offered us some insights into the next steps in our school improvement journey, and these have been shared with staff and will form the basis of our 3 year strategic plan.  This information will be shared with families in due course once the full reports are received and the plans are developed.

Year 6 Camp

We wish all Year 6 students an incredibly exciting and memorable camp experience to Brisbane on May 20th-23th! We pray your time outdoors and away from home be filled with laughter, new friendships, unforgettable adventures, and safety.  Enjoy every moment and treasure the memories you'll create.  Have a fantastic camp, Year 6!

Zone Cross Country

Congratulations to the students who attended the Zone Cross Country on Friday, May 10th.  Their participation and representation of St James were wonderful!  We especially congratulate Liam, Penny, Billy, and Lucia who have progressed to the Diocesean Cross Country.  Notable individual results included:

- Hype placed 1st in the 11 yrs boys.

- Lacey placed 2nd in the 8/9 girls.

- Ava placed 3rd in the 12 yrs girls.

- Jake placed 3rd in the 11 yrs boys.

- Maya PM placed 3rd in the 10 yrs girls.

- Emi placed 3rd in the 8/9 girls.

Zone cross country

Peer Support

Each Friday afternoon in Term 2, students from K-6 will be involved in the Peer Support program, led by our Year 6 leaders. The focus is on Living positively through developing an optimistic mindset. The program will help students develop the skills of resilience, coping strategies, critical thinking and planning. Please read on for more information.

Tell Them From Me

The Tell Them from Me survey closes next Friday, May 24th. This data is vital in shaping our school improvement planning and future directions.  To date 59 parents have completed the survey, thank you! If you haven't completed the survey, please take the time to do it, so that we can continually improve and offer the best education available for our students!  The survey is available from this link: http://tellthemfromme.com/z7rj7

Parent Community Group

We held our first meeting of the newly formed Parent Community Group on Tuesday, May 7th.  5 parents attended; thank you.  Jacinta Neville has been appointed Chairman of the group and we thank her for assisting our school community in this way.   The group decided to form two sub-committees:

1. Student Disco

2. Term 3 Adult-only evening event

The sub-committee meeting for these events will be on Tuesday, May 21st from 2:30pm in the MPC. Amanda will be present to support the conversation and to assist with the coordination of the events.  For these to proceed we do need parental assistance, so if you can help please attend the meeting or let us know via email bpp@lism.catholic.edu.au 

The next meeting of the Parent Community Group is on Thursday, August 8th at 7pm.  We hope more people can join this community group and help our school be the best place it can be for our children and families.

School Improvement Goals: Fortnightly update

Short Term Goals

Our current short-term goal is, "Students will reconnect with their peers and teachers, and maintain a high standard of school attendance."  Students have returned positively to school for Term 2, and the overall attendance rate is 87.40%.   Let's keep working towards the 95% rate!

Our new short-term goal will be, “We will nuture a culture of empathy by encouraging students to greet, treat, and speak with kindness.”

Long Term Goals

The purpose of school improvement is to enhance the overall quality of education provided to students, ensuring their holistic development and readiness for the future. Goals encompass fostering an engaging learning environment, promoting academic excellence, nurturing social and emotional growth, fostering inclusivity and diversity, empowering educators with effective teaching strategies, and establishing robust partnerships with families and communities.  Through continuous reflection, collaboration, and adaptation, school improvement endeavours to create environments where every learner can thrive and reach their full potential.  During the past two weeks we have achieved this together by engaging in the review processes, which enabled us to reflect and refine things in the future, so that we are continually improving.

Term 2 Dates & Events

Please note the upcoming events scheduled for the remainder of Term 2. 

- May 20th-23rd: Year 6 Camp.

- May 24th: Mr. McTaggart commences 6 weeks leave.

- May 28th: Proclaim Lismore (Pupil Free Day).

- June 2nd: First Holy Communion.

- June 4th-6th: Term 2 Learning Conferences.

- June 12th & 13th: Murwillumbah Eisteddfod.

- June 14th: Atheltics Carnival.

- June 28th: Athletics Carnival Back-up Date.

- July 3rd: 100 days of Kindergarten Celebration.

- July 4th: PiTW Championships Day/Final Day of Term 2.

- July 5th: Pupil Free Day.

Please note the Pupil Free Day that is occurring in the coming fortnight (Tuesday, May 28th).  Our staff will be attending the Lismore Diocese Proclaim Spirituality Day.  We thank everyone for supporting our staff's professional development.

Thumbs-up

- Parents for attending the Parent Community Group Meeting.

- The Godinez-Purchase family for kindly donating their Healing Concepts Organic Tea for our Mother's Day stall. 

- Parents who assisted with our Mother's Day stall and Mother's Day breakfast.

- All parents who completed the Tell Them From Me survey.

- Everyone for supporting our school review processes.

- The Smithwick and Long families for caring for our chickens over the past weekends.

To conclude

Next Friday [May 24th] I embarked on a period of renewal leave and long-service-leave; I will be away from school from May 27th until July 22nd.  Whilst I will miss your presence, I recognise the importance of rest, rejuvenation and spiritual fulfilment.  Our Assistant Principals, Kylie Cane and Karen Sanderson will be co-Acting Principals, and I know you will support and assist them where possible.

I return to school on Monday, July 22nd, and I know I will be refreshed and ready to continue our journey together.  Thank you for affording me this time with my family and my faith.

With blessings,

Nic.

Upcoming events

Please note the following upcoming events......

Parenting support & learning

Please note the following parenting supporting & learning items.....

Is My Child Being Bullied?

What are the signs?
Each individual student who has been bullied or is bullying others will respond and act
differently. A student's behaviours and moods can also change for a variety of reasons. An
important first step is to notice a change in behaviour.
Signs a parent may notice can include but are not limited to:
● not wanting to go to school
● changes to their method or route to school, or are frightened of walking to school
● changes in sleep patterns
● changes in eating patterns
● frequent tears, anger, mood swings
● unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches
● missing or damaged belongings or clothes

● arriving home hungry
(Source: Bullying NoWay!)
What could my actions be?
1. Listen and Validate: The first step is to stay calm and try to get all the facts through
an open and supportive conversation with your child. Listen to their experiences
without judgment and validate their feelings. Let them know that you believe and
support them. While it may be a case of bullying, it might also be the result of poor
communication by one or both children.
2. Reassure Your Child: Reassure your child that they deserve to be treated with
respect and kindness. Remind them that you are there to help.
3. Problem Solve: Sometimes, as a first step, your child may just want some advice
about how to manage the situation. Discuss the things your child has already done
to try to solve the problem and suggest other things they might try.
4. Document: At other times it is important that action is taken immediately. Help
your child create a simple timeline including when it started and important details
such as location, what happened and the names of any bystanders. This
documentation can be helpful when talking to the school and/ or police.
5. Talk to the school: If you suspect your child is experiencing bullying at school,
provide the school with the specific incidents or experiences. It is important for the
school to know as many details as possible. Request a meeting to support your
child. Work with the school to solve the problem. Encourage your child to report any
further bullying incidents to a teacher.
6. Ongoing Communication: Remember that addressing bullying requires ongoing
communication, support, and advocacy for your child. Always prioritise your child's
safety and wellbeing, and work in collaboration with the school to find a resolution
to the bullying situation.
7. Cyberbullying: Often harmful online content can be removed by the site, game or
app used to send it. eSafety may be able to help remove the content if it is likely to
harm your child’s physical or mental health. Report to eSafety using this link.
8. Nurture your child’s strengths and interests
Provide a variety of opportunities for your child to explore different activities, sports,
arts, and hobbies. Let them try different things to discover what they enjoy the
most. Help your child connect with peers who have similar passions.

When should I contact the police?
Some forms of bullying involve criminal offences, including repeatedly bullying someone if
it is likely to cause that person physical or mental harm, including self-harm, threats to kill
or harm someone, property damage or theft, texting, e-mailing or posting sexual images.
Contact police if bullying involves a criminal offence.

Other information

Please note the following additional information.....