Newsletter 3 September 2025

Principal's Message

Dear Families, 

Last week, we shared in a wonderful celebration of our Grandparents and Special Friends. Thank you to all families for providing such a delicious shared lunch. The feedback received from our guests was very positive and the pride our children showed showing their guests around was simply beautiful.

Device usage at school-We are noticing a number of non-school related, devices coming into classrooms which potentially have access to personal data usage.  While we understand that students may need such devices for communication with parents to and from school, they are not required or are appropriate for use in our learning environments from 8.45am -3.30pm.  These devices are also quite expensive and we do not want them damaged.  We ask that your child leave smart devices (watches, phones etc) at home or drop them to the office where they can be kept safe during the day. Staff will be asking students to follow this procedure as of Monday September 8, where they will be required to sign in and out their device at the office. We thank you in advance for your understanding and support with this matter.  A copy of the revised 2025 ICT User Agreement reflects this.  This document has will be sent to families of students in Years 3-6, please ensure this is reviewed, signed and returned as soon as possible. 

Week 8 camp arrangements-  Ms Saunders will be taking the year 4 group as Year 5/6 head down to Gippsland for their adventure camp.  Thank you to the staff who have prepared and are attending camp so that our students have the best experience possible.  Please  note that  above information regarding devices strictly applies whilst on camp.  Thursday September is a rest day for Year 5/6 students and staff attending camp.

Study leave- Trish, Shivonne and Jess will be absent next Friday as they continue their Religious Education Certificate and will communicate replacement staff to students prior to their study leave.

School Advisory Committee- thank you to Lizzy, Stephanie, Evan, Hannah, Kyle and Trish Hermann for supporting the school as representatives of the SAC.  An update of our next meeting will be shared in the newsletter.

Term 4 2025-As we bid Mrs McGeorge a brief farewell as she prepares for the arrival of her beautiful baby, arrangements have been made in order to maintain consistency for the Year 1/2 cohort.  Mrs McCormack will be sharing the Year 1/2 class with Julieanne on Thursday and Fridays.  To continue known support to the 2/3 class, Mr M will be taking the group while Loren carries out her Religious Education Leader responsibilities. Zac will also be taking Learning Adjustment teacher release on Tuesdays and Technologies on Thursday.  This means that Mr M will no longer fulfill his Education Support role as he has moved into the space of teacher.  Congratulations Zac on this accomplishment!  Mr G will now be Education Support Monday- Fridays and we are in the process of recruiting to backfill some Education Support hours.  I thank you for your support and understanding as these staffing changes have been made with our students and their need for consistency at the first and foremost of our thinking.

Welcome!  Ms Jess Dugdale to Year 5/6 JD.  Jess will be completing four weeks of pre-service training with us.  I'm sure you join with the staff in welcoming Jess. 

Have a great week, 

Bec Kollaris 

Upcoming events

RE News

Sacrament Dates 2025

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Commitment Mass

Parent/Child Workshop

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Wellbeing Leader

The Resilience Project - Parent Hub & TRP@Home

TRP@Home - Scan the QR code below to access

Scholastic Book Club

Issue 6 of Scholastic Book Club is due by Monday 8 September

School Uniform Update

We invite families to review the below uniform options and email rkollaris@stjamesnng.catholic.edu.au with any feedback you may have.

Parents & Friends News

Important Information

This year St James will be using two main platforms of communication with our families - PAM and Schoolzine.  

To ensure that you keep up to date with what is happening with your children and within the school please ensure that you have access to these platforms and are familiar with their uses.

If you require assistance with accessing or setting up these platforms, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

From time to time it will also be necessary for emails and text messages to be sent.

Schoolzine App Installation Instructions:

This is an app that you have on your phone and allows for easy reading of the newsletter, as it customises to the screen and translates into many languages if required.
Please click the link below for the instructions on installing the app on your phone.
https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation
As part of the installation, you will be required to enter the following 4 digit passcode -
4011
Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions or queries.

Accessing PAM Instructions:

Please use the below link to access your PAM account. 

https://pam.stjamesnng.catholic.edu.au

The user name is the email you have provided to the school and if you have not logged on previously, you will be able to set a password.

If you require your password to be reset, please contact the school office.

DS Sports

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