Newsletter 17 April 2024
Principal's Message
Welcome back to what promises to be a very busy term 2. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces and listen to the hum of holiday catch ups as students filled each other in on their holiday adventures.
Among this joy and innocence of our children, we need to balance the confronting scenes in the media and the shared grief of so many. I remember years ago when faced with similar images which were unintentionally witnessed by our young son, at his age and stage he spoke about bad people and began questioning his own safety. This was confronting as such a little person was fearful of events not in his own country. I took a minute and responded with “look for the helpers, look for the brave police officers, paramedics and fire fighters.” Wil stopped, reflecting on this, he then responded with, “we’re lucky to be safe, we should say a prayer for them.” To this day when confronted with incidents such as those over the weekend, I look for the helpers and say a quiet prayer for them and their loved ones. Pope Francis in 2016 spoke about those in service to others in saying;
"Love and charity, are service, helping others, serving others. There are many people who spend their lives in this way, in the service of others. …
When you forget yourself and think of others, this is love! And with the washing of the feet the Lord teaches us to be servants, and above all, servants as He was a servant to us, for every one of us."
We urgently need parent helpers for our Cross Country event on Monday. Without this support, we will not be able to run this event efficiently or safely. If you are able to help, please contact the office. A reminder that you need a current working with children’s check to be able to volunteer.
Our P&F have a fantastic social event coming up. Please get behind them and enjoy a night of friendship, fun and laughter on Friday May 3.
We endeavour to keep the school calendar as up to date as possible and will inform you of any changes as soon as practicable. If in doubt, please do not hesitate to contact office@stjamesnng.catholic.edu.au .
Have a great week, Bec
School Photos
Our school photos will be taken by Advanced Life on Wednesday 24 April 2024. Please use the below information to order your photos.
Please note: if your child/ren are absent on photo day, Advanced Life run a school holiday studio for parents. Please use email info@advancedlifevic.com.au to make a booking.
Communication
Just a reminder if your family's after school pick up arrangements have changed, please let the school office know. This can include weekly arrnagmeents such as walking to afterschool sport on a particular day, or one off changes. If it is before 2pm you are welcome to send a quick email, or after 2pm please make a phone call to the office.
Parents and Friends News
Care Freezer
Our Care Freezer provides help/support for any of our school families in times of need, such as accident/illness etc.
To help get our freezer started for this year we are aksing as many families as we can to provide a meal that can be kept in the freezer until needed.
If you are able to provide a meal please ensure that the date, name of meal and ingredients used are included. Meals can be given to the school office.
Some ideas of meals that freeze well - casseroles, home made sausgae rolls, quiche, lasagne or soup - just to name a few!
This has been a great tradition of St James to be able to help our families in times of need.
2025 Enrolments
If you know of a family wishing to enrol at St James or if you have a sibling that will be attending next year, please contact the school office for an enrolment pack.
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/
As part of the installation, you will be required to enter the following 4 digit passcode -
3675
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.