Newsletter 17 July 2024
Principal's Message
A very warm welcome back to a very frosty start to term 3!
Our children have had a wonderful start to this term and we welcome Connor (Foundation), Charles (Year 2), and Holly to Year 5. We also welcome Mrs Alicia McGeorge to the teaching team. They have been wrapped in friendship and support, please make yourselves known to them.
Winter Weather Considerations-We are blessed to have central climate control in our classrooms. This means that all rooms are at an appropriate temperature where staff can work and students can do their best learning. We have however noticed that outdoor jackets and beanies are being worn in doors. We are concerned that when in doors, the jackets are impacting students' normal body temperature regulation and potentially causing them to be colder when outdoors. While we appreciate that some children do not like to wear the jumper, we ask that they wear the St James jumper, long sleeve polo or vest as an alternative for inside. We have explained this to students and would appreciate your support. We have also noticed 'puffer' jackets being worn at school. Given the incredibly chilly conditions, I am happy for these to be worn, however they NOT to remain on when indoors, as discussed above.
We are also concerned that given the nature of our site and the incredibly wet conditions, that some students return from play with wet shoes and socks. Can we please ask that you provide an extra pair of socks, and where possible an extra pair of shoes in a plastic bag in your child's school bag for use during the winter months.
We are keen to review our uniform as we are aware that some current items of clothing are uncomfortable. Some of these items for review include the jumper, tracksuit pants, optional long trousers for both boys and girls and a soft shell jacket. This will take time, and in the interim we ask parents to ensure their children are wearing the correct St James uniform as much as possible.
Stay warm! Bec
Learning and Teaching
Happy Term Three Families and Students!
This term is going to be an exciting one with lots of learning. As a school we will be following the Olympics and integrating this into Geography and our other units of work in Religious Education, Mathematics and English.
Our Religious Education inquiry question this term is 'Where do messages come from?'
Students will take a deep dive into scripture 'Mission of the Twelve' from the book of Mark.
We have book week in week six. Staff are currently beginning to plan activities based around some of the short listed picture story books.
Naplan
Naplan results have been delivered to school and will be sent home to our grade three and five students by the end of this week. Please remember that Naplan is just one snap shot of what your child/ren can do at a particular point in time. As a school we use the results from Naplan as another piece of evidence to support our students with their learning. If you have any further questions regarding Naplan please contact me.
Whats happening this term:
We have our foundation, one and two students attending Splash's in Berwick for swimming lessons during week three and four and our senior students will be participating in Winter sports throughout the term. We know all our students will show the St James way demonstrating our school wide expectations Safe, Responsible and Respectful.
Book Fair
Lamont Book Fair is coming back to St James in week 9. They will be here as a part of our Grandparents Day celebrations. This is a great fundraising event and with the profits we would like to add to our current classroom guided reading sets and non fiction resources.
The last day of term will be our Football / Sports dress up day. I hope to see everyone in their black and whites! Go the Pies!
Kind regards, Kathy Zandona
Fun Food Friday
Welcome baby Leo
3/4LB Excursion
In Term 2 the Year 3/4 class concluded their unit on Earth and Space sciences by attending an excursion. The day started at Bunjil Place with the viewing of the puppet show musical ‘The One who Planted trees’ A story of human impact and the difference one person can make. The puppets and sets were made entirely from recycled materials and the students were able to ask questions at the conclusion of the event.
We then travelled to Wilson Botanic Gardens in Berwick where we explored the human and man made changes to the area over time.
It was a wonderful celebration of their learning in Term 2 and I am proud to share some of their reflections:
On the excursion we went to 2 places,Bunjil place and Wilson botanical garden. My favourite part was the show. We watched the one who planted trees. At the gardens we saw basalt rocks. It was so fun. - Owen
At the theater I liked the style of the puppets. I loved the story and the voices fit the characters really well - Laurel
3/4 LB went on an excursion . We watched a musical puppet show. It was really good , but I didn’t like the part that they chopped down the trees. It made me feel worried and stressed because of the music and the animals had no home. Then we went to the Botanic gardens , we walked a lot but we got to stop near the quarry that is now a lake. We rolled down the hill. It was very fun but I think I got a rash. I fell over. - Willow
I learnt from the puppet show that we do not chop trees down and that a little thing turns into a big thing. My favourite thing at the puppet show was the song ‘trees’. - Ziera
On Thursday the 27th of June 2024 First we went to a Puppet musical called the one who planted trees. It was amazing. I loved it so much. We also went to Wilson Botanic Park. It was so cool that there were lots of volcanic rocks and turtles in the lakes. - Scarlett
On the 27th of June 2024 the 3/4 class went on an excursion to bunjil place to watch the puppet show called the one who planted trees. It was really cool and fun to watch. It had a story of what happens over time. It was also really colorful. Then we went to wilson botanical gardens we were hoping to see the turtles but unluckily we didn’t - Jack G
At Bunjil Place, We watched The one who planted the trees. Then we had a snack outside and we went on the bus to Wilston Botanical Gardens. It was AMAZING. We went up so much hills that it was steep, and we had lunch and we went back to SCHOOL. - Hope
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.