Dear parents and carers,  

As we approach the end of term 1 we are grateful for the learning opportunities and achievements of the students at St James’. Visiting each classroom it is wonderful to see the children engaged in class activities. At St James’ across all grades teachers refer to Learning Intentions and Success Criteria when planning and delivering lessons. The purpose of sharing a learning intention and success criteria is to allow students to understand the expectations for learning and what success will look like in a lesson. It helps answer the questions: “Where am I going?”, “How am I doing?”, and “Where to next?”. 

SO WHY USE THEM? Clear learning intentions and success criteria allow TEACHERS to:  

• Identify the most important ways to represent the subjects that they teach.
• Focus instruction, learning activities, student outcomes, questioning, assessment and feedback on what is important to the students’ learning. 
• Determining where the learners have come from and where they are going next.
• Allow them to communicate what success will look like. 

Clear learning intentions and success criteria allow STUDENTS to:  

• Have clear direction and focus in what they are learning and trying to achieve in a given lesson and as part of a greater goal. 
• Have a framework to self-evaluate, peer-evaluate and reflect on their learning progress and next steps.

When you next visit your child’s classroom, take a look at the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria on the board. Maybe talk to your child about it as well.  

 The 5 key questions that parents can ask their children are: 

1. What did you learn today?
2. How did you do?
3. What did you do if you didn’t understand?
4. How can you improve learning?
5. What are you most proud of?

A copy of these questions is being distributed to each family this week. Please place them on the fridge at home where they can be easily referred to during family discussions about school.  

As always, if you need to speak to your child’s teacher regarding any well-being or educational matters, please email admin to arrange a time to discuss or meet.  

Yesterday our school experienced a wonderful Harmony Day celebration. Thank you to our staff for organising the beautiful Liturgy, great food to taste and kites that were flown in the playground after lunch. It was wonderful to see so many families sharing the great day too. Harmony Day is such an important celebration to acknowledge and celebrate the cultural diversity in our society. We are truly blessed to have so many students and staff from differing cultures in our school.

Congratulations to the children that received the Sacrament of Reconciliation last night. We now look forward to Confirmation and First Holy Communion in the coming months.

As we begin Holy week next week, we remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us. As Christians, Holy Week and the Easter season is an important part of the Church calendar and a time for us to reflect and celebrate the love that Jesus has for us. During this Lenten and Easter period, please take the time to consider how you can be showing Jesus’ love to others.

Mrs Sonya Boslem
Principal

This Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Week is the most important feast of the Church’s year as we remember the ultimate gift that Jesus gave to all of us.

Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday are called the Triduum—three days that are the highlight of the Church year. There are two Gospels proclaimed at Sunday’s Mass. The first Gospel, proclaimed before the procession with palms, tells of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Riding on a borrowed dinkey, Jesus was welcomed by the crowds as they blessed God and shouted “Hosanna!”

At the Liturgy of the Word on Palm Sunday, the events of Jesus’ passion are proclaimed. We read the passion of Jesus as found in the Gospel of Mark. We will hear these events proclaimed again when we celebrate the Triduum later in the week. On Good Friday, we will hear the passion of Jesus from the Gospel of John.

“When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? Which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah,” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put on a tick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether  Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “ Truly this man was God’s Son!” Mark 15: 33-39

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ passion and death are presented as the consequence of the tension between the Jewish authorities and Jesus that had been building throughout his public ministry. Throughout this account of the passion, we begin to comprehend the deeper theological statement being made about Jesus’ death. In Mark’s telling of the passion narrative, Jesus understood his death to have been preordained, and he accepted this death in obedience to God’s will, a fulfillment of the Scriptures. At his arrest, Jesus acknowledged that the time had arrived. Jesus was both confident and silent before his accusers. After he was sentenced to death, Jesus did not speak again until his final cry from the cross. The bystanders misunderstood and believed that he was calling for Elijah. The Roman centurion affirmed what Mark has presented throughout this Gospel: Jesus is the Son of God. Nowhere was this revealed more fully than in his death on the cross.

During Holy Week, we prayerfully remember the events of Jesus’ passion and death. As we meditate on the cross, we ask again what it means to make the statement of faith that Jesus, in his obedient suffering and dying, revealed himself to us as God’s Son.

Holy Week Liturgy

Our whole school Holy Week Liturgy will be held on Wednesday 27^th March at 11:30am in the hall. Please come and join us in this celebration.

All Saints Blackbutt South Liturgical Schedule for Holy Week and Easter

Please find below all the masses and services across the 3 mass centres of our parish that you may wish to attend during Holy Week and Easter.

Last evening the children from our parish who are taking part in the Sacramental Program this year received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. Congratulations to Xia, Patrick, Rafael, Jack, Nora, Sophia, Leo, Emmanual, Oriana, Anna, Hailey, Ollie, Josie, Zeke, Ava, Harrison, Suni, Darcy, Thomas, Claire, Will, Hannah, Lincoln, Cooper M, Audra, Mannix, Thomas, Darcey, Priya, Harlan, Cooper S, Harriet, Joshua, Kathleen, Ruby, Leo, Miles, Drew and Abigail. We will continue to
keep them in our prayer as the move on to their preparation for Confirmation and Eucharist.

Project Compassion Fundraiser

On Monday 25th March, the Year 6 Social Justice team will hold a games day in support of Project Compassion. In return for a gold coin donation, children will be able to spend some time playing games together with the Stage. Children may wear their sports uniform on Monday to take part in the games. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Patricia Miller
Religious Coordinator

Mrs Debra Petersen
 Assistant Principal

St James’ Cross Country- Friday April 5^th

The St James’ Cross Country will be held on Friday the 5^th of April (Week 10.) All children from Year 2 to Year 6 will be involved. This year, the children will run a modified course within the school grounds. We please ask that all children from Year 2 to Year 6 wear their sports uniform on Friday the 5^th of April.

Dio Sport Trials

Next week, we have students from Years 5 and 6 representing St James at Dio Sport
Trials around Newcastle region.

Xavier A, Jarvis P and Ace H are trialing for rugby league. Addison is trialing for netball and Mateo B, Oliver P and Gianluca B are trialing for soccer. We wish all our athletes the best of luck for their trials. We cannot wait to hear about your experience next week.

Touch Football Trials

Next week, students from St James will be attending the Regional Touch Football trials at Wallsend. We wish Harper, Geneveive L, Jarvis P and Ollie P the best of luck for their trial next week.

St James’ 2024 Athletics Carnival

The St James’ Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday 10th May, at the Fearnley-Dawes Athletics Track.

This is a whole-school event. The children will travel to and from the carnival by bus to this event. Students will be leaving school at 9:00am and buses will return to school by the end of the day for dismissal.

You will be emailed a link to this event on compass.

What you will need to do:

« Please provide consent for your child to attend online through the compass event

« Please ensure that your child’s medical requirements and emergency contact information are up to date on the school records.

« All children will automatically be entered into their 100 metre age race (50 metre race for Kindergarten and Year 1).

« All children will participate in fun, non-competitive tabloid activities throughout the day.

« If your child would like to participate in the 200m and 800m events, please nominate for these events through the compass event

« If your child would like to be considered for the 1500m and High Jump events at the regional carnival, please submit their Little Athletics times/heights and/or Cross-Country Result through the compass event also.

« If you are able to help out on the day, we would love your support. (Please note: you must have completed your school volunteer clearance.)

Please respond to the compass event as soon as possible. Access to the Compass event will close on the 5th of April.

OVERVIEW OF THE DAY

The children will travel by bus to the Fearnley-Dawes Athletics Track. When the children arrive, they will sit in the grandstand in their colour house groups.

9:20am- 800m races begin

9:50am- Acknowledgement of Country, Prayer & National Anthem

10:00am- 200m races

10:40am- Tabloid Rotations Begin- The children will go to their Age Manager. They will remain with their Age Manager for the rest of the day. They will rotate through the tabloid activities until their 100m race is called.

Children will leave the activities, compete in their age race and then return to the tabloid rotations.This format enables the greatest level of active participation for every child.

Relays will follow 100m races. Relay teams are made up of colour house members where possible. If a team is short, we will use children from another colour house. These teams are just for fun at our school carnival. The relay teams that progress to Regional level are made up of the fastest runners from our 100m age races.

PLEASE NOTE:

· In running events, the children who complete the fastest times are selected for representation; there will be no finals. Therefore, not all heat place-getters will be selected.

· This year there will be 2 Long jump and shot put events operating. One is competitive and one is ‘just for fun.’ The children will be shortlisted for the competitive events prior to the carnival.

· If you wish to take your child home from the carnival, please see either Mrs Petersen or Mrs Boslem to sign them out beforehand. All other children will return to school by bus.

· The teachers will take any necessary medications from the school to the carnival. They will be stored at the first aid trestle table.

REMINDERS:

· Children will wear their sport uniform with a house colour t-shirt.

· Children are to bring a packed lunch and plenty of water. There will be no canteen facilities available on the day.

· Please ensure your child is wearing sunscreen prior to the event.

· We welcome parents and carer as spectators however you must remain in the designated areas. These areas will be clearly marked and parents reminded throughout the day. Parents will not be allowed to access the field area. Crossing of the track disrupts races and can be quite dangerous for our competitors.

Tegan Fry and Renee Pettet
Sports Organiser

Exciting News! St. James Introduces Robotics Team

We are thrilled to announce the formation of the Robotics Team at St. James! This initiative will see 15 enthusiastic students, organised into two teams representing our school in the upcoming First Lego League competition later this year.

Over the coming months, our students will be actively engaged in learning new skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), honing their problem-solving abilities, and fostering collaboration as they use coding to design and build robots for specific tasks. There will be lots of building, coding and fun happening with these two teams.

The robotics teams welcome parent helpers for the following purposes:

Coding skills: We are interested in engaging with parents and/ or community volunteers who have skills or expertise in coding.

Constructing a Lego League table: We need to build a table for the purpose of practicing our code and robots. The instructions can be found here https://rb.gy/0m8paq and the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&app=desktop&v=YP1tampa5B4

If you are able to help out in the following ways, please contact Joe Hamilton at joseph.hamilton@mn.catholic.edu.au or Monica Griffiths at monica.griffiths@mn.catholic.edu.au. For the time being, our students will be dedicating some lunchtimes to working with the Lego Spike Prime Robotics kits, building a base robot and preparing for the challenges ahead.

We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to P&F for their generous support in purchasing these robotic kits, which will undoubtedly enhance the learning experiences of our students.

We are incredibly excited about this new endeavour and look forward to all the new experiences with our Robotics Team!

We ask that parents do the following:

• You stay in the order you arrive at the Kiss and Drop Zone.
• There is no cutting in front of other vehicles.
• You will not leave until the vehicle in front has left the zone.
• There will be no reversing of vehicles.
• You do not get out of the car – unless your child requires assistance to be restrained in a
car seat.
• When using the Kiss and Drop Zone you display your family name label.

Complaints and Grievances

As we focus on ensuring the safety of our children on their way to and from school with our new dismissal procedures, we kindly ask for your assistance in reinforcing the importance of safe crossing practices. Taking a few moments to discuss these guidelines with your child can help instil lifelong habits that prioritize safety:

Pedestrian Crossings:

Always use the pedestrian crossing opposite the church on Vista Parade. We have our crossing supervisor there each morning and afternoon to help our school community cross safely. Teach your child how to cross safely by:

• Waiting on the footpath well back from the curb of the road.
• Wait until the supervisor stops traffic, stays stationary in the middle of the road and clearly indicates to cross over safely.
• If your child rides a bike, scooter or skateboard, they are to walk them across rather than riding them over.
• If siblings are walking with together into school, it is good practice to hold hands (if the younger child is less than 8 years of age- NSW transport)
• Point out the difference between a pedestrian crossing and a pedestrian refuge island (St. James has one near the intersection of Princeton and Vista Parade). The refuge islands are not pedestrian crossings and should not be used in this way of a morning and afternoon. All our students are to use the crossing with the guidance of our supervisor.  

An important message for the bikers using the Raspberry Gully track on Princeton heading towards Charlestown direction: always stick to the track when riding and avoid using shared driveways as shortcuts as this can be dangerous having to contend with cars, particularly in the estate across the road from the school.

We are having these talks at school but also having these conversations at home about crossing behaviours, we are able to create a safer environment together for our children. Thank you for your continued support in keeping our school community safe.

Deepest Sympathy to:

Mrs Sharon Brown on the recent passing of her mother. May Mrs Brown and her family be blessed with beautiful memories in their hearts forever.

Mrs Hanley and Ebony Hanley on the sudden passing of their brother- in-law and
Uncle early this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this very
difficult time.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Canteen

There has been Food Safety Changes for all school canteens. If you are a volunteer in the school canteen, can you please follow the below link to ensure compliance of the new NSW Government Food Authority Standard 3.2.2A.

https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/retail/school-canteens

A reminder to please update your child's class on Flexischools to ensure their order goes to the correct classroom. There have been a couple of new items added to the menu including Margarita Pizza (Mon & Wed) and yoghurts.

Playgroup

P&F Meeting Monday 8th April AGM- All Welcome.

Big congratulations to Katie, Mitchell and big brothers Maddox and Huxley on the safe and precious arrive of your new addition, baby Kali.