Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope our mother’s, grandmother’s, aunties and special women of our community enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day. Mother's Day is not just a day for giving gifts or cards; it's a day to honour and appreciate the extraordinary role that mothers, mother figures, and caregivers play in shaping our lives and communities.

In our school community, we are fortunate to have many remarkable mothers and caregivers among our students, parents, and staff. Their dedication, resilience, and unwavering love serves as an inspiration to us all.

On behalf of the entire school, I want to extend my warmest wishes to all mothers and maternal figures. Your love, strength, and compassion make the world a better place, and we are deeply grateful for everything you do. Thank you to all who celebrated with us on Thursday. What a great community event for our loved ones. Thank you to the P & F for the Mother's Day stall.

Last Friday we had a successful Athletics Carnival. Special thanks to Mrs Tegan Fry for her organisation of the day. It was a fun filled day for all. Much appreciation to the staff for supervising and ensuring the children were at the correct events on the day. Many thanks to the Year 6 parents for organising a great BBQ! Again, a wonderful community event. It was so good to see so many parents and family members supporting our students!

We have had approval for the construction of a new playground/ fitness area. This has been discussed and voted on with the staff and students. The voting determined the types of equipment the students and teachers would like to have in our school. All results have been tallied and I am now working with the Diocese to determine the supplier and finer details. Exciting news for St James!

Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated in Week 4. On Monday, 20th May we will have a Liturgy in the Hall at 1.15pm and then followed by Open Classrooms. This year the theme is “Follow me”. It focus’ on being like Jesus in helping, giving, serving others and spreading the Good News to others. We hope that you can attend our special celebration as a school.

Mrs Sonya Boslem
Principal

This Sunday’s gospel is from Mark 16:15-20

“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’ So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.”

The end of the Gospel of Mark is also a beginning. Jesus was about to leave but his followers were being given the mission to ‘go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation’. The eleven disciples were assured of God’s help and of how God would work through them in bringing the Good News and healing to others. This mission is also entrusted to us. May we embrace it with faith and love and go forth to share it generously.

This Sunday marked the Feast of the Ascension. The Feast of the Ascension is celebrated on the Sunday after the fortieth day of Easter. It commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven, into His glory after completing the work of our redemption. Tradition designates Mount Olivet near Bethany as the place where Christ left the earth. The Ascension is one of the Ecumenical feasts ranking with the feasts of the Passion, Easter and Pentecost among the most solemn in the calendar. This feast has a vigil and, since the fifteenth century, an octave which is set apart for a novena of preparation for Pentecost, in accordance with the directions of Leo XIII.

Family/Parish Mass-The Feast of Pentecost - Saturday 18th May 5:30pm

Next Weekend we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost with a Family/Parish Mass on Saturday at 5:30 at St Philip’s. We hope that many families from St James will be able to come together for this special celebration. Students from St James are asked to fill the ministries at this mass, so we are asking for readers (First Reading, Responsorial Psalm and Second Reading and Prayer of the Faithful), a family to take up the gifts at the Offertory. If your child would like to read or your family would like to take up the gifts please send an email through to admin@kotarasouth.catholic.edu.au

Pentecost is the feast which takes place on the 50th day after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, mother of Jesus and the Apostles of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. This feast is known as the birthday of the modern church.

Friday Parish Mass

Grades will once again be attending the Parish Mass on Friday morning at 9:15 am. Please see below the roster for when grades will attend.

Patricia Miller
Religious Coordinator

Welcome back to Term 2!! Even with all the rain we can still laugh, smile and learn together in our great school. Mrs Menser even captured this wonderful photo while children walked happily into school on Wednesday morning under a rainbow!

ICAS

We have had a wonderful response from families regarding the ICAS opportunities offered for students during August. These assessments are open to students in grades 3 – 6.

So What is ICAS?  

ICAS is an online academic competition that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.

Every student who participates is celebrated and recognised with a printed certificate in each subject area, and online results report to track development each year. Top performers are eligible for one of the highly coveted ICAS medals.

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (com/products-icas/) 
2. Read the Privacy Collection Statement below.
3. Read the terms and conditions here: (com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-ICAS-Assessments-Schools-TsCs_S2023.V6-1.pdf) 
4. Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas here: (icasassessments.com/pages/pps)  
5. Enter our school’s access code –VSP042
6. Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment.  

 

The parent code for all subjects Years 3-6 is below:

Your school access code is: VSP042

Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

I have included a timetable with dates of the ICAS assessments. This may help when entering your child. And a ‘How to” instruction page to make it easier.

Year 4 BYOD Information Evening

Mr Steve Newman from the Catholic Schools Office will come to St James to discuss the BYOD program for our current year 4 students, Parents and carers are warmly invited to attend to learn about what school life with a device looks like and the expectations for the students and families.

Reports

Staff have begun assessments and collecting data to begin the report writing process. Reports will go home to families on the Monday of Week 10, this term. Parent/teacher conferences will be held early in Term 3.

Mrs Debra Petersen
 Assistant Principal

It is important to prioritise advising the school of an absence for your child. There are two categories outlined below, the most common being the first. The information below applies to general routines for absence.

Full Day Absences—Less than 10 days
How to inform the school:  Please advise your child’s absence before 8:50 am by one of the following methods: 

1. Use the COMPASS app under your child’s own profile to complete an absence notification. This is the preferred method as your information updates the student management system automatically and the teacher is informed through that same system.
2. Should you be unable to use the preferred COMPASS app, please phone the school and the administration staff will complete it on your behalf. Please do not email the teacher of the absence as they are likely to be teaching and not receive the email until after school, when the day has already passed. 
3. If the school does not receive a notification of absence, it will be marked as unexplained after the day has passed. In this case, a phone call or email to admin providing the explanation will allow us to make the adjustment on COMPASS. 
4. If no explanation of your child’s absence is received after 7 days, it is archived as an Unexplained Absence.  

Longer Absences (over 10 days)

The basic premise regarding school attendance is that “It’s not ok to be away.”  However, if you intend to take leave from school for more than 10 days, parents are to required to complete an Application for Extended Leave on Compass.  These days of leave will still appear as absences in school documentation and reports. They will be recorded as per your explanation, for example, family holiday, business, or bereavement but they will still count as absences. Any extended absence requires a commitment from parents to support the student’s education while absent from school, particularly in English and Maths.

Partial Absences (Arrive Late or Leave Early)

If you arrive after 8:50am or leave before 2:45pm you must attend the school office to electronically sign your child in or out. This is a requirement by law. It is important to stress that only an adult can complete this process as it a legal document. We understand that if you are running late, it is tempting to drop children at the gate BUT we are required to have an adult sign them in. 

Similarly, if you are signing your child out early for the day, please go to the office and we will contact the classroom and your child will come to you.

Cross Country Championships - 15th of May

On Wednesday the 15th of May, 24 children from St James will take part in the Cross-Country Championships at Maitland Park.

8/9 Years: Pippa T, Alex P, Vivienne C, Thomas I, Lorenzo B & Nate M

10 Years: Anna D, Annika H, Suni H, Wil M, Brando C & Miles W

11 Years: Maisie E, Maggie F, Evie L, Mateo B, Jaxson K & Jonah T

12 Years: Evie M, Layla R, Madeleine S, Oliver L, Jarvis P & Connor M

Congratulations to the St James’ Cross Country team!

Polding Sport Trials – 3rd of May

Last week, Mateo B, Oliver P, Gianluca B, Jarvis P, Ace H and Addison G represented St James at the Polding Winter Sports Trials in Tamworth. Congratulations to these students for making it to this high level in their selected sport.

Mateo, Oliver and Gianluca were selected into the Polding Soccer Team and will travel to Tamworth in August for the NSWPSSA Soccer Championships. Addison G was also selected into the Polding Team for Netball. In August, she will attend the NSWPSSA Netball Championships in Penrith.

Rugby Union Trials- 29th of May

Ollie P and Noah K in Year 5 will travel to Lorn to trial for the Diocesan Rugby Union team on the 29th of May. We wish the boys the best of luck for their trials.

NSWPSSA Basketball - 28th to 30th of May

Best of luck to Geneveive L and Evie M who will attend the NSWPSSA Basketball Championships in Newcastle in Week 5. We are very proud of you for making it through to this level. We hope that you have a wonderful experience!

Mrs Tegan Fry and Miss Renee Pettet
Sports Organisers

Book Club News

Issue 3 of Book Club went home last week. The due date for orders is Friday 17th May. All orders must be placed through LOOP online; no orders are to be sent into the school. Below is a link explaining how to use LOOP.

Value Items in Issue 3:

· #011 Errol! $3

· #201 Goldfish-Finger $3

· #303 Michaela Mason’s Big List of Camp Worries $3

· #304 Revenge of the Beans $3

· #401 When You Wish Upon a Star $3

New Releases

· #004 Dog Man – The Scarlet Shedder $10

· #005 The Bad Guys – Episode 19: The Serpent and the Beast $9

· #006 Weirdo – Weird Holiday 22 $9

· #007 Forever Fairies – Lulu Flutters $8

· #052 Diary of a Minecraft Zombie – Book 44: Zombie in the Underland $7

If anyone has questions or concerns about the ordering process, please do not hesitate to drop into the library (Mon/Tues/Wed) or contact me: sueanne.churches@mn.catholic.edu.au

Sue-Anne Churches

Library Assistant and Book Club Co-ordinator

As we work together in the best interest of the student wellbeing built on the social emotional and educational needs of all community members, we are reminded of our Community Code of Conduct. This was agreed to as part of the enrolment process. All members of the school community are bound by this Code of Conduct. A copy is attached below and available on request.

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

Playgroup

The St James Biodiversity Project started in Grade 5 last term. The students are busy building their presentations about the flora and fauna that can be found at St James. These projects will be presented in class during weeks 3 and 4. In conjunction, we have employed the help of the ASPIRE Visual Arts coordinator Lara Crockett from the Catholic Schools Office, to help Year 5 design and create a Biodiversity Mural at school. The physical painting of the mural will start next week and run throughout the term. The Year 5 teachers have spent time with Lara and the children producing a design that they are proud of. Everything in the mural lives within our grounds. Below is a photo of the what we hope to be our end product.

Congratulations to Father Joseph on receiving his Australian Citizenship last Tuesday.

Congratulations to Lexie M (yr 6) who was successful in her audition for a part in the upcoming Young People's Theatre Newcastle production of 'The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales'. Tickets go on sale soon with showtimes in the July school holidays. Lexie will be playing the character of 'Owl'. We can’t wait to see you on the big stage!

The constant changing of Library Borrowing days here at St James has led to some confusion with regard to students bringing their Library bags and books to school on the right day. This mid-term change is a function of the number of teachers we have who are job sharing on classes with Executive staff and also non-executive staff who are working part-time and the requirement for them to have their mandated share of release from Face-to-Face teaching.

Our Music program and our Library lessons are when that release from face-to-face teaching happens. We need to therefore alter the days our library and music Lessons occur to cater to which days teachers who are job-sharing are teaching, hence the mid-term changes.

I will endeavour to keep you appraised of the changes of borrowing days a week prior to them happening. For this week I have published the borrowing days that will be in place until further notice.

Monday - Year 3

Tuesday - Year 1 and Kindergarten

Wednesday - Year 4

Thursday - Year 2 and Year 6

Friday - Year 5

Mr Chris Coleman

Teacher Librarian

Welcome to Mrs Amy Gibson who joins our staff community this term as an Learning Support Teacher. Amy has been a Learning Support Teacher in another Diocesan school, so she brings to St James experience and knowledge in this area.

We also are pleased to have a grounds person appointed for the remainder of the year. Welcome to Melissa Slater who will be work fortnightly on a Friday.

Congratulations to Mrs Kate Frost who has been appointed to the teaching role in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education. Kate has some great initiatives planned for our students to experience. 

Thank you to our P&F for supporting so many purchase for our students. We are soon to receive new STEM and Technology equipment and a new speaker/ microphone for our school. The staff and students are grateful for the generosity of community.

Our school will take part in the AEDC between May and July this year. The AEDC is a national census that is conducted every three years by the Australian Government, in partnership with state and territory governments. It measures how children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school.

The AEDC is voluntary and it does not measure how well children are doing at school, nor how their school compares to other schools. Instead, it shows how children are growing and progressing in five key areas, what is being done well and what can be improved. AEDC data is used by schools, early childhood organisations, researchers and governments to help plan and improve services and supports for children and families. This is why it is important for all children in their first year of school to be included in the AEDC. You can learn more about the ways AEDC data is used at https://www.aedc.gov.au/

Kindergarten parents have received a letter and fact sheet outlining the AEDC process.

Mathematics Problem Solving Stage 3

This week we have used visualisation and drawing diagrams as a way to tackle complex maths problems. Here are some of are Year 5 students participating in this session, working together to problem solve and sharing their work. 

St James' is excited to announce that we are partnering with Story Dogs.

Starting this Term, we will have a new regular visitor to our school to help our students with their reading. ‘Ginny’ and Teigan will be visiting for two hours every Wednesday to help our year 2 classes with their reading.

The Story Dogs program works with the classroom teachers to help students with their reading and literacy. ‘Ginny’ and Teigan will help the same 6 students each week. The students will come out of their classroom and sit one-on-one with ‘Ginny’ and Teigan and read to ‘Ginny’. ‘Ginny’ loves to listen and will not mind if the student makes a few mistakes, she just wants to have a fun time so that books and reading become a fun joyful experience.

‘Ginny’ is a gorgeous golden retriever, she loves rolling in dirty puddles, walking on the beach and sleepy snuggles.

‘Ginny’ has been practicing at home with her new reading rug and books so that she will be ready to help the students. She is super excited about starting.

Welcome ‘Ginny' and Teigan!

In the coming weeks we will be inviting students, teachers and parents to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.

We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community, we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St James’ Primary School.

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. A compass notification with the URL will be posted closer to the date opening date of the survey.

Enrolments are closing soon. If you know of any school aged children or families looking for schools, please let them know that we are accepting enrolments now.