Confirmation Prayer

Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people,
so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent.
Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation
as they listen to Your voice.
Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfillment
the good work that You have begun in them.
As children in our community prepare for Confirmation,
make each of us an instrument of Your love.
Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others,
and to be patient with what we do not understand.
Deepen our faith in the Gospel
and help us to pass it on by our example.
We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we pray for the children from our community receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation next Thursday night. The celebration will be presided by Bishop Michael Kennedy in our Parish church, St Philip’s. May they be filled with the love of the Holy Spirit at this special time.

Last week we enjoyed the NED Show at St James’. The NED Show Uses humour, storytelling, audience participation and amazing object lessons, including yo-yo and magic tricks. During this show students learn about key virtues through the adventures of NED. NED is a loveable cartoon character whose name stands for Never give up (have focus and persistence), Encourage others (be kind and share), and Do your best (strive for diligence and excellence). The children really enjoyed the experience and can use these skills in their interactions with others.

Teachers have been very busy meeting with parents to discuss student learning and achievements. I would like to thank all teachers for their preparation and time taken to ensure that families have the opportunity meet and discuss student progress. Learning is a partnership between home and school and we value parent input into the teaching and learning goals for the children at St James’.

Next Thursday we welcome our Kindergarten cohort for 2025. Our orientation morning will commence at 9.30. The new Kindergarten students will enjoy the morning in the Kindergarten rooms with the Year 5 students who will take on the roles of buddies in 2025. We look forward to meeting our new students next week.

Best wishes,

This Sunday’s gospel is from  John 6:51-58

^“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 

So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Through this extraordinary dispensation of the Eucharist, God identifies himself not just with humanity, but with the material world. Through this food, we become part of God as he becomes part of us. What we receive in the small piece of bread or the sip of wine at the Eucharist is the gift of life from Jesus. This is a sharing in the life of God; in the fragility of the bread and wine is strong food, and joyful drink - fruit of God's creation and work of human hands. It is the gift of God who has become one of us. It is the gift of love with sacrifice.

Religious Literacy in Kindergarten

This Term Kindergarten are learning about “Knowing God the Holy Spirit”. Through this module they will learn about the special gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to us and how we can use these gifts. By the end of this module each child should be able to demonstrate the following  Religious Literacy Components:

RELIGIOUS LITERACY COMPONENTS

Names some characteristics, symbols, and images of the Holy Spirit.

Recounts some story about the Holy Spirit from the Scriptures

Recognises the Holy Spirit as God.

Throughout the term you might like to talk to your child about what they are learning in reagrds to the Holy Spirit. A good way to start is to ask them what they talked about in Religion today/this week, remembering that these components will be part of the learning throughout the whole term.

Term 3 Liturgies and Celebrations

• Friday Parish Mass:

Week 5: 23rd August-Year 4 & Year 2

Week 7: 6^th September-Year 3

Week 8: 13^th September-Year 6

Week 10: 27^th September-Year 5 and Year 1

We would love to have you join us.

• Father’s Day: Friday 30^th August

1:00pm Liturgy

1:30pm Sausage Sizzle

2:00pm activities with your child/ren

• Grandparents Day: Friday 20^th September

Sacramental Program

 

The Parish Sacramental Program continued with the Retreat Day today. All the children making their sacraments this year from St James’, St Columba’s and St Kevin’s came together for the day. We started with Mass and then had a practice for both the ceremonies, created some artwork to display in the church and the finished off with a BBQ lunch, supplied by Father Joseph. A big thankyou to the parents who came to help with the BBQ and the Sacrament committee who supported the activities throughout the day.

Next Thursday 22^nd August, the children from St James will have the Sacrament of Confirmation conferred upon them by Bishop Michael Kennedy. Please keep these children in your prayers as they are welcomed into the church as adults with the Sacrament of Confirmation and First Eucharist:

Xia, Patrick, Rafael, Sophia, Leo, Emmanuel, Oriana, Anna, Hailey, Ollie, Zeke, Ava, Electra, Harrison, Suni, Darcy, Thomas L, Claire, will, Hannah, Lincoln, Cooper M, Audra, Mannix, Thomas R, Darcey, Priya, Harlan, Cooper S, Harriet, Joshua, Kathleen, Ruby, Leo W, Miles, Drew, Abigail and Madeleine.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, God of power and of love.

We pray for all the children who are preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

May your Holy Spirit help them to grow in faith, hope and love and

may they come to know you as the one true God who loves them without limit.

May their hearts welcome you gladly;

May their ears hear your voice in the scriptures;

May their eyes see you in all things;

And may they proclaim your glory

as they walk in the ways of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Amen.

CONFIRMATION PROGRAM 2024 • Online lessons: to be completed at home during 28 July – 4 August • Face to face lessons: take place at schools. All candidates and their parent must attend one lesson.  St James’ Kotara (in the church)               Monday 5 August @ 5:00PM                                 & Tuesday 6 August @ 3:30PM  St Columba’s Adamstown                          Monday 5 August @ 3:30PM & 5.00PM St Kevin’s Cardiff                                       Wednesday 7 August @ 3:30PM • Retreat day: Friday 16 August at Kotara   CONFIRMATION CEREMONY Thursday August 22nd 6:30pm

EUCHARIST PROGRAM 2024        (Accompanying the Confirmation programme) • Online lessons: to be completed at home during 25 August – 1 September • Face to face lessons: take place at schools. All candidates and their parent must attend one lesson. St James’ Kotara (in the church)                Monday 2 September @ 5:00PM                          & Tuesday 3 September @ 3:30PM   St Columba’s Adamstown                        Monday 2 September @3.30PM & 5.00 pm St Kevin’s Cardiff                                       Wednesday 4 September @ 3:30PM EUCHARIST MASSES Weekends of 14 /15 September                            & 21 /22 September ALL THREE CHURCHES ANY WEEKEND MASS

Project Compassion

I recently received a phone call from Caritas Australia to say thankyou for St James’ contribution to Project Compassion this year. This is not  a regular occurrence. The team at Project Compassion were so appreciative of the amount that St James were able to raise from one event. Well done St James!

Mrs Patricia Miller
Religious Coordinator

Mrs Debra Petersen
 Assistant Principal

Throughout Term 3 we are focusing on the Resilient pillar of our PBL matrix. Resilience is the capacity to withstand challenges and the ability to recover quickly from them. For our children it’s about how well they are able to bounce back from a tricky situation.

Throughout weeks 5 & 6 we will be exploring the expectation  of “Have a go”. We all know how important it is to have a go, even at things that we might find a real challenge. It is through having a go that we continue to learn and grow.

When we have ago, we give ourselves opportunities to grow and learn. We can show this action through:

• being courageous and trying new things
• learning new skills and knowledge
• Keep trying even when something is hard
• displaying a “CAN-DO” attitude
• knowing it’s okay to make mistakes and then have another go.

New Sports Equipment

We are excited to share that our school has received brand-new sports equipment! We extend our heartfelt thanks to our P&F for their fundraising efforts, which made this possible. Some of our new equipment includes brand new soccer nets, netballs, soccer balls, rugby league balls, oztags, t-ball stands and bats and more!  

Let’s all take care of this great new equipment so we can enjoy it for a long time! 

Dio Athletics Carnival

Last Wednesday, 16 children from St James competed at the Diocesan Athletics Carnival at Glendale. Well done to all our athletes for trying their very best and showing true sportsmanship.

Here is a photo of some of our children at the Diocesan Carnival.

A special congratulations to Zoe D, Maise E, Evie L, Wil M, Evie M (Yr 6), Layla R and Cruz M who are through to the next round. Polding will be held at Hunter Sports Centre on Friday the 13^th of September. A brilliant effort from our St James children!

Netball Gala Day

On Monday, children from Year 4 and Year 6 attended the Newcastle Netball Gala Day. All students demonstrated sportsmanship, kindness and worked together as a team. We thank our team managers and parents for watching and supporting us on the day. Without your assistance, days like these are not possible. Thank you!

Australian School Basketball Championships

In Week 2, I went away to the Gold Coast with the NSWPSSA Basketball Team. Over the week, we played 6 games against teams; Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and ACT. Queensland won the competition and Victoria came second. I received MVP (Most Valued Player) for my team.

• Evie M

Mrs Tegan Fry & Miss Renee Pettet
Sports Organisers

Lifelong Skills

Fine motor skills are the skills needed to complete tasks requiring manipulation and control of small objects. We complete tasks like this every day, from a very young age. Good fine motor skills require control of the small muscles in our hands, eye control and motor planning.

In the early years at school think handwriting, using scissors, threading, construction and doing up buttons. As the child grows, the same skills are needed for typing and even using a knife and fork. Adults use fine motor skills in many different jobs. Think about the dexterity and hand eye control needed to repair an electrical circuit, cut hair, work on machines, use delicate science and engineering equipment and do surgical procedures!

Help Me Learn to Tie My Shoelaces

Learning to tie shoelaces is a fine motor activity that requires dexterity and motor planning. They need to be able to manage the laces as well as remember the steps involved.

These are skills used every day at school, where children need to hold and manipulate pencils, scissors and equipment.

Here are a few links to teach children how to tie their shoelaces:

https://tinyurl.com/2hz6kjck

https://tinyurl.com/yydfpqjd    

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

Thank you to our parents for the support and value that you place on your child being at school each day. Regular school attendance plays a critical role in ensuring that every student has access to the same learning opportunities. When students are not at school, are late to school or leave school early, they are missing out on so much that can impact on their future learning.

The following Attendance Guidelines are based on current legislative requirements, research on attendance and best practice.

✔ Attendance affects a child’s academic achievement and their overall wellbeing.

✔ There is NO safe threshold of absence – everyday counts.

✔ School attendance patterns are established early in a child’s schooling

 ✔ The effects of school absenteeism accumulate over time and affect children’s development now and into the future.

✔ Daily punctuality is important. The early part of each day is critical. Important learning is scheduled during this time when children are rested and receptive. Key concepts are built up in the time.

✔ Sporadic absences can affect academic achievement as much as absences over consecutive days.

✔ We ALL need to work together with our children’s best interest in mind to ensure that students are at school every day that they are well enough to attend.

Compass Unexplained Absences

Unexplained absences are required to be explained within 7 days of the absence on Compass. A weekly email will be sent to parents to alert of any unexplained absences that can be updated on Compass. Please note that if the absence is longer than 7 days, the absence is then unable to be explained by parents or school.

Complaints and Grievances