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Dear Parents and Carers,
I take this opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Duilio Rufo. I have been asked to come to St James for the next 5 weeks. I would also like to take the opportunity to assure you that St James is in very good hands with the teachers we have and the leadership team. My personal thanks to Mrs Debra Petersen for her hard work and dedication over the past few months. I want to invite you to please come and say hello when you see me in the playground, you can't miss me. You are also welcome to make a time to see me if you would like too. I look forward to getting to know you, the parents, the children and all the staff.
Mr Duilio Rufo
Acting Principal
This week’s Gospel is from Matthew 20:1-16
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father, the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
What is my religion to me? Wings to lift me or a weight to drag me down? A matter of love or of law? Jesus offers rest and relief to those who labour and are burdened.
Our teacher is God, and the true disciples learns only from God. We find very often in Jesus a dismissal of ostentatious religion. He calls on his followers to be humble. Our church is to be a humble church, as we are to be in our dealings with each other. For this we need prayer which inserts us daily into the mystery of being loved and called by God in Jesus Christ.
End of year Celebrations
Tuesday 12th December, 11:00am: Year 6/ End of year Liturgy (encompassing Year 6 Awards)
Wednesday 13th December, 9:30am: Whole School Awards Ceremony
Sacramental Program 2024
All Saints Blackbutt Parish, under the guidance of Father Joseph, have recently completed a review into the current sacramental program and in particular the scheduling of sacraments throughout the year. It has been decided that the sacramental program which begins with Reconciliation will run from February to September, encompassing the 3 sacraments: Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Eucharist, in one calendar year. This means that our current Year 3 students will not be making their Reconciliation this year.
Father Joseph will be sending out a pastoral letter soon to clarify the timeline and process for students who are enrolling in the 2024 Sacramental Programme (i.e. children in Year 4 and above who are ready to make these sacraments). Any further information will be sent to you through Compass and in newsletters as it becomes available.
Parish Mass change of dates:
Year 1 will now attend the Parish Mass on Friday 10th November (next week)
Year 3 will now attend the Parish Mass on Friday 24th November.
Patricia Miller
Religious Coordinator
This week we had our second transition day for the Kindergarten cohort of 2024. There were many happy faces on both the new students and the year 5 buddies. Our Kindergarten teachers spent the morning getting to know the new students and it was a lovely day here at St James’.
SchoolTV
Because parenting doesn't come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource implemented at our school to help support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting relating to youth mental health and wellbeing. Parenting is a learning journey and SchoolTV supports families by providing credible information from trusted sources with practical strategies to help alleviate some of the challenges being faced by young people today.
Watch video interviews with leading wellbeing specialists and browse a library of resources. Each topic is accompanied by factsheets, podcasts, books, articles, apps and other videos. This award-winning resource helps families build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It will assist you in starting those conversations on topics that can sometimes be awkward or difficult to tackle.
Parents and caregivers are the greatest influence on a young person's life and SchoolTV focuses on empowering confident parenting.
Explore SchoolTV today!
The link to SchoolTV can be found on our school website or on the link here:
Yr 5 Leadership Day
This week the year 5 students participated in a Leadership Day. My thanks to Mrs Dart, Mrs Griffiths and Mrs Wedesweiler for their efforts in organising the day. The students learnt what ‘servant leadership’ is and how best they can help our school. Well done students for actively participating in this day.
School Uniforms
From 2024 St James’ school uniforms can be purchased from Lowes at Charlestown. In saying that, we do have stock here to purchase should any families need to top up their school uniform supplies. There are good quality second hand items for sale also.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs Debra Petersen
Assistant Principal
Student Wellbeing
On Monday the school hosted ThinkUKnow who spoke to our parent community about safe online behaviour and strategies to prevent child exploitation. We heard first-hand accounts from the police force and families of victims and the impact of child exploitation, through various online platforms, and the harm this has caused to all involved. With our busy lifestyles we can often become complacent or unaware of the very real threat that this can have on our children. As adults, we therefore have a responsibility to protect our kids by promoting safe online behaviour.
There were two key messages that came from the presentation; the importance of transparency and communication. The online use of children must be kept as transparent as possible. We can achieve this by keeping online use in household spaces that are open so adults can monitor and keep track of online conversations, or the various platforms children are using to interact with others. We know of children using vault apps and creating multiple ‘burner’ accounts for social media to interact in secretive ways and this is certainly behaviours we want our children to avoid.
It is vital to have supportive and regular conversations with your child about their online use. Listen to their concerns and offer advice or solutions in a calm and supportive manner. This establishes a relationship of trust and they will be more likely to come to you should they encounter problems online. Online perpetrators will position vulnerable children into feeling like there is no way out and that they have to give in to their demands. When we as parents, hold open and supportive conversations, we reduce the risk of this.
Please see below the “Family Online Safety Contract” as a resource for families. You may wish to use this at home as an agreement or just as conversation starter with the family about keeping safe online.
The other resource that I encourage parents to engage with is the Esafety Guide found at esafety key issues guide This offers advice for parent around popular platforms, games and social media apps that children like to use.
Mr Joseph Hamilton
Primary Coordinator
In Term 4 the St James’ community will review the expectations from our three pillars of RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY and RESILIENCE. The PBL team are working with staff to look at the data from the Behaviour Response Flow Chart so that we can identify expectations to revise with each individual class.
Many children have already received a Kiara sticker for their positive behaviour. This is an important recognition of their positive choices at school. Each time a child receives one of these stickers there will be an email automatically sent out to parents so that you can also acknowledge and celebrate with your child.
One of our PBL expectations in the Respectful Pillar is to “Wear the correct uniform with pride”. As a staff we will be encouraging all St James students to meet this expectation right to the end of the year. You may have noticed that uniform is not featured in the Behaviour Response Flow Chart. Teachers will contact parents directly when there is an issue with a child not meeting this expectation. Whilst we will encourage students to wear the correct uniform, we understand that at this time of the year there may be a simple reason as to why your child is out of uniform, particularly school shoes. If at any time your child is unable to wear the correct uniform, please send an email to the KTS-admin email, and it will be passed onto their class teacher. I have attached the Uniform Requirements for your information.
Tuesday 7th November | Motiv8 Sports K-2 |
Friday 10th November | Year 1 Parish Mass 9:15am |
Tuesday 14th November | Motiv8 Sports K-2 |
Wednesday 15th November | Kindergarten 2024 Transition 3 |
Friday 17th November | Year 2 Parish Mass 9:15am |
Tuesday 21st November | Motiv8Sports K-2 |
Friday 24th November |
Year 3 Parish Mass 9:15am Diocesan Summer Sport Trials - Tennis & Basketball |
Friday 1st December | Kindergarten Parish Mass 9:15am |
Friday 8th December |
School Swimming Carnival Motiv8 Sports - Year 6 |
Tuesday 12th December |
Year 6/ End of Year Liturgy 11:00am |
Wednesday 13th December |
Whole School Awards Celebration 9:30am |
Thursday 14th December |
Ricky's Guitar Concert 10:00am |
Friday 15th December |
Last Day for Students |
Diocesan Basketball Trials
Congratulations to Emerson D, Genevieve L & Evie M. These girls were selected to attend the Diocesan Basketball trials. The next round will take place on the 24th of November. Good luck girls!
St James’ Swimming Carnival
St James’ Swimming Carnival will be holding their annual 2024 School Swimming Carnival for students who will be in Years 2 – 6 NEXT YEAR 2024 on Friday 8th December 2023. Therefore, we will be taking all students currently in Years 1-5. Kindergarten and Year 6 will remain at school.
Carnival details are as follows:
Date: Friday 8th December 2023
Venue: The Forum Swim Centre, Newcastle University
Time: Children should meet at school by 8.45am. Buses will leave at 9.00am sharp and arrive back at school by 2.30pm
Uniform: Children need to wear their school sport uniform over the top of their appropriate swimwear to the carnival. Girls are to wear a full piece swimsuit (Regional and Diocesan requirement).
Please Access the compass link below to select your child’s events and give permission for them to attend.
To view the details of upcoming events please click here:https://kotarasouth-nsw.compass.education/Organise/Activities/Events/
Students are to pre-select the events they will swim in through Compass. Please discuss with your child which events they are capable of entering. If your child is unable to swim butterfly or breaststroke using the correct technique, please do not enter this particular event.
The 25 metre and kickboard races are non-competitive events to provide an opportunity for the less serious swimmers to participate in the carnival. If your child elects to compete in either of these events, they CAN NOT compete in other races on the day. This is due to time restrictions and ensuring the carnival runs on time.
Additional event details:
Important things to note:
- Children should bring a packed lunch with a variety of nutritious treats and water. There will be no canteen available on the day. There is a café at the Forum for parents.
- A $3.00 spectator's fee will apply to all visitors, exclusive of teachers and carnival volunteers. This fee must be paid to Reception staff by visitors on arrival.
- Written permission must be provided for students travelling home with alternate carers.
- Parking and Transport- All parking is controlled by the University of Newcastle, not NUsport. University parking regulations apply to all vehicles between the hours of 8:00am to 5:30pm weekdays throughout the year, even during University holidays. All NUsport car parks have a two-hour parking restriction; Free all day parking is available in car parks P14 and P16 only (check signage). All vehicles must display a parking ticket, which can be purchased from ticket machines at the entry to all car parks. All vehicles must be parked in designated parking bays. Parking infringements will be issued by the University of Newcastle.
What you will need to do:
Please respond to the questions to give your child permission to attend the carnival. You will also need to nominate which events your child would like to compete in. Please indicate whether or not you would like to volunteer as a parent helper on the day (volunteer clearance essential.)
TROUBLESHOOTING: If you have difficulty responding to the questions on Compass, try opening the compass event in a browser (not on your phone.)
Nominations and permission must be entered no later than FRIDAY 24th of November (week 7). This will allow time for entering the whole school data in order to run a successful event.
We are looking forward to this opportunity to come together as a school community. What a fabulous way to end the school year!
Tegan Fry
Sports Organiser
We are thrilled to share the highlights of our Year 5 leadership Day, where students came together to reflect on how they can have a positive impact on the community of St James. The day began with a prayerful liturgy in the hall. Students engaged in readings, prayers and processions centered around the theme of service leadership. Children then participated in rotational activities including games, gardening, a scavenger hunt, meditation and designing a values shield. Students learnt about the importance of working together and about creating a school environment that seeks the ultimate growth and development for each and every person. The students are currently deciding how they can contribute to our school, by deciding on a team in which they can serve. The teams include: Social Justice, Environmental Stewardship, Creative and Critical Thinking and Health and Wellbeing. Each team will meet often throughout the year to discuss ideas on how they can serve our school community. We are confident in the abilities of our future leaders and look forward to witnessing the contributions they make.
Mrs Dart, Mrs Griffiths and Mrs Wedesweiler
School Fees
School Fees Statements were emailed this week. A reminder that school fees are due to be finalised by 30 November 2023 unless there is an alternate fee arrangement in place.
If you are paying by instalments, can you please check your balance to ensure your payments will finalise your account by this date.
Year 6 parents are reminded to check their fees are up to date to ensure a fee clearance for their new high school.
Please contact the office if you wish to discuss.
Attendance
Late Arrival
Students that arrive at school after 8:50am (official school start time) must be signed in at the office through the Compass Kiosk. If they are unaccompanied by an adult, the office will sign students into school as unexplained.
Early Departure
If you are collecting your child early, can you please buzz at the gate and proceed to the office to sign out through the Compass Kiosk. The office will call the classroom for your child to come to the office to meet you. As per precovid procedures, you are not required to email or telephone ahead.
Whole Day
For students that are absent for the whole day, please add the absence note through your Compass app. Whole day absences can be explained through the Compass app for 7 days.
Unexplained
For all unexplained absences an attendance note will be sent home every fortnight with dates and times of the late arrival(s) and/or unexplained whole day absence. Can this note please be signed and returned to school.
Extended Leave
A Travel Exemption form is required to be completed by a parent/caregiver for leave of 10 or more days for the purpose of travel within Australia and/or overseas. Please contact the office for the form.
Kind regards
Carolyn Hanley
Canteen News
Birthday Zooper Dooper Buckets
When ordering a birthday bucket for your child, please know that the ice blocks are given to the students in the same class as the child having the birthday. If siblings take an ice block, then a student in the class will miss out. Thank you, families, for your understanding.
For your enjoyment…
One of our talented writers in Year 5 Luka C wrote this wonderful story and I thought our community would like to read it.