21 June 2021

Newsletter Articles

Our Mission @ SJM

St James’ Primary School community excel in education through living and learning in Christ.

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Principal’s Message

As we come towards the end of another term, I would like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to our entire school community.

This term has been a challenging one for me at SJM. It has been challenging for our staff also. You may not know this, but there is a teacher shortage across the state. This has directly affected us at SJM. As a result of this shortage, we are struggling to get casual teachers to replace staff on leave. In fact, to ensure the stability of a number of classes this term, staff within SJM have had to step in to ensure the stability for our students.

I would like to thank:

• Miss Eloise Hand who took time out of implementing the ‘Grow Your Mind’ program to take a class.
• Mrs Lisa Wilson who gave up some of her Library Admin & EALD days to take a class.
• Mrs Shannon Hall who took time out of being the Gifted Education Mentor and Pedagogical Mentor roles to take a class.
• Mrs Tania Thompson took time out of her Aboriginal Education Teacher role to ensure the needs of a class were met.
• Mrs Renee Gavin took time out of her Learning Support Teacher role to take classes so that they didn’t need to be split.

I am so thankful to these wonderful ladies who have selflessly put aside their roles to ensure the needs of the classes have been met.

On top of that I would also like to thank our staff for being so flexible this term. Due to the lack of casual availability, we have had to move library days, RFF days, executive release days and many other things. Many professional learning days were postponed and at times classes have had to be split or joined together. Thank you, teachers and support staff, for your amazing professionalism.

I would also like to recognise (again) Mrs Shannon Hall for all the work she has undertaken as Assistant Principal of SJM. Most days Shannon tweaks our rosters to ensure classes are covered and duties are met. This happens usually around the breakfast table or early morning at school. Thanks, Shannon, for everything.

On top of this we have implemented the COVID Intensive Learning Support (CILS) Program at SJM this term. Under the careful supervision of Mrs Renee Gavin the CILS program has started this term for many students. This has taken place in school hours, as well as before and after school. A big thank you to the commitment of all involved, the students, the teachers and Learning Support Assistants, as well as the parents.

As you can tell, it has been a very challenging term and I am very much looking forward to the holidays. I am sure the teachers are too.

I would like to thank you, the parents, for your unwavering support of SJM. We are so blessed to have you as part of our school community. It was great to be able to welcome you all into our school for Catholic Schools Week earlier in the term. The numbers in attendance were amazing.

Finally, I would like to thank the children for being them. I am so blessed to be surrounded by children who strive to be the best they can be, and they have fun along the way. Thank you, children, for brightening the lives of all in our community, especially mine!

Appointment of Teachers at SJM

As you may know, Mrs Norton and Mr Rufo both resigned in Term 2. It is with pleasure I can announce that:

• Mrs Jane Harris has been appointed to the 5/6M position – 2 days per week for the remainder of the year. She will work with Mrs Rebecca Harrod who will return next term. We have been so blessed to have Mrs Harris work this term in 3G. Unfortunately, due to family commitments she has been unable to commit to full time work. However, we are fortunate to still have Jane still as part of our community. Thank you and congratulations Jane.
• Mrs Katrina Clement has been appointed to the teacher for 3G for the remainder of the year. Mrs Clement has worked casually within the school this term so many, if not all, students in 3G already know Mrs Clement. Congratulations Katrina.

End of Term Reward

End of Term Reward is happening again this coming Thursday 24th June. This term’s reward is ‘Obstacool.’

As you would know, last term we put out a survey regarding the school’s Behaviour Management Policy. We surveyed parents, students, and staff.

After your feedback, we changed two components of the reward.

1. There is now no casual clothes component. All students wear their sports uniform on reward days, whether they are eligible on ineligible for the reward.
2. We are now sending two notes home regarding End of Term Reward: a note for those eligible and ineligible.

These notes have gone out today. Any questions please contact the class teacher or myself.

Farewell our Assistant Director Mr Chris Quinn

I would like to publicly thank and farewell our Assistant Director, Mr Chris Quinn, who will be retiring at the end of this term. This will conclude a distinguished career for Chris spanning 40 years in Catholic education in our diocese, including Principal of St Joseph’s Denman. I have worked with Chris over the last 13 years, and he is definitely an advocate for me, our teachers, and our schools. He will be missed greatly by myself and the community.

Religion

This Friday the staff will continue with their spiritual formation with Alice Carwardine from OverTurn the Tables. The staff have already started their formation journey at the end of last year by opening and reflecting on Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si. Alice will lead the staff in ways that we can helps ourselves and our St James community live the true message of Laudato Si.

Laudato Si is a Papal Encyclical written by Pope Francis in 2015. The document is the Catholic Church's official response to the climate crisis. It is split into 6 chapters. The first two provide an analysis of the world today and examines the climate crisis from a biblical perspective. The second two chapters provides a judgement on what needs to happen for the world to survive the climate crisis and enter into an integral ecology with creation. In the last two chapters, he discusses big actions in behalf of policy makers and large corporations, as well as the everyday actions of Catholics.

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Assistant Principal

We have almost made it to the end of another term. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our amazing community this term. We can’t wait to see what excitement and joy the last couple of days brings.

Semester 1 Reports

All students have received their Semester 1 reports. They are currently available for you to view via the Compass app. Refer to the screenshot below for how you can view a report on your mobile phone … basically, you choose your child and then click on the reports tab at the top of your screen. Please contact the front office if you are unable to access your child’s report via Compass. We can also reset your password for your app if you need us to.

I encourage you to have a look and speak with your child about how they are going and what they need to do to keep improving … it is important to set goals. Life is about continually learning and we all learn different things at different times. Let’s make sure we know where we are headed and also enjoy the learning along the way. I would like to say thank you to the teachers for the time and effort they have put into these reports. These reports are not written on a ‘gut feeling’ but on their professional judgement from observations, tasks, presentations and interactions throughout the last two terms. Our teachers know each and everyone one of our students, and we have a plan for improvement … and for this I am grateful. Thank you also to Mr Moon, who has read all 275 reports and also has a plan for improvement for the school. You are a great leader, who knows each and every student and cares for them. We are lucky to have you leading our school community.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Today we start our Parent Teacher interviews for Semester 1. For the first time, we used the Compass app to book our interview times online. It appears that it has worked well, but value any feedback. Just come and have a chat to us next time you are here at school. Each interview will be 10 minutes each. I encourage you to come ready with your questions, as this time will fly once you get in with the teacher. This is our official interview time, but we are also available to meet with you throughout the year. Just send the teachers an email asking if you can meet, and we will do our best to find a time that suits everyone. I look forward to seeing you wandering through the playground over the next couple of days.

Pupil Free Day

Don’t forget that we have a Pupil Free Day scheduled for this Friday – 25 June. We ask that you make alternate care arrangements for your children on that day, as all staff will be working with Alice Carwardine, as a follow-up to our faith formation day on Laudato Si that we started in 2020. Laudato Si was a letter released by Pope Francis on our need to respond to the ecological crisis in our world. As a staff, we will be looking at what we can do to take action here at SJM. Thank you Mrs Jacobs for planning this day with Alice. We look forward to working together to make small changes in our school community.

Life Education Van

Put these dates in your diary … you won’t want to miss out. Healthy Harold will be visiting SJM in his van in Term 2. Lessons will start on Thursday 5 August and all classes will have seen Healthy Harold by Wednesday 11 August. The cost for the visit is $12 per student, and this cost is covered by the incursion payment you make with your school fees. Please ensure you are making regular payments on your fees so that we can continue to book these amazing experiences for our students.

Shannon Hall
Assistant Principal

Primary Coordinator

GROW YOUR MIND

The power of YET!

During Wellbeing lessons, I have been exploring mindset with K-6. Children investigated what it felt like to say the things they could not do and then to say them again with a YET at the end. This is teaching your brain that intelligence is not fixed and that we are all capable of growing and learning. Children shared stories of times they made a mistake and how this mistake actually helped them master a new skill.

#1 Treat mistakes as a chance to learn and grow
#2 Start adding YET to the things you tell yourself you cannot do.

Growth mindset tree

The harder you try without giving up, the more you will learn. When you do something hard, you are training your brain to be fit and strong. You are telling yourself that you can keep stretching and growing your brain throughout your life. Almost as if it were elastic. Nobody wants to make mistakes, but everyone does. How you react to them makes a big difference to whether you learn from them or not. If we problem solve why the mistake happened, then the brain will be more alert the next time you try.

Stage 1 and Stage 2 also looked at the story ‘The Dot’ by Peter H. Reynolds. This book is a fantastic resource that teaches students the importance of adding YET to any fixed mindset statement. It teaches that every kid is good at something! Every kid has the ability to learn and grow!

In the story, the young girl wanted to give up, as she felt hopeless at art – she just couldn’t do it. This all changed when her teacher asked her to draw a simple dot in the middle of her page and sign her name…

Read it here:

Students created their own artworks, beginning with a simple dot. This was to remind them that the more they keep working, trying and growing their mind… amazing things can happen. Check out the wonderful artworks below:

Joyful June

This month's theme is all about finding the joy in life, even when things are difficult. Research has shown that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones leads to a tipping point beyond which we naturally become more resilient to adversity. So let's train our brains to find the joy.

Good for Kids, Good for Life

Thought of the week:

Choose kindness, always.

Miss Eloise Hand
Primary Coordinator and Lead Teacher of Positive Education

Awards

Class News

ES1

Kindergarten have gained new skills at the Hockey skills on Monday afternoons. We were introduced by Sam how to hold a hockey stick (left hand at the top and right hand below with thumbs showing on the top of stick), discussed flat and bumpy side of a hockey stick and moving with a hockey stick -always keeping it to the ground. We all needed to use great patience and remember to listen for Sam’s instructions on how to move with the hockey skill. When we gained greater confidence we were able to run with our hockey stick forwards and backwards across the oval remembering to always leave the hockey stick on the ground.

Fairy Tale Day - Mrs Smith and Mrs Jacobs are looking forward to seeing the many different fairy tale costumes on Wednesday. Please don’t go to any expense of buying a costume. They are welcome to wear costumes that they already have at home. There are lots of costumes that do not require you to spend any money.

Some examples are:

1. The woodsman from Little red Riding Hood – come in jeans, a checked shirt and make an axe out of cardboard cylinder and some foil.
2. Goldilocks – wear a dress and make long hair from wool.
3. One of the three little pigs – normal clothes, with a masked made at home, carrying a brick, some straw or some sticks.
4. Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk – normal clothes, carrying some beans.
5. LLRH – a dress, with a piece of red fabric, blanket, beanie to use as her hood.
6. Wolf – Make a mask and wear black or grey clothes.

Mrs Donna Smith and Mrs Jane Jacobs

Stage 1

Week 10! Just a few more days and we are halfway through our 2021 school year! A special Congratulations to all students who have made it to the End of Term Reward that is happening on Thursday, it is a great achievement and your wonderful behaviour has been appreciated.

This term we have been fortunate to have Sam teach the children hockey skills. The children have thoroughly enjoyed engaging with Sam, who makes the activities fun and competitive at the same time. It has been wonderful to see the improvement in our skill level.

Wishing you all a relaxing, safe and enjoyable holidays.

Miss Emma Beletich, Mrs Mary Ballard, Mrs Trishelle Threadgate and Miss Jane Boyle

Stage 2

As we wind down to the end of term, Stage 2 students are looking forward to hosting the assembly on the last day of term for pupils, Thursday 24th June at 2.30pm.

The teachers are very pleased with how the students have embraced the learning rotations this semester and we look forward to continuing that next. In History the classes have created Powerpoint presentations using the symbols and images of various celebrations and commemorations celebrated around the world. In Science they have loved the experiments that have involved melting crayons of different colours, melting chocolate and making ooble, to learn about states of matter. In Creative Arts the students have mastered the heel and toe polka and have wowed us all with learning the progressive version.

We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday and we look forward to seeing you all back in Term Three.

Mrs Jane Harris, Mrs Jane Dengate and Mrs Donna-Maree Watt

Stage 3

Stage 3 have had an exciting couple of weeks with students in Year 6 participating in the Science and Engineering Discovery Day and Year 5 embarking on a Mine Tour.

The Science and Engineering Day gave students the opportunity to participate in a range of STEM based learning experiences involving teamwork and problem solving skills. Students were awarded points for displaying teamwork, evidence of planning and design sketches, use of materials and points for even leaving a clean and tidy work station. Students created a range of things including: towers to withstand earthquakes, bridges, mini catapults, water turbines, coding activities, bionic hands, powering cities and linking towns using the most direct route. Students tried many new things and it was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and determination to solve the problem at hand!

Year 5 also embarked on the Upper Hunter Mining Tour. Students learnt about the processes involved in mining including the impacts and benefits to both individuals and the community. The tour also allowed students to get a photo and learn lots of new things.

Students thoroughly enjoyed both events and now have lots of information to share about their experiences.

Mrs Rebecca Harrod, Mr Aldo Rufo, Mrs Clare Collett and Miss Lauren Osborne

Let’s Yabber – Indigenous News

Just a reminder that it is NAIDOC Week during the school holidays 4-11 July. This is what’s happening in our local community.

St James’ will hold our school NAIDOC on Thursday 22nd July.

Looking forward to celebrating with you.

Mrs Tania Thompson
Aboriginal Education Teacher

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts

Community News

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