22 November 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

It is not long now until the start of advent – Sunday 28th November in fact. Advent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Jesus.

Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, when Jesus Christ was born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or putting up lights or even a wreath, but they're also intended to be spiritual.

During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.

In 2018 Pope Francis stated that "Advent invites us to a commitment to vigilance, looking beyond ourselves, expanding our mind and heart in order to open ourselves up to the needs of people, of brothers and sisters, and to the desire for a new world."

I look at this in a similar light to last year; it is a chance for us as people of the world to reflect on what has been a challenging and tough year for many of us, some more than others, both locally and beyond. It is an opportunity to reflect on our life and how we can open ourselves up to be more present for our family and friends. It is also the chance to make sure we can be more present for ourselves too. When I say being more present for ourselves, I don’t mean in a selfish way but in a way that gives us greater connection with each other and life. Ways we can do this include meditation, pausing screen time, re-establishing positive routines and even some exercise. I honestly believe that when we are more present to ourselves we are actually more present to others in our lives. Perhaps over Advent and Christmas this can be the challenge for us – to be more present.

End of Year Events

Presentation Day

A reminder (as per the note dated 8/11) that the SJM Presentation Day will take place virtually on Friday 3rd December. Please see the timetable of the day below:

As we get closer to the date, we will send a ZOOM link via COMPASS.

Year 6 Graduation

Year 6 Graduation will proceed in a modified manner. Year 6 families have received notes regarding Graduation.

Any questions regarding either of these events please contact me at school.

Staffing

Last week I announced with you the staffing structure here at SJM for 2022. Unfortunately, Mrs Jane Harris has tendered her resignation for her 0.4 position in Stage 3. I would like to sincerely thank Jane for the commitment, dedication and flexibility she has demonstrated in her various roles across 2021. It is appreciated.

We are currently in the process of advertising for another teacher. Stay tuned.

Volunteer Canteen Co-ordinator

We are still looking for a wonderful SJM community member who is willing to volunteer their time to be the canteen coordinator.

The canteen is only open one day per week and the coordinator looks after the ordering of food, drinks, and volunteers. The volunteer does not need to be there each week.

If you are interested, please contact me in the office.

Parent Teacher Interviews

In the coming week I will have the privilege of reading all the student reports. I would like to thank all the teachers for their dedication and commitment to the students in their care. A lot of time and effort goes into compiling a thorough and accurate evaluation of a student’s semester.

If you would like the opportunity to have a ZOOM Parent Teacher Interview, please contact your child’s teacher directly via email.

Feedback from the SJM Parent Community

Here at SJM we value feedback from our community. Feedback during COVID lockdown assisted us to tailor for the needs of our community, both students and parents. In fact, the Stage Q & A’s were an additional following parent feedback.

During and post lockdown the staff at SJM have been in regular contact with our families to check in. Some of our teachers shared with me the following feedback:

• But I will say yourself, Mr Moon and Ms Hall (and the rest of the staff at St James) excelled at the delivery and roll out of home learning. And should be commended. WELL DONE!!!
• Having experienced at home learning in two different school scenarios now, I can say that St James’ handles it incredibly well. While %%%% old school did very little or even no face to face time with teachers, the two zoom sessions a week with you was a highlight as was Mr Moon's disco. The easy-to-follow website made daily planning easy and the clear directions coming from the school on what was happening each day and the encouragement given to both students and parents was wonderful. Job well done team, very happy with how we all got through it.

Can I say again, thank you so much for this feedback. We don’t claim to always get it right, but I can honestly say that everything we do, is for the best of our students and their families.

Fingers crossed that this is the end of the dreaded ‘Stay at Home’ for ever.

Mr Aaron Moon
Principal

Religion

Last week we informed our SJM community of the passing of our Bishop William Wright. Bishop Bill was a faith filled man who was caring and compassionate. We pray for his family and friends during this time.

Bishop Bill was ordained eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Maitland- Newcastle on 15 June 2011 at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hamilton. He served in a number of roles including Co-Chair of the National Committee for Professional Standards and was a member of the Truth Justice and Healing Council throughout its existence (2013 – 2018). He was a member of the Bishops’ Commission for Church Ministry and the Bishops Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-Religious Relations and was a member of Bishops’ Commission for Evangelization Laity and Ministry and the Bishops’ Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service. He was the Chair of the Bishops’ Commission for Professional Standards and Safeguarding.

Prayer for Eternal Rest

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of all the faithful departed,

Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen

SJM you are an amazing community. It was wonderful to see the different crazy socks for ‘Kick kindness into gear.’ All classes worked as teams to create their own Sock ball and then had the challenge to kick it through the goal posts on the oval. Thank you to everyone who supported this wonderful event. Our SJM community has raised $202.50. I have forwarded this money to Catholic Mission which will go towards helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

Our Christmas Hampers have had a name change, we will now be calling them the ‘Giving Basket.’ Each classroom has their own basket awaiting all the wonderful items that we can give to those families that are finding it tough during the year and need a helping hand. The Mini Vinnies students are working hard to create posters to remind our school community about the items that can be donated. This will be shared in our next newsletter.

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Assistant Principal

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to ensure we are all continuing to learn as we move towards a very busy end of year for our students and their families. Please take the time that you need to ensure you are staying on top of everything happening here at school. Maybe try a to-do list or a family calendar that allows you to see what is happening each day. We will try our best to remind you as often as we can. Have a great week.

OUR FOCUS ON WRITING

As part of our 2021 School Improvement Plan, we have been focusing on the improvement of writing from Kindergarten to Year 6. Based on the NAPLAN results from 2019 (we didn’t complete NAPLAN in 2020 due to COVID restrictions), we had a particular focus on the following three areas:

• Audience (the writer’s capacity to orient, engage and affect the reader)
• Sentence Structure (the production of grammatically correct, structurally sound and meaningful sentences)
• Paragraphing (the segmenting of text into paragraphs that assists the reader to negotiate and understand the text)

Have you seen our recent Facebook posts that showcase some of our observations of the writing tasks being completed by our students in their classrooms? We are so proud of the efforts they are making, but we will remain focussed on these areas for the remainder of the year, as well as consolidating at the beginning of 2021. We look forward to sharing more amazing work with you on Facebook again soon.

Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Survey

This survey has now closed and we await the evaluation of responses that are sent to us. We will be using the feedback from teachers, students and parents to help guide us with our planning for 2022. Thank you to everyone who responded. We look forward to sharing the results with you soon.

Attendance

Your child’s attendance at school is important. We encourage you to ensure your child is at school for all days that they can. We do understand that your child may be unwell, and therefore require some days away (and this may include time away while you wait for a COVID test result). We understand this reason for absence and thank you for ensuring your child stays home while they are unwell. Don’t forget that we are back to using Compass to record absences for your child. We encourage you to log into your parent portal and log the reason for absence as soon as you can. You only have 7 days to explain their absence, and then it becomes unexplained. If you have taken your child for a COVID test, we require a copy of the negative test results so that they can return to school. A screenshot of the text message you can receive is sufficient evidence of this. It can be emailed to your child’s teacher or to admin@muswellbrook.catholic.edu.au

Uniform

Don’t forget that we expect all students in our school to be in full school unform each day. Of course, we understand if there is a reason your child is out of uniform for a short period of time … this happens from time to time. Please contact Mr Moon if there is a reason your child is out of uniform for an extended period. The uniform shop is open each Wednesday and Thursday during the day when Mrs Hand has a chance to fill your order. You are asked to send your order form to the office, and we will arrange for the order to be filled on those days. The order form can be sent to the email address admin@muswellbrook.catholic.edu.au or can be sent to the office using the order form.

Mrs Shannon Hall
Assistant Principal

Primary Coordinator

WELLBEING WEEK – WEEK 6

During Week 6, we enjoyed a wonderful WELLBEING WEEK at SJM.

We started our week on Monday by taking our ‘Hats off to Kindness’. By wearing a different hat with our school uniform, we acknowledged and celebrated the power of kindness.

According to the dictionary, kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. It can mean different things to different people. The meaning is in how YOU choose to show it. Be it through empathy, acceptance, kind gestures, thoughtfulness, the possibilities are entirely up to you. Kindness might look like being helpful or showing empathy. It may mean doing nice things without expecting nice things in return. Being kind is doing intentional, voluntary acts of kindness. Not only when it’s easy to be kind, but when it’s hard to be.

How can you continue to dial your strength of Kindness?

Math Bee Stage Finals – Week 8

Congratulations to the following students who represented their class in the Stage Spelling Bee finals today, Monday 22nd November. I was extremely proud of all students and their achievements!

Please find the list of finalists below:

Pos Ed Book Club

Will
by Will Smith & Mark Manson

One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.

Will Smith’s transformation from a fearful child in a tense West Philadelphia home to one of the biggest rap stars of his era and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, with a string of box office successes that will likely never be broken, is an epic tale of inner transformation and outer triumph, and Will tells it astonishingly well. But it's only half the story.

Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn't see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn't signed up for. It turned out Will Smith's education wasn't nearly over.

This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world's biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.

“It’s easy to maneuver the material world once you have conquered your own mind. I believe that. Once you've learned the terrain of your own mind, every experience, every emotion, every circumstance, whether positive or negative, simply propels you forward, to greater growth and greater experience. That is true will. To move forward in spite of anything. And to move forward in a way that brings others with you, rather than leave them behind.” —Will Smith

Thought of the Week

Choose kindness, always.

Miss Eloise Hand
Primary Coordinator & Lead Teacher of Positive Education

Awards

Class News

ES1

In the past few weeks KG and KM for 2021 have had to share their classrooms with the new Kinder students for 2022. While this has been exciting for some, some students have come to the realization that they will be leaving Kinder and moving on. This has brought a range of questions and emotions about moving to a new room and a new teacher. We encourage you to discuss the movement that will be happening after the Christmas holidays to prepare your child for their transition into Year 1.

Socktober had all Kinder students fascinated with building a sock ball out of recyclable materials and then being able to kick the ball around. After watching the video clip on making the sock ball, many students commented that they had a lot of things at home that they could use to make their own sock ball at home. Students assisted in making the sockball and enjoyed testing out their predictions to see how far the ball would actually go.

KG and KM enjoyed the jam packed Naidoc day that Mrs Thompson had prepared. All students participated in each activity thoughtfully and respectfully and learned new facts, games, dances and now have a deeper appreciation for the Yarning circle garden. Mrs Thompson explained why there were so many plants and the different uses each provides to the inhabitants of the land.

Here are a few observations at the end of our Naidoc celebrations:

In the Yarning Circle we learned that small plants are used as medicine.

The fire pit was recognised from the Smoking Ceremony at the start of the day.

Some plants are food!

There are over 100 plants planted and growing in the Yarning Circle garden. We need to let the plants grow before we start to use them.

There is a plant that can be used when you have a sore throat and can’t swallow and stuffed up nose. We just chew some of the leaves and not swallow the leaves and this will help with your sore throat and stuffed up nose.

We danced as 4 different animals. These were a goanna, kangaroo, emu and echidna.

Congratulations to the winners in the Naidoc colouring in competition:

Lily and Isla from KG

Nahla and Edie from KM

Mrs Donna Smith and Mrs Jane Jacobs

Stage 1

Stage 1 were extremely excited to participate in NAIDOC day activities. They had the chance to learn about bush medicine, watch an Aboriginal smoking ceremony and use Aboriginal symbols to design their own Aboriginal shirt.

Year 2 have now started their new Religion Unit called ‘Advent and Christmas’. Students are eager to learn about Advent being the start of the Christian year. They will explore stories such as the ‘Annunciation’ and ‘Visitation’ and learn that Christmas is a special time to remember and share in the ‘good news’ of Jesus’ birth.

In English students have been exploring different point of view through reading the ‘True story of the Three Little Pigs’, they discovered the wolf is not as bad as he seems, very different to the original story. Some students even determined that the wolf was ‘nice’.

In Mathematics, students have been working on Division, discovering the division symbol, working on division problems by sharing and grouping a collection of objects.

Stay well,

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

Stage 2

Stage 2 have been completing activities to enhance their knowledge of fractions and decimals. They have been able to recognise equivalent fractions and the uses of decimals in the everyday world. The students have been developing their paragraph writing skills and are completing excellent work which contains a variety of simple, compound and complex sentences. They’re developing a wide source of adjectives and verbs to utilise within their writing to develop detailed descriptions. In sport the students have been enjoying a variety of fun Indigenous games that explain the skills that were being developed by the young indigenous children. Many of these sports are modifications of games the students love and have already enjoyed. During the NAIDOC day last week the students were able to revise some games they had already played and enjoyed a few new games. The students were engrossed with the activities they were able to participate in on NAIDOC day. They were able to learn specific dance moves, play indigenous games, design an Indigenous artwork and learnt about the various plants in the yarning circle area and how they were used by the Indigenous people.

Ms Katrina Clement, Mrs Jane Dengate and Mrs Donna-Maree Watt

Stage 3

On Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th November students participated in their ‘Around the World’ festival. On day 1 stage 3 engaged in several activities that were from various countries around the world including: Ping-pong, pilolo (from Ghana), tomato throwing (with beanbags-Rome, Italy), tum bag preso, memory (Japan) and creating pinwheels. Students competed for points which they gathered in their passports.

On day 2 students in 5/6M, 5/6G and 5/6J competed against each other in softball…with a twist! Students used slip ‘n’ slides to make it to each base. It was wonderful to see the classes encouraging their teammates and showing great sportsmanship. We finished with a colour run, trivia and games. Also, many thanks to ‘Pete’s Pizza’ for providing the students with a delicious array of food!! A fantastic 2 days was had by all!

Mrs Rebecca Harrod, Mrs Jane Harris, Mrs Clare Collett and Miss Lauren Osborne

Let’s Yabber – Indigenous News

What an amazing day of immersion we had last Friday for our St James’ NAIDOC-’Heal Country’. Students began the day with a virtual smoking ceremony followed by a rotation of activities including traditional dance and storytelling. All three of these were filmed by Gurrawin who came up with a creative way to make these sessions interactive as COVID restrictions did not allow them to be here in person as previously planned. The students were also involved in designing an Indigenous inspired shirt, yarning circles, traditional Indigenous sports, learning about bush medicines and NAIDOC trivia.

During the breaks students also had the opportunity to try out a Kanga Banga Sanga or wattleseed ice-cream. This was definitely a hit with the kids. A special thank you to our fantastic mums, teachers and support staff who were invaluable in serving up the Bush Tucker lunches.

We finished the day with our annual NAIDOC awards ceremony held via zoom due to poor weather. The results for these are;

Below is one of the winning poetry entries from Stage 3.

As parents, you should be so proud of your children for the way they enthusiastically embraced the activities and learning about culture. Their questions and feedback have been overwhelming! I can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Mrs Tania Thompson
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Library News

Book Fair

Just a reminder that all book fair items must be paid for online. Please visit the link below and include NSW and our school name ST JAMES SCHOOL in the search bar on that page). You should then write down the receipt number on the WISH LIST, or print the receipt. That WISH LIST (with the items that you purchased highlighted so that we know which ones to send home) or printed receipt attached to the highlighted wish list, should then be returned to school in an envelope, so that we can either

a) send home your item/s if we have them in stock OR
b) order the item for you.

Please note the following:

• Mrs Wilson will start filling orders when she returns to school on Monday 22nd November.
• Books can only be purchased online with a credit card using the book fair website listed above. We cannot accept cash or other payments at school.
• The Book Fair will finish on Wednesday 24 November .... so please get your wish lists in straight away so you don’t miss out.

Mrs Lisa Wilson
Teacher Librarian
Mrs Nadene Douglas
Library Assistant

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts

From The Community