14 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

Our Mission @ SJM

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

Quote

God of Creation, show us how to live an abundant life alive in the Spirit so we may spread your Kingdom to all. Amen.

Principal’s Message

I do hope you had a chance to rest an unwind over the long weekend. The Moon household had family up from the Central Coast and a lovely time was had catching up with cousins. It is always nice just to sit back and take time to ‘smell the roses.’ We really need to do that more.

Student Reports

I have had the pleasure of beginning to read through all our SJM student reports over the past week. You will receive your child’s report via COMPASS on Friday 24th June.

When you receive the report, I encourage you to sit down with your child and go through the report in detail with them. When you do, congratulate them by highlighting their strengths and speak with them about the areas of improvement.

I look forward to seeing you when you come in for your parent teacher interviews.

SJM Awarded the Diocesan Emmaus Award for Community.

The Oxford Dictionary defines community as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. The main focus of our SJM community is very similar to the thousands of schools across the country, to educate our children. I believe our community is special as we are a Catholic school that intertwines the Gospel values of Love, Hope, Justice, Forgiveness, Service and Courage in all we do. Plus, we have fun doing it! This is what makes our SJM community special.

On Wednesday 1st June students from Year 6, Fr Victor and myself travelled down the Cathedral in Newcastle for the Catholic Schools Week Liturgy. It was here we were awarded the coveted Emmaus Award for community.

St James Muswellbrook was nominated for the School Community award for the following reasons:

• Clear Communication – The school prides itself on clear and concise communication. As well as the usual ways schools communicate, during COVID the principal had regular live Facebook posts each week to guide parents through everything COVID. The school also set up and updated a SJM Home Learning Webpage as a one stop shop for home learning. This website included all the students work, ZOOM timetables and other relevant information for students and parents alike.
• Community Engagement – again this was done through the Facebook page.
• Parish Life – Staff and student participate through regular meetings with Parish Priest and wider parish community, Children’s masses, staff participation on many parish teams, care packages for the vulnerable through Mini Vinnies.
• Wider community involvements – students serve the local community at the Red Door Community kitchen each month. They also make visits to local aged care homes as well as to pre-school.
• Great community atmosphere – SJM has a wonderful community feel.
• Wellbeing at St SJM – the school is actively engaged in promoting and embedding positive education within the school community and SJM, along with 22 schools in the Upper Hunter are aligned with the Where There’s a Will Foundation. The Leader of Wellbeing at the school has been a key contact within the school has implemented many strategies to support Positive Education.

These aspects highlight why St James’ Muswellbrook is a worthy recipient of the Community Award.

Our plan is to have a free community BBQ when the weather warms up, as a way to celebrate.

Thank you for all of your support of SJM. This award is for all of us.

Canteen News

Upgrade

We are excited to announce that our canteen upgrade will begin on 4th July. This will see the canteen gutted and renovated from scratch. It will also see all new appliances installed. This will be a great asset for our community.

This will take place throughout July, with canteen closed for the first two weeks of school.

Canteen 1st July

Please note that the last day of term, Friday 1st July, is NAIDOC Day. On that day the canteen will NOT be open for lunches, as Mrs Thompson will be organising her BBQ.

The canteen will be open and selling drinks and ice creams at first lunch.

Lunch Orders in by Thursday

A reminder that lunch orders are due to the office by Thursday please.

New Menu Item Available Now

We have just added a new item available this week:

• A warm Thompson’s Ham & Cheese Roll (individually wrapped) - $2

End of Term Reward

End of Term Reward is happening again Thursday 30th 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.

Towards the actual date, students will bring home a note informing you whether they are eligible or ineligible for reward. Those that haven’t made reward will work with Mrs Thompson in the Yarning Circle.

All students are asked to wear their sports uniform on this day.

Mr Aaron Moon
Principal

Religion

Homily reflection by Richard Leonard on The Most Holy Trinity.

A teacher asked her grade one class to paint something of their own choosing. All the children got busy about the task. As the teacher walked around she noticed Beckie was particularly focused on her painting. ‘What are you painting Beckie?’ asked the teacher. ‘I'm painting God, Miss’ replied the little girl. ‘Well that must be difficult because no one knows what God looks like.’ At which Beckie stopped, looked up and confidently announced, ‘But they will when I'm finished.’

The names Christians give to God – Father, Son and Spirit – are both ancient and important. But we should never think they exhaust the possibilities of God's reality. Creator, mother, lover, redeemer, Saviour, higher power or friend all go some way to help us put words around our experience of our God, who is more and beyond all names we can possibly use.

The naming of God, however, is an important, but secondary focus to today's feast. There are two other facets to it that are more central.

The first is that the Trinity declares that relationships are at the very centre of God. We believe that the Father, Son and Spirit are in full communion, communication and relationship with each other at all times, in all places. To know Jesus is to know the Father and the Spirit and vice versa. They are one. This special relationship also indicates to us that nothing should matter more in our lives than our relationships with one another. To be like the God we profess every Sunday is to commit ourselves to our relationships, in all their varieties. To work hard on our relationships is, for a Christian, to touch the divine.

The second extraordinary thing we celebrate today is that the Father invites us into this loving relationship with Him, Jesus and the Spirit. What is especially consoling about this is that we are the only world religion that believes our God took our flesh. So through Jesus' life, teaching, compassion and sacrificial love we not only discover who he is, but, at one and the same time, we find out what God and the Spirit are like.

Some people think themselves unworthy of such invitation. Others argue they have to be a better person to deserve such an offer. While both of these responses to God's invitation are understandable, they fail to take into account that in Jesus we have been made worthy of God's love and if we are waiting to get to a certain level of goodness to deserve God's love, we will wait forever.

God invites us into the compassionate embrace of the Trinity where we are and as we are, so that we can become all that God knows we can be. We don't have to get good to get God. We have to get God before we can get good.

Let's not be like the small boy who once said to me, ‘The feast of the Trinity is all about that old bloke, his younger son and that bird.’ On this Trinity Sunday let's celebrate the intimacy and dignity to which we are called by signing ourselves with the focus of our love – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

© Richard Leonard SJ Liturgy Help

Fridays during Term 2 have seen Fr Victor return to St James’ for weekly Mass with the different classes. It has been wonderful to have Fr Victor celebrate with the students. We have also been lucky to have Sr Dorothy return to St James’ to visit with the students on Monday mornings before the assembly. Even though Sr Dorothy has retired from teaching piano, she is still very active in the Muswellbrook Community. We look forward to seeing Fr Victor and Sr Dorothy at SJM on a regular basis.

The Rosary is a Catholic form of prayer using beads. It is a cycle of repeated formal prayers, such as the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, done while thinking about important events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Assistant Principal

SEMESTER 1 REPORTS AND PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Formal school reports are provided twice a year to communicate with parents and carers student achievements. The purpose of school reports is to communicate to parents and carers about their child/ren’s progress and areas for further development. The teachers use a variety of formative and summative assessments and data to determine the common A-E grading for students in Years 1-6 (Kindergarten students have a different report format). In addition to the A-E grade, teachers include written comments for English, Mathematics and Religion which indicate specific skills that students have achieved and an area for further growth. Some of the assessments that teachers use to determine grades may include:

• Standardised testing (NAPLAN, PAT) 
• Diagnostic reading assessments  
• Teacher created assessments 
• Checklists 
• Class observations and anecdotal records 
• Book work/work samples
• Class participation and verbal answers

The Common Grade Scale shown below is used to report student achievement in both primary and junior secondary years in all NSW schools. The Common Grade Scale describes performance at each of five grade levels.

A-The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.
B-The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.
C-The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.
D-The student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.
E-The student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.

It is important to note that teachers use their current assessments and data to determine grades. It is not uncommon for students to achieve a grade either above or below what they had achieved on their previous school report, as the content and skills of what they are learning this year is different to last year. Fluctuating between two grades is not uncommon.

Semester 1 reports will be available on Compass on Friday 24 June (Week 9). Those parents who would like to meet with their child’s teacher regarding progress will have the opportunity during Week 10. Please note – interviews with Miss Osborne will take place in Week 9, as Miss Osborne will be on leave in Week 10. Information for booking an interview has sent out via Compass (and in a paper copy with students) last week, and you are asked to book that interview using Compass. The interview schedule is as follows:

NEW K-2 ENGLISH SYLLABUS

As we continue our focus again on literacy, this week I include information from PETAA (Primary English Teaching Association Australia). The following is an excerpt from their PARENTS’ GUIDE TO HELPING CHILDREN WITH READING AND WRITING AT HOME.

As teachers, we see the benefits of parents reading to children at home. We see confident students who are willing to have a go at difficult words on a page. If you have any doubts about the time you are spending reading to your child, have a look at the following list from PETAA, as benefits of parents reading to children at home (with greater information in the PDF file below):

• Relationship building
• Children’s reading improves
• Children read more
• Children’s self-esteem improves
• Reading unites families through shared stories

There is no magical formula for learning to read. Children learn in their own time according to their own pace. There is no critical age when all children should have mastered reading. When children are learning to walk and talk, we accept different levels of progress – it is the same with learning to read and write. This does not imply, that meanwhile, the parent sits back doing nothing. Children need ongoing quality experiences with books. Providing a regular, reading routine at home assists children in their quest for reading success.

Some tips for home reading

• Establish a home reading routine. Read aloud with your children everyday. Ten minutes for each child around a book of his/her choice. If English is your second language, read in your home language. If you lack confidence in reading aloud, the fact that you are reading with your child is what matters. Talk about the illustrations and contribute where you can. Share your excitement for reading and this will be the model your child will adopt.
• The reader holds the book! There is a lot of power and control in the world of reading. The reader needs to have the power.
• During home reading time, turn off electronic devices and give each child ten minutes of your undivided attention.
• Before you read a book, set your child up for success. Reading is not a test! Reading time is only ten minutes so do some of the following: Keep the introduction short – one minute is enough. Talk about the illustrations and the title. Read the blurb and talk about the author, talk about any unusual words, read a page here and there as your child flicks through the book, discuss the characters. This is a short introduction, not an interrogation. If the book is already a familiar one, then this step is unnecessary.
• If reading time is stressful, move the reading to a new location. Instead of sitting at the kitchen bench, move to the lounge room floor, or go outside and sit under a tree or take the books to the local coffee shop.
• Find a reading time that works for your family. Limit the time and set the timer if reading in the past has always been difficult. It is better to have an enjoyable 10 minutes than a laborious 30 minutes where everyone is left feeling frustrated.
• At the end of the 10 minutes, ask questions that encourage discussion, for example: What was your favourite part? Tell me about the characters. What do you think will happen next? What did you think about that setting? What do like/ dislike about this book? There is no need to interrogate the reader. Make it a conversation as you would in a book club.
• Encourage your child to read independently. A bedside light is one of the best enticements for your child to read before going to sleep. After the 10 minutes of reading with you, the child can elect to continue reading independently.
• The less you interrupt the 10 minutes of reading, the more you are supporting the readers independence, resilience and confidence. Zip your lips, monitor the miscues, and listen as your child reads.
• Avoid judging your child’s reading with words such as: ‘good’, ‘excellent’ or ‘getting better’. Instead say things about the strategies your child uses when reading such as: ‘I like how you read on when you came to that difficult word.’ ‘I like how you changed your voice to be the voice of the character in the story’. ‘I noticed that you reread the bit that did not make sense.’
• If you child is reading independently and has reached the level of chapter books, it is not necessary for you to read aloud together any more. Your job is done. That is not to say, you cannot continue to share reading time because it is what you love to do as a family or that you sit and read silently together or that you talk about the books your child is reading because you are interested in his reading choices. Readers read differently in their heads as compared to reading aloud.
• Visit the local library — make it a family ritual on a set day every week. Let your children select their books while you select books you are interested in reading. Not every book has to be read cover to cover. Your child might select books based on illustrations or factual information about a topic of interest. Independent readers pick and choose what they read. They are entitled to read some and reject others. They are entitled to not complete books because they are boring. Readers make choices.
• Model what it means to be an enthusiastic reader. Create a home of readers where everyone reads – It is just what we do in this house! Talk about what you have read. Read aloud what makes you laugh and share it with your child

This is the whole article from PETAA. When you get a minute to yourself, please download and have a read.

PERMISSION FOR SCHOOL EVENTS USING COMPASS

We have now moved to our upgraded Compass system. Permission for all school-based excursions will now be given online. When we post an excursion, you will receive an email that includes a link to the event. It is important that you give that permission as soon as possible so that we don’t need to keep emailing you reminders. If there is a payment for that excursion, you will also pay for this online when you give permission. This will be done with a credit card. The person in your household who was nominated the fee payer (also known as the ‘debtor’) will be the one who needs to give permission and pay for the excursion, so please check with all members of your household before contacting the school to say that you haven’t received the information about an excursion. We have been made aware by some families that these messages are not getting through to all carers in the family, so if you need to add an additional carer to the list of people who get these messages, you will need to complete the process included in this attachment that was sent to all families at the end of last term. Please note – the completed form must be sent back to cso.sassupport@mn.catholic.edu.au for them to process.

TOYS AND SPORTS EQUIPMENT AT SCHOOL

We ask that you speak with your child about keeping their toys and sports equipment at home. We are really lucky here at SJM to have so much equipment for the students to use in the playground. There is no need to be bringing toys of sporting equipment to school. We ask that you keep it at home, as we cannot guarantee its safety here at school … you only have to look at the roof tops to see how much equipment ends up on the roof and we are unable to get it down easily. I would encourage you to contact the school if you believe we are lacking any equipment, and we will keep it in mind for our budgeting.

WHOLE DAY ABSENCES FROM SCHOOL

It is really important that your child is at school as many days as possible. Just a friendly reminder that you are required to provide a reason for any whole days that your child is absent from school.

This can be done in a number of ways:

1. Add an attendance note in Compass app
2. Email your child’s teacher
3. Write a note and send it to school when your child returns to school
4. Call the office

If you are choosing to let us know of the absence using the Compass app, we ask that you add absences for whole days into Compass as soon as you can. You can even do this on the day that they are away. If your child is arriving to school late, or leaving school early, please do not add this as an attendance note in Compass. Late arrivals and early departures are added using the Compass Kiosk in the front office. See the message below for any absences related to COVID. Our final note about absences is about the use of the reason NATURAL DISASTER. Having an extra day at home to recover from a big weekend is not a natural disaster. We should only be using this reason if there is actually a natural disaster occurring for your family … fire, flood, earthquake, cyclone etc.

ABSENCES DUE TO COVID

Just a reminder that you are asked to contact the school to let us know when your child is absent because of COVID. We are legally required to ensure our class rolls are up to date, and we can only do this if you let us know why your child is away. If your child is absent because they have tested positive to COVID, and you have let the school know via email or phone call, there is no need for you to use the Compass app to add an attendance note. We will do this for you to ensure we are using the correct roll marking code.

GOING AWAY ON HOLIDAYS?

If you are planning an extended holiday during the year (more than 10 school days), you are required to apply for the leave and have it approved by the principal. You will need to contact the office for the appropriate form to be sent home. The approval of this leave usually isn’t an issue, but we need to follow the process and keep your approval on file. Once the leave is approved, we then supply you with a certificate for that leave, that you can produce if asked why your child is not at school. If your holiday is less than 10 school days, please just email your child's teacher to let them know when you will be away.

LABELLING ALL SCHOOL ITEMS

Don’t forget to label everything! This is the only way that lost items will be returned to your child. Now is a great time to make sure all school items have your child’s name in permanent marker or a label that will not peel off easily. Don’t forget to show your child their labelled items … this will help them when they come to ask us for help finding lost items.

SCHOOL HATS

Please ensure your child comes to school with a school hat every day. We do not have spare hats at school for students to use. Any student who does not have a hat will be asked to sit on the verandah for lunch breaks. Labelled school hats will be returned to your child if they are found in the playground. We ask that you regularly check your child’s hat for their name, as the name wears off easily when they are used every day.

WINTER UNIFORM

We have now moved into the cooler weather, so we ask that all students wear their winter uniform. We understand that some items are in short supply in the uniform shop, so we understand that some students may be missing some items until they return to stock. Where possible, please ensure your child is wearing their full winter uniform, and not a mix between summer and winter uniforms. In case you need a reminder, this is straight from our Parent Handbook.

Mrs Shannon Hall
Assistant Principal

Primary Coordinator

PDH / POSITIVE EDUCATION

On perspective and empathy…

Wellbeing tip: #1

Before you judge someone and before your Guard Dog gets big and bossy. Pause. What might life be like for that person?

Perspective: Is it a rabbit or a duck?

It depends on your perspective. When our Guard Dog is nice and small it is easier to see someone else’s point of view. If we practice listening mindfully when we are having an argument or discussion, we might find that we can reach an agreement sooner.

Tip #2: When you find yourself arguing with someone, try reminding yourself of the rabbit/duck analogy. Perhaps you are both a little bit right?!

WELLBEING WEEK – WEEK 6

In Week 6, we held Wellbeing Week at St. James’. Statistics show that Week 6 and 7 each term are the weeks where many students and staff are sick and run down.

Check out the amazing timetable of activities that we had happening during Wellbeing Week at SJM!

A special THANK YOU goes to all teachers who offered to run an activity in their classroom during their lunch break.

The students appeared to really enjoy the week. Check out the photos below.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK:

Choose kindness, always.

Miss Eloise Hand
Primary Coordinator and Lead Teacher of Positive Education

Awards

Class News

ES1

Our Athletics Carnival was a great success, and all the students were able to show their athletics skills while running their races and participating in our rotation of games. The huge smiles on the Kinder faces when they returned to their houses with a ribbon was amazing! A huge thank you to Mrs Dengate for her wonderful organization and the school leaders who lead our variety of games around the oval. The parachute was a wonderful surprise and we really needed to hold onto it with the slight breeze that we had. The three-legged race was great fun and the relay races really got us warmed up. But the ball games Over and Under was great fun as we have been practicing these skills in our sport sessions. Here are a few photos of our wonderful day.

Our Sport has now changed to Fridays with athletics skills with Dennis. Each Friday the students in Kinder will need to wear their sports uniform for the remainder of the term.

In English throughout the term, the Kinder students have been studying a sequence of fairy tales. At the end of the term, we are inviting all students to come dressed as their favourite fairy tale character. Please don’t go to any expense when putting a costume together for your child, use the things that you already have at home. There are lots of costumes that you can put together that don’t require you to spend any money. A few examples of costumes can be:

1. The woodsman from Little Red Riding Hood- come in jeans, a checked shirt and make an axe out of a 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 mask made at home, carrying a brick, some straw or some sticks.
4. Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk- normal clothes, carrying some beans
5. LRRH- a dress, with a piece of red fabric, blanket, beanie to use as her hood.

Mrs Donna Smith and Mrs Jane Jacobs

Stage 1

Stage one has been interested and engaged in our science topic, examining seed germination and sustainable farming practices. Students will endeavour to build their own sustainable farms implementing solar panels and irrigation systems to water their crops. Students have started their fresh writing topic, examining persuasive texts. Students can become very convincing when they are invested in the topic, I have read some fantastic arguments for longer holidays, the importance of school uniforms and why we should or should not have homework.

Last week students were given the opportunity to work with Denis, developing their athletics skills. Students learnt how to complete a run up in high jump, a shot-put throw without any fouls and a baton relay. We look forward to these continued athletics workshops to improve our skills. This Wednesday students will be participating in our athletics carnival; we wish all students the best of luck in their events and look forward to seeing students challenge themselves and implement the skills they have been practising.

Miss Annerley Fitzsimmons, Mrs Mary Ballard, Mrs Trishelle Threadgate and Miss Jane Boyle

Stage 2

Stage 2 have been enjoying their History unit, ‘First Contacts’, in which they have been learning about the beginnings of settlement in Australia. The students have been particularly interested in the conditions the convicts lived in on their way to Australia and have been developing their understanding of how Indigenous communities were impacted when the First Fleet arrived.

Congratulations to all the students who competed in the Athletics Carnival. It was wonderful to see our Stage 2 students participate with zest, perseverance and enthusiasm on the day. The team spirit and support the students displayed to their peers was uplifting.

Miss Emma Beletich, Mrs Jane Dengate, Miss Eloise Hand and Miss Gabrielle Dafter

Stage 3

Stage 3 have had an extremely busy couple of weeks with touch football tournaments, mine tours, athletics training and their athletics carnival. As we near the end of the term and semester one, we will be learning new concepts as well as consolidating old ones. In mathematics we will move from volume and mass to 24hr time and data. In English, we will continue to study Rowan of Rin by Caroline Jackson, The Whale’s Song by Dylan Sheldon and The Peasant Prince by Li Cunxin. In Religion, we will be learning about the importance of creation and the need for environmental justice which coincides with our science and creative arts units – where we will be researching environmentally friendly materials for building shelters as well as creating beautiful art works.

Mrs Rebecca Harrod, Mrs Melissa McLennan, Mrs Clare Collett and Miss Lauren Osborne

Library News

Library Borrowing Changes

Some borrowing days/times will change from this week.

Kinder: Tuesday
Year 2: Tuesday
Wednesday: 4G and Stage 3
Thursday: Year 1, 3G and 3/4M

Scholastic Book Club

PLEASE NOTE: The DUE date for Book Club is 17th June. It cannot be paid by cash.

We are only accepting LOOP orders

LOOP Ordering Instructions from Scholastic

1. Simply grab your child's Book Club catalogue and either sign in or register your account
2. Click on ORDER and then select your school and your child's class*
3. Add your child's first name & last initial (so the school knows who the book is for) PLEASE NOTE: Your child's details will never be shared with 3rd parties OR used for marketing purposes - this is for distribution purposes only.
4. Enter the item number from the Book Club catalogue
5. All orders are sent directly to the school for submission to Scholastic. Books will still be delivered to your child's classroom if you order by the close date
6. Afterwards, there's no need to return paper order forms or payment receipt details back to your school!

If you get stuck and need help, simply call our friendly Customer Service team on: 1800 021 233 between the hours of 8am to 5pm. After 5pm, you may email our after-hours LOOP help on Customer_Service@scholastic.com.au.

Please feel free to contact the library if any problems/concerns arise during the year.

lisa.wilson@mn.catholic.edu.au or 65433094

Mrs Lisa Wilson
Teacher Librarian
Mrs Nadene Douglas
Library Assistant

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts