19 October 2022

Newsletter Articles

Our Mission @ SJM

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

Principal’s Message

I do hope you all had a relaxing holiday. The Moon clan had an amazing week on the Gold Coast during the school holidays. It certainly was what the doctor ordered, and it was a chance for me to recharge and start to fill my cup. The highlight of the holiday was visiting Australia Zoo. We even got to see Robert and Terri.

I hope you had a relaxing break and were able to fill your cup too!

I wanted to let you know that this term I will be working 4 days per week. As stated above I am talking some time to fill my cup, and this is another opportunity to do so. This will be mostly on Wednesdays but could also be a Friday depending on what we have booked in at the school and with the Catholic Schools Office. Please see Mrs Jacobs or Mrs Gavin in my absence.

Newsletter Change of Distribution Day

Normally our newsletters are distributed on Mondays of the even week. Newsletters will now be distributed on a Wednesday of even weeks.

External Review

On Monday and Tuesday of this week we had 4 visitors on site for our External Review. An External Review takes place every six years and is an opportunity for us to share with the panel our strategic improvements we have focused on in the last three years and planning for the future.

It was wonderful to have our staff, as well as student and parent representatives share their SJM experiences with the panel.

I would like to thank our executive and Mrs Tania Thompson who joined with me in our presentation on Monday.

Staffing Term 4 and beyond.

I would like to inform the SJM community that Mrs Jacobs will be our Acting Assistant Principal in Term 4. She will be undertaking executive duties on Mondays and Thursdays. To ensure consistency for the class, Miss Alyssa Pritchard will be in Kindergarten for both of these days.

Mrs Renee Gavin will continue to be Acting Primary Coordinator for Term 4.

I would like to announce that:

• Mrs Trishelle Threadgate has been appointed to a permanent position.
• Miss Gabrielle Dafter has been appointed to a temporary position for 2023.

Congratulations to both Trishelle and Gabrielle.

I hope to have more announcements in the next edition of our newsletter.

Mr Aaron Moon
Principal

Religion & Assistant Principal (Acting)

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope that you had time to spend with loved ones, laughing, smiling and are now ready for the new term. I hope that you are managing to return to some form of routine … whatever that looks like for you and your family. Some days we need a reminder that routine is different for every family. Please be gentle with yourself and your family and remind yourself often that you are doing your best today and that is good enough. We truly appreciate everything that you are doing to keep things going.

This Friday is the 2022 SJM Mission Day, a jam packed afternoon filled with games, food, drinks and fun activities for everyone. It starts at 12pm in the SJM courtyard, students can come out of uniform for the day, bring your gold coins and be prepared to have a fun filled afternoon, families are also welcome to come and join in the fun.

10 TIPS FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS RETURNING TO SCHOOL

These are some tips from NSW Department of Education for returning to school.

A printable PDF is also available.

Get ready

Try on your school uniform and school shoes. You may have had a growth spurt and it may not fit!

Get organised and pack your bag the day before school starts. Pack your own hand sanitiser and a mask. If you don’t have hand sanitiser or a mask don’t worry, your school can give

Be safe

It’s a good idea to wear a mask while on the bus and at school.

Wash your hands or use hand sanitiser during the day and before you eat.

Cough or sneeze into your elbow. If you need to blow your nose, use a tissue and put it in the bin. Make sure you wash your hands or use hand sanitiser afterwards.

Feelings

Just so you know, it’s ok to have different feelings when coming back school. You may feel worried, nervous, angry or happy, or any feeling in between.

Talking to friends and family can be helpful. You can even talk to your teacher or school counsellor /school psychologist if you’d like to. Your school can help you get in contact with someone to talk to, just let your teacher, parent or carer know. 

Watch out for your friends too! Ask them “Are you OK?”. It’s OK to tell someone if you are worried about your friend. There are more ideas on looking after yourself on the Department of Education’s student mental health and wellbeing pages.

School work

Try your best. Let your teacher, parent or carer know what you found easy or hard when working from home. They are there to help you.

Be kind

Be kind to your classmates. Invite them to play a game with you.

Be patient. It’s been a while since we have all been together.

If you feel a bit annoyed or angry while playing or learning, try taking some deep breaths, walk away to another area or talk about it with your teacher.

Have some fun

Have fun with your class and teacher.

Use your break times to spend some time outside playing with your friends.

Eat

Don’t forget to eat breakfast!

Pack a healthy lunchbox and drink bottle for school.

This will help you feel energised during the day.

Sleep

Make sure you go to bed on time! Sleep helps us concentrate, learn and enjoy the day at school.

Put your devices in another room, so your sleep is not disturbed.

You might notice you are more tired than usual. That’s ok, after a while you will get back into your going to school routine.

TIPS FOR PARENTS AS STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL

These tips are from the NSW Department of Education website

Every family has a different learning-from-home story. Here are some ways you can support your child return to school and reconnect with their school community.

Be positive about the return to school

• Ask your child how they are feeling about returning to school. Your child may be feeling a mix of emotions about their return, so it is important to listen to any concerns and respond in a calm, supportive and reassuring way.
• Promote positive conversations by asking what they like about school and what they are looking forward to when they return. Let them know that school staff are looking forward to seeing them. Your child might like to make a list or drawing about things they have missed about school.
• If they feel nervous or worried, help them understand this is a normal reaction, and that you and their teachers are there to support them.
• If your child has questions about COVID-19 provide factual and age appropriate information. Let them know everyone at school is working hard so that everyone is safe.
• Consider limiting media content your child is viewing if it is contributing to worry or distress.
• Remind your child that everyone at school is working hard to make sure that everyone is safe and that anyone who is unwell will stay home.

Prepare yourself and child for changes and new school procedures

• Look at the school website, Facebook page and Compass news items to learn about new procedures that may have been introduced such as changes to parents’ access to the school grounds, drop off and pick up points as well as new rules such as wearing face masks or hygiene rules.
• Discuss these with your child and plan together how these changes will be managed. The more your child understands the changes, the more comfortable they are likely to feel. If you are unsure about anything, contact the school or your child’s teacher.

Re-establish your routines

• Routines help provide certainty and increase feelings of security, so it will help to re-establish routines and plan for the return.
• As soon as you can, bring back the usual wake up, bed and breakfast routines. Set aside time to find school equipment and check uniforms and shoes still fit – your child may have grown. Give yourself enough time to organise replacements or a uniform alternative if needed.
• The day before returning, encourage your child to pack their school bag, and get their lunch box, drink bottle and uniform ready.
• Allow more time than usual on the first morning back to calmly get ready. Take your child to school if that will help build a greater sense of security. Alternatively, encourage your child to meet up with a friend before school and travel in together.

Update the school

• Let the school know of any concerns relating to your child that may impact their transition back to school. This will assist the school to work with you to plan and put in place appropriate support strategies.

At the end of the school day

• Talk to your child about their day and what they are looking forward to tomorrow. If your child prefers, get them to write down or draw their feelings.
• Provide opportunities for your child to play and relax at the end of the day. Returning to school may contribute to tired and emotional reactions at the end of the day.
• Help re-establish after-school routines to review the day’s learning and complete homework tasks.
• Consider having extra family time together as your child may have missed being at home with you.

Supporting your child

• Returning to school routines may take some time. Reassure your child that this is normal. Encourage them to ask for help if they need it
• Take care of your own wellbeing while supporting your child’s return to learning at school. You may have some children returning to school while others are continuing to learn from home. You can help your child by explaining that all children will be returning to school soon.
• If they are finding things difficult, remind your child of times in the past when they were able to do things that were difficult and face situations that made them nervous or scared.
• If you are concerned about your child, seek support by contacting the school.

How you can help your school community

• If you are picking your child up from school, please be sure to follow the guidelines for your school.
• Please practice physical distancing at pick up time.

Tell Them From Me Survey

Schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help them improve. We asked parents and carers to participate in a survey conducted by Tell Them From Me©. (TTFM). The survey data provided us with valuable feedback on what our students think about their faith, school life, how engaged they are with school, wellbeing, and the different ways that teachers interact with them.

The information gathered from this survey helps our school community to be better informed about what we are doing well, where we need to focus more attention and how we can sharpen our planning to ensure we achieve improved outcomes for our students.

Thank you to all parents and carers of students in our school who have completed this feedback. We deeply value your contribution The information we gather is critical to us and allows us to hear directly from you and gain insight into what you think is important about the work we do, how we communicate with you and where you think we need to improve. We want all children in our school to thrive and we know that working together, listening and sharing ideas helps all students.

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Learning Support & Primary Co-ordinator

UNIFORM

Uniforms give students a sense of belonging and enhance pride in their school. Wearing a uniform shows unity and identity. In much the same way football followers will wear their team's jersey or scarf, a uniform builds a sense of community. At St James’ are proud of our uniform and how the students represent our school to the community.

As we commence Term 4 students are now in full Summer Uniform.

Boys; Grey shorts, blue school shirt, grey socks, black school shoes.

Girls; School dress OR navy skort and blue school shirt, navy socks, black school shoes.

Sport; School polo shirt OR school indigenous design polo OR Year 6 polo, school sports shorts, school socks and runners.

Sports days are Wednesday for Infants and Thursday for Primary students.

Please ensure your children are in the correct uniform every day.

We have a well stocked uniform shop which is open on Monday and Friday mornings from 8:30am. If for some reason your child is not in the correct uniform on any given day please contact their classroom teacher with an explanation.

Students not in full uniform, with no parent explanation, will receive a uniform notification note home. Additional consequences will be put in place for repeat offenders.

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month!

Dyslexia is a difficulty learning to read

Did you know?

• Dyslexia is one of the most common learning difficulties affecting around 5 to 10% of people.
• Children and adults with dyslexia have difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, spelling, writing, and reading comprehension.
• Students with dyslexia can improve their reading and spelling skills with evidence-based literacy instruction and intervention.
• Dyslexia is not a vision issue and cannot be resolved by vision interventions such as coloured glasses or eye exercises.

For more information SpeldNSW is a wonderful source of quality information.

Please see the link: SPELD NSW | Support for Specific Learning Difficulties

Additional information regarding how dyslexia presents at different ages can be found in this article linked below:

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s reading, please contact their classroom teacher or the Learning Support Teacher.

Mrs Renee Gavin
Learning Support Teacher & Primary Co-ordinator (Acting)

Class News

ES1

It has been wonderful to have all the students in KG and KM return to school. We have missed all the beaming smiles and listening to the stories about what is happening in your world……we have noticed that the tooth fairy has been extremely busy over the last 6 weeks!

This term we are continuing to build upon our letter sound knowledge by introducing new sounds. Our tricky words are expanding and students are becoming more confident with reading words automatically.

It has been important for KG and KM to reconnect with many friends over the last 2 weeks and we have been extremely fortunate to be able to play in the courtyard practicing our skipping and basketball skills. The imaginary play of all students during our Friday afternoon ‘play’ sessions has continued to grow and surprise Mrs Smith and Mrs Jacobs.

Please ensure that your child has a library bag on Tuesday to borrow new books for the week and that your child has a drink bottle filled with water to drink at school in the classroom and the playground.

Mrs Donna Smith and Mrs Jane Jacobs

Stage 1

It has been wonderful to see the students return to school refreshed and relaxed after the school break. They have settled back into school routines quickly.

We have some exciting activities planned for Term 4. The children will be studying sculpture, which will include paper mache and making sculptures from foil. The students have started to learn their dances for the End of Year dance concert, there will be more information about this great event in the coming weeks.

The children are working hard towards the End of Term Reward:

• Stop, Think, Act!
• Kind Words, Kind Actions.
• Right Time, Right Place, Right Task.
• Respect Ourselves, Each Other and The Environment.

As the weather gets warmer, please remind your child to pack a hat and drink bottle each day and please make sure it is labelled.

Please continue home reading, don’t forget to fill out home reading logs to go in the draw for a chance to win a prize from Mr Moon.

Looking forward to a fabulous and enjoyable term.

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

Stage 2

How exciting that we have reached Term 4! The coming weeks will be filled with lots of learning, fun and events, so we encourage all of our Stage 2 parents and carers to ensure Compass, the newsletter and the school Facebook page are checked regularly for updates and reminders about what is happening at school.

Stage 2 have had a very busy start to the term. Each class has enjoyed participating in Science lessons that focus on how forces are all around us. We have already conducted some interesting experiments - the students have investigated how push and pull forces effect balloons and conducted an experiment where we have witnessed how friction works using books. The students are very interested in this area of Science!

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

Stage 3

The Stage 3 teachers would like to congratulate all the children on their positive and enthusiastic approach to their three-day excursion at Great Aussie Bush Camp.

In English this term, the students will learn to analyse and respond to a variety of imaginative and informative texts, with a focus on persuasion. Students will develop their ability to use the comprehension strategies of Questioning and Monitoring.

In Religion students have been exploring the unit ‘Beliefs’ and delving into what it means in our Catholic faith. Students have had the opportunity to analyse the school mission statement and identify examples of Catholic beliefs around the school.

Food, Fibre and Sustainability is our new topic for Science. This topic will allow the students the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and understandings about the production of the food they eat, fibres they use and the environment they live in.

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

What’s on in the Library

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair will be held next week. Monday 24th October to Wednesday 26th October.

Children will be given the opportunity to peruse an array of books and bring home a wish list.

Opening hours for parents will be:

Monday 24th October - 3pm – 4pm

Alternatively, students may place their order in an envelope, clearly marked with their name, class, books and amount. Payment is made ONLINE ONLY, there will be no cash payments accepted at school.

The fair will be open to students, at second lunch, from Monday 24th October to Wednesday 26th October. It will close at 3pm on Wednesday 26th October.

Mrs Lisa Wilson
Teacher Librarian

Front Office

School Fees

With only 8 weeks left of the 2023 school year the payment of school fees should just about be finalised.

For families who have paid by regular instalments across the year, please check your balance to ensure that your remaining payments are enough to cover what is remaining by the first week of December. If you think there will be a shortfall, please consider increasing your instalment amount or making a lump sum payment.

For families who have opted to pay their school fees annually, this payment is due IMMEDIATELY.

Payment options are available with cash or eftpos over the counter at school, by using your unique BPAY reference number located on the top right side of your fee statement or with credit card through the Compass App.

As always, if you are experiencing financial hardship please call the office for a discussion of your options and to make a fee meeting appointment with Mr Moon.

Qkr App

Thank you to all the families who so rapidly embraced the introduction of the Qkr app for canteen and uniform shop purchases. A reminder of a few checks that parents can make to ensure orders are dispatched to the correct student in the correct class

• Create an individual profile for each student – do not order for multiple children under one profile.
• Ensure you select the correct class for your student

Updating Your Details

For the safety and wellbeing of all the children who attend St James it is vitally important that the school have the most current & up to date personal information, this includes change of address, parent and emergency contact mobile numbers, parent email addresses, fee payer responsibilities and changes to living arrangements. For all of these instances it is a legal requirement that any requests for change of personal details be advised to your school in writing, with the easiest way being via email to admin@muswellbrook.catholic.edu.au

Mrs Virginia Chapman
Senior School Officer

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts

 

St James Colour Explosion Friday 18th November

Don’t forget to return your child’s green colour explosion notes before Wednesday 16th November to enable participation in this fun filled event to help raise money for a potential new primary playground. Raising funds while having fun!

Community Information