30 November 2023

Our Mission @ SJM

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

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As we light the first candle of Advent, we remember the gift of Hope. We are reminded to be alert and watch for the light of Christ even in the most unlikely places and people.

Principal’s Message

End Of Year Events

There is a lot happening at SJM as we wind down to the end of another school year. Please keep up to date via COMPASS or Facebook for any changes that may take place.

Presentation Day

A reminder that Presentation Day is 9am for a 9:15am start. We look forward to sharing our students’ achievements with you on this day.

Please note that all ticket bookings needed to be completed by Friday 1^st December @ 9am.

Staffing for 2024

I would like to announce our staffing for 2024.

Executive Positions:
Principal – Mr Aaron Moon
Assistant Principal – Mrs Helen Feeney
Religious Education Co-ordinator – Mrs Jane Jacobs
Acting Primary Co-ordinator – Mrs Renee Gavin

Please note:

• Religious Education Co-ordinator position has increased in allocation. This is now 2 days per week.
• Primary Co-ordinator position has increased in allocation. This is now 1 day per week.

Pedagogical Mentor (PM)  and Gifted Education Mentor (GEM) Positions:

• PM – Mrs Lauren Gehrig (3 days per fortnight)
• PM – Mrs Jane Jacobs (1 day per fortnight)
• GEM – Mr Bradley Sabotic (1 day per week)

We have also seen increases in Learning Support Allocation. As a result have the following positions to work alongside Mrs Gavin:

• Learning Support Teacher – 5 days per week.
• Learning Support Assistant – 20 hrs per week
• Learning Support Assistant – 9 hrs per week.

We also have:

• 1 x classroom teacher position – Temporary Full Time
  • This teaching position will cover Exec Release and Pedagogical Mentor Release.
• Pastoral Care Worker – 14 hrs per week

These positions can be found online at www.mn.catholic.edu.au

We also welcome back:

• Mrs Jane Baker who will be back on class 4 days per week in 2024.
• Mrs Jane Dengate who will be teaching RFF 3 days per week.

2024 Staff Structure

I will let you know of other staffing confirmations once these are finalised.

We will send home a note of which class your child will be in for 2024 on Tuesday 12th December.

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 Parent Teacher Interview, please contact your child’s teacher directly via email.

Mr Aaron Moon
Principal

Assistant Principal’s Message

TWISTIES CUP 2023

Twisties Cup Stage 1 Echidnas
Winners of the first Stage 1 cup were the Echidnas – receiving their Twisties and the Twisties cup.

Twisties Cup Stage 2 and 3 Goannas
Winners of the first Stages 2 and 3 cup were the Goannas – receiving their Twisties and the Twisties Cup.

Penalty Shoot-out – teachers and students. As part of Wellbeing week students took part in a penalty shootout. On Thursday of the week 6M hosted a penalty shootout vs teacher – the skills were immense the tension high, but all enjoyed a bit of fun out on Skellatar. Thanks to those who took part. 

SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS PROJECT

Sustainability Schools Projects for 2024 – Muswellbrook council water ways recycling worm farm chicken coop project composting – we are aiming to set a pledge to be sustainable in our practices in line with the Sustainability Goals.

Pledge for 2024 to meet the developing sustainability goals. We are working the land to prepare for the Chicken Project. Join us in preparing the land for food production.

Great work!

We are teaming up with Bell Trees Public School, and Muswellbrook schools across the Hunter Valley to investigate issues such as litter, water filtration, how clean our waterways are, pollution and food production. 

Our chicken coop has been delivered and installed by Mr Feeney – Mr Feeney senior delivered, and Mr Feeney junior donated the chicken tractor to house our hens.

We are seeking volunteers and offers of tools, plants, fencing solutions, trees, ponds, kits for testing water and soil testing kits. 

We aim to develop sustainable practices in our school community by engaging experts and researching into these practices for the future of our community and the world beyond it.

STEM – SCIENCE SHOWS

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Newcastle university links – Science shows.

We were recently inspired by students at Newcastle University who visited our school to demonstrate Force and Motion. Stage 1 2 and 3 experienced the investigative nature of science and critical thinking skills needed for future careers in science fields.

STEM – SPHEROS AT DONALD HORNE BUILDING, MUSWELLBROOK

Our schools visit to the Donald Horne Building in Muswellbrook saw an innovative approach to coding, robotics and testing critical thinking skills in engineering and maths at the STEM lab.

Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 got to experience expertise of Matthew Lehman who taught us how to program and move Spheros. In this developing world of technology finding future solutions to problems such as food production, how to introduce sustainable practices and how much our lives rely on technology is essential for success in 2024.

Our students worked together to create coding programs for moving their Spheros – a little globe with computer technology that can speak to an APP and can be controlled by our fingertips. All the students who visited the lab were very impressed by the Stem lab and several asking can they return to learn about 3D printing and other STEM activities such as Flight which they experienced earlier in the year.

Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 enjoyed the recent excursion to the STEM lab in Muswellbrook. Funding for excursions is reliant on our school fees and the local council help so we would like to make the most of visiting the lab when we can, and we appreciate the building of it. We would like to work closely with the council, STEM and Waterways to develop our approach to sustainable practices in our community such as recycling and looking after our communities and areas showing appreciation and gratitude for our opportunities. 

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TRANSITION DAY YEAR 6 TO YEAR 7

Year 6 into Year 7 for 2024 - Transition Day St Joseph’s Friday 17^th November 

Last Friday Year 6 students who will be attending St Joseph’s in 2024 visited their new High school. This was not the first trip for many to go to their high school but another chance before the big school holidays to make connections with students from feeder schools and any new students that have been accepted into St Joseph’s which is at capacity! They are constantly developing their premises and are including more features buildings and improvements all the time. The yarning circle with story poles and beautiful p lants and stones has gone in since our last visit and many more features. We received such a warm welcome from past pupils, teachers, and staff while we were on the visit. Our Year 6 students will be in very safe hands for next year and after the day all are ready to take the next step in their education journey. We wish them and everyone moving into a new phase of their education all the best for their futures. – they are certainly bright.

REGIONAL DEBATING COMPETITION AT ST CATHERINE’S, SINGLETON

Thursday 23^rd November saw the Upper Hunter schools debating teams meeting in McAuley Hall to discuss diverse topics such as Pets should be allowed in schools. Negative vs Affirmative teams had to debate on the topics drawn on the day. Students had one hour to prepare their points and 4^th speakers had to rebut the opposing team on the spot. The negative arguments were tricky to make as so many people love their pets and would love to have them with them at school.

St James Team

Justus Matheson, Bronte Sullivan, Bradley Watt, and Nicholas James (Captain). Kieren (Reserve) went up against St Joseph’s, Merriwa.

Their first topic was Should Pets be allowed in schools. Comments such as animals being a distraction, a joy hormone to be released making them happy and removing stress.

The two teams which went into the final round were St Catherine’s 1, Singleton, and St Mary’s Scone. Debating on Solar Energy. Thank you for the students giving it their best shot and enjoying the competition. Thank you to parents for assisting with transport.

God bless you and your families,

Mrs Helen Feeney
Assistant Principal

Religion

This weekend we begin the season of Advent. Advent is a time to prepare for Christmas and the birth of Jesus. The season of Advent is a season of preparing and waiting. Advent encourages us to slow down as we are invited to ponder the gift of the birth of Jesus. This waiting during the four weeks of Advent can allow our hearts to be stretched open wide to make us ready to welcome Jesus at Christmas. For most of us, this time is usually spent with family and friends, however for some people in our local community due to financial or emotional reasons the Christmas season can be difficult.

Our SJM community always help those in our local community with donations of food for our Christmas Hamper appeal. Last year we started something different. We will still join our local community helping those who will be receiving hampers. Last year it was noticed that Christmas Stockings were lacking and the SJM community supplying Christmas stockings was a huge success. We were told that no one (child/teenager) missed out and the volunteers were not trying to source stockings just before Christmas. Once again, we would like to contribute Christmas Stockings to the Giving Tree this year. It would be appreciated if each family could donate 1 lolly stocking for the hampers. You may wish to donate other items as well. We ask that all donations be sent to school by Friday 15 December. We appreciate your support, generosity and kindness during this special time of year.

May your light continue to shine brightly

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Awards

Class News

ES1

In the past few weeks KG and KM for 2022 have had to share their classrooms with the new Kinder students for 2023. 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.  

There is no doubt that the colour run was a highlight of the year for some children! We had a few who were very cautious and nervous to begin with, but once they had the first burst of colour on their pristine white shirts, they were ready to go around again. There were lots of laughs, and a fun time was had by all. Here are our before and after pictures:

Before

After

Mrs Donna Smith and Mrs Trishelle Threadgate

Stage 1

Dear Stage 1 Parents and Carers, 

Year 1 and 2 have certainly been enjoying their Physical Education lessons on Thursdays, focusing on Gymnastics. Students have been learning a range of new skills as well as understanding the importance of safety when undertaking gymnastics. A reminder that we continue to wear our sports uniform for both Year 1 and 2 on Thursdays.

On Wednesday of Week 6 we had a wonderful Science Incursion visit from the team at the University of Newcastle. The instructors presented a highly engaging and informative set of lessons and demonstrations on forces, materials and energy. Our students participated with great enthusiasm and were able to predict, observe and evaluate many of their scientific assumptions and knowledge.

On Tuesday of Week 7 we had a visit from Live, Learn and Survive led by Maxi from Bondi Rescue.

It was a highly informative presentation where students learnt about essential survival information and procedures. Students were able to discuss what they need to do in many situations and how they can best protect themselves and their families with simple but important actions. We covered water and fire safety along with important emergency information and processes. The team at Live, Learn and Survive also kindly donated picture books and resources to our library for future reading and students were able to ask a range of questions.

On Friday of Week 7 we participated in our amazing colour run. All students thoroughly enjoyed the day and a huge thank you to our SJM P and F for all their organisation, our Rural Fire Service for their support on the day and our staff and families who assisted and joined in the spirit of the colour run. I am sure you enjoyed seeing the amazing photos on our Facebook page.

Our learning for these past two weeks has been highly motivating and engaging for our classes. In Year 1 there has been a strong focus on studying advertisements and how they persuade and convince. It is wonderful to see how students have become critical thinkers around such texts in both print and multimedia formats. We had a terrific range of student’s own advertisements created with the aim to persuade their teachers and peers to buy their product or service. Year 2 have been diving into the world of Dragon’s in literature and folklore. Students have explored how dragons are represented in literature and then reflected on this information to comprehend, compare and contrast different fictional dragons. In closing, students thoroughly enjoyed designing a creature that would best represent themselves or their family and using adjectives to describe and add further detail.

Across Weeks 6-7 students in Year One have been working on units focusing on data and chance as well as multiplication and division. It has been encouraging to see the engagement of students in looking at posing questions to collect data on, presenting data in various forms and conducting and or interpreting situations where chance is involved. They have also used language to best describe elements of chance. There has been a major focus on looking at forming groups and sharing in our multiplication and division work and how there is a relationship between the two number operations. Many students have been working on developing a range of concrete and mental strategies. In Year Two our students really stretched their knowledge and skills in using addition and subtraction strategies when dealing with money. Students made important finds around the value of coins and moving between cents and dollars when adding and subtracting. In our multiplication and division work there has been a major focus on using subtraction to divide numbers, creating equal groups to solve division problems and how to solve division problems using multiple strategies.

Students are looking forward in the coming weeks to a range of Creative and Practical Arts learning tasks focusing on Christmas as well as a wide range of craft activities.

In closing, we have some friendly reminders for the remainder of the term. We kindly ask that all library books and home readers be returned in the coming weeks. It is very important to have all clothing items labelled to help with their speedy return if they should be misplaced. Finally, we appreciate all students having their hats at school each day as well as water bottles and drinks to remain hydrated.

Miss Fitzsimmons, Mr Sabotic-Mrs Whithead, Miss Cooper, Miss Becus

Stage 2

Dear parents/carers, 

We have had a very busy two weeks!

• Stage 2 have started gymnastics with gymnastics instructors Georgia and Martin. They are having lots of fun so far! Last week in gymnastics we learnt the basics – how to land safely and how to balance our bodies. We used equipment such as mini trampolines, bars and balancing beams to practice our gymnastics skills. Many of the children cannot wait for gymnastics each week!

• Last week we were visited by Jacqui and other members of the University of Newcastle to deliver a science show. Jacqui and the other members showed us how forces can push and full us. We even learnt about magnetic forces and how magnets with the same poles will cause repulsion. Lots of children got to be volunteers on this day and we had lots of fun!

• This week we were lucky enough to be visited by Maxi the lifeguard. Maxi came all the way from Bondi Beach Sydney and has been on 17 seasons of Bondi Rescue! Maxi, who is also a firefighter, taught us all about water safety, how to identify rips and the importance of having smoke alarms in our homes. It was wonderful to hear Maxi’s experience as a lifeguard and firefighter and we feel very lucky he travelled to Muswellbrook to spend some time with us.

• We have begun Christmas craft (yay!). Students are engaging in rotations from Tuesday – Friday. We have some craft activities, Christmas music singing and Christmas pinata making. Students are having lots of fun expressing their creativity in the classroom.

Mrs Jane Jacobs, Mrs Mary Ballard, Miss Gabrielle Dafter, Miss Caitlin Maher and Mr Cody Sommerville.

Stage 3

What a busy fortnight Stage 3 have had.

We started our gymnastics program for sport and used lots of different equipment to practice our gymnastic skills on. The students are having lots of fun learning these new skills.

We have also had a few shows which have come to the school for us to participate in.

• University of Newcastle to deliver a science show.
• Maxi the lifeguard from Bondi Rescue.

Stage 3 also attended the Sphero stem workshop at the Donald Horne Building which students really enjoyed being involved in hands on activities.

Year 5 students have been thinking about what makes a great leader in preparation for their leadership interviews and captain speeches. We were amazed and proud of the tremendous job that these students showed in preparation and presentation of their speeches. We look forward to the announcement on Presentation Day for the future Captains of St. James’ for 2024.  

Year 6 went to St Joseph’s High School for their final Transition Day. We started the day with a liturgy which taught us about the vision and mission of St Joseph’s school. The students split into groups with all Year 7 students for 2024. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and preparations for transition to high school. Year 6 were fantastic ambassadors for our school and represented themselves very well, showing their readiness for high school – well done!

Miss Isabelle Lamont, Mrs Melissa McLennan, Mrs Lauren Gehrig, Mrs Helen Feeney, Miss Alyssa Pritchard

Sport Report

Dio Basketball Trials

Last Friday 3 boys from Stage 3 attended the Dio Basketball Trials in Newcastle. Well done Logan McFawn, Darcy Edmonds and Quade Whitehead who showed great sportsmanship and learnt lots of new skills on the day.

Leader of Wellbeing

We have had an amazing year, we have learnt a lot, had some fun and made some great friends. Despite the busyness and the emotional challenging world and life events it is important to reflect on the good times. Being grateful and reflecting on the good is one way of keeping positive and looking after your wellbeing. My mothers-in-law’s favourite dinner tradition is to ask everyone “What was one good thing that happened today.” It helps, trust me when I am having a bad day (moment) I always find the silver lining, learn from the bad and let it go. In our house we have a couple of positive quotes as art to remind us each day of the good in our lives. A practice in positive psychology is to write down three things you are grateful for each day/ week/ month. I encourage you to take some time each day or when life is tough to stop and reflect on one good thing, write it down. It won’t solve life’s problems, but it will keep you positive and keep you going.

I hope you're having a splendid day,

Mrs Trishelle Threadgate
Leader of Wellbeing

What’s on in the Library

Library Borrowing

Library borrowing has ceased for the year. All books must be returned by Tuesday 28^th November, to enable our annual stocktake to proceed. Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Guest Speakers

Stage 3 have been working on the unit ‘Australia as a Nation’ in the library and classroom. Part of this unit looks at the migration of people to Australia. We were fortunate to have Mrs Nicolette Hocking (South Africa), Mrs Helen Feeney (England/Ireland) and two of our Year 6 students, Neema (Kenya) and JB (Philippines), share their story of migration to Australia. They spoke about reasons for migration, challenges faced, comparisons between countries and likes/dislikes about Australia. A very heartfelt thanks must go to each of these guest speakers, for sharing their interesting stories with us. You were all amazing!!! Mrs Feeney also shared her musical talents by singing a song, playing the tin whistle and accordion. Superb!!!

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

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

Happy Reading!

Lisa Wilson
Teacher Librarian

Nadene Douglas
Library Assistant

Office of Safeguarding

Safe and Respectful Peer Relationships

The Kids Helpline website has a number of great resources that are teenage friendly to help support safe and respectful relationships.  Some topics on the website include:

• All about respect
• Being assertive and setting boundaries
• Peer pressure and fitting in
• Ways to deal with conflict
• Coping with a break up
• What is consent
• Dating
• Sexting

Please take some time to talk to your teenagers, tell them about the Kids Helpline website to navigate through these resources and get help should they require - https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens

Child Friendly Diocesan Code

Child friendly Code of Conduct - Primary School age.pdf

Community Notices

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts