7 February 2024

Our Mission @ SJM

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

Quote

You are the light of the world. Matthew: 5

Principal’s Message

Welcome to St James’ Primary School, Muswellbrook for 2024! I hope you all had a relaxing holiday and are ready for a busy and productive school year.

My name is Aaron Moon, and I am the principal here at St James’ Primary School, Muswellbrook. This is my sixth year as principal of SJM. For those of you who don’t know me, let me share a little bit of information about me. I grew up at on the Central Coast and have been in education for over 20 years. During these years I have taught in schools across the Central Coast, Hunter Valley and Western New South Wales. I was Principal at St Joseph’s Denman from 2009 – 2018. I have been married to my lovely wife Bianca for 23 years and have four children - Logan, Kade and twins Aidan and Alani. I am an avid Wests Tigers fan and I love to play competition golf.

When it comes to school, I believe that every child has the right to a quality education. I believe that we, as educators, must ensure we impart the necessary skills to ensure that all children can be successful citizens in a global and ever dynamic society. This is imperative. I also believe that school should be fun…… jokes should be told, smiles seen, and laughs heard. I think you may find that I might be the biggest kid at St James’. Hence the hashtag - #learnlaughandhavefunatSJM

A positive school community is important for all stakeholders – children, parents, the parish, and staff to thrive and flourish. I encourage you to be active members of our school community. Please feel welcome and feel at home at St James’. An important part of a positive community is communication. Excellent communication is vital to ensure all members of the community are informed of what’s happening at St James’. I will keep you up to date with things through Compass messages, newsletters, Facebook, the school website and through notes and other information. Also, my door is always open. I am happy to meet with you at any time. Please just pop into the office, email or call me.

I would like to welcome our new families to the St James’ School community. We hope that you have an enjoyable experience here at our school. If there are any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask one of us. I would also like to welcome back our returning families. Thank you for making St James’ what it is – a great community school.

2024 Staffing

I would like to welcome back all our staff:

KG - Mrs Donna Smith
KM - Mrs Trishelle Threadgate
1G – Mrs Jane Baker & Mrs Ballard (Mrs Ballard works each Friday in 1G)
1M - Mr Bradley Sabotic & Mrs Jo Whitehead (Jo will be releasing Bradley 1 day per week as he is our Gifted Education Mentor)
2G - Miss Claudia Becus
2M - Miss Rachel Cooper
3G – Miss Annerley Fitzsimmons
3M – Miss Caitlin Maher
4G - Miss Gabrielle Dafter
4M - Mrs Jane Jacobs and Mrs Mary Ballard (Mary will be releasing Jane 5 days per fortnight as she is our Religious Education Coordinator and one of our Pedagogical Mentors)
5G – Mrs Lauren Gehrig
5M – Miss Georgia Brimble
6G – Mrs Helen Feeney
6M – Mrs Melissa McLennan
ATSI Teacher - Mrs Tania Thompson
ATSI Aide - Aunty Wanda Smith
Library Teacher - Mrs Lisa Wilson
Library Assistant - Mrs Nadene Douglas
Learning Support Teachers - Mrs Renee Gavin, Mrs Carissa Mitchell & Mrs Jo Whitehead
Learning Support Assistants - Mrs Alicia Wicks, Mrs Melissa Marco, Mrs Melissa Gers, Mrs Heather Howlett, Mrs Nicolette Hocking, Mrs Nadene Douglas, Miss Emily Gavin and Miss Karen Barnes
RFF Teachers – Mrs Dengate & Mrs Jo Whitehead

Pastoral Care Worker – Miss Emily Gavin
School Finance & Admin - Mrs Virginia Chapman
School Admin Support - Mrs Tahnee Dureau
Uniform Shop - Mrs Julie Baxter

Exec:

Primary Coordinator – Mrs Renee Gavin
Assistant Principal (Acting) – Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator – Mrs Jane Jacobs

Mrs Feeney is still unwell and is on leave. We are hoping that she will return towards the end of February. Miss Isabelle Lamont will take 6G during this time.

Mrs Gehrig, who is our Pedagogical Mentor (PM), usually has Miss Lamont take her class on her PM days. For the time being these days will be covered by Mrs Emily Somerville.

Assemblies

Assemblies will be held each Monday morning (starting Monday 14 February), weather permitting. Children will assemble in the courtyard for a welcome to the week, a prayer focus and a blessing. Parents are most welcome to attend these face to face. We will continue to post live on Facebook for people to watch.

Please note changes to the SJM Award Structure:
This year each class will be presented with two merit awards each week at assembly.
Principal’s Awards – There will only be two principal’s awards given out each week.

Parent Information Night

This year our aim is to have a face-to-face Parent Information Night. This will be held in the School Hall on Thursday 15^th February @ 5pm. At this evening I will introduce myself and my staff to you, as well as discussing the year ahead at St James’ Primary School. This is a wonderful opportunity to see what your child is learning about and how they are taught it. It is also a great opportunity to meet all the teachers and other parents. Please come along.

Sports Days

SJM is A Nut Free School

Our school has several students who are allergic to nuts. Please ensure that our school is nut free. That means no peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches, or nuts are to be brought to school. If your child has peanut or hazelnut spread for breakfast, can you please ensure that your child/ren wash their hands and brush their teeth thoroughly. If you have any further information, please contact the school. It is also important that cakes are not sent to school to celebrate birthdays.

Local Area, Photo & Video Permission Note

A local area permission note, a photo permission note and a video permission note has been sent home. We ask that you please fill it in and return it to school by Friday 10th February. Please note that the photo / video permission note will include: local media, Diocesan websites and social media, school websites and social media (Facebook).

Pension or Health Care Card Discount

Did you know that if you have a Health Care Card you may be entitled to a discount on your tuition fees? Applications need to be made every year as circumstances may change. If you think this applies to your family, please see Virginia in the office for the application form.

Update Your Details

It is important that you keep us up to date with all your details. We need to know how to contact you if there is an emergency. If you have not done so in a while, please contact the admin staff via email – admin@muswellbrook.catholic.edu.au to update your:

Phone numbers (landline, business or mobile)
Home address
Email address
Emergency contacts
Illness or allergy information for your child

Canteen

The canteen will reopen on Wednesday 7^th February. We aim to have canteens each Wednesday & Friday. All orders via the QKR App. Please be careful when ordering and ensure you select the correct day.

All orders need to be in by 8am of that day.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact Tahnee in the office.

Please see attached menu for 2024.

Looking forward to a great year.

Mr Aaron Moon
Principal

Religion

Welcome back to our St. James’ community. I hope that you have had a relaxing and refreshing holiday spent with family and friends.  

The St James’ community will celebrate 2024 with an Opening School Liturgy on Thursday 22 February.  Our new school leaders will be receiving their badges at this Liturgy. This year our theme is ‘Follow Me! (Mt 4:19). This invitation is not a mere call to walk alongside Jesus but a summons to be transformed by Him. It’s an invitation to step out of the familiar confines of our personal “boats”, the routines and securities we cling to, and embrace a life marked in trust, faithfulness and love.

This year’s theme, “Follow me,” strongly promotes a profound attitude of love. As we express our love for God, we are inspired to cultivate a compassionate awareness of the needs of those around us. How we demonstrate love becomes paramount, highlighting that our actions towards others matter the most in our journey of faith.

More information regarding the Opening School Liturgy will be coming soon. 

Sacramental Program 2024  

Thank you to those parents who have expressed as interest in the Sacramental program for 2024. If you are interested in your child participating in this parish-run program, to prepare for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation, please email me your name and your child’ name (jane.jacobs@mn.catholic.edu.au)

May your lamp continue to burn stronger and brighter in 2024

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Class News

Stage 2

Dear Families,

Welcome back! We hope you had an enjoyable and restful school holidays and are ready for the year ahead. We are looking forward to getting to know you this year. This term, students will be engaging in a variety of learning experiences across all subjects.

In English, Stage 2 will be engaging in an in-depth novel study of various Roald Dahl books beginning with Fantastic Mr Fox in Year Three and The Twits in Year Four. In Science, Stage 2 will be learning about the Sun, its invisible power, and its effect on Earth. In History, students will be learning about the First Contact with Australia. We will also be engaging in Creative Art this term and entering a show piece into the Muswellbrook Art Show. We are looking forward to engaging in these learning experiences with the children.

This term, the end of term reward is Laser Tag! Children who remain eligible will be able to participate in the last week of term.

Dates for your diaries:
Thursday – Sports Day (Sports uniform should be worn).
Thursday – library borrowing (each week).

Miss Maher (3M), Miss Fitzsimmons (3G), Miss Dafter (4G), Mrs Jane Jacobs & Mrs Mary Ballard (4M)

Learning Support

Dear Families,

Welcome back to our returning families and welcome to our new families who have joined SJM in 2024.

The students’ enthusiastic start to the year has been infectious and the learning support team are excited to help our students to fulfill their learning goals while they learn, laugh and have fun here at St James.

For our new families, you may have heard about, or have noticed our adorable team member Winnie in our playground. Winnie is our wellbeing dog. Winnie is a Cavoodle cross Toy poodle and provides support to students in a number of ways throughout the day including emotional support, recognising signs of anxiety, and helping improve concentration and communication skills. We are so lucky to have Winnie in our school environment and she is loved by students and staff alike.

Lastly, the learning support team would like to continue with our “Tinker Shed” this year. This is an opportunity for our “hands on” students to tinker and play. We have old bikes and tools but would love some wonderful volunteers with handy skills to help out. This will be run during lunch times (11:20-11:40 or 1:30-1:50). So if you are a parent, grandparent, carer and would like to help out with the “Tinker Shed” please contact Mrs Renee Gavin – renee.gavin@mn.catholic.edu.au or Mrs Carissa Mitchell carissa.mitchell@mn.catholic.edu.au

Mrs Renee Gavin
Mrs Carissa Mitchell

SJM Notices

Community Notices

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts