21 March 2025

Our Mission @ SJM

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

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Principal’s Message

Thank You, Year 3 & Year 5 Students!

A big congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students for completing their NAPLAN assessments. We are so proud of your hard work, perseverance, and positive attitude throughout the process.

Thank you for giving your best effort and approaching the assessments with confidence. A special shoutout to our teachers and families for their ongoing support and encouragement.

Well done, everyone.

Have You Heard of ‘The SJM Podcast’?

Our very own SJM Podcast is now in its second year, proudly run by our Year 6 Leaders alongside Mr. Moon. Covering exciting topics, school events, and special interviews, it’s a great way to stay connected with our school community.

You can find The SJM Podcast on Spotify—why not take a listen? A brand-new episode is dropping next week, so stay tuned.

Let us know what you think.

Mother’s Day Stall – Payments on Qkr

Don’t forget - Payments for our Mother’s Day Stall can be made via Qkr. The payment portal will remain open for the rest of this term, close over the holidays, and reopen in Week 1 of next term.

Make sure to secure your spot and get ready to spoil Mum or Grandma with something special.

Uniform Transition – Winter Uniform Reminder

As we transition into the cooler months, students will have the first two weeks of next term to switch over to their winter uniform. From Monday, 12th May (Week 3), full winter uniform will be required.

Thank you for your support in ensuring our students wear the correct uniform with pride.

Student Growth and Progress

It has been wonderful to watch our students grow and develop over the past seven weeks. Their hard work, enthusiasm, and commitment to learning have been truly inspiring.

We are so proud of their achievements and look forward to seeing even more progress in the weeks ahead. Keep up the great work, everyone.

Mr Aaron Moon

Assistant Principal

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy) Online 

Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in the NAPLAN. I am happy to report that our technology worked well, and the students were able to participate experience and develop some of the skills required to confidently complete this assessment online. Well done to Year 3 and 5 students!

TOYS AT SCHOOL 

Just a reminder that students are not permitted to bring toys to school. We have had a few reported incidents of toys starting to appear in classrooms and in the playground. Although it is fun to play with toys at school, it is not fun when that toy is broken or lost, so please check your child’s bag regularly to ensure they are not packing extra items to play with.  

SCHOOL HATS 

Please ensure your child comes to school with a school hat every day. We do not have spare hats at school for them to use. Any student who does not have a hat will be asked to sit on the silver seats under the COLA for lunch breaks. Labelled school hats will be returned to your child if they are found in the playground or lost property. 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. 

 LABELLING ALL SCHOOL ITEMS 

Last week we had quite a few lunchboxes, Tupperware and drink bottles that were not labelled and in the lost property box. Please ensure that everything is labelled with your child’s name in permanent marker or a label that will not peel off easily. This is the only way that lost items will be returned to your child. Do not forget to show your child their labelled items, as this will help them find lost items in the lost property box, the playground or classrooms.

May your light continue to shine

Mrs Jane Jacobs

Religion

We have now entered the third week of Lent. As discussed in the Gospel according to Luke 13:1–9, Jesus reflected on the importance of asking for forgiveness from your sins and if this was not done things would become more challenging. He also made note of the importance of giving chances and taking time to care and nurture. Like the parable of the man planting a fig tree in the vineyard, we too need to ensure we care for each other and our community when we may feel weak or without hope. With careful care then it allows things to thrive, grow and prosper.

In the coming weeks we have our school Holy Week reenactments which is a fantastic way for our community to see Jesus’ final journey brought to life by the students. We welcome everyone to come along and be part of these moments. These reenactments have created many interesting and insightful conversations in classrooms which only deepens students understanding.

Mrs Lauren Gehrig
Religious Education Coordinator

Office Of Safeguarding

Complaints and Concerns - A Positive Approach

Concerns arise at schools for a variety of reasons, sometimes due to the very busy nature of the school environment.

In addition to solid teaching & learning, there are many extra curricula activities to enhance school life and a great deal of coordination is required. Accordingly, many considered decisions are made every day by our professional team to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students, staff and the wider community, and promote learning for all. At the same time, the school community is quite diverse, with many individuals or groups having vastly different opinions on how things should be done.

It is inevitable therefore, that times will arise when some parents agree with the school’s actions while others disagree and wish to discuss the matter and seek clarification with the school. We welcome such discussions and encourage parents to raise issues so that they can be dealt with speedily and resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Raising concerns or seeking clarification is not a negative experience if everyone focuses on it being a solution-focused experience by valuing everyone’s opinions. The following process for presenting and managing parental concerns works well and is the way we manage all concerns at our school.

Complaints Procedure

The following procedure is used to resolve complaints or concerns at our school.

STEP 1: Try and establish the facts before contacting the school. Many concerns are quickly resolved once the parent is aware of all the facts.

STEP 2: In the first instance, speak to your child’s teacher about the matter.

STEP 3: Let the school know via letter, email at admin@muswellbrook.catholic.edu.au, telephone (65433094) or in person at the office, that you have a concern, providing details of the issue.

STEP 4: The school WILL investigate the concern and the most appropriate person will contact you to discuss the matter or organise a meeting. Almost 100% of problems are resolved at this point.

STEP 5: If however, the matter remains unresolved, additional support from a member of the executive or Principal may be required which usually involves a formal appointment to discuss the issue.

STEP 6: Support from the Catholic Schools is sometimes sought to help solve problems. Contact details for the CS Parent Liaison and Resources Officer are available from the Principal or CSO on 49791200.

For further advice, please see https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/contact-the-diocesan-office/complaints-and-feedback/ 

Merit Awards

Class News

ES1

During our Sport lessons this term, the children have been participating in a gross motor rotation, specifically designed to build fundamental movement skills in both locomotor and non-locomotor areas. They have been developing their body awareness, balance, patterns of movement (travelling) and jumping/rolling. They have been thoroughly enjoying these activities but have been plum tuckered out by the end!

Mrs Smith (KG) & Miss Maher (KM)

Stage 1

In maths the children have been leaning about measurement. We have been out in the playground measuring distances with formal and informal units. We have used our feet, our hands, cubes, and counters. We are beginning to use rulers to measure centimetre and metres. Students have worked on their estimating skills. We have also learnt about volume and area.

We continue to practice our knowledge of numbers daily, learning how to combine and separate numbers and learning using the different addition and subtraction strategies. Students regularly complete the number to the day task, showing how we can represent numbers and to be able to identify place value efficiently.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Mitchell (1G), Mr Sabotic (1M), Mrs Ballard/Miss Pritchard (2G) & Mrs Threadgate (2M)

Stage 2

This fortnight, Year 3 students completed NAPLAN. Miss Stephenson and Mrs McLennan are very proud of the Year 3 students and their efforts during NAPLAN. Students should be commended on their commitment to trying their best! 

Stage 2 had a visit from Healthy Harold and Matt from Life Education. The students learnt about the benefits of healthy food for health and energy. Function of the body systems; digestive, respiratory, circulatory and others. Factors that influence physical health, such as nutrition, exercise and medicines. It was very exciting meeting Healthy Harold again this year! 

Students have started training for our school cross country which is on Thursday 27^th March. The students have been practicing by running around Skellatar Oval completing the 2km run.

8/9 Years Boys - 9:10am 
8/9 Years Girls - 9:30am
10 Years - 9:50am 
11 Years - 10:10am 
12/13 Years - 10:30am

• Just a few reminders of what is coming up for the rest of the term.

Week 9 – School Cross Country – Thursday 27^th March
Week 11 – Holy Week Reenactments – Stage 2 Tuesday 8^th April
Week 11 – Easter Hat Parade – Wednesday 9^th April
Miss Stephenson (3G), Mrs McLennan (3M), Mrs Gavin/Mrs Jacobs (4G) & Miss Cooper (4M)

Stage 3

Stage 3 have been very busy this fortnight working hard to achieve their learning goals.

Year 5 have completed all NAPLAN tests over the space of 4 days, Wednesday – Monday. We are extremely proud of their efforts.

Students have started practicing for our School Cross Country which takes place on Thursday 27^th March. Our 11-, 12- and 13-year-old girls have 18 minutes to run 3km and our 11-, 12- and 13-year-old boys have 16 minutes. All students must be given consent on Compass to participate on the day. Times are as follows:

• 11 years 10:10am
• 12/13 years 10:30am

All welcome to attend on Skellatar Oval.

Healthy Harold came to visit us in Week 7 and Week 8. Year 6 were sad to realise that it was their last time with Harold, as he doesn't follow them onto high school next year. Both grades learnt skills around making appropriate decisions and how drugs effect the body.

Our 2025 Holy Week practice has begun. Stage 3 will be reenacting the Stations of the Cross along with the Resurrection.

Mrs Marco (5G), Miss Becus (5M), Mrs Gehrig/Mrs Somerville (6G) & Miss Dafter (6M)

Community Notices

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts