18 October 2023

Our Mission @ SJM

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

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Principal’s Message

I do hope you all had a relaxing holiday. The Moon clan had a relaxing break at home. A lovely chance to just sit back, relax and fill my cup.

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

There are lots of events happening at SJM this term and, in particular, in the coming weeks. Please keep abreast of what’s happening ion Facebook and via COMPASS.

I can’t wait to see you all next week for our school concert. It looks to be a fun night!

Staffing

I would like to inform the SJM community that Mrs Tahnee Dureau has been appointed to the permanent position of Clerical Officer at SJM. Congrats Tahnee.

We still have one permanent position that is currently advertised. Please share this with anyone you know that might be interested in joining the team here at SJM.

Mr Aaron Moon
Principal

Assistant Principal

Welcome to Term 4 – our last term for 2023 – where has the time gone?

Behaviour expectations at SJM 

As we move into the last term, term 4 of 2023, we would like to continue with high expectations of behaviour and reduce any negative behaviours. I would like to reinforce our four baseline behaviours, so that you can use the same language at home with your child when you are encouraging a renewed strengthening of behaviour for the remainder of the term. 

1. Respect yourself, each other, and the environment. 
2. Right place. Right time. Right task. 
3. Think. Act. 
4. Kind words. Kind actions. 

At this stage, our reward at the end of Term 4 is a Water fun – slip and slide, water bombs and a dunking machine for those students who are displaying the appropriate behaviour this term. Your child will not be eligible for this reward if they receive the following throughout the term: 

1 x Base 4 
2 x Base 3 
3 x Base 2 
9 x Base 1 or a total of 18 demerits.

Please have a chat to your child’s teacher if you require any more information about the behaviour system here at SJM.  

WHOLE DAY ABSENCES FROM SCHOOL 

It is important that your child is at school as many days as possible. Here is 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 several ways: 

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

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 before 7 days elapses. 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.  

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, or they are absent because they are a household contact 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 is not 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 

Do not forget to label everything! This is the only way that lost items will be returned to your child. Now is a suitable time to make sure all school items have your child’s name in permanent marker or a label that will not peel off easily. Do not forget to show your child their labelled items … this will help them when they come to ask us for help finding lost items. Please check lost property as there are many items left for pick up.

MUSHROOM PROJECT SUCCESS and CHICKEN PROJECT TERM 4

Thank you to the Australian Mushroom Growers Association and all our staff and students for taking part in our hugely successful Mushroom Growing project. Everyone who took part had varied success with growing the fungi. Drum roll please....

Mrs Douglas in the library and 6G are the winners of the best kept mushrooms’ prize. Congratulations!

We will be looking after chickens this term and next year. We have had a donation of a chicken coop which will be arriving this term from Mr. Feeney, and he has chickens ready for us when we get set up. The chickens will be ready to lay eggs and need looking after by our students. We will be incubating eggs and hatching chicks once we have established our chickens’ new home. If you would like to get involved, please let Mrs. Feeney know. 

Reminiscing on the decades

Mrs Helen Feeney

Religion

Grandparents Day

Grandparents are extremely important and special in every family, and it is always wonderful to see so our grandparents at SJM. The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this year’s celebration is: “His mercy is from age to age” (Luke 1: 50).

This year we will be celebrating our grandparents on Monday 30 October at our Monday morning assembly. All our SJM Grandparents are welcome to attend our Monday morning assembly and then we will have open classrooms until 10am.

SOCKTOBER LAUNCH: CATHOLIC MISSIONS

Last Tuesday the Captains and I were able to participate in the first Diocesan event for Socktober. We headed to McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle in which we participated in liturgy, Socktober activities and shared lunch on the hill. The captains and I look forward to sharing more with you on our Socktober day later this month.

Socktober for SJM will be on Friday 27 October. Students will make a soccer ball using recyclable materials in class and then challenge another class or have a student comp to see who can kick a goal using their socktober ball. We will have other soccer activities that classes will be able to participate in on the day.

For more information regarding Socktober and if you would like to make a donation 

MISSION DAY @ SJM

SJM Mission Day will be on THURSDAY 2 November in the SJM Courtyard. This activity allows the SJM Community to support the Catholic Missions. Catholic Mission operates in over 160 countries to support initiatives in 1,100 dioceses, including remote Australia. Grassroots needs are identified by local Catholics, to give people the opportunity for a full, enriched life—physically and spiritually—regardless of race, stigma, religion or gender.

All funds raised during our Mission Day Activities will be forwarded to support Catholic Missions in their many different areas. If you would like more information about Catholic Missions and how you can help

May your light continue to shine brightly

Mrs Jane Jacobs
Religious Education Coordinator

Awards

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 2 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.  

The children are becoming very excited about our upcoming trip to Hunter Valley Zoo. We encourage everyone to bring plenty of water and plenty of food for our trip and please remember to pack your child’s hat.

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 Trishelle Threadgate

Stage 1

Dear Stage 1 Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 4. We hope that you had an enjoyable and restful break over our school holidays. This term is as always, an extremely busy but exciting term of learning and events. The students have been very excited to be back, eager to hear about some of the wonderful learning experiences being planned as well as re-connecting with their peers and friends.

We commenced Term 4, with a wonderful incursion hosted by Musica Viva. The performance was titled “Lost Histories.” The students thoroughly enjoyed the performance and learnt many key elements in Music and experienced a range of appreciation elements.

Year Two are participating in their excursion on Wednesday November 1^st to Oakvale Wildlife Park and the Newcastle Museum “Super Nova Exhibit.”  Details are available via the COMPASS event. The students and staff are really looking forward to a fantastic educational and enjoyable learning experience.

In Week 6, students commence participating in a school-based Gymnastics program as part of their Physical Education lessons. Further information will be provided in the coming weeks and any changes to sport uniforms/day will be clearly communicated to families.

Class teachers are also working on their Term Four Newsletters. This document contains lots of important information about what your child is learning about in each Key Learning Area as well as important date reminders. Please check on COMPASS this week and we encourage you to review this information in order to stay connected to what is occurring in classrooms 

Preparations for our Concert Night performances have been underway for several weeks now. Mr Moon posted to COMPASS the Concert Nigh flyer. A few reminders:

When: Wednesday 25th October (week 3)

Where: St James’ School Hall

Time: 6pm (Doors open at 5:30pm).

Students must be taken to their classrooms by 5:30pm. Class teachers may have sent out some additional information regarding what students need to wear, requests for any assistance regarding costumes or props and a reminder to let teachers know if your child cannot attend so any speaking or acting parts can be modified.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher for any questions you may have regarding your child’s learning. Thank you for your ongoing communication and cooperation.

Kind Regards,

Miss Fitzsimmons(1G), Mr Sabotic-Mrs Whithead (1M), Miss Cooper (2M), Miss Becus (2G)

Stage 2

Dear parents/carers, 

We hope everyone had a fantastic break! The students are back in good spirits ready to finish the year on a high. These last ten weeks will be busy, however there is a lot to look forward too, including Gymnastics starting in Week 6 and of course Christmas Craft. We can’t believe it is term four already! On our first day back at school, we had Musica Viva come and visit. They sang some songs and played musical instruments for us. We enjoyed singing along with them.

On Friday, we had an excursion to Newcastle which involved various modes of transport. We visited Nobbys Beach, Fort Scratchley, the Newcastle Museum and caught a Ferry. It was a very fun filled day, although lots of us are very tired! Thank you  to our parent helpers, we could not have done it without you! We commend the students on their behaviour throughout the trip.

We have started practicing for our upcoming drama production as a stage. The students are working extremely hard on their given parts, it is all coming together very nicely, and we are very excited to show you on the night. Details have been sent out via compass for the show, there will be no tickets for sale on the door so please get in early. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Maths in 3M:

3M have been working hard on practicing “teaching” their peers. This week in maths we have been working on addition and subtraction strategies. Formal algorithm is one of the tricker strategies, but by the end of the week, all the children in 3M could show their friend how to use formal algorithm to solve challenging maths problems. Take a look! 

Photos from our Excursion:

Mr Cody Somerville, Mrs Jane Dengate, Miss Gabrielle Dafter, Mrs Jane Jacobs, Mrs Mary Ballard

Stage 3

Dear Stage 3 Parents and Carers,

Stage 3 hopes you had a restful holiday and recharged your batteries ready for more learning and fun at St James. We look forward to our concert in Week 3 please ensure you have your clothing and items needed for the production in a labelled bag by end of week 1.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher for any questions you may have regarding your child’s learning. Thank you for your ongoing communication and cooperation.

End of Term 4 reward this term is Water fun! Slip and slide, dunking machine and lots of wet fun.

Kind Regards,

Leader of Wellbeing

Welcome to Mental Health Month.

At SJM we use a program called Grow your mind as part of our PDHPE learning to help build student mental health. This program provides engaging, evidence-based positive mental health strategies for educators, children and families. You can access their resources as well at 

We all have mental health, but we aren’t always healthy. Same as our physical, emotional and spiritual health we have to work on it, we have to look after ourselves to be healthy in all these areas. Sometimes we need medicine, exercise, to eat better, to sleep more. We all have moments when we need to take better care of ourselves. It is a struggle to look after ourselves and others in all these areas of health all the time. The same applies for our mental health.

My challenge for you for Mental health month is to compliment a stranger, do something you love doing at least 3 times, do something helpful for someone you love. Three simple things to help you and help others. Little steps to help our mental health and the mental health of others.

 For more information about Mental Health Month you can visit 

I hope you're having a magnificent day,

Mrs Trishelle Threadgate
Leader of Wellbeing

Gifted Education Mentor News

Dear Parents and Carers,

SJM held their first learning showcase on Thursday September 21st for students who were invited to participate in an Interest Based Project. Students chose a topic and or learning area to explore and developed a project-based presentation to showcase various individual strengths, learning and skills. Students learnt a great deal about themselves as learners; from planning, overcoming challenges, organisational skills and persisting in completing a given task over an extended timeframe. Each student was required to set up a table within our hall and display their learning project and explain the process and product to their families, teachers and peers from Kindergarten to Year Six. As part of differentiating our learning environment, the opportunity to showcase learning through a variety of applications and to a broad and real-life audience was priceless. I would like to thank all our families, staff and students who supported and encouraged each learner. The nerves and anticipation that morning was soon overtaken by a sense of confidence, enthusiasm, pride and enjoyment in sharing their learning journey. A huge congratulations to each student on their wonderful work and achievements. We hope to build on this concept in 2024 and broaden the areas for students to showcase their learning.

As Gifted and Education Mentor in 2023, I have offered a range of enrichment activities each Term for students. They have covered various learning or extra-curricular activities. This has included Chess, Tournament of Minds and Project Club. This Term on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have opened an enrichment opportunity for students in K-2. The club is limited to 20 students per lunchtime, and we will focus on providing some fun yet challenging memory- Mathematics and counting games, general knowledge quizzes, English games-activities, Drama-public speaking, Lego construction and Creative Arts tasks. Students also have an opportunity to teach some of the content to one another as a great way to build social and learning connections. The learning club as always is optional, occurs at 2^nd half lunchtimes after eating and is open to all students at this K-2 age group. In this way we hope to encourage curiosity in learning, co-operative learning skills and at the same time challenge one’s own knowledge and skills in a fun-game based environment.

In Term Four, I will be working with class teachers and students within their Mathematics lessons to provide additional support around inquiry based and open-ended challenge tasks. The opportunity to collaborate with class teachers and assist students in their learning, is a wonderful chance to continue to spark enthusiasm, and build upon knowledge and skills in this Key Learning Area of Mathematics.

Mr Bradley Sabotic
Gifted Education Mentor

What’s on in the Library

Book Fair

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair will commence this week from:  

Thursday 19th October to Wednesday 25th October.   

Book Fair is open to parents, each afternoon, between 3.00pm and 4.00pm. 

If you are unable to attend, students may place their order in an envelope, clearly marked with their name, class, books and the amount.   

Payment is made ONLINE ONLY, there will be no cash payments accepted. EFTPOS is available for parents in the library.

The fair will be open to students, at second lunch.

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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

Community Notices

St. James’ P & F Association

P&F Committee Contacts