Week 9 Term 4, 2024

Dear Families,

As we approach the end of the school year and prepare to celebrate the joy of Christmas, I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your support and dedication to our school community. This year has been filled with many blessings, and we are grateful for the continued partnership between families, staff, and students.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

Over the past few weeks, several of our Year 6 students put themselves forward for the role of school captain. They worked hard preparing their speeches, presented them confidently to the entire school, and then faced an interview with Miss Parisotto and myself. I want to commend each nominee for their dedication and effort throughout this process. From my perspective, all of them demonstrated excellent preparation and were deserving of the role. While only two students can be selected as school captains, we have also appointed students to other important leadership positions.

The successful senior leadership students are:

School Captains: Bentley Clapp & Indy Farr

Vice Captains / Mission Leaders: Sophie Broad & Hamish Simpson

Sports Leaders: Tom Pammenter & Flynn Thomas

Eco-Leaders (Name TBD): Sid Clark & Finn Home

Library Leader: Rosie Richmond

Our goal is to nurture the leadership potential in all students. Every student, regardless of year level or title, has the opportunity to lead, and we look forward to seeing these qualities grow throughout the year.

We thank this semester's SRC leaders. They will be presented with certificates on the last day of school at our Advent liturgy on Thursday 12^th December at 9am.

May this Christmas season bring peace, love, and joy to your homes. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year, ready to continue our journey together.

Wishing you a blessed and merry Christmas!

Martin 

REMINDER ABOUT GRADUATION NIGHT

Just a reminder that this Tuesday evening 10^th December is our Thanksgiving Mass and Graduation Night. Please don't forget to bring a salad to share (nut free).

• 5:45pm – Students to meet class teachers in classrooms
• 6:00pm – Mass in Church
• 7:00pm -  Shared meal.
• 7:30pm – Year 6 Graduation in Church Hall, End of year awards and Thank You's.
• 8:00pm – Event concludes

If your family is unable to attend, please contact the principal via email (principal@stjames.catholic.edu.au), send a note into the office or phone the school.

As we come to the end of the second-year learning Auslan at St James we acknowledge and congratulate our students’ achievements and progress.

Auslan is not just about learning the signs for words, it has its own grammatical rules that usually start with the subject and ends with the verb. English on the other hand follows the Subject-Verb Object structure.

Auslan also relies on a combination of hand shapes, orientation (direction of your palm and hand in relation to your body), movements, and facial expression to deliver messages. Facial expressions are an important part of the Auslan language, they convey feelings, emphasis, and demonstrates whether a question is being asked, or a statement is being made. 

Our students in years 4-6 have been working on writing a Christmas story which they will translate from traditional English to Auslan sign (using correct grammatical structures).

Please take a look through the lost property as there are lots of hats, jumpers and containers.

POP UP OP SHOP

Are you having a clean out before Christmas? The hall will be open on Wednesday 11^th from 9:30 - 3 for anyone wanting to drop off donations. If during the holidays you would like to off load any items, please text Annie 0417870611 to arrange a time for drop off.   

CAROLS IN THE PARK

On Sunday 15^th December, students from St James School will be singing at the local Carols in the Park at the Memorial Park in Jamestown. If your child would like to join the choir singing, please return the form via Operoo, or let Ms Annie O'Reilley or Miss Georgia Parisotto know as soon as possible.

Enrolments are open for the beginning of 2025 and for the 2025 Mid Year Intake. Please contact the school and register your interest and book a discovery school tour.

Children who turn 5 on or before 30th April can begin school in Term 1 of 2025.