Term 4 Week 3 2021 (22/10/2021)
What Is On?
Tuesday 26th October- Soctober Fundraiser & virtual guest speaker
Friday 5th November - School Awards Assembly via zoom
Tuesday 14th December- Awards Assembly
Tuesday 14th December- Graduation (Tavern booked but restricted numbers)
Wednesday 15th December - Last Day School term 4 for students
Sport Dates 2022
Carnival Dates 2022
Swimming
-School - Yamba, Friday 4th Feb
-Zone - Maclean, Wednesday 16th Feb
-Dio - Murwillumbah, Wednesday 23rd Feb
-Polding - Sydney - Tuesday 22nd March
Cross Country
-School - Yamba, Thursday 7th April
-Zone - Grafton, TBC
-Dio - Grafton, Tuesday 24th May
-Polding - Tuesday 7th June
Athletics
-School - Yamba, Friday 24th June
-Zone - Coffs Harbour, Wednesday 20th July
-Dio - Lismore, Friday 12th August
-Polding - Newcastle, Friday 9th September
Dear Parents and Carers
I had a lovely morning today meeting all our newest learners as they began the adventure of school. We have gotten to know these children as we met in 'Kiss n Drop' and are excited to have them at school. Seventeen siblings and eight new families were made very welcome by the Early Stage 1 team of Mrs Ferguson, Mrs O'Halloran and Mrs Imeson. This team will go forward into 2022 as the learning team.
This week we have had training in COMPASS which will support our school in communication, record keeping and finance. By the end of the year every familiy will be asked to download the COMPASS app.
Why I hear you ask?
The Diocese is moving all the schools in the Clarence Valley to a new system. This system will intergrate St James with McAuley Catholic College and assist the Diocese in managing the reporting and financial requirements of the new company structure.
What I like:
- Ordering canteen online
- Permissons and payments online for just about everything including excursions, sport and fees.
- Really good calendars for Stages, News feeds, reminders, newsletters, bookings for meetings and more targeted communication with classes.
My favourite thing is that it is all in one app. Everything will come from the school using this app and permissions, absences, orders and finance all work within this platform.
We have waitied a long time for this and are very excited to finally have a viable structure in place.
I'll stop raving now and get ready for the weekend.
Ann
RE News
Title: ‘Anggaliya’ (The Calling)
Artist: © Frances Belle Parker (Yaegl)
Medium: Acrylic on linen Dimensions: 100cm (h) x 150cm (w)
Year: 2021
‘Anggaliya’ (The Calling), 2021; is an artwork created specifically for the students, teachers and friends of St James Primary School. It tells the story of St James fishing in the Sea of Galilea with his father and John the Apostle, and is intertwined with Yaegl spirituality and mythology. The painting depicts three figures in a canoe, on the sea with a school of brightly coloured fish swimming toward them. A bright yellow and orange sun features prominently at the top. An aerial map of our coastline and country overlays the painting, containing various symbols.
In this work the sun represents Jesus as a bright, strong and powerful being, calling St James and all people to him. St James sits in the centre of the boat and has been purposefully depicted without too many details to reflect his humble service. The fish that swim toward the boat, the abundant catch that Jesus blessed St James with, represent the school community of St James – they are all different colours and shapes to represent the community’s cultural diversity. Behind the fish are various strokes that represent movement, change, and the flow of our river, Biirrinba (the Clarence River).
The overlay imagery that maps Biirrinba winding its way inland toward Maclean, the coastline of Yamba, Iluka, and Lake Wooloweyah is important for tying this artwork to our unique Yaegl land. It is a place we are all proud to call home and features so prominently here to reflect our reverence.
The various markings throughout the work, particularly in the river, represent the various paths we take in life. The circular symbols represent community, togetherness, reconciliation and peace.
The work also incorporates, acknowledges and pays respect to Yaegl dreamtime. The boat that St James sits in can also be seen as symbolising our Yaegl story of the stone canoe. There are many different variations of this story but we have come to acknowledge that Dirrangun (referenced in many Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, and Bundjalung stories) was an angry old woman who presided over Biirrinba cast her son and two grandchildren out into the ocean, turning their canoe to stone and letting it rest just off Angourie point. The Yaegl people have a fearful respect for Dirrangun and acknowledge her role in shaping our land and river.
This work is intended as one of hope, prosperity, respect and peace. It should bring a sense of calm to anyone seeking direction or guidance.
More information on Dirrangun and the stone canoe can be found at the following link
https://surfingworld.com.au/dirrungan/
We are honoured to hang our new painting in our school foyer. We are excited for our community to view the painting, when restrictions ease in the future.
A big thank you to Wayne Gilholm for hanging our beautiful painting.
“SOCKTOBER” IN OCTOBER- SAVE THE DATE Tuesday 26th October!
Socktober is an initiative of Catholic Mission and one way that our school can fundraise and engage in advocacy and formation activities for Catholic Mission during World Mission Month in October. Next Tuesday 26th October students and staff are asked to wear their crazy socks to school and bring a gold coin donation to fundraise to support the Church’s work in Thailand, building a strong education system through skilled teachers and improving education outcomes for less fortunate students and their families. Thank you for your generous contributions.
Renee Howland
Leader of SEACs
Little J's
Oh what an exciting FIRST Little J’s Transition day! Today we explored the school environment, played games, visited the library and climbed the playground equipment. Little J’s have begun to learn each other's names and follow some BIG school rules. The dinosaur space, play kitchen, transport area and lego spaces were a hit! I wonder what adventures we will get up to next week?
ES1
ES1 students have been learning about the wonders of God’s creation in Religion. We have explored the wonderful Bush Playground at the back of our school. We took binoculars, magnifying glasses and ipads to examine closely and record our observations. We discovered many insects and not many birds as there was a big storm coming! Kindergarten also made a fantastic book with Mrs Hollington, to be read to the Little J children. This book will teach Little J’s about all the places that are at BIG school.
Stage 1
We have been exploring poetry in English over the last few weeks. We have been learning about the language features that help us to create poetry such as rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia and repetition. Some styles that we have experimented with and composed are: rhyming verse, diamante, colour, free verse and cinquain poems.
Some fantastic examples:
Stage 2
Stage 3
