Term 2 Week 6 (6/6/2025)

What is On?

Dear Parents and Carers

I've been away most of the week so the blog is short! At the education conference we spent time looking at sustainability for all schools in the Lismore diocese and how the educational landscape is changing. An interesting few days for us all.

Over the next few weeks we have many catch up events for students. Some are off to Cross Country, some to AFL , some to rugby. It seems that we are a fair bit "out of school"  but if the weather had been kinder these events would have been spread over the whole term.

Speaking of the weather. We are constantly working with the children to look at how we manage when the fields are out of service as they have been for almost 6 weeks. We know we have substantial spaces for the children to access in comparison to other schools but we also know that we usually have the children spread out. This morning Mr Dougherty pumped up and spread out as many sports balls as he could to create an invitation to make as much use of the open areas as possible. We have had children dancing outside my office windows, we have had groups playing down walkways and the library has done brisk business.  We have had extra staff on the open areas to support the children and we will continue with this. 

Thank you for your patience with muddy uniforms, dirty socks and knees which resemble those of a rugby player. These have all been a feature of the playground experience and we thank you for your help in "cleaning up" after home time.

Can we all pray for some fine weather this weekend!

Ann

Mini Vinnies - Annual Winter Appeal

Mini Vinnies- 2025 Annual Winter Appeal

As part of our Annual Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal we are collecting any warm blankets and clothing from our families.  A box is located in the front office for anyone who is able to donate. This Winter Appeal will provide emergency relief to people at risk of and experiencing homelessness, as well as people in our community who are in need of warm supplies this winter. This will be donated to St Vincent De Paul, to assist them in their wonderful work with people in need.

We thank you for your support and generosity. 

Sport News

Cross Country

Good luck to our Cross Country representatives Iyla, Chase, Lenny, Jackson and Athena who will be travelling down to Sydney next week to compete at the Polding Cross Country Championships. We wish them all the best and are sure they will enjoy the opportunity to challenge themselves against some of the best Catholic school runners in the state. 

AFL

Congratulations to Ashton who has spent the last 3 days in Sydney as a member of the Polding AFL team competing at the NSW PSSA AFL Championships. Ashton’s Polding team have played well and won 4 out of 5 games to progress to the 5th/6th place playoff today against Sydney East. We look forward to hearing all about the carnival when Aston returns next week.

A reminder to Stage 3 students that the Paul Kelly Cup is being held in Iluka on Tuesday 17th June. Please check Compass if your child is involved in this event and make sure they have been given consent to attend.

Rugby Union

St James has entered a team into the Stage 3 Diocesan Rugby 10s Carnival being held in Coffs Harbour on Wednesday 18th June. A big thanks to Scott Moore who is running some training sessions at school with the team in the lead up to the event. If your child is involved in this team please keep an eye on Compass for details regarding the event.

Stage 1 News

Thriving Friendships

This term we have been so excited to welcome our school counsellor Laura Hamilton into our room to run a friendships program. We have been learning about the qualities of good friends and reflecting on times when we have been a good friend to others. 

We have discussed the importance of being a good listener, and the impact of body language and facial expressions in our communications. Most recently we have looked at the difference between things we should SAY as opposed to things we should keep as THOUGHTS. 

We all love having Laura in our room and are confident that these sessions will improve our friendship skills for life.

Maths

In Maths we have been learning about shapes. We can name them, list their properties, flip, slide and rotate them! This week we have been creating designs that have a line of symmetry. Check out some of our work below.

Meet our BUMP IT UP WALL!

In English, we have been learning about all the elements of a narrative. We are now constructing our own narrative and using our Writing Goal to help improve our writing. Teachers have been giving students feedback on how they are going with their goal. Once the Writing Goal has been consistently illustrated, students will move their faces up on our Bump It Up Wall. Please ask your child to explain to you their Writing Goal!

Attendance