Dear Parents,

It feels as though the year has just commenced, yet we are heading towards the official end of Term 1.

As advised this afternoon via email, ALL meetings and gatherings are cancelled next week (including the Sacrament of Reconciliation).

Liturgy and sacramental guidelines

Yesterday, the Bishops of Victoria issued new guidelines regarding the celebration of liturgies and sacraments. Public liturgies, celebrations of Mass, and other gatherings such as funerals, weddings and baptisms have been suspended. Clergy have been encouraged to celebrate Mass privately and the Bishops encourage us all to participate spiritually.

All Catholics in Victoria are dispensed from their Sunday obligation until further notice.

The full letter is available on the CECV website.

At this stage the term will end at 1.30pm on Friday 27th March. School will recommence on Tuesday 14th April unless the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne otherwise advises.

I would like to assure all parents that the staff at St James have been working around the clock planning and preparing work for the students in the event that we are closed. This Home Learning Module would be shared in the event of a COVID-19 confirmation and subsequent closure. If families and students are self isolating and will not be at school for the remainder of the term, they are encouraged to work on Mathletics, Reading, Creative writing and set weekly homework. Some classes are already using Google Classrooms, in which case students can refer to their respective page.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the students, parents, staff and school community for the many ways that you have all assisted and supported St James. We are all very proud of the lovely school and community we have.

Social media is currently consumed with all sorts of COVID-19 information. Pope Francis yesterday shared a prayer, tweeting that now is the time to pray together. During this season of lent we encourage everyone to pause and pray. Given the current pandemic, lets stop and pray….

Dear God, today we pray for all those who are working to guarantee public services: those working in pharmacies, supermarkets, transportation, police officers, and for all those working to allow social and civil life to go ahead.

We also offer our prayers for all the people in the world who sadly have succumbed to this pandemic, may they rest in peace.

Amen

Reflection:

As a family take turns in to sharing how you can make a difference during this season of lent, How can we reach out to others?

School Assemblies

In accordance with Government Guidelines our School Assemblies for Term 1 and 2 are postponed until further notice.

(Please refer to the St James parent Google Calendar for additional Information)

Easter Raffle

Please continue to purchase raffle tickets on the following cdfpay link - https://stjamesbrighton.cdfpay.org.au/

Thank you in anticipation to everyone in our school community who has and will contribute in big or small ways to help many great activities come to life. From donating, to wrapping Easter prizes. You are all so generous with your time, thank you. At this stage the Easter raffle will be drawn and winners announced on Friday 27th March.

Social Distancing COVID-19 at School

To reduce the spread of germs at school we are reminding students to wash their hands and maintain the required personal space.

If your child is sick, please do not send them to school (or childcare)

Sanitise hands when entering school and at regular intervals

Defer activities that lead to mixing between classes and years

Avoid queuing and consider cancelling school assemblies

Promote a regular handwashing schedule

Clean and disinfect high touch surfaces regularly

Conduct lessons outdoors where possible

Consider opening windows and adjusting conditioning for more ventilation

Promote strictest hygiene among food preparation (canteen) staff and their close contacts

Please click to access information from the Australian Government on Social Distancing.

Sibling Enrolment 2021

If you are an existing parent who has a little one commencing next year please submit an application form to include your child for a later interview.

School Tours / Open Days

POSTPONED - but St James is still accepting enrolment applications for 2021

Little Jimmy’s Playgroup 2020

POSTPONED due to the current circumstances

All Students now have access to their 2020 Mathletics class groups. If there are any concerns with logging in please email either your child’s classroom teacher or myself.

ccorio@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

Library / Learning Hub

Please find attached the Library / Learning Hub Timetable for Term 1. All students in Years F-6 can borrow take home books. These books will be scanned out of the library. Please remember to bring along your red or blue library bags and or another suitable bag to protect the books. Each week students can borrow 1 or 2 books, however as we are getting closer to the school holidays we are encouraging students to borrow three books to read over the school holidays.

School Promo video

Just in case you missed it… here is the link to our new school promotional video

We are very excited to be sharing for the first time our new School Promotional video. We thank Karen O’Sullivan and her team for working with staff, students, parents and grandparents late last year in putting together this clip, which celebrates who we are at St James. We encourage all families to like and share the video on the School’s social media platforms.

Please click here to watch the video.

All teachers have begun exploring Seesaw as a medium for sharing student learning. Please note that collectively as a teaching staff we are in the early stages of learning about and making use of this student portfolio AAP. As this is a learning time for staff and students, there is not yet a consistent approach to the frequency of posting. Further information will be shared as together we continue on our Seesaw learning journey.

Facebook

We are pleased to share with you our newly created Facebook business page. The purpose of this page is to:

Advertise and publicise important events including open day tours and enrolment information

Share general information about our school with the local community

We will also share useful resources, videos and websites that engage and empower parents to participate in their child's education

We invite you to both like and follow our page via the link below:

What's On & Worth Noting

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS