Acting Principal's News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Well here we are, one sleep to go and that's a wrap on the 2022 School year! This year has come and gone so quickly. Whilst COVID-19 still surrounds us, it has not prevented us from coming together and celebrating as a school and community. We have been able to return to a new normal, Christmas Carols, Art Shows, gatherings in the School Hall, to name but a few.

This year I commenced the year as Deputy Principal and co sharing a 3/4 classroom with Mrs Jess Conway, working alongside an amazing team of teachers in particular Cathy Busch and Sarah Contin.

Over the last 5 weeks I have been privileged to take on the role of Acting Principal at St James. It has been such an amazing journey to date and I am happy to announce that I will continue in this role into 2023 until an appointment of a Principal is made.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire Staff at St James who have worked tirelessly throughout the year and been so supportive. Their continued dedication to education ensuring that each child is provided with the opportunities to fully flourish makes St James the great place that it is.

To the leadership team who have supported decision making within the school, always striving for continuous school improvement and seeking innovative and contemporary learning experiences for the students. Thank you to Emma Herbert, Georgia McNamara, Belinda Mihalicek and Cassandra Elliott.

To Ange, Imelda and Iris in the front office. Thank you for making St James tick like clock work! There is never a task too small or too large.

Thank you to the members of the School Advisory Council: Helen Connell (Chairperson), Mel Harrington, Peter Hodgens, Catherine Fowler, Paul Cheshire, Sally Burns and to our Parents Association co-chairs Connie Sands and Virginia Pullman for their ongoing support in building the school and community. I extend this gratitude to all of our Parent Reps who have supported so many amazing school activities this year.

To our Graduating class for 2023

Whilst tomorrow is your last day here at St James, you are and always will be a member of the St James school community. Please know that you are always welcome to come and visit at any time.

Treasure the memories and friends that you have made here at St James. Many of you commenced St James in Prep, some of you knew how to write your names and some of you didn’t. Today you graduate from St James, think of the knowledge which you have gained and how you apply this the skills you have acquired and developed as you all venture off into secondary school.

Please remember the people who made this possible. First and foremost you parents and families, for choosing St James and supporting you during your time here. Secondly, your teachers, who have all contributed to your learning journey in so many different ways. Your peers, who have been there along the way celebrating good times and supporting you in challenging times. And ultimately YOU! Everyday you have engaged in your learning, you’ve made mistakes and learnt from them. You have had a go each day and tried your very best. With our knowledge, each day you have continued to learn and develop your knowledge and understanding you have achieved the hopes and dreams of your parents and teachers, that you can leave St James ready to take on the new learning and adventures at secondary school.

Congratulations and well done to each and every one of you. May God bless and protect you all and guide you as you journey into the next stage of your lives.

We are so very proud of you

all.

And remember, no matter what Melbourne weather may throw at you, continue to have fun and make the most of every opportunity presented!

To our leaving Families

Thank you for choosing St James for your child and contributing in so many ways to our school and community. Some of you have helped shape the school as Parent Representatives, School Advisory Council Members and Parents Association members. Others have supported our school and community at Eucharist and Confirmation lunches, incursions, excursions, parent helpers in the classroom, sporting events and the list goes on. Thank you for the many diverse ways you have enabled our school and community to flourish, supporting your child’s learning at St James.

We thank you and wish you all the very best in the years ahead.

Flexi Schools - Canteen 2023

Next year we will be using Flexischools to order school lunches. This will remove the need to search for loose coins when ordering from the STAR canteen. Thank you to Virginia Pullman for championing this initiative.

Flexischools Community.pdf

Year 1 - 6 Student Assessment Interviews / Testing Days 2023

Next year to gain further information and develop a profile of your child’s literacy and numeracy development, your child classroom teacher will be interviewing your child using specific assessments at the beginning of the 2023 school year.

The testing will take place over two days, Monday 30th January and Tuesday 31st January 2023.

Tomorrow an Operoo containing further information and a link to School Interviews will be shared for you to make an appointment for your child. Please note that new families will be sent an email with instructions.

Staff leaving

In previous correspondence I communicated that Mrs Sarah Black, Miss Sarah Contin and Mrs Cassandra Elliot, will be leaving at the end of the school year. Today I’m sharing that Mrs Belinda Mihalicek will also be leaving us to work closer to home.

Both Sarah Black and Sarah Contin have brought such enthusiasm and excitement to St James in their 3 and 4 years respectively. We thank them for the dedication to teaching and wish them all the best in the next stage of their careers.

Mrs Belinda Mihalicek has been with us this year and has been our Numeracy / Intervention leader. Mrs Cassandra Elliott has been with us for a short period and in that time has been a Year 2 classroom teacher and the Literacy leader. Both Belinda and Cassandra have also been members of the leadership team.

I wish to thank them both for their time at St James and for the invaluable support and dedication which they have offered. We wish them all the best in their respective careers.

I’m currently in the process of finalising the appointment of two part time staff members who will work collaboratively within our existing staff structure for 2023.

Staff Appointments for 2023

Literacy 2023

I am pleased to announce that Mrs Antoinette Ferrari and Mrs Amanda Joplin will be sharing the Literacy leader and Literacy intervention roles in 2023. Both Antoinette and Amanda are very passionate about literacy and will support both staff and students. Both Antoinette and Amanda will continue to maintain their part time classroom teaching commitments as previously communicated.

Numeracy 2023

Yesterday I shared with staff the appointment of Mrs Jess Conway and Miss Bridier Slater as our Numeracy leaders next year. Both Jess and Bridie are passionate classroom teachers who enjoy teaching math. In previous years Mrs Jess Conway has been a Maths Leader. Miss Bridie Slater is passionate about teaching maths and embedding opportunities for STEM where possible.

Both Jess and Bridie will continue to maintain their classroom teaching commitments in 2023, with some time release allocated to them to increase the profile of maths at St James.

We congratulate our newly appointed staff and look forward to them leading Literacy and Numeracy at St James.

Due to last minute staff changes I’m currently in the process of finalising staffing for 2023. The staffing organisation will be shared with the school community next week. One thing I can share is that in 2023 we will return to straight classes Prep - 6. I look forward to sharing the staffing line up with you all, once it is confirmed.