Faith & Wellbeing

WELLBEING

Hello Everyone, and welcome back to school. 

For those of you who don’t know me I am the Student Wellbeing Leader at St James.  I am available to the students on most days in the “Well Done Office” which I share with the Learning Support Officers(LSO’s). 

Although our school and community are the most awesome places, we can’t expect everything to go well for everyone all the time, so I am here to assist the students and parents should they need someone to talk to or need some advice on how best to support our community. Throughout the year I frequently have visitors who need to talk about playground issues, a bad morning or something that is troubling them. I even help the teachers when they need support around how to support students in their class. All classrooms have a star system that students can use when they wish to come to the office for some Wellbeing care.

Along with the Wellbeing Team (Brendan Flanagan, Karlee Agnew, Corey Payton, Maureen Flanaganand myself) we have been working hard over the last few months to make St James the best Wellbeing School it can be. We have expanded out team over the last 12months to include Corey-our School Chaplain, Adele our speech pathologist and our new occupational therapist. 

Return To School-The new first day of school photo!

Returning to school this year is very different even to last year. Not only do our families have the usual list of emotions to contend with, excitement and happiness as well as frustration and anxiety. They also this year have the added worries around increased COVID cases and the hope that we will have a full year of onsite learning, many of our families may have also had first hand experience with COVID. 

The RAT program has begun at St James this week and we thank all families for taking part. It is important to note that many of our students will appear asymptomatic but may develop symptoms once their test turns positive, this way we can hopefully alleviate much of the transmission from occurring. Please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any concerns in regards to this program. It is important that if you do have a child test positive you follow the step by step process sent to families earlier in the week. 

Transitioning to a new classroom, teacher, routines and even for some a new school can take time to adjust. During this time of adjustment and new routines including rapid antigen testing we need to be mindful of our organisation and preparation, making sure we are prepared for new experiences which can take a lot of work. Having a morning routine for the school days helps our children to begin the day in a calm and positive way. The most useful way to get out the door and on time to school is to set up a morning routine. 

2022 Safer Internet Day

Tuesday 8th February is Safer Internet Day.  The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) encourages students, families, schools and communities to ‘start the chat’ about online safety through provision of a range of resources and activities. All classes will be participating in activities prompting the safe use of the internet.  

Mrs Georgia McNamara

Student Wellbeing Leader

gmcnamara@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

School Chaplain - Bio

Hello my name is Corey Payton and I am the Chaplain at St James Primary. 

This is my second year with the St James Community and it is a pleasure to be a part of such a supportive community. 

I was born in Perth, to a family of 3 older brothers and one younger sister, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year, I’m blessed to have them. I have a lovely wife, Leisl and two beautiful girls, Evelyn (4) and Tahlia (1). I have a Bachelor and Masters in Theology and a Diploma in Life Coaching. I have two business’s, one a Videography business and the other a Life Coaching business. So I have quite a lot of experience that I can draw from when supporting your child for the demands that life can bring.

Two of my passions are faith and wellbeing. We all know how important it is to have a strong foundation in our children’s life for the journey of life. So I am excited to support your child's emotional and spiritual wellbeing as part of the Wellbeing Team.

Last year I had many one on one sessions with children, I helped run a course on social skills with a group of three children, I contribute to the newsletter on wellbeing topics and I supported kids at school learning during lock downs. This year, while continuing the one-on-ones and social skills group, I will be running a group session called Seasons for Growth which is about supporting children through times of loss.

Feedback that I have received from students and teachers last year was that I can be very easy going, a good listener, and able to understand without being judgmental. I look forward to continuing these qualities in working with the Wellbeing Team and your Child.

I will be available two days a week, normally Thursday and Friday. You can connect with me via my email if you would like the assistance I provide, or your child/ren's teacher. I will then send you a permission form to work with your child, and once permission is given, I can start weekly or fortnightly check in’s with your child to make sure they have the support they need for their wellbeing.

Mr Corey Payton

St James School Chaplain

cpayton@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

First and foremost I would like to welcome back all our families and hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and New Year. We look forward to another great year ahead at St James.

Term 1 R.E

This Term is a very important term for our school community with Lent and Easter already fast approaching. We begin the year with our Whole School Liturgy led by the Year 5 students next Thursday the 10th February. As we are unable to come together as a community, year levels will gather in their classrooms to celebrate the Liturgy at 10am. A link will be available on Thursday via the parent portal.

Over the coming weeks, students will begin to explore the scriptures and traditions of Lent beginning with Shrove Tuesday (Tuesday 1st March) and Ash Wednesday (Wednesday 2nd March). During the final week of the term, we will be gathering as a school community to share Jesus’ journey during Holy Week with each other (please see below for dates). 

Sacrament of Reconciliation

This term our Year 3 students will be preparing and celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This will be held on Wednesday 16th March during the school day. We will be holding an online information session on Wednesday 18th of February at 6:00pm. More information will be sent out closer to the date.

Please do not hesitate to contact either myself or your classroom teacher if you have any questions regarding the sacrament.

Important Dates

February

Thursday 10th - Online Whole School Beginning of School Liturgy 

Wednesday 16th - Year 3 Sacrament of Reconciliation Online Information Session at 6:00pm

March

Tuesday 1st - Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday 2ndt - Ash Wednesday Liturgy (TBC)

Wednesday 18th - Sacrament of Reconciliation

April 

Monday 3rd - Beginning of Holy Week Liturgies (Timetable will be shared shortly)

For Parish Newsletters, please refer to the new Parish Website

https://www.baysidecatholicmission.org/ 

Emma Herbert

RE Leader / STEM & Sustainability Leader

eherbert@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au