This Week's Updates

Dear Families,

Last week was quite a busy week with our unfortunate flooding incident which has rendered 5 of our junior classrooms redundant for the rest of the term. We are lucky that it happened so late in the term so that we only have to navigate re-housing the students for 3 weeks. Incidents such as this, despite being frustrating, time-consuming and a hassle, have a silver lining. It was so heart-warming to see all the staff band together to problem solve, reshuffle time-tables, room share and get stuck in clearing the debris. The students were so cooperative and calm and have embraced this sudden change in their learning spaces with grace and good humour. We were flooded (pardon the pun) with offers of help and resources from Parents and it really brought to the forefront how blessed we are to be part of such a supportive and kind community here at St James. Thank you all, for all that you do to contribute to this community.

Looking forward, there is a plan in place to restore the classrooms to their former glory and work has already begun on this thanks to an extremely responsive unit engaged by the insurance company. We will continue to use alternative spaces for those classes impacted and we appreciate your patience as we work through this on a daily/weekly basis. 

The initial forecast is that we should be back in the newly refurbished rooms to commence the new school year.

Here are a few photos from the weekend work.

Advent Commences

It was wonderful to see the many Preps, current and future celebrating the Prep Welcome Mass this weekend at our St John's church. Father Dispin welcomed them all and made it a fun and engaging experience. 

Our Year Five students led us in a wonderful prayer service focussed on Advent on Friday afternoon. 

All of our students are involved in a classroom KK where they are encouraged to look after a fellow student in their class.

All of our families are participating in the St Vinnie's Christmas hamper drive.

What wonderful ways to prepare for the coming of the Lord at Christmas.

Prep Orientation Session

Our final Prep Orientation session was postponed due to the flooding last week and will now take place on Wednesday 4th December -  9:15am - 10:15am.  We are excited to welcome our Prep families and their buddies are looking forward to getting to know them.

Children's Liturgy at St John's Weekend Masses

This is becoming more popular week by week. It's a great way for your children to learn about the weekend scripture, including the gospel each Sunday during the 9:45am and 11:15am masses.

Swimming Success

Over the past two weeks, our Prep to Year 4 students have had a fantastic time participating in swimming lessons. The program was a great success, with each class focusing on building water confidence, improving swimming techniques, and developing important safety skills. Thank you for all your support ensuring your child was prepared for swimming each day.

Movember

On behalf of Daniel, James, Harry, Josh, Tim, and Dave, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our wonderful parent community for your generous contributions to Movember. Together, we raised an incredible $1,245 (as of 1st December 2024), which will go towards supporting important men's health initiatives. Your support has made a real difference, and we can't wait to bring back Movember in 2025! If you haven't yet donated, here is the link: https://au.movember.com/team/2403393

Thank you once again for your generosity and commitment to this cause!

Thankfully they were able to shave off some questionable 'MO's" or complete their 60 kms on Saturday.

Building Update

The cabinetry has been installed and desks and workspaces constructed. The First Aid room is almost complete and is far larger and more practical than the space we currently use. The lift has been installed and we are getting closer the the finish line, still tracking on time.

A Few Term Four Reminders/Notes

• Closure Day - Thursday 5th December. Due to lack of numbers, Camp Australia have cancelled the Out of Hours School care for the day.

Holiday Farm Duty

Thank you to all the families that have already volunteered to help over the holiday period on the farm, it is greatly appreciated.

The dates we have left are as follows: 

Please email Jo with your preferred dates 

joanne.magnik@sjvermont.catholic.edu.au  

Lost Property

Please take some time this week to check our lost property area and reclaim your child's belongings as any unnamed  school uniform items left at the end of the term will be kindly donated to our second hand uniform shop.

Hope you all have a great week and remember "Jesus is the reason for the season!"

Dave