Principal's News

Reconciliation Week

This week we recall our Indigenous people of Australia.

God, open our hearts so that we may hear the message you teach of a world in which the wrongs of the past are recognised - a world in which a reconciled people walk and talk together sharing stories: a world in which all burn with the desire to have your peace and justice reign,

God of love and justice, we pray that our political, religious and community members leaders act in the interests of all the people in this land…. that they walk the talk of Reconciliation.

Reflection

Every school day is always full of difference and also some of the same. When a community of people come together our interactions guarantee that there will be similarities and structures we perform unconsciously.  The exciting aspect of our involvement at St James is that something will pop up that is indeed engaging and provokes our interests. Schools therefore are places where we learn and adjust to not only the teaching and learning aspect but also how we adjust to the knowledge and attitudes that we encounter with each other.

Yesterday the Principals and Parish Priests across the Archdiocese gathered in Bulleen for a briefing regarding Catholic Education, funding, the Federal election, school improvement, child safety and professional development.  This was the first opportunity for Archbishop Peter Comensoli to address all the Principals in the one room since his appointment from Sydney. I also had the opportunity to hear the Archbishop speak at the annual St Patrick's dinner and yesterday he again referred to the fact that in all communities of faith we are preparing the soil and nurturing growth.  This is what our schools are charged to do. Reading the signs of the times in the light of our faith.

The challenge for us is  in how do we as adults speak into that in our neighbourhoods of grace.  How do we as the adults in our school community of St James model and infuse into our children the elements of inclusion and respect, two of our school values.

Everybody matters and we must ensure that our school is a place of welcome and acceptance.  Our children will often model the attitude and behaviour that we display and therefore we need to take that responsibility seriously.  As an older man of wisdom once quoted to me, "Little donkeys have big ears". They catch on without us realising what we say and do.

Paul Sharkey the Catholic Identity leader concluded in his address yesterday and referred to Ignatian spirituality, mentioning that if we can’t see God in our midst then we are all the poorer.  

Worth pondering.

Fr Martin

At 2pm this Sunday at St Joan of Arc Church,  Fr Martin will celebrate 50 years in the priesthood.  We are indeed fortunate to have Martin as our leader since his arrival into our end of the parish in July 2016. Martin has been a revelation to our school and a visible witness to the Jesus message.  He has been instrumental in promoting the mission of the Church as well as the physical environment of our school.  Martin supports our staff in many ways and he is a constant presence at St James.  Martin has been a wonderful support to me as Principal, with his regular visits, phone calls and counsel.

All Welcome!

Tomorrow Friday 31 May, we will be gathering at 3pm in the project space at St James to acknowledge the many years of service to the Catholic Church.  Martin has been in many parishes across the Diocese.

1970-1973    Croydon

1974               Hastings

1975-1977   South Melbourne

1977-1981   Dallas / Craigieburn

1982-1983   Frankston

1987-1998   South Clayton

1999-2010   Rowville  

2010-2019   Brighton/Gardenvale

Walkathon

Unfortunately we were unable to proceed with the Walkathon last Friday due to inclement weather.  Thanks to all the parents who set up the day only for the rain to come and wash the morning out.  The new date for the Walkathon is Friday 14th June.  We do need the rain and hopefully it will stay away for this day, as well as today, as the Year 5s are in Ballarat at Sovereign Hill.  Further information re the Walkathon will be forwarded to parents in due course.

Old furniture

As we move towards the completion of the building project together with the generosity of the Parent Association funding the new furniture and AV equipment, we have old furniture which is still in good condition. Carmelina Corio and Ann Nicola, through Kate Korber, have a contact in Essendon, Sr Hermina.  Sr Hermina has a project to support a school in Tanzania.

Message from Sr Hermina

Dear Brendan,

In 2007, the Sisters of the Resurrection established a mission in Buturu, a small village on the shores of Lake Victoria in the north of Tanzania. There they built a Form I–IV Chief Wanzagi Secondary School  for girls, one of very few such opportunities to educate girls in this developing country. In 2018 they completed building the Risen Jesus Pre-school and began accepting children from the local impoverished villages starting in December 2018 – as described in the attached newsletter sent by the Superior of the community, Sr Dominik Bancerek CR . In May they celebrated the official opening of the Pre-school, as described in the second newsletter. By regularly sending out shipping containers filled with donated goods, we have been able to fully resource these two schools, the community of Sisters and other missionary centres in the Musoma region. For the Preschool, Lowther Hall donated the uniforms; local schools donated books (schooling is in English in Tanzania), stationery, school supplies; the Polish and school communities donated clothing, furniture and household goods and all of the school furniture came from Rotary Donations in Kind warehouse in Footscray.

Your kind donation of school furniture is a timely and much appreciated addition to our final shipping container leaving 4 June. I am happy for you to use the information and photos in the Buturu newsletters for communication to your own school community.

God Bless, Sr Hermina CR

Parent Teacher Interviews

On Wednesday 26th June, school will finish at 1pm in preparation for Parent Teacher Interviews, which will commence from 1:30pm.  If you require afterschool care, please book early with OSHClub as they will only run if the required number of children are listed for that day.

To book an interview with your child/ren's teacher please go to the school website   www.stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

click on 'School Bookings' and enter code 

8tgmc - then follow the prompts.

The smooth running of this event relies on all parents keeping to the timetable.  Interviews are strictly 10 minutes and we ask that you please consider other parents by ensuring that your interview ends on time.  If you require more time with a particular teacher, please arrange a separate meeting.

Congratulations to Ali Rayner

And a very warm welcome to

Alexander George Rayner 

born 18th May at 5pm.

A few days earlier than expected.

Alexander is the third son for Ali, and he will join his big brothers Oliver and Elliot,

who we are sure are thrilled to have a little brother to play with.

We wish Ali and her beautiful family every happiness for the future.

Brendan