Faith & Wellbeing
WELLBEING
Dear Parents and Families,
On Thursday 17th October, St John’s ran a program called First Aid in Schools. All year levels were involved in this day. Please see the link for further information about what each year level learnt during this program. The students seemed to enjoy the day and learnt how to call an ambulance and the importance of knowing how to do this. The students also learnt DRSABCD and CPR for the older students.
St John’s offers this program free of charge for all school students. A fantastic initiative that we are very lucky to have the opportunity to do.
On the 10th October I asked St James staff and students to raise mental health awareness by making a promise. These promises included very simple messages for example. “I am going to smile at everyone I see today”. “I am going to say hello to other people in our community even if I don’t normally”.
The promises made were not shared, rather something for the individual to work on and think about during the day. As part of our whole community wellbeing it is important to recognise that not every day is great for everyone and sometimes it is hard to know what others may be going through.
Please remind your children that the Tilley Calming Space is a useful place to remove themselves from the playground and try something new. We have been having a fantastic time in their drawing, looming, building lego, knitting, colouring, making key chains and bracelets.
The following is an article that I read for my own personal growth as a parent of a teenager and young children. I hope you will take the time to read it. Sometimes not all parts of an article resonates with us but I believe there are a few takeaways from this one for all of us.
Catch your child doing something right!
Sunsmart Policy
I would like to remind you of our Sunsmart Policy and membership. Our new policy states “The sun protection times are a forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology for the time of day UV levels are forecast to reach 3 or higher. At these levels, sun protection is recommended for all skin types. In Victoria, UV levels regularly reach 3 or higher from mid-August to the end of April.” Our sunsmart policy now states that students and staff must wear there hats during times of being outside. Therefore this is a reminder that all students are now required to bring their hats to school. Staff will be checking our school website which had the UV index rating on it to ensure if it goes higher than 3 students and staff will be asked to wear their hats. The UV index rating appears at the bottom of our school website and looks like this.
If at anytime you read an article or come across a program that you feel would be good for the St James Community to be aware of in regards to Student Wellbeing at St James please feel free to pass on to me.
Thank- you!
Mrs Georgia McNamara
Student Wellbeing Leader
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
PNG SLEEPOUT
Last Friday the 18th of October, a group of Year 5/6 students had the PNG sleepout at St James. This was an opportunity for us to experience a small part of what it feels like to be living in PNG. On the night we had so much fun! When we arrived, we watched a video from when Miss Quinlan, Mr Flanagan, some teachers from St Joan of Arc and members from the parish went to PNG to see what they could do to help the people in a small village called Atiape. After that we played some games and watched a movie. While watching the movie we drank hot chocolate and ate cookies. After that it was time to go to sleep. I think most of us got a fair amount of sleep but the whole point of the sleepout was to raise money for the people of Aitape.
We ask that all students who attended, continue to raise as much money as they can so we can help the people of Aitape. A Big thank you to Mrs Herbert, Miss Corio, Laura and Jack (from OSHClub) for organising and staying with us.
By Emilie & Mary-Jane
Year 6
CONFIRMATION
13th November - Confirmation Reflection Day
14th November - Confirmation Mass at St Joan of Arc, 7pm
Please refer to Calendar page for upcoming class masses.
If you have any questions regarding dates or the Sacramental Program please do not hesitate to contact myself or your classroom teacher.
eherbert@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au
Yours in faith,
Emma Herbert
Religious Education Leader
PARISH NEWS
Parish Website
Baptism Preparation with Carole Cheng
Parents who have students at St James who wish them to be baptised, can organise this through Carole Cheng, who will prepare the children for Baptism.
Carole will commence classes on Friday 15 November at St Joan of Arc Presbytery, after school at 3:45pm, until 4:45pm.
Another class will be held in February 2020, date TBC.
Contact: carole.cheng@cam.org.au