Principal's News 

Prayer / Reflection

Last week we celebrated Trinity Sunday and the mystery of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  

There are so many things we experience in our own world that point to mystery beyond what we understand.  Our perceptions often and always fall short.  Our capacity to receive love and give love, for example, never totally quenches our thirst or our hopes.  Our quiet hope for more, that unseen, silent mystery is probably what people like ourselves before us have called God.  Our search for this mystery continues.  

We are blessed that it was Jesus who briefly came amongst us as a God's presence,   Godliness.   Better than words and ideas, Jesus revealed the essence of God by who he was and by what he did.  His love and attention for justice speaks more than words. The Spirit that was sent to us and the Church at Pentecost allows us to also seek the mystery of God in our own lives.

In all I think and do,  I will continue to be a part  mystery of the Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  May we be people of peace and welcome in God's name. 

Lois White - a beautiful lady 

On Sunday Lois White, Mum of Cass and her husband Steffen and grandmother to Eddie and Annie passed away.  Lois had been unwell in the past twelve months.

Lois had a deep and rich love for St James.  She was the mainstay and leader of the social justice initiatives on behalf of St Vincent De Paul and was an active parishioner.  There are not many better people than Lois.  She loved life and in particular all of our children at St James.   Her generosity of spirit will never be forgotten and her legacy of helping the other will remain well entrenched at St James.  

Please join us in praying for Lois and her family and for our gratitude for who she was and gifts she so generously shared with others. 

The funeral for Lois will be held at St Finbars at 11am with Fr Martin officiating.

Mrs Lisa Featherstone - a wonderful teacher

Miss Lisa Featherstone will be completing her teaching at St James on Friday 24th June.  Lisa has been an exceptional teacher for our little children in Year 2.  Her passion, engagement and love for our children has been wonderful.  The children love her and her instruction to them in the two terms that she has been at St James has been exemplary.  As a Mum to be at the end of July she will be terrific.  

We look forward to her coming back to school with the new baby when life settles down for her as a first time Mum.

Mrs Cassandra Elliot

Mrs Cassandra Elliot will be able to meet parents in the Google Parent Teacher meeting on Thursday 23rd.  We welcome Cassandra to our school with the knowledge that she has a vast experience of education in Catholic and Independent schools in Australia and Overseas.

It has been a busy last few weeks of the term and we are nearly there and I think we are all looking forward to a break from school routine.  The weather is colder and the days are drawing in and the upcoming term break  will give us all a chance to rejuvenate.  This is the second term now that we have navigated without a break in lockdown and time away from being at school.   In comparison to other schools our absences for children and teachers, and COVID has been minimal.  Good luck I think and also good management by parents and teachers.  Well done everyone.

To all in our school community, thanks again for the investment of your time and energy to attend to what we have been required to do as a school.  The end of Term 2 is alway a hectic time with assessments, reports and parent teacher interviews.  Please register your time on the link that was sent yesterday.

In recent weeks we have also had external auditors to analyze our National Collection Census Data census (NCCD) ,Victorian Registration Qualifications Authority (VRQA) Compliance review and two further days with the school reviewer Kylie Graham from Valad Solutions.  We look forward to the final report that will be completed in early Term 3.  The report will assist us in our School Improvement Plan and Annual Action Plan for the next four years.  There will be some strong affirmations from the review with opportunities to adjust and align our whole school processes to seek continual improvement and growth.   The review provided us with a chance to look in the rear window and assess where we have come from and also to look through the front window to see where we wish to go. 

In addition some families would have been involved in Parent Support Group meetings (PSGs). Thank you for attendance and learning conversation with your child’s teacher and our Learning Diversity leader Emma Herbert.

On Friday this week we have the chance to plan for Term 3.  Olivia Quinlan and Emma Herbert have a schedule of how the day will run and look forward to the engaging curriculum that will be planned.  

School life is a balancing act of attending to the everyday matters of school, the education and learning that makes up life in our Catholic school.  All of this in eight weeks this term.  We are indeed continuing to focus on improvement and growth as a community.

Reminders:

• Next Thursday 23rd June- school will conclude at 1:00pm-Parent Teacher Interviews
• Next Friday 24th June -  school will conclude at 1.30pm - end of Term 2
• Term 3 commences on Monday 11th July
• Lately a number of children have been arriving at school early. Staff supervision does not commence until 8:40am. If your child is arriving before 8:40am, you may need to book them into OSHClub. Children can be at school before 8:40am if they are accompanied by mum/dad/grandparent etc.   If you require further information regarding this school policy please contact me to discuss further.

Faith in our future

Brendan