St James Learning and Teaching 

SPORT

Hello Everyone, 

Term 2 is always busy for sport and we have well and truly begun with lots of fun things happening. Last Wednesday all students in Year 3-6 took part in the Holt District Cross Country. Students ran between 2-3km’s depending on their age. Students who finished in the top 8 will now progress to Beachside on Tuesday 28th May. We would like to wish these students good luck.  Congratulations to Tia, Annie, Emily, Ivy, Arran and Delilah. The course is difficult and the competition is very tough.

Friday Sport began last Friday 3rd May. All Year 5 and 6 students were bussed to OLOL’s in Prahran where we had 3 Netball teams and one large AFL team play. Many of our students were playing AFL for the first time and it was great to see their skills and confidence progress throughout the game. A huge thank-you to Dave P(Mila’s dad, grade 5) for volunteering to umpire and coach each week. 

Our netballers played well and we look forward to watching them compete again tomorrow at St James against St Agnes. 

Friday Sport will be held each Friday until the 7th of June. The following week students will participate in the AFL and Netball lightning Premierships. 

Mrs Georgia McNamara

Deputy Principal - Sport Co-Ordinator/ Senior Physical Education Teacher

WELLBEING

As you will be aware there have been many conversations in the media lately in regards to student behaviour. General behaviour in and out of the classroom towards peers and on the yard. At St James we have numerous programs to support our students in their behaviour and social and emotional learning.  Respectful Relationships and Zones of Regulation being our main two. Respectful Relationships covers eight different topics. Some of which include, emotional literacy, personal strengths, stress management and help seeking. The Zones of Regulations curriculum includes self awareness and self management. The Zones of Regulation allow our students to use simplified language to describe what “zone” they are in. This allows us to teach students about their emotions and create strategies they can use when they are in a particular zone. Eg Red zone = angry and other emotions also. 

These programs are supplemented with targeted interventions such as Social Skills, Seasons for Growth and Peaceful Kids. We are lucky to also have a fantastic Allied Health Team at St James our Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Chaplain work with students one on one and in small groups. 

In addition to the above our students actively know and engage in our school values and school expectations. Classrooms also have their own set of expectations which are formed using student voice at the beginning of each semester. 

If and when there are relationship breakdowns between students, staff hold triage conversations with the students involved. This is a process where each student is spoken to individually and then they are invited to come together to listen to the other person's point of view. This process is an adaptation from the Berry St model. Over the last week we have noticed the behavioural standards we like to uphold have been challenged. So yesterday our students all took part in an intervention in the hall as a whole school. The Art/Wellbeing leaders, Mr Niarros and myself put together plays to model behaviours that are negative and then how the positive version of the situation plays out. There was even a special guest student called Georgia M! Let’s just say we hope she doesn’t visit too often. 

I hope you have found the above information helpful in understanding how Wellbeing at St James works to ensure everyone in our community is a happy and safe place. 

Mrs Georgia McNamara

Deputy Principal - Student Wellbeing Leader

LIBRARY

Over the next 2 weeks, all St James children will be registered and receive a login and password from the class teacher.  Children in the junior school are encouraged to listen to their parents read books from the reading list and have conversations about the text. 

As the competition progresses parents are encouraged to help their children read together. 

The Victorian Government has carefully curated a long list of rich texts for young readers. Please see the booklist attached for books. 

Progress of the challenge will be celebrated in fortnightly assemblies and newsletters. 

The challenge runs all the way to September and is very attainable for all children. 

Children need to read:

Prep to Year 2

• Number of books: 30
• Number of books from the Challenge book list: 20 or more

Year 3 to Year 6

• Number of books: 15
• Number of books from the Challenge book list: 10 or more

Most of the books you read should be from the Challenge book lists. The rest can be any book you choose.

You can read books on the book list for your year level or a level above and they'll count towards your Challenge total. You should check with your teachers or parents if you're not in years 9 or 10 and want to read a book from that list. This list includes titles for mature readers.

You can read a book from a level below your year level if your teacher agrees. You still need to read the number of books for your year level to meet the Challenge.

Let’s get reading!!

Kids' Lit Quiz Australia

To support our Reading for Pleasure program and generate a buzz about reading, this year, 8 of our Year 5 and Year 6 students participated in the Kids’ Lit Quiz (KLQ). 

In the KLQ heats, students were asked to answer 100 questions on children’s literature divided into ten categories. 

From the heats, we created 2 teams of amazing readers ready to challenge other schools from across Australia. This year we competed in the heats online. Leading up to the heats the contestants gave up their lunch times to practise. The children tried their very best!  We did not win the quiz however I am extremely proud of the children's hard work, preparation and effort. They were respectful and courteous at all times and showed great sportsmanship. It was a lovely opportunity to celebrate our passion for reading and I think all the children and I learned a lot about the competition. Congratulations to our 8 Lit Quiz Champs for representing St James and I look forward to entering teams next year.

Our Quiz Lit Champs will be conducting a St James Lit Quiz in Term 3 so get reading so you can join in the fun!

A Gentle Reminder for Library Days

Students are encouraged to be responsible for remembering their Library day – it is vital that children bring their books back otherwise they cannot borrow a new book. Students can easily re-borrow their books if they are still reading them.

For book borrowing purposes, children must have a Library bag labelled with both their first name and surname. A Library bag protects the book, makes it easier for students to carry and ensures the Library book is kept separate from household books when not in use (making it easier to locate!)

Mrs Mandi Joplin

Teacher Librarian

MATHS

Bebras Maths Competition

This week all students in Years 3-6 had the opportunity to participate in the Bebras Maths Competition. This competition is a computational thinking challenge where students work in teams to solve problems that focus on problem-solving and logical thinking.  Students enjoyed being able to work with their peers to understand, discuss and complete each question.

Miss Bridie Slater

Maths Leader