This Week's Updates

Dear Families, 

I am heading off to Cairns on Friday to take part in our Network Principal Conference with 21 other local Catholic Principals in our Zone. This indigenous experience involves living and learning within local Cape York communities and staying under canvas.

Following this my wife and daughter are joining me for a few days R and R in Port Douglas.

I am returning on Tuesday 29 August for the concert production.

Here are some updates for the week.

Prep Events

Our Preps have had such an engaging exciting time at school this term with their excursion to the Melbourne Zoo last Friday and the celebration of their 100 Days at school the week prior. 

Melbourne Zoo!

We learnt all about how animals grow and change and made connections with what we have been learning in the classroom about animal life cycles. We loved being 'Wild Life Explorers' and practicing observing with our senses! We saw so many animals and especially enjoyed watching the giraffes and lions during feeding time! The giraffes had long, blue tongues and the lions had big, sharp teeth. We had to stand still like statues in the butterfly house and giggled at the cheeky monkeys swinging from rope to rope! It was the best day ever! - The Prep Children

Here are a few photos of their dress ups as 100 year olds to celebrate the occasion.

The children LOVED dressing up and enjoyed parading around the netball court for the whole school to see! The children spent time with their Year 6 Buddies making 'cool' 100 Days glasses, made 100 Days biscuits, ate fairy bread covered in 100's and 1000's and counted collections of 100 objects! The special day ended with an assembly where all the children and their families reflected on what a fantastic year we've had in Prep so far! 

The good news is they have approximately 1300 days to go until they complete year Six!

Baby News...

Congratulations to Siumi Kirby who is our forth staff member to become pregnant this year. Siumi is hoping to be able to keep teaching until early December.

We wish Siumi all the best as she joins Molly Masters, Jess Moffat and Tess Odgers as St James staff mothers to be.

Concert Production

Check out our new concert page with all the up to date information you need.

Eastsider News Article 

Last week St James featured in the Eastsider Publication, sharing a story about our recent Mini Mission Fete. We are very proud of the learning and work that our students got to share from this experience with  the wider community. They should be very proud, as should the parents and staff. Well done to everyone involved. 

School Hats

As of September 1st, students will be expected to wear their school hats when outdoors as outlined in our St James  SunSmart Policy. Please remind your child to return their hat to school if it’s at home. Teachers will also remind students. 

A ‘No Hat, No Play’ approach is taken during recess times from September to April, with students sitting under a shady area if they do not have a hat, after the first week of that period. This is as advised via the SunSmart Policy so that we can ensure our students keep their beautiful skin safe.

Book Week

Book week is next week and to celebrate this all students will be viewing a performance of books nominated to receive awards. This will take place on Thursday 24 August.

Gastro

A reminder to keep up good hygiene practices as we have had a number of gastro cases reported in the past week. Please note that if your child has vomited or has diarrhoea we encourage you to limit contact with others and stay at home until symptoms have passed - at least 24 hours.

St John's Parish Fete

We are always looking for community members to help out. We will send out a sign-up link later in the term but for now the committee are specifically looking for an electrician and plumber to assist the Fete committee electrician and plumber. Please contact the school office if you are able to help out.

Call out for farm help this weekend - 19th & 20th August!

We are still seeking three more families to help out with the chickens over the coming weekends, if you are available to help, please email office@sjvermont.catholic.edu.au.

See the roster below:

2024 Enrolments at St James

We are expecting that all current families/students in Years Prep - Five will be returning to St James next year. If your family/child will not be returning next year, please contact the school office as soon as possible. We currently have waiting lists for many levels across the school.

Students going into Year 7, 2025

The Catholic Education enrolment date for Year 7 2025(current Yr 5s) is 18 August 2023. If you wish to enrol your child a Catholic Secondary School, please ensure your enrolment form is sent directly to the Secondary Schools Registrar by 18th August. Please see below MACS updated Enrolment Policy for further information.

Second-hand uniform

A call out to families with any second-hand uniform that you may wish to donate to our depleted stocks. If you have any school uniform that you no longer require, please feel free to drop them in to the school office.

A few other updates and happenings

• Friday 1st September - Father's Day Breakfast & Stall
• Monday 11th September - Year 4 Basketball Day
• Wednesday 13 - Learning Conferences - 1.30pm - 7.30pm (1pm early dismissal)

Have a great week.

Dave