Principal's Post
Dear Families,
Tessa Odgers finished up her teaching duties to commence Maternity Leave on Friday. Tess moved into Prep teaching duties in the year I commenced at St James when our current Year Five students were in Prep. That means she has had the privilege of seeing almost every student at St James in their first year at school. Prior to this Tess had taught almost all other levels and was our St James Maths leader prior to Josh Crowe.
Apart from the care Tess displays for our students, she is a wonderful friend to many staff and has made many "out of classroom" contributions to our wonderful community.
We wish Tess all the best as she prepares for the birth of her child.
Molly Masters will finish up her teaching duties for the year this Friday 1 December and commence her second period of maternity leave. Since returning a few years ago Molly has been out Visual Arts teacher, Yr Six teacher and Education in Faith Sacramental/Parish Leader. She has had the privilege of teaching every student at St James. We wish Molly all the best as she prepares for the birth of her second child and look forward to welcoming her back in the future.
The Brain: Wellbeing and Learning
The school closure day held on Friday 17 November provided a great opportunity for our 2024 staff to gather together and participate in the Professional Learning facilitated by Maria Ruberto.
Maria focussed on the following areas with us:
- The importance of Identifying and naming our emotions and the fact that
- Self Determination Theory
- Cognitive Load Theory
Here are some reflections from parents who attended the Thursday Evening session:
"Helping Me Help My Child's Wellbeing"
Maria was an incredibly knowledgeable, passionate and engaging health professional who was able to share higher level scientific research and concepts with us in a way that was understandable, relatable and ultimately useable in our busy parenting lives.
She talked about our children needing to be in a space of optimal functioning where they could adapt to what life threw at them through solving problems, managing their emotions and building functional behaviours that enable rather than hinder.
She helped us to clearly appreciate the increased risks of mental health that our children face in today’s world such as anxiety and depression which directly compromise these skills of optimal functioning.
She helped us to understand that building resilience within our children is the best way to build these life skills that help protect them against mental illness and function within life at this ‘optimal’ adaptive level.
My main takeaway I will be applying to my life and raising my children to grow their resilience:
When my child is experiencing distress eg an argument with a friend, I don’t need to (and should not) save them from that distress. My child needs to experience this for themself; to try and fail and learn an adaptive behaviour.
Even though my brain will mirror their emotions and I may get sucked into feeling their same feelings I must reflect to them a canvas of calm to hold the space for talking with them about it. My role here is to share my calm, not join their emotional chaos.
Leading on from this, I must wait until my child asks for my help to offer that help. If they don’t ask, then I don’t help. If they later ask me why I didn’t help I explain because you didn’t ask.
When they do ask, further ask them to explicitly identify WHAT help they need and WHY they want that help. This grows their problem solving skills and their ability to ask for help (both adaptive behaviours). If I consistently step in and help when not asked I am rescuing my child and encouraging help negating - where they are afraid to ask for help.
I’m extremely grateful to our school for being authentically invested in the mental health of our children and in building our own adaptive skills as parents to support their road to health and well being.
(Marie-Claire Ryan Years 2 & 5 parent)
Maria Ruberto's parent session was highly informative, professional and engaging. The session included explanation of key neuroscience anatomy and concepts related to current research about the health and wellbeing of Australians - of particular relevance, the information about parents and young people.
Key takeaways from the session included:
- The importance of parents role modelling calm and resilience in times of adversity; helping children to see first hand experiences from their parents/caregivers about problem solving and the characteristics of an emotionally resilient being. Such skill development enables young people to develop their own compass about the implementation of strategies to help them navigate adversity in their own lives.
- The importance of boundaries in daily life and that young people need to experience failure and disappointment to truly learn to be resilient beings. It is through the experience of both the 'highs and lows' during our daily life that we develop the skills in being resilient beings.
- Practical strategies to assist young people with challenging situations. Such strategies included the use of active listening skills where the parent is completely present and listening to the young person. Followed by a period of asking questions; aiming to unpack the situation and help the young person to understand the situation to a deeper level. This strategy helps to build connection between the parent and young person through enacting present and active listening. When followed with active questioning, young people are encouraged to develop their inquiry skills to support their insight and critical assessment of situations. Questioning helps the person to move into a space of inquiry and to understand the 'facts and features' of a situation; more than just the emotional response.
Many parents in the audience agreed that Maria was amazing to listen to and what a privilege it was for St James to facilitate such a high calibre presentation for parents to attend. Further, the topic was deemed to be highly relevant to all in the St James Community (and beyond). It was also wonderful as a parent to gain insights into the content Maria was presenting to the teaching staff at their professional development session the following day.
Lisa Licciardi (Years 5, 3, & 1 parent)
The Future of Catholic Education in Vermont
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) are considering the development of a K - 12 Catholic School involving Emmaus College, St Timothy's Forest Hill and Holy Saviour Vermont South.
I have been informed by our Regional Manager that, while there may be a slight change in the operation of these three schools in future years, for us at St James, it will be business as usual.
St James will remain a feeder school to Emmaus with our catholic students given priority entry to Emmaus as they are to Aquinas, Whitefriars and Sion Colleges.
I will keep families informed of any changes that become official.
Parents and Friends
I met with Kylie last week and we decided to postpone the AGM until next year.
It's great that some of the positions and roles have been filled by generous volunteers.
Our St James community relies on the generosity of our parents to all "do their bit." We have recently had many parents volunteering their time at the twilight sports and at the fete.
We do not want anyone to burn out, yet part of the reason many families join our school is for the strong sense of community which is part of our culture. Therefore, we are seeking not only volunteers for various roles but a group of volunteers to lead the P & F. The leadership has been shared by a team of 2 - 3 until the last two years where Kylie was the final team member who could keep committing her time.
So ... please have a think about either forming a team to lead or contacting me if you are willing to be part of a team to lead the P & F. Kylie's and past leaders' dedicated commitment to our P & F means that there are procedures and templates to follow, meaning that new leaders do not have to start from scratch.
Parish Fete Raffle Tickets
Thank you for your support of this venture. I will publish the final total our St James P & F will receive from the raffle dividends once it is made available.
Congratulations to the Bello family (Andrea 4F) on winning first prize.
Thank you to Claire Doherty our parent rep and Lisa and Michelle in the office who worked in partnership with Rob Smith from the parish to facilitate our St James distribution, collection and follow up of tickets.
School Advisory Council
Our final meeting for the year is on tomorrow, Tuesday 28 November at 6.15pm.
With a few members moving on after their three years on the SAC, we are calling for new members from our school community to join.
We usually meet 6 - 8 times a year 6.15 - 8.00pm. If you are interested please email me
principal@sjvermont.catholic.edu.au
2024 School Fees
Please find attached the approved St James School Fees for 2024.
North Pole Mailbox
The North Pole Mailbox is in the office again this year. Students are invited to write a letter to Santa and place it in the mailbox from this week to the last day of school. We will then forward them to Santa.
Marathon Club
Please note that this week will be the last Marathon Club for the year - Wednesday 29th November. We are looking for a big turnout on the last week. We would like to extend a big thank you to the organisers, Katrina van Vuuren & Belinda Bele for all your work, along with our SJV staff that volunteered their time to supervise each week.
Uma in the spotlight
Following the information that we shared about Uma's fabulous experience in her recent TV role, we are excited to announce that the series release date is 1/1/2024. Planet Lulin will air on ABC Me. Congratulations Uma, we can't wait to watch!
Enjoy a great week ahead!
Dave