Dear Families,

As we come to the end of another busy and wonderful school year, I want to thank our students, staff and families for everything you’ve brought to our community in 2025. It’s been a year full of learning, growth and plenty of moments to be proud of. I’m grateful every day for the support, kindness and teamwork that make St James such a special place.

As we head into Christmas, I hope you’re able to slow down, enjoy time with loved ones and celebrate the true meaning of the season. Christmas reminds us of the joy and hope that came with the birth of Jesus — the real reason for the season.

The past week has provided many opportunities for our school community to reflect, give thanks and celebrate all that we have achieved over the past 12 months.

Our Thanksgiving Mass, Year Six Graduation, Prep/Yr One Nativity Prayer service, farewell to Louise matthews and to Jo Matarazzo and this afternoon's Year six Moving On assembly and prayer service provided those opportunities. It was wonderful to see so many parents at these various celebrations.

Thank you once again to all of our St James community members who volunteered your time and expertise throughout the year. One of the final volunteer acts was those who purchased, cooked and served at our end of term BBQ. Such was the popularity and success that we ran out of sausages. This endorses the event and we will ensure we have more supplies next time.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the families and loved ones affected by the tragic events in Bondi yesterday evening. We hold our own loved ones a little closer today, mindful of how precious life is, and our hearts are with those families who now face the festive season carrying the profound loss of a family member. May they find strength, comfort, and support during this incredibly difficult time.

2026 Return Dates

Tuesday 27 January - Staff day at school

Wednesday 28 January - Assessment day #1 - all grades

Thursday 29 January - Assessment Day #2 Yrs 1 - 6

Thursday 29 January - Preps First Day in class 9am - 12pm

Friday 30 January - All classes attend 8.50am - 3.20pm

Assessment Day Bookings

You will have already received an email regarding student assessment days for January.

If you have not already made a booking, please do so ASAP to secure a time that works for you and your family.

Prep Bookings

2026 Assessment Days for Prep will be held on Wednesday 28th January, Wednesday 4th February, Wednesday 11th February, Wednesday 18th February and Wednesday 25th February 2025. Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au, click on ‘make a booking’ and enter the code j7ex9

Or click HERE to book for Prep assessments.

Please book in a 30 min time slot for Literacy assessment and a 30 min time slot for Numeracy assessment where indicated. Please ensure each booking is on a separate day. Wednesday 28th will only be available for our current families to make a booking. New families can make bookings for any of the subsequent Wednesdays.

Grade 1 - 6 Bookings

2026 Assessment Days for Year 1 to 6 will be held on Wednesday 28th January and Thursday 29th January 2026.

These assessments are an opportunity for your child’s teacher to find out about your child's current literacy and numeracy knowledge and plan for future teaching. We are committed to giving your child the best possible start for their school year, and beyond.

Please book in a 2.5 hour session between 8:30am -11:00am or 12:00pm - 2:30pm.

Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and click on make a booking and enter the code 67667

Or click HERE to book.

Year Six Award Presentation

Congratulations to our Year Six students who received these awards at Thursday evening's Graduation Ceremony:

Deakin Shield Award for Academic Excellence- Chaarya De Silva and Zach Tang

Deakin Shield Award for Sport - Amelia Bryant

Deakin Shield Award for The Arts - Tessa Bleakley

Jan Kennedy Community Award - Rose Bele

Richard Welch Award - Chloe Lovick

School Sports Victoria Academic & Sporting Achievement Medal- Xavier van Vuuren

St James Spirit Award - Andrew Mills

2026 Classes and Year Six Leaders

Congratulations to the following Year Five students who will fulfill our Year Six Leadership roles next year:

Year 6 Student Leaders

School	Sport	Environment	STEM
Courtney Ioannides River Morgan Alden Basil Abraham Shelan Kurukulasuriya	Patrick Dowds Georgia McMahon	Nahla Plunkett Isla Conduit	Marcus Tungol Alexander Pettit
Mission	Wellbeing	Arts	Language
Oliver Wingate Josh Crisostimo	Amelie Salmas-Sun Talia Nakat	Romeo Licciardi Olivia Roginson	Kiyara Anthony Neve Barrie

Green (Lyons)

Gold (Coghlan)

Blue (Dillon)

Red (Durkin)

Ivy Warfield

Zack Moylan

Patchy Harvey

Harlea Conduit

Ben Holloway

Soraya Harris

Will Vouliotis

Tess Pigeaut

Our 2026 Staff list is published on a new page later in the newsletter titled Staff List.

As part of our 2025 to 2026 transition process, students moved into their 2026 classes last Friday on our "Move Up Morning." We were joined by Evan Zhang Yr 5, Abigail Hart Yr 3 and Finn Bajcic Yr 2 who will join our St James community next year.

Operoo to nForma

Operoo is no longer the platform used by our school for communication. The company has ceased its operations within Australia and is no longer available for use. As a result, from last week we have transitioned to nForma as our new communication platform. nForma will now be used to share important information with parents and caregivers, as well as to manage and collect permission forms moving forward.

Outside of School Hours Care

Please register your children here if you require this service next year.

If you have any questions you can email MACSEYE

directly at enrolments@macseye.vic.edu.au

In other news: Congratulations to Charlotte Allan who competed in the Hyrox endurance challenge over the weekend and performed very well; we are proud of you!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe, relaxing holiday break.

Have a great week ahead!

Dave

Spotlight on Learning

Prep

Students of the Week