St James School Community News

Parents Association 

WELCOME TO 2024 FROM THE PARENTS ASSOCIATION

We warmly welcome our new families joining St James 2024!  To those who have left 

St James we send best wishes and bid ‘farewell’ as friends never say ‘goodbye’. 

To our outgoing STJPA Co-chairs Connie Sands and Virginia Pullman – we thank you for your dedication and committed service to St James over the last few years. Your experience and wisdom has helped transition St James though a difficult post-pandemic period and you’ve carried St James though these times of adjustment with resolve and enthusiasm. Many thanks for the long hours you’ve generously given to the STJPA and we cherish your ongoing involvement in the school over the next couple of years. 

Taking the baton from Connie and Virginia are John Fenwick and Maryallan Girolami. 

John Fenwick – John and Alicia have Piper Grade 1 and Charlie Grade 4 

Maryallan Girolami – Maryallan and her husband Aidan have Edward Grade 1 and Harry in kindergarten

At St James, we want to create a sense of belonging for our parents and our children. 

• Our Vision for the year ahead will be discussed at the next PA meeting 
• Please forward any ideas to your Grade Reps for discussion

ST JAMES WELCOME DISCO

Our  St James Welcome Disco is the first event of the year and is a great way to bring in 2023 and to connect with new and existing St James families.

Date: Friday, 16th February 2023  

Time: 5:30pm to 8:00pm

Location: St James Primary School 

Theme: Superheroes and Villains - come dressed in theme for your chance to win the best-dressed prize! 

A Family Ticket ($30) includes DJ, Inflatables and Giveaways. 

The Year 6 Class will also have a Cake and Icy Pole Stall to raise money for their end-of-year Graduation. 

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.trybooking.com/COYBQ

Food is to be ordered by Sunday, 11th February 2024 at https://www.trybooking.com/1170917

ST JAMES KIDS ADVENTURE CAMP

A reminder that the St James Kids Adventure Camp (Run by the Dads) will be 22nd-24th March 2024. The St James Kids’ Adventure Camp is for students and their dads or a special male relative/friend, to spend a weekend together in Anglesea. 

PARENTS ASSOCIATION (PA) VOLUNTEERS FOR NEXT YEAR

Thank-you to all the parents that have volunteered for roles this year, it is greatly appreciated.

The PA exists to create a sense of community through social and fundraising events which relies on parents volunteering to make it work.

Given the importance of these events to building and maintaining a sense of school belonging for parents and children, events will be allocated to year levels as per previous years to allow time for planning. It is hoped this system will help to share the load, create new friendships and enrich everyone's school experience. We are currently working out the best fit of events for each level, so please stay tuned for further notification.

Once we have the key event organisers for each event, a “signup.com” can be created to find other volunteers for the event if needed.

LUNCH ORDERS ONLINE  via Flexischools

Online lunch orders are now live.  Details on how to set up your Flexischools account for online ordering together with the lunch order menu can be found further down this page. 

Please note, lunch orders come from Star of the Sea College next to St James and orders are affected by Star of the Sea school closure days and start and end of term dates. 

THANKS FROM THE PA

We are very grateful for the continued support of all our parents, the school and local  community.  All our PA members are volunteers who generously give up their own time to organise our school events. 

FUTURE CALENDAR DATES

• Welcome Disco - St James - Friday 16 February, 5.30pm-8.00pm (PLEASE BOOK TiCKETS)
• Dads/Special friends and kids - YMCA Camp Anglesea - Friday to Sunday, 22nd-24th March 2024 
• Easter Raffle Drawn Thursday 28th March 2024
• Hot Cross Bun Drive - available for collection last week of term.
• Mothers Day St James Ladies lunch - Saturday 18th May 2024 at Elwood Bathers
• Parents night out - Saturday 3 August 2024 pending venue confirmation
• Colour Explosion run  - Thursday 12th September 2024

Maryallan and John

St James PA Co-Chairs

Second Hand Uniform Shop

Please reach out to us if you have any uniform enquiries or suggestions.

Liesl & Ali

School Community News

There are lots of exciting things happening in our community in the next few weeks. 

St James -  STAY AND PLAY - Transition Playgroup 

Before and After school care

Parent Google Calendar

The google calendar is designed for parents to keep up to date with school events.  

Please ensure that you are checking the Parent Google Calendar on a regular basis as dates are added throughout the year.

School Closure Days 2024 

2024 school closure days are as follows, but please keep in mind that they may be subject to change, as each term, staff have a full day dedicated to staff professional learning and forward planning. 

Term 1   Friday 22 March            Staff Planning Day  Term 2

Term 2    Friday 26 April              TIL

                  Friday 07 June                Staff Planning Day  Term 3         

Term 3    Friday 13 September    Staff Planning Day  Term 4

                  Friday 20 September    TIL

Term 4    Monday 04 November  TIL

2024 Term Dates

Term 1   30 January  - 28 March         (Final Day Term 1 - School finishes at 3:30pm)

                Each Wednesday in February Foundation Students are scheduled for individual testing                   and do not attend school.  Full weeks for Foundation commence in March.

Term 2     15 April - 28 June                    (Final Day Term 2 - School finishes at 3:30pm)

Term 3     15 July - 19 September         (Final Day Term 3 - School finishes at 3:30pm)

Term 4      07 October - 17 December  (Final Day Term 4 -School finishes at 1:30pm)

Bell Times

Teacher supervision  8:40am - 9:00am 

First Bell  9:00am (Music begins playing at 8:55am) 

Fruit Break 10am

Morning Recess  11:00am - 11:30am 

Morning Eating Time 11:30 am -11:40 am

Lunch Eating Time 1:40pm - 1:50pm 

Afternoon Recess 1:50pm - 2.30pm

Dismissal  3:30pm 

Teacher supervision  3:30pm -3:45pm

Lunch Orders

N.B. Lunch Orders will not be available on days as advised by Star of the Sea

i.e., Star school closure days, 

2024 Lunch Order Menu

NB  some items are only served on certain days

Details on how to set up your Flexischools account for online ordering. 

Scholastic Book Club

This week your child will be bringing home a scholastic book club catalogue.

What is Book Club?

For more than 50 years, Scholastic Book Club has been bringing to the joy of reading to Australian children. Today, Book Club can be found in more than 94% of primary schools across Australia, with a yearly circulation of over 20 million catalogues. Each Issue of Book Club covers ages from 0-12+ years and contains specially curated, age-appropriate titles that have been carefully selected and levelled by a dedicated team of professional booklovers.

Book Club provides families with an affordable and convenient way to access the best in Australian and international children's literature. As well as bridging the important class-to-home reading gap, Book Club also benefits Australian schools—for every Book Club order placed, Scholastic gives back 15% of the order spend to schools to spend on valuable educational resources via its Scholastic Rewards program.

So how does Book Club work?

1. Book Club catalogues arrive at school up to twice a term and can usually be found hiding in your child’s backpack. We encourage you to sit down with your child and go through the catalogue together, discussing any books that sparks your child’s interest.

2. Once your child has made their final selection, head over to our LOOP websiteor app 

to place your order. LOOP orders are linked to your school in an easy, safe online process. Registering for LOOP will also keep you up-to-date with all of the latest Book Club news, information on exciting new releases, and our exclusive Book Club special offers.

3. Your school’s Book Club Organiser will then take care of the rest! After they have submitted everyone’s orders, our team get to work packing your child’s order full of exciting things.　

4. Your child’s order is then delivered to their class, ready to take home and be eagerly read. Orders that you have marked as a ‘gift’ in LOOP will be sent to school for you to secretly pick-up instead.

With numerous studies finding that reading at home is a key factor in a child’s lifelong success, Book Club provides a fun and easy way of bringing books into your home.

Kindly note ordering books via the book club is entirely optional and the book club orders for this catalogue close on February 12.

Community Notices

Extra Curricular Programs @  St James  School

TENNIS 

TAEKWONDO  

Rise Up Dance Program - After School 

Rise Up Dance is be back at

 St James in 2024!

Contact Miss Leisa for more information 

leisa.riseupdance@gmail.com

PIANO                                         GUITAR    

ART

ART SMART

Professional Afterschool Art Program now running at your school.

We've got an awesome art program called Art Smart specifically designed for children aged 5-12 years, drawing skills, painting techniques, sculpting & pottery!! And guess what? It's happening right at your school! Can you believe it? The best part is, each session is just $18 + GST. Isn't that amazing? You definitely don't want to miss out on this incredible opportunity. So, what do you say? Let's unleash your child's creativity with Art Smart and join us for a free trial session. 

Testimonials 

‘I love art smart it’s so much fun! The teachers are really nice, and we do lots of cool art! 

- Emily St James Student 

‘Not just your everyday art program! Art classes are tailored around a movement or a specific artist or art form and the kids are given insights into each before they embark on their own artworks on the days theme/topic. A true art education with really creative and practical applications each week using different and interesting materials. My girls absolutely love it and I’m thrilled that they are really investigating and learning about the wonderful world of art without realising it’ 

- Kylie parent 

Seniors (grade 2+) Mondays 3.40 - 5pm

Juniors (prep - grade 3) Tuesdays 3.40 - 5pm

Enrol now - https://arteastudio.weteachme.com/classes/1043232-art-smart-professional-art-program-st-james