Principal's Post

Dear Families,

Welcome to Term 3! I hope you enjoyed your break. I had a lovely time and even managed to squeeze in a week perfecting my swing on a golf trip in Thailand. I saw a few other St James families enjoying the sun over there also!

We have a very busy term ahead with our Mini Mission Fete, Concert Production, Year 6 Confirmation, The Bookfair, Year 5 Camp, Yrs 4 - 6 Athletics and Basketball Carnivals, Our Parents Wild West Social Night and of course our wellbeing focus on persistence.

We welcome three new families to our St James community with students; Chloe in Prep D (returning mid August), Jack in Year 1A and Isabella in Year 2S.

On the final Friday of Term Two we farewelled Koby in 6D who commenced in Prep here at St James. Koby's family have now moved to Mauritius and we wish them all the best as they embark on a new chapter in their lives.

We had some improvements made to our school environment over the holidays. The carpet was replaced in the Auslan/Art Room. The decking areas outside the Community Centre and Multi Purpose Room were resurfaced with modwood. The Adventure Playground Area and Sandpit were topped up with mulch and sand for our students to enjoy while playing.

Mini Mission Fete and St James Feast Day Mass this Friday

Our Year Five and Six students have been working hard over the past two months preparing for this event. So much learning is acquired from the experience including; planning for a stall, budgeting for the costs and how to make a profit, writing letters to local businesses asking for donations, resourcing the stall, advertising the stall and organising shifts so that they may also have time to explore the MMF.

For the rest of the school population, the day provides a fun opportunity to enjoy the various stalls and spend their money which all goes towards a social justice initiative. This year the students chose to donate the revenue raised to Kidney Health Australia - https://kidney.org.au/

Here are a few important aspects for parents to discuss with their children

Sausages have been ordered for lunch
It is a free dress day with a gold coin donation - the gold coins not only help raise funds but also help provide the float for many stalls
Children may purchase food and drink items at the fete AND we ask parents to discuss with their children, limiting the intake of sugar, junk food and substances which may cause allergies
The rough timetable is as follows
9.00am - 9.45am St James Feast Day Mass in the Community Centre
9.45am - 10.45am - students set up stalls
10.45am - 11.15am - sausage sizzle lunch
11.00am - 1.00pm - roaming around the fete
1.45pm - 2.30pm - students pack up stalls
2.30pm - 3.15pm - prayer service, stall raffles drawn and whole school wrap up in Community Centre

$10 cash in a purse or wallet is a good amount to give your child to spend

Parents, grandparents and pre-school children are welcome to attend.

Year 6 2026 Rugby Tops

If you have not already ordered your child's Rugby Top for Year 6 2026, please click on the following link and order before Monday 28th July.

It's a special food day - Wednesday 6th August

Flyers will go home with your children tomorrow. Please ensure orders are completed by Tuesday 29th July. It's a swift turnaround due to holidays.

Concert Production Update

Our production of "A World for Everyone: The Journey of a Magic Suitcase"is getting close. Only 3 more weeks to go before we invite you to Step inside a magical suitcase and travel across continents with us. With music, dance, colour, and plenty of fun – this is a journey you won’t want to miss!

We have a dress rehearsal on Monday 4 August. The whole school rehearsal at the venue will be on Monday 11 August. This will be followed by the actual performance on the evenings of Monday 11 August and Tuesday 12 August.

Ticket sales will be released TOMORROW, Tuesday 22 July at 4pm via an Operoo.

Farm Yard

We are now seeking volunteers for farm duty on the following weekends:

Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th August
Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th August
Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st August
Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th September
Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September

If your family is able to help on one of these weekends, please contact me at joanne.magnik@sjvermont.catholic.edu.au with your preferred weekend.

Out of Hours School Care - MACSEYE

Please register your children here if you require this service.

If you have any questions you can email MACSEYE

directly at enrolments@macseye.vic.edu.au

Other News Items

Our Book Fair will run from Friday 25th to Wednesday 30th July. 25% of all book sales will go towards resourcing our school library. Feel free to drop in before or after school with your child to buy a book or two from 3:15pm on Friday.

Staffing Updates:

Naomi Carson is away this week with Auslan lessons taken by Louisa Norwell
Anita Dell'Orso return from her Long Service Leave next Tuesday 29 July
We have a few Learning support Officers away this week
Carlie Erikson will change over to teach Visual Art this semester to all classes commencing tomorrow

Message from the St James P&F Wild West Night committee

We are seeking donations for our wine raffle. We kindly welcome donations of wine, champagne and spirits, as they will contribute significantly to the success of our fundraising. One of our P&F representatives will be at the top school gate in the morning to gratefully receive any donations on the following dates:

Friday 25th July
Every day commencing Monday 28th July until Friday 1st August.

Alternatively, if these dates aren't suitable, then donations can also be dropped off at the office at any time. Many thanks in advance from the St James P&F Wild West Night committee

Please book your tickets HERE for our St James P&F Social Event on August 2nd 2025.

The team need volunteers from 1pm on Friday 1st Aug to set up tables and decorations. Please sign up via the link below to help make this event a great success.

https://volunteersignup.org/FKCX4

News from our Fete Committee

Hope you all have a great week ahead

Kind regards,

Dave