Principal's Post
Dear Families,
Welcome to Term 4! I hope you all had a lovely break or break from making lunches and getting students dressed and out the door for school at least. I have had a great break and my wife and I were lucky to spend a four days in Mooloolabah and two nights in the Grampians.
We have a busy term ahead with district sports, athletics carnivals, Prep 2026 transition days, Swimming, St James sports day and many excursions and incursions across all year levels to look forward to.
Our School Fete is fast approaching ................please consider putting your hand up to help out, run a stall, bake some goodies, donate some toys or clothing.
P & F Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser
This is on Saturday 25 October. Please consider signing up for a shift via this link
Welcome New Families to St James
Next Monday we will welcome Bethany to Year 4L and Connor to Year 1A. We welcome the Riley family to our St James community. I know our students and families will make them feel welcome.
We also welcome Chloe Huang and her family who joined Prep D in the final week of last term.
Second Hand Uniform Shop
Our second hand uniform shop will be open on Friday 10th October from 3:15pm - 3:45pm. Please feel free to drop in and purchase some items on Friday. If you have any items to donate, you can drop them off on the office prior to Friday afternoon. Thank you.
Holiday Works
You may have noticed that Adrian, our maintenance and handyman completed the final few decking sections in our quadrangle over the holiday period. All of these areas are now much safer for the students and should last for another 20 years without the need for maintenance. Thank you to our Parents and Friends contribution of $10 000 towards this cost. Feel free to sit on these areas as you wait to collect your children from the quadrangle after school.
Our staffroom refurbishment continued over the holidays and should be complete within the next two weeks.
Our Year Six classrooms have two brand new TV screens in them which were put to use today.
We have swapped over two rooms in the new Administration Building, creating a larger meeting room #2, near the lift, which will also be used for night time meetings for the P & F and SAC, as well as internal meetings during the school day.
Marathon Club 2026
We are looking for a few parents to take on the role of Marathon Club breakfast coordinators for 2026. Katrina and Belinda have done a wonderful job in sharing this role over the past few years. The Wednesday mornings can be supported by parent volunteers to set up, serve and pack up. The coordinators role is to purchase the breakfast items and communicate with the school office regarding dates, times and payment. A form has been shared with parents outlining further details.
Farm
There are still a few dates that need filling for Weekend Farm Duty this term, if you have time to help out it would be greatly appreciated.
Sat 11th & Sun 12th October
Sat 18th & Sun 19th October
1st, 2nd,3rd & 4th November (Cup weekend)
Book Club 2026
Bronwyn, our wonderful Book Club Coordinator will be stepping down at the end of Term 4 as her son is in Grade 6. We are looking for a book lover who would enjoy taking on this role for 2026. If you are interested, please contact the office.
Summer School Uniform
Now that it's Term Four and the weather is warmer, we will have our usual two week change over period where students may wear whichever uniform parents decide is most appropriate.
From Monday 20 October, all students should be dressed in Summer Uniform.
Sun Smart Policy
With warmer weather and high UV rays over the coming months, please ensure that your child has their hat at school to wear at all times when outside. To protect our student's beautiful faces, will be enforcing the NO HAT NO PLAY policy.
Swimming Program
This term all students in Prep to Year Four will be participating in our annual Swimming Program for two weeks starting Monday 17 November and ending on Friday 28 November. Students will transported by bus to daily swimming lessons at Knox Leisureworks. Further details will be sent out over the coming weeks via Operoo.
Out of Hours School Care -
Please register your children here if you require this service.
Please note - you must walk your children to the door of Before School Care and sign them in.
If you have any questions you can email MACSEYE
directly at enrolments@macseye.vic.edu.au
School Closure Dates Term Four
Monday 3 & Tuesday 4th November - Cup Day holidays
Friday 14 November - Parish Pre fete day - Staff will participate in an RE Professional Learning Day (MACSEYE day care available)
Friday 5th December - 2026 Staff Planning day (MACSEYE day care available)
News from our Fete Committee
Raffle tickets will be coming home soon. It is an expectation that each family sells their allotment of tickets. The parish fete raffle committee has decided to donate 75% of the money raised via our St James raffle tickets back to our St James P & F. Therefore if all 250 families sell their allotment of 10 tickets at $2.00 each, we will receive $3 750.
Obviously, families who ask for additional books will be provided with them!
Due to the time demand and use of the Main Stage there will not be a talent quest at the fete this year. Our school Choir and Ukulele band will be performing.
Please find attached the latest Fete news along with links
While school holidays are wonderful, increased time spent with siblings can lead to an increase of unrest between them. I found this article useful to help keep things calmer on the home front. There may be a few useful tips and tricks that you can implement to help make family life more manageable.
I hope you all have a great week ahead and enjoy settling back into school routines. I am taking two Camp Time in Lieu Days on Friday and Monday to head to Bathurst for my first time there at the race.
Congratulations to all Brisbane Lions and Broncos fans; two well deserved wins!
Dave