This Week's Updates

Dear Families,

Congratulations to many of our Year Three students who received the First Reconciliation sacrament on Wednesday 13 November at our St John's church. As always, Father Dispin lead a very reverent ceremony which both students and parents were easily able to relate to.

Dispin spoke of the word "Sin" which derives from Old English 'synn', translating Hebrew 'hata' and Greek 'hamartia'. Both the Hebrew and Greek mean 'missing the mark' (as in archery) so basically a failure.

Parish Fete

The Parish sweltered through one of the hottest Fete days on record with huge sales of snow cones and cold drinks. Highlights included our talented students gracing the stage and wowing a captive audience with their songs, dances,  and joke-telling. We were treated to an outstanding performance by our Choir and Year 5 Bucket Drummers at the Fete.  The Choir captivated the crowd with two beautiful songs: Somewhere Only We Know, which included Auslan signs, and High Hopes. The Year 5 Bucket Drummers brought energy and rhythm to the stage with their performance of The World Is Ours.

A huge congratulations to all the students, Mrs Eriksen, Mrs O'Connor and Mrs Carson who worked so hard in rehearsals to make this performance a memorable one. We would also like to extend our thanks to the families in the audience for their enthusiastic support! We are incredibly proud of our talented students!

Thanks so much to all of our wonderful St James community members for volunteering their time on stands when needed. Thanks to all the parents who bought raffle tickets, donated chocolate, lollies, baked, offered up their time managing stalls such as the Book Shop and Pre-Loved Clothing. It takes a village!!

A big shout out to Jen Harvey and Kristian Height who are our two St James reps on the fete organising committee. This fete takes months of meticulous planning, hours and hours of dedication and a truck load of hard work. We really appreciate all that you do for the community. 

Early estimates are that St James families raised over $4000 in raffle ticket sales which will result in $3000 coming back into our P & F funds. This is our greatest return ever! Five raffle winners were St James families, including first prize which was won by the Nishikawa family! Congratulations! 

Year 5 Endangered Animal Zoo Puppet Performance

On Thursday, 14th November, our Year 5 students showcased their creativity and teamwork in an incredible interactive Endangered Animal Zoo Puppet Performance. The students combined their puppetry and drama skills to bring a variety of endangered animals to life, engaging the audience with fun, informative performances.

The students shared important messages about why these animals are endangered and how we can all play a role in protecting them. The audience, made up of students, teachers and members of the St James community, thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the puppets while learning about the challenges facing these animals.

Our Year 5 performers, mentored by Mrs Eriksen, displayed incredible courage and resilience, bringing energy and passion to the stage. A big thank you to everyone who attended. We are incredibly proud of our Year 5 students for their hard work and dedication.

Mango Fundraiser

For those of you who have ordered mangoes, your delivery will be arriving on Wednesday 20th November so please factor this in when planning school pick up and remember to bring your car!

Swimming

Monday 18th - Friday 29th November School Swimming Lessons - Prep - Year 4. 

Todays swimming kicked off with a great start. Students were placed in groups and assessed on their swimming ability and will be placed more accordingly over the next day. Just a reminder, if your child is unwell please keep them home on swimming days. Please ensure your child has their swimming gear labelled.

Visiting Auslan Author - Kerrie Taylor 

Here are a few photos from last Tuesday's presentation and workshop Kerrie Taylor had with each class in the school. Thank you Naomi Carson who organised this. Naomi has been using Kerrie's books and resources as a teaching tool for Auslan throughout this semester.

Movember

The St James lads are once again embracing Movember by growing mo's, running/walking 60kms and supporting in various other ways. If you'd like to support our worthy cause, please click on the link below.

All your support goes towards innovative world-class men's health projects in key focus areas – mental health/suicide prevention and cancer research. https://movember.com/t/st-james-manly-mo-men?mc=1

Children's Liturgy at St John's Weekend Masses

This is becoming more popular week by week. It's a great way for your children to learn about the weekend scripture, including the gospel each Sunday during the 9:45am and 11:15am masses.

Building Update

The building is progressing to schedule and it's so exciting to see painted walls internally and cabinetry continues to be fitted this week. We truly can visualise occupying the space in only a few short weeks time! 

A Few Term Four Reminders/Notes

• Monday 18th - Friday 29th November - School Swimming Lessons - Prep - Year 4
• Our whole school value focus this term is cooperation
• Closure Day - Thursday 5th December. Camp australia Bookings are available for Out of Hours School care for the day.

Congratulations to Lexi and Chloe (Grade 6) and any other St James girls who sang in the Annual Concert for the Australian Girls Choir at Hamer Hall over the weekend. The show was spectacular!

For the person who has everything - Give the gift of Entertainment this Christmas - 50% off dining, shopping, travel, and more. It’s not just a present; it’s a gateway to endless savings and adventures!  20% of the purchase price goes directly to our P&F fundraising. 

 PLUS buy before midday 19th November and receive a FREE UPGRADE to a Multi City Membership when you purchase a Single City Membership – saving you $50! Your Multi City Upgrade unlocks 12 months access to over 15,000 valuable offers across Australia, New Zealand and Bali. Order here: https://www.entbook.com.au/186265m Please help us to spread the word by sharing this post! 

Hope you all have a great week,

Dave