St James Executive Leadership 

Principal News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is an important celebration in our Catholic faith, all about the love and kindness of Jesus. His Sacred Heart is a symbol of His deep love for everyone. This feast reminds us to be kind, caring, and loving, just like Jesus.

As tomorrow is a school closure day to commence planning for Term 3, we acknowledged this important feast day today with a whole school Mass in our school hall.  Thank you to Fr Stephen Hamilton for presiding over our whole school Mass. 

Community service and social justice activities are traditionally associated with this feast as they allow us to live out the core values of our faith. They provide opportunities to act with love, build stronger communities, teach important life lessons, and strive for a more just and compassionate world.  Our call to action during this time has been via the Winter Appeal.   Members from the Vinnies Gardentvale Conference were also in attendance to accept all the generous donations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all families for their donations that will be shared directly with those in need.

On Sunday the Church celebrated the Body and Blood of Christ.  Here is part of an article that MACS published today.  I thought it was worth sharing with you all.

The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

By Helena Goldsmith, Program Manager, Leading in Faith, Catholic Mission and Identity, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS).

A Catholic school is eucharistic in character. The sacramental and prayer life of the local Church, especially in the gathering of God’s People in Sunday Mass, is integral to the mission of a Catholic school and indispensable to its richness (MACS n.d.).

The feast

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also referred to as Corpus Christi, is celebrated on Sunday 2 June this year. The feast is a celebration of the gift of the Holy Eucharist, both as a sacrament and a sacrifice.

The liturgical readings for Year B, the Year of Mark, help us understand the purpose of the feast with an emphasis on the Eucharist as the sign of the covenant:

… ‘Take it,’ he said, ‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks, he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many… ’ (Mk 14: 22–24).

The Gospel reading from Mark makes clear for us the purpose of Jesus’ life, which is the core belief of our faith, that ‘… through Jesus, believers now have access to a new and living relationship with God’ (Coloe 2024). The real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is expressing this relationship and God’s everlasting love for us.

National Reconciliation Week

Last  Friday we gathered as a whole school to acknowledge National Reconciliation Week.  The students all traced and decorated their hand and placed it into the garden.

Each one of us has the ability to take on the responsibility of being a disciple and showing others how to be kind and treat others with respect and dignity.  Pentecost coincides beautifully with the beginning of National Reconciliation week.  This year the theme is “Now More More Than Ever”.  It is up to us now, to be that voice and to try and correct all the wrong doing imposed on Indigenous people.

CEO Vinnies sleepout

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, I will be participating in the upcoming Vinnies CEO Sleepout for the second year. 

This event is a powerful way to raise awareness and funds for people experiencing homelessness in our community.

By taking part in the Sleepout, I aim to lead by example and demonstrate our school's values of courage and compassion.  I encourage each of you to join me in supporting this cause. Whether through donations, or spreading the word, every contribution makes a difference in the lives of those in need.

Let's come together as a school community and make a meaningful impact through our support of  the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

Thank you for your commitment to making a difference.

School ‘Fundraiser Beanies

At the beginning of the school term the SRC (Student Representative Council) members brainstormed a list of actions to assist with fundraising, with proceeds going towards the Vinnies CEO sleepout.  One of the student-led initiatives was the sausage sizzle that took place last week.  Another idea was to create a school beanie.  School beanies have been designed and are now available to order online.  The beanies are now available in the school office.

Students are allowed to wear these beanies to and from school and when outside. They can also be worn by anyone in our school community, they are not just for the students.

We look forward to staying a bit warmer outside as the weather becomes cooler.

Drop Off / Pick Up Zones

Our drop off and pick up areas will remain in place. St James and Osbourne Close will be kiss and go areas for drop off and a quick pick up at school dismissal. However, we now ask that you park within the bays allocated in St James Close and supervise your children entering the school grounds.  Please be aware that this parking is a 2min parking zone. There is ample parking on North Road if you wish to enter the school at drop off and pick up times. Please be mindful of our neighbours when parking. 

I am aware that a number of families have expressed safety concerns with the current situation in dropping off and picking up in St James Close.  Some of you may be aware that parents have received parking infringements for dropping off students in St James Close and not adhering to the signage.  I am well aware of these concerns and can assure you that I am actively working on a solution.

School Security

If you are dropping off or picking up students between 9.00am and 3.30pm, please ensure that this is done so via St James Close and the front office.  For security reasons we would like to ensure anyone entering or leaving the school during class time does so via the main entrance.  The doors are locked once the school day commences.  Please ring the doorbell and a member of staff will let you in.  Thank you!

School Marketing 2024 / 2025

A friendly reminder that  enrolments for the upcoming school year have closed and our WAITLIST is in action. If you're an existing family at St James or you know of a family considering enrolling their child at our school, please remind them to submit their application using the online enrolment application available on the school website.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school directly on ph 03 9596-4766 or via email: info@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

Thanks in advance!

  COVID Safe Protocols

St James Catholic Primary School (School Portal) 

Please click here to access the School Portal  https://sites.google.com/stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au/stjamescatholicprimaryschool-r/school-portal-home-page

Social Media - Please follow, like and share our school Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Feeds. 

School Website:  www.stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

Twitter:  St James Catholic Primary School, 3186

Instagram:  stjamesbrighton3186

Facebook: @stjamesbrighton3186

Please stay safe and healthy.

Carmelina Corio

Principal

Deputy Principal News

Hello Everyone,

The list of dates below at the beginning of the term almost seemed like an impossible task yet here we are with only 3 weeks of the term left. Just a reminder that tomorrow Friday 7th June is a school closure day. Staff will be onsite planning for Term 3. 

Last week students took part in numerous activities as a class to recognise reconciliation week. On Friday as a school we had a special assembly run by the year 6 Student Wellbeing Leaders to come together as a school. Students were given a hand to colour in and bring to the assembly, here we heard about why reconciliation is so important, we learnt that a “sea of hands” is the symbol of solidarity with First Nations people.  We invited each student from each class to place their hand in a special place in the Tilley yard. Hands exist as traces in the landscape that reach out across time and within space to remind us of the most human connections to ancestors.  Whilst the students were placing their hands they listened to the words of the Aboriginal “Our Father” and the song “We are Australian”. Our SRC leaders also read a story titled “We are all Australian”. 

Reports are currently being written by staff. Families will have access to these by Friday 21st June in preparation for the Parent Teacher interviews to be held the following Monday and Tuesday in the final week of term. All Parent Teacher interviews will be held onsite unless otherwise agreed to prior. Links to bookings for interviews will be sent in the coming week. 

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, St James is now a Donation Partner for the Container Deposit Scheme. This means that each time you return your containers to Return-It Locations in the Victorian East Zone, you can choose to donate the money to St James.  This term any money raised will be donated to the CEO sleepout; following this we will advise where the next amount of money will go towards.  

You can either search for and donate to St James or you can use our Donation Partner ID or Barcode.  

Our Zone ID barcode is:

Thank you for helping us support our students and make a difference to our environment.

Please see below key dates for Term 2:

Thursday 6th June-Feast of St Sacred Heart Mass @ 9.15am

Thursday 6th June-Stay and Play

Thursday 6th June- School Assembly #4

Friday 7th June - Staff Planning Day for Term 3-Whole School Closure for Students

Thursday 13th June - Holt Netball LP(selected students only)

Friday 14th June - Holt AFL LP-(selected students only)

Thursday 20th June - St Vinnies Sleepout -Carmelina

Thursday 20th June - Stay and Play

Thursday 20th June- School Assembly #5

Monday 24th June - Parent Teacher Interviews-1.30pm finish

Tuesday 25th June - Parent Teacher Interviews-normal finish time 3.30pm

Friday 28th June- Winter Appeal Bracelet making stall - Gold coin donation

                              End of Term finish 3.30pm 

Emma Herbert and Georgia McNamara

Deputy Principals