Principal's Post

Dear Families,

I had the privilege of attending the Taylor Swift concert last night with my wife and two of my daughters. It was a magnificent spectacle at the MCG. I know quite a few school parents, students and staff also attended the concert over the weekend.

More importantly, we celebrated the contributions Monica and Shane Bredhauerhave madeto our St James school and St John's Parish over many years. The 11.15am mass at St John's was a magnificent opportunity to honour and be grateful for the work Monica, Shane and many other parishioners put into out St James School and St John's Parish over many, many years.

Here is the link to what our school leaders wrote and read at mass following their interview with Monica and Shane last week.

Engagement Congratulations

Congratulations to Nikki Lamendola our new Year Four teacher who become engaged over the Christmas holiday period.

Congratulations also to Dani Callanan who moved from Year One to Year Five this year on her recent engagement.

We wish both Dani and Nikki all the best as they plan their upcoming weddings. 

Parent Information Sessions Last Wednesday

It was great to see so many parents invested in their children's education attending last Wednesday's information sessions. Apart from gaining necessary information, it was an opportunity to meet and listen to your child's class teacher and the other teacher/s in the level who will be heavily involved with their education this year.

Here is a brief summary of the address I gave in the Reynolds Community Centre:

• I introduced the new class teachers and some members new to our leadership team
• the partnership we share is crucial and a few key ingredients to a successful partnership are; communication, trust, positive discussions at home, being prepared to ask questions for clarity and 
• Whats app level groups being fantastic for many reasons. Please remember that the info on them is posted by parents and is not official communication from the school. It is important to keep whatts app communication positive
• Parents and Friends - we are seeking volunteers to take on the joint leadership role. Please contact Dave or Anita if you are interested in taking on the role which will be well supported by us. We rely on parents volunteering throughout the year to help run our social and fund raising activities. We have plans for spending 2023 and 2024 funds including; a new drink fountain near the oval, an innovative sporting game equipment that the students love playing, new solar panels for our junior school roof and large stained glass cross to be in the foyer of our new admin building
• The new award for school staff containing Time in Lieu for additional time staff spend out of hours such as; twilight sports, Sunday Mass, Learning Conferences, evening meetings and school camps. To help provide staff with thie Time in Lieu MACS have declared certain days (eg: the Friday after ANZAC Day and days at the end of the year) as Time in Lieu days. Unfortunately, this means that there will be an increase in student free days from this year onwards.
• Our new Administration Building has received the final tick of approval from MACS and is currently out for tender. Tenders close in 3 weeks so hopefully construction will commence some time in April. Here is the floor plan and a few digital images

Managing Big Feelings

This parent online seminar is aimed at our Prep parents as a follow up to last year's information session at a transition morning, however it is available and recommended to all parents in our community. You can sign up via the link on our Student Wellbeing Page.

Open Days

Feel free to pass this information on to any prospective families

NAPLAN

This year the NAPLAN period is 13th to 25th March.  To ensure that our Year 3 and Year 5 students are familiar with the online testing platform,  they will take part in some trial assessments over the next couple of weeks. The Year 3 and 5 families will shortly receive information about NAPLAN outlining further details, so please lookout for this. 

School Closure Day Friday 8 March 

Camp Australia will be running a day program here at St James for families in need of this service. Please register via the Camp Australia website.

Photos taken by passers by

We have had some students report that passers by have been taking photos of them playing throughout some lunchtimes. I'd like to let parents know that we do have staff on duty near the front fence. On the two occasions that staff have substantiated this they have spoken with the passers by about the inappropriateness of this and asked them to remove the photos from their phones. 

Mary Brockhoff

A recent publication featured an article about Mary, who until the end of 2023 when her children departed St James was an active parent within our community.  

Mary suffered health complications in 2022 and our Community supported Mary and her family in many ways during this tough time.

https://melbournecatholic.org/news/mary-brockhoff-a-personal-witness-to-the-power-of-prayer

Enjoy a great week ahead! 

Dave