Dear Families,

Congratulations on making it through this term of Remote Learning!

I am very grateful to all families who have supported the school in our efforts to cater for students during this Remote Learning time. I understand that with so many different family situations at home, we cannot deliver a perfect product that accommodates every family situation and child need. Thank you for the feedback provided. We have listened to all feedback and been prepared to have a go at some of the suggestions. The Remote Learning program we have delivered has been designed to: allow for flexible learning times at home, be predictable in the presentation format, cater for students who require structure and those who prefer or need to work more independently, be challenging yet achievable, cater for student interests and strengths, address student wellbeing needs and cover the most essential aspects of the curriculum.

I am also very grateful to the staff who have worked tirelessly to provide our Remote Learning program and been flexible to include suggestions and adaptations provided via feedback.

Mostly, I am grateful to our delightful students, who, at times have lost interest and motivation, yet usually pushed through this and have achieved growth despite this totally new and non preferred way of learning.

We look forward to Week Two next term when we can welcome back our Prep, Year One and Year Two students on site, back into regular classroom learning. We hope that our Year 3 - 6 students will be permitted to return to school the following week.

We have commenced planning a few Extra Curricular events for term four in which our Year Six students can use some of their leadership skills and also enjoy their final term at St James.

Learning has continued in so many ways .....

In short:

Head to the P & F Page to check out a great community initiative whereby we can help those in need during COVID restrictions
Keep looking out for emails and updates

Board Shorts

Here are a few notes from our recent Education Board Meeting held on Thurs 3 September

Hannah Ngu our Business Manager presented information about Finances including; government grants, the government calculation of families capacity to contribute fees, how our fees compare to other schools and a proposal for a slight 3% fee increase for 2021 and no increase to our levies
Board members provided feedback on this Term's Remote Learning, the impact it had on families, the impact on student learning, the impact on student wellbeing and student engagement. There was a lot of positive feedback as well as some constructive suggestions to take on board when planning for next term.
We discussed our commitment to holding as many events as possible for our students during Term Four, even if they need to be modified Eg: Twilight Sports during the day at school, a modified Art Show, Yr 5 camp if at all possible, Swimming program (even if outdoors)

St James' Got Talent

Congratulation to all students who entered the talent quest. I am so proud of the time, effort and imagination over 50 students put into the many acts that entertained us. All entries were brilliant and unfortunately not all can be shown on the audience voting page. The judging panel met for many hours over the weekend and assigned awards to the following students: Asher, Rhys, Shelan, Amelia, Grace, Alec, Anne, Poppy, Evie, Montanna, Amelia and Thomas.

Please ensure that you log on and fill out the form to vote for your favourite act as an audience member.

Thank you to Mrs Siva, Massimo, Kiera, Camille and Lily for the time and effort you put into organising this event for our students.

Audience Favourite Vote

Parents: Find Your 30!

Well done to all the St James families who have worked so hard to find their 30 minutes of exercise while learning from home! Make sure you keep up the great effort this week and during the holidays. Don’t forget playing at the playground is a great way to find your 30!

The final results are:

1st Lyons on 186 points (Awesome effort Lyons and great to see you get a win!)

2nd- Coghlan on 170 points

3rd- Dillon on 147 points

4th- Durkin on 121 points

Prep 2021 Transition

I have met with most new families and kinder kids who will be joining our St James community next year. COVID-19 has restricted the opportunity for me to meet with our current families who have a child starting in Prep next year. I will seek advice as to whether we can hold on site transition meetings with families next term. If this is not possible, we will at least be able to hold a zoom or google hangout meeting. Stay tuned for more information regarding these opportunities.

I will also seek advice as to whether or not we can hold our on site transition mornings during November.

Student On Site Attendance Term Four

I am assuming that week one next term will involve similar arrangements for families' remote and on site learning. Please email me ASAP if there are any changes to the current arrangements, ideally by the end of this week, so staffing can be arranged.

The second week commencing Monday 12 October will look very different. Our Prep, Year One and Year Two students will all be joining us in classrooms!

There may also be some changes to family work situations. I would appreciate all parents sending me an email as soon as you know whether your children in Years 3 - 6 will be required to attend on site from Monday 12 October. As you can imagine, we need to ensure we have the appropriate number of staff on both site and available to facilitate Remote Learning for students.

Extension of the application period for CSEF

The Victorian government, through the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides a $125 payment per year for eligible students to ensure no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities.

St James in turn, will spport and match a fee relief of $125 per year for valid CSEF card holders.

Application eligibility criteria: Holder of a Veterans Affairs Gold Card or Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card or a temporary foster parent (further details on the website). It is my opinion that some of our St James families may be missing out on this assistance simply because they have not applied.

The one page application form is available at the school or click on the website below https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/resources

Assembly link from this morning

Assembly

Prep Transition Webinar

This session, funded by the school is on at 7.30 this evening via the link

www.bit.ly/stjamesprep2021

This presentation will provide parents of 2020 and 2021 Prep students with some information and strategies to assist their children in transition to school after our lockdown periods this year.

The session is lead by Carly McGauran, the psychologist who presented at our Cyber safety evening earlier this year.

(not sure who organised this event on the same night Collingwood are playing!)

Most importantly, stay safe.

I'll look forward to, 'seeing' you all at 9:00am assembly on Monday 5 October. This will be our last live stream for the whole school.

Dave

Community Information