Principal's News
This week we commence the third Sunday of Advent. In parishes this week we light the purple candle, the candle of love.
The first two candles of the Advent period, the preparation time before the birth of Jesus, represent hope and peace, and this is what we need for today’s world.
The importance of the third candle this week is particularly significant as we conclude our school year. It is love that we have extended to each other this year in abundance that has enabled us to get through the year.
This year, COVID took away our ability to be as we once were. Our familiarity with the ways in which we live our lives was overturned. We were again required to adjust, to be adaptable and to be present to each other in a different way. Our robustness as a community got us through the past twelve months. I must say that being present through a device screen definitely does not match that physical connection with each other.
As an educational community it was our academic delivery that allowed us to do a wonderful effort against the tide. We continue to achieve extraordinary results when we analyse our assessment data, and coupled with that our strong moral compass as a school which makes a significant difference to our lives and the lives of others.
There are many times that we have reached out in love to each other this year. I have seen so often in the way our teachers have consistently and with beautiful spirit, extended their nurturing capacity with our children. The way our parents have looked out for each other and kept the parent St James flame alive through connecting by email, phone and social media. And of course our children. How happy they were to be back together at school and rekindle through learning and play.
We have risen to the challenges, excelled in trying new things, found another lane to move into as we journeyed through the year. This can only occur through an expression of love to others.
The third Advent candle means so much to us at this time of the year. Finally in the lyrics of Nat King Cole song Nature Boy may we remember that:
The greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and to be loved in return.
Well done to everyone in our school community.
Staff leaving
We have a few staff leaving from St James next week and we will have our final farewell Liturgy commencing at 12:45pm in the main yard on Wednesday 15th December.
Students will be dismissed at the end of the Liturgy -1:30pm.
Ms Bernie Whiffen is leaving after many years of Catholic education. If you have had a child in Bernie’s class this year or in previous years you would understand the beautiful relationship she has with the children. The children love her dearly. Bernie is retiring from education and school life and leaves St James with a strong imprint of her spirit and presence. Bernie has been a great colleague, friend, adviser and teacher over many years.
There will be an opportunity to farewell Ms Whiffen next Monday at a 3pm Assembly. Please attend if you are free.
Holly Capomolla
Holly joined us at the beginning of 2020 as a graduate and spent most of her first year teaching Year 2, online! This year Holly has further demonstrated her natural ability to teach whilst working with the Foundation students. We will miss Holly’s bubbly personality and dedication and passion for teaching. We wish Holly all the best as she continues her teaching career at Sacre Coeur, our loss is their gain.
George Lithotomos
George, better known as “Mr Litho” by the students, joined us at the beginning of the year as a graduate. George’s enthusiasm and energy to teach will be missed by both staff and students. We wish George all the best in his appointment at St Louis de Montfort’s in Aspendale.
Bronwyn Northcott
Ms Bronowyn North has been our Occupational Therapist supporting staff and students during her time here. Her knowledge and understanding for occupational therapy and dedication to helping students achieve will be missed. We wish Bronwyn all the best in her future endeavours.
Mandy Cooper
Mrs Mandy Cooper is leaving us after two years of sharing her many artistic talents. We will miss Mandy’s creativity and passion for the visual arts. We will forever remember Mandy’s ability to organise a Virtual Art Show during remote learning 2020. We wish Mandy all the best as she leaves us to pursue a number of creative projects.
Sharon Portelli
Our great Sharon Portelli has accepted a position at St Joseph's Black Rock as an LSO for 2022. Sharon has been a magnificent educator and LSO for a long time at St James and we will miss her greatly. Sharon is a quiet achiever who has had an enormous impact on our students with her calm and sensitive manner. She would be an asset in any school.
SHREK the Musical Jr.
St James once again amazed us all with their theatrical skills as they performed Shrek the Musical Jr. We wish to thank Miss Tess Sabbatucci, who in a year of restrictions and remote learning, was able to pull off the unimaginable, bringing Broadway to Brighton!
We thank all the parents and volunteers, for supporting Tess in coordinating costumes and make up.
We look forward to sharing the school production with the school students on Tuesday and with families later in the week.
Final message to our Year 6 students as they leave St James
The journey that you have taken as a group over the past 7 years has been a positive, fruitful and life giving experience. The St James teachers, parents and staff, have provided you with many opportunities to ensure that you are young men and women that will make a difference to our world. We will look forward with expectation to seeing how you will mature further given the solid foundation that you have achieved at St James.
The shared experiences over the past years will be memories that will be etched in your minds for many, many years. In the years to come you will reflect on your adventures at St James. This is when the real significance of your class friendships will remind you of how important that bond of connection was and the importance of this time in your life. What incredible opportunities you had this year and over the past 7 years. Your Primary School years will be full of inspiration for you in your future life.
St James has had many Jesus moments. As Leaders you have shown the face of Jesus to many in our school community. Consistently and with a spirit of generosity. In these final days of 2020, St James loses part of its soul with your departure. There is great happiness and jubilation with your graduation, and we are all excited about the exciting future ahead of you, but we also realise that there is more than a tinge of sadness at this time. However, it is time to move on. Your parents are extremely proud of you. They have seen their young child grow before their eyes so quickly, and they are incredibly appreciative of the way in which you have matured into fine young men and ladies.
They will never absolve themselves of their parental responsibilities and will always be prepared to assist you in the pathways and challenges of life. Be sure to thank them and keep the communication channels open. The St James teachers will always remember you fondly and with extreme gratitude. You have had a range of teachers from Foundation to Year 6. Your departure touches each one of them. As our student leaders at St James, Jesus chose each one of you to lead through a service of love for others. You have demonstrated this in many ways. You have demonstrated this to all the younger children, parents, staff and people in our school and wider community. You have modelled our school motto of ‘Living Loving Learning’ with enormous vigour with your unique group humour and attitude.
As you leave, I encourage you to never give up, be persistent, model respect and have an acceptance of others, and demonstrate an optimistic and hopeful view of life. To all the Year 6 2021 students, I congratulate, commend and thank you. You have all been a credit to our school. May God bless you in the wonderful years ahead.
Brendan Flanagan
Principal St James Brighton
2 Awards in 1 Day for our Heritage Garden
Our Heritage Garden was recognised in two separate Awards last week! St James CPS won the ’Most Engaging for Play’ Award at the Victorian School Garden Awards, hosted by Costa from Gardening Australia.
A link to view the awards is at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNQbCIzn55A .
Our school was also a Finalist in the Education category of the Keep Victoria Beautiful Sustainable Cities Awards 2021 . While we didn’t win this category, St James CPS was a recipient of $1000 from the Keep Victoria Beautiful Gift Fund for its ‘Growing Excitement about Sustainability’ project. Each year, Keep Victoria Beautiful awards two grants to grass roots projects that will deliver sustainability outcomes or build capacity in local communities.
Link to view the awards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivcVzX01XcU
Award Winners St James
We are pleased to announce that St James received two awards in the Keep Victoria Beautiful awards which were recently announced.
As I conclude the final newsletter, can I thank all parents, teachers and children on what has been a challenging and enjoyable year. It is difficult to thank people individually as the list is immense. To those families leaving after many years of Catholic education at St James, I wish you well. St James will be a fond memory of your time in our lovely vibrant community. It has been time spent well.
I wish you all a happy and holy Christmas and a lovely time away from school with family and friends. May it be a time to rejuvenate, refresh and re energise for 2022.
Many thanks.
And as always,
Faith in our future
Brendan