Principal’s Message

End of Term 3

During these final weeks of another busy term, it is pleasing to note that much has been accomplished this term, and particularly through the various partnerships between students, their parents and our staff.

A large number of students have been involved in our Debating and Chess teams and thus have been presented with opportunities to develop their talents. The St James College Public Speaking Evening will be held next week with young men at each year level displaying their skills. The Year Level Champions will represent St James College at the Lasallian Public Speaking Evening to be held in Term 4. Congratulations to those students and staff who have recently been involved in the Southern Independent Schools’ and the Kids’ Cancer Project Write a Book in a Day competitions, as well as the recent very engaging Book Week activities on offer through our College Library.

In collaboration with OLSH College, we have a number of our students involved in rehearsals this term for our Junior production of ‘The boy at the edge of everything’. Thank you to these students in Years 7 and 8 who will continue to rehearse through the holidays in readiness for this production scheduled in October. Thank you also to our Arts staff who work in association with the staff at OLSH to provide such opportunities for the students at both Colleges. We look forward to celebrating the work of these students and staff. 

This term, involvement in various sporting teams has rewarded and challenged those who have participated. Thank you to the many students and staff who have given of their time in training and in competition. Our young men won the SIS Championship in Junior Touch Rugby and Intermediate Touch Rugby, as well as achieving pleasing levels of success in Junior Netball, Intermediate Soccer and SIS Athletics.

St Solomon

Earlier this month we celebrated the feast day of St Solomon on 2 September. Solomon Leclercq was a De La Salle Brother who lost his life, martyred, during the French Revolution in 1792. During this time towards the end of the eighteenth century in France, the clergy and religious were forced to teach only what the government wanted them to teach, and to cease religious education classes. Br Solomon continued to support his students and their families, and uphold his faith based teaching. For doing this, at the age of 46, Br Solomon was sent to prison, a prison that had been set up in what had been a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Some weeks later, he was forced to take the Oath of ‘The Civil Constitution of the Clergy’ which would prevent him from teaching religion. Solomon refused to take this oath, and thus was brutally murdered. He was Canonised a Saint on October 16, 2016 by Pope Francis.

We acknowledge Solomon as a man of conviction who stood for his beliefs and had the courage to hold to his faith, even when facing death. More than 200 years later, today, he is an example for all of us and especially for our students, to do what is right, and to speak against any injustices they may see occurring around them. The students across all year levels who are in Solomon House, recalled his sacrifice through a student led liturgy in honour of the feast day of St Solomon Leclercq.

Father’s Day

Early Morning Tea

On Friday 31 August we held an early Morning Tea to celebrate the great contribution that our Fathers/significant persons make to our student’s lives. The VPAC foyer was full on this morning as students and their dads enjoyed the occasion. It was wonderful to also welcome a number of grandfathers and special family members to the College. Thank you to our staff members who prepared the morning tea, and particular thanks to Mr Barry Wood and the Student Representative Councillors who cooked pancakes for this event.

Mission Action Day

In this second half of Term 3, following the Mission Action Day Walkathon, we are collecting our sponsorships for the Lasallian Foundation and particularly PNG, where the De La Salle Brothers direct the Lasalle Technical College in Hohola, Port Moresby, New Guinea. In these final weeks of the Term and as we move closer to our Mission Action Day target, I congratulate those who have made significant efforts to raise sponsorships as an effort of support for those youth much less fortunate than ourselves. We are hopeful of exceeding previous targets again this year. Thank you to Mr Joel Harriss and Mr Dan McMahon who coordinated our Walkathon Day and our donation efforts for Lasalle Technical College. This year our donations will be used to provide housing for the teachers at Lasalle Technical College through the refurbishment of shipping containers.

Transition Events

On Saturday 1 September we held the testing morning for incoming Year 7 students - 2020. Thank you to the parents for ensuring that the young men were ready for this aspect of their transition into their secondary education. The results of the tests will be combined with information and further recommendations from the primary schools to establish our Year 7 homerooms for next year. Our aim is to produce four even ability classes together with a spread of talents and interests. We welcome and look forward to these young men commencing with us next year as new St James College students.

Through this term we have also had our Year 10 students making significant decisions regarding their future education. There has been a great deal of work by parents and teachers working with staff from St Bede’s College and De La Salle College to set pathways in place for these young men to take them into the years ahead. Thank you to Mr Shepherd, Mr Donlen and our Year 10 teachers for the efforts they give to ensuring the Transition Program runs so smoothly each year for our students and their families.

Balgo Trip

In the last week of these holidays we have a group of twelve Year 10 students and four staff members travelling to the Luurnpa School, in Balgo, in the North of Western Australia. The Luurnpa School is a Lasallian school for indigenous children, and was previously run by the De La Salle Brothers. I thank these students for giving of their holidays to assist teachers in the school with activities for the children, and then to run programs during their holiday period. This trip will be the fifth with which St James College has been involved to provide support to this community, and which in turn, fosters a greater awareness and understanding for our students.

As we enjoy this coming holiday period and perhaps have a break from our normal routines, I hope all may enjoy spending time with family and friends, and return refreshed for the involvements and events that Term 4 will present.

Stephen Pooley

Principal