Principal's Post

Dear Families,

Not many of us enjoy a lockdown and Remote Learning is certainly not our preferred method of educating students. None the less, as adults and leaders who our children and students look up to and rely on, we are the ones who need to put on the brave face and positive mindset despite what we may be feeling inside at times. To help us do this, it is really important that, as adults we also look after ourselves. As parents you cannot look after your children if you do not look after yourselves. It's the airline principle of putting on your own oxygen mask before helping your child to put on theirs. 

I have reminded the staff and am reminding you as parents to take the time to do something you like doing or you know is beneficial to your wellbeing each day. My suggestion is to stop and find 30 minutes each day to do something for yourself. It could be as simple as putting on the headphones and going for a walk or watching a favourite nexflix series. My next suggestion is to ensure I do this myself!

In terms of education and Remote Learning for your children, we have guidelines and expectations in place for lockdowns of up to 5 days which we hope is all we have to engage in. We also have guidelines and expectations for Remote Learning situations which extend beyond a week. Guidelines for lengthier periods include more interaction and online teaching with both classroom teachers and specialist teachers. 

As in past Remote Learning instances, as a school, we need to maintain a balance which caters for ALL family situations; parents working from home and totally unable to assist their children with learning, parents who are free to assist their children learn all day and a combination of these two situations. We acknowledge that not all we do perfectly suits all home situations. What our dedicated staff do is try to be as inclusive towards all of our St James' students. Please remember that the most important thing you can do as a parent is to provide a learning space,  a device to access the class slides and time for learning and a recreation for your child. You do not have to be "the teacher." Please feel free to contact your child's class teacher for any help or clarification. Remember that teachers will not be accessible all the time, due to supervision onsite and meeting commitments. They will, however, get back to you.

Thanks for your continued understanding, cooperation, flexibility and support throughout Remote Learning.

Student Reports

Thank you to the parents who completed the survey about our new school report format. We have collated your responses, along with those from staff and students to reflect on the value added they have given. A summary of these findings will be presented, following a discussion at the next School Advisory Council meeting.

I remind all parents that it's important to complete the Parent Reflection page, which is part of the report and our partnership in providing the best pathway for your child's growth.  It is found in your child's Visible Learning Folder online.

St James' 50 Years Celebration 

We seemed to be ahead of the game in cancelling this event as disappointing as this is, COVID dictates these events ATM.

We do have some exciting news ... We are selling commemorative wine to both celebrate the past 50 years of education and community here at St James and also raise a few dollars to go towards our Parents and Friends' funds for the year.

I encourage all families to purchase some wine. Please click on the link to find out more information and make a purchase. https://prospectwines.com.au/product/st-james-primary-school/

Concert Production Update

Given our COVID times (restriction on numbers of audience members at venues, restrictions of number of performers permitted on stages, etc) our concert committee have met a few times and made the following decision regarding our concert production.

St James students will be presenting a performance of our learning, ‘We are One, We are Many’ 

The whole school performance will be filmed on Monday 30 August here, at school in the Community Centre and DVDs or links be available for purchase by parents.

Parents will be invited to attend evening performances to view your children live on Tuesday 31 August (Prep - Yr 3) and  Wednesday 1 September (Yr 4 - 6) here in the Community Centre. Of course this will depend on parents being permitted on site due to COVID restrictions at the time.

Mini Mission Fete

The Year 5 and 6 students are looking forward to running our Mini Mission Fete on Friday 30th July. They are busy getting their stalls ready and look forward to sharing more information about their stalls in the coming week. 

Most importantly, the students have chosen to raise money for the Pearl Project. Mary Whelan, a former St James' teacher, plays a big role in working with this community. 100% of the money raised in this campaign for The Pearl Project will go directly to  Women and Educators in the community of Kibanga, Uganda. The money will fund learning enhancement projects for students, teacher wellbeing support initiatives, and resources to improve their teaching practice. This helps to create meaningful opportunities for women and teachers which benefits the students in their care. 

Click on the following link to watch a video all about it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hgkUKOlR1WD-bsHOqGoPeJPQdKC1sofg/view?usp=sharing

Have you completed your family's Operoo info?

Most families have enrolled their children on Operoo and this is how we are now sending our all excursion and permission notices.  If your child has a medical plan for their condition can you please make sure it is uploaded into Operoo.  That way we have access to the plan if we are not onsite.  Please enrol and complete your children's details ASAP usingthe link below:

Operoo website: www.operoo.com. There is also a parent introduction page here: https://www.operoo.com/intro-for-parents/.

Annual Report to the School Community

Our Annual Report to the Community is now available on our website. Every school completes this overview of the previous year, giving a snapshot of achievements in the various areas of the school.

School Policies

As you know, at the beginning of this year there was a  transfer to new governance arrangements for Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) schools. Consistent school policies ensure a uniform approach to governance across all 290 of our schools and are essential for all MACS schools as a condition of our registration with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). The good news is that St James is compliant with all of the new policies that now govern us. I'd like to thank the School Advisory members who have been reading through the various policies over the past months, acting as a consultative, parent body.

You'll find these policies on our website, readily available for you to read.

COVID Updates

Announcements this morning established that Remote Learning will not finish tomorrow, Tuesday. As we are updated, we will pass on the changes.

A few brief updates/reminders

• Please keep the CONCERT DATES FREE ( Tuesday 31 August and Wednesday 1 September). We are working on, 'PLAN B' to ensure we can still celebrate our learning within the Performing Arts. To work within restrictions, it may look different to what we've had in the past.
• Our Debating Night for Year 5 and 6 parents has been rescheduled to Wednesday 11 August - times are to be confirmed

Have a great week,

Dave