Welcome back to
St James 2021
Initial Notes of Interest
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Happy New Year and it was great to welcome the students back to school today. Tomorrow we welcome the Prep children and their parents, it is then that our school family will be complete and intact for the remainder of 2021.
This is a short bulletin highlighting our 2021 School Staff and other items of immediate interest. A detailed newsletter will be provided next week and will continue on a fortnightly basis.
As mentioned in a previous email, currently there is a system delay in rolling over our student information to 2021 databases. This directly affects updates to group emails, parent contact groups and 2021 Operoo data. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused, but it will be rectified in the coming days. Thank you for your patience.
Brendan Flanagan
Principal
School Staff 2021
| Parish Priests | Father David Carthwright Father Dean Matheison |
| Principal | Brendan Flanagan |
| Deputy Principal | Carmelina Corio |
| Year 6B | Sarah Black |
| Year 5HF | Emma Herbert (Mon, Tues, Fri) Antoinette Ferrari (Wed, Thurs) |
| Year 3/4C | Sarah Contin |
| Year 3/4B | Cathy Busch |
| Year 3/4CJ | Jess Conway (Mon, Tue, Wed) Mandi Joplin (Thurs, Fri) |
| Year 2WL | Bernie Whiffen (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) George Lithotomos (Wed) |
| Year 1S | Bridie Slater |
| Prep C | Holly Capomolla |
| Prep T | Aoife Tierney |
| Visual Arts | Mandy Cooper (Tues, Wed) |
| Physical Education Prep - 4 | Chris Kidman (Tues) |
| Physical Education 2-6 | Georgia McNamara (Tues) |
| Italian | Marie Talarico (Wed) |
| Performing Arts | Tess Sabbatucci (Wed) |
| LSO | Kate Buzza (Mon - Thurs) |
| LSO | Sharon Portelli (Mon - Fri) |
| LSO | Lachie Doquille (Tues, Wed, Thurs) |
| LSO | Ann Nicola (Mon, Tues, Wed) |
| Secretary/ Bursar | Imelda Cuaresma (Mon - Fri) |
| Administrative Support | Angela Franich (Tues - Thurs) |
| REL | Emma Herbert (Wed, Thurs) |
| STEM Leader | Emma Herbert (Wed, Thurs) |
| ICT Leader | Carmelina Corio |
| Centorrino Technician | Jason Chang (Fri) |
| Learning Diversity Leader | Karlee Agnew (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) |
| Wellbeing | Georgia McNamara (Thurs, Fri) |
| Literacy Leader / Learning and Teaching Leader | Olivia Quinlan (Mon - Fri) |
| Numeracy Leader | Carmelina Corio |
| Graduate Mentor | Carmelina Corio |
SWIMMING TRIALS
On Tuesday 2nd February, I will be holding swimming trials for student's who would like the opportunity to represent St James at the Holt District Swimming Carnival on Friday 19th February at the Oakleigh Recreation Centre.
In order for students to be eligible to attend the trials they must meet the following two criteria:
- competently swim 50 metres without stopping
- be 9 years of age before the 31st December 2021 (students in year 3 who do not turn 9 before the end of the year are not eligible to participate)
Venue: GESAC, 200 E Boundary Road, Bentleigh East
Date: Tuesday 2nd February
Time: 7.15-8.15am
Can I ask that you please stay to supervise your children or arrange for another parent to transport them to school at the conclusion of the trials. Students will have a small amount of time to warm-up in the pool and then they will have the opportunity to trial in 50m of Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. Students may start in the water if they wish. As they are in and out of the pool they can get quite cold. Please ensure they bring plenty of warm clothes.
I do also require timekeepers on the day. Can I please ask that if you can volunteer to timekeep you indicate this in the question below-you will need your phone to assist with this. The more timekeepers we have the quicker we can complete the trials.
Thank-you in advance and I look forward to seeing at the trials. If you have any questions please email me. gmcnamara@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au
Kind Regards,
Mrs Georgia McNamara
Sport Co-Ordinator/Student Wellbeing Leader/Senior Physical Education Teacher
ST JAMES WELCOME DISCO
Dear STJ Community
As you know, our annual St James Welcome Disco was due to be held on Friday 12th February. This beloved event is an important part of our community culture as we welcome new families and children to our school, and celebrate everything about being part of a fantastic community. Unfortunately, due to the current restrictions placed on schools to operate COVID safe events, we are unable to proceed with the planned date.
We are however, hopeful of holding the event towards the end of term as we celebrate the start of a new year, and new beginnings following a challenging 2020. We are working closely with Brendan and the leadership team, following the operational advice from Catholic Education Melbourne, with the intent of hosting our 'Space themed' disco as soon as it is safely possible.
We are disappointed to have to postpone, and know how much hard work has already gone into its planning, particularly by Sarah Webb. At this stage, the ticket sales via CDF pay have been suspended.
We will let you know of a rescheduled date as soon as we can, and hope that everyone will attend it in the near future. I'm sure we are all in need of a good dance, and get together.
Watch this space! (literally)
Sarah Webb, Kate Korber & Kat Cheshire
St James Parents Association