St James News

Principal's Post

Dear Families,

I am extremely proud of our St James community. Resilience, understanding, patience, selfless, support and compassion are some of the words that come to mind when thinking of the reactions I have experienced to the frustration of our Remote Learning situation we find ourselves in.  With today's announcement of ongoing Lockdown, let's continue to keep this positive outlook.

 

I understand that our Remote Learning delivery mode has aspects that suit some families and some students' learning styles more than others. Because the delivery is not a, "one size fits all" approach, just as the situation in our classrooms is, we have decided to provide what we believe is an inclusive model of delivery that enables all students to learn. We have taken on board all feedback received from parents, both formal and informal and will be publishing another survey in the near future. Please contact your child's class teacher if there is a way or circumstance that they can assist your child to enhance their learning or motivation.

 

Let's keep in touch and keep working together for the benefit of adults and children.

MACSSIS Feedback Surveys

The Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys will be made available to all parents, staff and Year 4, 5 & 6 students in the next few weeks.  

We use the feedback and information gained via the surveys to help evaluate our St James community climate and culture before setting future directions.

Ideally we would like 100% completion of the surveys and will be offering families a ticket in an incentive raffle draw once parents have completed the survey.  Links and passwords to the survey will be sent out at the end of August.

Please see the attached letter with further detailed information regarding the surveys.

SIS Survey letter.pdf

Emergency Management

At St James, we have an annual review of our Emergency Management Plan, preparing for a variety of possibilities. During school time we practice four different scenarios, so everyone knows and is comfortable with processes:

  • Evacuate from the classroom
  • Evacuate from the playground
  • Lockdown from the playground
  • Lockdown whilst in learning spaces.

Generally speaking, if you are onsite and heard the continuous school bell, it’s the signal for lockdown and instructions are given over the public address system. The siren commonly used for evacuation is also used at school. Again, instructions are given on where to assemble. The main area, if safe to do so, is on the school oval, however we have practised going to other areas, such as the staff car park. Other possibilities are explored and we conduct a risk management assessment in our planning.

If for some reason we needed to evacuate from the school grounds, we have practised going to Eastmont Kindergarten in Frank St, Vermont. Should the need be to travel further, our evacuation point is the Manhattan Hotel, cnr Heatherdale and Canterbury Roads. You would be contacted via OPEROO with instructions on when and how to collect your child/ren if this was the case.

Year Five Families

Applications to Catholic Secondary Colleges for Year 7 2023 close this Friday 20 August

St James' 50 Years Celebration Wine 

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/ The labels are designed by Paul Rogan and the wines come from various districts , including the Coonawarra, Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley. 

Tentative Date Updates

  • Confirmation Reflection Day Monday 6 September
  • Confirmation Celebration Friday 10/Saturday 11 September
  • Concert Performance of our Learning Monday 11 October filming at school and Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 Parent viewing evenings
  • Year 4 - 6 Athletics Day  Tuesday 12 October

Have you completed your family's Operoo info?

Please sign up to this today or you may find that you miss important information regarding students extra curricular events and permission forms.

 

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

A few brief updates/reminders

  • Our Debating Night for Year 5 and 6 parents has been rescheduled to a daytime event. We will film the debates for you to see your child in action.
  • Don't forget to tap into a terrific resource on the Student Landing Page to access a variety of E Books: www.eplatform.co (USER NAME: child's initials and number from their school email address PASSWORD: SJV 2020)
  • Critical Dates for Year 5 students starting Year 7 in 2024 (Current Yr 4s)
  • 28 January 2022 – Applications will open for Year 5 students commencing Year 7 in 2024.
  • 19 August 2022 – Applications will close.
  • 2 September 2022 – Principals will need to exchange their full list of applications with neighbouring colleges, including parish of residence.
  • 16 September 2022 – Principals will need to exchange their full list of applications with neighbouring colleges, identifying proposed offers and non-offers.
  • 14 October 2022 – The Principals and Registrars Enrolment Briefing will be held at the Catholic Leadership Centre to finalise offers for 2024 and exchange names of unsuccessful applicants to ensure all students are offered a place.
  • 21 October 2022 – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants.
  • 11 November 2022 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school.

 

Have a great week,

 

Dave