Principal's News
Building Bridges
The Catholic school is at its best when it is a vital part of the parish community, sharing in the Church's work of spreading the Good News. Last Sunday we witnessed this shared faith with one of our new families. Today St James like all Catholic schools, are called to be new communities of grace and to usher God’s life into the world. The Church does require a fresh approach and St James with our teachers, parents and Fr Martin becomes that meeting place where we can make new connections with our faith. As we move through this year let us do all we can to strengthen the links between our parish, our school and our homes. Let us pray that our children will feel at home in our St James Catholic community and see their faith as something that gives meaning to their lives.
Jesus, help us to become builders of bridges.
Bridges that will link our parish and our school, our teachers and our parents, our hopes for our children and the realisation of these hopes.
Help our children to see the relevance of their faith, and ours, to their everyday lives.
Last Sunday at the 9am Mass,further bridges were built in our parish school community for Charlotte (Year 5), Audrey (Foundation) and Mary Granger, a future St James girl, who were baptised into our faith community. It was wonderful that the Granger family could share with many of our school families who were present for the final commitment Mass for First Eucharist.
Congratulations Charlotte, Audrey and Mary, with the wonderful support of their parents John and Dawn and Carole Cheng our Brighton pastoral associate for St James and St Joan of Arc.
St James teachers, admin and support staff
Our St James children are indeed fortunate to have our teachers and support staff and I'm sure that our parents would have acknowledged this last night at the Parent Teacher interviews. Our teachers are absolutely committed to their vocation and this is evident in the investment of time, love, care and compassion they extend to your children. I know that they are looking forward to the coming fortnight to recharge for the remaining two terms.
Term 2 has been packed with a series of learning opportunities. Even today we have senior girls out at a Netball Carnival, the Year 3 and 4 children at the NGV and Botanic Gardens. Tomorrow we gather for Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart and offer many supermarket items to donate to St Vincent De Paul. Mass is at 9:15am in the Pop Up Church and all are welcome.
When I walk around the school and see the buzz of St James, the joy and interaction between the children and the teachers, especially in our new learning spaces, it is a scene that we all have established.
We have much to be grateful for.
Parent Support
We are stronger together because of the support we receive from our parents.
Whilst we enjoy the involvement of our parents, as parent helpers in our learning spaces, with this privilege comes the responsibility of maintaining the protocols that were shared at the Literacy Parent Helper meeting. Confidentiality is a high priority and respect for the professional relationship with the class teacher and children must be maintained.
Making a difference
At a Principal conference earlier this year, I was fortunate to hear Dr Gill Hicks a motivational speaker and a survivor of the 2005 London bombings. She was the last victim rescued. Her final comment was that ‘The future of education is to reinforce the values and transformational leadership of empathy, humanity and love’.
Recently Toby Simmons met with Jessie Macpherson OAM (Founder & CEO) of St Kilda Mums at their new Clayton warehouse. Jesse was the guest speaker at the St James Mothers Day Lunch this year. As much as we endeavour to educate our children to have an impact on our world, it is also our parents who model this in a humble manner. The funds raised at this dinner and a significant donation of sleeping bags from Toby’s company iCandy was received with gratitude.
I know that we have many families in our community who quietly demonstrate these transformative ideals.
St James Major Fundraiser
The Major Fundraiser will take place next term, on Saturday 24th August at the Brighton Town Hall.
We look forward to a fabulous night and would love to see as many parents there as possible.
Please look in your children's schoolbags tomorrow for further information.
Building Program update
It is now anticipated that the completion of the Building project will occur on Friday July 12.
In the second week of term ,there may be an opportunity to move new and existing furniture into the Prep space and clear some parts of the hall etc. We will await the development over the next two weeks..
School Fees
The second instalment of school fees is due tomorrow, 28 June 2019.
Final day of Term 2
Please note that students will be dismissed early tomorrow
Friday 28th June @ 1:30pm
Have a great holiday everyone.
Brendan