Principal's News 

As Easter people 

lead us to be peace-makers

 building connections between individuals

focusing on what unites people rather than on what separates us and highlights our differences. 

Lord, it’s easy to harm relationships;

 instead, give us the power of your Spirit that we may build up and make new the bonds between people

Happy Mothers Day to all our beautiful Mums for this Sunday.  I trust that all the children and Dads make it a special day for them. It could be expressed by lunch at home or at a restaurant, a card written expressing your deep love and appreciation, flowers, chocolate, an outing, hugs, kisses etc

Make it special whether they are here with us or through a prayer of gratitude if they are in heaven.

                           ___________________________________________________________

In last week's communication I mentioned that we have recently engaged an external Educational Consultant, Stephen Russell, to analyze and assess St James progression as an educational community and that I would share some of the findings with you.

His research and comparison made with other schools in Catholic, Independent and Government schools was informative for the School Advisory Council and Leadership Team. 

The evidence provided by Stephen is that St James is

• A high functioning school
• Is becoming one of the best schools in Victoria and Australia (Premier)
• Provides excellent preparation for secondary colleges
• Is changing life trajectories for learners
• Has strong growth and achievement for learners
• Has a flourishing learning culture
• And challenges and extends high achievers

This is the good news and should be shared with current families and with those families who are seeking a high functioning Catholic education for their children.  There is much to be celebrated as a school community which is providing high quality education for your child.

A cost benefit analysis with other schools would be an interesting project. 

There are many impactful strategies in operation at St James that ensure that we are a place of excellence. One example is that through the National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD), an annual collection of data for all Australian school students for adjustment for learning. 

St James is providing learning adjustment for 33% of children.  i.e., 1 in 3 children are provided with adjustment to ensure that they receive the appropriate learning to support their growth.  This is considerable when compared across the nation. 

Australian 19.9%

Victorian    21.6%

Catholic  (Australia) 17.9%

St James have teachers who definitely

• know the children and personalise learning
• cater successfully for complex needs
• maintained market share of enrolments in a highly competitive market, despite the perception in the community. (7.9%. there has been a significant reduction in primary enrolments in the Brighton area in the last 5 years)

Why would you want to be anywhere else in the world? 

I will have further information to share in the next newsletter.  In the meantime I encourage you to share the ‘good news gossip’ and dispel myths that are contrary to the facts. 

Child Safety news

In July 2021, the Victorian Government announced new Child Safe Standards (CSS) to further strengthen child safe environments and protect children from abuse. The new CSS will come into effect on Friday 1 July 2022.

From 1 July 2022, 11 new Victorian Child Safe Standards which will replace Victoria’s seven current Child Safe Standards and principles in place since 2016.

The CSS include new requirements, including the involvement of families and children in child safety efforts focus on the safety of Aboriginal children and young people management of the risk of child abuse in online environments, governance, systems and processes to keep students safe.

The CSS is underpinned by Ministerial Order No. 1359 (MO 1359), which was released by the Victorian Government on 10 February 2022. MO 1359 defines the actions schools must take to meet the requirements associated with the new CSS.

As Catholic educators, we have a moral, mission-driven and legal responsibility to uphold and actively promote the wellbeing and safety of every student entrusted to our care.

We will be familiarizing with the new CSS and MO 1359, identify what changes they need to make and plan to comply with the CSS.

We recognize that becoming a strong, child safe organization is an ongoing process of continual review and refinement which is significantly dependent upon our leadership and culture, policies and procedures, staff education and the active participation of children and their families. 

As a Catholic school, we have and will continue to respond positively and proactively to child safety reforms, strengthen our policies and strategies for the ongoing wellbeing and safety of every child. 

Listening to the children’s voices, their feelings of safety and the freedom for them to express themselves and their concerns are central to the success of child initiatives at St James. 

Our recent MACSIS data from children, teachers and staff regarding student safety indicates that we are maintaining a healthy stature as a Child Safe school.

NAPLAN

Next week the Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be involved in the NAPLAN assessment.  This is only one of the assessment data collection tools that we utilise to assess the learning progressions of our children.  Our teachers met again this morning to ensure that the scheduling and organization was set for next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Parents of children in Year 3 and Year 5 would have received information in recent days and also had the opportunity to attend the Information session that was held on Wednesday afternoon.

Lunch Orders

Lunch orders will resume next Monday 9th May.  A Star of the Sea Canteen Menu is attached.  To order, please refer to Dates & Lunch Orders page.

Faith in our future

Brendan