Principal's News

As we prepare for the birth of Jesus may we remember the reality of this period 2000 years ago and today.

The Christain feast of Christmas recalls and celebrates God made flesh, fully human and fully divine in the person of Jesus Christ.  We can remember the Christain narrative of the birth of Jesus, however we are invited to think about Christmas with a renewed perspective.  God entered human history 2000 years ago through the person of Jesus and he came with a mission. What’s our mission?  

As a person of faith who am I for the other?  How do we make plausible, the meaning and relevance of this religious interpretation for our world of today.

The Word became flesh and he dwelt amongst us.

2019

This year has been another wonderful year of learning and being part of the dynamic community of St James.

And it has been a year of responding to challenges.  We did not start in an ideal way losing the first two days of school as we were not ready for the return to school as the rooms were still in a renovating phase.  The stages of the new learning spaces occurred over the first two terms and we only received the bridge space in early term 3. Now we are ensconced into a beautiful learning space which we officially opened last week with Fr Brendan Hayes and Fr Martin.  After a period of learning in outdated rooms we now have a contemporary learning space that will be recognised as being a fine example of an educational and progressive learning environment. We are grateful to the Presentation sisters who commenced Catholic education at St James in 1883 and to all the families, Principals, children and staff who have continued the story.  Many thanks for the investment of time and energy from all in the school community today and our opening was the culmination of a collective journey.

At this time of the year we are probably more focussed on getting through to the end of the year. Every year at this time is a rush to finalise all aspects of learning and the conclusion of being part of the school community.

But what have we learnt from the year?  I’m sure that all of our children have shown significant growth in learning: academically, socially, physically, spiritually, emotionally.  Learning is continuous for not only our children but also for us as teachers and parents.

The mission of a Catholic school is to build a community where all children flourish and grow into the fullness of life.  This is called our horizon of hope for not only our St James school community but all our Archdiocesan schools.

‘at the very heart of every Catholic school is a desire for the full flourishing of each student, across religious, physical, cognitive, emotional and social domains’. 

Last Tuesday night we witnessed an outstanding musical theatre performance of our children in the production Mary Poppins Jr.

This a fine example of full flourishing.  It was on show in spades that night. 

Today we have received some lovely feedback of what a superb performance it was.  The joy, and creative talent of all our children was apparent. Every child was involved. As I mentioned this is the best show in Melbourne at the moment!!!.  Well done to all the leads, crew and performers. It was indeed a wonderful way to finish the year.

A huge thankyou to Louise Allen who has directed Mary Poppins.  Hours of work, patience and strong dedication of allowing our children the opportunity of being in a happy and bright production.

Louise Allen has provided me with this statement:

The true purpose of arts education is not necessarily to create more professional dancers or artists.  It’s to create more complete human beings who are critical thinkers, who have curious minds, who can lead  productive lives.

To our Year 6 Graduates of  2019

The journey that you have taken as a group over the past seven years has been a positive, fruitful and a life giving experience.  The St James teachers, parents and staff, have provided you with many opportunities to ensure that you are young men and women that will make a difference to our world.  We will look forward with expectation to seeing how you will mature further given the solid foundation that you have achieved at St James.

The shared experiences over the past years will be memories that will be etched in your minds for many, many years. 

In the years to come you will reflect on your adventures at St James. This is when the real significance of your class friendships will strike you to have been a significant time in your lives.

What incredible opportunities you have had this year and over the past seven years.

Your Primary School years will be full of inspiration for you in your future life.  You will be able to draw upon these special moments to support you through life. Each one of you has had an amazing impact on each other and our school.

St James has had many Jesus moments.  As leaders you have shown the face of Jesus to many in our school community.  Consistently and with a spirit of generosity.

In these final days of 2020, St James loses part of its soul with your departure.  There is great happiness and jubilation with your graduation and we all are excited about the exciting future ahead of you, but we also realise that there is more than a tinge of sadness at this time.  However it is time to move on.

Your parents are extremely proud of you.  They have seen their young child grow before their eyes so quickly, and they are incredibly appreciative for the way in which you have matured into the fine young men and ladies. 

They will never absolve themselves of their parental responsibilities and will always be prepared to assist you in the pathways and challenges of life.  Be sure to thank them and keep the communication channels open.

St James teachers will always remember you fondly and with extreme gratitude. You have had a range of teachers from Prep –Year 6.  Your departure touches each one of them. They will most probably shed a tear in their quiet time when they recall what you have all meant to our St James community.

As our student leaders at St James, Jesus chose each one of you to lead through a service of love for others.  You have demonstrated this is many ways.

You have all modelled this to all the younger children, parents, staff and people in our school and wider community. You have modelled our school motto of ‘ Living Loving Learning ’ with enormous vigour with your unique group humour and attitude.  

As you leave, I encourage you to never give up, be persistent, model respect  and have an acceptance of others, and demonstrate an optimistic and hopeful view of life.

To all the Year Six 2020  students, I congratulate, commend and thank you.

You have all been a credit to our school.

May God bless you in the wonderful years ahead.

School Reports

Your child’s school reports will be available tomorrow.  Please read the information provided before you read the reports which makes clear how the school report is constructed.  Can I thank the teachers for their investment of time in formulating the reports. It is a reflection of the professional manner that they have invested over the course of the year.

New Staff

This week we have appointed two new staff members to replace Junko and Louise.

Marie Talarico will be our LOTE teacher for next year.  Marie is currently teaching at St Agnes Highett and will continue with her role at St Agnes as well.  In 2020 our LOTE will be the Italian language. Earlier this term our current Japanese teacher Junko notified us that she  is taking on additional hours at Presbyterian Ladies College. We decided that in the interests of finding the best LOTE specialist we would leave our options open. In the advertisement placed we were seeking a LOTE specialist and Marie Talarico fulfilled our schools requirement to have a competent, experienced and qualified LOTE specialist.

Paula Russell will be our Performing Arts teacher next year.  Paula is currently teaching Performing Arts for 2/3 days a week at Elwood Primary School and will continue there as well.

As much as this is good news to be able to fill these specialist positions, Carla has informed me last Friday that she has been successful in gaining a three day position at Resurrection school  Keysborough. The decision for her to leave is difficult for her. The closeness to home with her family was the pull factor. We wish Carla all the best.  

Applications for the Visual Arts position closes next Tuesday 17th December at 4pm.

Classroom Positions 2020

Foundation -Miss Aoife Tierney

Year 1 -Miss Bridie Slater

Year 2 -Miss Holly Capomolla

Year 2 -Miss Bernie Whiffen(4 days)/ 

 Mrs Nancy Ohlert (1 day)   

Year 3 -Miss Olivia Quinlan (3days)/

Mrs Antoinette Ferrari 3/2(days)

Mrs Jess Conway

Year 4 -Mrs Cathy Busch / Mrs Jess Conway  

Year 5 - Miss Sarah Contin

Year 6 -Miss Sarah Black

Year 6 - Mrs Emma Herbert (3 days)/

Mrs Nat Dodds (2 days)

Mrs Conway will be teaching across both Year 3 and Year 4 levels with Olivia, Antoinette and Cathy to ensure that the teaching and learning support is extended to all children. Jess will be present each day from 9am  - 1.30pm.

Other Teaching / Leadership positions

Religious Education Coordinator -

Mrs Emma Herbert

Sustainability / STEM -Mrs Emma Herbert

Learning Diversity -Miss

Congratulations 

A very warm welcome to

Dakota Jewel Hemingway 

who was born on Friday 22nd November, weighing a healthy 3.5kg.

We congratulate both Lee and Richard on the safe arrival of their little girl and also Ethan, who is thrilled to have a little sister. 

As we complete the year we are grateful for all that we have. Many thanks to our teachers and staff  who have been magnificent in their professionalism again this year. They are exhausted and will enjoy the coming Christmas and January break. They are the BEST.

Enjoy peace and the holy season ahead  and welcome the birth of Jesus with a renewed hope of a peaceful and just world.

Thanks

Brendan