St James Learning and Teaching 

Years 3 and 4 Excursion to ACMI

Last Thursday the Years 3 and 4 students went on an excursion to ACMI. They participated in a Stop Motion Animation Start Up Workshop and visited the Moving Images Exhibition.

Here are Year 3’s responses to the day:

We went to ACMI and I saw this cool rainbow Ferrari and we also made absolutely amazing movies.   

By Scarlett

My favourite part of ACMI was the Stop Motion because we got to make shapes, patterns and pictures. We did cool things to them. It was an explosion of fun.   

By Ruby.

My favourite part of ACMI was going to the tea cup show and it was 3D.

By Noah

My favourite part of our ACMI excursion was the Stop Motion movie because  I got to do it with Elly and I think ours was really cool. My favourite thing with the Stop Motion was when we made a flower and a butterfly and it exploded. We made it out of Lego. It was too much fun!! 

By Jade.

The best part of ACMI was making the Stop Motion videos.  

By Charlie E

My favourite part of the ACMI excursion was the Stop Motion Lego activity because we used teamwork, had fun and learnt something new. 

By Tai

My favourite part of ACMI was the cup head optical illusion in the exhibition because it really tricked me into thinking it was really moving.

By Annie

The most interesting part of ACMI was learning about Stop Motion.

By Charlie F

My favourite part was the exhibition. It had so much to see. My favourite thing was listening to old movies on the headphones.  

By Dolly

My absolute favourite part of ACMI was the Stop Motion because it was really satisfying and really, really fun. You can do lots of different things and when you put it altogether it looks cool.

By Hope

My favourite part of ACMI  was the spinning cup head and mug man show because it tricked my brain.

By Maddie

My favourite part of our ACMI excursion was making our Stop Motion film. I made mine with Olivia and Annie. It was so cool seeing our film and seeing the others. It made you think Lego was moving.

By Skye

My favourite part of ACMI was when we made the Stop Motion because I think I did well. The best part of the exhibition was seeing the Mad Max GT Model.

By Bobby

My favourite part of ACMI was the exhibition because the games were fun.

By Sebastian

My favourite part of ACMI was scanning the information on the CD because there were lots of things to learn about the history of motion pictures in the olden days.

By Elly

My favourite part of ACMI was going into the exhibition and seeing the 

video games.

By Max

The most interesting part of ACMI was making the Stop Motion Animation with Tai.

By Zac

Performing Arts /Music 

I am delighted to be returning to St James as the Performing Arts teacher for the remainder of 2023.  The focus this Semester is Music.  Students from Grade 1-6 will be

 learning  to play the recorder.  Recorders are portable and very easy to play.  As they master their instrument students will learn the basics of music theory.  The school has purchased a Yamaha recorder for each student,which is for their exclusive use.  Their recorder has their name on it and a carry case.  For the moment these will be kept at school.

The students really enjoyed their introductory lesson and many asked about practising at home. If you have a recorder at home please dig it out or perhaps purchase or borrow one, and encourage your children to show you what they are learning.  I promise they will sound better as Term 3 progresses!

A special thankyou to Charlie, Angus and Scarlett (Grade 6) who set up all the music stands which made playing so much easier.

Foundation students Music learning will be based on percussion instruments.

Later in the year I'd like to teach Ukulele.  We have access to a number of ukuleles, but if you have one at home that you don't use and you'd like to donate it to the school I'd be very grateful. It would be wonderful to have a full class set. 

There are many documented benefits to learning a musical instrument.  Once children have grasped the basics they are likely to really enjoy playing it.  Every song they learn is a personal achievement.  We can encourage them by listening to them and making it fun.  Music can relieve stress and it teaches children to focus.  It can boost their self confidence and their resilience, and improve their social skills.

I'm really looking forward to helping students at St James expand their musical prowess and enjoyment.

Mandy Cooper 

Performing Arts Teacher

The Australian Mathematics Competition 2-4th August 2023

We are excited to offer again this year the opportunity for our Year 3-6 students to participate in the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).  This is another way we offer mathematical challenges to our students. 

The AMC is Australia’s longest running and most well-respected mathematics competition.  First established in 1978, the AMC has engaged- generations of Australian primary and secondary students in the joy of mathematical problem solving.  

The AMC is a 60 minute online problem-solving competition that the Year 3-6 students at St James have been invited to participate in via Operoo.  This is an optional competition and if you have missed the Operoo cut off or have any further questions please email Jess Conway 

jconway@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au.  

If you would like to have a look at the questions from last year’s competition or encourage your child to practice, see the attached questions.

Year 5 & 6 AMC Competition Example

Year 3 & 4 AMC Competition Example

Sport 

Beachside Soccer

On Monday 24th July the St James Girls Soccer Team will be competing in the next level of competition against other schools from the Beachside district.  The team have been training every Tuesday under the guidance of Brett R whom I would like to give a huge thank-you to! 

Hoop Time

Our next major sporting events will be Hoop Time. All students from Year 3-6 will be participating in this event. No prior experience is necessary. Students will be placed in like ability teams. 

• Senior Hoop Time (Year 5 & 6) : Monday 31st July
• Junior Hoop Time (Year 3 & 4): Tuesday 8th August

Georgia McNamara

Sport Co-Ordinator/Senior Physical Education Teacher

At  St James we are Wild about Reading

As you know the Premier's Reading Challenge is well underway. Our leaderboard has really changed over the holidays with lots of people doing some great reading.  Good job to everyone! Remember it's not over yet. The reading challenge ends on the 8th of September, so you have 49 days left to get reading, so keep trying your best !!!  

Remember if you are still struggling to login please see details below or email 

Mrs Joplin ajoplin@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

The Victorian Government has carefully curated a long list of rich texts for young readers.   If you need some inspiration, checkout the attached booklist.

Logging in with a Challenge passcode

Your teacher will give you a Challenge username and passcode. You should find this in your child’s diary or magic words book where other passwords are located. 

If you lose or forget your Challenge passcode,please  ask or email  Mrs joplin  at ajoplin@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au to generate a new one for you.

1. Go to the Challenge application.
2. Select the School/Student button.
3. Select the VPRC login option.
4. Enter your username and password.
5. Select Login.

Viewing your dashboard

The dashboard is your main workspace as you progress through the Challenge.

At the top of the dashboard are gemstone badges. These are grey when you start your Challenge. They change to green as you progress through the Challenge.

Below the badges is a green bar. This shows you how many days are left until the end of the Challenge.

There are also two progress wheels that show:

• what your Challenge target is
• how many Challenge or Choice books you have finished or had verified.

Your reading list shows the books you have added and finished reading.

As you add more books to your reading list, the application will learn the kinds of books you like to read. It will recommend other books by:

• genre
• author
• series
• subject.

Books other students at your school and across Victoria are reading appear on the Trending books list.

The side menu lets you:

• see your Profile Details and add an avatar
• see all the book reviews you have written
• search for books you would like to add to your reading list.

Challenge Rules

The challenge runs all the way to September and is very attainable for all children. 

Children need to read:

Prep to Year 2

• Number of books: 30
• Number of books from the Challenge book list: 20 or more

Year 3 to Year 6

• Number of books: 15
• Number of books from the Challenge book list: 10 or more

What you can read

Most of the books you read should be from the Challenge book lists. The rest can be any book you choose.

You can read books on the book list for your year level or a level above and they'll count towards your Challenge total. You should check with your teachers or parents if you're not in years 9 or 10 and want to read a book from that list. This list includes titles for mature readers.

You can read a book from a level below your year level if your teacher agrees. You still need to read the number of books for your year level to meet the Challenge.

Let’s get reading!!

Mandi Joplin   &   Ange

Teacher Librarian