Acting Principal's News 

Dear Parents and Carers,

WOW!  Last night was a great celebration.  Thank you to Aidan Niaross for preparing 

the students to sing so beautifully at our inaugural carols.  The spirit and the excitement was truly magical.  Thank you also to Miss Chiara Petrelli for preparing the students to sing an Italian Christmas carol.  Thank you to our Year 5 teachers Mrs Maree Fatouros and Antoinette Ferrari for coordinating the Christmas Market stall with support of the year 5 students and their families.  Mrs Caroline Egan, our talented visual arts teacher, was behind the creative works of art displayed in the library.

A big thank you to all the parents who supported this event and made it come to life!  In particular our Christmas Carols Committee: Connie Sands, Virginia Pullman, Cass White, Danielle Rohan, Donnette Simmons, Jo Picking and Susan Conterno.  A number of late night meetings took place to ensure the event was a success!  Thank you also to the team of parent decorators who came in to transform the Mainyard yard into our very own St James Christmas Wonderland.

A special thank you to the entire St James School community for gathering together to celebrate our school year as a school community.  Thank you to each and every one of you for being here and supporting the Carols and Art show in so many ways.

Thank you also to Rick Barbone, one of our parents, for providing Santa’s sleigh in the shape of a Ford Mustang.  I was so fortunate to be tasked with the special job of driving Santa to the carols.

An Advent Prayer

Advent is a time for waiting.  This week we enter into week 3 of Advent and light the third candle.  The third candle  (a pink candle) is referred to as the Shepherd candle of the candle of Joy.  I invite you to take a moment to pause and reflect on this time of waiting.

School Fees

Today you will have received from the school an overview of the St James Fee Structure for 2023.  Please contact the office if you have any queries.

Staff leaving

Last week Mrs Cassandra Elliott informed me that she will not be returning to St James in 2023.  We thank Cassandra for her 6 months here at St James in the capacity of year 2 classroom teacher and literacy leader.  Cassandra has been a valued member of the learning and teaching team and leadership team.  We wish her all the very best in her future endeavours.

School Organisation / Staff Appointments 2023

I wish to advise you that Mr Aidan Niarros has been appointed to teach full time at St James in 2023.  Due to last minute staff changes I’m currently in the process of finalising staffing for 2023.  The staffing organisation will be shared with the school community next week.  One thing I can share is that in 2023 we will return to straight classes Prep - 6.  I look forward to sharing the staffing line up with you all, once it is confirmed.

School Marketing 2023

With the school year almost at a close, we are bolstering our efforts this side of the year to better prepare ourselves for a strong 2023.  To help us achieve this, we would love to understand your thoughts about St James.  This afternoon a Year 5 and 6 and Prep / Year 1 Parent survey will be shared.  The  responses to the questions will greatly help our marketing efforts for 2023.  Can we please ask that the surveys be completed by If you could kindly complete this survey by Friday 16th December.  Thank you

End of Year School Reports

The end of the school year is also the time where teachers assess and report student learning.  Next week you will receive your child’s end of year School Report.  Just like mid year, the reports will be published via the Nforma Parent Portal. 

How to view the Semester 2 School Reports

• Student reports for Semester 2, will be shared via the Nforma Parent Portal on Monday, 12th December, 2022 from 4.30pm onwards.
• The link to the Nforma Parent portal is available via the School website Quick Links Page.

• For new families (Semester 2) an automated email containing instructions and login details will come from no-reply@nforma.com.au (not the school) on late Sunday evening, early Monday morning (12th December, 2022).
• Please ensure that you check your junk/spam folder for an email from that address.
• It is highly recommended that you use a computer to access your child’s reports for the first time. Subsequent logins can be made on a mobile device if preferred.
• Once you have followed the instructions, you will be able to view your child’s report online.
• Once in the portal you will need to choose your child (if you have more than one at our school) and then choose 'Assessment and Reporting'. Then select the year/semester.
• Important to note, that once your child leaves St James, his/her academic reports will be archived and you will no longer have direct access via the nForma Parent portal. Therefore, nForma advises all parents/carers to download a copy of all academic reports via the portal and print them off for future reference.

If your child is in Year 6 or your family is leaving our school community, please ensure that you download and save your child's reports prior to the end of the year, as your access may be restricted as early as the 1st January, 2023.  

2023 School Year Student Testing 

In 2023 we have decided that we will be conducting student testing in the first two days of the school year - Monday 30th January and Tuesday 31st January.  Parents will be invited to make an appointment for their child to attend school to be assessed in numeracy.  Therefore the official first day of the school year for Years 1 - 6 will be Wednesday 1st February (Further information will be shared next week).

Students in Foundation will commence the school year on Tuesday 31st January.  Each Wednesday in February Foundation Students are scheduled for  individual testing and do not attend school.  Full weeks for Foundation commence in March.

Warm regards,

Carmelina Corio