Parents Association 

WELCOME TO 2023 FROM THE PARENTS ASSOCIATION

We wanted to send warm wishes to our new families who have joined St James this year and our outgoing families who left at the end of 2022. We hope you had a lovely Christmas break and welcome to the new 2023 school year.

For the new families starting this year, we would also like to introduce ourselves and our families as we (Connie Sands and Virginia Pullman) share the role of STJPA Co-chairs.

Virginia Pullman  - The Pullman Family joined St James last year in 2021.  Tony and Virginia have 2 children at St James, with twin girls (Jade and Skye) who are in Year 3. 

Connie Sands - The Sands Family has now been with St James over 10 years and have twins (Nicholas and Sienna) who are in Year 4 this year. 

At St James, we want to create a sense of belonging for our parents and our children. 

• Our Vision for the year ahead is continuing from last year and is as follows:
  •  Build and foster the STJ  parent community, and bring  people together.
  • Continue the conversation between parents and the school.
  • Aid the school in raising money for school programs, and  provide feedback on how funds are spent when required.
  • Encourage parent participation in school activities and fundraising events.  Continuing with charging year levels with fundraising responsibilities, spreading the load more equally - giving  everyone a chance to be involved!
  • Build, support and share event resources from previous years ie contacts, running sheets, documents etc. 
  • Above all we want to make this a positive, fun, enjoyable experience and support the school and parent community in the best way possible

ST JAMES WELCOME DISCO

Our  St James Welcome Disco is the first event of the year and is a great way to bring in 2023 and to connect with new and existing St James families.

Date: Friday, 24th February 2023  Time: 5:30pm to 8:30pm

Location: St James Primary School Theme: Jungle Safari 

To volunteer on the night (30 mins commitment), please sign up at https://signup.com/go/xcHnAvK. 

To book tickets please go to https://www.trybooking.com/CFTBD or scan the QR code in the flyer below. Please buy your tickets early. 

ST JAMES KIDS ADVENTURE CAMP

A reminder that the St James Kids Adventure Camp (Run by the Dads) will be 17-19th March 2023. The St James Kids’ Adventure Camp is for students and their dads or a special male relative/friend, to spend a weekend together in Anglesea.  The camp is unfortunately booked out, however if you would like to go on the waitlist, please contact Dave Thomas on 0409 005 759.

PARENTS ASSOCIATION (PA) VOLUNTEERS FOR NEXT YEAR

Thank-you to all the parents that have volunteered for roles this year, it is greatly appreciated.

The PA exists to create a sense of community through social and fundraising events which relies on parents volunteering to make it work.

Given the importance of these events to building and maintaining a sense of school belonging for parents and children, events will be allocated to year levels as per previous years to allow time for planning. It is hoped this system will help to share the load, create new friendships and enrich everyone's school experience. We are currently working out the best fit of events for each level, so please stay tuned for further notification.

Once we have allocated year levels and event organisers, a “signup.com” can be created to find other volunteers if needed.

We have a wealth of past information available for all the above events and we are all here to help you. 

LUNCH ORDERS ONLINE FROM 2023 

Online lunch orders are now live.  Please find the details on how to set up your Flexischools account for online ordering. Please note, lunch orders come from Star of the Sea next to St James. 

The old system of paper bags will only continue to Friday the 17 February and then all lunch orders will need to be ordered online on Flexischools.

THANKS FROM THE PA

We are very grateful for the continued support of all our parents, the school and local  community.  All our PA members are volunteers who generously give up their own time to organise our school events. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly:

conniesands@bigpond.com

virginiapullman@y7mail.com

FUTURE CALENDAR DATES

• Welcome disco - St James - Friday 24 February, 5.30pm-8.30pm (PLEASE BOOK TiCKETS)
• Dads/Special friends and kids - YMCA Camp Anglesea - Friday to Sunday, 17-19 March 2023 (currently booked out)
• Easter Raffle Drawn Thursday 6th April (last day of term)
• Hot Cross Bun Drive - available for collection last week of term
• Mothers Day St James Ladies lunch - Saturday 20 May 2023 at Elwood Bathers
• Parents night out - Saturday 5 August 2023
• Colour run - Friday 10 November 2023 at Elsternwick Park

SECOND HAND SCHOOL UNIFORMS

Please text either Liesl Hodgens or Ali Rayner with your requirements and they will be happy to assist.