Term 4 Week 9 (8/12/2023)
What is On?
Monday 11th December - Music Concert- Academy, 9:00am
Tuesday 12th December - End of Year Mass at St James Church Yamba 12pm
Wednesday 13th December⋅5:30 pm – 9:00pm - Year 6 Graduation- Yamba Golf Club
Thursday 14th December - End of Year Awards Assembly:
- ES1 &S1 at 9:15am
- S2 & S3 at 10am, followed by Spirit of Saint James Run (Year 6)
Friday 15th December - Last Day of School 2023
Dear Parents and Carers
It was lovely to share the end of year "Just a Bit of Fun for Xmas" with you all on Tuesday evening. We have come a long way as a school from when we all fitted easily in the hall and could fit nan and pop, assorted aunties and uncles and even have a stage down the middle of the hall! That is (in my humble opinion) a result of the support of great families, a great community and wonderful staff who worked together to make the evening the best yet.
Thank you one and all.
Below is a photograph of the Thompson girls "back in 2016 " Charlie spent last week with us on work experience and when I asked her would she like to choreograph the Guiding Light for us to end the event she was most excited. Charlie is planning to train as a teacher and her form which went back to McAuley on Friday said "best work experience student ever." What ever we asked of her Charlie was enthusiastic and engaged.
As we finish the week I am finalising the report publishing. The set up is different from what we have had previously and as we move further into the new year we will see more change as the DLCSL completes the process to standardise the reporting.
A big week next week. Messages have gone out for the assembly on Thursday and all are always welcome to attend.
See you next week
Ann
Ruby and Charlie in 2016
2024 Dates
Term 1, 2024:
Wednesday 31st January 2024 - First Day: Year 1 to Year 6 Students
Friday 2nd February - School Swimming Carnival
Wednesday 7th February 2024 - ES1 First Day
Thursday 11th April- Last day Term 1, 2024
Term 2, 2024:
Tuesday 30th April - First Day Term 2, 2024
Thursday 30th May - Proclaim - Pupil Free Day
Thursday 4th July - Last day Term 2, 2024
Term 3, 2024:
Monday 22nd July - First Day Term 3, 2024
Thursday 26th September- Last Day Term 3, 2024
Term 4, 2024:
Tuesday 15th October - First Day Term 4, 2024
Wednesday 18th December - Last day Term 4
End of 2024 year Dates
End of Year Awards - Monday 16th December
Mass - Tuesday 17th December
Year 6 Graduation dinner - Tuesday 17th December
Last Day School 2024- Wednesday 18th December
Term 1, 2024 - Sport Dates
Friday 2nd February 2024 - School Swimming Carnival
Monday 26th February 2024 - Zone Swimming-Maclean
Friday 1st March 2024 - Dio Swimming-Macksville
Friday 8th March 2024 -Dio Winter Sport Trials
Wednesday 27th March 2024 - School Cross Country
Wednesday 3rd April 2024 - Polding Swimming-Sydney
Monday 8th April 2024 - Zone Cross Country
Thursday 11th April – Friday 12 April 2024 - PSSA Swimming
RE News
ADVENT
We take the season of Advent as a time for pause, reflection, and preparation for the gift of God’s love coming to us through the baby Jesus.
The four weeks of Advent are popularly considered to symbolise the four thousand years of darkness before the coming of Christ. We set up Nativity scenes, light Advent candles, and decorate wreaths in our homes to signify Christ’s presence. Four candles adorn an Advent wreath, one for each week. A fifth candle is sometimes placed in the centre for the beginning of the Christmas season.
Advent colours are worn by priests and decorate the church. They are represented in the candles that surround the Advent wreath:
Violet: royalty, repentance, and fasting (First, Second, and Fourth Week of Advent)
Rose: abundant joy (Third Week of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday, joy in Latin)
White: light and purity (Christ Candle, centre candle completes the season and begins Christmas)
We are so thankful…
Many thanks to all of our wonderful school families for your generosity at our Christmas Carols on Tuesday evening. We collected $965 worth of gift cards! These will be added to our St Vinnies Christmas Appeal, supporting families in need this Christmas.
LAST CALL for any food hamper items for our Christmas Appeal… this will be collected by St Vincent de Paul early next week. If you have items to contribute, please bring them in by Tuesday 12th Dec.
End of Year Mass
Next Tuesday, 12th December, we will be holding our End Of Year Mass. All families are warmly invited to come along and celebrate this Mass with the children. As part of our yearly rituals, our 2023 School Captains will hand over the school candle to the 2024 School Captains at the conclusion of the Mass.
The Mass will be held at St James Catholic Church, Yamba at 12pm, and will be celebrated by Fr Nicolas Maurice. We look forward to seeing you there.
Renee Howland
Assistant Principal- Mission
Christmas Message from Bishop Greg
ES1 News
What a wonderful few weeks of learning we’ve had in Kindy! We’ve been exploring our Advent RE unit, learning about waiting and the birth of Jesus, and we’ve made some beautiful nativity crafts. On Monday, Minty the Elf arrived in our room, and each day she has been leaving us a task to complete! We’ve also been keeping an Elf Diary, with each student writing a daily recount of what Minty is up to. Investigations have been SO fun, with our Music Space and Christmas Centre popular choices. The ES1 team is so proud of our students, it’s truly been a fantastic year of learning!
Birthdays
Miss Dawson - 15th December, Benson – 18th December, Bonnie -20th December, Mrs Hollington – 21st December, Mrs Cole – 21st December, Rhaya – 22nd December, Sunny – 22nd December, Lily – 24th December, Bronte – 24th December, Sofia – 24th December, Mrs Hamilton – 24th December, Archer – 30th December, Mignon – 3rd January, Jensen – 12th January, Mrs Hancock – 12th January, Iyla – 16th January, Elsie – 17th January, Ned – 20th January, Anderson – 22nd January, Grace - 25th January, Dolly – 29th January, Harlan – 31st January, Mila – 31st January, Ivie – 31st January