St James' Primary School Yamba eNewsletter

Happy Father's Day to ALL for this weekend.

What is On?

Monday 2nd September - S2 Basketball Gala Day

Monday 2nd September– Friday 6th September - Stage 3 Camp Lake Ainsworth

Tuesday 3rd September - ES1 Class Mass- in hall, 10:15 – 11:00am

Wednesday 4th September -Reconciliation - school hall

Saturday 7th September - First Holy Communion, 5:30pm Mass at St James Church, Yamba

Tuesday 10th September - Public Speaking School Finals - in hall

Friday 13th September - Polding Athletics

Tuesday 17th September– Sydney University Centre For Creativity Visiting

Friday 20th September - Touch Football Gala Day S2 & S3

Monday 23rd September - Public Speaking Finals - Coffs Harbour

Tuesday 24th September - Pyjama Day (see flyer below)

Thursday 26th September - Awards Assembly

Thursday 26th September - Last day of Term 3 for students

Friday 27th September - Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day

Term 4

Monday 14th October - Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 15th October - First Day Term 4 for students

Tuesday 29th October - S1 Class Mass in hall 10:15 – 11:00am

Tuesday 5th November - S2 Class Mass in hall

Tuesday 19th November -S3 Class Mass in hall

END OF YEAR -

Wednesday 11th December 2024 - End of Year Awards at Yamba Bowling Club

Tuesday 17th December - Year 6 Graduation dinner at Yamba Golf Club

Tuesday 17th December - End or Year Mass

Wednesday 18th December - Last day Term 4

Dear Parents and Carers

I have been away at the Principal Meeting for most of the week. I have missed a couple of lovely things.

I missed the wonderful "Green, Gold and a Little Bit of Pink " for Lexy. I missed the cheering and the joy of the video. I missed the classroom joy of learning across all the rooms and the visits with the children in handball squares and in games on the field. I became a teacher to work with children, meet with families and be part of a community. When I go to meetings and miss the fun stuff I feel a little left out but I am glad I can follow on Instagram.

This morning was a lovely start to a day with the Fathers, Grandfathers and Significant Role Models Breaky. It is a fabulous to see so many families here. I spoke with a few dads for whom this is their last FDB. Some of these dads have been every year for at least 11 years and some dads I spoke to have done 11 years of FDB's and have a few to go.

Thank you all for your continued engagement, whether this was your first, last or somewhere in between.

I hope the fish are biting, the beers are cold and the hugs warm on Sunday.

Cheers

Ann

Every Single Day - From Diocese Lismore

The St James' Primary School, Yamba, students, staff, and families have participated in an exciting initiative that encourages regular school attendance. (24 June 2024)

The Wellbeing through Music initiative by the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools (DLCS) combines music, songwriting, drama, and art to enhance student wellbeing and attendance, fostering a joyful and expressive school environment.

At St James' Primary School, Yamba, this collaborative project, led by ARIA-nominated educator CJ Shaw, Clarence Regional Pastoral Care Officer Rob Imeson, and Principal Ann Dawson, actively involved students in drama activities and attendance discussions, with older students mentoring younger ones.

A highlight was when Stage 3 students, inspired by a lively whole-school concert, participated in a songwriting workshop, creating lyrics that celebrated life at St James', from friendships to the beloved school chickens.

The project culminated in a recording session where every student contributed to a track, beautifully accompanied by the school choir, and ended with a school-wide concert celebrating the students' hard work and community spirit.

In the final week, students took part in an album artwork competition, with the winning design by Kindergarten student Hattie, who captured the joy of learning and playing with friends.

This initiative not only resulted in a memorable song and video but also developed resources to help other schools promote consistent attendance, showcasing the creativity and dedication of the St James' community.

Below, you can watch the music video developed by the DLCS Media team and recorded by Producer Matthew Storen.

RE News

Prayer for Fathers

Dear God,

We thank You for our fathers, who love and care for us every day. On this special Father’s Day, we ask You to bless them with joy, strength, and good health.

Help them to be kind and patient, and guide them in their work and their family life. May they always feel Your love and support, and may they know how much we appreciate all they do for us.

Bless all the fathers in our community and help us to show them our gratitude and love.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son.

Amen.

Throughout his life, St. Joseph protected and provided for his wife and foster son with fortitude and dedication, not relying on his own strength but on the strength of God’s grace acting through him.

Wishing all our wonderful fathers, grandfathers, and father figures a wonderful Fathers Day on Sunday.

May your day be filled with joy, laughter, and special moments with your loved ones. We appreciate everything you do and are grateful for the positive impact you have on our community.

Renee Howland

Assistant Principal Mission

Sport News

On Monday Stage 3 participated in a Basketball Gala Day at the Raymond Laurie Sports Centre in Yamba. We had 6 teams compete throughout the day against other schools from the Clarence Valley. Gala days are all about students just ‘having a go’, it it was so great to see all of our students giving it ago, having fun with their friends and making new friends. Stage 2 will be participating in a Gala Day on Monday 2nd September!

On Thursday our Girls AFL team headed over to Iluka to participate in a skills and drills session, along with a game against Iluka Public School. The day was run by Simon from the Lower Clarence Suns. It was a fantastic day. The girls learnt new skills and got to apply their skills throughout the game. It was great to see the girls skills develop as the day went on and there were plenty of laughs. We might have a few future AFL players on our hands.

Kind regards

Tash Hancock

Sports Coorindator

Long Way Home

From: Long way home writing competition Facebook

The judges have made their choices for the 2024 writing competition. The Fly by Night theme was a challenge. But everyone cast wide into the night sky for ideas, and we got a haul of excellent stories. As one of the judges, Annie Wolff, said: “Congratulations Clarence Valley writers. You are such a diverse, imaginative and skilful community!” The writers below will be published in ‘Stories from the Clarence Valley 2024 – Fly By Night.’ Winners will be announced at the launch on 9th December at the Grafton Regional Gallery at 6pm. All writers will receive a free copy of the book. We take our hats off to everyone who entered a story this year. Be proud, keep writing.

A BAT'S-EYE VIEW by Fionn

CHAPTER 1: BLACK SHADOWS by Remi

DEAD OF NIGHT by Leah

THE FORGOTTEN SHOPPING LIST by Reevan

CITY by Ashton

Pyjama Day- Tuesday 24th September

Pyjama_Day_1_.pdf

SAFE ON SOCIAL change of DATE

I rang Kirra from Safe on Social on Monday to sort out the split date for the presentation next week. She is currently in Byron Bay with her mum who is unwell. She asked if we would like to move the date and lock a new one in due to the split and when I asked " Is that is OK and doable?" she said it was, as she is keen to support her mum and will be back in the area through November.

SO... New date SOS... 18th November 2024. Lock that in the diary!

Little J's

Stage 1 News

English

In Stage One, we have been busy reading and identifying the features of Hybrid texts. A hybrid text interweaves a narrative storyline with factual information. We read The Great White Shark and Emu by Claire Saxby and this inspired us to create our own Hybrid text on Seals! We watched videos on seals, took notes and created concept maps to organise our factual information. You MUST visit our room and read our class book!

Author Visit

On Wednesday we were lucky to have an amazing local author - Renee James - visit. We loved listening to her read her new book Patroosh, the Surprised Pelican. Students had opportunities to ask questions, to dance and to use her amazing props and perform parts of the text! We had so much fun and we want to thank her for her time and her kind donation of the book for our class library.

Maths

In maths we have been looking at different ways to represent numbers. We have been focusing on place value and using that knowledge to build our understanding of 3 digit numbers.

We have been using MAB materials to make numbers, and then representing them in a variety of ways.

Our Dads ROCK!!

Happy Father’s Day from Stage 1.

Check out our funny dad portrait rock faces…

Book Fair - Orders

Book orders from the Book Fair are on the way. Orders will be sent home as soon as they arrive at the school.

Birthdays

Nellie 1/9, Mrs Towner 1/9, Mrs Mooney 2/9, Lola 10/9, Hailey 12/9, Leah 12/9, Billie 13/9, Willa 13/9,

2024 Sacrament Dates

Reconciliation- Wednesday 4th September, 11:35am at school (Parents/ family members not required to attend this Sacrament).

First Holy Communion- Saturday 7th September, 5:30pm Mass at St James Church, Yamba

Sport Dates