Term 1 Week 2 (14/02/2025)

What is On?

Dear Parents and Carers

Today we have begun the 2026 Kindergarten enrolment interviews. That is bizarre with the 2025 crew of young learners are just completing their first week of school! Time apparently waits for no one. 

Our littlest learners have begun with a flourish. Stickers, excitement, fresh uniforms and full lunch boxes have been the order of the week. They are wonderful and the dedicated staff have been twisting themselves every which way to make sure the days are joyful and busy. 

Thank you to all.

Julie Malley has tendered her resignation after 23 years in the Teacher Assistant role at Saint James. While we will really miss Julie we know that new adventures await and we are so grateful for her enthusiasm and joy. If I heard "Well it is for the kids" once, I have heard Julie's mantra at least a million times! So passionate about the learners in our care and their happiness and growth. 

Thanks Jules.

We are pleased to have been able to secure the services of  Daisy Suttor into the role. Daisy is a past student and we are very lucky she applied for the position. 

Please try to join us on Tuesday for the first Mass of the school year in the St James Church at 10am. All are welcome, all belong. 

See you soon.

Ann

RE News

 Our Beginning School Mass will be held on Tuesday 18th February, 10am at St James Catholic Church, Yamba.

Please ensure you have given permission via Events on COMPASS for your child to attend.

All families are warmly invited to attend and celebrate with us.

At the conclusion of the Mass, Year 6 students will be presented with their Leaders badges and presented to the school community.

Sacrament Dates

Confirmation- May 2025 (Date TBC) 

Reconciliation- Tuesday 29th July, St James Church, Yamba

First Holy Communion- Saturday 30th August, St James Church, Yamba

The order of Sacraments in the Lismore Diocese is:

Baptism, Confirmation (Year 3), Reconciliation (Year 4), First Eucharist (Year 4)

If you need more information about Baptism for your child, please contact the Parish Office in Maclean at 6645 1188 (open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm).

For any other Sacraments, please reach out to Mrs. Howland at school. Please note that your child must be Baptised before receiving any other Sacraments.

If your child was Confirmed last year, they will be invited to receive Reconciliation and First Communion this year. To arrange this, please email yamp@lism.catholic.edu.au. We will be holding a meeting for parents regarding Sacraments, as part of the preparation. Parish Priest, Fr. Roland will be facilitating this meeting at school. The date will be advised. All other preparation will be completed at school during Religion lessons.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at school.

Renee Howland

Assistant Principal - Mission

Holiday Reading Challenge

The following students completed the Holiday Reading Challenge. Congratulations to the following students;

Please see me next week for your icy pole reward!

Kind Regards,

Alanna Cason 

Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

SHROVE TUESDAY

SHROVE TUESDAY

Tuesday 4th March is Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally during Lent, Christians would give up rich, tasty foods such as butter, eggs, sugar and fat (some Christians continue to do so, in fact). Shrove Tuesday was the last chance to eat them – and what better way to do so than with a delicious pancake! 

All students are invited to come to school dressed in mufti casual clothing and bring a gold coin donation to raise awareness for those living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the country. 

Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, marks the day before Lent begins. Breakfast Club will be serving pancakes from the canteen before school (8:30am- 9am). So come along, dressed in mufti, and enjoy a delicious pancake for breakfast!

YUM!

Canteen - Please see price changes below

School Assembly - Shift of day

Due to the number of times we have had to swap the assemblies with Friday events and the number of times we already know that we will be away on Fridays across the year we are thinking that a Thursday might work better for our 5 week  assemblies. Happy to have feedback from families with another perspective!

A

Stage 1 News

Learning is in full swing in Stage 1! We have co- constructed our class rules, settled into our class routines and welcomed 4 new students Everly, Sophia, Willow and Tully! 

A new Dramatic Play Investigation area ‘Sassafras Pizza’ has been created and we can’t wait to begin exploring this space. A special thanks to Stevie at Sassafras Restaurant for her kind donations of materials.

In Religion, we are learning that we are all welcomed in God’s Family. We reflected on experiences where we have felt welcomed in our life, thinking about what that looks and feels like. Stage 1 made thoughtful ‘Welcome to St James’ cards for our Kindergarten friends and we were so excited to deliver them to Miss Haines.

We can’t wait to begin this wonderful learning journey together. Come and visit our class window display and read what goals students have for 2025!

Attendance

Birthdays

Joel 25/2, Eden 27/2, Ella 28/2