Term 2 Week 3 (16/5/2025)

What is On?

Dear Parents and Carers

Saint James was visited on Tuesday by 24 staff from across the schools of the diocese as part of our Learning Collaborative. All staff and students were involved in sharing our learning, use of data and how we support learners. Many of your children spoke with our visitors explaining how they learn, why they do the things they do and where to go when they are stuck as learners. You may like to ask them tonight about the visits. This is to give feedback to myself for growth and planning within the learning agenda from critical friends. It was lovely to receive robust feedback and to also share who we are and where we are focused. 

My favourite email back from a senior leader was addressed to dear staff of SJY, 

"A sincere thank you for hosting us so beautifully yesterday and sharing your practice with us. I always come away from my visits with a sense of admiration for the way you have nurtured a culture which honours all students' curiosity, creativity, voice and leadership. I saw it again yesterday through the lens of the LC. What resonated most with me was that you truly demonstrated the art and the science of education at its best- the science of the 14 parameters, but more importantly the art of integrating it into your community’s context, values and beliefs about learning. I saw every student's access to learning validated by the interactions they had with their educators.
Thank you.
The learning culture you have nurtured and live each day takes years to build and involves a high investment by all your time."

My thoughts on the day were originally “WHAT THE CARNIVAL HAS MOVED to Learning Collab Day ... NOOOO" We were not going to show who we really are but with the weather chaos, all staff and children had the opportunity to demonstrate their work for others and receive feedback.

And then the week rolled on... and the focus shifted to Close the Gap, Retreat and Cross Country and Confirmation on Monday.  Schools are like that; we will take some time to read our recommendations and action appropriately.

Within this newsletter is our Tell Them From Me survey link.  What we hear from this is survey is always reviewed with all staff in a meeting and feeds into the next 3-year cycle of growth as a school community.  This is an annual survey undertaken in all schools across the diocese and I recommend this to you all.

On Monday Bishop Homeming is visiting our school. He will be visiting each room on Monday morning before the confirmation on Monday evening.  He is celebrating all masses in the parish this weekend if you are attending. 

Next week looks very busy with 2 Cross Country Carnivals and a Sacrament. We might do some learning and laughing too as the weather clears and we get outside to have some space!

Have a great weekend and pray for fine weather

Ann

Learning and Teaching News

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Kind Regards

Alanna Cason

Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

RE News

Today our Confirmation candidates travelled to Maclean to take part in a special retreat as part of their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. The retreat provided a meaningful opportunity for students to reflect on their faith, grow in their relationship with God, and explore the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We continue to keep them in our prayers as they journey towards this important milestone in their faith lives. The Sacrament of Confirmation will be held at St Mary's Church, Maclean on Monday evening 5:30pm.

Mission Reps Project

COLLECTING EARN & RETURN

We’re excited to share that our school will be supporting St James Catholic Church as it celebrates its remarkable 50th year of service to our community. As part of the parish’s fundraising efforts to refurbish the church, we’ll be raising money through our school recycling program. Every bottle and can collected will help us contribute to this special milestone, honouring the church’s legacy and ensuring it remains a welcoming space for generations to come. We thank you for your ongoing support and encourage all families to get involved!

Our Mission Reps will lead our Recycling for St James Church project starting in Term 2. We’re collecting bottles and cans to raise funds for the church’s 50th anniversary refurbishment and help care for the environment at the same time!

Bins will be placed at Kiss and Drop.
You can place items directly in the bins or leave bagged donations beside them.

To keep things flowing, please avoid dropping off during Kiss & Drop times.
Thank you for your support in making a difference!

Book Club

Thank you to the parents that have placed their order on this Issue of Book Club!

There is still time to order if you haven't already.

Orders close Monday 19/5/25

Stage 2 News

English

In English, we have been exploring the concept of Genre. We have been exploring the texts Iceberg, Earth’s Incredible Oceans, Deadly Science: The Solar System and Meanwhile Back on Earth. We have been exploring the texts and recognising the purpose, structures, language and features of texts. We have spent time working collaboratively with our peers and building on our skills of teamwork. We have learnt lots of facts about Antarctica and Space and have enjoyed sharing new facts with each other. 

Science

In Science, we've been diving into the different states of matter—solids, liquids, and gases—and how they change and interact with each other. We've learned about the properties of each state, like how solids have a fixed shape, liquids flow and take the shape of their container, and gases spread out to fill any space. We've also explored how temperature can cause matter to change states, like when ice melts into water or water boils into steam. It's been fascinating to see how these simple concepts connect to everything around us and we look forward to continuing on with our research by conducting experiments in this field.

Maths

In maths, we have been looking into measurement and the base 10 system! We've been exploring how to measure length using standard units like millimeters, centimetres and metres.  We've also been strengthening our understanding of the base 10 system, which helps us read and write large numbers. Through hands-on activities and problem-solving, we've gained confidence in using measurement tools and converting different measurements. We are looking forward to moving onto our next Unit on Fractions!

Tell Them From Me

Schools in the Diocese of Lismore jointly participate in the program Tell Them from Me. This program is a commercially produced suite of surveys that are used for measuring student engagement and wellbeing. The surveys were used to capture student, parent and teacher voices, providing reliable evidence that the School was able to use in identifying strengths and areas for improvement.

Our link 

http://tellthemfromme.com/yamp

Birthdays

17/5, Finn 21/5, Ayva 23/5, Joseph 24/5, Arabella 31/5, Mrs Cason

Attendance