Term 3 Week 1 (16/07/2021)

Children and Spirituality

Children come to school with an innate respect for all and a genuine interest in the world around them.  The role of our school is to encourage these beautiful facets of all our students and support them as they make sense of their world and those with whom they meet. 

Inspired by the Gospel we work ‘to enable each student to achieve the fullness of life’ (John 10:10).

What is On?

Thursday 22nd July - Confirmation

Friday 23rd July - St James Feast Day Celebration

Monday 16th August - Bikeathon S3

Tuesday 17th August - Bikeathon S2

Wednesday 18th August - Bikeathon S1

Thursday 19th August - Bikeathon ES1

 21-27 August - Bookweek

26th to 30th July - Book Fair  

Wednesday 25th August - Reconciliation in hall

Thursay 26th August - Soccer/Netball Carnival-Grafton

Friday 27th August - Book Character Parade

Saturday 28th August - First Communion - St James Church Yamba

Thursday 16th September - Last Day Term 3 for students

Friday 17th September - Staff Development day - School Closed - all staff attend

Dismissal Bell 3:10pm

At the end of last term we discussed that the end of day bell needs to revert to 3:10pm (for us to remain compliant with school regulations).

 I also let you know that we were getting the lines remarked and that the CSO would be down to look at our Traffic Management Plan. 

You will have noticed the repaint on Kiss and Drop and the addition of the PLEASE WAIT line near the library.  

Can I please request that you allow a bay to clear before moving forward beyond this line. There should be no more than 3 cars in the bays. Your attendance to this matter is apprectiated.

The CSO  Traffic  Management Officer has yet to visit as he is also the COVID Management Officer and as you can appreciate he is a "bit busy".

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to term 3. 

Can I thank you again for your support of the "new normal".  

We had planned to have several community events this term which are not going ahead (at this stage) but we are working to keep the normality for the children wherever we can. 

Bike Week is still on (it was so much fun last year). Book Fair too, but just with the children.  

The "save the date" for the  Feast of  Saint James Celebration next Friday and the 100 days of Kindy are both now  "inhouse but watch instagram for the fun."

NAIDOC Week is now on a short term hold, as we had planned to go out in the community with excursions along the river. We are just pausing this while we see what unfolds with the restictions, in the hope that things improve. 

The basketball gala day is still on the calendar as it is a little time away and we will monitor this.

On the parent engagement front, I have joined the Diocesan Parents Representive Review body to support the challenges and changes we face with the changing ideas and focuses that our community sees in this space. 

We will keep everyone updated as this work begins. 

If you wish to speak with a staff member please ring the office and ask Mrs Smith (Sue to her friends) to arrange a call back. 

Talk soon,

See you in Kiss and Drop

Ann

Curriculum Corner

RE News

David Ogg Art Enrichment Workshop

We were very excited to have David Ogg, artist and educator working with some of our Stage 3 students at St James School on Thursday. The Art Matters Visual Arts Enrichment Workshops are aimed to enthuse students and staff, build character, creativity and develop an appreciation of existing art capabilities. The students learnt many skills throughout the day, including how to integrate Scripture through Visual Arts.

The workshop covered a variety of art skills, techniques and medias: for example silkscreen printing, drawing,  painting skills and techniques, pen and ink as well as building confidence and understanding of various approaches and ways of seeing and responding to the students’ world in a Visual Arts context.

The students had a fantastic day and all expressed how much they had learnt and enjoyed the workshop.

Children and Spirituality

Children come to school with an innate respect for all and a genuine interest in the world around them.  The role of our school is to encourage these beautiful facets of all our students and support them as they make sense of their world and those with whom they meet. 

Inspired by the Gospel we work ‘to enable each student to achieve the fullness of life’ (John 10:10).

ES1

Kindergarten are back and excited for a new term of learning! There is a new sandpit boat just outside our classroom that we have been busy exploring and climbing. The students have expressed an interest in turning our Dramatic Play space into Yamba Coles. Students are creating shopping lists, weighing fruit, sorting groceries on  shelves, writing down the weekly specials, working at the cash register or being a Covid Safe customer! We even have Click and Collect!

Stage 1

Welcome back! 

This week we have been busy exploring fractions in Maths. We have been looking at equal parts found in shapes and in whole number, in relation to halves, quarters and eighths. We have also been preparing for our St James feast day next week, learning about who St James was and creating great displays to express our connections in our understanding.

Stage 2

Welcome back to a busy yet exciting term in stage 2. We have lots of exciting things happening this term starting with St James feast day and the Tokyo Olympic games. Students have been busy preparing our station for the feast day and we cannot wait to share the finished product with you all next week. Students have chosen an Australian athlete competing at the 2021 Olympic games and have begun to research facts about their athlete. This is part of our informative english unit. We will be following the games and our chosen athletes and students will create newspaper articles and news broadcasts to inform an audience. We will also be collecting data such as medal tallies and race times as part of our maths unit and representing them in a variety of formats including graphs and tables. 

Stage 3