St James' Primary School Yamba eNewsletter

What is On?

Friday 4th March - Incitāre - Year 6 Event - McAuley Catholic College Hall, Grafton

Monday 21st March - School Photos - More information to come

Dear Parents and Carers

This was part of my reading this week . It soothed my soul!

We need to keep on loving. The early Christians knew this and focused on the importance of love within their communities. The phrase ‘building up’ was often used as St Paul encouraged the fledgling communities to seek the best in each other and to use actions that allowed for encounters of grace and goodness.

As Oscar Romero reminds us:

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted,

knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

Just a thought for us all.

Congratulations to all the children who competed at Diocesan Swimming. We look forward to hearing of Harlan, Clarry and Kydan who are off to Polding. We hope that this is live streamed again as last year we had a wonderful time cheering from school. Congratulations gentlemen.

And to developments

A week is a long time in our world. I did a little dance yesterday when we found out that our school is open once more.

Most important to me is that we do not need to continue to cohort on the playground.

So as of Monday these are the new guidelines. ( Families who remember 2019 - same as we always did!)

*The walking gate beside the carpark will be open for access. Please park on Carr's Drive. I am sending the Traffic Plan home on email. It is important that all families know where to park. The buses have priority on Carrs Drive with their turning space.

* Waiting for a student onsite after school?

Please sit on the first set of seats within the COLA area for children.

The COLA is the "Green Zone" under the new Child Protection Guidlines. You do not need to sign in if you remain within this area. Seating beyond the COLA makes it difficult for classes to conclude their day and move safely to pick up lines and we ask all parents to sit on the seats on the left hand side of the COLA. Please do not sit outside classrooms.

All children will be brought to the COLA by staff at the end of the day.

*Wishing to speak with a staff member ?

* All visitors must sign in before entering any areas beyond the Front Office. Each classroom has a sign in qr code on the door.

There is absolutely no access on foot through the staff carpark or Kiss and Drop.

* Kiss and Drop is as normal.

* Bus is as normal

* Bikes are as normal.

See you all next week.

Ann

COVID Update

Sport Dates 2022

Swimming

-Polding - Sydney - Tuesday 22nd March

Cross Country

-School - Yamba, Thursday 7th April

-Zone - Grafton, Wednesday 4th May

-Dio - Grafton, Tuesday 24th May

-Polding - Tuesday 7th June

Athletics

-School - Yamba, Friday 24th June

-Zone - Coffs Harbour, Wednesday 20th July

-Dio - Lismore, Friday 12th August

-Polding - Newcastle, Friday 9th September

SACRAMENTAL DATES 2022

Confirmation- Thursday 30th June, from 5:30pm at St Mary’s Church, Maclean.

Reconciliation- Wednesday 24th August, 11:40am in school hall.

First Holy Communion- Saturday 27th August, 5:30pm at St James Church, Yamba.

Parent Teacher Term 1 interviews

This coming week you will receive an invitation and a booking sheet. We look forward to meeting with our parents to share insights and build community.

Bush Playground

RE News

Mission Representatives

On Monday morning we announced our Mission Representatives to our school community. These students applied for this leadership role last week and the staff voted for 4 students to lead this for 2022. Our successful applicants were Will Hutchinson, Tayah Cole, Pippi Short and Elly Day. These students will be working with Mrs Howland to promote faith opportunities in our school and community, as well as promotion around fundraising for organisations such as CARITAS and Catholic Mission who raise funds for those less fortunate than ourselves. Congratulations to our Mission Representatives. I look forward to working with them!

Mission Representatives from left to right- Will Hutchinson, Tayah Cole, Elly Day & Pippi Short.

SACRAMENTAL DATES 2022

Confirmation- Thursday 30th June, from 5:30pm at St Mary’s Church, Maclean.

Reconciliation- Wednesday 24th August, 11:40am in school hall.

First Holy Communion- Saturday 27th August, 5:30pm at St James Church, Yamba.

If you would like your child to receive these Sacraments, please contact Mrs Howland at school. For your child to receive any of these Sacraments they must first be Baptised. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me at school.

The order of Sacraments in the Lismore Diocese from 2021 is:

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

Sacraments that were unable to take place in the past 2 years due to Covid restrictions will be included this year.

SERVICE IN ACTION

As part of our learning around the value of Service during Lent at St James School, Jackson and Billie Curtis asked their Mum if they could open their money tins at home so that they could put the coins in the tin for the poor. What a wonderful and generous gesture from two of our students.

Renee Howland

Leader of School Mission & Catechesis

Sport News

11 students from St James travelled to Murwillumbah on Wednesday to compete at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival. All students swam well and we were lucky enough to have 3 students, Harlan Bews, Clarence Dougherty and Kydan Jones, qualify to represent the Lismore Diocese at the Polding carnival in Sydney on Tuesday, 22nd March. Well done to all involved. Full results below.

Harlan Bews - 1st 8yrs Freestyle

Clarence Dougherty - 2nd 9yrs Freestyle, 11th Jr Backstroke

Lola Dougherty - 4th 9yrs Freestyle

Kydan Jones - 3rd 11yrs Butterfly, 5th 11yrs Freestyle, 5th 11yrs Backstroke, 9th 11yrs Breastroke

Heidi Van Leest - 4th 12yrs Freestyle, 5th Sr Backstroke

Jr Boys Relay (Rashad Rice, Alfie Ison, Clarence Dougherty, Jake Seivers) - 5th

Sr Girls Relay (Jessie Wallace, Willow Bews, Gypsy Williams, Heidi Van Leest) - 3rd

LOP News

Yamba Song Videos

Writing a song

The LOP writing challenge in 2021 was to write a song about Yamba . The students listened to the song Old Welcome Feeling by Rob Imeson for inspiration. When children learn how to write songs , they are learning how language works and how to experiment with different rhythmical and rhyming structures. To begin, some students came up with an idea ( based on Yamba ) . The students used the app chrome music maker to make a melody that was simple and memorable.

We will showcase the entrants through the school newsletter. Enjoy our entrants:

Sarai Waghorn, Declan Mawn

ES1 News

Reading groups are in full swing in the Kindergarten classroom! We have been busy identifying the letters in our names and learning the sounds they make. Some of our rotation tasks involve making and tracing letters on the iPads, making words with magnetic letters, Hunting & Harvesting for letters in books and guided reading instruction with the teacher. So many Dojo points and stickers have been given out because students are making progress with following directions & working together as a team.

Stage 1 News

In maths this week we have been learning about quantities creating large and small numbers using place value to help us. Students have explored this through some fun maths games and challenging rich tasks. If you need a fun game to play this weekend just ask your child about the card game they call higher and lower. Here are some snapshots of one of the games in action.

Stage 2 News

Learner Profiles! To help us as teachers in Stage 2 create a learning environment where the children have a voice and choice about their learning, we have been interviewing our students in order to tailor our teaching towards their interests. We also thought it would be nice for our school community to get to know our awesome Stage 2 students as well. So we will begin sharing some of our learner profiles with you in the newsletter this week.