Term 1 Week 1 2021
What is On?
Tuesday 2nd February - School Swimming Carnival (chn can wear t-shirts in house colours)
Wednesday 3rd February - Early Stage one commence full days
March
Tuesday 30th March - Last day term 1 for all students.
Wednesday 31st March and Thursday 1st April - Staff development days - school closed - all staff attend
May
Wednesday 5th May - Proclaim Lismore - School closed - all staff attend
June
Friday 25th June - Staff Professional Learning - School Improvement Plan - school closed- all staff attend
September
Friday 17th September - Professional Learning - First Aid - school closed - all staff attend
Acknowledgement of Country
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Saint James.
A new year of untold possibilities. I expect there will be a few surprises along the way!
This week we began our time together with a prayer themed
Education is a hope filled endeavour.
We looked at all that an attitude of HOPE offers us in the school setting.
Here are some examples:-
Hope is the life of the soul.
Hope, means living in a universe in which it is possible to climb mountains and stand outdoors.
Hope is our greatest motivator.
Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something will make sense regardless of how it turns out.
Creativity is the result of a hope-filled existence.
Hope encourages self-belief.
Hope offers us opportunities for gratitude.
By rejoicing in the little things that make life worth living, we offer hope to others.
Hope is contagious.
Education brings confidence, Confidence brings hope, Hope brings inner peace.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
– and sings the tunes without the words –
and never stops at all.
In the wonder and awe of our world, we know hope.
It is from this disposition that we are working in 2021 in partnership with all our families and our community.
Our new Kindergarten children are visiting Mrs Ferguson this week and next, in preparation for their Wednesday school beginning. I know you will all wish them well as they begin their journey into learning remembering your own starts and these days for your children.
We are using the first 72 hours to get to know our community in each learning space and build a class culture that recognises the desires, needs and aspirations of each learning group. We call this Project 72 - It also includes taking 72 minutes per term for a planned and "slightly out there" fun activity with the learning group to build unity and the 72 seconds every day that we use to acknowledge the Learner of the Day. This is to celebrate success.
Why 72? If you google Significant 72 you will see the work of Tom Heirck on the importance of giving relationships time to develop before rushing into learning (staff worked with him 4 years ago). The research is not new, we know children learn best when they know that their teachers know them, BUT the hook of his work certainly helps us to keep a whole school approach here.
Term 1 Parent Interviews will begin in Week 6. These interviews are focused on sharing the important information about your children with the staff as we begin the 2021 learning agenda. We find this a most valuable process. Parents and staff working together always leads to greater learning in the school. Booking forms will come home soon.
Beginning on Thursday, your children will come home telling you that they had a mathematics interview. This MAI is part of our Diocesan Data responsibility and as such, a casual teacher will be working in each area for the week. (Other schools do not begin classes until week 2 and parents bring children in for an interview during the day) We believe that giving the children a week in school and having a regular school year start time, better suits our needs in Yamba.
The staff placed a welcome to the community on Skoolbag on Wednesday (embedded below). We place notices on skoolbag every few days and this is the app every family needs to use. Please download the app so that you can stay connected.
Search for St James Primary School Yamba to stay in the loop.
For the future.
You will notice that this newsletter is on a new platform. As a diocesan school, we are being transferred over to a new web presence this year. This means that the web page will get a new look, we will have a new messaging service later in the year and we are looking at the social media space but that remains a work in progress.
See you in Kiss and Drop (or at the Swimming Carnival .. .......)
Ann
Staff 2021
Parish Priest Father Nicolas Maurice
Principal Ann Dawson
Assistant Principal and Curriculum Coordinator Christine Jeffrey
School Evangelisation/ Catechesis/High Potential Learning Renee Howland
Leader of Pedagogy/ Assistant Principal Lisa Dougherty
Coordinator 1- SPORT Martin Dougherty
Instructional Leader Kelly Berman
Administration Manager Susanne Smith
ES1 April Ferguson
S1 Anne Maree Lewis and Rachelle Smith
S2 Martin Dougherty and Natasha Hancock
S3- Meghan Haines, Lauren Ross and Alanna Petersen
RFF Pam Hollington and Tracey Aumuller
School Support and IEW Susan Frazer
Inclusion Amie Cole, Ella Mooney, Amy Imeson, Julie Malley and Kerrie O’Halloran
Library Amy Imeson
Canteen Louise Birch
Administration Support Kelly Commerford
Grounds and Maintenance Peter Smith
DROP off and PICK up
Thank you for your support in following the COVID guidelines with the school access. As I am re-editing this newletter, I am listening to the Sounds Better Live Concert and am so happy we find ourselves in a position to enjoy live events due to the continued efforts of everyone. Of course, I wish I was there but I will take what I can get!
A gentle reminder that the supervision of children is only between 8:30am and 3:40pm. I am aware that an earlier drop off might be useful for working parents but we do have Before School Care for parents who need this service.
Like every business, outside these times, the staff at St James (if on site) are in their own time and asking them to supervise before these times is outside the Enterprise Agreement. If children are consistently on site, I will contact parents to discuss possible solutions.
Organisation
Staff Briefing - Monday 8:15am
Staff Meeting- Tuesday 3:30pm-4:45pm
Staff Prayer- Thursday 8:20am
(Staff unavailable at these times and phone not attended.)
Staff Release from Face to Face- Tuesday and Wednesday
Canteen- Orders in Wednesday for Thursday (see below)
Library- begins Week 3
Homework- begins Week 3
Private Music Lessons- return Week 2( that is this week)
Canteen Menu
The canteen will return with a limited menu for Term 1 on Thursday.
Orders will need to be in on WEDNESDAY each week. Unfortunately there will be no late orders accepted as staffing is limited. Please be aware that changes to the menued items will not be possible.
So...
Lunch orders in on a Wednesday each week and canteen operates on a Thursday. Recess purchases are available on the day.
Around the rooms...
Early Learning Agenda
All our lower school staff have been trained in using investigations and rich conversations to build learning and inquiry over 2020.
It seems like a lifetime ago when Mrs Ferguson and I trained in Sydney, in January 2020. We sent staff to QLD in February 2020, to visit a fabulous school with a team from CSO Lismore and then... lots of zoom professional learning followed!
ES1 began working in this way last year, and after we saw the benefits, we have brought the thinking through to the S1 space. People might ask " Are the kids just playing?" but nothing could be further from the truth. The children are invited to select a station to investigate a provocation or idea. They work in teams of 4 in the set spaces and learn to negotiate, discuss and plan together. The teachers have a focus child (or 2) each morning, while other children are tasked to inquire and explore the school, as the reporter or the photographer. We were surprised that the writing centre was always the first station to fill each day in ES1 last year. This is actually in line with the NSW syllabuses and the Early Learning Framework which are significant documents which guide our early learning agenda.
We will keep you updated on our progress throughout the year.
Early Stage 1
Looks like the "door of welcome" is ready to for our newest learners.
Stage 1
Stage 1 Week 1
The team in Stage 1 are introducing Investigations (Age Appropriate Pedagogies) at the beginning of each day. You might have noticed the Tinker Centre under construction beside Kiss and Drop. Keep an eye out across the year as the project develops. Video below...
The teachers will not be sending books home to cover in Stage 1. The exercise books are labelled and in use.
Stage 1 - New Space
This video is a follow-on from Miss Smith throwing her arms in welcome, to show you the new space spoken about.
Stage 2
First Week Back- can we spot the new children?
Stage 3
First Week Back- I had to stand on a chair...(I mean a WHS safe surface!) to get the shot, they have all grown so much in a few short weeks.
Year 7 - McAuley Catholic College
The children from St James who have transitioned to McAuley College. Thank you to Nadeen Brossman for the photo. We wish all of our children who have moved on, the very best. This year, our graduating children have gone to Evans River, Maclean High School and McAuley Catholic College.
Class Parents
We have asked Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Hancock to continue the work begun by Mrs O'Keeffe with the Class Parent Group in 2019 and 2020. Under the restrictions, we will certainly need to do things differently but together we can be creative to successfully maintain these connections. Please keep an eye out for a meeting (after hours or by zoom) if you would like to get involved.
New families
Next week, after our Early Stage 1 children have begun we will offer a welcome to all new families. At this stage we have five families who have joined us from different locations. Welcome to the Smith, McEwen, Stowe, Cranston and Martinez Rojas families in Stages 1- 3.
Contacting Staff
In speaking with the new families, I am "reminded to remind" all families that a call to the office 0n 66463266, will be followed up by staff. Mrs Smith, Mrs Frazer or Mrs Commerford will make sure the messages are delivered. Alternatively, an email to yamp@lism.catholic.edu.au will be forwarded to the appropriate staff.
Early Departures
Please come into Kiss and Drop and ring 66463266 and the adminstration team will bring your children to Kiss and Drop. Alternatively, if you ring in transit we can have your passenger waiting for collection.
As parents and carers may begin to line up in Kiss and Drop before 3pm we can not deliver children into vehicles in the line. If you call after 2:40pm, we can not bring children out, as the line may have formed early. As a courtesy to all, it would be helpful if the Kiss and Drop line did not begin to form before 2:55pm.
Birthdays
Elliott Cranston - 6th February, Aaron Perry - 6th February, Declan Mawn - 8th February, Siaan Llyod-Smith - 10th February
While there is no expectation from the school, if you are sending in a birthday share treat, can we suggest water ice blocks? In 2020 this became a very popular and successful option. We have had some issues with lolly wrappers on buses and as we have yet to be given the ok to have cutlery and crockery in our staff room, cakes are out too.