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Term 2 Week 10 (30/6/2022)

What is On?

Term 3

Monday 18th July - First day Term 3, 2022

Wednesday 20th July - Zone Athletics- Coffs Harbour

Monday 25th July - Foundation Feast Day

We would love to have you join us - picnic rug lunch at 11:30am on the grounds. This will follow the Camino de St James which will start at the boat at 9:30am.

Save the Date - Scholastic Book Fair -Monday 25th July and close on Friday 29th July, 2022.

August

Save the Date - Wednesday 3rd August - School Disco and parent evening

Save the Date - Monday 22 August- Informed Consent parent evening offered by the diocesan Parent Assembly

Dear Parents and Carers

" Love these children into life."

We joined St Joseph's Maclean for Confirmation on Thursday night.

Before Confirmation I had a meal with Bishop Greg. I was pleased to spend time with him listening to his thinking around the role of schools and the big decisions that the diocese needs to make regarding the equitable use of resources post flooding. He was particularly supportive of the efforts of other schools in the diocese who assisted those who were flooded. He asked us to thank our communities for their support of the schools and families in the Wilson, Richmond and Tweed River valleys. He also asked for prayers for the communities as they planned for the future. I know that all the schools in the north who were impacted are still in "makeshift but teachable" spaces and you will keep them in your thoughts.

At Confirmation, Bishop Greg spoke to the candidates and their families. His big message was that the role of our schools and families, is to make sure that the children all know that they are loved.

His message when he spoke to the families was " Love these children into life."

His message to the children was " You have to keep trying to do what is right and we know that there are times when we all make mistakes or not so good choices. But we need to just keep trying"

The holidays are upon us and the report are finally in your portals. Please contact the school if you would like a follow up interview.

This week sees the celebration of NAIDOC Week which we will commemorate in Week 1. Mrs Fraser and I met with the local Yaegl elders on Wednesday to seek their support in all our children going "on country" on the first Thursday after the holidays. They particularly extended an invitation to all families to join in any event which is advertised in the valley this week and I have included the flier below.

The first several weeks back are very full and know at any and every event at Saint James we would love to have families attend.

Have a lovely holiday and we will see you all in the new term.

Ann

Sports Dates 2022

Athletics:

-Zone - Coffs Harbour, Wednesday 20th July

-Dio - Coffs Harbour, Wednesday 10th August

-Polding - Newcastle, Friday 9th September

Foundation Day

Yesterday the staff professional learning day was day 3 of our Schools Improvement Plan work on understanding the "Charism of our school as an agent or part of the bigger system of Catholic Education". For us this looks at the life of Saint James and how we can make real our mission as a catholic school through our lens " Saint James".

To recap

Day 1-2020 Did you know Saint James was a fisherman?

We learnt about the times of Saint James, his relationship with Jesus (his cousin), the life of a Jew in 1st century Palestine and Galilee and began to understand where he appeared in the Gospels.

Day 2 -2021 Stories of James

We worked on developing an understanding of the themes from James' life and how that could be shared with the children. We also planned the Camino do St James which is based on walking the stories of his life and seeing where he "fits". We did the walk with the children and Stage 3

Day 3 2022 "Lessons from James"

We spent the time developing an understanding of why this matters as staff in Catholic schools. We looked at how the lesson of Saint James can guide us in 2022. When we read any gospel story we need to remember that Jesus and his disciples (James and his brother John were 2 of the 12) were teaching and helping a community unlike ours, in a time unlike ours, in a community unlike us. As such we can not "read" the gospels as literal texts but unpack the themes that still exist today.

We worked in small groups at one stage and these such as heroes, people of courage, trust, believing, change makers, family, service and forgiveness were identified. All themes that are universal.

On the Feast of Saint James (25/07/2022) we will have our second " Camino de Saint James" . This is based on the Way of St James, a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. We will "pilgrimage" around Saint James, starting at 9:30am and then have a picnic lunch together and we would love any and everyone to join us for any of the walk and /or lunch.

Just a lucky coincidence but this is also the first day of the Bookfair. ( I am sure that the planners in Sydney who allocated our Bookfair slots were unaware!)

SACRAMENTAL DATES 2022

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

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

School Athletics Carnival

Last Friday we held our school Athletics Carnival. We were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day and the kids all enjoyed the opportunity to be out and about running around with their friends. It was great to see so many students participating in all the events and the cheering and support of their friends.

Congratulations to Turners House who were the champion house on the day and to all the Age Champions, listed below.

Those students who have qualified for the Zone Carnival have been notified of the events they will be competing in and the event information has been sent out to Parents on Compass. Please make sure you read all the event details on Compass. The carnival will be held at Coffs International Stadium in Week 1 next term, Wednesday 20th July.

Age Champions:

Junior - Alfie Ison and Iyla Towner

11yrs - Levi O’Shea and Marlie Zvatora

Senior - Will Hutchinson and Heidi Van Leest