Term3 Week 8 (9/9/2022)
What is On?
Thursday 15th September - Meerkat Performance, 2pm -3pm
Friday 16th September - Touch Carnival S2 & S3
Bike Week:
Monday 19th September - Stage 2
Tuesday 20th September - ES1
Wednesday 21st September - Stage 1
Thursday 22nd September - Stage 3
Tuesday 20th September - Little J's Parent Information Night
Thursday 22nd September - School Awards Assembly
Thursday 22nd September - Last Day Term 3 for students
Thursday 22nd September - Public speaking finals - Coffs Harbour
Friday 23rd September - Staff - Professional Learning Day
October:
Monday 10th October - First Day Term 4 for students
Dear Parents and Carers
I love late breaking news!
Congratulations to Iyla and Will who competed in Newcastle today. As with the swimming and the cross country "the school was rocking with the cheers" as the children competed.
Will is now off to the next level in Long Jump as he won his age division at the Polding Carnival. Iyla made the final and ran very well.
This week we hosted our first Public Speaking competition. The speeches were fantastic and 4 children, Dean, Sailor, Eamon and Tayah are off to Coffs Harbour at the end of the term to compete at Zone.
I loved listening to the topics and how our children interpreted these prompts. I also learnt heaps about the students and these make great conversation starters. How would you answer these?
Yr 3 - If I had 3 wishes...
Yr4- My family..
Yr5- I love it when...
Yr 6- My 5 favourite words...
My 5 favourite words might be... passport, piano, family, horses and reading.
I wonder what we will be celebtrating next Friday?
Have a lovely weekend,
Ann
RE News
Congratulations to Mitchell Galouzis on receiving First Communion last Saturday evening at St James Catholic Church, Yamba. And a big thank you to Father Nicolas for celebrating Mass with us and also to the families and friends who came along and made this evening so special. That concludes our Sacramental celebrations for 2022. If you would like to enquire about Sacraments for your child, please contact Mrs Howland at school.
HPL News
This year we were invited to be part of the Clarence/ Coffs Harbour Catholic Schools Public Speaking Competition. This is the first year that the Clarence cluster schools have been invited to participate in this competition. This program was launched as part of our High Potential Learning (HPL) program in Stage 2 and Stage 3 at St James School. Part of this speech writing process was for students to develop an engaging speech on a given topic and work within an allocated time frame. Yesterday we held the school-level competition in our hall. We were very impressed with the quality of speeches that the students composed and delivered.
Our winning speakers were Dean Perugini (Year 3), Sailor Short (Year 4), Eamon Mawn (Year 5) and Tayah Cole (Year 6) who will progress to the next level at the Coffs/ Clarence Schools Public Speaking Competition at St John Paul College on Thursday 22nd September.
We congratulate all of our speakers on their efforts. We are very proud of the high quality learning that has taken place during this project.
Renee Howland
HPL Coordinator
Sport News
Athletics
Iyla Towner and Will Hutchinson both competed today at the Polding Athletics carnival at the Hunter Sports Centre in Newcastle. The students were part of the Lismore Diocese team with Iyla in the 8yrs Girls 100m and Will in the Senior Boys Long Jump. A fantastic achievement from both these students to reach this level. Whilst official results were unavailable at the time of writing, we look forward to hearing from them next week about the experience.
Soccer/Netball
St James entered teams in the Clarence Zone Soccer and Netball carnival for Stage 3 students, held on Tuesday in Yamba. Whilst neither team finished as overall winners in their respective carnivals, the students still thoroughly enjoyed the experience and displayed great sportsmanship throughout the day.
Touch Football
St James students in Stage 2 and Stage 3 will be participating in the Lower Clarence Touch Football Gala Day next Friday, 16th September. The carnival, being held at the Yamba Touch Fields, is a great chance for students to get involved in touch football and learn some new skills in a relaxed environment, with the emphasis being on fun and participation. All the information about the day has been sent out on Compass.
LOP News
During Bookweek I was lucky enough to read the beautiful story “Walk of the Whales” to ES1. They
have been connecting to the story of how the whales had to leave their home because it was so
polluted, by collecting rubbish in the playground and at home. Great work Kinder
I love sharing the wonderful writing from ES1.
Lisa Dougherty
Mini Vinnies
Many thanks to all of our families for your generous donations of warm clothing and blankets to St Vincent de Paul charity. These items will be collected and distributed to those people in need.
Little J's News
Spring has sprung and today we celebrated the change of season! We learnt a new dance called ‘Springtime’, drew all things Spring-themed with chalk on the Hall verandahs, used forks to create tulip paintings, and went on a nature scavenger hunt around our Little J’s room. Check out Instagram for pictures from our day!
ES1 News
This week in ES1 we have excitedly welcomed back our friend Sage from her travels. In mathematics, we have been learning about time - sequencing events, using everyday language to describe the duration of events and reading the hour time on clocks. Parents may want to help us notice the clocks at home and start to discuss time. We are also loving our new Sensory Cubby House Investigation space outside. We are using all our senses to crush, mix and smell herbs, fruits and flowers.
Stage 1 News
In English we have been learning about Procedural Texts. To support our learning we have been reading popular novels by the famous Roald Dahl including- George’s Marvellous Medicine and Willy Wonker and the Chocolate Factory. We have even converted a section of our classroom and Willy Wonkers Chocolate Factory as an investigation space. Students had to create a recipe for ‘Their Own Marvellous Medicine’ and a ‘Sweet for Mr Willy Wonker’. Students had to list the ingredients and write the steps so that their recipe could be followed by Mr Wonker and produced in his Chocolate Factory. We have seen some very out there recipes including- The Lego Wizzer, A Bone Cracking Rock Lolly, Ultimate Golden Wish Lollie & The Chewy Burper!
Stage 2
We would like to welcome two new class members to Stage 2. Deja and Sanne Little arrived in week 6 and have made a lovely addition to our class. We thought this might be a nice chance to get to know a little bit about them!
Students Profiles
Sanne Little
When I grow up I want to be - An aromatherapist
What I am good at - Running
What I'd like to get better at - High jump
My favourite book - Thea Stilton
Fun fact - I do triathlons
Deja Little
When I grow up I want to be - A swimming teacher
What I am good at - Art
What I'd like to get better at - Handwriting
My favourite book - Spirit
Fun fact - I'm kind
This week some of our very nervous Stage 2 children took part in a public speaking competition. Teachers, parents and students were all incredibly impressed with witty speeches the children wrote and the engaging way they were delivered. Our whole Stage 2 class were lucky enough to be audience members and gave some fabulous feedback to our entrants.
These students should be extremely proud of themselves and the effort they put into the challenge.
Stage 3 News
Yesterday, September 8th, we celebrated 'R U OK? Day'. Stage 3 created this movie for their younger peers and the wider community, to remind everyone that it's okay to NOT be okay! And if you're not okay, they're always there to have an R U OK conversation with you!
Birthdays
Lola Bice - 10th September, Leah Scanlon - 12th September, Billie Gould 13th September, Willa Stowe - 13th September, Slater Petersen - 14th September, Indie Wright - 14th September, Myla Cranston - 17th September, Leyla McInnes - 19th September, Magnus Madge - 23rd September