Term 2 week 9 (27/6/2025)
What is On?
Monday 30th June - S2 Excursion
Tuesday 1st July - AFL Carnival-Coffs Harbour
Wednesday 2nd July - Zone Athletics Carnival- Coffs Harbour
Thursday 3rd July - Last Day Term 2 for Students
Thursday 3rd July - Crazy Hair and sock Day - Winter Appeal (see flyer below)
Thursday 3rd July - Due to Crazy Hair Day - School Awards Assembly will now be in Term 3 Week 2
Friday 4th July - Staff Professional Learning Day - Foundation Day- Pupil Free Day
Term 3 2025
Monday 21st July - First Day Term 3 for Students and Staff
Friday 25th July- Foundation Day - Feast of Saint James
Tuesday 29th July - Reconciliation - St James Church, Yamba
Friday 1st August- ES1, 100 Day Celebration
Thursday 21st August - Book week parade
Saturday 30th August - First Holy Communion-St James Church, Yamba
Friday 5th September - Father's Day Breakfast 7am -9am (more details to come)
Thursday 25th September - Last Day Term 3 for Students
Friday 26th September - Staff Professional Learning Day - Curriculum - Pupil Free Day
Term 4 2025
Monday 13th October - First Day Term 4 for Students and Staff
Monday 3rd – Friday 7th November - Stage 3 Camp- Canberra
End of Year Final Awards Assembly - Thursday 11th December - Yamba Bowling Club 10:00 – 11:00am
Wednesday 17th December - Last Day Term 4 for Students and Staff
Dear Parents and Carers
Well this has been a week and a half hasn’t it! Not as many outs as the last couple of weeks but as many children out with us. We took 66 singers to the Lower Clarence Eisteddfod yesterday. Had a lovely chilly day where we placed second. I’m really proud of what every child did and how they sang.
These children have 1/2 hour each week to work on their pieces and some extras, close to the day. They learn everything in 2 parts and then get asked by me “ Got it?” And they always do!
To be fair, this is my favourite thing to do each week. Working with Annie Commerford (thanks Annie!) and Mrs Aumuller and Ms Forde who support the “choir blacks” every week is my most relaxed time at school. Nobody wants anything, kids want to sing! We can do some fun things and some silly things too.
The singers will be such fun to work with now for the rest of the year, as we have the hard learning and skills in place. Will come up with a time when we can sing for parents in the next couple of weeks.
They do sound fantastic!
All staff have completed the reading of reports for this semester and these will be “released” in compass today.
Next week is the last week of school and we have 3 groups out (weather permitting) for learning and sports.
Just a reminder that the last day of school for learners is Thursday as the staff have professional learning on Friday.
Thursday is also Crazy Hair Day for the Vinnies winter appeal and as such we won’t have an assembly.
Hard to expect our students to behave in a certain way in a formal assembly when they will be both excited and fabulously attired! You can expect it to be early next term (probably week 2).
A group of the “community conversationers” are hard at work planning the disco for early next term- stay tuned.
I am writing this sitting in the Brisbane Airport waiting to fly to FNQ for a family wedding. See you mid-next week.
Ann
Sport News
AFL
The Paul Kelly Cup AFL Carnival was held at Iluka the week before last. St James sent 3 teams to the carnival and all 3 teams played some outstanding AFL, but more importantly all had a thoroughly enjoyable day. As far as the competition goes, our teams all impressed, with the Yr 5 boys going down in the semi-finals in a very tight contest against Yamba Public. The Yr 6 boys dominated their semi final against Iluka to win by a big margin and then came up against Yamba Public in the final. Right from the first whistle our boys showed their far superior skills and teamwork to come away convincing winners in the end. Our girls team also showed great improvement in their play throughout the day and were unlucky to just lose out to Iluka in a very close final.
Our boys team will now travel to Coffs Harbour next Tuesday 1st July, to compete in the Regional Finals and will be giving it their all with a trip to Sydney for the State Finals on the line for the Regional Winners. Good luck boys!
Rugby Union
St James entered a team into the Stage 3 Diocesan Rugby 10s Carnival in Coffs Harbour last Wednesday. The boys played 4 games on the day and had a big win against Sawtell followed by 3 close loses, each by a single try, to Ballina, Skennars Head and Macksville. Whilst they may not have had as many wins as they might have hoped for, the boys all stepped up and played great team Rugby on the day and it was great to see some of those students who hadn't played Rugby before really enjoying themselves and being supported by some of their more experienced teammates. The boys are very grateful for the support of Scott Moore who gave up his time to run some training sessions prior to the carnival and also to Jerry Wright who travelled down to Coffs for the carnival to lend his coaching expertise on the day as well. We are very lucky to have people in our school community willing to lend a hand for these kinds of events.
Good luck to Ashton who is heading out to Forbes this weekend with the Lismore Diocesan Rugby team to compete at the Polding Rugby Union Carnival. We wish Ashton all the best and know that he will be a great representative of our school
Athletics
Our school Athletics Carnival was held last Friday. Congratulations to all the students for the efforts and enthusiasm on the day. Well done to Turners House who were the winners on the day and to our Age Champions, listed below. A school team to compete at the Zone Carnival in Coffs Harbour has now been selected. This carnival will be held next Wednesday, 2nd July. Information has been sent out on Compass to parents of those students who have qualified. Please make sure you read the details and give your child consent to attend the carnival.
Age Champions
Junior - Chase, Lily
11yrs - Harlan/Jensen, Iyla
Senior - Ashton, Poppy
Safe at School
Supporting Student Safety: 'Safe at School' Posters and Forms
This week we introduced new Safe at School posters and student-friendly safety forms across the school as part of our ongoing commitment to child safety and wellbeing.
These tools have been designed to help students recognise when they feel unsafe and to encourage them to speak up. The posters will be displayed in classrooms and shared spaces, offering clear steps for children to follow if they are feeling worried, unsafe or unsure. The Safe at School form gives students a simple, accessible way to report any concerns they may have.
This initiative supports Child Safe Standard 2, which ensures that children and young people are informed about their rights and participate in decisions affecting them. By giving students clear avenues to express their feelings and concerns, we empower them to be advocates for their own safety.
The Safe at School initiative was also presented to the Community Conversations parent group at their most recent meeting earlier this week. We welcomed their thoughtful feedback, which has since been actioned to help ensure the resources are as accessible and effective as possible for all students.
If you have any questions or would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Renee Howland
Assistant Principal Mission
Choir
Congratulations to our school choir, who performed in the Maclean Eisteddfod on Thursday with Miss Dawson. They were awarded 2nd place and represented our school with pride. We are very proud of them!
Learning and Teaching
Crazy Hair and Sock Day
Winter Appeal
Mini Vinnies- 2025 Annual Winter Appeal
Next Thursday 3rd July we will finish our Winter Appeal
As part of our Annual Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal we are collecting any warm blankets and clothing from our families. A box is located in the front office for anyone who is able to donate. This Winter Appeal will provide emergency relief to people at risk of and experiencing homelessness, as well as people in our community who are in need of warm supplies this winter. This will be donated to St Vincent De Paul, to assist them in their wonderful work with people in need.
We thank you for your support and generosity.
ES1 News
We have had a busy few weeks in Kindy! In English, we now know 20 sounds in Sounds Write and use these daily in reading and writing. We are getting so brave at trying to spell unknown words phonetically to add detail to our work; it’s very impressive. We have just learnt about informative texts, and know that these tell us facts and include special features such as a contents and index page, diagrams, headings and labels.
In Maths, we've been learning the important topics of number pairs/Friends of 10, which help us to determine smaller collections, and have been learning about weight, using scales to weigh classroom objects and using the language of lighter, heavier or equivalent to describe the objects.
In Religion, we have been learning about religious imagery, the church building and its furnishings and the special actions and objects used during Mass. We have recently learnt the “Our Father” prayer, with accompanying actions - ask us to show you!
Check out our Visual Arts masterpieces below! We read the book "Not a Stick", then put our imaginations to the test, using a stimulus (stick) to create our very own artwork!
Birthdays
Ruby 29/6, Ella 29/6, Nixon 30/6, Oliver 30/6, Noah 1/7, Asher 4/7, Arliyah 4/7, Mrs Brash 12/7, Jett 16/7, Olliah 17/7, Emerald 17/7, Miss Aumuller 18/7, Jackson23/7, Juliet 25/7, Issac 25/7
Attendance
