Term 4 Week 3 (31/10/2025)

What is On?

Monday 3rd – Friday 7th November - Stage 3 Camp- Canberra

Friday 28th November - Little J's Graduation

Tuesday 2nd December - Just a little bit of fun for Christmas

End of Year Final Awards Assembly - Thursday 11th December - Yamba Bowling Club 10:00am – 11:00am 

Tuesday 16th December- Final Mass

Tuesday 16th  December - Graduation Dinner

Wednesday 17th December - Last Day Term 4 for Students and Staff

Dear Parents and Carers

Funny place to live ...YAMBA!

This week I have started to count the number of children coming through Kiss and Drop who must dodge a surfboard to get out of the car!  This got me thinking. 

There are the children who have been doing a before school activity like swimming squad, skateboarding or training. It is interesting to consider how many opportunities the lucky students have, from tennis to dancing; from guitar and piano and martial arts or swimming lessons, the opportunities are everywhere to "go, be and do".  The children are blessed with the opportunities they are afforded because of the efforts of their families.

Today we had the diocesan media team in the school gathering images for the system. I will be proofing these before they are uploaded, stored or used and we did avoid those who have media bans on their profile. The visit happens every six years and we have access to the high-resolution images for use as a school. Their visit is interesting because apparently our lower years "investigations" are so different to other schools in the diocese and their wider work. This gave me an opportunity to comment on the commitment of the staff in lower to make sure the program is diverse, focused on supporting the learning and gives voice and choice for the students. It would be easy to just teach a stock standard, read off the manual program (and these are out there) but this is my thanks staff (teacher aides and teachers) for the work. The photographer comments every time on how different the agenda is here. We will take it as a compliment. 

I sat in on the S3 Big Feelings and Transition meeting on Tuesday evening. After the serving of 28 pizzas, I was struck by how many families attended and how engaged everyone was. We always get a lot to these evenings, and we know that the commitment and interest of families is significant in this space. 

I am going home this weekend to "pack for Canberra" for the excursion with the Stage 3 cohort. The children are so excited and a little nervous but we have got this! Thanks again to all who support the fundraising. These excursions under legislation are no longer a given to staff. Without the significant goodwill from Martin (and family), Tash (and family), Tracey (and family) and Rocco (and family) we would not offer this. So, from all of us to you... thank you.

Have a great weekend.

Ann

RE News

School Parish Mass- thanks and congratulations to the senior students who read at Mass on Saturday night. Fionn, Miles and Elsie were great representatives of our school. Well done.

Sport News

AFL

Stage 2 students will be participating in an AFL Gala Day next Thursday at Angourie Sports Complex. The Gala day is all about introducing the kids to AFL in a fun and relaxed environment. The information about the day has been sent out on Compass so please check the details and make sure your child has been given permission to attend.

Triathlon

The Yamba Triathlon is happening on Sunday the 30th November and this year they have a new initiative happening called the “Schools Challenge”. The school with the most number of students/teachers/parents entered into the triathlon event will receive a $500 donation towards sporting goods for their school thanks to Yamba Multisport Club. So if any children and/or parents in our school community are thinking of entering this event, please make sure you select St James Yamba as your school when completing your entry.

All the information about the triathlon event and how to enter can be found via the event website at www.yambatri.org

Stage 2 News

Science

We have just wrapped up our unit about our Earth's changing surface. We finished off with our group news presentations, sharing information about volcanoes, earthquakes and other natural changes that happen to the Earth's surface.

Maths 

In Maths, we love hands-on learning. Year 4 have been learning about decimals and Year 3 have been learning about angles and time in our measurement unit. Year 3 had lots of fun with Mrs O’Keeffe outside using chalk to represent different angles with shapes.

Sport 

Last week for sport we started back at surfing and got to try out Main beach this time. We wanted to know what the highlights were, so we asked Stage 2! Here is what they had to say. There were lots of cool tricks on the waves, including someone falling, but staying on his board then standing straight back up, and turning boards back to front so they can turn back around on the wave. A sneaky water dragon was hanging around our school bags looking for an easy snack. Luckily we had our bags zipped up. A lot of us stood up for the first time which was really exciting. On the beach there was a crab accidentally dug up and a couple of worms found. Some of us buried our legs, built army bases to keep out the enemy and played tips. We all had a great day!

Maths

Surfing S2

Carrs Drive-

The basic new rule is - stop behind the yellow line on the road in the pick up line on Carrs Drive. Wait for the space to clear inside the school before you drive forward. . . 

This Information for Parents and Carers has been provided by CVC. This new plan is coming into action by the Clarence Valley Council after the school holidays and will be patrolled by council rangers. 

From the start of next term, you will notice new line marking on Carrs Drive. These changes are being introduced to improve safety for students and families.

• Yellow Line = No Stopping
  The yellow line means vehicles cannot stop along this section of road at any time. This prevents queuing in the marked area and ensures drivers have clear sight distance when exiting the kiss-and-drop zone.
• Arrive After the Bell
  To reduce congestion, please arrive at the school zone after the bell. Arriving too early creates unnecessary queuing on Carrs Drive.
• How Kiss-and-Drops Should Work
  The kiss-and-drop zone is designed to function like an airport drop-off/pick-up:
• Stop only long enough for your child to get in or out safely.
• The continuity line C1 is how far out you can safely pull on departure without interacting with the traffic. 

Attendance