Dear friends of St James Catholic College,

Master Plan

Last week I had the pleasure a convening a select group of students to talk to the team at the Catholic Education Office around our masterplan for the college. The master plan focused on the development of our grounds leveraging off the wonderful work that Mrs. Ann Foale, one of my predecessors, had done some seven years ago in refurbishing all the classrooms throughout the whole school.

It was such a pleasure to listen to our students talk with such insight and passion about how they could improve the grounds around our college. I can't wait to see the plans which will be drawn up for us based on these conversations. I feel sure that they will do great credit to the ideas of the students. I will share them with you when they are complete.

May Ball

One of the great traditions of our college is the May Ball. For over 85 years people in the Cygnet area that have been associated with our college have come together in the first week of May to devote ourselves to Mary and to dance and be merry.

This year's May Ball is on Friday the 10th of May. May I encourage as many families as possible to send their students along and without any COVID restrictions please feel free to come along yourself.

Last year's event was marvelous and marked the first full May Ball since COVID. May this year's one be even more marvelous and may you and your family be part of it.

Two Vans

Two weeks ago we took ownership of two vans that now have our logo all around them. Over the course of the four years that I've been back we have spent much money in transport costs to bus students to various events. The vans signal an opportunity not only for us to save some money on transport costs but also to increase the amount of travel that we have for educational reasons around in our community.

Already the Outdoor Education class has been using the vans every Wednesday to get to various community events. Mrs. Radnidge and I we'll be using them in a few weeks time to take our Year 10s to a Jewish synagogue as part of our studies of religion class. 

I look forward to reading many more reports in newsletters to come about the various educational places these vans transport our wonderful students.

Parent and Teacher Night and good communication

By the time you read this parent and teacher night would have been completed. I'd like to thank all the families that took the opportunity to come and speak to the staff about the progress of their children.

We at the college value a healthy relationship between families and our staff. The College Board has recently ratified some guidelines for these healthy communications and I would like to share them with you in the document below:

Enrolment Term

Over the next eight weeks of this term we will have two main enrollment focuses:

The first is running presently and is for any Year 7 students for 2025. Towards the end of this month we present to the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office the number of applications that we have for Year 7 next year. Based on that number they determine the number of teachers that we have at our disposal to allocate to our secondary classes. Getting an accurate number early not only allows us plenty of time to plan but also allows us to go to the market to attract the best staff for our secondary classes.

Please help us to attract enrollments into Year 7 in 2025. If you know of any families who have children in Year 6 and are contemplating where to send their child next year for secondary school have them get in touch with us directly at the Front Office or alternatively they can look to our website where we have plenty of information about the college and the facility to book a tour.

In just over a month's time, we will shift our enrollment focus to kindergarten enrollments for 2025. Again, an early number allows us to plan effectively for the year ahead. At any stage if you know of any families who have children about to begin the wonderful journey of education please have them get in touch with us.

Your help in attracting enrolments and the positive comments you can make about the college help us immensely.

Regards,

Joe Sandric

Principal

Important Dates

Uniform Reminders

Thank you so much for your support of our St James uniform expectations. As we come to the end of one term, however, we would like to remind you of the following for your attention:

• tops worn under the uniform are to be navy only. Students wearing hoodies or other items with logos will be asked to remove them,
• sports shorts and leggings are to be navy only. 
• Year 10 students may wear the School Hoodies on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday only. 
• Primary students are not to wear make up or artificial nails 
• Hair longer than the collar must be tied back. 

When our students are in their correct uniform they show pride and community in our wonderful college.

Last weeks FLAMES ticket winners:

P: Tamsyn Clark

1/2: Angus Grace

3/4 G: Will Bantick

3/4 B: Violet Duggan

5: Sam Buick

6:  Jack Lewis

7: Eliza Roots

8: Daniella Carter

9: Isaac Edwards

10: Tom Gorringe

This weeks FLAMES ticket winners:

P: Mackenzie Wickham and Holly Walter

1/2: Marley Brereton and Sebastian Bishop

3/4 G: Bridgitte Welstead and Jack Sills

3/4 B: Violet Duggan and Lucas Direen

5: Imogen Radnidge and Ava Yaxley

6: Tyler Kemp and Maci Carr

7: Maisie Synnott and Ellie McCallum

8: Coby Phillips and Emily Mudge

9: Christian Dolbey and Jypsy-Rose Cordwell

10: Georgie Burgess and Luke Clifford

Congratulations to our lucky winners! We hope you enjoyed spending your $2 at the canteen.

HOLY WEEK LITURGY

On Wednesday 27 March we were led in the Stations of the Cross by Fr Warren and a selection of year 9 and 10 students in. St James Church. Today's stations were in the form of the Tenebrae, an ancient catholic meditation on the passion of Christ. Tenebrae means shadows in Latin and these shadows call us this Easter to rise up and act with faith, hope and love in the world.

We commend the actors and readers who led us as well as all the students and staff who entered into the liturgy with the greatest respect and reverence.
God's blessings to all over this Easter period.

PROJECT COMPASSION

The primary Mini Vinnies group have been working hard this term to organise a fundraiser for Project Compassion. Students gave up their lunch times to help organise the stalls for the day and were responsible for running their own stall on the day. At our mini market we had biscuits, bracelets, colouring-in, guess the eggs in the jar and hair styling for students to enjoy. It was wonderful to see so many students and staff dressed in purple on the day! We had fantastic involvement from all students at our stalls and we are so grateful to our whole College community for their support and generosity. All funds raised will go towards supporting the work Project Compassion does to support marginalised communities all over the world. We will provide an update on the funds raised in coming weeks. 

A big thank you to the following students who have regularly attended our primary Mini Vinnies meetings this term:

Ellie Wilcox, Lola Direen, Lacey Wilcox, Ari Farah, Arabella Carr, Brigitte Welstead, Yara Farah, Ruby Wilcox, Jess Curry, Hardi Sinclair, Hollie Manning and Hannah Wickham.

Thank you to the following staff and students for their assistance running the stalls on the day:

Mrs Kelly, Mrs Ryan, Ms Newbon, Miss Newlands, Year 7, Hannah Schleebs, Hardi Sinclair, Hannah Wickham, Ruby Wilcox, Maci Carr, Jess Curry, Gabby Gasparin, Grace Jones, Rory Churchill and Max Caswell.

If your child would like to learn more about Mini Vinnies and the work we do, our group meets on a Thursday at lunchtime in the 3/4 Gold classroom with Miss Cooper. All students from Years 3-6 are welcome to come along! 

Little Lights Playgroup

What a wonderful day! On Friday 22nd March our Little Lights Playgroup visited the Woodbridge Marine Discovery Centre. 

Families got to see many interesting sea creatures. We were able to pick up hermit crabs, pat starfishes and sharks and were lucky enough to feed the sharks. We got to make a sea puzzle with stamps, badges, starfish art, a digital creature and decorated a sea animal. 

Yr 9/10 Pathways program Arbre Forestry Incursion

• Careers in the Forest Industry
• Forestry Work Experience Program
• Cadet Forester Program
• Next Generation Forestry Operators Program

HUON AND CHANNEL SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Our students enthusiastically participated in the Huon Channel Swimming Carnival on Monday, despite somewhat blustery conditions. A lot of fun was had, and all  students gave it their best. We are  extremely proud of our overall third-place result. We are now looking forward to our participation in the Catholic Primary Schools Swimming Carnival at the Doone Kennedy Aquatic Centre on Friday, April 5th. Stay tuned for more updates!

Kindergarten

Our Youngest learners had an exciting music session exploring the captivating low sounds of the tuba. Led by Pete, they enjoyed a fantastic performance of "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini. Take a peek at these snapshots from their musical journey.

Parent / Student Communication

Our mobile phone policy is 'off and away all day'. That is, students are to keep their phones switched off and out of sight during school hours. If students are seen using their phones, the phone is sent to the office.

To support your child uphold the policy, please do not call or text them directly during school hours. Should you need to contact your child through the school day, please do so via the school office and your message will be passed on. 

SMS Absence Notifications

The College accepts SMS absentee notifications. Please SMS: 0488 863 246 with your child's name, grade and absent reason. Please save this number in your phone for future reference.

Drink Bottles

Please make sure your child brings a drink bottle to school each day.  

College Facebook Page / Instagram

Join our College Facebook page just click below or type in: @StJamesCatholicCollege in the Facebook search bar.

Have your childs medical details changed?

A gentle reminder to advise the school if your child's medical details have recently changed. Please contact the College office to ensure your childs details are current.

HUON VALLEY CATHOLIC PARISH

Cygnet Community Childrens Centre Fete - April 7