4 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Dear Parents and the St James Catholic College Community,

Welcome to Term 2.

The beginning of term is a good opportunity to take the time with your child to review their strengths, identify areas requiring additional effort and to plan for improvement. This plan could include establishing a regular homework and study routine for older students and for younger students scheduling a regular time for them to read or be read to.

Thank you to the many parents who attended Parent-Teacher conferences at the end of Term 1. Students are always encouraged to seek additional support and ask questions from teachers.

The beginning of the term is also a good time to check that your child has the correct uniform and that it is worn correctly every day. Next week will be uniform changeover week and students will be required wear full winter uniform from Monday 14 May 2018.
Winter Uniform Requirements:  
Boys:
Prep - Year 10: trousers, shirt, tie and jumper.

Girls:
Prep - Year 4: Pinafore dress, shirt, tie, jumper and stockings,
Year 5-10: Skirt, shirt, tie, jumper and stockings. 

Term 2 and Term 3 hats are not required. 

Next Friday 11 May, the College will be hosting the May Ball, it is an expectation that all students attend and participate in this event. It is a great time for our community to come together and celebrate a tradition that has endured for 75 years. If your child is unable to attend, could you please inform the College. Look forward to seeing you all there.

Term One passed with amazing speed and Term Two is already shaping to be another busy and productive time for all our students. This term we will be participating in standardised testing in the form of NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. In preparations for this testing, we will be incorporating elements of the test in regular lessons. We endeavour to make conducting the assessment as stress-free as possible. You can help by reassuring your child that they can only do their best and by checking they have the required equipment (pencil and erasers etc). The times and dates are included in this newsletter and please feel free to contact the college for further information if needed.

God Bless

Allan Clark
Principal

General Notices

SMS Absence Notification

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.

School Fees

Thank you to those families who have made fee payment arrangements and/or paid upfront for 2018. Families who do not have a payment arrangement in place are encouraged to contact College Business Manager Kelly Du Bois for a confidential discussion.

Entertainment Books

Digital Entertainment Membership now available!

The Entertainment™ Digital Membership puts the value of the traditional Entertainment™ Book into your Apple or Android device, and allows you to:

• Show and save using your Apple or Android device, with no Card or Voucher to present
• Search for nearby businesses in the Entertainment™ program
• Search for specific businesses by name, location or dining category
• Share your Membership with another family member

For more information visit the “Choose Your Membership” page.

To order your Digital Membership or your 2018 | 2019 Entertainment Books now visit the link below. Cost is -

Little Lights – Birth to Four Program

Kindergarten Enrolments for 2019

May Ball 2018

When: 11 May 2018, 6.30pm-9.30pm
Where: MacKillop Performance Centre (Gym)
Who: All Kinder to Year 10 students and their families

During the month of May Catholics around the world traditionally honour Our Blessed Mother Mary with special devotional services. The May Crowning of Mary has been practised around the world for hundreds of years and has been honoured here at St James Catholic College for 75 years. In honouring Mary, we also honour all mothers and women in our community. All proceeds from this year’s May Ball celebration will be donated to CAMEO (Choosing A More Enlightened Option) group who supports families in crisis in relation to domestic violence.

Some important points to note:

• All students are expected to attend the Liturgy and May Ball.
• After the Ball, students must be taken home by parents or an adult. If for some reason, a student is unable to attend a note of explanation is to be sent to the Principal, Allan Clark.
• Dress Code: Boys wear a pair of trousers (not denim jeans), a neat open-necked shirt and dress shoes (school shoes would be fine). They may choose to wear a tie. Girls wear a formal dress, or skirt and blouse and shoes suitable for dancing. Parents of students in Prep or Year 10 will receive a letter outlining the special procedures for the night. Dress code for parents is smart and casual. Please note that due to the MacKillop Performance Centre surface, stiletto heeled shoes are not permitted to be worn by anyone. Flats, wedges or a similar type of shoe may be worn.
• Photographs: Photographers will be working at the Ball and prints will be available for viewing at Cygnet Newsagency (updates provided by future newsletters).
• The Ball will conclude for all students at 9.30pm, but families with younger students are able to leave with their parents as required.
• A gold coin donation is required to enter the MPC. Tea and a light supper are available for adults from the canteen at the cost of a gold coin. (NB: all profits will go to the CAMEO -Choosing A More Enlightened Option group). P&F will also be hosting a BBQ.
• Drinks and food are not permitted to be taken into the MPC. 
• A light supper will be provided for students.

Donation of flowers for the May Ball

If you have any flowers, fernery, twigs that you could donate to be used to make posies and also to decorate the MPC for the May Ball, these would be greatly appreciated. It would be appreciated if the donations could be dropped into the College Office by Wednesday 9 May.

College Photo Day

The College Photo Day will be held on Wednesday 23 May 2018. At the College, a pre-pay envelope system is used, parents select a package, fill in their details and pay for the photos, this envelope is then returned to the portrait company. A hardcopy letter with instructions and an envelope was sent home this week to each family. Please contact the office if you would like family photos taken to receive an additional envelope.

NAPLAN (Years 3, 5, 7 and 9) Testing

Schedule:

SJCC P&F News

Mother’s Day Stall

This week students received a “Voucher Request” envelope to place money and return by Monday 7 May. Students will then be issued with a voucher and able to purchase their items during the scheduled times that week.

May Ball

This year the P&F committee will be coordinating the catering at the May Ball. We are seeking volunteers who might be spare us some time on the night to help out. Please let one of us know or please email: sjc.pandf@catholic.tas.edu.au with your contact details.

We are still looking for new members. To be a part of the team sign up in the link below or pick up a hardcopy form from the office.

Don’t forget to join our SJCC P&F Facebook page, just type in: @SJCCPandF in the Facebook search bar.

Because Of Her, We Can!

It is my great pleasure to introduce SJCC's Strong, Local Aboriginal Women and Girls Project. Through this project, we aim to shine a light on the strong Aboriginal women and girls in our local community. This includes any member of the community who is local, female and Aboriginal. These strengths can be in any area, including such areas as academics, sport, arts, career, community involvement, volunteering or family life.

The project involves the completion of a profile template about the woman or girl being nominated. The profile is short but shares important details about the strengths this person shows. These profiles will then be on display for students, families and staff at the College on the week of the NAIDOC assembly. Profiles are due to be returned by 14 June 2018 but early contact/submission is greatly appreciated.

For this project to be successful, we require community input. We are asking that you consider a strong and local Aboriginal woman or girl you know and email
stacey.cooper@catholic.tas.edu.au to request a profile template or to ask for any further information.

I am looking forward to celebrating the strengths of some of the College's own amazing, strong and local Aboriginal girls.

ANZAC Day

Students represented the College in a variety of capacities at the local ANZAC Day services. Monica Robbie did an excellent job reciting "Flander's Field" (from memory!), a war poem from WWI and Lewis Direen and Bailey Harris laid the College wreath. Jin Ju Redding laid the wreath at the Huonville 11am ceremony. ANZAC Day is the day on which we remember all Australians who served and died in war and on operational service. The spirit of ANZAC, with its qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity.

Kindergarten fun!

In the gloom of a cool autumn day one small band of merry folk decided it was up to them to save the day and brighten the world for everyone... Yes, it was International Superhero Day and the Kindergarten children rose to the challenge. Iron Man, a Doctor, Batman, Super Girl, a super slick Police Officer and Glitter Girl all banded together to have a fun day, and even to have a sneaky spy trip into Year 6 to check that they were working hard. Welcome back to Kinder for Term 2, we are off to a SUPER start!

Year 3/4 News

In Year 3/4 during Term 1 we followed the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Each of us studied a different country and tracked their achievements during the games as well as designing them a new uniform for the next Games in Birmingham in 2022.

We considered our countries by looking at their famous foods, flag, population, interesting facts and competing athletes. In art, we used water colours to paint our favourite athlete they were;

Blake – Anna Hursley from Wales
Darcy – Yohan Blake from Jamaica
Heidi – Stephanie Woods from Australia
Chloe – Emily Beecroft from Australia
Bailey – Rosie Eccles from Wales
Bethan – Bethan Dyke from Wales
Kallen – Campbell Somerville from Australia
Bevan – Aaron Headings from England
Sophie – Martina Lindsay from Singapore
Madi – Georgia Rose Brown from Australia
Lucas – Rhys McClenaghan from Northern Ireland
Emily – Anastasia Leroy from Jamaica
Riley – Alice Kunek from Australia
Myla – Jessica Trengrove from Australia
Luke – Kameli Sauduadua from Fiji
Jack – Jack Laugher from England
Anikah – Nimali Liyanarachchi from Sri Lanka

Some Interesting facts we discovered;

• It was the 21st Commonwealth Games
• 11 exciting days of sports and events
• It was the 5th time Australia hosts the Commonwealth Games
• 6 continents are involved
• 852 gold medals have been won by Australia in all of the Commonwealth Games!
• 53 countries in the Commonwealth
• 6,500 athletes and officials involved

We finished off the term by having an ‘Aussie’ themed party with lots of Aussie food that included lamingtons, party pies with tomato sauce, ANZAC biscuits, Tim Tams, chocolate cake and fairy bread.

Tech Update

There have been concerns raised regarding the very popular and successful app: Fortnite. We have had a discussion with primary students, predominantly Year 5s and 6s, about the inappropriate nature of the game for school use. I have included basic information about the app and a context for the ban below.

What is Fortnite?

Fortnite is an online shooting game that is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Mac, iPhones/iPad and on all tablets/phones capable of downloading apps.

There are two different playing modes:
Save The World - attack/shoot enemies (people and monsters) with weapons & build defences
Battle Royal (Multiplayer) - pits up to 100 live players against each other while reducing the playing space until they are fighting to the death in limited space.

What is the recommended audience?

12 years and older

What are the risks, dangers and concerns?

• Unmoderated online interaction (playing and chatting) with other players of all ages and backgrounds
  - Possible grooming or inappropriate discussions/requests made of your child
  - Racism/sexism
  - Swearing/abuse
• The theme of the game is survival via violence/killing and the use of weapons and traps
• In-app costs - potential surprise credit card bills
• Reports of child anger linked to the short time to kill and high stress, win or die nature of the game.
• Addictive - The World Health Organisation recently recognised 'Gaming Disorder' as a mental health issue labeling it as when, 'Gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities,' and the, 'Continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.' (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5507641/Experts-warn-parents-addictive-game-Fortnite.html#ixzz5ECd8dpd4)

Stacey Cooper
Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

Year 7 and 8 Digital Technology – Term 2

During Term 1 students worked on Cyber Safety, passwords and basic internet security for their work. They also carried out some ‘Data Activities’ designed to show them how important data is for decision making and how easy it is for businesses and others to access it. Some students also began some basic Python coding.

Term 2 will see students continue to work on Python, using the GrokLearning website that allows progress to be saved and the teacher to monitor progress. Learning Python is challenging as the need for absolute accuracy is hard for many to grasp. As this is web-based, parents can look at it online and see exactly what students are doing. Alongside this, they have been set a research assignment using real data. Either deciding where to build a school near Mt Mayon (volcano in the Philippines that erupted this year) or create a data-based argument on whether it is viable to build a McDonald’s in Huonville. Students will need to collect data and create a referenced presentation on their decisions.

Senior Students will be undertaking research into the privacy issues of Facebook and similar sites, the data breaches, how they occurred and the steps taken to prevent them in the future. They will also try to come up with a checklist for businesses and groups to protect themselves as much as possible online.

Maths Fun Day

The Mathematics Fun Day is fast approaching and on the 28th of May St James will present a day of fun, problem solving and friendship. After the overwhelming success of last year's STEM Day at St James, Mathematics Staff will again host nearly 70 Year Six students from Peregrine School, Cygnet Primary School, Sacred Heart School, Geeveston and our very own students. We are looking forward to some great creative thinking and problem solving from our students. The Maths Fun Day will be held in the MPC from 9:30 am.

College Facebook page

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

Giveaway

For giveaway one fully grown Persimmon Tree. Almost ready to harvest the fruit, roughly 2x2 metres. If you would like this tree, please let us know, (you need to dig it out yourself from the school garden). Thank you

From the Sports Desk

Dates to remember:

• 16 May: Cross Country Fun Run.
• 23 May: Huon and Channel Sports Association Cross Country, Huonville.
• 8 June: STCPSSA Cross Country, Rokeby.
• 29 June: Coming up - STCPSSA Football and Netball Round Robin, if there are any
  Year 5/6 parents interested in coaching or assisting, please contact Lynnette Davies at the College (03) 62 951 541.

Good luck to all our athletes!

Congratulations and good luck to the following students: Harry Brereton, Bailey Harris, Charlotte Direen, Hunter Thorpe and Darcy Direen who will be participating at the 2018 Primary School State Athletic Carnival held on Friday 11 May 2018.

College School Cross Country Fun Run!

The event will be on Wednesday 16 May at Burtons Reserve (Primary) and Kings Hill (Secondary) with the finish line at Burtons Reserve. We look forward to seeing students get involved. If any parents would like to get involved please call the office on (03) 62 951 541. Even if you can’t help, we’d love to see you down there on the day cheering the kids on.

About the Program

The CUA School Fun-Run promotes healthy and active lifestyles while helping us raise funds! It’s all about participation, with students treated to a great day as a reward for their fundraising efforts. Family support is key to our fundraising success and we encourage everyone to get involved.

How Does My Child Fundraise?

Firstly, go to the link below and create a student profile page. Everything to do with your fundraising revolves around this page. Once you have completed this, read through your Sponsorship Form, which has instructions on how to raise money and order prizes.

Students who raise just $10 will receive a reward for their effort. The more they raise, the better their reward – don’t forget to check these out in the sponsorship form! We have educated students on the dangers of door knocking without adult supervision, and we encourage you to reiterate this at home. The best people to ask for sponsorship are people you know (e.g. friends, family, work colleagues and neighbours).

Online Fundraising

The easiest way to help your child raise money is through online fundraising, where students raise an average of $120. On top of raising more money, it’s also safer and easier than doorknocking and you don’t have to worry about handling money! To start fundraising online, go to your student profile page in the link below and share your online fundraising link.

Getting Involved

Not only can you support the school and students with your sponsorship – but you can join in on the fun! We would love to welcome parents and family members to attend the CUA School Fun-Run. If you would also like to volunteer to help on the day, please contact me (Lynnette Davies) via phone: 0362 951 541 or email: lynnette.davies@catholic.tas.edu.au.

If you have any sporting achievements we can share in our College Newsletter please contact the College Promotions Officer Miss Armstrong via email: jaimi.armstrong@catholic.tas.edu.au.

Whats happening in the Sporting Community

• Hockey

Community Notices

TCYF

Parenting Ideas flyers

Music

Huon Marine Debris Cleanup

Youth Film Productions