24 October 2018

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome to Term 4

 Welcome back to what will once again be an extremely productive and busy term. 

Sacrament of First Eucharist

This term we have a number of students preparing for the Sacrament of the First Eucharist. Lucas Polley (Yr 3), Cody Clifford (Yr 4), Luke Clifford (Yr 4), Darcy Direen (Yr 4). Anikah Jones (Yr 4), Mia Clifford (Yr 5), Travis Walter (Yr 5), Charlotte Direen (Yr 6), Laura Flakemore (Yr 6), Alex Sandric (Yr 6) and Coral Lovell (Yr 6).

Save the Date:

First Eucharist Celebration (St James Catholic Church, Cygnet)
Saturday 10 November 2018, 6:00pm – 7:30pm

First Eucharist Celebration (St Mary of the Cross Catholic Church, Ranelagh)
Sunday 11 November 2018, 9:30am – 11:00am

Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT test):

This week students from Year 1-Year 9 have been completing various PAT tests. Australian Council for Educational Research Progressive Achievement approach is used in thousands of schools in Australia and around the world. The approach focuses on assessing and monitoring student growth over time and is underpinned by an understanding that students of the same age and in the same year of school can be at very different points in their learning and development. For more information about PAT visit:

GOLD! GOLD! GOLD AGAIN!

Monica Robbie is the top English student in Tasmania!

Congratulations to Monica Robbie who is the number 1 student in Tasmania in 2018, winning the Gold Medal for the ICAS English Competition! This is an incredible achievement in an extremely challenging competition that caters for the brightest and best students around Australia. This is not Monica’s first achievement in the competition, she won Gold Medals in ICAS Spelling and English in 2014 and 2015, as well as winning Gold Medals in English and Mathematics in 2017, well done! Congratulations to all our students who participated in ICAS testing, you can read of their achievements in this newsletter.

The International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) are independent skills-based assessments with a competition element. Over one million student entries are accepted from over 6,300 schools in Australia and New Zealand annually. In addition, students from over 20 countries including Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the USA participate in ICAS each year.

Long Weekend Notification

Grandparents and Special Person’s Day

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. School Fees are now due and if you do not have a payment arrangement in place or are experiencing financial difficulty which is impacting your ability to pay, you are required to contact the College Business Manager. The College appreciates the sacrifices our families make for quality education and is here to support our families with these financial commitments, all conversations and payment arrangements are held in the strictest confidence. For a confidential discussion please contact Kelly Du Bois (Business Manager) via 62 951 541 or email: kelly.dubois@catholic.tas.edu.au

Student Medical Details Update

Please consider if your child's medical information has changed. If you haven't yet advised the school office, please do so. If you have previously supplied an epi-pen or other medication which may have since expired, please organise a replacement.

Little Lights – Birth to Four Program

College Uniform – Hats

College Facebook page

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

Animals on School Grounds

Did you know…

An extract of relevant Tasmanian legislation (Dog Control Act 2000) states:

(1) A person must not take a dog into –

(a) any grounds of a school, preschool, kinder, creche or other place for the reception of children without the permission of a person in charge of the place.

(2) This section does not apply to –

(a) a guide dog that is accompanying a wholly or partially blind person or is in training for that purpose; There are other exceptions besides just ‘2a’ above.

Your duty…

If you wish to bring any animals onsite, prior approval needs to be obtained from the Principal. The Principal may give approval, & discuss with you reasonable precautions.

Happening at SJCC

ICAS Achievements:

The teachers at St James selected the students who participated in the assessments as they were achieving well in that subject area. The assessments themselves are extraordinarily difficult and to be selected was a commendable achievement. Each student receives a certificate and a detailed analysis of how they performed. It also gives percentile rankings compared to all the other high achieving students across Australia. We congratulate the following students for their participation:

Science Competition

Year 3: Lucas Polley
Year 4: Myla Lee, Anikah Jones, Blake Direen
Year 5: Seth Denny, Matthew Schmidt, Darcy Nicoll, Indiana Coulson
Year 6: Luke Du Bois, Charlotte Direen, Bailey Harris, Harry Brereton
Year 7: Mia Radnidge, Jake Downey, Harry Wood, Ben Du Bois, Zac Curtain, Max Polley, Dakota Fraser
Year 8: Patrick Robbie, Tristan Taylor, Madeleine Nicoll
Year 9: Thomas Reed, Callum Robbie, Nikolas Jackson, Samuel O’Neill
Year 10: Monica Robbie, Jin Ju Redding

Spelling Competition

Year 3: Lucas Polley,
Year 4: Myla Lee, Sophie Du Bois
Year 5: Charlie Polley, Maiya Jones
Year 6: Laura Flakemore, Harry Brereton, Bailey Harris, Luke Du Bois
Year 7: Millie Driver, Connie Donato, Mia Radnidge, Isabelle Menzies, Jake Downey, Max Polley, Dakota Fraser, Jaclyn Thorp

Writing Competition

Year 3: Lucas Polley, Elsie Brown
Year 4: Blake Direen, Anikah Jones, Myla Lee
Year 5: Charlie Polley, Maiya Jones, Riley Thorp
Year 6: Laura Flakemore, Charlotte Direen, Bailey Harris, Harry Brereton
Year 7: Dakota Fraser, Jaclyn Thorp, MacKenzie Ford, Mia Radnidge, Max Polley, Zac Curtain, Jake Downey, Isabelle Menzies
Year 8: Ambrose Brereton, Patrick Robbie
Year 9: Callum Robbie
Year 10: Monica Robbie, Jin Ju Redding

English Competition

Year 3: Lucas Polley
Year 4: Anikah Jones, Myla Lee, Sophie Du Bois
Year 5: Matthew Schmidt, Charlie Polley, Lola Miller, Maiya Jones
Year 6: Charlotte Direen, Bailey Harris, Harry Brereton, Laura Flakemore
Year 7: Caitlin Drysdale, Ben du Bois, Dakota Fraser, Mia Radnidge, Thomas Clark, Ned Sinclair, Zac Curtain, Isabella Menzies, Emanuel Linquist
Year 8: Hannah Brereton, Deekan Parbs, Ambrose Brereton, Will Clifford Patrick Robbie
Brody Gregory, Chloe Buick
Year 9: Callum Robbie, Tamzin Direen, Faye Tolhurst
Year 10: Monica Robbie, Maya Bligh, Riley Newick, Maeghan Jernigan, Jin Ju Redding

Mathematics Competition

Year 3: Lucas Polley
Year 4: Fraser Clark, Myla Lee, Blake Direen, Anikah Jones
Year 5: Charlie Polley, Matthew Schmidt, Maiya Jones, Lola Miller
Year 6: Luke Du Bois, Charlotte Direen, Harry Brereton, Bailey Harris
Year 7: Mia Radnidge, Thomas Clark, Dakota Fraser, Ben Du Bois, Zac Curtain, Jeremy Pavletich
Year 8: Ambrose Brereton, Patrick Robbie, Brody Gregory, Noah Redding, Phoebe O'Neill, Theo Hawkins
Year 9: Callam Robbie, Ryan Clark
Year 10: Jin Ju Redding, Monica Robbie, Riley Newick, Sean Dillon, Blake Patmore, Amelia Fennell

I am pleased to announce that a good number of our students performed exceptionally well gaining Merits (top 45% in Australia), Credits (top 35% in Australia), Distinctions (top 10% in Australia), High Distinctions (top 1% in Australia) and /or the Gold Medal (top student in Tasmania). Considering that only the most gifted students participate in this competition the following results are even more note-worthy. We congratulate:

• Monica Robbie: High Distinction English (Gold Medal), Distinction Mathematics, Credit Writing, Credit Science
• Ben Du Bois: Credit Science, Credit English, Credit Maths
• Callum Robbie: Credit English, Credit Science
• Mia Radnidge: Credit English, Merit Spelling
• Zac Curtain: Credit Maths, Merit Science
• Tristan Taylor: Credit Science
• Emanuel Linquist: Credit English
• Anikah Jones: Credit Maths
• Jake Downey: Merit Science
• Isabelle Menzies: Merit English
• Maiya Jones: Merit Spelling
• Sophie Du Bois: Merit Spelling

By any measure, the results of our students are extraordinary! We are extremely proud of them.

Brett Tanner
Deputy Principal

New Zealand Tour

During the October holidays, some of our Year 9 and 10 students attending the College Tour - to New Zealand! Students arrived late into Christchurch and the next day commenced the tour facilitated by Haka Tours. As part of the experience, the students were treated to spectacular views of the snow-peppered countryside and visited many beautiful sites including the incredible Lake Tekapo and breath-taking Mt John Observatory. Students then had the opportunity to go jet boating, visited the Odyssey Sensory Maze, followed by riding gondolas and enjoying dinner at the Stratosphere Restaurant located on a mountain summit!

The students thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the ski fields at the top of the Remarkable’s (a mountain range near Queenstown). Where they had a blast having snowball fights and tobogganing. Next up was a drive to Te Anau where they visited a bird sanctuary and even saw some endangered Takah (flightless bird).

Next up was Milford Sound and by all accounts, the site was deemed amazing. Students learnt about the area, particularly about how in the last ice age it was full of ice and as it melted it shaped the stunning landscape and beautiful waterfalls.

It was a very busy week filled with great new experiences, learning opportunities and fun.

BYOD 2019

The College is currently undertaking planning for 2019, part of this process involves the review of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. Students in Years 3-10 will continue to require an iPad to be brought to school, each day, charged and ready for use.

In 2019, the minimum requirement for a student iPad is an iPad Air or newer.

Older devices will not be an acceptable option. If you do need to purchase a new iPad, the 2018 (9.7inch) iPad is the recommended option.

If an outright purchase of the iPad creates financial hardship for any families, there is an opportunity to pay a device levy of $120 per year to the College. If you wish to access this option, please contact our Business Manager, Mrs Kelly Du Bois on 62951 541 or email: kelly.dubois@catholic.tas.edu.au .

Upcoming Events: Save the Date!

From the Sports Desk

Community Notices