8th November 2013

Issue 18

From the Principal Dear Parents, I have recently been reading some information by Michael Grose. I really enjoy the way he challenges us to think about parenting styles and beliefs. I never thought of myself as strict, but given his criteria I would call myself a strict parent and grandparent. The NEW strict parent - is this you? There’s a now a NEW definition for a ‘strict’ parent. A ‘strict’ parent today is now someone who makes children do things for themselves and insists they help at home. They insist their children put their dirty clothes in the laundry, and maybe even make their beds. They insist kids make their own lunches in secondary school. They insist that their kids set the meal table without giving them a cent in return. ‘Strict’ now refers to getting kids to help rather than placing restrictions on them. The NEW normal The new parenting normal is for parents to do a lot for their kids, rather than kids do things for themselves. These parents believe they are responsible for making their child happy. Doing chores for their child is less painful with no fights, whinging, answering back, complaints or inconvenience. Anyone who strays from this new normal and develops real independence in their children can be made to feel guilty ... because they are strict! Nobody feels like doing chores, but tackling hard things such as doing chores when you don’t feel like it builds character. It develops a bit of grit that kids can draw on later when they will really have to push against adversity. If the definition of ‘strict’ has changed then Michael Grose urges you to be strict! Your kids will thank you later on, when you’ve equipped them with the problem-solving and independence skills needed to negotiate the wider world without you. (from Michael Grose, Insights). THANK YOU Enormous thanks to Andrew Bourne and Veronica Lombard for the amazing refurbishment of the veggie patch. Make sure you check out our rabbit proof fence and ready to plant garden beds.

Dates to Remember: 25.11.13

Caritas Fundraiser – Cent Line

26.11.13

Prep Orientation 9.00-11.00am

28.11.13

End of Year Concert

02.12.13

Grade 6 Excursion

03.12.13

Prep Orientation 9.00-12.00pm

04.12.13

Year 6 Graduation Liturgy with Eucharist @ 7pm

Marist Sion Orientation Day

06.12.13

P & F AGM

10.12.13

Drouin Secondary Orientation Day

St Francis Orientation Day

11.12.13

Triathlon

13.12.13

End of Year Mass

Reports sent home

16.12.13

Swimming Sports

17.12.13

Last Day of Term Four

Attached to this Newsletter

Free Soccer Clinic Flyer

Coming Home Tonight

Catholic Life

Christmas Raffle Tickets

Drama Academy Brochure Anne Hassall

Address: 60 Nar Nar Goon Road,

Nar Nar Goon VIC 3812 Phone: 5942 5404 Fax: 5942 5578 Email: principal@stjamesnng.catholic.edu.au Website: www.stjamesnng.catholic.edu.au

St James Catholic School, Nar Nar Goon Newsletter

“Building Independent and

Responsible Learners”

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SCHOOL BOARD 2014

The St James School Board AGM was held this week. This

year we have three retiring members. I would like to

personally thank Helen Gleeson, Faith Tyler and Janet Beilby

for their dedication to supporting the school via the board.

Their opinions, honesty, confidentiality and compassion for

students and families have been much appreciated.

Board Members for next year are:

Melissa Martin (continuing member)

Andy Tweedale – Chairperson (continuing member)

Alex Motta (continuing member)

Elise Sefton (new member)

Michelle Van Dord (new member)

We still need new board members to operate effectively. Please give consideration to supporting your children through service on the School Board. We meet twice a term. If you would like to ask some questions about what goes on at School Board, please contact one of the ongoing members or the principal.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION LITURGY

All families are invited to the Year 6 Graduation Liturgy with Eucharist on

Wednesday 4th December at 7:00pm as we farewell our senior students and some of our families. Buddies of the Year 6 students are

especially welcome.

COMPULSORY ST JAMES PARENT MEETING- ADVANCE NOTICE

On Wednesday 12th February 2014, there will be a compulsory parent meeting for all families at St James at 7pm in the

hall. At least one parent must attend. The parent meeting will discuss parent/school partnership at St James.

This meeting will help our school explore the partnership that operates between parents and the school. We want to explore parent expectations, wants and needs combined with problem solving the issues listed below:

In 2014 we do not have sufficient membership to operate an effective School Board.

In 2014 we do not have sufficient membership to fill P&F roles and responsibilities.

In 2013 we could not get sufficient support to run our traditional annual fete. 2014?

In 2013 we could not always get enough parents for Monday lunches. 2014?

In 2012 we could not adequately staff the school uniform shop and it was closed.

P&F AGM (Annual General Meeting) – Friday 6th December 2pm in hall foyer We are seeking new members for the Committee for 2014 so please come along and share your energy.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS are seeking donations for their Christmas raffle. Donations can be left at the office. Raffle

tickets will be sent out soon. Thanking you in advance.

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SCHOOL CONCERT

We are fast approaching the busy weeks that end our school year. Next Thursday 28th November is our school concert at 7pm. The long range weather forecast is looking promising with no rain predicted. We hope families can bring their evening meal along with their very excited and dressed up children to share tea together on the grass area. Dinner time can begin from 5.30pm onwards. Whilst the concert begins at 7pm, we would like to invite parents to bring an early tea or picnic to share with their children at school before the concert begins. The school BBQ will be available or parents may like to bring takeaway, finger foods or cold meat and salads etc. Dinner at school is an optional extra but we would like to see you there. Dinner time begins at 5.30pm.

Birthdays

Joel Hill turns 8 on 26th November

Imogen Atkins turns 12 on 28th November

Jacob Koch turns 10 on 1st December

Jacob Chambers turns 6 on 2nd

December

Aaron Chalker turns 13 on the 4th December

Nael Crema turns 10 on 4th December

PREP ORIENTATION

Prep children who will begin school at St James in 2014 will

visit us for four orientation sessions before the end of the

year.

Tuesday 26th

November – Third Prep Orientation

Day 9:00am - 11:00am Children will be in their

classroom with their teacher for 2014. Children will

meet their senior school buddies for the first time.

Children should bring sunhats. The uniform will be on

display and the office open for purchases of school

hats.

Tuesday 3rd

December - Fourth Prep Orientation Day

9:00am - 12:00pm Children will meet their senior school

buddies again, participate in a specialist program such as

art or PE and will also stay for a recess break. Children will

need to bring a small snack and a sunhat. The uniform will

be on display and the office open for purchases of school

hats.

Spanish word of the Week

Muy bien

Means

Very good

END OF YEAR WHOLE SCHOOL MASS

On Friday 13

th December at 9.30 am we will be celebrating

our final Mass for the year as a whole school community. This Mass is an excellent time to stop, reflect, remember and thank our God for all the wonderful things that have happened throughout the year. We are blessed at St James to have such wonderful students, staff and families, so our End of Year Mass is one way to celebrate all together. Parents and parishioners will share Morning Tea all together as a whole school community so please bring along some morning tea to share.

SOCIAL JUSTICE GROUP RAISING MONEY FOR FILIPINO’S

Our Social Justice Group in grade 6 and Raymond Chapple have decided to raise some money for the devastated people in the Philippines especially since Raymond's family in the Philippines have been affected by this devastation. Thankfully The Chapple's who have relatives in the Philippines, who have not been harmed by the typhoon; however it did destroy all their belongings and housing.

We have decided to have a CENT LINE at school on Monday the 25th November to raise money for Caritas.

What we are asking for is coins of all value to be sent in to the school. We will be writing the word HOPE on the ground and asking students to fill the word with coins. Hopefully we can raise a lot of money for the people in the Philippines.

We even have one of our students raising money through sponsorship by NOT SPEAKING FOR A DAY. So far she has raised $150.

Many thanks in advance for your generosity. Bernie Hance

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PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!! MARK ALL HATS, JUMPERS WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME. We have quite a number of children who are misplacing hats and jumpers. Please ensure all items of clothing are clearly marked with the child’s name. It is a good idea to write on the actual fabric in a silver marking pen rather than on the tag. Please check your child’s clothing regularly to ensure your child has their own hat/jumper etc. Thank you.

Our Parish Masses

Koo Wee Rup Sunday 9:30 am

Iona Sunday 11:00 am

Nar Nar Goon Saturday 6:00 pm

Maryknoll 2nd Sunday 8:00am

Assembly Awards

Monday 11th

November Prep: Olivia Evans – fantastic improvement writing & spelling Stella Rongoni – always lending a hand to others Jacob Chambers – great improvement in his writing & spelling One/Two: Joel Hill – wonderful work on spelling & writing Kiana Angus – working so hard in math groups Three/Four: Congratulations to the whole class on receiving trophy from Mathletics Five/Six: Zali Tyler – great job at getting on with 3D design Lachlan Strong – great job at getting on with 3D design Monday 18

th November

Prep: Jake Kelly – “Math Star” for counting to 100 Ellie Watts – “Math Star” for counting to 100 One/Two: Hannah Waterhouse – “Math Genius” awesome work in fractions Adam Motta – working very hard on his handwriting Three/Four: Matilda Atkins – great work on research project Hayden Carney – for his consistent reading Five/Six: Heidi Deane – excellent research in homework task Grace Thornton – excellent research in homework task Jess Cunningham – consistently high standard of work being submitted

Monday Lunches Monday 25th November Toasted Sandwich with Ham, tomato and Cheese $2.50

Fruit Juice Drink $1.00

Catherine Brown / Helper Required

Monday 2

nd December

Crispy Fish Wrap with lettuce & mayo $3.50

Fruit Juice Drink $1.00

Helpers Required

St James students at Remembrance Day Ceremony

OUR PRAYER GARDEN

Our Year 5 and 6 students have been

planning and creating possible designs for

our prayer garden. Some of them are on

display in the church foyer and others are in

the Year5/6 classroom. They are very

interesting; the detail and synthesis of many

ideas show they have learned and planned

with depth of thinking in this relevant and

timely learning activity. If you have the

opportunity, stop by the church or the

classroom for a look.

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St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal Every year at this time, St Vincent De Paul ask us to provide some Christmas Hampers for those less fortunate than ourselves. We have been covering a lot of Catholic Social Teaching at St James and this is one of those areas we can actually TAKE ACTION to help others. We know the families at St James are very generous people, and once again we ask if you can donate some food items to make up special hampers. Items for Christmas such as plum puddings, mince pies, biscuits, chips, canned items, drinks or anything you think will make someone else's Christmas hamper a treat. Please start sending in items whenever you can. Many thanks. "Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me" Matthew 25:31-46

SH DANCE- ADVANCE NOTICE

Christmas Mass Times

Koo Wee Rup: Christmas Eve 7:00pm

Maryknoll:

Christmas Eve 6:00pm

Nar Nar Goon: Christmas Eve 7:30pm

Iona:

Christmas Eve Christmas Carols from 11:30pm followed by Midnight Mass

Christmas Day 9:30am

St Mary’s Lang Lang:

Christmas Day 9:30am

From the Classrooms

Prep

On Thursday the Preps went on an excursion. We went on the bus and then

we went to the Recycling Centre. We got on the bus and went to the park

and I played on the swing. And I went across the bridge.

The bus driver put some movies on and we watched a movie on the bus.

After we went back to school. BY ELLIE WATTS

On Thursday the Preps went on an excursion and watched a movie. We got off the bus at the playground. First we had our

snack and a play. Then we went into the library to look at books and movies. BY GEORGIA SNOWDEN

We went on an excursion to the Pakenham Library and the Recycling Plant. At the park I played Halo. At the library I saw

Lego Star Wars books. At the Recycling Plant I saw a big bin rubbish collectors. BY SEAN ZIMMERLING LEAVER

The Preps went on an excursion on the bus and the bus had a TV to watch. The bus took us to the park and then it rained.

I went to the library. I saw Vicki reading us a story and it as called “Can I Play?” BY STELLA RONGONI

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Grade 1 & 2

We had an amazing time on our excursion last week, to The Magic Pudding - the opera! The weather did not deter us from our journey via train to Warragul. We were actually lucky enough to dodge the worst of the rain and rugged up in coats we thoroughly enjoyed the walks, BBQ and play at Civic Park. The show was fantastic and we agreed that the story was authentic to the book unlike the movie version. A huge thank you to the parents who helped out on the day; we could not enjoy experiences like this without you

Grade 3 & 4

THREE THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNT THIS WEEK 1. There are great parents at St James This week we have had two great parents help us out with the veggie patch. Andy Bourne worked tirelessly to strip back the timber and place the rabbit proof fence around the outside. Veronica Lombard did a fantastic job with weeding and digging up the patch. Now the vegetables can go in and the bunnies will go hungry. Tough luck, bunnies! Other parents have offered to help with plants, mulch etc. Like I said, the parents around here are pretty good... 2. The students are great, too. Alright, I already knew that. But it has been heartening to see the response from our students concerning the tragedy in the Philippines. First was the heart felt prayers. Then there has been the fundraising efforts concerning the Coin Line that came from an idea originating from students in the Senior school. Let's hope that everybody really gets behind this effort as strongly as our children. And, finally, 3. Read the newsletter article properly before it is printed. Unlike what was stated in the last grade 3/4 news item, we are not looking forward to an upcoming 'excretion'; that was supposed to be 'excursion'. I promise to proof read better next time and their will bee know furthur misteaks! Rob Vermeer

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Grade 5 & 6 This term the grade 5/6’s have making designs for a community prayer garden. We made annotated designs of the garden and once we did that we started a 3D model of our design. As you may know last week we had a voting of whose design is the best. We say thank you to all the grades, parents, and our parish community for taking the time to vote. It was great to see how eager the parishioners are to have a community prayer garden. The vote count went down the next day in class and we narrowed it down to the top 6 using preferential voting like the Federal Election. You can see the top 6 in the Church foyer. The top 6 are: Zali Tyler, Lucy Hill, Harry Tweedale, Lachlan Strong, Chloe Chatfield and Aaron Chalker. By Zali Lately the grades 5/6 have been working on their Christmas concert work, we can’t really say what we are doing but it will be excellent! The grades 5/6 (and the rest of the school) have had a whole school rehearsal and also class rehearsals in music. This Christmas concert is going to be FANTASTIC!!! On the 2nd of December 2013, Grade 6s are going on an excursion to Amaze ‘n’ Things in Phillip Island. It will be awesome. By Lucy. Grade 5 & 6 students improving the school grounds. Grades 5/6s are Teachers for the Day. By Mrs Hance Last Friday, the students in grade 5/6 became teachers for a whole day. What do we mean by that? The Grade 5/6 students were referred to as teachers as they took responsibility for teaching their buddies for a WHOLE DAY including being ‘on duty’ at recess and lunch. The learning was so beneficial for all students, both preps and 5/6’s. The preps were able to have one to one teaching on a number of subjects such as reading, spelling, story writing, perimeter, learning the Our Father and completing PowerPoint presentations about recycling. Here are some thoughts from the grade 5/6 students about their day of teaching….. “I found it a bit hard, but a lot of fun. I love this idea. It was frustrating at times, but in spelling I pushed my student hard to be better” Tom “I thought it would be easier than I thought it would be. I taught my buddy the difference between the letter M and N.” Jayden “I thought it was cool being a teacher this morning. I can tell how it can be frustrating to be a teacher sometimes as well. Spelling on the whiteboard was fun.” Lucy “Today I have learned that it is very hard to teach preps because if you say one thing they don’t understand and even once you explain it they just do something else and it makes no sense to us. “ Lachlan M “So far, I learned that being a teacher is a lot harder than it looks. I have taught someone how to play hangman for spelling.” Isaac “I think my buddy taught me as much as I taught her. She was reading well and she has a wonderful imagination.” Amber “I thought that this morning was, not only educational for the preps but for the grade 5/6’s as well. I found it was fun. Being able to teach the preps was a joyful experience. Knowing where my buddy was at in reading was a good.” Heidi “It was fun but now I know how it feels to be a teacher and how it feels when the students don’t want to do what you want them to do!” Emily.