FROM THE PRINCIPAL
The St James’ Stage 4 Senior School building and Gymnasium extension program have signified a pivotal moment in our brief history. We have grown-up completely as a school! This, combined with our first cohort of Year 12 students graduating at the end of 2021 with amazing ATAR results (of which you can read more about below) and clear career and trades pathways, represents a true coming of age.
The excitement of inhabiting new buildings is almost surreal after watching them rise from the sand over a 14-month period. The juice was entirely worth the squeeze! When we move further into the year, I will arrange some tours through the buildings to show our community what our modern, adaptable and university-like teaching spaces look like. If your child is in Junior School, then they will already be enjoying the extensive new library, access to the new computer labs in Stage 3 and Japanese lessons in newly decorated classrooms.
We are now a faculty-based school where you will find specialist, expert teachers delivering their passions every day, in purpose-built and resourced precincts. The evolution can now become a revolution of expertise with like-minded professionals sharing the same real estate and thought processes.
The feel in and around these buildings is our next goal and our students have already started seeding their ideas. The student voice at St James’ has been heard right from their first day on campus, back in February 2015.
Our history may be short, but our journey has been huge. I look forward to seeing you all around campus again very soon and inviting you on the next step of our journey. The Orange Army marches on!
Mr Adrian Pree | Principal
CLASS OF 2021 SUCCESS
I am excited to share with you the results of our first ever graduating class of St James’ Anglican School. The Year 12 results, including a 100% graduation rate and excellent ATAR scores, make up the final part of this cohort’s outstanding accomplishments for 2021.
Our first cohort of 23 Year 12s have been pivotal in establishing the culture and expectations of St James’ students over the past seven years. We would like to congratulate them all on their successful graduation. The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is awarded to students who have completed senior secondary education in the state of Western Australia and is the WA graduation certificate.
We congratulate top ATAR students, Reilly Evans (pictured below), who achieved an ATAR of 98.7 and Alana Rowell (above or left) who scored 97.45, a marvellous result.
We also congratulate Riley Heyworth, who was nominated for VET Student of the Year at the North Metropolitan TAFE, in recognition of his outstanding work. Many of our students followed a general or Vocational Education Pathway (VET) and have already secured University, TAFE or career placements We all wish them well in their journey beyond the gates of St James’.
I would sincerely like to thank our dedicated staff who supported the students in achieving their results and to acknowledge and thank our Year 12 parents and guardians, who were instrumental in this partnership of success. Support networks in the final years of schooling are essential, even more so with the backdrop of a pandemic.
Our students' outstanding inaugural Year 12 results include:
- A 100% graduation rate.
- A Median ATAR of 84.10, against a state average of 81.75.
- All ATAR students achieved the minimum score required for university entrance.
- Two Year 12 students achieved ATAR results worthy of a ‘Certificate of Distinction’.
- St James’ was the second top ASC School in Western Australia.
- St James’ would have placed in the top 25 of co-educational schools in the state or 39 if single-sex schools were included, if we had 20-plus ATAR students (the requirement for inclusion in league tables)
I congratulate the graduating class of 2021 and look forward to welcoming them back to school when COVID restrictions settle, to recognise their achievements and to ask them to share their experiences with our current Year 12 cohort.
To the Class of 2021, we celebrate your wonderful legacy. We are all excited by the prospect of hearing of your future successes and hope the spirit of the Orange Army always remains a part of who you are.
Mr Adrian Pree | Principal
FROM THE CHAPLAIN
Welcome back to a new year and a new term!
That sounds good, until we start thinking about what has changed and what is new. Then we can start to feel sad, worried and frustrated. We still have the pandemic. We still have bush fires and floods. The world is still turning and we are still growing and turning with it. Too easily we can start looking at the negative things, along with what can and might go wrong.
That is why we have the new. It is up to us, you and me, to make things better, stronger and happier. We can spend all day talking and worrying about the ‘what ifs’. The thing we should do is rejoice in the good that is, that has and that will happen.
As our students have started a new year in a new class, with new teachers and for some a new school, the concern has been plain to see (when you look past the mask!). Yet those same feelings soon start to disappear, when friends reconnect with friends and new friendships are made.
What our students and each of us need to do, is to look forward with hope and excitement.
Jesus talks about living in the here and now when He says, “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34).
When we focus on the present it keeps us on a straighter path; guiding us and helping, not just ourselves, but each other.
Reverend John Taylor | School Chaplain
FROM THE HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL
As our Year 12s headed into the final year of their journey at St James’, they were pleasantly surprised to receive the keys to their new indoor Year 12 Common Room.
This room has previously been used as a teaching space, however, it was always destined to be a Year 12 common room and with the Stage 4 Senior School Building now active, we have been able to fit the room out for its original intended purpose.
The centrepiece of their new Common Room is a pool table in St James’ blue. This has been lovingly restored (even though it looks brand new!) using the proceeds of the ‘Wheelers and Dealers Club 2021’. A huge thank you to the Club members for their work in supporting this initiative.
We hope that the pool table and this chilled space will provide enjoyment for our graduating students for many years to come!
Mr Chris Hall | Head of Senior School
FROM THE DEPUTY HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL
Learning is Flourishing in the Junior School
As the Deputy Head of the Junior School, I have the pleasure of visiting classrooms and touching base with students and staff. We are about to enter our sixth week of school and I can honestly say I am incredibly proud of everyone in the Junior School. As I make my way around, I see students busy writing, interacting with equipment, laughing, smiling, putting their hands up and helping one another. The atmosphere is calm and happy.
Students in Kindy have been busy settling into school life. They are absolutely loving the playground! Their teachers are thrilled with their agency skills.
The Pre-Primary students have been learning all about families and have produced some family portraits. They have started learning sounds, writing with Mrs Stone and Miss McQueen and producing oral retells which are very entertaining.
In Year 1, students have read the book, 'Collecting Colour'. They did some weaving on love hearts and then went on a nature walk to collect ‘colour’ from the bush. The students creatively filled their hearts with beautiful nature finds.
Biological Science has been an interesting subject for our Year 2 students. The Year 2s have been comparing and contrasting photos from when they were a baby to what they look like now.
The Year 3s have been throwing bean bags at a target as part of a game on place value. It is great to see students reading numbers into the thousands!
In Year 4, students have learned to find verses in the Bible for the first time. It has only been a few weeks and already they are speedy!
Our Year 5 students have been mastering their mapping skills. A giant map of South America was created, and students have been busy colouring and plotting landmarks.
A yeast experiment is underway in Year 6. Students have been experimenting with different combinations of yeast, water and sugar to find out what temperature yeast needs to be, to be active and produce gas.
An exciting time to be a student in Junior School!
Nicholas Townsend | Deputy Head of Junior School
Friends of St James' (FOST)
A big “Hello” to everybody and a warm “welcome” to all the new St. James families.
To our new families, we hope that your expectations are being fulfilled since you have recently became members of the Orange Army. Usually, at the start of every year we have a Sundowner for all the parents and teachers to get together and meet, but unfortunately COVID has arrived in our beautiful WA.
The Committee recently held our first meeting of the year over ZOOM. We all agreed that we will look at holding the Sundowner in the second half of the year, when hopefully things will have settled down. In the meantime, if you would like any further information or if you are interested in becoming a member of the Friends of St James’ team, please sent us an email at: friendsofstjames@stjames.wa.edu.au.
We also have a huge announcement to make... “The school has bought a bus!” This has been thanks in a large part to the money raised at the St James’ Family Fun Fair held last September. Once the signage has been added to the bus we will share a photo and, I have no doubt that you’ll see the Orange Army bus go past when you are out and about.
To end off, stay safe during these unforeseen times and we hope to see you all in person again soon. Hopefully in Semester 2 at our Sundowner.
Sonet Coetzee | President
Service in Action at St James'
RSPCA Donation Drive
The RSPCA is an organisation that doesn’t discriminate against any creature ‘big or small’. Most of us resonate with the aims of the RSPCA to create a safe environment for all animals, as our pets are very close to our hearts.
Like our pets, these animals can provide the love and joy that us, as humans, are unable to find without them. It is crucial that the RSPCA receive donations to be able to nurture and support the growth and health of the animals in its care.
Animals help humans in more ways than we can begin to imagine, so by donating to the RSPCA we are giving something back to a thing that so often gives to us. These animals can’t help themselves, so it’s important that we as humans help them recover, have food and shelter, toys to relieve boredom and contribute to them living fulfilled lives.
Isobel Hunter | Year 12 Service Captain
Annemie Lourens | Year 12 Chapel Captain
Our main photo features our Senior School and Junior School Service Captains: Isobel Hunter, Annemie Lourens, Seth Kereopa, Darren Moyo and Jack Hutchinson...and Barney the St James' Wellness Dog.
2022 Year 11 and 12 School Ball Photo Gallery
St James' Veggie Garden
Super-Size Me Zucchini
The veggie garden has been revived with the busyness of the students returning! Although the heat has been a deterrent to a lot of our plants.
With COVID restrictions in place, the veggie garden volunteers haven’t been able to be as involved as usual - but Helen David and I have been busy keeping the garden thriving until the time comes again, when we can continue the conversation and learning with the students.
The worm farms are up and running and anxiously awaiting any food scraps to come their way! The rockmelons, zucchinis and watermelons have started popping up ready for picking too. One zucchini could have even won a competition it was that big!
Celery, capsicum, chilis as well as thyme, sage, mint, and parsley have all continued to grow well in the garden. The coriander, tomatoes and cucumber are also looking delicious!
Special thanks to David and Helen who have planted several fruit trees including two grapevines, a fig tree, mulberry, and banana trees as well as lemon, passionfruit and raspberries which are a perfect addition to the garden.
With signage on the way to label the planters, the students will be able to clearly identify which plant belongs to which fruit, vegetable or herb.
The next exciting addition to the veggie garden will be potatoes. The troughs are ready for our youngest of members, the Kindy students to get their hands dirty and see what they can grow over the coming months.
Mrs Nina Dorieux | Friends of St James’ / Vegetable Garden Volunteer
Focusing on the Future
Home Economics Department
Sustainability can be defined as ‘meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Something the Home Economics team at St James' is putting into practice in 2022 and beyond!
Last year, the Friends of St James’ (FOST) assisted the Home Economics Department to enhance the Sustainability Program through the purchase of an electronic composter, affectionately named Colin. This machine was purchased to be able to quickly process food scraps and waste into compost within a matter of hours. This compost has then been used to nourish the Kitchen Gardens located adjacent to the Trade Centre.
Students can access the herbs and fresh-produce grown in the Kitchen Gardens during lessons, to enhance their food. During classes, students assist with the collection of food scraps, gardening and using the compost in the garden.
The Deja Brew Café, the student-run café, uses the leftover coffee grinds to fertilise the gardens throughout the School grounds and when available, St James' families are encouraged to help themselves to the wheelbarrow of coffee grounds for their own gardens. The café is open before school on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (with mask-wearing and social distancing required).
In line with the State Government plans to prevent single-use plastics, the Home Economics Department are strongly encouraging the use of recyclable containers for any food usage. The introduction of a 'no container, no-cook' policy will start this year. Students are encouraged to bring reusable containers for any practical work in Home Economics. A small change can make a big difference.
The lessons and skills that the students are learning in their Home Economics classes are transferrable to their everyday life and will hopefully encourage healthy habits to continue throughout their lives.
We look forward to less food waste, less use of plastic and a more sustainable future!
Rachael Holt | Head of Year 8 | Home Economics Teacher
Short but Sweet
Year 7 Camp 2022
On Monday 7 February, our Year 7 cohort set off on the annual camp to the Swan Valley Adventure Centre.
It was supposed to be three days of activities and challenges, but with new COVID restrictions coming into force, we had to condense our program into two days. This still allowed us to complete most of the activities, such as kayaking and canoeing down the river, zipping along on the flying fox, learning archery, abseiling down the wall and tackling the commando course.
Students also completed two rounds of team building games and built a catapult as they competed against other teams.
On the first (and only) night, we held a quiz night that had the students thinking about countries, sports, famous people, landmarks and general knowledge. The winning team was “The Material Gworls”. Well done to Alize, Juliet, Hannah, Makenna and Jaycie.
The Year 7 camp was once again a huge success. Many new friendships were formed, allowing the students to challenge themselves by stepping outside of their comfort zone. The students were simply amazing.
Mrs Stacey Syme | Head of Year 7
Year 7 Camp Photo Gallery
Elective Excitement!
Introducing New and Exciting Electives for 2022
The introduction of our new Year 9 and 10 option subjects has given our Senior School students the opportunity to choose from an even more extensive variety of classes, which thereby broaden and enrich their learning experiences.
The addition of Game Design (Year 9), Engineering and Metals (Year 10), Dance (Years 9 and 10) and Global Citizenship (Year 10) is enabling students to gain an understanding of where these subjects can lead, what studying them involves and whether they may be a suitable pathway for Years 11 and 12.
The skills learnt while undertaking option subjects complement those taught in core subjects, and are transferable to many different situations, including the school environment, workplaces and social situations.
A big shout out to our St James’ students! Your enthusiasm and willingness to try new things create fresh opportunities while setting a fine example for us all.
Mrs Laura Briggs | Deputy Head of Senior School
