The first few weeks have simply sped past and were filled with memorable moments such as  students first day, Year 12 Ball, carnivals and much more! I am absolutely thrilled to welcome all new and returning students to James House, with a special warm welcome to all our new Year 7 students! I trust that you have had an exciting journey thus far and are starting to find your feet at the College. I particularly enjoyed getting to know you better at the recent Year 7 Camp and have been most impressed with your enthusiasm to get involved in the many activities on offer at the College.

I also want to extend a very warm welcome to Dante Visser and Emily Battle, both in Year 8. I hope that you enjoy your journey at LJBC!

The beginning of a new year is always exciting and filled with the promise of a fresh start (and the hope of keeping those new year’s resolutions!). The year kicked off with our Student Council Induction Day at Aloha Surfhouse. We had fun on the various climbing challenges, tried to stay afloat on the surfboards and had a very constructive and exciting planning session to discuss all the wonderful ideas for James House this year. It is my privilege to introduce the James 2019 Student Council, under the enthusiastic and positive leadership of our House Captains:

House Captains: Bradley Stewart & Emily McGrath

Year 11: Connor Chin & Eve Wakeb

Year 10: Jayden Dwyer & Isobel Millward

Year 9: Matthew Kelly & Tayla Dodds

Year 8: Jared Paul & Sophie Powell

Congratulations to Justine Paul on her election as Head Girl!

Year 7 Student Council nominations have also opened and I encourage all students interested in this leadership position to apply.

I also wish to congratulate Tayla Dodds, Year 9, for coming 2nd in the U/16 3000m at the recent Western Australia Athletics State Championships. Tyler Nuku, Year 12, also recently represented Western Australia in NSW in the U19 Surf Boat Rowing team. He will also be competing in the Australian National Surf Lifesaving Championships during April. Best of luck Tyler!

With a fresh start to the year, I am looking forward to seeing all the James students participate in the academic, sporting and cultural programmes for 2019. There are many wonderful opportunities to get involved with and I encourage each student to get connected to life at the College, adopting a ‘give-it-a-go’ attitude. Parents, please encourage your children to participate in these programmes as this provides them with valuable life skills such as resilience, accountability, time management, respect and communication.

May 2019 be a great and blessed year for James House!

Anmar van der Westhuizen

Head of House James

Anmar.vanderWesthuizen@ljbc.wa.edu.au