Term 4 Week 1 2024
From the Principal
Dear Families,
Welcome to Term 4! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday break and managed to take some time to refresh and relax throughout the two weeks before we hit the ground running to bring 2024 home in style. As always Term 4 is a hectic one and this year will be no different as we have many events already in the calendar. Please stay in touch with the school via the newsletter, Compass and Facebook to keep up to date throughout the term.
As we move towards the end of the year, speculation about arrangements to do with classes and teachers for the next year often becomes a topic of conversation. Staffing arrangements for 2025 are currently being considered. Towards the end of the term, as staffing and class numbers are confirmed, the school community will be informed of these arrangements. I ask that if your child isn’t returning to St Francis next year (except for Year 6 students) and you haven’t completed your continuing enrolment notification via Compass that you do so as soon as possible as this helps us with our planning. I thank you for your patience and understanding as we work towards the best outcome for our students and school community.
This week we are excited to share with you our new school logo. A lot of behind the scenes work has gone into our logo to ensure it best represents St Francis Catholic School. A huge thank you to parents who came along and were involved in the community consultations, our School Board, students, staff and the Marketing Team from Townsville Catholic Education. Your input, feedback and guidance has been invaluable. The change over to the new logo is a gradual process with changes being made to our signage, social media, website and newsletter to begin with. Changes to school uniforms will not be happening in the short term. Please see the explanations of each element of our new logo below.
New Logo
Have a wonderful week
Amanda
Religious Life of the School
Dear Families,
I am thrilled to welcome you all back for the final term of the school year. As I step into my new role as acting Assistant Principal of Religious Education, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the warm welcome I’ve already received. I’m excited to journey with you and your children as we explore our faith and deepen our understanding of its role in our lives.
This term is filled with exciting activities, including chances for students to participate in service projects that reflect our commitment to living out our faith.
I encourage all families to join in this term! Your involvement boosts our school community and supports our mission. Stay tuned for announcements about these events.
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on October 7th, is a special day dedicated to honouring this powerful prayer. It commemorates the victory at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, which was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Rosary. This feast encourages us to reflect on the importance of prayer and to unite in our faith, reminding us of the strength and peace that comes from meditating on the mysteries of Jesus and Mary.
Save The Date
10th October, Year 5 Leadership Day
14th October, Catholic Mission Liturgy, led by 5/6B 2:15pm
18th October, Crazy Sock Day, Gold coin donation
1st November, Whole School Meditation
11th November, Remembrance Day Liturgy, 2:15pm
22nd November, Thanksgiving Mass, 9am
6th December, Final Farewell Liturgy, 11am
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
And blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
Last term, we organised a colouring competition with an Olympic theme. Paige Davison in 3/4B did a wonderful job designing the pictures for everyone to colour. We took the finished artworks to Ayr Regis, where the residents enjoyed judging them. They found it difficult to select winners due to the incredible talent of our students. The residents noted that all the children should be proud of their work.
P - 2 Winners
3 - 6 Winners
Thank you to everyone who participated in our competition, and congratulations to our winners!
Wishing you all a wonderful term!
Blessings,
Maria
Learning Corner
Is your child having a play-based childhood or a phone-based childhood?
During the holidays, I spent some time listening to presentations by researchers and educationalists who are heavily involved in developing ways that education can best respond to global needs in a world of Artificial Intelligence. I found the sessions highly informative as they explained many of the behaviours and attitudes seen in classrooms today.
The 2024 work of Jonathan Haidt, the author of ‘The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness’ was used as a reference in the presentation.
You may find the following few points that highlight the speed of technological growth and its impact on children and learning interesting.
1980s - play based childhood. Children were into discovery and managing their bodies.
1990s-the emergence of the protective parent. We had 24 hr news and world conflict was a constant on our screens. Safety became a sacred value and we moved from a focus on discovery to defence.
2007 - the smartphone and social media to keep up with friends came to the fore. 500 apps were available in the App store. The beginning of the loss of friend time.
2009 - like-share buttons were added to devices.
2012 - the front facing camera and Instagram and the start of rewiring of the brain. 1 million apps now available in the App Store
Mid 2010s - the start of the Anxious Generation
What technological impacts are we seeing in classes globally?
Children are coming into class tired from lack of sleep.
Children are unable to consider the feelings and needs of others.
Children find it difficult to pay attention to what others are saying.
Advice for a positive future includes:
No smartphones before High School.
No social media before 16.
Children playing face to face and interacting in a natural environment.
The great news is Version 9 of the Australian curriculum has a play based approach to learning in Prep.
Congratulations to all parents who are vigilant and firm to protect their children online.
Rita
Birthdays
OCTOBER
Dylan Timms, Inara Taylor, Noah Dabelstein, Kendall Curro, Clancy Galvin,
Angus Elmazis, Ravenna Davies, Bo Cornford, Jack Davison, Jai Fiamingo,
Sienna Zabel, Sonny Vidler, Ramsey Corradi, Willow Melville.
Class in the Spotlight - 3/4B
HASS - This week students were introduced to the country of Madagascar. They enjoyed creating maps and graphs based on the data and information shared in the lesson.
Science - This term we are looking at Forces in Science. This week students explored the force of gravity. They conducted a simple experiment to answer an investigable question; If a bowling ball and a golf ball are dropped simultaneously, which would hit the ground first? They had lots of fun experimenting by dropping different sized objects off the Spider to see which object hit the ground first.
English
- Explored how writers use rhyme to tell stories and poetic devices to entertain and create humor.
- Created a humorous limerick.
Mathematics
- Told time to the minute
- Used the language of direction including compass points and the atlas grid.
Religion
Explored why October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary and participated in praying the rosary. Many thanks to Mrs Johannsen for teaching us the meaning and importance of the Holy Rosary and leading us in prayer.
3/4B
Swimming Carnival
Community
