Term 4 Week 5 2024

From the Principal

Dear Families,

What a week we have had at St Francis.

On Monday we held our 2025 School Captain Speeches. The eleven students who presented speeches should be immensely proud of themselves. The caliber of speeches this year was amazing with students speaking passionately about their love for our school, being active and positive role models who represent the school with pride. They focused on how as leaders they can lead by example to include others, work as part of a team and inspire the rest of the student body to not only give everything a go but to participate in events and make memories. We had some wonderful quotes shared during speeches which I would like to share with you.

"True leadership involves serving and caring for those under our responsibility with a genuine heart."

Peter 5:2-3

Have you ever watched Aladdin? If you have then I want you to know that I will be your genie and say, "You ain't never had a friend like me!"

"As stars of love, we are called to be strong, have compassion and justice, our call, our song. In this way too we must shine like the stars, Shine with God's love wherever we are!”

Andrew Chinn

“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good is a wonderful legacy to leave behind”.

Taylor Swift

Congratulations to Peyton Butler and Chase Pennisi for being nominated as School Captains and Grace Vardanega and Xavier Minuzzo who are our 2025 Vice Captains. Next Monday we will hear students deliver Sports Captain Speeches.

This week we have also continued with our Water Safety Lessons as well as had Life Education lessons.  Life Education and the much loved mascot Healthy Harold, work with students empowering them with knowledge and skills for a healthy, safe life. Lessons are delivered with age appropriate content on nutrition, cyber safety, bullying, emotional health and relationships. Each class has engaged with Life Education and I encourage you to speak with your child/ren about their lesson.

This morning we gathered as a whole school for Christian Meditation for All Saints Day. Our Christian Meditation sessions are always a deeply spiritual and beautiful prayer experience, inviting each person present to connect with God through stillness, reflection, and heartfelt prayer, fostering a profound sense of peace.

Today we also welcomed our 2025 Prep students for their first Step into Prep Day with our 2025 Prep Teachers Mrs Kelly Harris and Miss Tahnee McCahon. The Kindy kids have had a wonderful morning learning more about “big school”. We look forward to seeing them again next Friday. If you know someone who hasn’t yet enrolled their child for Prep in 2025 it’s not too late. Please encourage them to complete an enrolment form ASAP.

Class teachers will be announced in the coming weeks as our teaching staff for 2025 is finalised. As you can imagine this can take some time to get right, so I ask for your patience while we complete this process. Classes will be announced at our Step Up day in Week 10.

Just a reminder if you have a question or concern, you are encouraged to first make contact with your classroom teacher if it is related to a classroom issue.  If it is a question or concern of a different nature, please pop into the Office to have a chat with a member of the leadership team or make an appointment time to see us.  At times, people have concerns or questions and instead of coming to a member of the leadership team who can give you an accurate answer, these concerns are talked about in the car park which doesn’t solve anything.  While we may not be able to solve a problem immediately, we can’t do anything if we do not know about your problems or concerns.  Rita, Maria and I have an open door policy and are always more than happy to answer any questions you may have or address any concerns.

Have a wonderful week

Take care and God bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

Dear Families,

Today we celebrate All Saints Day. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our school community to reflect on the lives of the saints and their inspiring examples of faith. This special day is a time to honour all those who have lived exemplary lives in accordance with God’s teachings, both known and unknown.

ALL SAINTS DAY

All Saints Day is a holy day in the Catholic Church dedicated to celebrating the saints—those who have led lives of virtue and faithfulness. While some saints, like St. Francis Xavier and St. Marcellin Champagnat, are well-known, many others have quietly lived out their faith in extraordinary ways. This day reminds us that we can all strive to be saints in our daily lives.

For our children, All Saints Day serves as a reminder that they, too, can be heroes of faith. By learning about the lives of the saints, they can see how these holy figures overcame challenges and lived with love, compassion, and dedication to God and others. It encourages them to embody these values in their own lives.

All Saints' Day is followed by All Souls' Day on November 2nd, a day dedicated to praying for the souls of those who have passed away and are still on their journey to heaven. Together, these two days provide a special time for remembering and praying for our loved ones who have died, reflecting an important part of Catholic tradition.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

Today, our school gathered together at the start of the day for Christian meditation, focusing on all saints, especially those who are significant to our school community: St. Marcellin Champagnat, St. Francis Xavier, Mary, and Bede Polding. Christian meditation is a time for silent, reflective prayer that helps us connect with God and listen for His guidance. All classes engage in this practice throughout the week, allowing students to take a break from their busy lives and quietly be in God’s presence.  Thank you to those parents who were able to be there with us this morning.

We have the CWL Christmas Luncheon coming up on 20 November.  Remember to complete the permission form on Compass, indicate your availability to help, and indicate your food donations.

The Year 6 students have created placemats for the day showing their ‘love of neighbour’. This luncheon is a tradition the school and parish enjoy every year. The money raised will be donated to the local St Vincent de Paul, to help families during the Christmas season and beyond.

God Bless and have a wonderful week,

Maria

Learning Corner

In 2025, Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum for English and Mathematics will be fully implemented in all Queensland schools. This curriculum was designed to enhance the quality, equity, and transparency of Australia’s educational system. It establishes high expectations for what every student should know, understand and do, while fostering improvements in Australia’s educational performance.

 Throughout the last two years, our school staff has diligently prepared for this transition. We have explored the rationale behind the changes, examined the organization and content of Version 9 for both English and Mathematics, and identified how our teaching practices will evolve.

 At the diocesan level, guidance and support are being provided through Position Statements, guidelines, and resources that assist schools in implementing the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0.

 During a recent Curriculum Network meeting I attended at TCE, we discussed the allocation of class time across subjects and events. For available time to be used effectively, it is essential that all class activities have a clear purpose aligned with student learning needs. The effectiveness of these activities will be assessed by collecting data on student progress concerning their knowledge, skills, and understanding of the content being taught. To ensure that all students make progress, it is important to recognise that we cannot expect every child in a class to engage in the same activities, in the same manner, all the time.

To address the needs of all students, teachers will be upskilled in the use of MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) when planning lessons. The first tier is high quality explicit teaching which includes differentiation in the way the learning is presented. It is usual for the majority of students (75-90%) of students in a class to understand and gain mastery at this level of teaching. Some children (10 -25 %), will require more explanation and teaching to achieve success with learning (Tier Two). A few (Tier Three, less than 10%) will require focussed individualised instruction. The level of support required and the students requiring that support are identified after all students have participated in the first tier of learning and teaching as the tier of support required will not be the same for all students in all topics. Some students will require challenging work to extend their learning.

The focus is heavily and explicitly on all students learning and making progress.

Please call if you have any questions or would like more information.

Enjoy your weekend.

Rita

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - SOCIAL MEDIA & DIGITAL REPUTATION

Social media has become such an integral part of a teenager’s life. However, many miss out on some critical social skills with most communicating whilst looking at a screen instead of another person! Statistics show that 60 per cent of 10-11 year olds are using at least one social media site, with the majority using age-restricted platforms. What kids do, post and say online is permanent and most are not mature enough to manage their own digital footprint. Friendships, relationships and even future job prospects are all put at risk.

Parents need to be aware of what picture their children are painting of themselves online. Unfortunately, many parents do not see the dangers inherent of these sites, as they form opinions based on their own experience. But predators are usually not interested in grooming adults. Over the years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of primary schoolers owning mobile phones, highlighting the importance to teach kids about the dangers of social media and the implications it can have.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to talk to their children about the inherent dangers of social media and how to educate their kids to be responsible users in the online world we live in.

Here is the link to the Social Media & Digital Reputation edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/social-media-and-digital-reputation

Class in the Spotlight - 6A

Happy halfway through Term 4! 

This week in 6A we had a very busy week! 

In HASS, we have been researching different businesses and how they make money. We also attempted to spend $1 billion of Bill Gates’ money. That was a tough exercise though many of us just wanted to save it. We also roleplayed Shark Tank. We spoke about investors and how they buy shares in companies. We invested in products to solve a problem. Our favourite was the ‘Therapist Friend Watch’. This watch measures your heart rate and can tell your stress levels. When it notices your stress levels rise, it automatically gives you some techniques and exercises to calm you down and bring down your heart rate. The watch is useful in class as it is silent and doesn’t have access to the internet. How clever and imaginative is this invention! 

On Tuesday we had our last ever Water Safety lesson where we practiced for our upcoming swimming carnival next week. At the end of our lesson, we were lucky enough to have a free dive and loved to splash Miss Lynch who was standing on the sideline. 

In PE we are creating our routines with a basketball in time to a chosen song. We are eager to begin performing them in the next few weeks. 

This week we also saw Health Harold and Donna from Life Education for the very last time ever! Donna and Harold spoke with us about ways to combat big emotions and help calm ourselves down. They also taught us more about Cyber Safety and things we can do to keep ourselves safe online. 

6A

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