Term 2 Week 4 2022

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

I had the privilege of helping out at the Burdekin Junior Eisteddfod this morning and was able to watch our Prep, Year 5 and Year 6 choirs perform along with several other St Francis students who had entered in individual sections.  We had some amazing Year 5 and 6 students lead their choirs as Mrs Julyan has been unwell.  These students did themselves and our school proud.  The talent in our school absolutely blew me away.  I would like to congratulate all of our students who have entered the Eisteddfod.  It takes a lot of bravery to step up onto a stage and sing and perform in front of an audience.  These students are far braver than I would be!

At our Parent Information evening, I spoke about the difference between parent engagement and parent involvement.  Both of these are incredibly important to the functioning of our school.  Parent involvement is about doing, it is doing a job, lending a helping hand at the tuckshop, helping at sporting carnivals or coming along to a disco.  With parent involvement as a school, we identify projects or needs and then ask parents to help and contribute.  This is an incredibly important element and one that we cannot lose in order for our school to continue to flourish. However, parent engagement goes beyond involvement to another level.  Parent engagement is about school and families coming together and being true partners in students' educational journeys.  the goal is to empower families to be active partners in their child's learning. Parent Engagement is so important.  We know that parents and carers are one of the most important influences on a child’s education. When you are engaged in your children’s education, your children are more likely to enjoy attending school and perform better. Almost all the research says that any kind of increased parent interest and support of students can help. Most of all, the research says that family engagement can produce even better results—for students, for families, for schools, and for their communities.  As a school, we will continue to explore options for parent engagement throughout the year and these will be communicated to families as soon as possible.  

Catholic School Parents Queensland is holding a Parent Engagement Day on Saturday 4th June in Townsville.  This is a wonderful opportunity and I encourage you to consider attending.  If you plan on attending, please let me know.  I will be going to this event.  Register your attendance here https://www.eventcreate.com/e/townsvilleparentengagement2022

On Friday our St Francis Cross Country team competed at the District Cross Country event.  Congratulations to Riley, Nate, Lily and Bonnie who were placed.  Nate, Lily, Sari, Reesa and Jake will now go on to NQ Trials. We wish these students all the best.  Unfortunately due to age requirements, Riley and Bonnie are too young to head to NQ Trials but we congratulate them on their achievement.  

Today our Year 3 and Year 5 students entered the Naplan testing window. Please keep these students in your thoughts and prayers as they progress through the tests over the coming days. 

We are currently taking Prep enrolments for 2023.  If you have a child beginning school next year or know someone whose child is due to begin Prep, please get your enrolment forms in ASAP.   Don’t forget about our Prep Open Days on the 10th and 16th of June.  Parents and students of 2023 Prep are invited to join us on either day to get a taste of what a day in the life of Prep is like.  Please RSVP to the Office so we know you are coming.  

Have a wonderful week.

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

Next Sunday in the Gospel (John 13:31-35) for the fifth Sunday of Easter, we return to the events of the Last Supper, when just after Judas had left, Jesus told his disciples he would soon be leaving them. Jesus then gave them a new commandment, ‘to love one another as he had loved them.’ 

Unpacking the Catholic Identity model that encapsulates the Catholic life of our school.

Students at St Francis are encouraged to follow Jesus’ example through ...

Love of God - Exemplified by Mary, Mother of Jesus and Significant Characters such as…

• Bede Polding, St Marcellin Champagnat and St Francis
• Who found God in all things
• And followed (obeyed) their calling from God

How do we show our love of God?  How do other people know we follow Jesus’ commandment to love one another? 

Love, as shown to us by Jesus and exemplified by the significant characters we look to as models of love and service, is our core school value. For our students, it is the way they respect each other, care for each other and are willing to be of service.  We often have visitors who remark on our student’s friendliness and respectful way of speaking. Last week, at the class mass we saw our Year 6 leaders modelling church manners and helping their Prep buddies to know what to do in mass. They did an amazing job and we had a beautiful mass for our mothers and grandmothers.

On Saturday morning, our Year 6 leaders got up very early, with their mums and grandmothers, to join the CWL ladies and their guests at the annual Mother’s Day breakfast. They led the ladies in a Mother’s Day prayer and gave all a beautiful bookmark with a prayer for mothers. The members of our Mini Vinnies group gave up one of their lunchtimes to decorate the bookmarks with coloured beads. They were happy to be of service knowing that the bookmark would make some mums very happy. We were so proud of the reverent way our year 6 leaders, led prayer and the respectful, caring way they related with everyone there. Well done everyone!

Next Sunday, 15^th May we will have our first school youth mass at the 5:30 pm mass. If your children would like to read, lead the singing or just come along to join in please let Mrs Jones or Mrs Ferguson know. Everybody is welcome to come celebrate with our Parish family.

God bless

Mary

Bless us with Love, O Merciful God;
That we may Love as you Love!
That we may show patience, tolerance,
Kindness, caring and love to all!!
Bless us with compassion so
that we may help all who are in need!
Bless us with your Love so that
we may follow Jesus’ commandment
to love one another!
Bless us with your Love O God.

Aiming for Excellence

Ready Set Write! 

This week students in years two to six will focus on describing characters and settings.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN commenced today for the Year 3 classes. Today they completed the Writing and the Reading tasks. Year 5 will commence with the NAPLAN Writing on Wednesday. Although a few children had a couple of butterflies initially,this morning, they quickly settled into the tasks.

Many thanks to the teachers who made sure that children were familiar with the features of the online tasks, organised spare chromebooks and ensured all children has headphones. No surprises for any child!

This week and next, Years 3 to 6 will have changed class routines to accommodate NAPLAN and Eisteddfod attendances.

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Teachers record the daily adjustments and supports that are being provided for students with a recognised disability as well as the learning progress being made by the students. The frequency of communication with parents and the outcome of that communication is recorded.

The level of support required by a student is determined by the frequency of the adjustments and the type of adjustment required for a child to access the curriculum. If a child is having difficulty with learning due to high absences they are not included in the NCCD or eligible for funding from NCCD.

Many thanks to the parents who share specialist reports, diagnoses and keep us informed about their child’s needs to enable them to access the curriculum.

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Rita Cranitch

Leaning and Teaching Adviser

Inclusive practices Teacher

From the Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - BLENDED FAMILIES

Blended or stepfamilies, come in all shapes and sizes. Today, the term “blended family” is more commonly used as opposed to “stepfamily”. Although their original meanings differ slightly, today both terms are used interchangeably. This is mostly due to some of the negative connotations associated with fairytale characters such as the evil stepmother or stepsister.

The blended family is the fastest growing family dynamic in the world with one in five families now being a ‘step’ or ‘blended’ family. However, when families “blend,” it rarely progresses smoothly. Some children resist change, and parents become frustrated when the new family doesn’t function in the same way as the previous one.

For many step-parent’s, the greatest challenge lies in determining what their role is within the family. The process can be both rewarding and challenging. Children affected by the union of a new couple may not be excited at the prospect of becoming part of a new family.

Although blending families requires adjustment and patience from everyone involved, in this edition of SchoolTV, parents will be given some guidelines of real expectations that can help their new family work through the growing pains.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school guidance counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Blended Families edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/blended-families

Lost Property

Please see the school office if this lost property belongs to your family.

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