Term 1 Week 1 2022

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a great first day we had yesterday!  There was a lot of excitement from students, teachers and parents that we were finally returning to school.  Yesterday we welcomed 33 new Prep students to our St Francis family.  They did an amazing job settling in and it seems like they have been here forever.  We also welcomed Max in Year 1, Laoise in Year 2, Grace in Year 3, Angelica in Year 5 and Isabella in Year 6 as well as their families to our school community.  I’m sure you will make all of our new families feel welcomed when you meet them.

Due to ongoing Covid restrictions we won’t be holding our usual Parent Information Evening in 2022.  Rather, teachers have been busy preparing information booklets which contain all of the information that they would normally present on this evening.  These booklets will be sent home at the end of this week.  As always if you ever have any questions or concerns please contact your class teacher in the first instance.  Please remember that from 8:30-3pm teachers are engaged in teaching and learning and aren’t able to answer emails.  If you have a message that you need to get to your child during this time, please phone the Office and it will be passed on. 

How many times have you asked your child what they did at school that day and they said nothing?  Try these questions to encourage your child to provide more information about their day.  

What made you smile today?

What was your favourite thing that you did today?

Did anyone do anything silly to make you laugh? 

What was the most popular game at lunchtime?

If you could change one thing about your day, what would it be? 

In some staffing news, Corinna Polga will be having Term 1 off as she is recovering from illness. She is healing well and we wish her every blessing as she continues her recovery.  We look forward to welcoming Corinna back to school when she is ready to return.  Please keep her in your prayers.

We are looking for volunteers to be part of a group to run the Francis’ Friends Playgroup.  If you are interested in becoming part of a team to run the group or even to find out more about what it involves, please send me an email at ajones16@sfatsv.catholic.edu.au.  

Have a wonderful week

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

Welcome back to a new year! It was lovely to see the enthusiasm of the students as they returned to school and met up with their friends. We were blessed with lots of smiles and great stories about the holidays.

For a couple of years now, we have been working on clarifying the Catholic Identity of St Francis School by exploring our history, traditions and practices, our founding Religious Order, our Patron Saint and all the many things that encapsulate the unique spirit of our school. Our strong parish link is also a strong feature contributing to our Catholic Identity.

During the year our school community will be exploring the Special Religious Character of our School as we detail how we live out our Catholic Identity in the day-to-day life of the school. The challenge for us is to build upon the traditions of the past and address the spiritual and religious needs of our present-day and future school community. Therefore, it will be important for all members of our community including the Catholic Identity Committee, the Student Council, the School Board, students, staff and parents to have input in detailing the special religious character of the school.

As we begin the new year we reflect on our founding Religious Order, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of Saint Benedict. When John Bede Polding arrived in Australia 1834, he was concerned for women trying to support their families, and for others on the margins of society – indigenous people, convicts and abandoned children. On the 2^nd of February each year we mark the day Bishop Bede Polding founded the sisters of the Good Samaritan in 1857 to assist these people in need.

Last week, we met our new parish priest Father Manoj. Father Manoj is a Redemptorist Priest from Kerala, a southern state of India. He has been ministering in Townsville for a year and we look forward to working with him in the future. He is looking forward to visiting and presiding at our class masses and celebrations.

School Prayer:

Father,
Help us to live our motto of Christ and Knowledge at St. Francis school. 
 May we strive to follow the example of Jesus

to treat each other with fairness and respect.  

May we make our school a place of love for Jesus,

His mother, Mary and each other.

We pray that St. Francis Xavier, our Patron Saint,

will guide us as we try to make our school

a better place in the way we play and learn. 

 Amen

Aiming for Excellence

WELCOME to 2022

Excellence is described as ‘the quality of being outstanding or extremely good’.  Included in the list of synonyms is ‘high quality’.

For learning and teaching in our classrooms it is about high quality learning and teaching. It is about all students accessing the curriculum at a level that is challenging but not frustrating and that growth in learning is visible for all students.

Some students thrive on challenge while others are fearful and feel anxious about the unknown. Some students require adjustments due to the way they think and feel to enable them to succeed.

If a child is not thriving socially, emotionally or academically the first point of call is the class teacher.

Strategies tried in the class to address the student need are reviewed by the class teacher,  IPT (Inclusive Practices Teacher) and parents. If further support is required we call on the TCE (Townsville Catholic Education) team of specialist assigned to support and advise our school.

The team is made up of:   

Tim Birthisel – Advisory Visiting teacher -  Inclusive Education

All activities undertaken at school to support and promote student learning and well – being are overseen by monitored Amanda, School Principal supported by Laurence Hosking, School Consultant through regular report back and forward planning meetings.

If you have any concerns at all about your child’s well being and/or learning,  please do not hesitate to call the school office who will direct your call appropriately.

Rita Cranitch

Learning and Teaching Adviser

Inclusive Practices Teacher

Meet the Guidance Counsellor

Introducing our new Guidance Counsellor, Kerrie-Ann Wilson. Kerrie-Ann has completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) at Central Qld University.  Her background includes working with non-government support agencies in the Bowen / Collinsville area.  As part of the Townsville Catholic Education’s Student Support Services, Kerrie-Ann will be servicing a cluster of schools including St Francis (Ayr), St John Bosco (Collinsville) and St Mary’s (Bowen).  Kerrie-Ann will be providing services each Monday and Tuesday at St Francis.  Her role includes psychoeducational assessments and reporting, group and individual interventions, skills development for staff and families and student counselling.  

“I am passionate about making a positive difference to others and contributing to the growth of our young people. I am looking forward to building new connections with students and their families here at St Francis.”

St Francis Run Club

Birthdays

Gallery

Library Fun