Term 3 Week 8 2022
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
This coming Sunday is Father’s Day and we would like to wish all of our Dad’s and those that take on a father figure role a happy Father’s Day. We hope you have a wonderful day.
Dear Significant Men in the lives of children,
Keep on doing whatever those “big” things are that you do to show your kids you love them, but don’t overlook the “little” things that show your love for them. After all, the little things ARE the big things.
Happy Father’s Day!
On Wednesday we will be holding a Father’s Day Stall for the students to purchase a small gift for their Dad or carer. A huge thank you to Teena Butler and Bhree-Ana Perry for organising the stall and to all of our families who have helped contribute gifts and their time.
This Thursday we have our TCE Professional Photoshoot which is a wonderful opportunity for us to capture photos of our school in action. The photos taken will be used for all of our promotional and advertising over the next 18 months as well as used throughout the school. All students are required to be in their formal uniform on Thursday with hair and jewellery following our Uniform Policy. Thank you for your support.
A reminder that this Friday is a Pupil Free Day. On this day our teaching staff will be engaging with Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum as well as developing their skills in analysing student writing. Our School Officers will be working on online professional development around social emotional disorders and ASD.
By all accounts our Year 6 students had a wonderful time at camp last week. It was wonderful to hear that the students stepped out of their comfort zone and had a go at all the activities. What impressed me the most were the stories from the teachers and parent volunteers around how the students supported and encouraged each other. We will share photos from camp with you in the coming week. A huge thank you to Mrs Johansen, Mrs Di Bartolo, Mrs Arboit, Mr Eathorne and Mr Horan for providing the students with such a memorable experience.
Parent/Teacher Interviews will occur across Week 9 and 10 of this term. While these interviews are optional, I would encourage all parents to make the most of this opportunity for the following reasons:
- It provides parents an insight into their child’s classroom
- Helps parents understand their child’s progress and areas they still need to work on
- It allows teachers to provide positive feedback to parents
- It is another opportunity for you to raise any concerns you may have
- It helps to build partnerships between the school and home
Please make sure you return your form by Thursday 1st September.
Next week is Child Protection Week. While child protection is an everyday message and learning all year round, the dedicated week provides us with an opportunity to focus on the safety and wellbeing of all students. Child safety is a priority in our school and across the diocese, therefore throughout next week our students will be engaged in a range of activities to promote the importance of child protection. I encourage you to talk to your child/ren to find out what has been discussed at school each day.
As you all know, schools are very busy places with our day to day activities as well as our special events that take place. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff from the bottom of my heart for all that they do for our students and school community. It has been a very busy term and our staff have dealt with many disruptions and gone above and beyond to ensure our students have had many wonderful opportunities. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated staff here at St Francis.
I look forward to seeing you at the Disco on Thursday evening and the Water Festival on Saturday.
Have a wonderful week.
Take care and God Bless
Amanda
Religious Life of the School
If we are really determined to do something, even though it might be difficult then we can succeed. It is not easy to live as a Christian. In Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 14: 25-33) Jesus gives examples where wise men and leaders think about the ‘cost’ of their actions before they actually proceed with a decision. This means he wants us to think carefully about what is expected of us if we are to be his disciples: to love one another; to keep God’s rules; to be kind and forgiving and all the other qualities of being truly Christian. In our Parish community, we are blessed with the CWL (Catholic Women’s League) who are a model of discipleship for us.
CONGRATULATIONS CWL: On Friday evening, Amanda and I attended the CWL League's 60th Anniversary. In 1962 groups of Catholic women came together to pray, support each other and lend a hand wherever needed in their Parishes. During difficult times they were there for each other, for the Parish and community selflessly going out of their way to continue God’s work in their families and Parish – all for the honour and glory of God! With their close links to our school, they are a wonderful model for our school’s Catholic Identity: exemplifying ‘Love of God’, ‘Love in Action’, and ‘Love of Neighbour’.
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR CARE FOR CREATION: Thursday is the first day of spring! Pope Francis has designated September 1st as the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
“Listen to the voice of creation” is the theme and invitation of this year’s Season of Creation. In his message for the World Day of Prayer 2022, Pope Francis calls us to use the season to "cultivate our ecological conversion” and to pray together in “the great cathedral of Creation”. He warns that we are reaching “a breaking point" and must act decisively so that "we and future generations can continue to rejoice in creation’s sweet song of life and hope."
Something to do at home: Use this idea to inspire your family prayer time around the wonders of God's creation.
Seeds of peace
Gather some small pots, potting compost and seeds - sunflowers, lettuce, radish and cress are all good easy to grow choices.
Reflect together on the power of a seed. A tiny seed, if given water and light, can move soil many, many times its own weight. We should never underestimate the power of a seed.
One of Jesus' followers, James, wrote: "Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness." (James 3:18)
Think together about some of the situations in the world where God's peace is needed.
Think about, and thank God for, those people who bring peace.
Then plant your seeds as a prayer for peace and a commitment to allowing the goodness of your lives to grow.
https://cafod.org.uk/Pray/Prayer-resources/Creation-family-prayer-ideas
Living God,
have mercy on us,
for the times we forget
that we belong to each other.
You call us to be still,
to hear the whisper of our Sister Wind,
to feel the radiance of our Brother Sun,
and to be nourished by our Mother Earth.
Renew us in your healing love.
Inspire us to water the earth,
and nurture one another,
so all may flourish.
Together, as one family,
may we always sing your praise.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Rachel McCarthy/CAFOD
Father’s Day is a special day of the year where we can celebrate the presence of our fathers in our families, guiding, protecting and being there for us. Just like St. Joseph who played a crucial role in the life of Jesus Christ, our dads are important in the love and wellbeing of our children. We wish all our fathers and father figures the blessings of a loving, relaxing day on Sunday!
A Prayer for Fathers
God our Father, we give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.
We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation;
May they find the courage and perseverance to balance work, family, and faith in joy and sacrifice.
We pray for our own fathers who have supported and challenged us;
May they continue to lead in strong and gentle ways.
We remember fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering;
May they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow.
We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.
We remember fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers who are no longer with us
but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.
Amen
God Bless
Mary
Aiming for Excellence
Ready Set Write!
Our focus this week is on sentence beginnings. We are trying to encourage students to commence their sentences with words other than ‘the’, ‘I’, ‘then’ or ‘after’.
Is it a Disability, Learning Difficulty or Anxiety?
All three terms above name some barriers to successful learning but unfortunately some of these terms are misunderstood and therefore used inaccurately.
A disability remains with a child until adulthood and beyond, requires ongoing support in some form as well as classroom adjustments to enable access to the curriculum.
A learning difficulty is an issue that requires adjustments to some degree if a child is to learn and make progress.
Anxiety interferes with a student’s involvement and understanding of concepts taught and they lack the confidence to have ‘a go’ mainly from a fear of failure.
Last week I attended the TCE Inclusive Education Network Day. These days are valuable as they inform us about changes in expectations and supports available to assist children in accessing the curriculum.
One of the sessions was presented by representatives from NDIS Partners in the Community. For our area, there are two organisations that arrange the delivery of NDIS services and funding. The first is Uniting Care which supports children with a developmental delay or a disability up to the age of six.
Between the ages of six and seven, children with a disability continue to be supported but support for children with developmental delays ceases. From mid 2023, Uniting Care will cater for children with a disability up to the age of nine.
Disability support through NDIS will continue after the age of seven until mid 2023, and beyond nine years of age after mid 2023, through Feros Care.
Not all causes of learning difficulties can be diagnosed as a disability. A disability is described as: “disease or medical condition that causes permanent impairment (physical, intellectual, cognitive, neurological, visual, hearing or psychosocial), resulting in significant disability”.
The link below will provide more information about NDIS recognised disabilities.
Quest For Knowledge
A team of four year 6 students will be participating in the Townsville Catholic Education Quest for Knowledge on Thursday, September 8. They will complete 12 rounds of 20 questions covering Religion, Numeracy, Literacy, Literature, Indigenous Culture, Australia, the World, Sport and Science. The competition is completed online with 20 minutes allowed to answer each set of 60 questions. We wish the team of Sophia Sarri, Alaya Mugica, Alice O’ Connor and Lisa Keryk a challenging experience.
ICAS: The Mathematics assessment will be completed on Wednesday, 31st August.
Rita Cranitch
Learning and Teaching Adviser
Inclusive Practices Teacher
The Good Samaritan's P.A.T.H.
Last week, students were challenged to follow the rules of our last letter of PATH. The letter 'H' is all about Helping your Neighbour and what excellent helpers we saw throughout the week. St Francis Staff were all on the lookout for students following the rules of Help your Neighbour: Be kind in words and actions, Be forgiving, fair and just, Show care, patience and help others.
Congratulations to our Week 7 winners Rylan Rayner (Prep A), Peyton Butler (3/4B) & Robbie Nolan (6A)
This week we will be going back to the start and focusing on Persist with Learning and Act Safely. Keep up the great work!!
Reflection
It is Father’s Day!
Celebrate it!
There is a famous picture of John Kennedy Jr, sitting under the desk in the oval office when his father was President. To the world, he was a president... an influential leader, but to John Jr, he was Daddy. No matter our age, there is not a single moment we don’t need a father. Regardless of our position, education or wealth, our dads take a higher place in our lives. They are the reasons for our existence, after, God the Father.
Jesus, amongst all His wisdom, taught us to call God ‘Our Father’ despite all the names of God in the Old Testament. We have more access to God when God becomes our Father. Every time we recite the ‘Our Father, ’ we are reminded of the importance of God in our lives and the role in which He plays in our lives. Jesus knew and experienced this in His life with His earthly father, St. Joseph and ultimately his heavenly Father, God. This strengthens our relationship with God as Our Father in a similar way as we have with our dads.
Isn’t that true that we cannot have this free access to anyone else as we have with our dads? They are not often expressive of their love and care as our mothers. They might appear to be reserved and serious. But in their hearts, dads are gentle and loving, always having a place for their children. They are experts in hiding their emotions for you. Most often, they cannot express all their love due to their responsibilities. They are often misunderstood as hard-hearted or cold. It is not a good feeling to be misunderstood.
Every dad remembers the first time they held you in your arms on the day you were born. Every dad loves to be involved in all aspects of our lives. Often, dads miss out on the important events at school because they are working, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t proud of you. They often take us on adventures, fishing and camping- making sure we have the best life. Dads are there to help us when we are hurt. They give the best hugs and will always be there to listen, providing advice and wisdom when we are confused. Some dads wear two hats- as a mum and dad, loving us even more. Dads play a significant part in our lives, and often we forget to say thank you or I love you. Today, let us remember the importance of dads in our lives. We would not be what we are today without our dads.
Fr. Manoj Mathew, C.Ss.R.
Administrator, Burdekin group of parishes.
From the Guidance Counsellor
In this edition of SchoolTV - DEPRESSION
When kids feel sad, irritable or anxious most of the time, this is not considered a ‘normal’ part of adolescence. Depression may be indicated by uncharacteristic behaviour such as social withdrawal, changes to academic performance, use of drugs or alcohol, or even engaging in risky behaviour. The symptoms and signs are a combination of what a parent can see externally, plus what a child is feeling internally.
Every child can feel sad or down in response to a particular situation. However, these feelings should only last a short time and should not interfere with a child’s day-to-day activities. Should the sadness continue for longer than two weeks, then your child could be at risk of depression. This is more than just sadness, it is a serious health problem with no singular cause. Usually depression is the result of a combination of things.
In this edition of SchoolTV parents will learn how identify the signs of depression and what the effects are on their child’s wellbeing and overall health.
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 Depression edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/depression
Library
Book Week comes to an end for 2022
Water Festival
Calling all St Francis Superheroes!!!
Burdekin Water Festival Procession and Mardi Gras
This year St Francis has a Junior Ambassador entrant in the Burdekin Water Festival, Miss Claire Horan. As part of the celebrations St Francis School will be entering a float into the water festival parade prior to the Mardi Gras event and is open to all members of the school community. This year the procession and Mardi Gras will be held at the Ayr Show Grounds on Saturday 3rd September, 2022.
This year the theme for the Burdekin Water Festival is “My Super Hero” and St Francis School are looking for children to dress up as superheroes (any type, Marvel, DC, generic etc) and ride on the float during the procession. Kids of all ages and year levels are welcome. Representatives of the school will be walking beside the float to maximise safety of the children.
Float decorating
Claire’s family have designed the float “St Francis Superheroes” and are looking for helpers on the morning of Saturday 3rd of September to assemble and decorate the float in the school carpark area. If you are able to come and lend a hand (or some strong muscles) could you please let Rebecca Horan know on 0427834568 or bec.horan@hotmail.com.
Riding on the Float
Please let the school office know if your child is interested in riding on the school float on Saturday 3rd September. You will be required to bring your child dressed to the McKenzie Street entrance of the Ayr Show Grounds by 3.30pm sharp for float judging and collect them from the same area at the end of the procession time. Let’s show the community how wonderful and supportive our school is!!
Fathers Day Stall
Lost Property
Please call in to the school office if one of these items belong to your family. School jumper size: 10.
Community
Sofia Sarri was awarded the Brendan Joyce Strings Encouragement bursary at the Burdekin Festival of Arts last week. Sofia was also awarded a special writing award named after the adjudicator Bev Lando for commitment to writing in the primary school section. Well done Sofia!
