Term 1 Week 1 2023

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the 2023 school year. What an amazing day we had yesterday. Students, teachers and parents were all excited to get the year underway. We have had a lovely calm start with students quickly settling into the routines of the new year. 

This week we have welcomed 29 new Prep students along with Ella, Armani and Adrian in Year 2, Mika, Beth and Amity in Year 3 and Emma in Year 6. We also welcomed three new teachers, Mrs Kelly Harris (Prep A), Ms Andriana Dawson (2A) and Mrs Tracie Duthie (3/4B). We also welcome Mr Leeroy Chung to our staff as our new maintenance officer as Peter Pattinson will be finishing with us at the end of the week. I trust that you will make these students, staff and families feel welcome when you meet them. Although she isn’t new to our school, we also are delighted to have Mrs Nicole O’Connor as part of the school leadership team in 2023. Nicole has taken on the role of Assistant Principal Religious Education (APRE) and is looking forward to continuing to develop our school's Catholic Identity. 

Pastoral Care Weeks

In 2023 we are introducing Pastoral Care Weeks. Pastoral Care Weeks will occur in place of some of our Monday afternoon assemblies and are designed to help support our students' wellbeing and social/emotional development. During these weeks, teachers will be running Circle Time with their class. Circle Time is both a philosophy for healthy relationships and a positive pedagogy for learning them. Circles are a safe and positive way of development:

• Self awareness, knowledge and skills
• Knowledge, understanding and acceptance of others
• Pro-social behavior
• A sense of belonging and connectedness 
• A focus on positive, solution focused thinking
• Resilience, increased emotional resources and wellbeing
• Collaborative decision making, conflict resolution and problem-solving

During the Professional Development Week (the week before school started), our teachers were all trained in Circle Time. Some of our classes even began the school year with a Circle. 

Circle Time

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Uniforms

At the beginning of a new school year it is important that you are aware of our uniform policy and expectations. Please take the time to read the Uniform Policy which can be found at the end of the newsletter this week. Teachers will be sending home Compass notifications for incorrect uniforms and we ask that you address these promptly. We thank you for your support in ensuring that our students are wearing their school uniform with pride and representing the school in our community in a positive manner.

Parent Teacher Evening

Parent Information Evening will be held on Tuesday 7th February. This is a wonderful parent engagement opportunity and a way of building a strong and productive partnership with your child’s teacher.  The program will be:

• 5:45 - 6:00pm - Gather in the Samaritan Centre for Prayer and staff introductions
• 6:00 - 6:25pm - 1st classroom session
• 6:30 - 6:55pm - 2nd classroom session (a repeat of the 1st session) 

During these sessions you’ll hear about what your child will be learning, their teacher’s expectations, how you can help your child with their learning at home, how you can become involved and much, much more.  

Volunteer Site Induction

We are very lucky to have so many volunteers working throughout our school and are an integral part of the day to day life of our school.  Our staff and students greatly appreciate your help!  In order to be a volunteer you need to complete the Volunteer Induction which can be found on our school website as well as attend a school site induction. I will be holding two inductions this term, Thursday 2nd February at 8:30am and Thursday 9th February at 5:30pm. 

Communication

We greatly value our partnerships with families and in response to feedback we received last year, in 2023 each class teacher will be sending home a weekly overview of events and any important information for their class for the following week. If you have any concerns or questions throughout the year, please talk to your child’s teacher in the first instance. Please remember that during the day, teachers don’t always have the opportunity to check their email so if you have an urgent message, please contact the Office.  Teachers will endeavour to reply to emails within 48 hours.

Each week we post a This Week at St Francis on Facebook as well as send this overview out as a Compass notification. This is a great way to keep up to date with what is happening in the coming week. We also have our Term Calendar which was sent out last week and is included in the newsletter this week. These dates are also on our school website. I encourage you to keep up with our newsletter and Facebook page for any important date changes. 

Have a wonderful week

Take care and God Bless

Amanda 

Religious Life of the School

Welcome

Welcome to our new school year, one that I am sure will be filled with love, laughter and challenges. I hope the break from your normal routine was somewhat restful and you enjoyed a blessed Christmas with family and friends.

About Me

I am very excited to take on the role of acting APRE at St. Francis this year. For those of you who I have not met or been a teacher of your children, here is a little about me. My family and I moved to Ayr four years ago and now feel quite at home. We moved from the Southern Highlands in NSW where I taught in the Diocese of Wollongong. Before then I taught in schools in South East Queensland working in the state system and for Brisbane Catholic Education. I live with my husband and our youngest child who began high school this year. Our two adult children live in Brisbane and Wollongong. I am looking forward to working in a different capacity within the school this year and to further developing the school’s Catholic Identity.

Catholic Identity Model

Over the past few years we have done a lot of work on our school’s Catholic Identity. Catholic Identity is a school’s story by which they can be recognised. Whilst God is at the centre of each Catholic school, each school has a story about how they were founded and developed. Our school has the name of St Francis in honour of St Francis Xavier and was founded and run by the Good Samaritan Sisters and then the Marist Brothers. Delving deeper into these Charisms, our school’s religious character can be summed up by Love of God, Love of Neighbour and Love in Action, which we will continue to develop this year.

The Church's Liturgical Calendar

After the joyous celebrations during the Season of Christmas, the Church has now commenced the first period of Ordinary Time in the current liturgical year. At the beginning of the Church’s liturgical calendar in Advent, the Church commenced using Year A, which draws primarily from the Gospel of Matthew. Ordinary Time is signified by the colour green. Green is a symbol of life and growth. During Ordinary Time, we are growing and moving forward, and the weekly scripture guides our prayer life and our reflections on our relationship with God. The Church will move into the Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday (22 February), at which time the liturgical colour will become purple.

God Bless

Nicole

Reflection

My dear friends, parents, staff and children

I welcome you into the new year.  I hope everyone had a good holiday, I was happy to meet some of you at Christmas time.  I would like to hear your holiday stories, when I come back from my holiday in India, I’ll share my stories with you too.  Our parishes in the Burdekin had colorful celebrations, the schools and your parents were very much part of the celebrations.  Some of your children were part of the Christmas plays in Home Hill and in Ayr.  People loved it.  They still talk about it.  Congratulations and we will have more of it in the new year.  As we begin this new year, we thank Jesus for the last year, for blessing us with happiness and success.  Every new year brings us more blessings with its challenges but we are never alone.  Jesus promises to be with us forever, that is his name Emmanuel, God with us.  I wish each of you a successful academic year.  May God continue to shower his blessings upon our schools, your families and yourselves.  I pray that he helps our children in all their efforts to be good citizens of this country.  May the prayers of St Francis, St Colman, St Marcellin and all the saints help us to imitate Jesus in our daily lives.

 Yours in Jesus Christ

Fr Manoj

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - SCHOOL TRANSITIONS

Whether it is starting school for the first time, moving up to a higher grade or embarking on a journey through secondary school, there is no doubt that any school transition is a very exciting time for children and parents. It means your children are growing up!

However, transitioning is an ongoing process. It can continue long after students have entered their new environment and may encounter difficulties at a number of different stages. These stressors may appear as anxiety and frustration and result in negative or disruptive behaviours. Such behaviours can become problematic making the transitioning process even more difficult for children and parents.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn practical strategies to assist your child during the transition process and reduce stress and anxiety levels.

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 School Transitions edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/school-transitions

Tuckshop

Parents &/or grandparents are invited to become part of this year’s Tuckshop team.

The Tuckshop operates from Monday to Friday from 8:30am - 11:30am for First Break.

Working in the Tuckshop is a great opportunity to meet new parents in a friendly & relaxed atmosphere.

Please note: you will need to have completed your Volunteer Induction Online Training.

Volunteer Induction Online Training can be accessed via our website: https://www.sfatsv.catholic.edu.au/about/volunteer-induction-for-parents-and-carers/ Attendance at a Site Induction on Thursday 2 February 8:30am or Thursday 9 February 5:30pm is also required.  Once complete all modules and documents please email your certificate and paperwork to ayr@tsv.catholic.edu.au

Please return the from below to the school office at your earliest convenience. Any amount of time that you can assist will be greatly appreciated. If you have any further enquiries please feel free to contact the school office on 4783 2877.

We are looking forward to another exciting year in the tuckshop.

Birthdays

Uniform Policy

Community