Term 1 Week 5 2023

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Friday we celebrated our Beginning of Year Mass and Induction of our Year 6 Student Leaders. It was wonderful to gather in prayer as a school community and I would like to thank all of our families and members of the Parish who were able to join us. A special thank you to Fr Manoj for presiding over our Mass and to Nicole for organising a beautiful celebration. During our Mass, we were reminded that this year we celebrate 150 years of Catholic Education in the Townsville Diocese and we gave thanks for all those who have contributed to these wonderful 150 years. We were also reminded that like Jesus we too are called to demonstrate Love of God, Love of Neighbour and Love in Action in everything that we do.  

Catholic Identity Professional Development

Last Monday and Tuesday Nicole and I attended two days of professional development focused on analysing our school data from last year’s Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) surveys. These two days were led by Professor Robyn Horner and Dr Teresa Brown from the Australian Catholic University who both have extensive knowledge and experience in working with ECSI and in supporting schools in the formation, articulation and practice of their Catholic Identity. Over the two days, we also began developing our ideas to implement some of the recommendations of the surveys for our school community. Nicole and I will continue to work with Anita Livingston (our school Religious Education Advisor) to develop these plans in greater detail. Our Catholic Identity will be an area of continuing work over the coming months and years.   

School Board

Catholic School Boards are a group of people who seek to assist the school community to be true to its Catholic Identity and Mission Statement, to be alert to the signs of the times and to plan for a future of continual improvement. The Board’s function is of an advisory and pastoral nature.  We meet twice per term and these meetings are an opportunity for me as Principal to work alongside members of our community to discuss matters of school policy and important big-picture issues that affect our school now and into the future.  The St Francis Primary School Board is currently seeking applications from current and new members of our school community to fill positions on the School Board for 2023.  If you are interested in joining our School Board please send me an email at ajones16@sfatsv.catholic.edu.au. I look forward to welcoming new members and continuing to work with the School Board for the benefit of our school community. 

Lent

This week we begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time to bring us closer to God. In our busy lives, we fill ourselves with material items. These things all make us happy but that happiness doesn’t last, it is temporary. During Lent, we stop filling our lives with temporary happiness and make more room for God.  We are encouraged to pray and fast during Lent as a way of turning our hearts and our minds back to God.  During Lent, we remember that we don’t always do the right thing by God, but that God loves us anyway.  On Ash Wednesday we receive a cross on our forehead. It is a reminder that when we don’t get it right, we can turn to God and God will love and forgive us.

As I was thinking about Lent and what I can do this Lent I realised that many of my day-to-day activities are similar to the kinds of things that you and I can and should do during Lent as we prepare for Easter.  Let me explain.

On a weekend I like to OPEN UP.  I like to open my windows and let the fresh air fill my home.  For Lent, a great thing to do is OPEN UP our Bibles and read them more.  When we read our Bibles, God speaks to us and fills our hearts with God's presence. 

Sometimes I like to CLEAR OUT - especially the clutter in my cupboards. I go through my cupboards and take out the things I don’t really need: old shoes, towels, - things that will just be in the way.  For Lent, it is good to CLEAR OUT the things in our lives that we don’t really need - things that get in the way of following Jesus.

I often need to SWEEP UP.  I need to sweep my floors and get rid of the little bits of dirt - I need to sweep up under my rugs and get rid of the dirt that no one else sees but I know is hiding there.  Lent is a good time to ask ourselves, “Have I made any mistakes or messes that I need to clean up?  Do I need to apologise to someone for something that I said or did?  Do I need to ask God to forgive me? 

Although I am not a very good gardener, I love to PLANT.  I like to plant seeds in my garden pots and water them as I wait and watch them grow into beautiful plants and flowers.  During Lent it is good for us to PLANT - but we plant a different kind of seed during Lent.  We plant seeds of love.  We plant seeds of love in the hearts of others when we reach out to help others.

This week be quiet for a moment and think about what you will do during this Lenten season to become closer to God.

Have a wonderful week.

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

Thank you to all who attended our Beginning of School Mass and the induction of our student leaders. Congratulations and best wishes to all our school leaders as they embark on their final year of primary school. 

At our Mass, we spoke about our Catholic Identity model; love of God, love of neighbour and love in action. These are our words to live by this year as we try to follow the teachings of Jesus just as St. Francis Xavier, The Good Samaritan Sisters and Marcellin Champagnat did.

Thank you also to our students and families who attended our Youth Mass on Sunday.

Catholic Identity Committee

Our first Catholic Identity Committee meeting for the year is on Tuesday, February 28. The committee comprises of staff, parents and Fr Manoj who all represent different areas of our school community. We are looking for a new parent to join our team so if you are interested or would like more information please call the school or email me at: noconnor2@sfatsv.catholic.edu.au 

Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday also known as Pancake Day. The students will enjoy pancakes today with their classmates. Shrove Tuesday comes from an old English word meaning “to confess,” since it was customary to go to confession before the beginning of Lent. It was also customary to use up meats, fats, and dairy products before entering the Lenten period of fasting; this led to the day’s nickname of Pancake Tuesday. 

Ash Wednesday

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. The school will celebrate with a liturgy at 9 am in the hall and students will receive the ashes on their foreheads. The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration last year. While the ashes symbolise penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. Lent is a time of forgiveness and working to change some of our behaviours to become kinder people. As the Good Samaritan did, let’s reach out to our friends, neighbours and those in need with love, forgiveness and compassion.

Ash Wednesday is a day for fasting and abstinence from meat. Children are exempt, but they can still fast from sweets or something they like to help them get into the spirit of the season. 

We look forward to seeing you at our Ash Wednesday Liturgy prepared by 5/6B. Fr. Vitalis will be joining us to bless and help distribute the ashes.

Project Compassion

This week, the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

The theme of Project Compassion 2023 is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good we do today extends to impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues.  We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through prayer, fasting and almsgiving in support of Project Compassion. Each family will receive a Project Compassion box to take home. Boxes can be returned at the end of the term. We encourage students to reflect during the season of Lent and how they can strive to be better. The idea of giving up chocolate or similar during Lent is to promote self-discipline but promising to help more with household jobs can be just as rewarding. For more information about CARITAS and its work go to https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/ 

God bless

Nicole

Learning Corner

 Do we need labels to teach?

Labels provided by a paediatrician or a psychologist give us a reason why a child is experiencing difficulties with learning. This is after all other reasons for learning difficulties, such as high rates of school absences or poor attitudes to learning, are ruled out. Two children with the same ‘label’ will not necessarily have the same learning support needs.   

Labels are attached to a collection of behaviours. In many cases, a child may exhibit features of several different labels but is only provided with the label that has the majority of the behaviours demonstrated by the child. No label fully describes the child’s learning difficulties as there are often other learning behaviours seen.    

Labels are a guide to planning for a child by offering appropriate strategies to be used in class. However, to meet a child’s learning needs, we need to collect evidence unique to that child to identify their exact needs. It is not a case of using a common approach for all children with the same label. 

It is important for parents to contribute to and be involved in the planning of a child’s learning. When home and school behaviours are compared, we can more accurately identify the child’s needs to enable them to access the curriculum.

PROMOTING LITERACY LEARNING (PLD)

On Saturday, five members of staff travelled to Townsville to attend training in the use of PLD. This is a program that focuses on Literacy, Oral Language plus Movement and Motor.

They advise that the order for children to become literate they must be able to decode first, then spell and finally write.

 The program identifies the skills required at each phase and how to support children in mastering each step.

More on this next week!           

NAPLAN

Many thanks to parents who have spoken with their child’s teacher about their participation in NAPLAN and the adjustments that will be put in place.

 Ask your child how comfortable they are with using the tools they will access during the NAPLAN tests. Our practices are about the children being familiar with the way the tests are presented and how to complete the different question types. The content of the tests changes according to the accuracy of the answers provided by the students. 

 NAPLAN is an adaptive test with questions changing in response to student answers. If a child answers a series of questions correctly, they will be presented with more challenging questions, but if the questions are too difficult the questions will change to less challenging ones. Children will not have the same questions to answer as NAPLAN is about telling us what the children know and identifying the areas we need to work on rather than a competition.

If you are concerned in any way about your child’s learning and progress, do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Have a great week

Rita Cranitch

Learning and Teaching Adviser

Inclusive Practices Teacher

Tuckshop

This week only!

Class in the Spotlight - 5/6B

WOW, can you believe we have just finished Week 4?  We certainly have had a busy week in 5/6B.

We learnt about who St Valentine was and his message of love.

In English, we have been learning about different types of texts and completing literacy group activities.

In Maths we have been looking at the difference between prisms and pyramids. We have been enjoying making some 3D shapes.

We have enjoyed taking part in Circle time on a Monday afternoon. This week our Circle time focussed on empathy and how we can show empathy in different situations.

In Religion the Year 5s are learning about communities of believers. This week we have focused on the Eucharist. The Year 6s are learning about prayer and the different types of prayer we can use.

In Art, we have been having fun investigating the elements we use in Visual Arts. We have focussed on artistic techniques, with particular attention to moving line.

During second play some students enjoyed doing Fitness Club with Mrs Eathorne in the Hall.

Congratulations to all our Year 6s who have been busy practising to receive their leadership badges.

5/6B

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P.A.T.H.

Our P.A.T.H. note winners for Week 5 are: 

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - FRIENDSHIP & BELONGING

Learning how to make new friends and keep them involves a number of skills every young person needs to understand and develop. For some these skills will come very naturally, allowing them to easily move between different friendship groups, sharing their experiences and opening up to new people. For others, this can be much harder to navigate. Belonging to a group that is like-minded with similar interests is highly beneficial to a young person’s wellbeing. It gives them a sense of security helping them feel valued which in turn builds their confidence.

Positive friendships are an important part of the journey to adulthood. Adult carers can support their child or teenager by providing guidance in the many social and emotional skills required for a healthy relationship. This will help them to obtain, retain and maintain friendships. However, not all friendships are regarded as positive. Sometimes young people develop negative or toxic friendships. Therefore, it is also important for them to learn how to identify, avoid or deal with such a friendship.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers can learn how to support their young person’s friendship so that they experience a sense of belonging.

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 counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Friendship & Belonging edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/friendship-belonging

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