Term 1 Week 10 2023
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is hard to believe that we are in the final week of Term 1 already! It feels as though we only started back at school yesterday. As our Easter break approaches, I would like to thank our students for their efforts throughout the term. For many of our students, this year has been the first normal start to a school year that they have experienced. Our Year 6 students have been exemplary in their leadership throughout the past 10 weeks and our Prep students have adjusted to life at big school. I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to our staff for their hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence. Our staff spend many hours planning engaging learning activities both in and outside the classroom for our students and we value and appreciate everything that they do. Their professionalism, expertise and passion are inspiring and we are fortunate to have them as part of our team. Finally, thank you to our families for your ongoing support throughout a busy Term 1. Everyone certainly deserves a break over the next two weeks.
We are looking forward to our Cross Country this Thursday. I would like to thank Mrs Eathorne and the Sports Committee for organising this event for our students. Many hours have gone into planning this event and I know that our students are looking forward to the morning. We hope that you are able to join us as it is going to be a great morning.
At St Francis, we have high expectations of our students. The wearing of the correct school uniform and the student's personal appearance falls under these high expectations. Our students are representatives of our school whenever they are in school uniform, therefore, it should be worn with pride on all occasions. It is the collective responsibility of all to ensure that the requirements as laid out in the Uniform Policy are adhered to. Over the past few weeks, there have been several students whose uniforms and personal appearance do not meet the Uniform Policy guidelines. I have seen students whose hairstyles, hair accessories, shoes and jewellery are not in line with our policy. I ask that these issues are addressed over the school holidays. I will attach this policy below for your perusal. It is important that the students are showing pride in their school by wearing the correct uniform. I thank you in advance for your continued support.
The Resilience Project+ talks about what Emotional Literacy is and how important being emotionally literate is for adults as well as children. See the link here for more information. Parent/Carer Support(click this link)
Finally, I hope that you have a safe and relaxing Easter break. If you are travelling, travel safely. Enjoy the time you get to spend with your loved ones. Thank you again for your support throughout the term and I look forward to seeing you all after the holidays.
Have a wonderful week
Take care and God Bless
Amanda
Religious Life of the School
Week 10, where did the term go? It has been an action-packed term full of many experiences. Our students have had their Beginning of Year Mass, free dress and pancake days which were fun. Lent began with Ash Wednesday, we also had Youth Masses, whole school Christian Meditation and the Carnivale Disco.
Our busy term concludes with our Holy Week Liturgy on Friday morning at 9 am in the Samaritan Centre. This is open for all families to attend and we would love for you to join us.
This is the last week for students to purchase our Mini Vinnies Committee Easter Raffle tickets, 50c each, every morning and at play. All money raised will be donated to Project Compassion to help communities around the world and in our own country become more self-sufficient.
Project Compassion
This week we enter the fifth week of Lent. Caritas boxes may be returned to school anytime before the holidays so please send them in.
Our tuckshop wall has a large tap with water drops, it is helping us keep count of how much we have raised so far. Each drop represents $5 raised. The students have had great fun counting. Let’s see how many more drops we can add before the end of the term.
Fifth Week of Lent
(Week beginning Monday 27th March)
Project Compassion brings together Australian schools, parishes and supporters to raise funds for people in vulnerable communities across the world. This year, we introduced you to the story of four inspiring people whose lives have been transformed with your generous support: Laxmi, Tereesa, Priscilla and Thu.
Today, they are creating a better world for their families, their communities and for all future generations.
Project Compassion is a demonstration of the faith, empathy and generosity of our supporters. It is the lifeblood of Caritas Australia – without it, we could not do the vital work we do. Thank you for helping transform lives today and for all future generations.
Please support Project Compassion: www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion
I would like to thank you all for the support I have received in my first school term as APRE. I am excited for the rest of the year and look forward to working with you further. Enjoy the holidays and change of routine, I’m sure that Term 2 will be just as exciting and busy.
God bless and take care
Nicole
Learning Corner
If you work harder………….
Have you ever said this or something similar to your child?
Learning is not about working harder. It is about listening, asking questions, practising and staying focused on our work so what we do is the best we can at that moment.
During parent-teacher interviews this week you would not have been given results or grades. You would have heard about what your child is learning well, the areas that are providing challenges and how these challenges are being addressed in class.
The focus for students is knowing what they are learning, how they are going to learn it, how they will know they have been successful with their learning and where they can get help to help them learn.
At the end of the semester, your child’s level of achievement will not be based on averaging results of assessments but rather on the evidence from their work throughout the semester. The assessment tasks guide that judgement. As a semester progresses so too does the work standard. The end of semester report will reflect the standard that is most frequently demonstrated across the entire semester.
The criteria sheet or GTMJ (Guide to Making Judgements) provides teachers with information about that child’s learning achievement and how to extend that success.
How can you help your child learn?
When you give an instruction, expect them to follow it.
When you ask them to do a task, expect them to do it well. If they can’t do it well, show them how to do it, do it with them and then have them do it independently. Never accept a second-rate first attempt.
If you can patiently persevere with these expectations at home, it will develop a habit that will help them with their learning.
Enjoy the holidays reading, playing, talking and spending time with your child(ren)
See you all next term!
Have a great last week.
Rita Cranitch
Learning and Teaching Adviser
Inclusive Practices Teacher
Class in the Spotlight -
1/2B has had a fantastic start to the year and have already learnt many skills and information that will help us continue to grow throughout the rest of the year! We have been super busy, here is a quick recap of the term.
- In Maths we have been learning about 3D shapes, Measurement and Probability. We have been measuring lots of objects around our classroom using informal units and compared their length and area. We have been playing board games to work out what the chances are to roll a 1 when we have 2 dices.
- In Visual Arts we have been exploring Indigenous Art, focussing on cave painting, dot painting and body painting. We found out that many of their paintings use symbols to help tell a story or give information.
- On Tuesday we celebrated Harmony Day. We decorated hands to remind us to be respectful of other people’s cultural identity. These are display in the Front Office.
- In Religion we have looked at the significance of Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. We wrote Lenten promises which are displayed in our classroom. We often refer to them to see if we have been able to keep our Lenten promises.
- We LOVED sharing all our hard work with our special people at our Learning Breakfast on Thursday!
1/2B
P.A.T.H.
Our P.A.T.H. note winners for Week 10 are:
Charlotte, Oscar and Ella
Cross Country
Due to the plovers taking up residence on the oval, we have adjusted the Cross Country course for the safety of all members of our school community. Please see the updated information below.
Tuckshop
School Photos
School Photo Day is Wednesday 26 April 2023
Photo envelopes were sent home with students last week. If you have not received your envelope or have any questions please call the school office.
Please note: Sibling photos will be taken during school time not 8am as noted on the photo envelope.
Community
