Term 2 Week 2 2023

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you to all those families who joined us for the ANZAC Day March on Tuesday.  It was a very moving ceremony and our students did a wonderful job of paying their respects.  While on ANZAC Day we remember the landing at Gallopi, ANZAC Day also recognises the involvement of all Australians, men and women, in all wars, conflict and peacekeeping operations. The endurance, courage and mateship demonstrated by the ANZAC’s forged the legend of the ANZAC and it is those same qualities that members of the Australian Defence Force live by today and are also qualities that each of us can apply to our everyday lives.  

Prep 2024

We are currently taking Prep enrolments for 2024.  If you have a child beginning school next year or know someone whose child is due to begin Prep, please get your enrolment forms in ASAP. These forms can be found on our school website. Please follow this link to access our current enrolment form.   Don’t forget about our Prep Open Days on the 9th and 12th of June.  Parents and students of 2024 Prep students are invited to join us on either day to get a taste of what a day in the life of Prep is like.  Please RSVP to the Office so we know you are coming. 

Master Planning

After consultation with the School Board, last term I submitted a proposal to Townsville Catholic Education for the first stage of our new master plan. This stage involves the refurbishment of two of the classrooms in the Irving Wing plus a new Junior Playground and outdoor area. This refurbishment will involve considerable work as we will be creating an age-appropriate flexible learning environment that allows for inside and outside learning. Once completed we will be moving our Prep classes over to this area. I am very pleased to announce that our proposal has been endorsed and we are able to move on to the next steps in the process. We are now finalising the paperwork and drawings before sending the project out to tender. I look forward to sharing more about this project with you in the coming months.

This year we will also be working towards a new Senior Playground. Last term all students were asked what they would like to see in a new playground and their suggestions will be taken into consideration when designing our new play spaces.

Positive Behaviour For Learning - The Good Samaritan’s P.A.T.H.

Over the past 18 months we have been reviewing our behaviour management practices across the school and have undertaken the development of a Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) approach. Much work has been completed to date, with more to come, however, in 2023 we have several key elements of the approach being implemented. 

What is PB4L and why is St Francis implementing it?

The Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) framework is being introduced to underpin our behaviour support, procedures and data collection by using evidence-based practices and data-informed decision-making for safe, respectful and inclusive behaviours. 

We believe that positive behaviour can be taught and with support, all students can develop self-management skills and social-emotional competence. Positive Behaviour for Learning enables staff to respond effectively with a range of student support at ​prevention, targeted intervention, and intensive personalised tiers.

As a result, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships, teaching and learning. Students and staff benefit from:

• increased respectful and positive behaviour
• increased time focused on teaching and learning
• improved social and emotional wellbeing 
• positive and respectful relationships among students, staff and parents 
• a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance

As you would be aware our approach is intertwined with our Catholic Identity through the use of the framework The Good Samaritan’s P.A.T.H. This is something that we talk about with the students on a regular basis. The following elements of PB4L have been reinforced or introduced in 2023

P.A.T.H Notes

P.A.T.H. notes form the basis of our positive behaviour reward system.  Students can receive P.A.T.H. notes both in the classroom and on the playground.  P.A.T.H. stands for

• Persist with Learning
• Act Safely
• Treat all with Respect
• Help your Neighbour

Students put their P.A.T.H. notes into a box in the Office and go into the weekly draw. Each week the P.A.T.H. notes are also uploaded into the Compass Student Management System so parents can see when a P.A.T.H. note is awarded.  This enables you to share in your child’s success. These notes accumulate so that students are eligible for a Principal’s Award. 

P.A.T.H. Behaviour Matrix

The St Francis P.A.T.H. Behaviour Matrix details what P.A.T.H. means in the different areas of the school. The matrix details the basic expectations for areas of school life - arriving/departing school, classroom, playground, toilets, assemblies and liturgies, eating times, when using ICTs etc. This week, each family will receive a P.A.T.H. Behaviour Matrix to keep on their fridge at home to help guide supportive discussions between home and school around behaviour expectations. 

P.A.T.H. Awards

This term we will be moving from our Student of the Week awards to P.A.T.H. Awards. Teachers will be giving these awards on Assembly in the same manner as our Student of the Week Awards but they will now be linked to our P.A.T.H. expectations.

5 Step Classroom Behaviour Support Plan

This plan assists students and staff to respond to behaviours that may occur in the classroom. Students who reach Step 4 of the plan will then attend their Buddy Class which means reflection time in another classroom. Parents will receive a Compass Notification should their child attend Buddy Class and are invited to discuss the concerns with the classroom teacher. Continued inappropriate behaviour will result in an Office Referral to a member of the Leadership Team. 

Over the coming months, we will continue to develop new elements of The Good Samaritan’s P.A.T.H. and we will communicate these to you. We encourage you to take time to become familiar with these processes and discuss them with your child/ren. Please remember at all times, if you have concerns or questions about your child, to please direct them to the classroom teacher in the first instance. 

Have a wonderful week.

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

Well it has been a busy start to the term. We started this week with an ANZAC liturgy hosted by 5A. Thank you to all who attended. We will have a Mothers Day Liturgy in Week 4.

Yesterday we were lucky enough to have Fr Manoj help Prep and Year 6 celebrate Mass at the Sacred Heart Church. Thank you to all who could make it, it was a beautiful Mass where students reflected on their friendships.

There are more class Masses coming up this term. Each Mass takes place at 9am on Thursdays in the Sacred Heart Church.

Celebrating Mass together is a great way to build community!

After Mass, the Prep classes stayed at the Church and Fr Manoj spoke about with them. Prep learnt lots about the Church and all the different names of things inside. They had a great time and are looking forward to their visit in Term 3.

God bless

Nicole

Learning Corner

What do book covers and children have in common?

When a child is newly born, no one knows what their future will be or the type of personality they will develop.

One thing we do know is that children are not born naughty but they could be born with issues that will be seen as ‘naughty’ as they grow. Whether we identify these ‘issues’ and how we handle them, will impact their behaviour and the way they learn as they grow.

There is always a reason for all behaviours and successes or lack thereof. In our current day busyness and our need for instant results we tend to react to what we see and if we are really busy we utter words that make the situation worse for the child.

When we look at a book cover to determine if we will enjoy it, we will usually be disappointed because what we see is only the surface and does not provide the full story. We get a better idea about the novel when we read the precise provided on the back cover.

In the same way, looking at child and observing a behaviour in isolation does not give the full story or an understanding of the child. Our understanding improves when we examine the frequency, the context and knowing what happened before the behaviour was seen will give us a beginning to understanding the child. Our next step is to find out the why of the behaviour but this needs parents, teachers and Guidance Officer to work together to begin to unravel the the mystery of the child.

Do contact your child’s teacher if you have any concerns about behaviour and learning and the teacher has not contacted you.

A Ryan Catholic College Year 7 student, Luca, has written and published her very own book! Paisley Panda was written by Luca, about her sister Billie who has ASD, ADHD, Anxiety & vision issues. The book launch will be held on Friday 5th of May at the Mary Mackillop Centre (Flyer below). If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Luca's book, it is available online via the Shopify link here.

Rita Cranitch

Learning and Teaching Adviser

Inclusive Practices Teacher

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - TRAUMA

Children and teens will experience events during their lives that will affect them emotionally and physically. How they react to these events depends on their age, personality and past experiences. Children can experience strong feelings of fear, sadness, guilt, anger or grief, making it difficult for them to cope with everyday life.

There are a number of ways that parents and care givers can support children after a traumatic event. Your reaction to an event, will impact your child’s ability to cope and recover. Children will look to the adults in their lives to help them better understand a traumatic event so it is important to ‘tune in’ to their fears and provide them with the comfort and support they need.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to gain a better understanding of trauma and how it affects children of all ages.

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 Trauma edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/trauma

Class in the Spotlight - 5A

5A is our Class in the Spotlight this week. We have started the term strong and are excited to show you what we are learning!

We started our week by welcoming Will to our class. We are loving having a new friend with us this term! We had a small welcoming party to celebrate and together, we made a card for him. 

In English we started learning about persuasive texts. We had to use our evaluative language to sell million dollar mansions to our teachers. By using these words in our ads, we made them more engaging for the potential buyers. Miss Rye and Mrs Zollner were ready to buy these houses! 

In Science we are investigating how animals and plants have changed over time to be able to survive in different environments. We will continue to learn about tropical rainforest environments ready for our Year 5 camp later this year. 

In Religion we are learning about the sacrament of Confirmation and fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

5A

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Tuckshop

Tuckshop are seeing help on Fridays.  If you are available to help out please complete the form below and return to the school office.

Mother's Day Stall

Prep Open Day

Eisteddfod

Birthdays

Community