Term 3 Week 2 2023
From the Principal
Dear Families,
This week we have had several of our Year 5 and 6 students participate in Mulkadee. For those who don’t know, Mulkadee is an arts festival that provides students with the unique experience of learning from industry experts in their chosen area and it culminates in a performance on Friday night. This year students will be performing Robin Hood. I am attending the performance tonight and am very much looking forward to seeing the final production and the students reaping the rewards of their hard work this week.
Next week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. During this week we celebrate the distinctive mission of Catholic schooling. Catholic schools are wonderful places where we challenge our students to live out the message of Jesus and to develop into compassionate, contributing and life-giving members of society. The theme for Catholic Education Week 2023 is Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. On Monday we will join together with BCHS and St Colman’s for our Founders’ Day celebrations. We would like to invite all families to our Founders' Day Mass at BCHS on Monday at 9:30am. During Catholic Education Week we also recognise a member of our school community who makes an outstanding contribution to the life of their school through the annual Spirit of Catholic Education Week Awards. Our recipient for 2023 is Katrina Rainbow. I look forward to sharing Katrina’s nomination with the school community next week. I’m sure you will all agree that Katrina is a very deserving recipient.
Next week our Year 5 students will be heading off to camp at Gumburu. We wish them (and their teachers) all the best and hope that through the challenges they face on camp, they come to learn something new about themselves and each other. I will be looking forward to hearing about their adventures upon their return.
Prep 2024
If you have a child due to start Prep next year and you haven't yet put in your enrolment forms, please do so as soon as possible. I am starting interviews for Prep 2024 next week. Once you have submitted your enrolment forms, the Office will schedule your interview time. If you know someone whose child is due to start Prep next year, please encourage them to get their forms in this week.
School Improvement Updates
We have several school improvement projects underway at the moment. Here is a brief update on where we are at with each of these projects:
- The refurbishment of the Irving Wing project has now gone out to tender.
- Nicole and I have been working with specialists on the design of a playground for the Senior Oval.
- Our Logo rebrand is continuing to develop with staff and community consultation having occurred and this information has now been passed on to the designers.
- We are continuing to work towards a redeveloped Mission Statement. Staff and the School Board have fed into this work and we also discussed the work at the FACE Meeting held earlier this week.
- Our AV upgrade to the Samaritan Centre is on track with equipment being ordered and a timeline for completion being developed.
I look forward to providing further updates on each of these projects over the coming months.
FACE Meeting Update
We held our Term 3 FACE Meeting on Tuesday morning. Thank you to all those parents who were able to attend. At this meeting, we discussed our Term 3 events. On Wednesday 30th August our Father’s Day stall will be held. We will be looking for donations for the raffle as well as chocolates etc to make up gifts. We will also be calling for helpers on the day to assist with running the stall. We have our final disco for the year on Thursday 31st August from 6:00-7:15pm. Make sure you save the date on your calendar.
There is a wonderful section called Wednesday Wisdom on one of our school subscriptions, Liturgy, Ritual, Prayer. Each Wednesday a new blog is posted and while I was looking for something last week I spent some time reading over a few posts. I would like to share one with you today. This post was written by Paul Skippen.
One Person’s Weeds is Another’s Garden
Matthew 13: 28 – 30
Jesus continued, “The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’ He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the shed’”.
In one of the more affluent suburbs of Melbourne, in front of an expensive home, there is a front yard that looks uncared for and virtually abandoned. It has made the news because the new owner has taken out the green, unmowed lawn and let the yard revert back to its natural, grassland state. This was done much to the chagrin of the neighbours who consider it to be an eyesore and a blight to the entire community. Next to their trimmed bushes and landscaped lawns, it looks strikingly different and a little
wild.
There is no lack of critics, not only of gardens and yards but also of human behaviour. They are quick to pass judgment about other people’s actions and preferences. They feel they are right no matter what anyone else says. And they want to set their way as the standard that all are expected to follow and aspire to live by. In doing so, they run the risk of throwing out what might be good with what they consider weeds.
We are all of us human. We should let God be the judge of our actions. We have enough to do worrying about ourselves without trying to judge others at the same time.
Have a wonderful week.
Take care and God Bless
Amanda
Religious Life of the School
Welcome to Week 2. We have been busily getting ready for Catholic Education Week.
Catholic Education Week is celebrated annually in Week 3 of Term 3 and is an opportunity for all Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.
Our three Burdekin Catholic schools will be joining together for Mass and activities on Monday at BCHS. We are looking forward to a fun day celebrating our Catholic Schools and founders.
Seminarians
On Monday at assembly, we welcomed two Seminarians, Grant Sutherland and Bradley Davies, from the Holy Spirit Seminary. It was interesting to hear their stories. Bradley came back to visit us on Wednesday afternoon and was asked many questions by 4A and 3A. He used to be a teacher so was very happy to stay and help with some student work. We enjoyed having Bradley here and thank him for visiting.
Save the date
3rd August, Class Mass for Prep and Year 6
7th August, St Mary Mackillop Liturgy presented by 4A
24th August, Class Mass for Years 3 and 4
27th August, School Youth Mass
31st August, Class Mass for Years 1, 2 and 5
Prayer for Catholic Education
May we work to ensure that all those involved in Catholic Education be given opportunities to flourish and that Catholic School communities embody, and live out the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord
Amen.
God bless
Nicole
Learning Corner
What can we learn from Roundabouts?
A roundabout is a traffic feature I fear the most.
There is no guarantee that a vehicle approaching one will follow the rules. I have seen:
- Drivers on the phone come onto a roundabout as another car is entering.
- Drivers focussed on the road ahead, unaware a vehicle was already on the roundabout.
- Drivers approaching a roundabout at a speed above the speed limit.
- Drivers that do not indicate or indicate inaccurately.
Theoretically, this traffic feature should keep the traffic flowing smoothly, and it does when used correctly.
Roundabouts showcase the attitudes and practices in all life settings and contribute to stress and anxiety. We see them in car parks, shops, on the street, schools and help centre operators experience these attitudes verbally.
We see impatience, the need to be first at all costs and without consideration for those in the way. We see impatience when we want a question answered, an issue resolved, or a service provided. Is this why we see so many signs in businesses saying inappropriate language and aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated?
Impatience leads to disregarding rules and laws that keep people safe and environments functioning well.
Why is impatience so prevalent? Have we become self-centred rather than other-centred?
What is achieved when we work together with mutual respect is fantastic. Even more impressive is the learning in the classroom when there is patience and mutual respect for the right to learn and teach.
We are so fortunate at St. Francis that even though we are not perfect, we always aim to maintain a supportive and safe environment for learning and playing. Thank you to the parents, carers and families who share and support us in achieving this!
QUEST for KNOWLEDGE
Quest for Knowledge is a yearly competition co ordinated by TCE (Townsville Catholic Education). This year it will be on Thursday, September 7commencing at 9:30am.
It is conducted via ZOOM so there is no need for travel.
The team completes ten seven minute rounds of 20 questions covering a range of subjects including General Knowledge.
Year 6 students will be asked to nominate for the team. Entries are one team per school.
If you have any questions, please contact me at rcranitch@sfatsv.catholic.edu.au
Rita Cranitch,
Learning and Teaching Adviser
Inclusive Practices Teacher
Guidance Counsellor
In this edition of SchoolTV - CYBERBULLYING
With the advent of the internet, smart phones and tablets, there is now a whole new digital dimension added to traditional schoolyard bullying. There was once a time when bullying victims were given some respite outside of school hours, but sadly these days, online bullying can occur 24/7. In today’s world, teaching your child about online and cyber safety, is as important as learning to swim or cross the road!
Cyberbullying can be identified as being the repeated behaviour by an aggressor with the intent to harm or embarrass. Technology enables these aggressors to share information widely and quickly, making this form of bullying extremely dangerous and harmful. However, the answer is not to shun the internet nor social media. Instead, parents are encouraged to embrace it and instil a family internet policy to protect their children without limiting the freedom to learn, explore and communicate online.
In this edition of SchoolTV, parents are provided with useful guidelines and advice on how to minimise the risks. Children have the right to feel safe, regardless of whether it is in the schoolyard or online.
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 Cyberbullying edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/cyber-bullying
Class in the Spotlight -3/4B
ENGLISH
- Exploring informaiton texts and are using the conventions of descriptive information texts to create an informative text on their class pet.
MATHEMATICS
- Y3 Daily maths mentals where they spend 10 min on XtraMaths to strengthen their mental computation skills and understanding of time .
- Y4 Daily maths mentals where they spend 10 min on XtraMaths to strengthen their mental computation skills Practicing new understandings around time as well as grid referencing through a game of Battleship.
HASS
- Creating The World Map
- Y3 - Learning about Australia and the different countries in the world and where Australia is located on The World Map.
- Y4 - Learning about cartographic conventions.
SCIENCE
- Exploring Australia’s tropical rainforest
- Y3 Understanding what the characteristics are of living things.
- Made a ‘class pet’ to explore what is living, once living and non-living
- Y4 Exploring life cycles and dependance of living things on eachother.
- Made a class pet to revise the characteristics of living things
- We have 3 caterpillars in the room to experience the characteristics of living things and watch a life cycle.
MEDIA ARTS
- Exploring, responding to and comparing the way technology is used to represent people and events, tell stories and express ideas that are important to the artist.
3/4B
School Uniform Policy
Tuckshop
Tuckshop Special
To be order by Tuesday 1 August
Thursday 3 August (Week 4) - Beef Nachos - $6
(Options) - plain - sour cream - salsa - sour cream / salsa -cheese
Order: Bag or online
Lost Property
Please call in to the school office if any of these items belong to your family.
