Term 3 Week 8 2023

From the Principal

Dear Families,

This coming Sunday is Father’s Day and we would like to wish all of our Dads and those that take on a father figure role a happy Father’s Day.  We hope you have a wonderful day.  

Dear Significant Men in the lives of children,

Keep on doing whatever those “big” things are that you do to show your kids you love them, but don’t overlook the “little” things that show your love for them.  After all, the little things ARE the big things.

Happy Father’s Day!

On Wednesday we held our Father’s Day Stall. A heartfelt thank you to Teena Butler and Gen Howie who were our main organisers of this event. Ladies, thank you for the time you gave to help support our school. Thank you also to the families who donated prizes for the raffle and gifts to sell as well as those who came to help man the stall on Wednesday. It was wonderful to hear from one Mum that volunteered how well mannered the students were when they came through to purchase their gifts. 

Last night we held our Back to the 80’s Disco. The students looked fantastic and had a wonderful time. Thank you to Eliza Lovell, Lisa Sarri and Gen Howie for their work in organising the disco for our students. Events such as the disco and Father’s Day stall don’t just happen.  Without families volunteering time to help organise these events they will not be able to continue into the future. Even an hour of your time goes a long way in ensuring that events for your children are a success.

We hope that you are all enjoying the Pupil Free Day today. Here at school, our teaching staff have been engaging with Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum with a particular focus on assessment in Mathematics. They have been exploring the links between the Rationale and Aims of the revised Mathematics curriculum and assessment and have examined the features of quality assessment. Our School Officers who work on a Friday have participated in a workshop on complex trauma and its impact in the classroom. 

Staffing Update

I have a couple of 2024 staffing updates to share with you this week.

Mary Ferguson has advised me that she will be officially retiring at the end of 2023. Mary has been enjoying her year of leave and we wish her all the best as she moves into this next chapter of her life. We will celebrate Mary's career, thank her for all that she has done for our school community and farewell her properly next term.  

Andriana Dawson will not be returning to St Francis in 2024 as she will be moving at the end of the year. We will have the opportunity to farewell Andriana towards the end of the year.

By all accounts our Year 6 students had a wonderful time at camp last week. It was wonderful to hear that the students stepped out of their comfort zone and had a go at all the activities.  What impressed me the most was the stories from the teachers and parent volunteers around how the students supported and encouraged each other. Thank you to Mrs Johansen, Mrs Di Bartolo, Miss Lynch, Mrs Eathorne and Mr Viero for providing the students with such a memorable experience.

Parent/Teacher Interviews will occur across Week 9 and 10 of this term.  While these interviews are optional, I would encourage all parents to make the most of this opportunity for the following reasons:

• It provides parents an insight into their child’s classroom
• Helps parents understand their child’s progress and areas they still need to work on
• It allows teachers to provide positive feedback to parents 
• It is another opportunity for you to raise any concerns you may have
• It helps to build partnerships between the school and home

Next week is Child Protection Week.  While child protection is an everyday message and learning all year round,  the dedicated week provides us with an opportunity to focus on the safety and wellbeing of all students.  Child safety is a priority in our school and across the diocese, therefore throughout next week our students will be engaged in a range of activities to promote the importance of child protection.

As you all know, schools are very busy places with our day to day activities as well as our special events that take place.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff from the bottom of my heart for all that they do for our students and school community.  It has been a very busy term and our staff have dealt with many disruptions and gone above and beyond to ensure our students have had many wonderful opportunities.  We are so lucky to have such a dedicated staff here at St Francis.  

Have a wonderful week.

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

Class Mass

Thank you to all of the families that joined us for Mass on Thursday, your presence makes it so much more special. Fr. Manoj led our Mass and spoke to the children about discipleship and how God wants us to be happy. All of our students who volunteered to read or process were invited to a close up view of what happens at the altar. Thank you Fr. Manoj.

Youth Mass

Thank you to all the families who joined us for Mass on Sunday and to all the children who participated.

Save The Date

15th September, Samaritan Day Liturgy 9am

We wish all Fathers and families a very blessed day on Sunday.

God bless

Nicole

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - ONLINE PORNOGRAPHY

Experts say that the internet is sexualising kids too soon. It is making it easier for children to engage with pornography, both by choice and inadvertently. Regrettably, this is forcing parents to have the ‘birds and bees’ chat with their children at a very young age.

With the rise of social media and online porn, many parents are alarmed about protecting the innocence of their children. Unfortunately, what kids are seeing is distorting their idea of sexuality and intimacy. Parents are encouraged to educate their kids on sex and sexuality with age appropriate information.

However, when it comes to having conversations with their kids around pornography, many parents feel ill-equipped. A young person’s brain is highly impressionable and vulnerable to forming addictive patterns of behaviour which can affect their development and even impact their academic performance.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn strategies on how to have those difficult conversations and what they can do to minimise the negative effects of online pornography.

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 Online Pornography edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/pornography

Class in the Spotlight - 6A

What a busy time 6A has had in the past two weeks. Whilst we have been knuckling down to do assessment this week we wanted to share a few photos with you from the past two weeks. 

Last Wednesday to Friday we made our way down to Mackay to our Year 6 camp. This was an experience that we will not be forgetting any time soon. Throughout the camp we faced our fears of heights, ziplines, camp food and long drop toilets. 

This experience strengthened the bond between all the students and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. 

In Technology we investigated binary code and how computers process numbers. Did you know that the number 64 is written as 1000000. 

In Religion we have been researching famous Australian Catholics and how they live their lives in the image of God. 

6A

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 29

Next

P.A.T.H.

Tuckshop

Birthdays

Parent Teacher Interviews

Community