Term 3 Week 10 2023

From the Principal

Dear Families,

WOW!  We have made it to Week 10.  What a massive term we have had. It started with Book Fair in Week 1 and each week since then we have had at least one event take place. Week 2 saw some of our students heading to Townsville to participate in the Mulkadee Arts Festival. From there we moved into Catholic Education Week which included Founders’ Day, Mass at the Cathedral and Year 5 camp at Gumburu. Year 6 began First Aid in Week 4 and I had the privilege of interviewing some of our new Prep students for 2024. Prep interviews continued throughout Week 5 and our District Athletics team did us proud at the Districts Carnival. We also held our Term 3 Learning Breakfast, Parent Reading Challenge and Whole School Christian Meditation this week. We completed our School Renewal process in Week 6 with Validation as well as celebrated National Day of Action Against Violence and Bullying. Book Week went off with a bang in Week 7 with the theme of Read, Grow, Inspire and our Year 6’s headed off to their camp. We then went Back to the 80’s with our Disco in Week 8 and followed this up with Under 8’s Day in Week 9. Finally today, we finish the term with Samaritan Day. In between all of this our students engaged in learning new concepts and skills. I know that the students are all ready for a well deserved break (and so are the staff!). 

 Hairstyles

School holidays are usually the time when parents take the opportunity to get their child’s hair cut.  Just a reminder about our Uniform Guidelines in relation to hair styles.  Students must not have tracks or extreme parts.  Extreme hairstyles, such as mullets, rats' tails, mohawks, shaved heads or sections of hair are also not appropriate for school.  Hair should be neat and out of students’ eyes, and must be of a natural colour. If shoulder length or longer, it should be tied up or back in a ponytail or plaits. Ribbons, bands and scrunches should be simple and understated in school dress fabric or shades of plain blue, red or maroon. Thank you for your support with this.

Mission Statement

After receiving feedback on our current Mission Statement throughout the School Renewal Process, we have been working on developing a new Mission Statement over the past six months. This work has been done in consultation with Staff, the School Board, Catholic Identity Committee and the FACE group. In today’s newsletter you will find three draft statements. You are encouraged to read these and think about whether they encapsulate our school. We invite you to provide feedback by emailing me directly (ajones16@sfatsv.catholic.edu.au) or coming into the Office next term and sharing your thoughts. Our draft statements will also be displayed in the Office for your consideration. We ask for all feedback on our Draft Mission Statements be returned by Week 3. 

We are currently busy planning for 2024. Last week you would have received a form to indicate if your child/ren are returning to St Francis next year. In order for us to finalise class structures, we require this information back by the end of Week 1. Thank you to those families who have already returned their form.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support of our school.  Your support of your children, our staff and our school is greatly appreciated and ensures that we can work together in partnership to provide the best possible education for our students.I hope that you all have a wonderful break.  If you are travelling take care on the roads.  Thank you for your support over the past 10 weeks.  I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday 3rd October.

We thank you, Lord, for this term.

For the challenges, the successes, and the mistakes from which we have learnt.

Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.

Give us strength and courage to do what is right: to be witnesses of our faith.

Help us to be practical people these holidays, to appreciate what others do for us, to give time and effort to help others.

To be peacemakers in our family.

Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun.

Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.

We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents

And a community that cares for us.

May we always be conscious of you in our lives.

Amen

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

Religious Life of the School

The end of Term 3! It feels as if it has been a ‘long’ term with so much packed in. Thank you all for supporting our Youth Masses, class Masses, liturgies and Christian meditation. We love having families celebrate with us when they can, it helps our students to understand that we are a community working together. 

Enjoy the break of routine over the holidays, may it refresh and energise you all for a wonderful Term 4.

International Day of Peace

Next Thursday, September 21, is International Day of Peace. It is a United Nations sanctioned day dedicated to promoting and strengthening the ideals of peace worldwide. It serves as a call for ceasefires, non-violence, and global cooperation. The day encourages individuals, communities, and nations to engage in activities that foster peace, understanding, and conflict resolution, aiming to create a more peaceful and harmonious world. 

Hiroshima, Japan is a great example of how important peace is in our world. It is one of the most beautiful and at the same time sad places to visit. The people there are not bitter but keen to tell their story to help people understand how important peace is. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has some quite confronting exhibits and brings to the forefront what war can do and the human suffering it brings. 

The museum is a part of the Peace Memorial Park. This is where the A-Bomb Dome is located, it is what remains of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. The building served as a location to promote Hiroshima's industries. When the bomb exploded, it was one of the few buildings to remain standing, and remains so today. 

The museum and park serve to remind us that we should not take peace for granted. A timely message in today’s world.

God bless

Nicole

Learning Corner

HOLIDAY TIME!

This is a wonderful time to help your child aim for excellence.

No! This is not a catch-up, revision or practice time.

Children who are relaxed, read widely,  active, share ideas and opinions and listen to those of others are well on their way to achieving personal excellence.

All they need is some of your time. If you are busy, time with an adult important in their lives will be just as valuable.

We look forward to the return of relaxed and enthusiastic children at the start of Term Four.

May you all enjoy the next two weeks.

Rita Cranitch,                                                                                  

Learning and Teaching Adviser

Inclusive Practices Teacher

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - RAISING BOYS

Many parents will attest to the fact that most boys are active, loud, rambunctious and prone to rough play, but this should not affect how a parent acts towards their son. Be careful not to pigeon-hole your son into sex-specific behaviours or gender roles. The male brain is distinctly different in its development. A boy’s physical maturity is often at odds with his mental and brain development.

Societal beliefs about how to raise boys can sometimes influence their adult carers. Although we are not determined by our biology, it is a factor. It is important to support boys in their natural tendencies and nurture their strengths and abilities. Teach them the skills they need for their future and to develop a healthy identity. It is important for boys to have a role model they can connect with and acknowledge who they are. One of the most important determinants for a boy’s development is how secure they feel growing up.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers will gain a better understanding into some of the more complex issues relating to raising boys.

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 Raising Boys edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/raising-boys

Class in the Spotlight -

This week in 3A.

We have been very busy this week finishing assessment.

In English we reviewed our Information Reports and completed online assessments in Literacy to help our teachers plan for learning next term.

Which colour will be the most popular? In Mathematics we have investigated chance by spinning a colour wheel and tallying the number of times each colour was the landing for the arrow. We learnt about outcomes, tallying and recording results.

We investigated the need for standard measurements especially when giving instructions for a building. We discovered that six steps will give each of us a different end point depending on the length of our step.

Using a metre ruler we measured the length or width of various classroom items that we thought were close to a metre.

We have been learning about prayers of praise and thanksgiving in Religion. We wrote and published our own Psalm about creation. Creation is a gift from God and something we should give praise for.

Geography has been our focus in HASS this term. We have learnt about the world focusing on Australia and its neighbours. We have learnt about climates and how they affect where and how we live. Some of us have even become experts in creating graphs showing temperature and rainfall data in Google Sheets.

In Health we have learnt how to keep ourselves healthy, safe and active. There are lots of ways to do this and many places in our community to help support us. We also learnt about the benefits of being active and healthy, hopefully some of us will be more mindful about the choices we make in the future. 

We have loved doing Technology with Mr Eade, Science with Mrs Duthie, Dance with Mrs Julyan and P.E with Mrs Eathorne.

It has been a very busy time in 3A and we are looking forward to holidays and our last term of Year 3.

3A

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