Term 2 Week 5 2024

From the Principal

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through Term 2. Over the next few weeks students will be completing their assessment tasks for this term. Assessment plays a crucial role in monitoring student progress and understanding their strengths and areas for improvement. Assessments can take various forms, including tests, quizzes, projects, presentations, and class participation. They provide valuable feedback to both students and teachers, helping to identify learning gaps, track growth over time, and inform instructional decisions. Regular school attendance is essential for students to fully participate in assessments and demonstrate their understanding of the material. Missing school can put students at a disadvantage, as they may miss important instruction, explanations, or opportunities for practice. We understand that at times there are unavoidable situations that lead to absences, however, we urge you to prioritise your child’s attendance at school.

As the weather is beginning to cool down, please remember that students must be wearing a school jumper to school.  Students are able to wear a maroon or navy blue jumper.  Over the past few weeks there have also been several students not following the uniform policy.  The correct school uniform is to be worn at all times. If, for some reason, a student is unable to wear the correct uniform, a note must be sent to the classroom teacher.  This policy can be found in our School Handbook on the School Website. Wearing the correct school uniform demonstrates pride in our school and is also an important part of our high expectations culture at St Francis. We thank you for your attention to ensuring your child/ren are in the correct uniform at all times.

This week all of our classes participated in the Eisteddfod performing a unison choir piece, a novelty piece and a poem. Participation in the Eisteddfod is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop performance skills, self confidence and teamwork. A huge thank you to Mrs Julyan for her preparation of students for the choir pieces. Mrs Julyan spends many hours selecting songs, developing actions and rehearsing with students and I know that she will be breathing a huge sigh of relief that the week is over. Thank you also to our teachers who have worked with their classes on perfecting their poems. Congratulations must go to all the students who submitted art pieces for the art category.  While Eisteddfod week is a big week for all involved it is a wonderful chance for the school community to celebrate the arts. 

We have our Prep Open Days coming up on the 7th and 10th of June.  If you or someone you know has a child due to start Prep in 2025, we invite you to come along for a "Taste of Prep". Please let us know if you are coming to one of our Prep Open Days and don’t forget to fill in your enrolment forms and drop them into the Office.

Have a wonderful week.

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

UR STRONG

“What if my child is the bully?”

It’s tough to hear that your child is being aggressive or unkind. Here are 3 ways to help guide them in the right direction.

In 2017, I was interviewed for the Sydney Morning Herald on the topic of bullying. Kasey Edwards noted in our interview that it’s common to hear parents share stories of times their child has been bullied, but less common to hear parents talk about times their child did the bullying. She stated to me, “It seems we have lots of victims and no perpetrators – which I get, because nobody wants to think that their kid would bully.” Surprisingly, I’ve had a number of parents over the years ask me for help on this exact thing and here are my thoughts:

Children don’t wake up one day and decide, “I think I’d like to be a bully!” It’s not something kids aspire to be – it’s something that sometimes happens as a result of a number of situations and experiences that lead them to choose inappropriate actions.

There are 3 fundamental ways for parents to help a child exhibiting mean-on-purpose behaviors. (Note: We don’t use the term “bullying” in our program and, instead, talk about behavior that is intentionally meant to hurt – we call Mean-on-Purpose):

Address the Root Cause

It’s important to understand that a child who chooses mean-on-purpose behavior to manage conflict is lacking skills. They are still learning! They are ill-equipped to put out their Friendship Fires® through conversation or ill-equipped to manage the big emotions they feel inside. Sometimes mean-on-purpose behavior is impulsive or even mean-by-accident, but it’s generally a reaction to feeling frustrated or angry.

Children with big, explosive emotions need guidance and support to find strategies to calm themselves down. The key for parents is to recognize when their child is starting to feel angst, like a balloon blowing up with air. The goal is to help their child prevent the balloon from popping by giving their child very practical, step-by-step ideas to work their way through the emotion.

For example:

1. Validate their feelings by naming the emotion (e.g. “I can see you’re getting very frustrated playing this card game with Charlie.”)
2. Suggest an alternative, appropriate way to let the hot air out. (e.g. “Let’s pause the game for a moment, have some watermelon, and discuss new rules that might work for both of you.”)

Parents should apply this approach at all times, not just when they’re playing with friends. If they notice their child struggling to zip up their backpack, jump in to name the emotion and give a suggestion.

If, however, a child’s balloon pops and they’re red-hot MAD, understand that constructive, rational thoughts during this time are futile. When anger strikes, a child simply needs time and space to allow the hot air to dissipate. Stay calm and simply identify what they’re feeling, “You’re mad. I get mad sometimes too. Let’s talk about this later.” Encourage your child to go for a walk, have some alone time in their bedroom, or listen to music until the ‘dust settles’. Once they have calmed down, talk to them about what happened, again, validating their emotions and suggesting an alternative approach for next time. Remind them it’s okay to feel the way they felt, but not okay to… [hit their friend, throw the toy, call someone a name, etc.].

Immediate Consequences

While children governing this on their own is the best approach (i.e. it’s less effective when teachers/parents negatively consequence a child and more effective when children do it themselves), parents need to follow this very simple philosophy as well. If parents witness their child exhibiting mean-on-purpose behavior, they need to provide an immediate negative consequence. Getting a child to simply say sorry or apologize is insufficient, as a child who is attention-seeking will find this rewarding. Therefore, it’s important that parents choose a consequence that will discourage them from doing it again. This sometimes requires Tough Love, but there needs to be a Zero Tolerance Policy for mean-on-purpose behavior.

For example: You’re at the park and see your child get frustrated and scream at another child. Name the emotion, identify what you saw and that it’s wrong, and provide an immediate negative consequence. In a firm voice, “I know you’re angry, but we DO NOT scream at other children. Park time is over.” Commit and follow-through, so your child understands you mean business!

‘If/Then Statements’ are also helpful if you feel your child is ‘walking the line’. For instance, “If I see you whip that ball at Ben’s head again, then the ball is mine.”

While immediate, logical consequences (that match the behavior) are important, not being invited to birthday parties and playdates also serve as a natural consequence for unkind behavior. As heartbreaking as it is sometimes, helping your child recognize there are consequences for their actions is essential in helping change negative behavior patterns.

Strengthening Empathy

It takes some children a long time to cognitively be capable of seeing outside of themselves. You can help your child with this by getting them to make the connection between how their actions affect others. Asking them, “How do you think Reggie felt when you said he was being a baby!? What if someone called you a baby? How would that make you feel?” Encouraging a child to think about the many ways their behaviors or actions can be perceived and/or misperceived helps them to strengthen those empathy muscles.

Parents who recognize their child is “bullying” and who address the root cause, issue immediate consequences, and focus on strengthening their child’s empathy muscles will certainly be able to shift their child towards a healthier approach to conflict. What strategies do you use to calm your child down when they are angry? Share your strategies and let’s all work together to guide our children towards kind, respectful interactions.

Written by Dana Kerford
Friendship Expert and Founder, URSTRONG

Religious Life of the School

Dear families,

Thank you to all of the people who joined us for one or more of our celebrations last week. We love having families and friends at our celebrations, you are a special part of our school family. I trust mums were spoiled with lots of love on Sunday.

I would also like to thank our school captains and their mothers, who made a big effort on Saturday to wake up early and join the CWL for their annual Mother’s Day Breakfast. It was a lovely morning with entertainment, speakers, raffles, food and a reflection by our captains.

We Have our Youth Mass this Sunday. We will be celebrating Pentecost, the 50th day after Easter. It is a Christian holiday commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and has evolved in various ways over the centuries, both in its observance and significance.

The Christian observance began with the events described in the New Testament book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles fifty days after Easter. After Pentecost, there was a dramatic and dynamic change in the mindset of the disciples. Instead of being self-centered, they became Christ-centered. Their deepest desire was to lift and exalt the name of Jesus.

Over time, different Christian denominations developed their own liturgical practices and traditions for celebrating Pentecost which include special prayers, hymns, and readings for the day. Pentecost is often associated with symbols such as fire, wind, and the dove representing the Holy Spirit. These symbols have been interpreted and incorporated into various cultural and religious expressions over the years.

The theological understanding of Pentecost has also evolved. While it has always been seen as the birth of the Christian Church through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, different theological traditions have emphasized different aspects of this event.

In Catholicism, Pentecost is often associated with the sacraments, particularly confirmation. It is seen as a time when believers receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and empower them in their Christian journey.

Pentecost is also seen as a symbol of Christian unity. It is the moment when the Holy Spirit descended upon the early church, empowering them to spread the message of Jesus Christ throughout the world. The coming of the Holy Spirit enabled people from different nations and languages to understand one another and at times can be used as a model for overcoming divisions within the church.

We hope to see lots of our families at the 5:30 pm mass on Sunday to help celebrate.

God Bless

Nicole

Learning Corner

Did you know?

Version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum for English expects all children to be independent readers by the end of Year Two. It is acknowledged that children have different experiences and develop at different rates, so some children will reach this stage in mid Year Three.

Williams et al. (2023) found that fewer than 1 in 5 students who are behind in Year 3 catch up and stay caught up.

Literature is used to teach English in class. Children listen to well written stories, talk about their own experiences that the story brings to mind and other similar books they have read. They consider the purpose the author wrote the book as they come to understand that writing is a process not just an activity. They examine the layout of the book, the sentence structure, literary devices, and the vocabulary used by the author to make the story/text enjoyable, easy to understand and meet the author’s purpose for writing.

Children are encouraged to read widely and write frequently for a range of purposes knowing that not everything they write will be assessed but used to help them become proficient writers.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is an annual statewide initiative for Queensland state and non-state schools and home-educated students from Prep to Year 9, as well as children (aged up to 5 years) enrolled in an early childhood centre. The Premier’s Reading Challenge aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read for pleasure and learning. It is an excellent opportunity  for all children to show how widely they read.

 As a parent you can help your child/ren in P-2 by listening to them read or reading to them. In Years 3-6 ask them about what they are reading and their opinion of the book.

All classes will be tuning in to the National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday. Each age group will gain something different from the from the activity. The younger age groups will enjoy the story told by the author. The older age groups will enjoy the story by identifying the theme and main idea of the story.

Enjoy sharing books and stories with your children.

Rita

Class in the Spotlight - 5/6B

What a week 5/6B have had! Have a read of what they have been up to both in and out of the classroom.

• Visual Arts - learning to appreciate and understand the ideas that artists are trying to convey through street art. We have been exploring freedom of expression vs. crime and punishment. Focusing on the street artist 'Banksy' students designed their own tags conveying their own meaning.
• English -  reading the novel ‘The Way of Dog’, by Zana Fraillon. The class has been learning about the literary devices used by authors to make a narrative poem interesting.
• Maths - ordering and representing, adding and subtracting fractions with the same or related denominators.
• Science -  studying the growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment. The class has enjoyed investigating how different environmental conditions influence the growth of mould on a single slice of white bread.
• HASS - studying Australia’s system of Government.
• Religion - writing letters and creating artworks to identify and communicate some key messages of the prophets.
• Eisteddfod - Year 5 received first and third for their songs and Year 6 received two second places. The class received first place for their poem ‘The Haunted House’.

5/6B

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 19

Next

School Fees

Dear Families

The school fees have been issued for this term and whilst we appreciate your prompt attention to payment, we also acknowledge families sometimes experience financial difficulties.  If you are in this situation or need to discuss different payment arrangements please call the office and speak with myself or Amanda.  

Debbie

School Bursar

Birthdays

Community