Week 5 - Term 3

Dear parents and caregivers,

We have reached the halfway point of term 3 already. While in some ways it has been a tricky few weeks, I have to say that I have been very impressed with the capacity of our staff and the children to maximise all learning opportunities presented to them. In my regular visits to classrooms, I continue to see engaged learners working in calm and purposeful settings. Our teachers continue to collaborate effectively and purposefully to provide quality learning opportunities and our Education Support Officers enhance those offerings with the extra support they provide teachers and students.

One aspect of school life that has been significantly impacted by the current COVID restrictions has been our capacity as a community to come together to celebrate. I am keenly aware that families have been feeling very disconnected from the normal routines of school life, through not being able to come into the school grounds and classrooms. I am also conscious that we would normally have had a number of school events and celebrations, such as Father’s day breakfast and Book Week parade, that families would have attended. Please know that the staff and students are feeling the impact of these restrictions as well, and we are very much hoping for an easing of restrictions soon. We would all much prefer things to be back to normal! At this stage, we are looking ahead to term 4 with hope for the opportunity for more community gatherings and celebrations.

While the community’s ability to come together to celebrate has been impacted, there are still some activities we have been able to continue with – the Year 5 and 6 students will host their annual Disco on September 10 during Social Justice Week, our Catholic Schools Music festival Choir is still due to perform on Tuesday 21st September at the Entertainment Centre, and many of our instrumental music students will have the chance to perform in our upcoming Instrumental evenings during week 9 – stay tuned for further information. In addition to these activities, our various sporting teams have had the chance to recommence matches, and SACPSSA and SACPPA carnivals have also been able to be held. Our year 5 students successfully completed their camp, and the year 4 camp is coming up!

This term, families and students have taken part in a number of survey opportunities, which has provided us with a range of datasets. I thank everyone who has participated in these surveys so far, and encourage you to get involved if you haven’t already done so. The data gathered from the strategic planning survey is being used to inform two important pieces of work – the development of a Master Plan brief for building improvements and a new three year strategic plan. I am excited to say that I have been meeting with Architects in recent weeks, and am looking forward to seeing their responses to the brief provided. Once we appoint an architect, further community consultation will take place as we work together to shape new facilities and resources for our students. A building program is an absolute priority and I am hopeful of this beginning by 2023 term 1.

I remind families of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Christ the King parish and school, to be held on Sunday September 12. As previously mentioned, a number of children will be involved in the liturgy, and it would also be great to see as many families as possible attend the celebration of a significant milestone in the life of the parish and school.

Have a great week everyone,

God bless,

Phil

National School Chaplaincy Program

Chaplains are present building relationships, providing encouragement and understanding. They ‘loiter with the intent’ of being a resource in all of the highs and lows of human life.

I am the School Chaplain at St Francis School. The chaplaincy responsibility complements my role as Assistant Principal Identity and Mission (APRIM)

The National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP) is a Commonwealth-funded initiative to support the emotional wellbeing of students and the school community through the provision of pastoral care.

The program aims to support students through the provision of pastoral care services and the promotion of strategies that support the resilience and emotional wellbeing of students and the broader school community.

Effective relationships are at the core of quality teaching and learning. Research suggests that students who are socially and emotionally competent, having well-developed relationship skills and social awareness, experience improved learning outcomes.

My role as School Chaplain complements my role as Assistant Principal Identity and Mission (APRIM)

The NSCP initiative expands my capacity to enhance the wellbeing of the community and the dimension of pastoral care.

The NSCP is available on a voluntary basis, to staff, parents and students.

As School Chaplain I maintain a visible presence in the school providing an additional resource in that I have the time available to holistically support the ‘whole person’, families, staff and the wider community with matters related to ethics, religious beliefs, isolation, harassment, bullying, family breakdown, human relationships, economic hardship, illness and bereavement.

I endeavour to enhance the engagement with the broader community in outreach initiatives and work restoratively in building and restoring healthy relationships with all members of the community.

Helen Wilsdon-Smith

During our sacred time of ‘Peace Time’ at St Francis, students and staff have the opportunity, to be still and silent, to take the time to contemplate and connect with God in the practice of Christian Meditation on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:40 until 11:50am.

Year 6 leaders, Athan, Tiana & Sienna ring the ‘singing bowl’ to call us to pray, to ‘be with’ God during ‘Peace Time’.

If you would like to know more about Christian Meditation please visit: www.cominghome.org.au

YEAR 6 LEADERSHIP GATHERING GROUP

Congratulations to the members of the Semester 2 Gathering group, Xavier, Capri, Audrey, Agneya, Angus, Ruby, Mary & Isabella.

The Gathering group work together with me to organize and lead Friday morning Gatherings, held fortnightly.

In Week 4 this term, the year 5s went on a 2 night/3 day camp to Wirraway, near Strathalbyn. After uncertainty only the week before as to whether we could go at all, we were so thrilled to be given the opportunity to attend this highly anticipated event!

After a wet, misty and loud bus drive up the hill, we arrived at an even wetter Wirraway camp in good spirits. The weather wasn’t going to defeat us! Luckily the camp has a massive indoor area called ‘The Shed’ to play games in, so we waited out the rain and had some fun. The students were divided into 4 activity groups, and had a turn at everything Wirraway has to offer. The favourite by far was the horse riding and horse care session. It was fantastic, and everyone loved horses by the end. Another activity was going on a bush walk and learning about the environment around us. There was a low ropes course where we competed in teams to get the fastest time around the course. Other favourite activities were archery and sheep herding - there were some very stubborn sheep! There was an ‘Amazing race’, and a shelter building activity. Rock climbing was unfortunately out of action, but is usually great fun too.

The camp is in the hills, surrounded by beautiful green scenery, and there is plenty of room to explore in free time. There are also in ground trampolines and mini golf! And at this camp there was even a week old lamb called Luke to admire! We were also blessed that it didn’t rain after the first hour of arriving, but we could still enjoy the games in The Shed in free time. The food was delicious too. At night we played games, we went for a night walk and we sat singing around the campfire too.

The 3 days went by very quickly, and we were sad to leave. The St Francis staff were really proud of the students, for their resilience and enthusiasm. We think they all slept well when they got back home, the staff sure did!!

Rebecca Pawson, Richard Bailey (Year 5 Teachers)