Week 6 - Term 3

Dear families,

I hope you are all well, and appreciating the change in weather as spring is upon us! Things have continued to bubble along apace at St Francis. Our children continue to work purposefully towards their learning goals, and our staff continue to go above and beyond in their care for the children and in their professional development as educators (Some of you might have seen the Facebook post yesterday about our session on Cognitive Load, last Tuesday! There has been considerable progress in our Building program as well, with second floor concrete poured and signs of ‘second fix’ activity beginning. 

As we begin the process of planning for 2024, I am getting very excited about the possibilities our new building will provide. In addition to brand new facilities, we will have much greater flexibility in the way we manage our classes, giving teachers opportunities for collaboration and for having time just with their own class groups. Our overall Master Plan takes this flexibility into account, and families can expect to see adjustments to our existing facilities over time, as well. Of course, the brand new building will also provide a much enhanced capacity for our Science program, a sensory space to support children in learning to regulate, and lots of breakout spaces for individual and small group tier 2 and 3 intervention. For families, school drop off will be far more comfortable and welcoming as well, with shared indoor spaces on both levels! Stay tuned for further updates.

Friday marks the celebration of Father’s Day. Did you know that the first Fathers’ Day was 110 years ago? Fathers’ Day as we know it, started in 1910 as a result of the efforts of a young American girl who wanted to recognise fathers, inspired by her own father who was a single Dad with six children. Since then Fathers’ Day is celebrated in many countries but not all on the first Sunday in September as it is here in Australia. While Fathers’ Day is a celebration of fatherhood, it’s a time for us to honour, celebrate and to be thankful for all of the men, father figures and male role models in our lives… including our uncles, grandfathers, Godfathers, and even our male teachers. We recognise the very important role you have in the lives of children.

Thank you to all of the dads, granddad’s and special male friends and role models in our school community. The children love you and are so proud of you. I hope you have a great day on Sunday.

“A dad (or grandad, uncle or special friend) is someone who wants to catch you before you fall, but instead picks you up, brushes you off, and lets you try again.” (Anon)

My sincere thanks to our wonderful P&F -especially Terri Sparrow, Sarah McCabe and Charmaine Feiter-Norris who marshalled the troops together to provide the children with a chance to buy their special person a gift, then put on a fantastic Father’s day breakfast! Their care and support for our community is greatly appreciated.

Later in this edition, there will be information and celebrations around a number of different sporting achievements by ST Francis students! It is wonderful to see our students shine in various activities beyond the classroom, and I am grateful to our PE teachers Mr Goldy and Mr Daley for their ongoing support of sport at St Francis.

Father’s Day September 3rd

Wishing all the Fathers, Grandfathers, Uncles and Male Carers a very special day this Sunday 

A Special Prayer for Fathers, Grandfathers and Male Carers

Phonics Screening Check

Our Year 1 students have undertaken a phonics screening check (PSC) which is mandatory in all CESA Diocesan Schools. The PSC is an assessment that provides valuable data and insight into children’s phonics knowledge to decode words.

Phonics is an integral part of reading, writing and spelling.

The assessment is conducted by the classroom teacher with individual students. The data collected from this and other literacy assessments support the intervention, teaching and learning programs in our school.

Wellbeing

Please see advertisements in this week’s newsletter promoting the following 

Connect, Coach and Take Charge 
What to do and how to help … for “big feelings” kids who get frustrated, non-co-operative and distressed.

 BUILDING STRONGER BONDS - JOIN OUR SUPPORT GROUP FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH NEURODIVERSITY

Catholic Charities Month

Each September at St Francis we raise funds for Catholic Charities Month. This year the Archbishop of Adelaide’s charity is supporting special projects for Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in South Australia, Hutt Street Centre, St Patrick’s Special School, Our Lady of La Vang Special School & Centacare Family Services.

At St Francis every student gets involved by raising money in classes through student led fundraising events. The Social Justice Leaders, support classes to raise money and promote the events.

This year these include:

Lucky dips, pre loved book sale, Sport’s Day keyrings, Pyjama Day and Year 3 performances to list a few.

The Year 5 and 6 students are invited to attend a Disco in the school Arts Room on Friday 22/9. It is always a fantastic night where the students let their hair down and show us their moves. 

This week, you should have received a pamphlet (1 per family, distributed to the eldest child) outlining the wonderful work being done by Catholic Charities and it includes details for families to donate directly to Catholic Charities if they wish.

Look out on Seesaw and Qkr! For the wonderful student led fundraising events.

Catholic Schools Open Week

In Week 5 (21st-25th August), we opened our school, and invited families to see what our school is all about. We know that Catholic schools provide so much more than educational excellence. Our students are known by name, and by heart, and are encouraged to be kind, compassionate and thoughtful. Our school teaches young people much more than the curriculum – with an emphasis on Catholic values, caring for each other, and the world we live in. To showcase the wonderful community we have at St Francis, a display was created in the Year 4/5 stairwell. We ran out of room to showcase all our school has to offer, we provided a snapshot of some of our schools learning programs and extracurricular activities. The display will remain up for the rest of the term, we encourage you to come and have a look!

Sacramental Program

The sacramental team have completed the parent workshops, in readiness for the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation. These were held for the sacramental families on August 8th and 9th of this term. The Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation will take place on the 16th, 17th and 23rd, 24th of September.

Upcoming Masses

Wednesday 6/9 at 9:15am – Reception Mass

Parish Mass, Sunday 10/9 at 9am – Parish Mass. Year 2 students and families have been invited to attend, all members of the school community are most welcome to attend.

Wednesday 13/9 at 9:15am – Year 6 Mass

Wednesday 20/9 at 9:15am – Year 3 Mass

The Things That Matter

Views of 8-12 year olds on life, school and community.

Our school is taking part in the Commissioner’s Student Voice Postcard initiative!

Many South Australian primary school aged children are directly supporting the important work of South Australia’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly, as active participants of her annual Student Voice Postcard initiative, currently being rolled out to all schools across the State. The initiative is helping Commissioner Connolly gain a clearer understanding of what is important to primary school children. She is asking this under-represented group to respond to four simple questions that invite them to tell her what matters to them most, what aspirations they have, what worries them, and what they would change to make their lives better. All responses are anonymous. No personal information is collected. The Commissioner will use the postcard responses to inform her advocacy work to improve the lives of SA’s children and young people.

Learn more about the Commissioner’s Student Voice Postcard initiative at www.commissionerspostcards.com.au

The Year 5’s set off for camp this year from Wednesday 16-18 of August. 
Students participated in many activities including a bushwalk, archery, horse riding and grooming, Eggstronauts, The Amazing Race, just to name a few. There was of course the annual movie night as well as a games night which included watching the Matilda’s game. 
We would especially like to thank Mr Daley for all his outstanding organisation! We would also like to thank the other staff who came along to ensure that everyone was safe and had a great time. Our thanks to Corinne McKenzie, Fiona MacDonald, Chloe Auger, Andrea Edwards, and David Giannotti. 
Ilaria- I was able to try some new foods that I don’t usually eat at home. I really liked the butter chicken and ANZAC biscuits. 
Jackson- My favourite activity was the horse riding. It was something new that I hadn’t tried before and it took a while to get used to, but it was lots of fun!
Alex- Horse riding was the most fun, then probably archery. I enjoyed playing pool in my spare time. 
Willow- My favourite activity was horse riding and grooming the horses as well. Sheep herding was also lots of fun, especially screaming at the sheep trying to get them to do what we wanted!

Wow what a big few weeks it has been in the world of St Francis Sport and with only 4 weeks to go until the end of this term there is still so much more to happen.

Congratulation to all of the following students for their representation in District and State level sporting teams.

SAPSASA Year 5/6 Soccer

Scarlett Grosso, Siena Pegoli, Ari Palatianos, Luca Scali, Billy Palasis and Alessio Marrone. Congratulation to the girls team who finished the carnival week in 2nd place.

SAPSASA Athletics

Well done to the 40 students from across year 4-6 who represented our school at the SAPSASA Athletics carnival this week at Henley Oval. We had some amazing individual achievements that should see some of our competitors make the Metro Team that will complete later this term against the rest of the State Districts.

Some pictures in the gallery below article.

School Soccer

As the end of the school soccer season approaches we would like to wish all teams the very best of luck in the final couple of rounds and then hope you all enjoy the carnival round to finish the season off on September 16th. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful soccer coaches, assistant coaches, team managers, game stewards and linespersons who have given their time, effort and dedication to this season. Without the ongoing support of these wonderful people school sport would not be able to operate for our students.

Here are some very happy faces from players in our U6 and U8 ager groups.

Still To Come

As I mentioned there is still a lot to happen this term before it is over form some year levels.

Week 7- Wednesday 6th SACPSSA Touch Rugby Carnival Year 5/6 Students attending

Week 8 – School Colour Run, Friday 15th September

Week 9 – Tuesday 19th September, Year 5/6 Boys Westies Cup (AFL Footy) – Trials to commence soon. Friday 22nd September SACPSSA Cricket Carnival Year 5/6 Boys and Girls, Trials to commence soon.

James Daley
Sports Coordinator