Week 7 - Term 3

Dear parents & caregivers,

Week 7 already-hasn’t it been nice to have some Spring weather this week! Learning continues apace at St Francis and on my regular visits to classrooms I continue to be impressed with the quality of the learning experiences your children are involved with. There have been a number of significant activities in recent weeks – and upcoming – that showcase the holistic nature of our learning experiences. A great example of this has been recent Book Week activities, where the students not only dressed up for our annual parade but also connected with the world of books through class activities and rotations, as well as a myriad of activities through the resource centre. My thanks to Andrea Edwards for her organisation of Book Week activities. In coming weeks, we have Social Justice week, our year 6 history exhibition, our Instrumental Music evening and Catholic Schools Music Festival and-early in term 4 Sports Day! Each of these activities contribute to the curriculum experience for the children and add richness to that experience.

Students from St Francis have taken part in two sports carnivals this week – SACPSSA Touch Football, and SAPSASA Athletics. These carnivals are fantastic opportunities to participate in healthy physical activity, as well as to showcase the many talents of our students in the sporting arena. My thanks to James Daley and James Goldy for their continued advocacy and expertise in the sphere of Physical Education. As we talk all things Sport, an early reminder that our Annual Sports Day is to be held on the first Friday of term 4. We are currently planning for the carnival, and very much hope that we can be able to welcome families to the event. While the current restrictions will impact on that, we are praying for an easing of restrictions to allow for families to attend. More information to come!

Families would be aware of my recent communication regarding the future of SAPSASA. I am very pleased to be able to inform you that the proposed review of SAPSASA has been placed on hold, and the Minister for Education has expressed his strong commitment to the future of SAPSASA for all children in SA. I sincerely thank those who took the opportunity to discuss this matter with our local members!

During term 3 there has been a plethora of surveys circulated to you, and I am grateful for the very active responses received so far! One of those surveys was regarding the development of our next Strategic Plan, and I have appreciated the wisdom and insights families have provided. Your voice has been important in the development of this plan and we enter the next stage of the development of the plan with plenty of food for thought! I hope to be able to publish the Strategic Plan at the Annual General Meeting in term one 2022. One aspect of this planning, as you would be aware, has been the development of a Master Plan for building improvements. We will be meeting with each of the short listed Architects on Monday 13th September to hear their further thoughts on the development of a Master Plan. I will continue to keep you informed of this very important project.

Commencing term 4, St Francis is introducing a long transition to school program for children beginning reception, called “Little Francis.” I am excited about this initiative, which will see children visiting school regularly throughout the term, to get used to being with us, to make some new friends, get to know our staff, orient themselves with our school etc. The aim of the program is to ensure a very smooth transition to school for all children – we will be offering a very similar program for our term 3 2022 cohort, during term 2 next year. This transition program will become a regular feature of life at St Francis and I am very much looking forward to welcoming the children early next term!

A reminder of the 60th year celebrations for Christ the King Parish and St Francis school, on September 12. If you intend coming, please register at the parish office.

Finally, a very Happy Father’s Day for Sunday, to all of our dads, Grandads and other significant male figures in our children’s lives. We hope it is a day to celebrate the wonderful contribution to your children’s lives you make!

God bless,

Phil

Dear Families

“The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face. The ideal is not only to pass from the exterior to the interior to discover the action of God in the soul, but also to discover God in all things.” ( Laudato Si Paragraph 233)

During Week 4, I had the opportunity to attend a retreat. Our focus was on ‘exploring the experiences of God in Creation’ and was based on creation, ecological conversion and insights from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si.  Our reflections touched on four Christian models of human relations with nature: the Nuptial model of Hildegard of Bingen, the fraternal model St Francis, the Benedictine custodial model and the Celtic animate model.

A few points to ponder.

• Each living thing reveals some aspect of God. God is greater than the whole of our universe
• When God manifests spirit through matter, then matter becomes a holy thing
• The material world is the place where we can comfortably worship God just by walking on it, loving it, and respecting it
• Everything visible, without exception, is the outpouring of God
• When we love something, we grant it soul, we see its soul, and we let its soul touch ours
• Until we can appreciate and even delight in the soul of other things, even trees and animals, we probably haven’t discovered our own souls either

Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things God has made.  So they are without excuse;  Romans 1:20

God Bless,

Nives Kresevic

“As followers of Christ from around the globe, we share a common role as caretakers of God’s creation. We see that our wellbeing is interwoven with its wellbeing. We rejoice in this opportunity to care for our common home and the sisters and brothers who share it.”

On August 29 we celebrated Social Justice Sunday. The Australian Bishops’ Social Justice Statement, ‘Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor’, invites us to join in responding to Pope Francis’ invitation to take a 7-year journey towards total ecological sustainability guided by seven Laudato Si’ goals.

“Our challenge is to accompany people from the margins into a journey towards the fullness of life and love. We are meant to be in the coalface, in the messiness of it all and at the same time in fidelity to the Gospel.

Like Christ in his ministry among the sick and the lost, we are called to meet God in the most unlikely people and places. We, too, must be in that frontier space”. Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv. Bishop of Parramatta.

The Statement provides theological foundations to ground and inspire our efforts to care for creation while responding to the needs of the disadvantaged and excluded. More information can be found at; Social Justice

‘MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD’    HUMAN SEXUALITY CURRICULUM

“So God created human kind in God’s image, in the image of God, God created them; male and female…” Genesis 1: 26, 27

The Made in The Image of God (MITIOG), Human Sexuality Curriculum is mandated for South Australian Catholic Schools, for Years R-12. In Term 3 students engage with age-appropriate curriculum content regarding sexuality through the (MITIOG) curriculum.

MITIOG is based on the belief that humans created in God’s image are deserved of the utmost dignity and respect. Sexuality, integral to the human person, is a sacred gift from God.

The teaching of the MITIOG program supports the fundamental belief that sexuality is good. Sexuality is a power that enables us to form deep, interpersonal relationships and commitments.

The MITIOG program supports parents in their roles as the first and foremost educators in human sexuality.

In support of this partnership, MITIOG activities are sent home on a regular basis.

If you have any questions regarding the MITIOG Human Sexuality Curriculum please do not hesitate to ask your child’s class teacher or Helen Wilsdon-Smith.

In the act of forgiveness, we are declaring our faith in the future of a relationship…. 

“Forgiveness gives us the capacity to make a new start…   And forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew…

On Saturday, September 11 & 18, Year 3 candidates will receive God’s compassion and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

The format we use for the rite of Reconciliation is that it takes place in public on the sanctuary at the front of the church.

Parents introduce their child to Father Michael, but the sacrament is conferred quietly between the candidate and the priest.

The candidates feel a great sense of liberation when they experience Reconciliation for the first time.

We are all called to forgive but many of us find forgiveness hard.  Some people only want to forgive when the person hurting them apologises.  We don’t have to wait for apologies to forgive because sometime the apology never comes.  Our need to forgive is more important than another person’s need to say sorry.

SACPSSA Touch Rugby

Over the course of term 3 the Year 5/6 classes have been learning to play the game of Touch Rugby. The lessons have been conducted during P.E lessons, Fitness lessons and in the recent weeks during school time to help develop their skills. This was in preparation for the 2021 SACPSSA Touch Rugby Carnival that we attended on Wednesday. What an amazing day we had. Not only was the weather stunning, perhaps a little on the warm side at times, but overall it made for a great day of play. With 11 teams attending and playing against many other Catholic Primary Schools from around the state our students should be super proud of all their efforts. Many tries were scored, plenty of passing between teams and the odd mistake made, but all in all the day was certainly a success. Out of the 11 team 2 of those were our Championship teams who have been working extra hard over the past 2 weeks by attending before school and lunchtime sessions.

On the day it is only these teams that play in a competition format, leading into the day. Both the boys and girls team suffered some injuries to players which saw our team numbers depleted. A truly amazing effort was given by all players involved in the Championship team. At the end of the day the girls finished 4^th overall and the boys finished 6^th. Thank you very much to all of our classroom teachers, ESO’s and parents who came along to support and supervise a team.