Week 10 - Term 2

Dear families,

We have come to the end of a busy and productive term 2. I want to acknowledge and sincerely thank all of the school staff for their dedication and commitment to ensuring the best possible learning outcomes for our children. Teaching at times can be a thankless job, and we live in a world where it seems that everything becomes the responsibility of the teacher. Through all of this, our staff maintain a laser like focus on what matters most: the learning and wellbeing of the students in their care. I invite you all to send a message of thanks to your child’s class teacher, as they head into a very well deserved mid-year break.

Last Monday, St Francis hosted educators from schools around Adelaide in all 3 sectors, for a Playberry Laser Showcase day. Educators observed our excellent literacy practices in action, then reflected on what they had seen with a panel of our expert teachers. They also had the opportunity to witness tier 3 intervention ‘live’ and gain better understandings around how to support learners with Literacy difficulties. My thanks and gratitude go to Sarah Battistella our Literacy Leader of Learning, our amazing staff and the team at Playberry Laser for the event.

Reports will be distributed this week, via our SEQTA Engage platform. These reports are a summary of progress your child has made towards achievement of year level outcomes. Parents are invited, if they wish, to make time to meet with class teachers early next term to further discuss any aspect of the reports.

There has been a plethora of sporting events recently, where our students have shone! Both our SAPSASA Knockout Netball and Soccer teams have made it through to the next round of the competition after winning their recent carnivals. The next round of these competitions will be held next term. Also, on Wednesday this week was the annual SACPSSA Netball carnival, where all students from years 5 and 6 have the opportunity to represent the school. Trainings for next term’s SACPSSA Cross Country carnival are also ongoing!

Next week, Australia celebrates NAIDOC week.  National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. At St Francis we are committed to ongoing reconciliation, and deepening our knowledge and understanding of first nations people and cultures.

As we head into the term break, I would like to acknowledge some of our staff who will be leaving us, or have changed circumstances next term. Mrs Tia Gleeson and her family will be relocating to the United States for the next 2 years. While we are sad to see them go, we thank Tia for her excellent work as an ESO and wish them all a happy time as they undertake this new adventure! Mrs Andrea Edwards will be retiring at the end of week 1 of term 3. Andrea has made a profound contribution to education, both here at St Francis and more broadly. We wish Andrea and her family every happiness. Andrea’s counselling load will be taken on by Mrs Jo Harslett. Jo will be familiar to many as one of our ongoing relief staff, but also has many years of experience working in the wellbeing space. Jo is excited to take up this new role.

As announced last week, Ms Nives Kresevic will take some well-deserved Long Service Leave and the Deputy Principal role will be undertaken by Mrs Corinne McKenzie! This is an exciting time for Corinne and we wish her well. Her teaching duties will be taken on by Mrs Fiona MacDonald, who was most recently with us in 2024.

I trust and hope that all families have a relaxing term break, in readiness for another busy term 3 ahead.