Term 2 Newsletter 9th June 2022

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES

READING THE REPORT CARD 

As we begin to enter the final few weeks of Semester 1 and the ever anticipated wait for the distribution of the mid-year report cards, it is good to stop and reflect on what the meaning of the judgements provided means for us and our children. 

I know that when I was attending school and even when I first began my teaching career, the ultimate goal was to achieve that ever-inspiring A. This would often mean that we had completed a task to an exceptional standard with no criteria to tell us how or why we received such a good mark. The Australian Curriculum provides a detailed explanation of what content understanding and application of skills are required to be successful in each Key Learning Area (KLA) or subject in each year level. This expected standard of success is what we will see on the report cards as a C. 

If a C is obtained, then this should be a cause for celebration as this means that your child has shown evidence to achieve the conceptual understanding and the ability to use the necessary skills for a particular area of learning. There would also be evidence that they can transfer this learned understanding and skills to other familiar or similar situations. 

Students at St Francis are given opportunities to demonstrate their conceptual understanding and applied skills in tasks that extends their thinking, creativity, and problem-solving in new or unfamiliar situations. This transfer of learning could be using their understanding of parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs to create a piece of quality writing or using their understanding of mixed fractions in a real-world scenario or using their learned knowledge and skills in a science experiment to hypothesise and evaluate on an outcome which has not yet been proven. 

Students who are beginning to show evidence that their thinking, creativity and problem solving is being transferred to new situations demonstrate the ability for a B and those who have can demonstrate this transfer in all new situations that they are provided will be provided an A.  

As report cards are carefully (or not so carefully!) opened it is always wise to remember that sometimes judgements on a page does not always reflect the hard work students have demonstrated within the classroom. Our goal is always for the self-improvement of the individual. 

WALKING ADVERTISEMENTS

As a school, we do what we can in getting the ‘good word’ out about what we do from day to day. Social media platforms, local publications and signage are some of the ways that we try to achieve this. Yet remarkably, for all the resources invested in this worthwhile endeavour, this type of advertising is not the most effective. 

When interviews are conducted, we ask our families how they came to hear about us. 95% of the time they tell us it’s you—our parents. Their reasoning for choosing St Francis de Sales School is mostly to do with the fact that they have spoken to a member of our community that has told them about their good experiences. You play the main part in building good experiences with your school. Thank you for: 

→ Seeing us when you’ve got a concern— Good experiences aren’t always about the ’warm and fuzzies’. Good experiences can be about how the school responded to a concern of yours regarding your child’s progress. 

→ Being engaged in your child’s learning— When you involve yourself by simply asking; “How is my child going?”; you help create relationships that ensure the progress of your child; 

→ Supporting a ‘solutions focused’ way of thinking— any problem involves all parties working together towards a solution. When we support each other, great things can be achieved for your children. 

As a part of our community, you are a ‘walking advertisement’. On behalf of our school community, I thank you for your ongoing support of your children and, in turn, our school. 

SPORTING NEWS

Please check out the recent sporting news that was shared via email earlier this week. This gives an overview and details of the up-coming events which include high jump, 200/800m and the actual sports carnival.

APRE NEWS

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost. Pentecost Sunday is like the Church’s birthday. Pentecost is a Greek word which means 50th. Pentecost is the 50th day after Easter Sunday where we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming to the Apostles and their followers. Just like a birthday where we receive gifts from our loved ones, the Apostles received gifts from God who loved them. He sent these gifts through the Holy Spirit to help them begin Jesus’ ministry here on earth. There are seven gifts - wisdom, understanding, knowledge, right judgement, reverence, courage and spirit of wonder. Each gift with a unique purpose.

Understanding to help us show caring and compassion to others,  

Knowledge to help us use what we learn to help others

Wisdom to help us help others with advice and suggestions when things aren’t going so well for them

Courage to help us be brave when things do not go quite right and to stand up for people who are not being treated with equality

Right judgement to help us make sure we include everyone and speak to everyone nicely even if they are not our best friends

Reverence to help us spend time praying to God and asking him for help and thanking him for what he has given us

Spirit of Wonder to help us show respect to God and to others

The people who received these gifts were the very first members of the Christian Church.

One of the apostles present, when the Holy Spirit came, was Peter who became our very first Pope. As we celebrate the Church’s birthday, we ask that those same gifts fill our hearts so that through our words and deeds we may be shining examples of Jesus’ love, bringing hope to the world.

Regards,

Mr Red

CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

CURRICULUM  COORDINATOR 

Extra Events!

This week at St Francis, we have participated in many extra events! We have jumped out of our comfort zones to try new things.

The Year 5 and Year 6 students have participated in a Leadership Day at school. During this day, students were able to practise working as a team and use effective communication skills. The students learnt about being a lifelong leader. Leadership doesn’t stop when Primary school is over. Students can be leaders wherever they go and throughout whatever community groups they are in. The students participated in many activities during the day and the students all learnt the importance of listening to each other’s ideas and leading ourselves to make the best decisions.

Gala Days have proved to be successful for our St Francis learners. Not only are the students moving their bodies to stay healthy, but they have also joined together with other students to play group sports. During the first Gala Day, (and I am sure this will also be the case today as the second day continues) it has been wonderful to observe how inclusive and supportive our students are! Especially those children who have been placed with students they may not know from other schools.

Under 8’s Day is an exciting time for our littlest St Francis Students! Please see The Year Prep/One section for more details.

It has been wonderful to see all our learners participate and grow their personal skills this week in various ways out of the classroom. Developing learner dispositions such as persistence, self-control and risk-taking are very important in the overall development of each child.

Leadership Day - Yr 5 & Yr 6

PREP/YEAR 1

Prep/Year 1 

In prep/1 on a Friday we have been learning all about our own history and how history relates to us – how homes, schools, transport and families have changed over time.  Last week we started on our “History of Me”  scrapbooks – thank you for sending in your photos and sharing your memories with us – we are very appreciative!  It is fantastic to see the excitement on the faces of the children as they pour over their own photos and enjoy seeing pictures of their friends and classmates as babies and a wonderful culmination of the semester’s work. 

We are looking forward with much excitement, to join with other schools in the district for Under 8’s Day tomorrow.  It is always a fabulous day with many fun, educational activities for the children to join in with.  I am sure they will come home tired, but excited to share many stories about the fun day that they experienced!  Have a great week-end!     

Debbie Groombridge

YEAR 2/3

Year 2/3 

With the end of term so close we have been busy completing assessment tasks to achieve the best results for our report cards this semester. We have been sharing our journey on Facebook and hope you have all kept up to date with the highlights.  

Miss Candale finishes her final prac placement with us this week. We have certainly enjoyed her presence in the classroom and the new ideas she brings from her studies. We wish her the very best as she begins her career in the teaching profession. 

Athletics time is upon us. Whether in the classroom or the sporting field there are two words that consistently come to the fore; persistence and resilience.  

Persistence is the skill to keep going and not give up. Resilience is being knocked down but jumping straight back up and doing it all again to achieve our best. Both words suggest moving forward, regardless of the obstacles that may stand in our way.  

In the class of Year 2/3 this semester we have seen incredible growth with both these skills. The year 2’s may have entered the classroom as animals in front of headlights and the year 3’s had the burden of being the older members of the classroom, now given the task of leading and setting the example. As you receive your child’s report card in the next few weeks, please be aware that there has been considerable growth with all the students as they tackled persistence and resilience daily.  

As teachers, we are proud of how these children have pushed themselves this semester to achieve their best. 

Year 4/5/6 News

Year 4/5/6

Amazing! This word has been said many times by Mr Tennent and me this week. We have been working exceptionally hard to improve the description within our sentences during our writing. The class has participated in many lessons to write WOW sentences, and this descriptive language has been observed during independent writing times.

During Religion, the students have been completing their visual representations of one of the Fruits of the Spirit. It has been wonderful to see great artwork, but more importantly, hear the students articulate what each fruit means, and how the faithful can demonstrate these within their lives. Even better still, has been hearing the students speak about the different fruits during the Year 5 and 6 leadership day.

During Mathematics this fortnight, we have been studying location and symmetry. The students have created wonderful designs showcasing their knowledge of symmetry and turn symmetry.

Our biscuits have arrived in St George! We are now waiting for the reports to see how our designs fared. Are our biscuits intact?

Lastly, a reminder for our World Feast Day! This will be held in the MPC on Tuesday 21 June during lunchtime. All students are to bring in a small plate featuring food from their Geography research.

LIBRARY NEWS

BOOK FAIR  

This year in term 3, we will be hosting a Book Fair in the library.  Book Fairs are a fantastic opportunity for our students and community to purchase new books for their home libraries and for our school library to add to our student collections at no cost to the school.

Our Book Fair is to be provided by The Book Curator, part of local Brisbane publishing house, Yellow Brick Books. This Book Fair will be a bit different to others you may have attended. The team at The Book Curator will tailor the selection of books for our community. Book prices will start at just $5, ensuring every child the opportunity to purchase a book.  Also, our fair will focus on books and reading, without the distraction of unnecessary stationery items that are often associated with book fairs.

Giving students the opportunity to ‘shop’ at our Book Fair, reinforces the importance of reading for pleasure in students’ reading development, and allowing them free choice in the decision-making process of what they wish to read.

We hope you will visit our Book Fair next term and we look forward to providing this opportunity to our school community.

SPORT NEWS

Physical Education

The Gala Day in Week 6 was a wonderful time for students to participate in sports with our neighbouring schools. This week’s Gala Day enabled students once again to celebrate the enjoyment of competition and mixing with other schools. Well done St Francis students on the way you participated on these days.

Lessons in PE have involved preparation for our Athletics Day which will be held on Thursday 23 June at St Patrick’s in Allora. Students have been practicing running events, relays, high jump, long jump, shot put, discus and ball games. This practice has allowed students to go over the techniques and rules involved for each event so that they can participate confidently on the day.

High Jump events have already commenced this week at St Francis. The under 9 and 10 events were held this week on Wednesday 8 June. Congratulations to the following students who performed well. Mitchell Wilson won the 9 year boys with 93cm, Emmett Harrigan came second with 85cm. Chloe Stace won the 9 year girls with 93cm, Sophie Joppich 90cm came second and Natalie Patterson came third.  Mick Willett won the 10 year boys with 123cm (new record), Xavier Chalmers came second 103cm and Jackson and Harvey Kuhn tied for third place with 95cm. Hope Olsen won the 10 year girls with 108cm (new record), Malea Moore came second with 100cm and Berri Maguire came third with 95cm.

The under 11 and 12 High Jump events will be at St Francis next week on Wednesday 15 June. These events will commence at 10:00 am on the school oval. Parents are welcome to watch.

Preparation for the Gala Days and the Athletics carnival has been enjoyed by all students. They have worked well to improve their skills in the various events, and I have particularly enjoyed the enthusiasm displayed during lesson time. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone well in the upcoming events and to ask that students continue to try hard to improve their own individual sporting skills into the next term.

All the best.

Andrew Tennent

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Counsellor

Magnificent Me – Supporting your child’s self-esteem and confidence

Self-esteem is the opinion we have of ourselves. Good self-esteem helps children to believe in themselves and their ability to try new things and face challenges. It impacts on every aspect of our lives, from how we communicate, to what friendships we choose. Parents are pivotal to a child feeling accepted and nurtured. This feeling of acceptance ultimately enables a child to develop their own individuality and self-expression, which supports the development of a healthy self-esteem. A few ways that parents can support their child to develop a positive self-esteem are listed below:

• Focus on strengths, while working on weaknesses
• Model good self-esteem and ways of effectively coping with difficult situations
• Provide emotional support when mistakes are made and encourage them to keep trying
• Provide encouragement for effort made in learning new skills and trying new things
• Teach your child how to handle negative comments and harsh criticism
• Teach new skills (e.g. gardening) and demonstrate how to show persistence
• Encourage positive thinking and having a positive attitude 

For further information on self-esteem:

Your child’s self-esteem (kidshealth.org)

About self-esteem: children 1-8 years (raisingchildren.net.au)

7 ways to help your child develop positive self-esteem (understood.org) The best self-esteem books for kids (happilyeverelephents.com)

Self-esteem and confidence kit (biglifejournal.com)

P & F UNIFORM SHOP

Uniform Shop Co-Ordinator: Kylie Hay

Contact Details: kurlz@live.com.au or 0487 582 107

Uniform Shop Days: MOST Thursdays & Fridays

If you would like uniforms, please fill in the updated Invoice Sheet and email or text Kylie to either arrange a time to meet or for the order to be sent home with your child. If you have an old invoice copy, please bin it and replace with our updated one. This can be found on the Facebook Page or request one from me directly.

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS

• We now have EFTPOS available in the Uniform Shop at the time of collection
• We have some good quality second hand winter uniforms and also summer uniforms available for $5 per item if you’re looking for an extra jumper, shirt, shorts etc. Please note that only limited sizes and items are available but you are welcome to request second hand if available.
• We are no longer stocking the following items however we still have limited stock available for a discounted price if you would still like to purchase them.
  • Green Fleece Vest $10
    • Sizes 4,6,8,12 & 14 available
  • Long Sleeve Boys Polo Shirts $15
    • Sizes 4,10,12,14 & Small available
  • Girls Green Long Formal Pants $10
    • All sizes except 10 available
  • Girls Green Long Sports Pants $15
    • Sizes 4,6,8,10 & 16 available

If you urgently require uniforms on a day other than Thursday or Friday, please let me know and I can arrange this with the staff at St Francis De Sales. Please note I do work and will get back to as soon as I possibly can.

STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS

Feeling Safe- All students have a right to feel safe and be safe.

If you are concerned about any form of abuse that is immediate, you should call 000. A significant risk or harm to a student, whether or not you have formed this belief on reasonable ground, should immediately be raised with one of our Student Protection Contacts.

ADMINISTRATION

School Fees:

We do recommend the setting-up of a direct debit facility to pay regular amounts into the school account. This alleviates overdue bills.

SCHOOL Bank Details

BSB: 064786

A/C: 100023789

Reminder: All P&F payments & Uniform payments are paid to a different bank account NOT the school account.

P&F Bank Details

BSB: 084610

A/C: 508684159