Term 3 Newsletter 22nd July 2022
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES
AND WE ARE OFF AND RACING...
Welcome back to the start of Term 3. It is great to see all the students return safe and sound from a well-deserved end of semester break.
Each new term brings with it an opportunity for students to build on previous achievements and to place further attention to areas of growth. I also believe that a new term will present additional opportunities for our school community to further build on the positive culture that exists here at St Francis de Sales and for our school to continue our quest to provide the best possible educational and pastoral environment for all the children who attend. Our continued focus is:
- Structured guided/modelled/shared lessons in Reading and Writing
- Explicit and focussed lessons
- Use of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria in every KLA and students being able to refer to these
- Students understanding what success looks like through co-created (student and teacher) criteria explaining what students need to know in order to achieve success
- Informed decisions based upon student learning data
- Providing feedback to students about their learning
- Embedding our Learner Qualities of Listen, Respect, Attitude and Participation
Our school strives to develop and express its own unique culture. However, we cannot do this alone. We rely greatly on each of our students and staff members being able to actively contribute to this culture in a positive manner. For this to occur, it is necessary for parents to play a proactive role in their children’s education. Families who choose to place their children in a Catholic school have a responsibility to that school to add to its unique culture and Christian dimension. For our school to continue to operate successfully, it must be able to count on the unity of purpose and conviction of all who belong. I know you will continue to work with us, so your children can grow in confidence as St Francis Learners and respectful global citizens.
One of the most important things you as parents can do to assist the school and the teachers is to ensure you instill great value of school and education. Explain to your child that treating everyone with respect, attending school, being on time, wearing the correct uniform and placing a high value on learning is important to them. They are also important life skills. The value you place on the traits of a learner and being a global citizen will be the values your child holds into the future. Primary school is the crucial time to establish values, develop positive dispositions (Learner Qualities) and an understanding of the benefits of being resilient and to persist in all endeavours.
The teaching and support staff here at St Francis will do everything we can to help your child to do their best. Let us know if we can support you in any way. Remember, communication between home and school is vital for a happy and productive school year. Your child’s teacher will inform you on the most effective mode of communication. Myself, Mrs Allison Busiko Williams (Middle Leader:Curriculum) and Mrs Debbie Groombridge Street (Learning Support Teacher) are more than happy to meet and discuss matters at any stage.
Please keep in mind that in any organization, problems arise from time to time. A school community is a complex body involving the Parish, Head Office, School Administration, teachers and ancillary staff, visiting specialists, parent groups and students. As educators of children, we understand the concerns of parents and we ask that parents in return understand that the roles of the teacher continue to become more demanding and complex. The education of our students is a partnership.
When an issue arises, please contact the person concerned directly at the earliest opportunity and in the least formal way, i.e. a quick chat before or after school, courteous email or phone call at a reasonable time of day. Following this initial contact and if the matter seemingly cannot be resolved, the Principal or Acting Principal should then become involved. Please avoid the approach of “going over their head” as all this creates is a feeling of distrust.
Another important point is to keep an open mind about what you hear. We love and cherish our children however it is wise to remember that they can sometimes embellish and misinterpret things. Checking ‘stories’ with those concerned in a courteous manner should resolve any such problems.
I am looking forward to another productive and successful school term. I have always been very proud of the efforts your children put into their schoolwork and their overall exemplary behaviour. Of course, this does not occur by accident or by good luck. The pride students take in their work and how they conduct themselves is a product of great parenting and a highly effective teaching and learning environment. It takes hard work but the fruits of our labour will be well worth the effort.
COMMUNICATION
With even just a brief look at the upcoming events throughout the term, it is obvious that it will be another very busy school term. With this in mind, I urge all families to ensure you read the fortnightly newsletter, consult the school calendar, regularly check for information notes which are forwarded home by the teachers via emails through Outlook and Sentral and regularly check our Facebook posts. These are our primary sources of communication between school and home. Failure to utilize or read the information provided can lead to additional stress at home and at school. To avoid this, establish a routine for class notes, refer to the online newsletter and school calendar at any time and regularly check notifications & reminders on the Facebook.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK 2022
Catholic Education Week will be celebrated in Catholic schools in Queensland from 24 – 30 July 2022.
This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day. The theme for this year’s celebrations is: Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society. There are 313 Catholic schools in Queensland that educate around 154,000 students and employ more than 22,000 teachers and staff, and most will celebrate Catholic Education Week in some way. We will be having a Liturgy on Wednesday at 2:30pm to celebrate Catholic Education Week. Due to the recent spike in COVID-19, celebrations this year have been restricted. Our school will be having a Pupil Free Day on Friday 30 July.
NAIDOC WEEK
Next week will see St Francis celebrate NAIDOC Week on Wednesday. It will begin with a short acknowledgement to country and a series of rotational activities that will enable the students to understand what the Aboriginal Culture is all about.
SPORTS CARNIVALS AND NOMINATIONS
Thank you to all who were able to come and enjoy our Sports Carnival last term. As mentioned, this will a planned event with St Patrick’s, and I was so delighted to have it happen. Next year we will host this annual event. I can not thank the community of St Patrick’s enough for all their hard work and preparation to make this day happen. The mums and dads, staff and students, and the wider community are to be congratulated on a job well done. Upcoming events include:-
- Central Downs Athletics Carnival, Allora – 25th and 28th July
- Southern Downs Cricket Trials, Warwick – 5th August (permission notes out next week)
- Southern Downs Athletics Carnival, Allora – 8th August
- Ball Games Carnival, Clifton Show Grounds – 9th September
God bless and thanks for reading…
Regards,
Brendan
CURRICULUM COORDINATOR
CURRICULUM COORDINATOR
Emma McTaggart Visit
On Tuesday 19 July, our St Francis students were lucky enough to have author Emma McTaggart visit the classrooms to take us through a writing workshop. Our first activity was to participate in careful looking. Students looked only at their hands (not the paper) to draw their hand.
The Prep - Year 3 students worked together to create a story based on the idea of going on a quest! The students used a lot of brainstorming to work out their story. They created a story together about Diddums the chef who had trouble making a cake for a friend.
The Year 4/5/6 class worked to ‘overcome the monster’. In this plot line, students created a character who was able to solve their own problems and rise above the issue to victory! These stories are still in draft at the moment, and we are looking forward to finishing them off.
PREP/YEAR 1
Prep/Year 1
This fortnight Prep and Year 1 have been describing characters from fairy tales. As a whole class group, we brainstormed a list of adjectives that describe the character of ‘The Big Bad Wolf’. Below, are writing samples from year 1 students, Jace Macura, Blake Newman and Hunter Gault.
YEAR 2/3
Year 2/3
This term we are immersing ourselves in Roald Dahl texts. We have been lost in George's Marvellous Medicine. Picture Grandma- brown teeth, miserable, old, wrinkly, rude, cats bottom lips. The laughter in the room is infectious as George adds anything liquid, powdery or gooey to his medicine for Grandma. We've started to write a procedure to inform readers "how to" create their own marvellous medicine. We look forward to sharing our published writing with you.
Our learning cycle in math is multiplication and division. We have been learning strategies and vocabulary to help us solve our number facts. Each week it is tradition that year 2/3 participate in Mad Minute Challenges. The success the students feel motivates them to go home and practice, practice, practice so that their results imporve. Our familiar strategies are- skip counting, repeated addition, drawing an array, modeling groups of, writing a number sentence. Times tables are a lot like sight words. We need to learn them with automaticity leading to fluency and accuracy.
Year 4/5/6 News
Year 4/5/6
During Religion this term, we are learning how the Gospel writers shaped their writing for particular communities. We will explore the wisdom of the saints, including St Mary of the Cross MacKillop and describe ways in which believers live according to Jesus' new commandment of love.
What can you teach us? This is what the students are teaching us in their speaking presentations this term. It has been wonderful to see and hear about the student’s knowledge and skills.
We have also started our quest to discover who stole the Mona Lisa. We are using our comprehension and inference skills to read the clues. In Week 1, we discovered the location of the museum where the picture was being housed. We used the skills we learnt last term, to use latitude and longitude to determine that the picture was stolen from Paris! This week, we have received witness statements, and we are using our comprehension skills to determine who is the thief!
From Andrea Yr 4/5/6
Science: Have been learning about Australian Deserts and how the Fauna and Flora survive with little or no water and these plants and animals adapt. The students will investigate whether specific features help animals and plants to survive in their environment.
HASS: the students have started a unit of work about the Australian Gold Rush and will investigate the historical discovery of Australia’s Gold Rush period, from the mid-to-late 1800s. Ideas include the discovery of gold, mining lifestyle, wealth and success, social consequences, and how these shaped the Australia we live in today.
LIBRARY NEWS
BOOK FAIR
The countdown to our Book Fair has begun. The Book Curator will be hosting our Book Fair during week 3. A book fair is a great opportunity for students to purchase books for their home libraries. Book Curator staff will carefully choose a selection of books that will be available at our fair, and a percentage of sales will go to benefit our school library.
In week 4 we will be welcoming two author/illustrators into our school to share their journey to authorship with students. Lian Tanner and Cori Brooke will visit us on Tuesday and Thursday respectively and spend time with students providing tips on becoming better writers.
Week 7 will see our school joining with Clifton State School and the Clifton library to celebrate Book Week. Students will have the opportunity to come to school dressed as their favourite book character, and participate in other fun activities.
Mrs Burgess & Mrs Hilton.
SCHOOL COUNSELLOR
Counsellor
SPORT
PE News
PE: for the last two weeks, students have been practicing ball games ready for the Central Downs ball games to be held on the 9th September. Students are learning and participating in Leader Ball, Captain Ball, Tunnel Ball, Unders and Overs and Star Relay. All classes are progressing well and display good ball skills. For the next two weeks we will be practicing our dances ready for the St Francis De Sales Bush Dance on the 20th of August. The dances are Heel Toe Poker and Bush Dance -Line Dance. After our dancing I am sure we get in one or two more ball games practice before the big event in September.
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
- Green Fleece Vest $10
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