Term 3 Newsletter 31st August- 2023
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES
Reflection Time and Check In
In the hustle and bustle of life, knowing where we have come from is just as important as where we are heading (goals for the year). Over the past 18 months, the school has seen a continued focus on what makes our school very special. The strong teaching and learning delivery that has academic rigor for every child (academic success for all) – this has been through a number of our strategies which include the Reading Improvement Strategy (RIS), Writing Improvement Strategy (WIS), Recontextualising the Gospels and use of Dialogue in Religious Curriculum (contemporary Catholic environment), Learning Intentions (LI) and Success Criteria (SC), the teaching of Learning Qualities and much much more. We have also seen pleasing results for our Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN results, maintaining a level above the state. We have participated (and hosted) in an number of extra-curricular events (Book Week Celebrations, Gala Days, Athletic Carnivals, Arts Festivals), increased our public profile across the area (creation of a School Facebook Page, numerous articles in the Clifton and Toowoomba papers, attendance at Treasure Island for weekly visits, Nirvana visits, local signage across the community) as well as maintaining the charism (or life blood) of the school – our welcoming and nurturing vales aligned to the parable of the Good Samaritan and St Benedict’s teachings. In summary, this all means that your child is perfectly placed to receive a very valuable education through a wonderfully supported and challenging environment where learning and well-being is at the forefront. As with any enterprise, we are still focusing on areas of improvement and will continue too. We are proud of St Francis de Sales, and I know you are as well.
Making a difference – Being involved in your child’s education
I have noticed the number of exciting activities that have and will continue to occur for the remainder of the term. The event calendar is certainly getting a workout. The reassuring thing about this is that even though disruptions can occur throughout the term (staff/student illness, personal challenges etc)… we haven’t used this as an excuse not to do things just because they may be harder to do. Life goes on and the staff and students adjust and get on with things.
While providing a range of opportunities is important to maintain engagement levels in the students, the need for parents to be involved and engaged in their children’s schooling is vital. There is plenty of research that shows the direct link between success at school and the level of parent involvement. I don’t mean parents have to be at the school every day of the week to be seen as involved. Your level of engagement with the school can occur in many ways. Taking an interest in what is happening in the classroom, assisting with homework, reminding children of upcoming events, ensuring the correct uniform is being worn, helping out in the classrooms, being part of your kid's show and share moments, attending as many school/classroom events as possible, celebrating successes along the way, talking positively at home about school and teachers, volunteering whenever you can, coming along to PEN (P&F) meetings…the list is almost endless and nothing on the list is too difficult to do.
With our Fathers’ Day celebration taking centre stage this week, I would like to give a big shout-out to all the dads. One thing I have noticed over my time here is the increasing number of dads bringing their kids to school. Unlike me, I’m sure you are not scared of your wives or partners and are not just following orders…I hope you enjoy this time with them walking hand in hand to school each day. What a perfect opportunity to share time and be part of school life.
Children just love seeing their parents being present and involved and from personal experience as a parent of three kids, their years at primary school (Benji soon to be) will go by in a blink of an eye….so don’t waste this time…get in and enjoy the little things because one day you will look back and realise that they were the big things. It is true…it’s the little things in life that matter. What makes us remember things is how we felt at a particular time. If children have a positive and enjoyable experience at primary school, the odds are that they will carry this forward to secondary school and then one day hopefully provide their children with a positive attitude towards school.
Children will remember how the important adults treated them; how they listened to what they had to say; how they established clear rules and boundaries; how they were fair but firm; how they knew how to have fun together and with us; how they modelled respect to one another; how our parents and teachers praised us for our efforts rather than our results. And if parents and teachers don’t do these things, then, they’ll remember that instead.
There is no doubt that we as parents and teachers are a very important influence on the degree to which our children will have a healthy self-image. The memories we give our children to take forward in their lives will be based, in great part, on the type of influence we provided.
Family Life and Child Protection Week
Next week, St Francis will be delivery lessons and content around The Guidelines for Teaching Sexual Health and the Daniel Morcombe Curriculum with an added focus on personal safety. By now you should have received a letter which has explained the content, vocabulary and outline of the lesson/s focus. Please contact your child’s teacher if you need any further information.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Over the coming weeks, teachers will be sending / arranging parent teacher interview times for you and your child. Just a reminder that if you are unavailable to attend your parent teacher interview please contact the school so another time can be arranged. These meetings are of great value to your child, your child’s teacher and to you, the parent. I sincerely thank the teachers for their efforts in preparing and organising these interviews and to you, the parents for scheduling time for this important meeting.
Prep 2024 Transition Days
Please keep an eye out for our Prep 2024 transition days. This will be a time for getting to know our Prep teacher/students and our school community, also sharing of information of what to expect as a Prep Parent.
Our first Prep Information Session in on Monday 11 September.
Ball Games/Sports Expo – Friday 8th September
Students are to arrive at the Clifton Show Grounds at 9:30am (not at school please) and be pick up by 2:15pm from the same venue. St Francis school will not be operating as per normal, with all students and staff expected to attend the Ball Games/Sports Expo. Loads of fun activities have been planned for this day.
Week 9
National Child Protection Week / Daniel Morcombe Curriculum Lessons – all week
Tues 5 Sept – Year 6 Transition to Clifton High School
Fri 8 Sept – Ball Games Carnival – Clifton Show Grounds
Week 10
Fri 15 Sept – Last day of school for term 3
Up coming dates for term 4
Mon 2 Oct – King’s Birthday – no school
Tues 3 Oct – School Resumes
Thurs 19 Oct – Prep 2024 transitions and Yr 6 Clifton High School Transition
Sat 21 Oct – Show n Shine Car Show at St Francis and the beginning of Country Week
Sun 22 Oct – Family Sunday Mass – 9:30am
Fri 27 Oct – World Teacher’s Day; St Francis Speech Competition
Sat 28 Oct – Clifton Races
God bless and thanks for reading…
Regards,
Brendan
MIDDLE LEADER
CURRICULUM COORDINATOR
Parent Teacher Interviews are now open for booking through the Parent Portal. If you are having trouble accessing this, we are happy to help you to log in. Access to the Parent Portal is essential as this is where you will also see your child's report card in Term 4. Our interviews are 20 minutes in duration, and they are held over Weeks 9 and 10. Interviews via phone and TEAMS are also available. Please ensure you are on time to your interview as a courtesy to parents who follow your interview time.
PREP/YEAR 1/Year 2
Prep/Year 1/Year 2
A busy fortnight as Prep/One/Two students prepared for the annual Father’s Day BBQ and Liturgy. Excitedly, students created collage artwork, wrote about why they love their dads, rehearsed individual speaking parts and practised songs and dances. We wish all our dads, grandads and special Father figures a very enjoyable Father’s Day.
In maths, Year 2 Students identified transformations of shapes as flips, slides or turns; and experimented with these transformations to establish that flips, slides and turns do not alter the shape’s size or features. Prep and Year 1 students revised the days of the week, months of the year and number facts.
In English, we learnt that some authors combine facts with their opinion to entertain their readers and give information. We used the text Animals around the Billabong to identify facts and opinions in the text and discuss an author’s use of facts.
YEAR 3/4
Year 3/4
We're enjoying our science unit of work exploring Earth's changing surface. This topic is very relatable for our rural students. We've explored the layers of the Earth, how mountains and land formations have been formed and made connections between our creation stories. We've learnt through simple investigations and conduction fair tests.
During Religion we are learning about the Early Catholic Church. We've created a class timeline showing the arrival of the Catholic faith in Australia. We've considered the similarities and differences between First Nations beliefs and the Catholic faith. We've considered the impacts of Early Catholics to the First Nations Peoples.
In Math we are learning about fractions. We are modelling and representing halves, quarters, fifths and eights.
We are sharing a narrative from Natalie Patterson this week.
The Injured Turtle
by Natalie Patterson
Curiously, April saw a blue net flying through the sky about to drop into the turtles home. April adores turtles, she loves helping seas life and she is twelve years old. She is an overjoyed girl!
While she was thinking about turtles, April remembered about the blue net flying across the sky. Fastly, she jumped to her feet and ran to the turtles home. When she got there, one green turtle was wrapped in the blue net. April was sobbing. Suddenly, she had an idea.
Her idea was to go and get one of the sea life workers to help so she ran to get them. Panting a little, they both got back and unravelled the blue net. April was thrilled to see the turtle free again. Surprisingly, April lived proud, pleased and overjoyed.
Year 5/6 News
Year 5/6
In Religion, we have completed our study of the Good Samaritian Sisters. We now know how they demonstrate Jesus' Law to show love to others. We studied how the Sisters contributed to their communities in Australia in the 1800s and we were able to understand the links to the Benedictine Values that we have written on our school stairs.
We have been working so hard to complete our information reports in writing. The students have all written a report about bushfires and they have now begun researching either a disaster or a way we can promote sustainability. The class are quite good at summarising text, writing notes and turning them into their own thoughts. Next week, we will begin planning of ideas for our school speaking competition in readiness for Term 4.
In Mathematics, we have been busy studying time, including 24 hour time, reading timetables and duration between events. We have just begun learning about volume and using a formula to calculate the volume of rectangular prisms. The students have been busy rounding numbers to the nearest, tens, whole numbers, tenths and hundreds and adding and subtracting numbers involving decimals.
SPORT
PE with Mr Red
It has been a busy two weeks with a very strong focus on netball skills – catching, passing, spreading out, communication and teamwork. These skills are important building blocks which will enable the students to have greater and continued success with other sporting disciplines. Next week will see the whole school participate in the annual Clifton Ball Games and Sports Expo at the Clifton Show Grounds
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 you 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