St Francis de Sales School, Clifton eNewsletter

Acting Principal's Message

The Importance of Cooperation

'Cooperate' is one of our four Learner Qualities at St Francis. When explaining this attribute to the students, we say Cooperate means to:

Listen and act on feedback

Work as part of a team

Accept and include others

In our school, cooperation is a key quality that helps everyone learn and grow. Cooperation means working together with others to achieve a common goal. When students cooperate, they share ideas, listen to each other, and support one another. This teamwork not only makes learning more fun but also helps everyone succeed.

When students cooperate, they learn important social skills such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving. For example, when working on a group project, students must discuss their ideas, delegate tasks, and resolve conflicts. This helps them understand different perspectives and learn how to work well with others.

Cooperation also builds a positive classroom environment. It encourages respect and kindness, which makes everyone feel valued and included. By cooperating, students create a supportive community where everyone can thrive. Let's remember that cooperation is not just for school projects. It’s a valuable skill for all areas of life, from making friends to working in future careers. So, let's keep practicing cooperation every day and enjoy the benefits of working together as a team!

With the spirit of Cooperation in our minds, it is a busy week next week which will require much cooperation. On Friday 9 August, we will welcome our Grandparents to St Francis from 9am to 11am. The students will present some songs, play some games with their grandparents, and show them their classroom. We will then have a liturgy, and the grandparents will have a yummy morning tea. Assembly will be held at 2:40pm as per usual.

Then, hold onto your hats, The Bush Dance will hit St Francis on Friday 10 August! Please RSVP for this event for catering purposes. For only $10 a two-course adult meal will be available. A huge thank you to everyone who has been a part of the organization of this event. Thank you to Mrs. Skillington’s organization, Chris Skillington’s cooking, Carmel Stace and Neila Moss in the kitchen, Leanne and Glen Harrigan for the wood and to Vanessa MacDonald and William Bazley for the hay to sit on!

In keeping with the cooperation theme, it is approaching the time in the term where teachers begin testing of student learning. This testing informs subsequent teacher practise. You may be given updates from your child/ren’s teacher/s about their progress.

At the end of the term, Parent-Teacher interviews will occur. Interview times will open during Week 7 through the Parent Portal. If you have any questions before Week 9 and 10 about your child’s learning, please contact your child’s teacher and arrange a meeting before the end of the term.

Cycle Safety

This term, Years 4/5/6 will be participating in Cycle Safety in Toowoomba on 14 and 15 of August. This program will educate students about road safety and give the students an opportunity to practice their skills in a controlled environment. Please head over to the Parent Portal to sign the permission form for this event.

Please head over to Facebook to register your interest for the Term 3 events.

In Week 7 – On Tuesday 20 August it is our Book Week celebrations. St Francis is going to be hosting this event with various local schools attending. The theme is. “Reading is Magic!” Please start thinking about costumes.

In Week 8 - Father’s Day Breakfast coming up soon. The Year 6 students will be serving the food to the dads on this day. Year 6 students will be required at 7.50am to assist with cooking and food preparation duties.

In Week 9 – Friday 6 September, we have the Clifton Ball Games Carnival and Development Day. This will be held at Friday 6th September 2024 Clifton Recreation Grounds (Show grounds) at 9.30am where our students will play ball games and try out a variety of other sports. The Tuckshop order form will be sent home today.

Mrs. Busiko

Prep/1/2/3 News

Recently, we have had many friends home sick. We wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming you back to school.

During math lessons we have been learning about money. It has been pleasing to see growth in this concept particularly for the younger students to be able to add values of coins and the older classes calculating change. Counting back change is a tricky strategy but certainly a life skill many of us grew up with. With the reduction in the use of cash I wonder if our children will need this skill in years to come?

We are zoning in on decoding to learn to read. We are focusing on the following phonemes to enhance our ability to segment and blend unfamiliar and familiar words.

Prep- consonant blends

Year 1- long vowel blends

Year 2- magic "e" to make the vowel say it's long name.

Year 3- consolidating decoding strategies.

We are about to begin our testing cycle so stay tuned for feedback in the coming weeks. Remember we need to read the words and comprehend what we are reading to be successful readers. Asking W questions can be helpful at home during home reading.

What is the problem in the text?

Where is the story set?

Who are the characters?

When >>>> happened how might the character react? When have you been in a situation like this one?

Why did the character make this choice?

How did the character overcome the problem ?

We are excited to share some of our favourite quick writes. Please see the Facebook for weekly updates on student learning and participation.

Mrs. Skillington

Yr 5/6 News

Happy Week 4! It is wonderful to see students so engaged in their learning and making connections between their learning and real-world situations. We are also closely following the Olympics, with each student following a different country and keeping an eye on how their country is tracking on the medal tally. Go Australia!

English and HASS are proving the perfect pairing as students explore persuasive writing and how we are convinced, as consumers, to buy the things we buy. The students are enjoying watching some Australian advertisements that are oldies (but goodies) and analysing them for their persuasive devices.

In math, Year 4 and 5s are learning about budgeting and money and Year 6s are exploring mapping coordinates on grids. We are using real-world scenarios such as planning a party or class excursion to reinforce where mathematics is used in everyday life.

Thank you for your support in ensuring homework is complete and due each Friday (or Tuesday). This forms deliberate practice and contributes to over one year’s growth in academic and organisational skills.

.

Mrs. Green

Middle Leader News