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Term 3 Newsletter, 16th August 2024

Acting Principal's Message

Child Protection Week 2023 (1-7 September)

The theme for Child Protection Week in 2024 is ‘Every conversation matters'. It is important our students know where they can access support, whether that be at home, at school, within their own network of friends and family, online or via phone. Clear, consistent and regular messages of support and safety are key to reducing harm and safeguarding children.

What is Child Protection Week?

As parents and carers, conversations between you and your children are vital – you are the most important people in your child’s life to advocate for them, listen to them, and share messages of safety and support.

This year during Child Protection Week we encourage parents and carers to speak with their children about their understanding of safety and their support networks. The National Office of Child Safety launched their “One Talk at a Time” campaign earlier in the year. Alongside this campaign they released a list of resources about how to have a conversation with your children and young people about safety. You can access these resources here: Having conversations | National Office for Child Safety

During Child Protection Week our students will be engaged in a number of activities to reinforce safety messages – for primary school students, they will be provided with two activities to complete in class time including a “My Safe People” activity and a Child Protection themed Paper Chatterbox.

Should any student be concerned about how they are being treated by an adult, or another child or young person, they are encouraged to speak up to a trusted staff member or one of our School Student Protection Contacts (SSPCs). All students were reminded who our SSPCs are, and that they are depicted on the ‘Keeping Safe’ posters located around the school.

Child Protection really is everyone’s business, and we are committed to making our school a safe, secure, and protected place of learning for every student.

Book Week 20 August

“Reading is Magic!” is the theme for Book Week on Tuesday. St Francis will be hosting this event, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Carmel Stace for her organisation of tuck shop for this day. She will be feeding four schools! A huge undertaking – we are so thankful to you! The day starts at St Francis at 9.30am. This means that St Francis students will arrive to school at the usual time, ready to mark rolls and to be ready for the other schools to arrive at 9.30am. Please remember to have marked the Local Excursion Permission on the Portal to enable your child to participate in the parade around Clifton CBD.

Book Week Timetable

9.30am - Arrive, Welcome & have a snack (fruit)

9.40am - 10.00am Walk around Clifton CBD

10.00am onwards:

Story Book Rotations with the St Francis Staff, Author Visit from Terese Eglington and Reader’s Cup Tournament (Years 4-7).

We can’t wait to see your costumes!

Southern Downs Athletics

Well done to all of the students who participated in the Southern Downs Athletics on Friday 16 August. We hope you tried your best, and you had fun in your nominated sport. We can’t wait to hear how you went.

Mrs. Busiko

Prep/1/2/3 News

We would like to thank the students for their participation at our recent school events- Grandparents Day and the Bush Dance. Their participation and behaviour were great, and it was so pleasing to see the pride and joy on the students' faces. Our class completed such high-quality work this term to present to their Grandparents as part of our HASS unit on the past and present. We are so proud!

No rest for St Francis with Book Week, Ball Games Carnival and Father's Day liturgy just around the corner. The P-3 class will lead this years Father's Day liturgy. Please remember to send in photos for the slideshow and indicate your attendance on the SFDS Facebook page.

During science this term we are learning about light and sound. We will investigate sources of light and how light travels. Students will explore how sound is made, changes in pitch and volume and how sound travels.

This week we have started our Student Safety lessons. Of course, this is embedded in our teaching and learning throughout the year, but this is the time we take to explicitly teach safety concepts. We have been learning about friendly and unfriendly behaviours as a part of "Bullying- No Way" day coming up this Friday.

Mrs. Skillington

Yr 5/6 News

We have had another jam-packed fortnight in the Year 4/5/6 classroom. Thank you to all the grandparents and family members who came last Friday for our hugely successful Grandparent's Day. Thank you to everyone who came to the wonderful Bush Dance as well. The students all did themselves and their families proud with how well they danced and got into the spirit of the night.

The students have been busy getting stuck into mid-term assessments this week, and I must commend them on their hard work. With all the sickness around and with it being such a busy term of extracurricular activities, we have had to be flexible and resilient in our mindset and the students are doing an admirable job at this. Please keep it up!

The rain couldn't keep us from attending Cycle Safety in Toowoomba. Although postponed to Thursday and Friday, we were so glad to learn such important information about riding bikes and the road rules in a fun and engaging way.

Next week is my absolute favourite day of the whole year – Book Week! Dress-up day is Tuesday, and I am really looking forward to seeing what unique and creative costumes the students have chosen to dress up in. Happy reading everyone!

Mrs. Green

Middle Leader News

In Week 9 and 10, you are encouraged to book in a Parent-Teacher Interview with your child’s teacher via the Parent Portal. Interview times will open during Week 7. This is a wonderful way to know how your child is progressing in their learning journey. A strong partnership between home and school has shown positive impacts on student academic achievement.

Cycle Safety

When the sun came out from behind the clouds, the Years 4/5/6 were able to participate in Cycle Safety this week. The students had a blast learning about the road rules, putting their knowledge into practice as they zoomed around the park. Well done to all the students for showing patience as they waited for their turn. Learning how to be physically safe when walking or riding around is an important part of growing up, and we are so happy that we can offer this experience to the children.

Mrs. Busiko

P.E. with Mrs. Malbon

This week, students started to practise for the annual Ball Games Carnival to be held on Friday 6th September 2024. The 4/5/6 students revised the rules of the Star Relay and Leader Ball. Students quickly learnt the benefits of working together in a cohesive team, encouraging and supporting each other. In the lead up to the Ball games Carnival students are encouraged to continue practising accurate chest passes, as we know, PRACTISE IMPROVES PERFORMANCE.

Prep/1/2/3 students practised and revised the rules of Overs and Unders and Tunnel Ball. These games help to develop our younger student's hand eye co-ordination, spatial awareness, social skills and being inclusive. In the coming weeks students will discuss the elements of teamwork, communication and good sportsmanship.

Best wishes to all our students attending the Southern Downs Track and Field Events. We look forward to hearing your results.

Mrs. Malbon