Term 1 Newsletter, 7th February 2025

Principal's Message

An impressive beginning….

I would like to officially welcome all new and returning staff, students and families to the beginning of the school year for 2025. It has been a tremendous start to what will be a great 2025. I have been very impressed with the students, on how well they have come back and fallen into the school routines and procedures. Way to go students and all the best for the remainder of the year.

What are we about in 2025:-.

We are in the second year of our Strategic Plan. Please see our finer goals for 2025 are:-

1. Develop and implement the diocesan approach to reading – based upon the Australian Curriculum Version 9 through the teaching of Language Comprehension and Word Recognition.

2. Introduce and implement the new diocesan approach to spelling for Years 3-6.

3. Embed our redeveloped Benedictine values into our community and foster a deeper connection with being a Good Samaritan through Service Learning.

4. Create effective goal setting procedures that facilitate staff professional development and continuous learning.

5. Develop a staff and parent handbook that communicates strategies, policies and procedures within St Francis de Sales for renewal and sustainability.

6. Develop a Master Plan for the provision and sustainability of Catholic schooling at St Francis de Sales that includes a commitment to high quality learning resources and facilities.

7. Ensure staff have the capacity, capability and confidence to familiarise the First Nations Educational Plan

Reminders

· For the safety of our community could we please make sure the front gate (located on Meara Place) is closed at all times.

· PE takes place on Wednesdays for all students, so PE uniform is required for Wednesday and Friday.

· Parent Portal to be used for all absenteeism and some permission forms – please contact the school if you have any questions

· Communication through Parent Portal, Sental messaging (email/sms), Facebook (SFDS site)

· School Fees issued in week 4 (prompt payment is very appreciated – please speak with the school if you require an understanding on payment, invoicing etc.)

· Purchasing of new school laptops for students.

· Opening School Mass – 9:00am Monday 10 February.

· Parent Information Night, BBQ and Disco – 5:00pm Thursday 13 February – please RSVP numbers.

Changes to Calendar Events:

The list of school events is located on the school’s webpage – https://sfdssclifton.schoolzineplus.com/calendar

This is a great way of keeping up to date with upcoming events. Emails, notifications and Facebook posts will also occur throughout the year to inform and remind you of upcoming events etc. Please see the next couple of events happening very soon:-

Week 3

10 Feb – Opening School Mass – 9:00am

13 Feb – Parent Information sessions starting from 5:00pm – Welcome BBQ and Disco

14 Feb – Meals on wheels; Clifton Show; Cricket trials B & G – Southern Downs – Warwick

Week 4

21Feb –B&G Soccer – Clifton; CD – Netball – St Pat’s Allora; CD – RL 11/12 yrs – Clifton – 12pm

23 Feb – Family Sunday Mass – 9:30am

Week 5 – Family Week

24 Feb – AFL Southern Downs

25 Feb – SD Swimming – WIRAC

26 Feb – Tennis CD noms due

27 Feb –

28 Feb – Meals on Wheels

Week 6

3 Mar – Basketball SD; Cricket Trials Stanthorpe; SLP and OT visit

4 Mar – Shrove Tuesday

5 Mar – Ash Wednesday Liturgy 9:00am DD Swimming – Gatton

6 Mar –

7 Mar – SD B&G Soccer – Warwick; SD Netball – Warwick; SD RL – Warwick ; Meals on Wheels

Week 7

10 Mar –School Photos; Cricket DD trials – Warwick

11 Mar – Cricket DD Trials – Warwick;

12 Mar –

13 Mar –

14 Mar – NAPLAN test window; Cross Country, Meals on Wheels

Week 8

17 Mar – St Patrick’s Day; NAPLAN Testing; Harmony Week begins

18 Mar – NAPLAN Testing

19 Mar – Tennis Central Downs; NAPLAN Testing

20 Mar – NAPLAN Testing;

21 Mar – NAPLAN Testing; Nobby Triathlon; Harmony Day

23 Mar - Family Sunday Mass – 9:30am

Week 9 - NAPLAN ONLINE; Parent Teacher Interviews

24 Mar – Swimming Titles – Chandler; NAPLAN Testing;

25 Mar – NAPLAN Testing; Swimming Titles Chandler

26 Mar –

27 Mar –

28 Mar – Twmba Show Holiday

Week 10 – Newsletter Week Holy Week Celebrations; NAPLAN ONLINE; Parent Teacher Interviews

31 Mar – AFL DD

1 Apr – Netball DD – Twmba; Swimming State – Chandler

2 Apr – Cross Country – Central Downs

3 Apr – Holy Week Celebrations

4 Apr – Meals on Wheels

Looking forward to seeing a great turn out for our Parent Information Sessions this week.

Regards,

Brendan

Middle Leader News

We are thrilled to welcome you all back to St Francis de Sales School. A special greeting goes out to our new students and their families—we are delighted to have you join our community! The start of a new year brings fresh opportunities and exciting adventures in learning, growth, and friendship. We can't wait to see all the amazing things you'll achieve this year. 

To celebrate the beginning of the school year, we are excited to invite all students and their families to our annual Welcome BBQ and Parent Information Evening! This event will take place on Thursday, 13 February, and promises to be a fun-filled evening where you can catch up with friends, hear messages from your child/ren’s teacher/s, and enjoy delicious food. It's the perfect occasion to connect with other families and kickstart the year together. 

Don't forget to register for the BBQ through our Facebook page to help us make sure we have enough food and fun for everyone. We look forward to seeing you there and making this a fantastic start to the year! 

In Weeks 9 and 10, we have Parent Teacher Interviews, so teachers can communicate how students are going. These sessions will be open for booking in Week 7, through the Parent Portal. 

Mrs. Busiko

Prep/1/2 News

Welcome to Prep- 1- 2! We're off to a fantastic start, and we look forward to a year filled with learning and growth! Please join us in welcoming Cody, Kiansh, Hudson, Arthur, Grace, Jack, Fraser, Zeke, and Hain to our school family. Our first week was full of exciting activities and establishing routines. The children have enjoyed engaging in Bucket Filler activities, which help them settle into the classroom environment. We've also focused on writing our names and reviewing essential routines to ensure a smooth start to the school year. In addition to these activities, we've introduced several key routines:

• Mentals: Daily mental math exercises to sharpen our numerical skills.
• Kitty Cat: A fun and interactive way to practice phonics and early reading skills.
• Reading Routine: Establishing a love for reading through daily storytime and independent reading sessions, with explicit teaching of phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies.
• Mad Minute: Quick, timed math challenges to build speed and accuracy.
• Fluency Pairs: Partner activities to improve reading fluency and comprehension.

Our school has a rich history, founded by the Good Samaritan Sisters who traveled from Sydney by steam train to establish schools in our area. Their teachings are underpinned by the Parable of the Good Samaritan, emphasizing the importance of seeing everyone as our Neighbour. As Good Samaritans, we help, love, and care for each other. Your communication and feedback are important and welcome. We've enjoyed catching up with most families before or after school and on email. If you would like a scheduled meeting, please reach out. In week three we will look forward to our parent information sessions. Stay tuned for parent teacher interviews in weeks 9-10. 

Mrs. Skillington

Yr 3/4 News

The students of class 3/4 have had a wonderful start to the new, 2025 school year. Last week, students welcomed their new friend Kaitlyn to the school and quickly settled into their ‘upstairs’ learning environment, enjoying the benefits that come with having 3 teachers across the week. Students enthusiastically participated in get to know you activities including a search to find someone in the class who went on a plane in the holidays, someone who ate Mexican food and someone who did something creative. Together, we discussed our classroom rules, expectations and routines and revisited our school Learner Qualities of Co-operation, Resilience, Confidence and Persistence.  

This week, we eagerly made a start on many of our units of work which you will hear more about in the coming weeks. We discussed the value in setting individual, SMART Learning Goals in math and English and how these goals can help us to become self-motivated and stay on track to achieve our personal best.  

Mrs. Malbon

Yr 5/6 News

Welcome to our new student Lochlan. We are all enjoying having a new student in our class this year. Please remember to RSVP for the Parent Information Session/ Parent on Thursday. If you are unable to make it, I can email you the slides from the session. 

What we learning this term: 

In HASS we're delving into the fascinating history of Australia's settlement and development throughout the 19th century. Students will investigate how towns and cities emerged and evolved during this pivotal time in our nation’s history. 

In Religion, we are reflecting on the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the profound teaching of Jesus to "love your neighbour." This theme resonates deeply with our Benedictine values, which we will be connecting to our school values and our school parable. Through these discussions, students will gain a deeper understanding of compassion, community, and ethical living. 

In English, our focus is on the moving novel "War Horse." Using this captivating story as our foundation, students will enhance their understanding of an appositives and parts of speech, enriching their language skills and appreciation of literature. 

We look forward to a productive and inspiring term ahead! 

Mrs. Busiko 

P.E with Mr. Red

Last week kicked off our PE sessions. We worked on their Forehands, Backhands, game awareness and fitness skills at the Cliton Tennis Courts (thank you to Clifton Tennis for the hire of the courts). Next week will see the continuation of these groups and the necessary skills needed for tennis.