Wow, where did the 2019 school year go!

Around this time last year, I was meeting the school community for the first time.

We began our school year welcoming a new Principal, new (Assistant Principal) Mr Rodney Green and new (Middle Leader), Mr Brett Murphy. Right from the start, it has been full steam ahead at St Francis of Assisi with staff and students engaged in many learning experiences and opportunities where they have come together in faith, community and learning. Getting to know Father Martin, the staff, students, school and parish community has been a wonderful experience. It feels like I have known them for so long.
We started the year with a Welcome BBQ and Opening School Mass. There have been many opportunities to come together as a faith and learning community. These days were always well attended. It takes all of us; staff, students and parents working together for these days to be successful.
I am often in awe of the wonderful things our staff do for the students and families in our school. Each term we gather for four days where we unpack all our student's data, discuss how our students are going, what they are teaching, set goals and talk about what we need to do for all our students moving forward in their learning. I have been thoroughly impressed with the work the teachers do for our students. They certainly know their students. As I have mentioned before when we believe in students and their ability to learn, they do better.
This year we have had many families in our community who have family members who are unwell and currently undergoing treatment for various illnesses. A lot of behind the scenes work goes into supporting these families. The school and the P&F work closely together to support our families and are guided by the needs of the family at that particular time. We thank everyone for their continued support. Please continue to pray for all the members of our community.
As you know the school has introduced a new student information system called Compass in the latter part of the year as well as a new Financial Management system, TechnologyOne.  This is an exciting transition for our school and will result in more efficient electronic financial management for our school office. I would like to take this time to thank Mrs Tracie Brabender and her team in the office for all they have done to support my role. Often we say Mrs Brabender runs our school, I know our school community appreciates all she does for us and so do I.
It has been my absolute pleasure and honour to be principal of St Francis of Assisi Warrawong. I thank you all for your support, your generosity of spirit and for sharing the educational journey of your children with me. Our mission is to create vibrant Catholic school communities where every student finds meaning and purpose in their life through experiencing continual growth in faith and improvement in learning. As Principal I recognise the need for quality learning and teaching and making this a focus of our professional learning. It is important that we all have that shared responsibility and accountability and setting high expectations for the whole school. 
Congratulations to all of our students for a great 2019 year. They have continued to embrace learning with enthusiasm and energy.
One of our 2020 School Review and Improvement goals is 'Parent Engagement and Participation in the learning'. We will look at some creative ways of not only having our parents help out within the school but how we will engage our parents in their child's learning. Watch this space!
Lastly, thank you for making me feel so welcome, I look forward to working in partnership with you all in 2020. Have a happy and Holy Christmas and a safe and enjoyable New Year with your family and friends.

Mrs Vicky Davidson
Principal