As always, the well-being of students and staff in our Catholic school communities is paramount. Recent events in Israel and Palestine are widely publicised across all media platforms, including social media, and may cause distress and concern for our young people. It is normal to have feelings of distress in response to these events, and awareness of the impact of this information and images on our young people is important. If you feel your child may require additional support at school, please contact Mrs Davidson or the school office.

World Teachers' Day

World Teachers' Day is celebrated in Australia on Friday 27 October. The day is a great opportunity for everyone to acknowledge our staff for the important role they play in shaping the next generation.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our teachers and support staff for their collaborative contribution to advancing the learning of our students. I encourage you to take the time to personally thank your child’s teacher on World Teachers' Day.
The theme for World Teachers’ Day this year is “Hats off to Teachers”.
To celebrate World Teachers’ Day, the students are invited to wear their favourite hats on Friday 27 October, to show their appreciation.

P&F Meeting
Please join us at our Term 4 P&F Meeting on Tuesday 24 October at 9.00 am.

2024 - Transition to School through Play and Orientation - Term 4
We look forward to welcoming our 2024 Kindergarten class next week at our Our Kindergarten Transition to School through Play sessions. Starting school is an important milestone in any child and family’s life. Research suggests that children who have a positive start to school are more likely to engage well in their learning and school life.
It is our hope to nurture this positive start through our transition to school program that will provide the following opportunities.

Congratulations to the Hijazi family

On behalf of the school community, we congratulate the Hijazi family on the birth of their baby girl. A sister to big brothers Abbas and Hassan (Year 6), Ali and Mohamed. Welcome, baby Fatima.

 

First Holy Communion Program

Please keep in your prayers the children and families in our school and parish who, in preparation for celebrating their First Holy Communion, have just completed their first week of workshops.  The children received their stoles last weekend at their commitment Mass and chose a prayer sponsor from the parish community.  This weekend they will be able to share their imaginative stories with the parish community.

Vinnies Youth NSW Christmas Card Competition

Vinnies Youth NSW are holding a Christmas card competition that your child may like to enter.  They are looking for five beautiful designs to use as the official Vinnies NSW Member Christmas Cards for 2024!  The designs for these cards are used by Vinnies NSW Members to gift to one another at Christmas time and, in some cases, to on-sell as a fundraiser for their Good Works.
If your child would like to enter the competition, please click on the following link for more information:  Vinnies Christmas Card Competition

Baptism
On Sunday 15 October, Olivia (Year 3) was received into the Church through the Sacrament of Baptism! Congratulations, Olivia, we hope you enjoyed your special day.

Ms Marita Maloney
Religious Education Coordinator

What a beautiful day for our St Francis of Assisi Feast Day celebrations. Students were engaged in lots of different activities throughout the day linked to St Francis, including reading, writing, art, craft, quizzes, sport and much more. Congratulations to all students for their participation and engagement with the significance of this day in our school. Congratulations to the St Francis of Assisi award winners, who were recognised for 'Following in the footsteps of St Francis of Assisi by demonstrating love for God and God's creation. ' Students were also extremely fortunate to be invited to visit the Convent of our neighbouring Daughters of Our Lady of the Visitation. We must extend our thanks to the Sisters for being overly welcoming and grateful to be able to share their home, chapel and prayer spaces with our students. What a memorable experience for everyone. On top of this, they provided all students with a decorated, boxed cupcake and a drink! They do amazing work, and we are very blessed to have them as part of our community. Thank you to Fr Damien for leading our Liturgy this afternoon. His homily was inspiring and reminded us about the importance of being peaceful people who follow God, as St Francis of Assisi did. To our parents and families, we always look forward to having you join us at these special events. It was wonderful to see so many of you today. Thanks for giving up your time to be part of our special day. Finally, to our staff - we appreciate everything you did today and every day, to support our whole community. We are all blessed to be part of the wonderful St Francis community, and can confidently say he would be proud of what we have at St Francis of Assisi, Warrawong.

It was an honour to gather with our students, their families, and the forty-four talented Year 5 and 6 students from Catholic schools across the Diocese of Wollongong at the annual Christmas Story Art Exhibition and Competition at the Wollongong Art Gallery. Well done, Tahlia, Matineekran and Antonio (Year 5 Highly Commended), on reaching this stage of this competition. We are very proud of you all. Congratulations, Matineekran, who was selected as a Year 6 finalist for the Interdiocesan Christmas Story Art Exhibition & Competition to be held at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney on the first Sunday of Advent. Thank you to our Year 5 and 6 teachers and all who supported the Competition and Exhibition this year. The artworks will be on display at the Wollongong Art Gallery in the Community Access Gallery (Level 4) until 29 October.

We have been learning to make and read time on analog and digital clocks. In this activity, we were given a digital time and we had to show it on an analog clock, except WE were the HANDS of the clock!! The class had to work out what time the teacher had given us to make. We could say it as a past or to time or as a digital time. It was quite a workout!!

COMPETITION - DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
Can you work out the four times shown below? Write down your answers and the first 10 children to have the correct answers will win a prize from Mrs Matos and 3G. Make sure your name and class is on your answer sheet. Good luck!

Congratulations to Year 6 Blue for leading our Celebration of Learning assembly in Week 10 last term.  It was wonderful to see the learning that has been happening in your classroom, from Christmas Art, to Public Speaking and The Gold Rush. We also presented the Spelling Bee awards, as well as the Caring for Our Common Home Award - very proudly won by Kindergarten!

Please join us for our next
Celebration of Learning Assembly
FRIDAY 3 NOVEMBER 
 being presented by 6 Gold.

In Term 3 each class worked with Ms Maitland and Miss Lavalle on a dance as part of our Physical Education program. The students were excited to perform their dances. Congratulations! The students at St Francis of Assisi certainly love to dance!  

Pevan and Sarah Live Show 
Wollongong IPAC 

Pevan and Sarah are children entertainers and educators who create videos and resources that can be used in Kindergarten classrooms.  The students love their music, which has been incorporated into a number of key learning areas. Later in the term, the students will have an opportunity to see Pevan and Sarah in a live show at the Wollongong IPAC theatre. More information will be provided closer to the date including the online Parent Compass permission. 

Book Club

Book Club is available to view and order online. Orders can be placed online via LOOP.  Click on the link below to view and order online.  Thank you for your support.

Book Fair
Book Fair will commence Thursday 2 November and run through until Friday 10 November. 
Opening Hours

Payments can be made via Eftpos or cash, or pre-payment can be made through Scholasitc Book Fair, or the QR Code provided on the flyer below.  If pre-paying, our school name for payment is: St Francis of Assisi School.

P&F General Meeting
Tuesday 24 October (Term 4 Week 3) 9:00 am

P&F AGM
Tuesday 27 February 2024 (Term 1 Week 5) Time TBC

All parents, grandparents and carers are welcome to attend these meetings.  Join in the conversation on what is happening at St Francis of Assisi, join the committee and help make a difference to our school community.

Dear Year 2 Parents
Orders are now available for the 2024 iPad Program. Please login to your Parent Compass Portal and click on the Green Insight Cycle box, follow the options to submit your order. Please note these are due by 30 October 2023. The below Purchasing Agreement will be sent home next week and is to be signed and returned. Thank you. 

The last day of last term was the final day of our Jump Rope for Heart Program. Congratulations to all students for their participation and efforts. We absolutely smashed our goal of raising $2000 for the Heart Foundation, ending up with a massive total of $4533!! Amazing effort by all. Special mention to Lucas in Year 5 who was our top earner with over $507 raised!! All classes had the chance to join with others today to show off their skills, enjoy the physical exercise of skipping, and get active with their friends during our 'Jump Off Day'. Congratulations all, a proud day for St Francis of Assisi to be able to contribute to a wonderful cause.

Plan your 2024 Fee Instalment Payments
In preparation for the 2024 School Fee account, it is recommended that families budget and complete a fee instalment form to set up instalment arrangements for next year's fees. Please complete and return the form below. This form notifies the Catholic Education Office regarding payment of your account and this will assist your family budget and plan payments for 2024 school fees. (Please note this form does not set the payments up, you will need to set this up via Bpay or Compass). Please contact the School Office if we can be of any assistance. 

St Francis of Assisi has successfully secured funding from the Australian Government Schools Upgrade Fund 2023.  The Schools Upgrade Fund provides funding to improve and upgrade school facilities, to help keep students safe and get their education back on track after the COVID-19 disruptions of the last couple of years. This investment demonstrates the government's commitment to providing our students with the best possible learning environment. 

With this funding, the school has placed an order to replace the playground shade sail in our playground for staff and students.  This space sits alongside teaching and learning class lessons of PE, Sport, Assemblies, and school gatherings. Our specific focus is for sun protection and safety in the outdoor area for our whole school community. These improvements will undoubtedly enrich the educational experience of our students and contribute to the well-being of our entire school community.

We acknowledge the Australian Government’s contribution and thank Alison Byrnes MP, Federal Member, and all those involved in making this funding possible. Through this partnership, we can continue to shape a brighter future for our students. 

PLEASE RETURN FORM
We value our parent volunteers who kindly support and assist the school in school events and activities.  We are required to update our Parent Volunteer Declarations for Child Protection in Schools.  This form was sent home last term and we would appreciate it if you could please complete both sides of the form and return this for school records.  Thank you for your assistance. 

Students are required to be present at school every day. Please make appointments outside school hours, where possible.  If your child needs to be collected early for an appointment, a note explaining this is required to be given to the class teacher by the student on the morning of the appointment.  As a matter of courtesy, this communication assists in the organising of the day for the class and teacher.  Telephone messages during class time interrupt class learning and we avoid this unless urgent. This explanation is documented in your child's attendance records. 

All students are required to attend school unless they are unwell. Students should arrive by 8.30 am and finish at 3.00 pm.  Daily attendance recording in the Compass Parent Portal notifies parents of their child being absent. Parents are required to record their explanation in Compass by completing the link they receive via text or by logging into the Compass parent portal.

All absences including early leave and late arrival must be reported by parents with an explanation and or a medical certificate if required.  Please teach your children the importance of punctuality and arriving at school on time.