Police Youth Liaison Visit
Recently, our Year 5 and 6 students had the privilege of a special visit from Officer Jo, our school Police Youth Liaison Officer. During the presentation, Officer Jo addressed critical and timely subjects, including cyber safety, responsible social media use, anti-bullying strategies, and crime awareness. This engaging presentation proved to be an invaluable educational experience for our students. Early next year, we will engage the services of our Police Youth Liaison Officer and hold a parent and carers workshop at school.

Uniform expectations
As the weather warms, it is important for the students to be wearing their hats whenever they are outside. It is also an expectation and shows great respect for our school when we see the students wearing the correct full summer uniform. We ask for parent support in reminding your child to wear the correct uniform daily. Thank you to those parents who have notified your class teachers about their child who may have outgrown their school shoes. We understand parents are waiting for the new school year to purchase new shoes. 

School dates for 2024
Please note that students in Years 1 - 6 return for the 2024 school year on Wednesday 31 January. Kindergarten commences school on Wednesday 7 February.

Congratulations to the Giardini family

On behalf of the school community, we congratulate the Giardini family on the birth of their baby boy, Matteo.
A baby brother to Lucas (Kindergarten) and Isabella (2024 Kindergarten). Congratulations!

First Holy Communion Program

Please continue to keep in your prayers the children and families in our school and parish who are nearing the end of their preparation period.  

A reminder that a sausage sizzle and rehearsal for the families involved in the First Holy Communion program will take place at St Mary of the Rosary, Berkeley tonight (Thursday 16 November), commencing at 6pm. 

Month of November for All Souls
As noted in our last newsletter, throughout the month of November, our Church encourages us to pray for those who have died.  Here is the prayer we have been using for our morning assemblies.

Loving God, we prayerfully remember all our loved ones who have died:
those who passed away peacefully, those who suffered great pain,
and those who died too soon, in sudden and unexpected ways.

We thank you for our memories of them and for the good times we shared.

We pray that all of our loved ones are at peace,
knowing that they will rest in Your love eternally.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Mini Vinnies Food Drive - Christmas Hampers for St Vincent de Paul

As noted in our last newsletter, we are currently seeking donations of food items for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas hampers.  Thank you to all the families that have already started sending in items - your generosity is much appreciated! We are still collecting items until Thursday 7 December.

If your family is able to support this food drive, we would love your help with these donations:

Kindergarten	Chocolates and pancake mix
Year 1	Sweet and savoury biscuits
Year 2	Family packs of chips and lollies
Year 3	Soft drink and cordial
Year 4	Plum puddings and Christmas cake
Year 5	Tinned ham and long life milk
Year 6	Tinned fruit and long life custard or cream
Open to all Year groups	New toys for children aged 1 - 12 or gift vouchers (gifts do not need to be wrapped)

Donations are due to school by Thursday 7th December.

Ms Marita Maloney
Religious Education Coordinator

Dear Parents and Carers, 

A link to complete our Annual School Report - Parent Survey has been sent on Compass. Please use the link on Compass to complete the survey when you have a chance. 

We would greatly appreciate your time and feedback - it should take no longer than a couple of minutes. This is an anonymous survey as we value your honest opinions. The data from this survey will inform our strategic planning for 2024 and beyond. 

The survey will close on Tuesday 28 November.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mr Murphy.

Christmas Disco

P&F AGM

Tuesday 27 February 2024, 3.00pm (Term 1 Week 5) 

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

We are proud of our students who received Principal & Value Awards at the Week 4 Celebration of Learning Assembly,  Congratulations/.

On Friday, 3 November, our Year 6 Gold students had an opportunity to share their learning with the school community at their celebration of learning assembly. During the assembly, they enacted the Parable of the Sower, presented their Christmas Story artworks, captivated us with their answers to the 1% Club, and shared some of the investigations made during their Science lessons. Thank you, Mr Gilmore and the students, for showcasing your learning. Congratulations on your commitment to your learning, Year 6 Gold.

Year 1 has had a wonderful week in and out of the classroom.  Congratulations Year 1 on your amazing spelling and teamwork.  Keep up the great work!

Below is a flyer outlining the end-of-year dates for our Year 6 students. The students have received a copy of this flyer to put on their fridge. All these dates are on the parent calendar in Compass. We have had a few parents asking if they can assist with preparations for the Year 6 Graduation.

We are always grateful for any assistance from our parent community.

If you would like to help out, please fill in the Google form on the link below, and we will be in touch to organise a time to meet.

Google form

A friendly reminder the Compass account for Year 6 students will automatically close at the end of the school year.  Please remember to log in and download your child's school reports for your own records before Friday 16 December 2022.

At St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, we recognise and value the development of leadership qualities in our students. With this as a focus, student leaders are elected from the Year 5 cohort at the end of each year to represent the school throughout the following year. It is coming to that time of year, where our Year 5 students are learning about leadership and preparing their speeches to support their interest in being nominated for different leadership roles. 

Please see the attached document, which outlines the policy and procedure for this important journey. This has recently been updated to reflect a shift in philosophy, whereby students and staff are encouraged to vote for the students they feel demonstrate the desired leadership qualities, aligned to our school values. Please contact Mr Murphy or Mr Green if you have any questions about this.  

Year 5 students will present their speeches to students and staff in Year 3-5 in Week 8 this term, before the voting process takes place. 

The Student Responsible Use of Technology Agreement is required to be signed annually for every student.  This will be submitted online via Compass for parents to complete for 2024.

Setup 2024 Fee Instalment Payments
The 2024 School Fee account will be issued in February and it will itemise the payment schedule to follow.  Please set up these payments using Bpay or Compass.  If you wish to change this payment schedule, please complete the below Fee Instalment form. Reminders will automatically be sent when a payment from the schedule has been missed. 

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.