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- Principal's Message
- From the Principal's Desk
- Assistant Principal
- Religion Education News
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- Christmas Story Art Competition
- R U OK? Any Day
- Year 3 and 4 Excursion Reflections
- P&F Disco
- Happy Holidays
- Birthdays to Celebrate
- Kindergarten 2025
- Aspire Vacation Care
- Summer Uniform
- School Term dates | Term 4
- Parenting Insights
- Enrolments for 2025 now open
- School Hours
- School Bus Timetable
- Community News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Gospel Reflection
In last Sunday's Gospel passage from Mark 9:30-37, Jesus teaches his disciples about the true essence of greatness in the Kingdom of God. He emphasises the virtue of humility, using the example of welcoming a child as a symbol of embracing simplicity and innocence.
Jesus reminds us that greatness is not found in seeking recognition or status but serving others with a humble heart. As members of our school community at St Francis of Assisi, we are called to embody this spirit of humility in our daily lives.
Let us reflect on how we can follow Jesus' teachings by showing kindness, compassion, and respect to one another. May we embrace every opportunity to serve others selflessly, knowing that in doing so, we are living out God's will and spreading His love in our school, parish and beyond.
As we approach the last day of Term 3, it has been wonderful to see our students demonstrating such a strong commitment to their learning. I hope each student feels proud of their accomplishments and achievements so far this year. Reflecting on the term, we’ve had many highlights across faith, learning, and well-being. Students have also had the opportunity to participate in learning experiences that fostered critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and a love for learning, including the Premier’s Reading Challenge, Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee, STEM initiatives, and ICAS English, Mathematics, and Science competitions, as well as the Public Speaking and Christmas Art Competition.
Tomorrow, we celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, our school’s patron saint, who led a life of simplicity, care for creation, and compassion for the poor and vulnerable. His values of peace, humility, and service continue to guide and inspire us as a school community. This day provides a special opportunity to reflect on the importance of kindness and service in our lives, following the example of St Francis. It is a time of reflection, gratitude, and celebration of the values that unite us.
A special thank you to our P&F and parent volunteers for their tireless efforts this term in coordinating the Father’s Day stall and the recent school disco. We truly treasure these moments that bring us together as one community.
I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to our staff, students, and families for your ongoing support throughout the term.
I hope everyone enjoys the break.
Students return to school on Monday 14 October 2024.
Mrs Vicky Davidson
PRINCIPAL
St Francis of Assisi acknowledges and respects the Dharawal people, past and present, the traditional custodians on whose land we educate our students.
Transition to School through Play and Orientation - Term 4
In Term 4, we will welcome our 2025 Kindergarten students to our school for their Transition to School Playgroup sessions. The first session will be on Thursday 17 October at 1.30 pm. We are looking forward to meeting you all next term. Please see the flyer in this newsletter for all the dates for these sessions.
Holiday Reading
During the holiday break, we encourage all our students to read every day. Reading is not just important but essential for developing crucial skills. Reading regularly will strengthen your child's reading habits and foster a love for learning. We encourage parents and carers to help find engaging fiction and non-fiction books that captivate their interests. It's beneficial for children to read aloud to someone and equally valuable to enjoy listening to stories being read to them. We all recognise that reading is fundamental to success; nearly everything we do involves some form of reading. Happy reading!
Lunchbox Express
Thank you, Nicole and Danielle, for managing the canteen during Term 3. The staff and students look forward to the delicious snacks and lunches in Term 4.
Return in summer uniform on Monday 14 October
All students will return in Term 4 wearing their summer school uniform. Please note students' hair, uniform, and appearance should be in such a condition to invite only positive comments. Haircuts must be neat and long hair is to be tied back. When your child grows out of their shoes, please be reminded the students are required to wear the correct black leather school shoes and predominately white school joggers for sport. Some students are wearing black shoes with white soles instead of the correct black leather school shoes with their uniform. Thank you for supporting our uniform policy. Please ensure students return to school next term following all school uniform expectations. Thank you.
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Lost Property
Parents and carers, we have a large number of jumpers and jackets in the lost property tub. Please let your teacher know if your child has misplaced any of these items. Any items not collected at the end of week 1, Term 4, will be washed and placed in the clothing pool.
If we are to be “Bearers of Christ’s love”, it stands to reason that we must see through his eyes, love with his heart, and be driven by his mission. Bishop Brian Mascord.
Assembly Dates Term 4
Thank you for your support as we have been flexible in our assembly times this term. Please see below for the full details of Term 4 assembly dates and times.
| Week | Type | Date / Time |
| 1 | Awards Assembly | Friday 18 October 2:20 pm |
| 2 | Awards Assembly | Friday 25 October 8:45 am |
| 3 | Awards Assembly | Friday 1 November 2:20 pm |
| 4 | Celebration of Learning - Year 5 | Friday 8 November 2:10 pm |
| 5 | Awards Assembly | Friday 15 November 2:20 pm |
| 6 | Awards Assembly | Friday 22 November 8:45 am |
| 7 | Awards Assembly | Friday 29 November 2:20 pm |
| 8 | Celebration of Learning - Year 3 | Friday 6 December 2:10pm |
| 9 | Christmas Assembly (No awards) | Friday 13 December 2:00 pm |
School Assemblies are communicated in the weekly overview, newsletter, school calendar and Compass. Please check the date and time for the weekly assemblies.
Student Workbooks
Science and Technology and Personal Development/Health Workbooks were taken home at the end of last week. Thank you to the parents and carers who took the time to look at the learning your child has been involved in, and completed the reflection slip in their workbooks.
Reminder about special achievements for assemblies
A reminder that this form is available if you would like us to recognise your child's achievement at our Friday assembly. This could be a sporting achievement, dancing, singing, performing achievement, martial arts, etc. Anything that your child has achieved outside of school. We would love to share the good news stories of our students.
Mr Brett Murphy
Assistant Principal
Our School Values
At St Francis of Assisi, we value forgiveness because Jesus taught us that this leads to healing and peace in our relationships with God and others. At our Principal and Values Award Assembly tomorrow, the value award for forgiveness will be presented to one student from each class.
Feast Day Celebrations for St Francis of Assisi and St Mary
As St Francis of Assisi’s feast day falls during the school holidays, our school community will celebrate tomorrow, 27 September. The students will engage in learning experiences about St Francis on Friday before celebrating a liturgy in the hall at 12:30 pm. Following the liturgy, the students will have lunch before gathering again in the hall for Year 6’s Celebration of Learning and our Principal and Values Awards. Parents and friends are welcome to join us for our feast day liturgy, lunch, and assembly on Friday. The canteen will be open for lunch orders.
On Saturday 12 October, our parish community at St Mary’s, Berkeley will celebrate its feast day with afternoon tea from 2 pm, followed by 4 pm Mass. All are warmly invited to join the parish communities for their celebrations.
First Holy Communion Program
As advertised at the beginning of the year, preparation for the First Holy Communion program will take place during Term 4. Please be aware of the upcoming dates regarding this year’s program:
- Information Night
- Tues 15 October at 6:30 pm (St Francis of Assisi Church)
- Commitment Masses
- 19 October at 4:00 pm (Berkeley)
- 20 October at 10:30am (Warrawong)
- Workshops
- Week beginning 21 October - times will be advised at the information night.
Ms Marita Maloney
Religion Coordinator
Please let Mr Murphy know if you have any questions about this.
| Class | Boys Champion | Girls Champion |
| 2 Blue | Daniel | Batoul |
| 3 Gold | Joseph | Ella |
| 4 Blue | Hudson | Olivia |
| 5 Gold | Rocco | Mia |
| 6 Blue | Nicholas | Joella |
Congratulations to all students in Year 5 and Year 6 who participated in the Christmas Story Art Competition. As part of their Religious Education learning in Term 3, students were exposed to the scripture associated with the Christmas Story. Students unpacked the scripture and reflected on passages that resonated personally for them. Next, they designed an artwork to depict the scriptures and composed a written reflection of their work.
Three students from each grade were selected to represent St Francis of Assisi in the Diocesan competition.
Congratulations to Mia, Zuzanna and Amelia (Year 5) and Isabella, Levi and Layla (Year 6) who were selected to represent our school at the next level of the competition. We wish them all the best for the next stage of judging.
Our students wore yellow to school on R U OK? Day and learned the importance of empathy, to show kindness, the importance of listening, and being supportive of each other. Ask R U OK? Any Day because life happens every day. A lot can happen in a year, a month, a week. Whether it's a colleague, student, friend or family member, the people you care about go through life's ups and downs. By having regular, meaningful conversations, you build trust and normalise talking about what's going on, so when the people in your world find themselves struggling, they know you're someone they can talk to. So, while R U OK? Day is a National Day of Action; everyone is encouraged to Ask, "R U OK?" any day of the year because a conversation could change a life.
UOW Science Space
On Friday 20 September, Years 3 and 4 travelled to Science Space in Wollongong for their excursion. We had a great time exploring and learning about all things scientific! Here are a few of the students reflections from the day:
There were lots of things that I liked. My favourite exhibit was the planetarium. I also liked the science show, the playground, the room with the moon, using the different science experiments and being with my friends. (Levi - Yr 4)
My favourite part was the planetarium because seeing the dome looked cool. I learnt that Pluto isn’t a planet. (Andrea - Yr 3)
My favourite part of the day was the planetarium. I liked the planetarium because we got to learn about the solar system, planets, stars, the Milky Way and much more. I learnt that there are billions of stars but we just can’t see them. I loved the experience at the Science Centre and it was really fun to learn about different science facts. (Olivia - Yr 4)
I liked all of the excursion but the main thing I liked was the planetarium because it showed us many different things like stars. Did you know that if there was no light pollution, you’d be able to see a lot more stars in the sky? (Joy - Yr 3)
My favourite part was when we got to the top level and got to see these animatronic dinosaurs that were moving around and making cool noises. My class also went to see some science experiments that included air, noise, and gas. This was very fun as well. (Ariam - Yr 4)
I think I liked the rubbish show the most because it taught me how to build different things out of recycled rubbish. I experimented with putting water in bottles at home and blowing over the top to see what different sounds I could make. It was an extremely fun day! (Austen - Yr 3)
My favourite bit was when we built a helipad in the STEM room. We used recycled materials to build our helipad. In my group, we used a plastic plate, sticky tape to hold it in the right place and we used plastic straws and that was the best. (Hudson - Yr 4)
A special thank you to the P&F for preparing and organising our school disco last Friday night. Thanks also to our staff, DJ Mr Gilmore, parent volunteers, families, and students for making it such a fantastic evening.
Student and Staff Birthdays
Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthdays in October:
Cassie,l Daniel.F, Quinten, Fatima.H, Andre.T, Eva, Serena, Ahmad, James, Ali and Ms Maloney.
All Kindergarten students will commence their first day of school on Wednesday 5 February 2025.
Term 4 Week 1
The official date for the children to change over to summer uniform is Monday 14 October (Term 4 Week 1). If there is an extra warmer day towards the end of term, parents are advised to use discretion, and summer uniform will be acceptable on these warmer days only; otherwise, winter school uniform is compulsory. Full summer uniform is to be worn by all students from the beginning of Term 4.
Parents, can you please ensure all uniform pieces are relabelled clearly with your child’s name using a permanent marker. Students should know where their name is marked for easy checking. Please encourage your child to place all items straight into their bag rather than leaving them on the playground or in the classroom.
School Uniforms are available for purchase online via Lowes online at the link below. Please order with enough time for the current delivery delays. Lowes uniform price list is below.
Read Less| TERM 4 | |
| Monday 14 October | Students return to school for Term 4 - Summer School Uniform |
| Monday 28 October | PUPIL FREE DAY |
| Wednesday 18 December | Last day for Students |
| Thursday 19 & Friday 20 December | PUPIL FREE DAYS |
| 2025 | |
| Tuesday 4 February | Students Year 1-6 Return to School |
| Wednesday 5 February | Kindergarten 2025 First Day of School |
| Monday 14 April - Friday 25 April | Term 1 School Holidays |
2025 Enrolment applications are open ONLINE. Please submit your application online on our school website, www.sfawdow.catholic.edu.au, and click ENROL NOW. Please do not hesitate to contact the School Office with any questions.
