Filter Content
- Principal's End of Year Message
- From the Principal's Desk
- Principal & Value Awards
- Welcome Mr Shayne Smith and Miss Celeste Muvceska
- Assistant Principal
- Religion Education News
- Parish News
- Sports News
- Farewell Year 6
- Celebration of Learning
- Christmas Concert
- P&F News
- Mini Vinnies
- Student Leadership Team 2025
- Community Libraries - Donation
- Birthdays to Celebrate
- Canteen News
- Year 6 Compass Closing
- 2025 School Returns
- Student Classroom Requirements
- CatholicCare
- Merry Christmas
- Enrol Kindergarten 2026
- One Talk at a Time - National Office for Child Safety
- Community News
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we come to the end of the 2024 school year, it is important to pause and reflect with gratitude on the many opportunities we have shared and the people who have shaped our lives this year. I would like to thank and congratulate our entire school community for a very successful year.
To all our students, families, and staff members, we extend our warmest wishes. This year has been filled with growth, learning, and countless memorable moments. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to be part of your child’s educational journey.
To our dedicated and passionate staff, thank you for your unwavering energy, enthusiasm, and commitment. You consistently go above and beyond to create meaningful learning experiences and opportunities for our students, and for this, we are deeply grateful.
To Father Damien, Deacons Mick and Lawrie, the Sisters, and the parish leadership team, thank you for guiding our faith and providing constant support and encouragement to the staff and students of St Francis of Assisi. May we continue to work together in partnership to strengthen our shared mission of nurturing faith, learning, and community.
To our wonderful students, we are incredibly proud of your achievements and the progress you have made throughout the year. You continue to amaze us with your resilience, passion for learning, and the way you embrace being respectful, safe, and responsible. You have made us proud in so many ways.
A special congratulations to our Year 6 students, who graduate from St Francis of Assisi this year. As you move into high school, remember the values you have learned here: faith, respect, honesty, forgiveness, acceptance, and stewardship. These values will guide you to make a positive impact on the world around you. I encourage you to carry our school motto, “My God and My All,” in your hearts. It reminds us that in everything we do, God is our anchor, our purpose, and our strength. When challenges arise, trust in God’s plan for you. When opportunities present themselves, embrace them with gratitude and courage.
As you leave our school, know that you are equipped not just with knowledge but with faith and a strong foundation. You are ready to shine brightly and embrace the future with confidence. In the words of St Francis, “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Believe in your potential and trust in the God who loves you.
To families and students leaving our community, we pray that you embrace the opportunities life offers with courage and an open mind.
To all our families, thank you for your invaluable partnership and involvement in your child’s education. We appreciate your continued trust, generosity, and collaboration. Your support enriches our school community in countless ways, and we are truly grateful.
As we prepare to celebrate the joyous season of Christmas, we take a moment to extend our warmest wishes to each of you. Christmas is a time to pause, reflect, and rejoice in the birth of Jesus, whose message of love, peace, and hope continues to guide and inspire us.
May this holiday season bring rest, renewal, and happiness to your families. May the coming year open doors to new opportunities and endless possibilities for growth and learning. Wishing you peace in your homes and hearts, and every blessing in 2025. Have a safe and happy holiday!
Mrs Vicky Davidson
PRINCIPAL
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.
Farewell to St Francis of Assisi
As we come to the end of the year, we take a moment to express our heartfelt thanks and bid farewell to our Catholic Care School Counsellor Catriona Neilson and Pastoral Support Worker Melanie Jennison. We are deeply grateful for the contributions you have made to our school community. As you embark on the next chapter of your journey, know that you leave with our love, prayers, and best wishes. May this new phase bring you joy, fulfilment, and many blessings.
Welcome to St Francis of Assisi
We are delighted to welcome Soukaina Awada to St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School as our new School Counsellor. Soukaina will be with us every Tuesday and every second Wednesday, providing support to our students, families, and staff. We look forward to working with you, Soukaina, and to the positive impact she will have in helping our students grow and thrive. Welcome to the St Francis of Assisi!
LunchBox Express Canteen
We are incredibly grateful for the wonderful services provided by Nicole from Lunchbox Express. Nicole consistently went above and beyond to support our students and school community. Thank you also to our families for supporting Nicole, and a special thanks to Danielle for her invaluable support of both Nicole and our school canteen this year. We are so fortunate to have your contributions and services enriching our school.
Thank you
Thank you to the St Francis of Assisi Parents & Friends (P&F) for your incredible support of our school throughout 2024. Your initiative and organisation of fundraising events have made a significant impact on our community.
A special thanks to Rosemarie, Daniella, and all the volunteers – your dedication and hard work are truly appreciated. We are so grateful for the time and effort you contribute to supporting the St Francis of Assisi school community
Year 6 Polo Shirt - 2025
Students will have the opportunity to order a Year 6 polo shirt next year. Please do not purchase a new Sport polo shirt, as they will have the Year 6 polo shirt to wear for sports.
2025 Compulsory School Uniform Requirements
When returning to school for the 2025 school year, it is required that all students are in the correct school uniform. This includes wearing the correct black leather school shoes and predominately white school joggers for sport. Parents are requested to purchase predominately white joggers when your child requires new shoes or at the start of the 2025 school year, thereby adhering to the School Uniform Policy.
Examples of appropriate joggers.
2025 - Sports shoes do not need to be expensive; they can have some colour on them but must be predominately white. Thank you for your continued support.
School dates for 2025
Please note that students in Years 1 - 6 return for the 2025 school year on Tuesday 4 February. Kindergarten commences school on Wednesday 5 February.
It was great to meet Miss Muvceska and Mr Smith this week for the promotions afternoon. We look forward to welcoming our new staff members in 2025 - Miss Celeste Muvceska (6 Blue) and Mr Shayne Smith (Middle Leader, Instructional Coach and 5 Gold). Please see below for a brief introduction from Miss Muvceska and Mr Smith.
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Miss Muvceska |
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Mr Smith Hi St Francis of Assisi community, my name is Shayne Smith. I’m very excited to be coming to the school and community of Warrawong next year. I have such a passion for learning and encouraging students to reach their goals and aspirations in life. I have been currently an Assistant Principal and Leader of Pedagogy in a rural remote area of the Northern Tablelands in Inverell - Holy Trinity. I’m excited for the adventures that lay ahead and wish you all a great holiday - Bring on next year! |
Class Promotions 2025
Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS)
PB4L
Our focus areas for the last week have been:
PB4L focus - Being Responsible - It’s coming to the end of the year and we are cleaning up around our school. Taking care of our school classroom means being proud of how we use and look after it. As we move towards the last 2 weeks of the year, we are tidying up our classroom responsibly and being prepared to begin 2025.
SEL focus - Gratitude - As the school year comes to an end, it’s a great time to think about what we're grateful for. Maybe we're thankful for new friends exciting things we’ve learned, or fun experiences we’ve had. Take a moment to reflect on all the things that made this year special. Being grateful helps us appreciate the good things in our lives and brings a smile to our faces. What are you most thankful for this year?
Holiday Reading
Over the holiday break all students, are encouraged to read every day. Reading is a very important and necessary skill that we use every day. It is a skill that we use when reading books and magazines, watching TV, shopping, and playing games. When children stop reading for extended periods of time they often take a few steps backwards. This will help maintain student reading abilities and continue to foster their love of reading over the Christmas holidays.
By reading every day, your child will be practising this important skill, reinforcing good reading habits. Parents and carers are encouraged to help their children find fun and interesting books, fiction and non-fiction. It is important for your child to read aloud to someone and just as important for them to listen and enjoy stories being read to them.
We all know that reading is one of the most important fundamental skills children must master to succeed, almost everything we do involves reading of some form. Hopefully, this will help motivate your child to continue reading on a regular basis during the holiday break.
SORA
Just in time for the holidays, we have many new eBooks and Audiobooks for you to enjoy. The Sora support site is found at this link.
Enjoying time with your child
With the holidays approaching families are going to have more time to spend together. The Raising Children Network has some great links to the benefits of spending time together with your children. Special time with your child can happen while you're doing everyday activities like folding the laundry or watering the garden or making time to go for walks or playing board games. Just sharing happy experiences helps to build a relationship with your child.
Mr Brett Murphy
Assistant Principal
Parish Luncheon for Seniors and Volunteers
Last Thursday, the parish hosted its annual Christmas luncheon for seniors and volunteers in the hall. They were treated to some delicious food, wonderful company, and entertainment from our students. Each class was able to share the Christmas song they had been learning for the Christmas concert. Thank you to all of the students who provided entertainment for our special visitors and thank you to the Year 6 leaders who provided wonderful hospitality.
Children’s Nativity Play
As advertised in our previous newsletter, there will be a children’s nativity play before the 6:30 pm Christmas Eve Mass at St Mary’s, Berkeley. Weather permitting, this will be an outdoor Mass so please bring a blanket or chair to sit on. In the event of inclement weather, the pageant and Mass will move inside.
Our initial rehearsal, which was scheduled for last Monday has changed to today (Wednesday 5:30 pm) to accommodate several families who weren’t able to come on Monday. It’s not too late to join if your child would still like to be involved.
Rehearsal times are:
- Wednesday 18 December at 5:30 pm @ Warrawong (NOTE: Previously advertised as Berkeley).
- Monday 23 December at 5:30 pm @ Berkeley.
Christmas Parish Masses
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CHRISTMAS EVE - Tuesday 24 December |
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4:00 pm Vigil Mass |
St Francis of Assisi, Warrawong |
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6:30 pm Vigil Mass |
St Mary’s, Berkeley |
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CHRISTMAS DAY - Wednesday 25 December |
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Midnight Mass |
St Francis of Assisi, Warrawong |
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9:30am Mass |
St Mary’s, Berkeley |
Ms Marita Maloney
Religion Coordinator
| Date | Event | Attending | Venue |
| Friday 21 February 2025 | Swimming Carnival | Years 2 - 6 | Berkeley Pool |
| Friday 28 March 2025 | Cross Country Carnival | K-6 | Integral Energy Park, Kembla Grange |
| Friday 13 June 2025 | Athletics Carnival | K-6 | Myimbarr Oval, Shellharbour |
Representative and Gala Day Sports Costs
| Grade | Boys Champion | Girls Champion |
| Year 1 | Tupou | Roukaya |
| Year 2 | Zander | Liliana |
| Year 3 | Joseph | Ella |
| Year 4 | Levi | Isla |
| Year 5 | Mia | Hussein |
| Year 6 | Nicholas | Joella |
Thank you to Mrs Agius for her organisation of this competition.
Cost to play sport survey
To gather valuable insights, we'd like to invite you to complete a short online survey about expenses related to sports participation.
The results of this project will be used to make recommendations to inform the ASC sports policies and strategies to minimise the cost of playing sports.
We encourage you to complete the survey with the details below. The survey closes at 5pm (AEDT) on Tuesday 31 December.
Thank you for helping us foster an understanding of the costs involved in community sport.
Year 6 Graduation
Last Tuesday night, we farewelled our Year 6 students with a special Graduation Mass, followed by a wonderful celebration in the hall. This is always a meaningful time for our Year 6 students, their families, and our school and parish communities. Thank you to Father Damien, Deacons Mick and Lawrie, and the sisters for celebrating Mass with us; to our staff for all their hard work in preparing for the evening; and to the parish leadership and hospitality team for serving dinner. We are truly blessed by the partnership we share with our parish. Year 6, as you leave our school, know that you are equipped not just with knowledge, but with faith and a strong foundation. You are ready to shine brightly and embrace the future with confidence. Congratulations! We are immensely proud of you and excited for the journey ahead. May you be stewards of hope! God bless you and guide you always. Congratulations to those students who received awards:
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The Paul Scully MP - Community Leadership Award |
Yehia S |
| Alison Byrnes MP - Community Service Award | Lucinda F |
| Sports Achievement Award | Lucas O |
| Most Improved Award | Joshua C |
| Academic Achievement Awards | Layla G |
| Franciscan Spirituality Award | Mia O |
On Wednesday the school community farewelled our Year 6 students after seven years of primary education at St Francis of Assisi. Staff, students, and Year 6 parents will form a farewell guard of honour. We congratulate our Year 6 students on this milestone and wish them all the best for the future.
Year 6 Fun Day
Our Year 6 students had a wonderful fun day at Port Kembla pool last week, celebrating their end of primary school.
Leaving Families
One of the most beautiful aspects of St Francis of Assisi is the close-knit community we have. It is always sad to see some of our wonderful families leave the place in which they have spent a large amount of time. We would like to thank the following leaving families for entrusting their children with us and for their ongoing support of our school community. We wish you all the very best in your future adventures.
| Isabella. A | Ronan. B | Joshua. C | Samuel. D |
| Sienna.F | Antonio. F | Lucinda. F | Nicholas. G |
| Layla.G | Ali. H | Kendall. L | Anastasia. M |
| Abdul-Hamid. M | Olivia. M | Mateo. N | Lucas. O |
| Linda. S |
Last Friday our Year 3 students told us that we “saved the best till last” as they showcased their learning with us at the last Celebration of Learning Assembly for 2024. To mark the first week of Advent, Year 3 led everyone in prayer, featuring a beautiful movement to the 'Maranatha'. They also shared their work in English inspired by the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, which they integrated into their History and Visual Arts lessons. The assembly concluded with a creative dance that highlighted the importance of having faith and believing in one's abilities to overcome challenges and achieve goals. Thank you, Mrs Agius and our Year 3 students, for leading the assembly and presenting the awards. We loved seeing you celebrate your learning with us!
Christmas Concert 2024! What an amazing show! Our students made us so proud, showing off their hard work this term with some impressive singing and dancing performances. From Kindergarten in their first concert, to Year 6 in their last, and everyone in between, the smiles, enjoyment, and entertainment was infectious. It was wonderful to see so many families able to join us for this celebration, thank you for coming along. A huge thanks to Mr Smith for his organisation and planning of the concert, a lot of work goes in behind the scenes to make these events happen.
See upcoming Facebook post for photos of the concert.
Christmas Raffle
Thank you to the school community for supporting the P&F Christmas Raffle. Thank you to our P&F for organising the prizes for our raffle. Congratulations to all the raffle winners.
| 1st Prize | Lorrayne KB Family |
| 2nd Prize | Tanay 1G |
| 3rd Prize | Amelia & Aaliyah 5G |
| 4th Prize | Maxwell 1G |
| 5th Prize | Chiara 4B |
P&F AGM 2025
All Parents & Friends positions will be made vacant and an election will be held for new committee members for the 2025 P&F. The AGM has been scheduled to be held on Thursday 27 February 2025, at 3.00 pm (Term 1 Week 5).
A Heartfelt Thank You.
A huge thank you to all the families who have contributed so generously to our Mini Vinnies donation drive. From our littlest helpers in Kindergarten to our senior leaders in Year 6, your support has been truly inspiring. Your kindness and generosity make a real difference in the lives of those in need this Christmas. Together, we are helping to build a stronger, more compassionate community. All donations received have been donated to Mrs Maher and the Warrawong St Vincent de Paul Centre.
Mrs Mansbridge
Our Year 6 students will be involved in four leadership groups throughout the year: the Environment Team, Hospitality Team, Catholic Life and Culture Team, and Information and Technology Team. All Year 6 students will take turns as student leaders within these teams, with rotations providing various opportunities for them to showcase their leadership skills.
| School Captains | Mia D & Isaac S |
| School Vice Captains | Jasmin H & Karem Y |
| Yellow House Captains | Rocco M & Roman C |
| Red House Captains | Amelia S & Malak J |
| Blue House Captains | Zuzanna K & Soraya F |
| Green House Captains | Angelina D & Christian G |
Earlier this year, we received a generous donation from Elaine Bosen and Geralyn Norris - beloved great grandmother and grandmother of students Mia, Ruby, Sienna and Aria.
In consultation with the family, we have put this donation to good use by purchasing and creating 2 community libraries for our school playground. This aligned nicely with our Annual Improvement Goal, and to increase the love of reading by making it more accessible.
You will notice that these libraries are already stocked with books - please feel free to borrow these whenever you like. If your child really loves a book, keep it! One will have picture books for younger readers, the other will have chapter books for our older readers.
If anyone has any pre-loved books they would like to donate, please consider adding them to our library. The idea of a community library is to share what we have and for everyone to be able to access quality books for free.
We give our thanks to this family for their generosity and providing the opportunity to fund what will be a valuable resource for our school community for many years to come.
Student and Staff Birthdays
Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthdays in January:
Ceone, Ariam, Victoria, Ayva, Ashton, Joseph, Andre.M, Mrs Grey,
Mrs Agius, Mr Smith, Mrs Kinnas & Mrs Brabender
Dear Parents
Thank you for supporting Lunchbox Express Canteen services this year. Please update your online ordering accounts next year to your child's new class on your My School Connect account. This will be available to update after 3 January 2025.
Attention Year 6 Parents
Parents should contact My School Connect directly if they want their accounts closed/disabled. My School Connect can be contacted via the contact us form on the website https://myschoolconnect.com.au/contact or via phone: 1300 030 915. Any credits still sitting in their accounts will require a withdrawal. Transfers are normally completed within 5 business days.
To withdraw funds:
Via Website- simply click on your balance (in the top right-hand corner), then select Withdraw.
Via App - go to My Account / Top Up-Financial-Papercut / Withdraw
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 20 December 2024.
2026 Kindergarten Enrolment applications are open ONLINE. Please submit your application via our school website, www.sfawdow.catholic.edu.au, and click ENROL NOW. Please do not hesitate to contact the School Office with any questions. Limited vacancies are available in 2025.
Having conversations with children and young people
The National Office for Child Safety has launched ‘One Talk at a Time’, a national awareness-raising and behavioural change campaign. One Talk at a Time aims to protect children and young people by helping adults understand that child sexual abuse is preventable and encouraging them to have ongoing, proactive, preventative conversations with children, young people, and other adults in their lives. You may have already noticed or seen the campaign's 60-second advertisement. 'One Talk at a Time' was informed by a substantial research program to ensure it is effective, culturally safe, accessible, and trauma-informed. This research included research and testing with over 8,500 Australians, including the campaign's target audience, victims and survivors, child safety experts, and the National Strategy's priority groups.
