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Dear Parents and Carers
As we enter this sacred season of Lent, we are reminded in Bishop Brian Mascord’s Lenten message of our call to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—each an invitation to deepen our relationship with God and one another. Lent is a time of renewal, where we are encouraged to open our hearts, turn back to God, and trust in His enduring love and mercy.
Last week’s Gospel (Luke 6:39-45) also challenges us to reflect inwardly, to examine our actions before judging others. Jesus reminds us that a tree is known by its fruit—just as good trees bear good fruit, our words and deeds should reflect the love and kindness we wish to see in the world. Similarly, in Sunday's first reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus, (Sirach 27:4-7) teaches that just as a sieve separates impurities from grain, our words reveal the true nature of our hearts. The way we speak to and about others—whether with kindness or criticism—shapes our relationships and the community we build.
At St Francis of Assisi, we strive to nurture a community where we grow in faith, hope, and compassion. We encourage everyone to choose their words wisely, to speak with kindness and integrity, and to use their voices to encourage and support others. As we journey through Lent together, may we embrace the challenge of self-reflection and renewal, becoming "Pilgrims of Hope" as Bishop Mascord encourages. Through small acts of kindness, generosity, and humility, we prepare our hearts to fully receive the joy and promise of Easter.
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in guiding our students on this path of faith and learning.
Mrs Vicky Davidson
PRINCIPAL
St Francis of Assisi acknowledges and pays respect to the Dharawal people, past and present, the traditional custodians on whose land we educate our students.
Open Day
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 2025 Open Day on Sunday 23 February. Our amazing students from Years 4, 5, and 6 took the spotlight, guiding visitors and prospective parents and their children on tours of our beautiful school. Thank you to our parent helpers who assisted with the sausage sizzle and took the opportunity to mingle with our visitors. This year, our Open Day coincided with our Sunday Mass and parish hospitality morning tea. It was wonderful to have our school open to our parishioners, many of whom complimented the school on the recent refurbishments, particularly noting the bright new classrooms and improved facilities.
Personal School Tour
For those families who missed our Open Day, you are welcome to contact us to book your school tour.
https://www.sfawdow.catholic.edu.au/contact/
Welcome to St Francis of Assisi
This week, we welcomed Shameer (3 Gold) and Eshaal (4 Blue) into our school community. The staff and students have enjoyed meeting you. We look forward to working in partnership with you and your family.
Principal and Value Awards
Congratulations to those students who received Principal and Value Awards at our first Celebration of Learning assembly on Friday.
We are very proud of you all!
Friday Assembly - Achievements
At St Francis of Assisi, we celebrate our student achievements in faith, learning and well-being each Friday with a whole school assembly. Sometimes we may have assemblies on other days due to other events on the calendar.
As part of this, we would like to acknowledge any significant achievements that our students complete outside of school. To streamline this process, we have created a form to complete if you would like to share your child's achievements. This will allow you to add relevant details, and photos if you like, to support us in presenting this information accurately.
Please complete this form (link below) 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.
NOTE: All forms completed by the Monday of the week of the Friday assembly will be included. Any forms received after that will be included in the following assembly.
In addition to our weekly assemblies, we also hold Celebration of Learning Assemblies - 1 per class each year. These assemblies allow each class to present highlights of their learning to the whole school, and we also present Principal and Value awards. Please see below for the 2025 Celebration of Learning timetable.
PLEASE NOTE: Celebration of Learning Assemblies begin at the earlier time of 2:10pm.
2025 Celebration of Learning Timetable
Assembly starts 2:10 pm
| Term/Week | Date | Class |
| Term 1 Week 10 | Friday 4 April | 4 Blue |
| Term 2 Week 5 |
Friday 30 May | 3 Gold |
| Term 2 Week 9 | Friday 27 June | 1 Gold |
| Term 3 Week 4 |
Friday 15 August | 2 Blue |
| Term 3 Week 8 | Friday 12 September | K Blue |
| Term 4 Week 5 |
Friday 14 November | 6 Blue |
| Term 4 Week 9 | Friday 12 December |
Principal and Value Awards Only |
Term 1 Assembly Dates and Times
Please see the table below for the Assembly Dates and times. These can also be found on the calendar available on Compass. Parents/Carers of students receiving awards will be notified if their child is receiving an award each week.
| Week | Date | Time |
| 6 | Friday 7 March | 2:20 pm |
| 7 | Friday 14 March | 8:45 am |
| 8 | Friday 21 March | 8:45 am |
| 9 | Thursday 27 March | 8:45 am |
| 10 | Friday 4 April - 4 Blue Celebration of Learning | 2:10 pm |
| 11 | Friday 11 April | 8:45 am |
NAPLAN 2025
Year 3 and Year 5 will begin the NAPLAN assessments next week. The test window runs from Wednesday 12 March to Monday 24 March. Parents do not need to do anything additional to prepare for these assessments.
Stage Leaders 2025
For any issues regarding your child that can not be handled by contacting the class teacher, please contact the relevant stage leaders below.
Early Stage 1 / Stage 1 (K-2) - Ms Maloney
Stage 2 (Year 3 and 4) - Mr Murphy
Stage 3 (Year 5 and 6) - Mr Smith
Homework Policy
Thank you to those parents who provided feedback on our homework survey (we had a wonderful 43 responses!). We will now finalise the policy for implementation. In the meantime, our homework expectations will be that every student reads each day.
Some of the key results from the survey are below (% of respondents) :
- 86% said amount of homework was just right or too little
- 93% said students need some or a lot of assistance with homework
- 84% were confident in helping their children with homework
- 67% said that homework does or sometimes does impact on family time
Only 2 respondents out of 43 said homework had not benefitted their child’s learning.
Some recurring comments were around:
• requesting homework to be due after weekends so they have time to complete it during the weekend, with busy afternoon schedules, etc.
• requesting more targeted homework support to support individual needs
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or feedback on homework.
Pivot 2025
We are excited to announce that in 2025 we will again be partnering with Pivot, an online tool to support student learning and wellbeing for all students K-6. Pivot involves a series of check-ins which provide important data for our staff to identify student needs and follow up as appropriate. Please see the guide below for further information.
Pivot Baseline Surveys were recently completed, and the weekly check-ins have now begun. For those interested, please see some of the key data from our baseline survey see below.
- Of the three domains (Resilience, Belonging and Safety) - Safety recorded the highest responses
- Highest scoring questions indicated that students identified their school as a safe place and have friends they can trust
- Boys resulted in higher levels of responses to questions about wellbeing
Staff will use this important data to identify areas in which we can better support students to be safe and happy at our school.
If you have any concerns about your child using the Pivot tool, or have any questions, please contact me to discuss.
Healthy Harold
This week we have been fortunate to have the Life Education Van and Healthy Harold at our school. Every class has had a visit to the van and the opportunity to meet Harold. This is always an exciting experience, and a great way to learn in a different way. All classes experienced different modules (see below), which were chosen to support their needs at this time.
Kindergarten - Harold's Friend Ship
Year 1 - Ready, Steady, Go
Year 2 - Harold's Online World
Year 3 - bCyberwise
Year 4 - Friends and Feelings
Year 5 - Relate, Respect, Connect
Year 6 - Decisions
Thanks, Harold, and educator Emily, for visiting us!
St Clare of Assisi Awards
Please be reminded that these awards started in 2024. Any Merit, RE or PB4L awards achieved from this time on will count towards the St Clare of Assisi merit awards (but can only be used once).
Process:
5 x Class Awards (Merit, RE or PB4L) = St Clare of Assisi Award - please bring the 5 awards into the school office. These will be recorded and a St Clare of Assisi Merit Award will be presented at the next assembly.
3 x St Clare of Assisi Awards = 1 St Francis Medallion
Please let me know if you have any questions about the awards system.
Mr Brett Murphy
Assistant Principal
At St Francis of Assisi, we value honesty because it helps us build positive relationships based on the modelling of Jesus.
We show that we are a community that values honesty by:
- telling the truth
- owning our actions - positive and negative
- acknowledging when people have been honest with us
- doing the right thing even when no one is watching
- saying what you mean and meaning what you say
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Ash Wednesday This Lent, we are called to Unite Against Poverty through Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion. By taking home a Project Compassion donation box or envelope, you’ll be answering the Gospels’ call to care for our global family and walk alongside the most vulnerable. Your generous support this Lenten Season will enable Caritas Australia to provide life-changing support to communities facing poverty, food insecurity, lack of education, and water shortages, while building resilience against future challenges. Together, through faith and action, we can bring hope and opportunity to those most in need.
Please donate today. Thank you for standing with us, as we Unite Against Poverty this Lent. |
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First Week of Lent
Project Compassion 2025 shares three stories from around the world. We’ll meet Toefuata'iga - (Toy-foo-ah-tah-ing-ah) a young student from Samoa who faced severe water shortages at her school. Thanks to Caritas Australia and the generosity of supporters like you, her school now has a 10,000 L water tank improving hygiene and allowing the teachers to prioritise education. We’ll get to know Lam from Vietnam, born with short stature, Lam faced social exclusion and limited employment opportunities – through the I-SHINE program, Lam is now a freelance graphic designer. And we’ll meet Irene from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who faced immense challenges after losing her father to war and raising her children in poverty. With support from Caritas Australia, Irene received vocational training in sewing and farming and can now support her whole family. Watch our Introduction to Project Compassion film HERE - be inspired by 3 powerful stories of resilience and strength, and learn the impact that your support can have on vulnerable communities around the world. Please donate today. Thank you for standing with us, as we Unite Against Poverty this Lent.
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Lenten Practices - Almsgiving, Fasting and Prayer
Now that the Season of Lent has begun, it’s time to think about how you will use this season to grow in holiness and so prepare for the great celebration of Easter. The readings for Ash Wednesday made reference to the practices of almsgiving, fasting and prayer. The following infographics from CatholicLink provide an explanation of these 3 practices, along with some practical ways we can incorporate them into our daily lives.
In previous years, Pope Francis has also provided this advice for ‘fasting’:
Vinnies Appeal
Vinnies is in urgent need of bed linen and towels, doonas and covers, and blankets. Donations can be brought to the St Vincent de Paul Shop, 250 Cowper St Warrawong, Mon-Fri 9:00 am - 4:00 pm and Sat 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. Please advise that donations are for welfare. We open the welfare next to the Vinnies Shop on Wednesdays and Fridays, 11:00 am- 3:00 pm.
Ms Marita Maloney
REC Coordinator
| AGE | GIRLS | BOYS |
| Junior | Sara H | Emilio M |
| 11 Years | Angelina D | Hudson S |
| Senior | Mia D | Rocco M |
All details can be found on the Compass event. Please ensure that you have provided consent via Compass for this event. We also require parent helpers, please indicate on Compass if you are able to assist.
| Date | Event | Attending | Venue |
| Friday 28 March | School Cross Country | K-6 | Integral Energy Park |
| Friday 13 June | School Athletics Carnival | K-6 | Myimbarr Oval, Shellharbour |
- President - Mrs Rosemarie Molter
- Vice President/Treasurer - Mrs Daniela Moreira
Disco
Upcoming Events
Keep an eye out on Compass for information on our Easter events
Staff and Student Birthdays
Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who celebrated their birthdays in March:
March birthdays - Jaad, Luka.B, Emilio, Rahwa, Youssef.H, Jalal, Mia.T, Michael. G, Aaliyah and Amelia S.
Tell us about your experiences as a Catholic school parent and what you'd like to know more about.
We value every parent's thoughts and opinions!
Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) NSW/ACT would like to know how involved/engaged you feel you are in your child's learning at a NSW/ACT Catholic school, how connected you feel in your child's school, and your thoughts on how schools could enhance family-school partnerships.
This data informs our parent learning program and provides us with valuable information about how our dioceses and schools are engaging with families.
Thank you so much for taking time out to give us your feedback.
Please use the following link to access the survey: https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/survey/71.
School Fee Payments
Attention Parents, 2025 Fee Statements have been emailed. This is an Annual amount for 2025, if you have nominated to pay by instalments this payment schedule will be on the second page of the statement.
Please log in to your Parent Compass Portal to view your school fee account by clicking the Payments Centre green box above "My News". Payments can be paid online by clicking "School Fees Action Required". Full payment is due by 28 February unless the below instalment form has been submitted and you have set up these payments on your Compass portal or Bpay using the details on the Fee Statement emailed. Fee instalments set up last year will roll over and continue automatically this year. See further details below.
School fees for 2025 have now been invoiced and statements have been emailed with annual or first instalment payment due on 28 February. You may also view your school fee account in the Compass Parent Portal. Further information is available below from the Catholic Education Office.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
▪ The invoicing of school fees and the distribution of school fee statements each month, is now a function carried out by the Catholic Education Office.
▪ Payment of fees, whether as an annual payment or payment by instalments is due on the date/s provided on your school fee statement.
▪ If an amendment is made to your school fee account eg your child changes subjects in a secondary school, etc. you will be emailed a statement which will provide a new schedule of payments and due dates. Please review this schedule to make any changes to your payments that are necessary.
Primary school families will note on the school fee statements a change in name in relation to the "SEDSO Levy". This levy has now been renamed and will be known as "Primary Building Levy". This is not an additional fee, merely a name change and funds are still used to provide capital grants to schools for new facilities and to meet loan payments for school buildings. We are currently in the process of amending all documentation and websites to reflect this variation.
REMINDERS FOR LATE PAYMENTS
SMS and email reminders are automatically generated by our accounting software based on the number of days a payment is overdue and are distributed by the Catholic Education Office. For those families that may have difficulty in paying their school fees, these reminders may cause some distress. This is not our intention. Our intention is to support the collection of school fee accounts centrally and in so doing,
alleviate some of the administrative work of our schools.
SCHOOL FEE ACCOUNT ENQUIRIES
Please note, despite the centralisation of various functions, your school/s will always be your point of contact for matters pertaining to fees. If you wish to discuss your school fee account, please contact your school office. The role of the Catholic Education Office is to action centralised tasks on behalf of schools.
IF YOU WISH TO PAY BY INSTALMENTS
Many families have already elected to pay their school fees by instalments. If you wish to avail yourself of this option please complete a Request to Pay by Instalment Form which is available on your school’s website or at your school’s office. On completion of the request either email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.au or submit at your school’s office. Following receipt of the request, instalments will be generated on your account and a schedule of payments and due dates will be provided on your next school fee statement. Please note it is only necessary to complete this form once during the period of child/children’s enrolment unless you wish to amend your payment frequency.
DIFFICULTY WITH PAYMENT
If you are experiencing financial difficulty, we encourage you to contact the school in which your child/children are enrolled to discuss an arrangement that will assist you meet your commitments. This may include the completion of a Diocesan Application for Fee Concession which is available from the administration office of each school. Be reassured that your situation will be treated with strict confidentiality and respect for your circumstances. If you wish to submit an application, please do so at your child’s school. Please note, if you have children in more than one school, it will only be necessary to submit one application. For those families that previously received a Fee Concession, you will receive an email prior to your annual review date attaching a further Application for Fee Concession. You may also initiate an earlier review if you wish to do so by contacting your school office. For further information regarding school fees, please access the Diocesan School Fee Management
Policy and Frequently Asked Questions which is available on your school’s website.
THURSDAY 1 MAY - Week 1 Term 2
School photo day will be held in Week 1 next term on Thursday 1 May. Students are to wear their full SUMMER SCHOOL UNIFORM (no sports uniform). Please note, hair must be neat and tidy and the girl's hair tied back. Orders are submitted online as per the details below, including family photo orders.
ORDER SCHOOL PHOTOS ONLINE TODAY
Visit: - www.advancedlife.com.au
Enter online order code
CZF PZ6 2FX
All school information is available on the Parent Compass Portal. Please regularly visit your portal to keep up to date with your child's education including Parent permissions, Sport carnivals and excurions, school fee account, attendance and absences, school reports, school events and more. Do not hesitate to contact the School Office if you have any questions or require assistance to access your parent portal. Thank you.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? Do you feel like you need some more support with parenting?
CatholicCare Wollongong offer professional counselling services to support you through life's challenges. Their counsellors provide a listening and independent ear and will equip you with strategies and tools for coping with stress and major life changes.
Counselling is available in-person in Nowra, Wollongong and Campbelltown or via phone or online.
Visit our website to learn more: https://catholiccare.dow.org.au/services-and-programs/family/family-care/counselling/
2025 SCHOOL TERMS
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TERM 1 |
Friday 31 Jan -Friday 11 April |
TERM 2 |
Monday 28 April - Friday 4 July |
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TERM 3 |
Monday 21 July - Friday 26 Sept |
TERM 4 |
Monday 13 October - Friday 19 Dec |
2025 PUPIL-FREE DAYS
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TERM 1 PFD |
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TERM 2 PFD |
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TERM 3 PFD |
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TERM 4 PFD |
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