Last Friday we celebrated World Teachers’ Day, which is an opportunity to shine a light on the work of our teachers and those who support them in realising our mission of Catholic education.
All of us would have at least one teacher that made a significant impression on us as a student. The teacher that went above and beyond to make the experience of learning more engaging; the teacher that noticed and helped you when you struggled with a concept; the teacher that opened your eyes to your own capability and potential.
Teaching is a profession, but it’s not a job. It’s a vocation and a commitment to do your best for the students in your care. To be a guide and a mentor, a facilitator and sounding board; to be a motivator and encourager, an enabler and enthusiast for learning; and in the case of Catholic school teachers, to be a witness to the life-giving good news of Christ present in each of us and in the world.
As we celebrate and recognise the work of our teachers, I wanted to thank them for their service, their professionalism, their willingness and commitment to their work and to the students and young people they serve.

A special thank you to the P&F, parents and students for the beautiful
morning tea and presentation to the staff at our assembly.

TechnologyOne
On Monday St Francis of Assisi moved to a new Financial Management system, called TechnologyOne. This is an exciting transition for our school and will result in more efficient electronic financial management for our school office.
As part of this change, we will also have new features available in Compass. These will include:
- Visibility of your school fee account in the Parent Portal
- The ability to pay school fees and pay for events via the Parent Portal.
We will provide further information on these Compass enhancements when they become available. Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school office. We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout the next few weeks as we move through this change.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mrs Brabender, the Catholic Education Office Wollongong and our office staff for their meticulous work in making this a smooth transition for our school.

PB4L - Positive Behaviours for Learning (formerly SPB4L)
Each week in our newsletter Mrs Matos shares some reminders of the ways we support behaviour at St Francis. At our recent P&F meeting, I shared how the school reviews the policies and procedures that we currently have in place with regards to promoting positive student behaviour and how we would deal with inappropriate behaviour when they occur. PB4L is a Diocesan initiative that has been in our schools for ten years. Those parents in attendance were very grateful for this input. In 2020, we will be holding some additional parent workshops on these behaviour policies and procedures so all the community is updated and informed. 
Last Thursday, Mrs Matos and the PB4L team had the opportunity to share our journey with other schools. This was a great opportunity to celebrate, review and reflect on where to next for our school in regards to Positive Behaviours for Learning.

New Furniture 
This week new furniture arrived for our Year Two classrooms as well as guided reading tables for Year 3 and 4. We extend our gratitude to the Catholic Education Office, Wollongong for supporting us with this purchase. Our plan is to replace the older furniture in each classroom as we are able to.

Year 6 - In2Uni Event
Next Friday, 8 November, our Year 6 students, accompanied by a number of parents and Mrs Briscoe, will be attending a full day at the University of Wollongong participating in a program entitled In2Uni. The purpose of the day is to provide information about university life and courses, workshops and fun activities designed to let students know more about the benefits of gaining a university degree. We hope you all enjoy the day. 

Please note: There will be no swimming lessons next week - Friday 8 November

First Communion
Lessons have now begun for First Communion which will take place on Saturday 23 November at 10.00 am at Warrawong, and 8.30 am on Sunday 24 November at Berkeley. Please keep all the children, their parents and catechists in your prayers during this period of preparation.

Piety Stall
The piety stall at St Francis of Assisi Church has a range of Religious communion cards, statues, pictures, and books as well as many other items that could be purchased as First Communion gifts. The piety stall is open before and after Masses on Saturday night and Sundays.

Mission Mass
Last Friday Stage 3 prepared a wonderful celebration that highlighted the needs of the poor in the world especially Ghana where the focus was on Sr Stan and her orphanage. The children could visualise where their donations will go to help others have a better life. 

Mission Month Fundraiser
In Week 1 K-2 students sold jelly cups and raised $100, in Week 2 Year 3 and 4 sold cupcakes and raised $300. Year 5 and 6 sold ice creams today and we will add this to our total as soon as we know.
For the next 3 weeks, we will have lolly jar guessing competitions- one for K-2 and one for 3-6. Each guess will cost 20c and the winner will receive the jar of lollies. The winners will be announced at the Week 6 assembly.

All Saints Day
Please join us this Friday 1 November as we celebrate all saints. All Saints' Day or Feast of All Saints, in the Catholic church is a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, who have attained heaven. Year 3 and 4 are preparing the Mass for this special day.

All Souls Day
All Souls' Day in the Catholic calendar falls on November 2. The Catholic Church sets aside All Souls' Day to remember members of the faith who have died.

Catholic doctrine holds that the prayers of the faithful on earth will help cleanse these souls in order to fit them for the vision of God in heaven, and the day is dedicated to prayer and remembrance. Requiem Masses are commonly held, and many people visit and sometimes decorate the graves of loved ones. Please pray for all our departed relatives and friends.

Well done to the students who participated in the Christmas Story Art Competition, the artworks submitted to the CEO are on display at the Exhibition.

Congratulations again to Daunte on his wonderful achievements in the Christmas Story Art Competition. Follow the link for an incredible virtual tour of Daunte and other students’ artworks.

Please find below CEDoW coverage of the Christmas Story Art Competition and exhibition:

Please visit the interactive virtual tour of the exhibition with audio.  Zoom in to view a student's artwork in closer detail and to hear from the student as they describe their artwork for you. 

Cricket Gala Day
Last Thursday, sixteen Year 5 students assembled at Thomas Dalton Park, Towradgi, for the annual cricket gala day. The estimated numbers of 500-600 students was a fantastic turnout from the schools involved. SFAW sent two teams of eight, both from Year 5, one boy and one girl's team.
As the day unfolded, it was very obvious for all involved that there was a clear divide between those schools with active cricketers and those without. All the boys and girls need to be complimented and have acknowledged the attitude that they took into the day, the mindset of having a go with your mates. For some, it was their first gala day of the year, for others, their 3rd or 4th.
A special thank you to Mrs Adams who supervised the girls while I supervised the boys. Thank you to the parents who spent the day with us. It was a perfect day for cricket, not a cloud in the sky, and hopefully an opportunity for students of SFAW to embrace a great national sport!  Mr Gilmore. 

Swimming Program
Our swimming program successfully began last Friday. Enthusiastic students listened to their coaches and were very eager to swim and have fun. Thank you to all the parents who prepared the students with towels, goggles and clothing because this made the organisation so much easier.  Mrs Briscoe

2020 Diocesan Representative Trials
Thank you to the Year 4 and Year 5 students who have returned their expression of interest for attending the trials for these sports. These nominations have now closed. If you nominated your child for the trials, Mr Murphy will be in contact to advise if this nomination has progressed onto the Diocesan level.

Rayhana and Ana-Marija represented our school at the Diocesan Public Speaking Competition on Wednesday 23 October at St Joseph's Primary School, Bulli. Both girls spoke extremely well in a room full of other contestants, teachers, and families. They are to be commended on the way in which they represented St Francis of Assisi with pride and determination. Thank you to Mrs Matos and the parents for giving up their time to support the girls on the day.

PB4L framework supports the Quality Learning Environment in the Classroom

Definition: Quality learning environment refers to practices that create classrooms where students and teachers work productively in an environment clearly focused on learning.  Such practices set high and explicit expectations and develop positive relationships between teachers and students and among students.

Learning is improved when all learning environments provide high levels of support for learning. A positive environment is often understood as a caring, safe and supportive classroom.

At St Francis of Assisi, staff support this belief and aim to work closely with parents to provide a positive classroom climate focused on learning. In our classrooms, we apply evidence-based practices in classroom management to support student learning. These are:

• Maximising Structure – Environmental Organisation
• Positively stated behaviour expectations 
• Effective academic instruction and curriculum – Quality Teaching
• Establishing a positive climate

A continuum of strategies to responding to inappropriate behaviour is used by all staff at our school.

Mrs Matos

For the last 10 weeks, students from Year 4 have participated in our 3 days per week, lunch-time Maker Space. The focus for our upper primary classes has been LEGOBoost. This was the first time these particular students had the chance to interact with the LEGOBoost product. While some were reserved, to begin with, that trepidation slowly changed and they embraced the challenge placed before them - the construction of Vernie the Robot. Mind you, the creativity started immediately with robot naming - Arianna, Stacey, Alyssa, Toby, Jot-hom #1 and #2, Jeffrey and so on.

Students formed groups of 3 to 4, and the building commenced! For some students, this was their first experience working with LEGO, which in turn led to mistakes, which in turn led to the need to re-build, sometimes from the beginning once again! The opportunity to code their robots was definitely the highlight, although requests for music at lunchtime was constantly heard from the same group of girls. Maybe LEGO building while dancing and singing will be a thing of the future at SFAW!
A job well done Year 4, I look forward to having a new LEGO building project with you in 2020!  Mr Gilmore

Stage 3 Excursion to the Original Gold Rush Colony, Mogo
On Friday 19th October, Year 5 and 6 left very early in the morning to travel to the Gold Rush Colony in Mogo. The students had been studying the history of the Australian Gold Rush and looking at life in the colony in the 1850s as part of the History curriculum.

The students were able to pan for gold, with all of them finding gold, EUREKA! They also were given a guided tour of the colony that showed how these gold miners worked and lived in colonial times. All students came away with a strong sense of how challenging it was to live and work in the goldfields, and a true appreciation of how comfortable their lives really are!!   We completed the day with a lesson in Koori Cultural Stories, which was truly inspiring.  It really showed how one with the land these people are.

A fun day was had by all and was well worth the long bus trip.

Family Verification Reports

This is a summary of the contact information the school has on record and was sent home last term. We ask that you check and return this as soon as possible. It is important all information is up to date on the school system, particularly email addresses as this is the main form of communication using the Compass App and Compass Parent Portal.

We like to inform parents when their child may be receiving an Award at special assemblies and this is sent via the Compass parent email. 

Please make the relevant changes on the form and return to the class teacher.  If there are no changes required, please sign and return.   

Casual or permanent after school care bookings are available. This service is available in the school hall. 

Our educators collaborate with children to provide play and leisure opportunities that are meaningful to them and that support their wellbeing, learning and personal development. Children in school-age care settings are challenged to be curious about what is of interest to them while at the same time developing self-identity and social competencies (taken from MY TIME, OUR PLACE Framework for School Age Care in Australia).

The day to day operations of St Francis of Assisi OSHC is managed by a Coordinator and supported by CatholicCare OSHC Leadership Team.