Mother's Day

On Sunday 12 May we celebrate Mother’s Day. Whilst Mother's Day is celebrated on different days and for different reasons in many countries around the world, the central idea of honouring your mother is universal. There is something remarkable about motherhood. Our circumstances are vastly different, as are our challenges, but mothers the world over share one particular common trait: an instinct to do anything to protect their children. On Mother’s Day, we remember mothers who inspire, love, sacrifice, devote and never stop looking after us no matter our age or ability. I have profound respect for all mothers and admiration for all that they do.                 

On behalf of the staff, we wish the mothers, grandmothers and mother figures in our community a Happy Mother’s Day.

Enjoy this special day! You deserve it!

Winter Uniform

The official date for the children to change over to the winter uniform is Monday 13 May (Week 3). The winter uniform may be worn prior to this date if the weather becomes cooler. Students will be expected to wear either their full summer uniform or winter uniform, not a combination of both in the lead up to May 13. Please refer to the Uniform Policy if you require clarification about the school uniform.

Parent Volunteers

Quite a few parents have shown an interest in volunteering in our classrooms. If you would like to help in any area of the school and have not attended a parent workshop or completed the appropriate forms. Please contact the office to register your interest and you will be informed of the next workshop. Those who have previously worked in the classrooms will partake in a short briefing on the morning of their first visit.

Parent - Teacher Meetings and Reports

Parent-Teacher meetings to discuss your child’s progress this year will be held in Week 4 (20-25 May) for Years 1 to 6. Year 5 Gold who will have their interviews in Week 5 (27-31 May). Parent-Teacher meetings are a time to celebrate achievements and to plan for future learning.  In Week 9 the student’s half-yearly reports (Years 1 to 6) will be sent home and parents are able to request a follow-up interview with their child’s teacher if required.  Kindergarten students will have their interviews later in the term.

Staff Development Day (Pupil Free Day) - Monday 24 June 2019 - SAVE THE DATE! 

At St Francis of Assisi, we strive constantly to enhance our educational provision through professional development of all staff, ultimately to improve the learning experiences for all students. Our next Staff Development Day will be on Monday 24 June. There will be no school for the students on this day.

During Week 3, the Years 3 and 5 students will participate in the NAPLAN assessments, which are now conducted online. The assessments will be taken in the following order: Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy.      

All Years 3 and 5 students need to ensure that their iPad is fully charged each day and that they have headphones to use.

UNSW / ICAS Competitions

Thank you to all those parents who have returned their child’s note for the UNSW / ICAS Assessments. This year we will have thirteen students participating in these assessments which are held online during September. Entries have now closed.

Mathematics

Parents at times can feel a little overwhelmed when trying to help their child with Mathematics. It often feels like they are learning a different way and when you try to assist them, they tell you “the teacher doesn’t do it like that!” Whatever method is used is fine, as long as it is efficient and they get the correct answer.

A guide to what the students are learning is available at
http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/25cb2fe5-c5f4-4ce8-920c-6b4b108bb30a/parent-guide-to-the-primary-syllabuses-2018.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=

In this guide, you will find some examples of the kinds of things your child may learn in each stage of primary school. We also need to remember that some students may be working just above or below that level and that is fine as well.

Often parents tell me that they found Maths difficult when they were at school, that is why we teach students multiple strategies to solve problems and let them choose the strategy that works best for them.

WE’RE TAKING IT IN OUR STRIDE ON FRIDAY 17 MAY 2019

Well, it’s that time of year again when our school seriously starts talking about walking! Walk Safely to School Day asks that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking as part of a healthy, active way to get around. Although walking to school isn’t realistic for many of us, it’s quite easy to figure out how you can build a walk into your family’s daily routine.

You can teach your child the healthy habit of walking more by:

• Walking with them the whole way to school

• If they get the bus or train, walk past your usual stop and get on at the next stop

• If you have to drive, park the car a few blocks away from the school and walk the rest of the way.

Regular exercise like walking with your child not only helps them (and you!) beat chronic problems like obesity, heart disease, behavioural and mental health issues and diabetes. It also gives you a great opportunity to teach your child safe ways to behave around roads and traffic. Remember, Active Kids are Healthy Kids, so start planning your Walk Safely to School Day journey for Friday 17 May 2019! For more information, visit www.walk.com.au

 

Stations of the Cross 

On the last day of Term 1, the Year 3 and Year 4 students lead the school community in the Stations of the Cross. This prayerful celebration of the last hours of Jesus' life was reverently presented, with many parents joining us in the Church.

Thank you to the Year 3 and Year 4 teachers and parents for organising this Liturgy.   

A special thank you to Mrs Adams who ensured that the actors and dancers wore appropriate costumes, handmaking many of them at home.

Sacraments 2019

All enrolment notes for those wishing to make their sacraments should have been returned. If you have not returned your note please do so as soon as possible.

Confirmation

Please note the compulsory 'parent and candidate' information night is Wednesday 29 May at 7.00 pm in the hall. All those who wish to make their Confirmation this year must attend. An information note with further details will be sent out in the next couple of weeks.

Mothers’ Day Liturgy

On Friday 10 May the school will have a Liturgy at 2.30pm to honour all mothers. This liturgy will be in the hall before the assembly. Please join us to celebrate this special day.

Diocesan Cross Country

Twenty four (24) students from age 8 years to 12 years, will be competing in the Diocesan Cross Country in Nowra next Tuesday 7 May. Thank you to Mrs Matos for training the team over the past few weeks.

Students must wear their sports uniform and proper sports shoes, including school hat.  The students will be provided with a school sporting singlet to wear on the day. Mr Green will supervise the team and we wish every competitor the very best of luck.

Cross Country Team: Eva G, Sekne A, Sara El C, Brock F, Joseph R, Ali H, Maysa H, Kitarni A, Tianna T, Dylan R, Cohen M, Corey M, Olivia A, Emilia P, Sienna M, Khaled H, James H, Mohamed H, Samantha S, Amelia C, Jasmin G, Dean G, Jamie D, Jackson H.

NSW MacKillop Football Trials

Tianna T (Yr 5) and Samantha S (Yr 6) will represent the Wollongong Diocese at the NSW MacKillop Football Trials in Canberra on Friday 10 May 2019. We wish the girls the very best of luck.

Tennis

Thanks to a grant we received from Sporting Schools, Years 3 to 6 students will have the opportunity to be coached by Mr David Winley who will introduce the students to the skills of tennis. Tennis lessons will be held over four weeks (Weeks 1 -4) during Friday sport. Mr Winley is unable to hold the lessons on Friday in Week 4, so there will be a change of day. Students from Years 3 to 6 will need to wear their sports uniform on Thursday 23 May instead of Friday for this week. 

NSWPSSA Athletics Team Selection 2019

In 2019, the NSWPSSA Athletics Team will not be selected via the normal pathways. There will be a special selection trial held, for which students will need to nominate. This is for elite athletes only, and there are strict qualifying requirements. Please see Mr Murphy or Mrs Briscoe if you would like further information.

Mrs Briscoe

Welcome Back to Term 2 2019

What a great start to the 2019 school year we have had, with less than 10 major incidents all term. This has been due to the wonderful partnership between home and school and reinforcement of the key messages of SPB4L:

• Key Message 1: Adults Matter!
  Adults matter when children are being asked to behave in a safe, consistent and respectful way. Your positive relationship with the school is an essential element of this message. Critical to the success of SPB4L is having everyone on board. As a parent/carer you model the behaviour you expect from the children.
• Key Message 2: Behaviour is learnt
  Explicit teaching of expected behaviours is a key component of SPB4L. The school has developed a range of expected behaviours in non-classroom settings eg: playground, and is currently working on the expected behaviours within the classrooms.

This takes the form of a matrix that indicates simple and clear context specific behaviour expectations that are aligned to the school rules. The teaching of these behaviour expectations in a positive way allows for consistency across the school environment.

This will continue in Term 2 with teachers revisiting expectations to reinforce being safe, responsible and respectful at all times in all school settings.

Mrs Matos

Breakfast Club will continue in Term 2. Thank you to the staff, parents and students who have volunteered to run the Breakfast Club. Cereal and toast are available from 8.15-8.30am each morning. If any other parents would like to volunteer, please let Mrs Agius, Mrs Mansbridge or Mr Gilmore know.

During Term 1, the students in Year 3 had the opportunity to listen to a Mini Vinnies presentation. Courtney Deighton (Youth & Young Adult Coordinator for St Vincent de Paul) explained the history of St Vincent de Paul and how the Mini Vinnies concept originated and works.

This term the Year 3 Mini Vinnies students will be collecting donations for toiletry packs and donations of jam for the Vinnies Van. We are asking families to donate toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, liquid hand soap and different flavours of jam. There will be a box placed in each classroom to collect the donations. Thank you for your continued support of our Mini Vinnies initiatives.

Mother's Day 

We extend a warm invitation to Mother's & Carers of our school community to join us in celebrating Mother's Day on Friday 10 May.  The day will commence with a Breakfast for our Mother's in the Hall at 8.30am - 9.30am.  A P&F General Meeting will follow at 9.30am and you are welcome to join us.  The children will have the opportunity to purchase gifts from the P&F Mother's Day stall and a Liturgy will be held before assembly at 2.30pm.  We hope you can join us. 

Easter Raffle

That’s a wrap on another successful Easter Egg raffle!  A very big thank you from the P&F to:

• all of the families who donated Easter eggs;
• everyone who purchased raffle tickets;
• the lovely volunteers who wrapped all the raffle prizes;

A big congratulations to all of the winners! There were lots of happy children.

P&F General Meeting
Please join us for the next P&F Meeting on
Friday 10 May at 9.30am. 

Below is a flyer from the Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong regarding our Social Media Policy and what this means for parents and carers.  Please take the time to read this information and contact the school if you have any questions or would like further information.

Woolworths Earn and Learn

Please return your Earn & Learn stickers.   This promotion finished on Tuesday 25 June.

We will submit all the Stickers we have collected to purchase educational resources across all curriculum areas, including Maths, English, Science, Art and Craft, Digital Technologies, Sports and more.

Thank you for supporting our school so that we can purchase much needed resources that will benefit our students.  Thank you.

We are taking enrolments for Kindergarten 2020.

The Enrolment Application is attached herewith or can be collected from the School Office. Interviews are taking place this term.

Please let your family and friends know, as limited places are available.