Last Friday, we gathered as a school community to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. The early Church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. In those early and mostly priestless days, it was primarily the Rosary that kept the faith alive. Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her, under the title of Help of Christians, as principal Patroness.

Thank you to Father Martin, Mrs Madaschi, the RE team and our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 classes for organising such a beautiful Mass. The students should be congratulated on the way they engaged in the Mass; they certainly enjoyed singing. Thank you to our parents and parish community who joined us for this celebration.

This month we celebrated with our mothers and thanked them for their dedication and recognised their importance to our families. We have learnt about and remembered Mary, the Mother of God, in special ways. Our classes have read about Mary in Scripture, prayed the rosary, engaged in prayers and reflected on Mary in written and art forms.

As we near the end of May, the month of Mary, we are reminded that Mary is a perfect Mother—she comforts us, helps us, and gives us the perfect example of humility, acceptance, and charity.

Prayer to Mary, Help of Christians
Loving God, you place deep in our hearts the love of Mary, Help of Christians.
Through her prayers grant wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens.
Under her protection may Australia be granted harmony, justice and peace.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Year 3 Celebration of Learning

All parents, particularly those of our Year 3 students, are warmly invited to attend Year 3’s Celebration of Learning tomorrow, commencing at 2.10pm. This assembly will provide an opportunity for our Year 3 students to share some of the wonderful learning experiences that they have engaged in this term. Principal and Values awards will also be presented during this assembly.

Thank you to Mrs Mansbridge, Mrs Zaffonato and our Year 3 students for preparing and leading the Week 5 Celebration of Learning assembly.

New school counsellor

After an extensive recruitment process by Catholic Care, we

St Francis of Assisi Teachers and students in the Spotlight

This week both Mrs Beckhaus and Mrs Briscoe have been actively promoting the wonderful things we do here at St Francis in the wider community. On Tuesday, Mrs Beckhaus was filmed teaching an oral language lesson in Kindergarten. This video will be used as part of a Literacy resource being created by the Catholic Education Office Wollongong to support the teaching of Literacy across the Diocese. Well done, Mrs Beckhaus!

Yesterday, Mrs Briscoe presented at the Catholic Education Office WEN Contact Professional Development Day. Mrs Briscoe, Mr deVet, Mrs Adams and the Year 6 leaders put together an informative and professional presentation of St Francis of Assisi's Sustainable Garden Project. Congratulations Mrs Briscoe, and all involved in the project. Please click below to view the video.

Increase Fluency with Simple Maths Dice Games Your Kids Will Love

Children like to have fun while learning and many parents are looking for alternatives to their child being on their iPads playing games.

At this site there are many fun games that your child could play with a few dice. Dice are available in most homes and are relativity inexpensive to purchase if required.

This site provides ideas for dice games that assist students in learning their Maths facts. Visit Easy and Fun Maths Dice Games.

Walk Safely to School Day

On Friday 16 May we joined many other schools in the area by participating in Walk Safely to School Day.

This community event seeks to promote road safety, health, public transport and the environment. Many families parked a longer distance from the school and walked to school together.

Thank you for your support of this event.

Mary Help of Christians

Last Friday we celebrated the feast of the Patron Saint of Australia- Mary Help of Christians. The Mass was organised by Stage 1 and Early Stage 1. Thank you to parents and friends who joined us. Kindergarten and Year 1 presented the Offertory gifts with great reverence. Thank you to the Year 2 students who read and had practised well the week before. These are the thoughts of those who read the Readings and Prayers of the Faithful last week.

Tom: I was very nervous but I thought I did well.

Mia: I felt I was just going to do it right.

Claudia: I knew what I was doing because I practised.

Marco: I felt nervous because I am small and could not speak loud.

Zaynab: I felt like I was going to laugh because I was nervous and felt proud of myself.

Monique: I thought I was very nervous but I was very good.

Confirmation

The meeting for Confirmation for 2019 was held last night and candidates would have chosen their lessons and have been advised of expectations and practicalities. Commitment Masses are being held this weekend and the candidates will receive their stoles which will be worn each Sunday leading up to Confirmation. Please keep these students in your prayers as they prepare for this important step in their lives.

Pentecost

On Sunday 9 June the Parish will celebrate the great feast of Pentecost - the birthday of the Church. At the 10.00am Mass on Sunday our various cultures will celebrate Mass with readings and hymns in other languages. After Mass there will be celebrations in the hall where we will enjoy foods supplied by different nationalities. Please wear your national costumes, bring a plate and join in the feast.

National Sorry Day

Through our prayer, we are reminded that God’s dream for humanity is one of justice and equality, of compassion and understanding, of forgiveness and mercy, to be shared by all peoples on earth. We pray that we walk together with courage.

Let us pray this week for our Indigenous brothers and sisters,

asking God to bless them with healing, forgiving hearts and hope.

Father of all, you gave our Indigenous People the Dreaming.

You also revealed your love in the person of Jesus.

In the spirit of the land, be their hope.

Help us all to face the pain of their past, to hear and respect their culture.

May your love grow strong in all Australians hearts so that you can be at home in each one of us.

We ask our prayer in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Athletics Carnival - Wednesday 12 June

Our Annual School Athletics Carnival will be held on Wednesday 12 June at Myimbarr Community Park, Wattle Road, Shellharbour (opposite Shellharbour Workers Club).

As this is a school day all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 are expected to attend. The students will be leaving school at 8:45 am, the carnival is scheduled to conclude around 2:15 pm.  All students will travel to the carnival by bus. The cost is included in the school levy fees. Permission notes have been given to the students, could you please sign and return the permission notes by Wednesday 5 June. Thank you.

• Carnival Canteen  
  A canteen run by Lake Illawarra Athletics will be operational on the day of the carnival.  A canteen order form is attached to the permission note outlining the price list. If you would like your child to have a lunch order on the day, could you please attach a lunch bag to the lunch order form. Please note there are no drinks on the order.  Please include exact money in the bag.  All lunch orders must be in by Wednesday 5 June to cater for orders. NO LATE ORDERS WILL BE TAKEN.

• Parent Helpers
  To ensure our carnival is a success, we require the support of our dedicated parents or other family members. If you have some free time on Wednesday 12 June and would like to help with an activity, please email the school with your details, and we will be in contact with you: - info@sfawdow.catholic.edu.au. We are in particular need of parents for our Primary grades - Years 3-6.  Our infant grades tend to have lots of helpers; this year, we require helpers for groups and activities in our primary grades.

Mrs Briscoe, Sports Coordinator. 

Online Order Code:  CZF PZ6 2FX

Thursday 6 June 2019 - Full Winter School Uniform

School photo day will be held on Thursday 6 June.  All students are to wear their full WINTER SCHOOL uniform.  Please ensure school shoes are polished, ties are neat and hair is tidy - girls must have their hair tied back.  

Students have been provided with a photo envelope with information regarding online ordering. All orders including student, class and family photos are available online. Please visit www.advancedlife.com.au and enter the code CZF PZ6 2FX. 

Orders must be submitted by 5 June 2019. 
Please see further information below.

No Hat -  Play In The Shade

At St Francis of Assisi we support students to be sun smart. In doing so, we encourage students to consistently wear their hats when outdoors from the time they enter the school gate each morning until they are dismissed each afternoon.

This is still relevant as we enter the winter months and is part of the winter uniform. We ask parents to support us by reminding their child/children to put their hat on as part of their uniform expectation each day.

Mrs Matos, SPB4L Coordinator.

A special visitor, Humpty Dumpty, has been in Kindergarten as part of our Science Inquiry Based Unit this term.

We learnt his special rhyme, but then one day we came into class and he had fallen! We were all very worried about it, but it got us thinking...How did he fall? Did someone push him? Could we have prevented his fall? Kindergarten is working hard to discover what happened to poor Humpty Dumpty by using our scientific knowledge of materials and push and pull forces. 

This unit requires a lot of discussion, questioning, investigating and creating. So far, the children are really finding it interesting and engaging. Hopefully we solve the mystery soon!

Stay tuned for more news about Humpty Dumpty in Kindergarten. 

Mrs Beckhaus and Kinder Blue

National Simultaneous Storytime 2019

On Wednesday 22 May, the Students and Teachers celebrated National Simultaneous Storytime by reading the book 'Alpacas with Maracas' by Matt Cosgrove.

Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.

By facilitating NSS we aim to: promote the value of reading and literacy, promote the value and fun of books and promote an Australian writer and publisher.

The students loved listening to this story, acting it out, colouring in the characters and Kindergarten even made their own maracas! 

Year 5 have been looking at personification as a figurative language technique they can use in their imaginative text writing. It is an effective technique to create an image in the reader's mind and helps the reader connect with the text by giving a non-human or inanimate object human qualities. Please click on the link to see some examples of personification the Year 5 students wrote. 

Winter Appeal & Jam Drive

This term we are asking our school community to collect items for people in need in our local area.

We will be holding a jam drive and collecting different flavours of jam for the Vinnies Winter Hampers.

We are also collecting toiletry items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and liquid hand soap.

All items will be collected and placed in a box in the classroom. At the end of the term, a representative from our local St Vincent de Paul Centre will collect these items.

Thank you so much for your support.

The Mini Vinnies Team

IT Tip

Get In The Game! Make an effort to understand the basics of the technology that your child are (or will be) using on a daily basis. Technology is such a big part of kids’ lives that no parent can afford to just step away from their responsibilities in this area.

You may be doing a fantastic parenting job in all other aspects of your children’s lives but without understanding at least the basics, you cannot be part of their ever-expanding digital world. It’s not difficult to grasp some fundamentals and get up-to-speed. Plus, it’s fun and educational – that’s why your kids love it so much!

SFAW Facebook

Thank you to the parents and friends who have been following our page on Facebook. We appreciate that you have committed to adhering to the expectations outlined in the Social Media Policy which was included in the previous newsletter. Stay tuned for more posts of the wonderful things happening in our school.

Students from local high schools involved in the Links to Learning Program will be visiting our school on Tuesday 4 June and Wednesday 5 June, to work with the Stage 1 students from 11.15am-1.15pm.

This promotes community relationships between primary and high schools in the local area and also is a volunteer component of the program the high school students are involved in. The high school students will be working with the students in the classroom also participating in some sport activities. They will work with Year 2 on Tuesday and Year 1 on Wednesday. The high school students will be supplying a sausage sandwich for each of the students involved to conclude the session.

Mrs Matos

Now that the weather is cooler, all students should be wearing the correct winter school uniform.

Please find enclosed the St Francis of Assisi School Uniform Policy, Price List and Lowes online link.

Staff will be reminding students if students are wearing the incorrect uniform.

Parents/Carers and students are reminded that it is part of the enrolment requirements that students meet the school's high expectations regarding uniform codes.
Thank you for making this a priority.

We are seeking volunteers to help in the Canteen on
Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 10.00am - 2.00pm.

Our Canteen is run on a volunteer basis and we are very fortunate to have the assistance of Mrs Gerarda to manage the Canteen. Please contact the school office if you can assist in any way.

      The children always love to see their relatives in the canteen.

The 5 symptoms that mean your child should stay home from school...

Over the past two weeks, we have had a number of staff and students quite unwell.

It is a decision every parent faces regularly, whether or not to keep a sick child home from school.

Here are symptoms that mean your child should stay home:

1. Fever - this is a sign of infection and while giving them medicine might bring the fever down, it won't stop them from being contagious.

2. Vomiting or diarrhea - it is unfair all around - to the child and the school - to send a child with vomiting or diarrhea no matter how well they might look to you. Please allow at least 24 hours and check with your doctor for advice.  Some viruses can be contagious for an extra day or so.

3. Bad pain - if your child has any pain that is more than mild, keep them home and check with your doctor.

4. Cough/Flu - this too is a sign of infection and medicine won't stop them from being contagious to others.

5. Illness Medication - If your child has an illness that is being treated with antibiotics, they often need a minimum of at least 24 hours of treatment before  returning to school. Medication should be administered by parents at home. 

While it is important for children not to be absent from school, it is also important for them to be well enough to learn and not share contagious illnesses for others to get sick.  It is best to seek medical advice and allow your child time to rest and recover.  Please always notify the school and where possible provide a medical certificate when they are well enough to return.

Please do not bring your child to school if uncertain and "See how they go. Let the teacher know" as children usually tell the teacher and the school will contact you. As a school we need to consider your child's wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. When it comes to your child's health and the health of students and staff, it is better to be safe than sorry.

An explanation is required on Compass or provide the medical certificate to the class teacher. All absences must be explained and recorded.

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.

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.