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This term, our staff, students and school community have had an opportunity to gather and participate in various experiences that foster belonging and connection.
Recently, I have been reflecting on the significant role of gratitude in helping to support a sense of belonging and well-being. Showing someone gratitude is one of the easiest and most genuine ways to make life better for ourselves and those around us.
What is Gratitude?
‘Gratitude is about paying attention to the things and moments we have right now and not worrying about what we don’t have. We practise gratitude by noticing the positives around us, and by being thankful for things, places and people in our lives.’
Research has shown that the benefits of expressing and receiving gratitude are beneficial to our well-being and mental health due to specific chemicals being released in our brains. In addition, taking the time to thank others is vital to strengthen social connections and encourage generosity.
A helpful way to incorporate gratitude into our lives is to reflect as part of our daily routine, e.g. during dinner or before bed. Studies show that sharing a list of positive events at the close of a day and why the events made you happy gives individuals a greater sense of calm at night. One thing we can control is our actions.
When we incorporate gratitude in our daily practices, the benefits will be invaluable not only for ourselves but also for those around us.
I challenge you to find ways to reach out in the next two weeks and show gratitude to those around our St Francis of Assisi school community.
Thank you for your continued partnership.
Mrs Vicky Davidson
PRINCIPAL
Year 6 Mass with the Bishop Brian Mascord
Last week, I had the absolute pleasure and privilege of attending Year 6 Mass with the Bishop with Ms Maloney, Mrs Logue and our Year 6 students. It was wonderful to be able to gather again in prayer and celebrate with other Year 6 students from six of our Diocesan schools. In his homily, Bishop Brian Mascord spoke of the importance of leaning into Jesus and others when we need help. He explained how we can not achieve anything without help and that asking for help is a gift. After Mass, the students enjoyed lunch and entertainment provided by the Youth Ministry team. The students had the opportunity to sing, dance and make new friends. They certainly created some memorable moments.
The Parents and Friends Association (P&F) Catch Up
All parents are invited for a catch-up with our P&F on Tuesday 16 August at 6.30 pm. This is an opportunity for you to connect with other parents, find out what is happening in and around the school, and chat about upcoming events.
The Alpha Experience - For Adults
As Ms Maloney mentions in the Religious Education and Parish News, our parish launched its first face-to-face Alpha Program last term, which was well received by those who attended. I attended the last Alpha experience and thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people and exploring life, faith, and God in a friendly, open, and informal environment. Our parish is once again running the Alpha Program, and you are warmly invited to participate. See more details in the newsletter. Please click on the video below to watch the introduction clip.
School Shoes
In the past two weeks, a number of students have been coming to school wearing incorrect shoes. We understand that, at times, our shoes do wear out, and students may be waiting to purchase new shoes. Please check that your child/ren are wearing the correct shoes each day. Thank you.
 School shoes - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (K-5). Monday, Wednesday and Thursday (Year 6)
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Sports shoes - Wednesday and Friday (K-5). Tuesday and Friday (Year 6) |
Lost Property
At the moment, we have a number of drink bottles and plastic containers in our lost property tub. These items do not have names on them. If your child/ren has misplaced one of the items in the photo below, please ask them to check the lost property tub, which is located inside the door in the stairwell near the hall.
Parish Mass Times
For a number of weeks now, parishioners of St Mary of the Rosary, Berkeley have been celebrating Mass at the revised time of 4 pm on Saturdays. This weekend, it’s time for the parishioners of St Francis of Assisi to make the transition to the new time of celebrating Mass on Sunday. Please note that from this weekend onwards, the Mass times for our two (2) parish churches are as follows:
Altar Serving - Welcome, Max!
We extend our congratulations to our newest altar server, Max, who served for the first time last weekend. It was wonderful to see one of our newly confirmed children taking on an active role in the life of our church. Special mention must go to Tevita as well for guiding Max in this new ministry. Great teamwork, boys!
Reconciliation Program for 2022
Enrolments for this year’s Reconciliation program have now closed. Please continue to keep in your prayers the children in our school and parish who are preparing to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Year Six Mass with Bishop Brian
Last week, Year Six travelled to St Joseph’s, Bulli with Mrs Davidson, Ms Maloney, and Mrs Logue to join Bishop Brian and other students from nearby Diocesan schools for a special celebration of the Eucharist. We were very proud, not only of Lara and Tevita who had specific responsibilities during the ceremony but of the reverence demonstrated by all of our students. Thank you, Year Six, for being great ambassadors of our school!
Thanks, Fr Damien!
The teachers and students of Year Five & Year Six extend their gratitude to Fr Damien for making the time to join them during their recent excursion to Canberra. Fr Damien gave them a guided tour of the ANZAC Memorial Chapel of St Paul and the Changi Chapel at Duntroon Royal Military College before showing them the grave of General Bridges and the impressive view of Canberra from Mount Pleasant. He even met up with them again for their tour of Government House.
Mary of the Cross MacKillop
On Monday, we gathered with our parish community to celebrate the Solemnity of Mary of the Cross MacKillop - Australia’s first recognised saint. Eva, one of our Year Six students, chose Mary MacKillop as her Confirmation saint and has provided the following information about her.
Mary MacKillop who was born on the 15th of January, 1842, and grew up in Fitzroy, Melbourne. She was the oldest of eight children and loved helping people. In her small town, Mary MacKillop established a school called St Joseph's of the Sacred Heart, accompanied by other nuns. This provided free education for kids in 1866. Later on, in 2010, she became the first saint of Australia and we now celebrate her feast day on the 8th of August.
I chose her to be my confirmation name because she is a huge inspiration to me. I love how whenever she saw a need, she always did something about it and I push myself to follow in her footsteps.
The Alpha Experience - For Adults
Earlier this year, our parish launched its first face-to-face Alpha Program, which was well received by those who attended. Our parish is once again running the Alpha Program and you are warmly invited to participate.
Alpha is an opportunity for adults to explore life, faith, and God in a friendly, open, and informal environment. Participants gather once a week to share a meal, watch a short video around a certain theme and then gather in small groups for discussion. Whether you’re an atheist, an agnostic, or a lifelong believer — everyone is welcome!
As the date to RSVP was actually yesterday, please register with either Rebecca from the parish (details are below) or Ms Maloney (maloneymullerm01@dow.catholic.edu.au) ASAP.
Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On 15 August, our Church celebrates the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. This feast is a celebration of God’s special love for Mary, who was so faithful to the will of God, that when her time on earth ended, she was received into heaven.
Mary was an ordinary woman who, by placing her trust in God, was able to do the extraordinary. She offers us such a good model for faith as through her life, we see the great blessings that can come to us when we maintain our trust in God and remain open to God’s will. It is a reminder to each of us to put our trust in God, who promises to be with us as we journey through life. Like Mary, we are called to make room for God in our lives.
The whole school will be attending the 9 am parish Mass on Monday to mark this significant feast day, and as always, you are welcome to join us and our parish community.
Welcome to Owen Geddes
We welcome back to our parish Owen Geddes, who has just begun a 2.5 year pastoral placement here as part of his training to become an Army Chaplain. We look forward to working with Owen and hope he enjoys his time here.
PARISH CHURCH OFFICE - Relocated
The Parish Church Office has relocated to Berkeley. The front office door is located at the rear of St Mary of the Rosary Church on the main car park side at 211 Northcliffe Drive, Berkeley. The phone number has not changed and is 4276 3565. The new email address is berkeleywarrawong@dow.org.auand new office hours are Tuesday to Friday 10.00 am to 1.30 pm.
Ms Marita Maloney
Religious Education Coordinator
Celebration of Learning Class Assemblies
Thank you to 5 Blue for leading last weeks Celebration of Learning Assembly. Our next Celebration of Learning Assembly is tomorrow, Friday 12 August, led by 2 Blue. All parents are welcome to join us.
Please join us
CELEBRATION OF LEARNING ASSEMBLY
WEEK 4 - 2 BLUE
Friday 12 August 2022
PB4L
During Weeks 3 and 4, our focus has been on how we move around the school. It is important we move safely and responsibly. This includes walking respectfully through classrooms, shared workspaces and the office.
MATHS
Problem-solving is a fundamental means of developing mathematical knowledge at any level. It allows students to develop the ability to make choices, interpret, formulate, model, and investigate problem situations, and communicate solutions effectively. They formulate and solve problems when they use mathematics to represent unfamiliar or meaningful situations, design investigations and plan their approaches, apply strategies to seek solutions, and verify that their answers are reasonable. Here are some open-ended Maths tasks that children can solve to help them develop problem-solving skills:
Problem 1: Look at the calendar. Draw a square around 9 of the numbers. What do you notice?
Prompts: If I tell you the top left number, can you tell me the bottom right number? If I tell you the middle number, what can you tell me? Extension: What if the figure can be any rectangle? A cross? What if we replace the calendar with a number grid?
Problem 2: Some people claim rolling a six is harder than rolling a two. Roll a die many times, collect and record your data. Make a convincing argument using your data and other ideas about the claim.
Extension: Extend the situation to a 10-sided die or roll two dice and find the sum. Think of some claims and investigate.
Problem 3: Look at the results of the recent Birmingham Commonwealth Games and choose 5 countries that competed. Create a tally of how many gold, bronze, and silver medals each country has received. Using the data, create a graph to show the data.
Extension: How many more medals did the winning team/country receive, compared to the total medals of the other three countries you have chosen? Can you find the total number of medals all the 5 countries have received?
Mr Rod Green
Assistant Principal
Term 3 Sporting Events
| Date | Event | Attending | Venue |
| Week 4-8 | Sporting Schools - Touch Football | Year 2-6 | School |
We have been fortunate to secure a grant through Sporting Schools Australia to run a program with students in Years 2-6 this term. Students will participate in Touch Football sessions, from Weeks 4-8. These sessions will be one hour a week during normal sports time for each class.
On Friday 05 August, Zaynab, Makedde, Manee, Charlie, Mia, Felicia, Sara, Eva, Savannah, Chanel, Jessica, and Sienna travelled down to Ulladulla to represent our school for the AFL South Coast Finals. The girls played well on the day, however, we missed playing in the final due to our points differential. Congratulations girls for your efforts on the day and for making it this far in the competition! Thank you to the parents, grandparents and relatives who supported the team on the day.
Sport Coordinator
Year 3 are learning about informative texts. We are writing explanations.
Do you know why bees are important to plants????
The students are using Jigspace, which is an app that allows students to view images in AR (augmented reality). There were bees (virtually) everywhere in the room, and they learnt many interesting facts about bees.
This term Year 1 have been learning about Forces in Science. Over the last couple of weeks, they learnt about friciton and how friction is affected by how rough a surface is. They created a Zip Line experiment to see if their army men would move faster on string or fishing line. They also made Friction Raceways to see which materials had more or less friction, and the race was on!
Don’t forget that the Premier’s Reading Challenge closes next Friday 19 August. If you need help recording your books online or to borrow more books from our Library to complete the challenge, please come and see Mrs Martins or Mrs Burrows. Happy reading!!!
St Francis School has an active and supportive group of parents and school community members, known as Parents and Friends (P&F). The P&F seeks to create a community that is warm and welcoming and actively supports the school. The P&F undertakes a number of fundraising events during the year, including Mother's and Father's Day Stalls, Canteen, and BBQs for various school and sports events. For more information, please contact the School Office, info@sfawdow.catholic.edu.au.
Students will have the opportunity to purchase gifts from the Fathers' Day Stall on Wednesday 31st August. Please see flyer below for more details.
We are seeking parent helpers for the Father's Day stall on Wednesday 31st August. If you would like to help, please complete the form attached or email the school: info@sfawdow.catholic.edu.au. Thank you for supporting the students.
SAVE THE DATE!
Friday 16 September - Pupil Free Day
Students do not attend school. The school will be closed while staff attend their
Staff Spirituality Day.
Aspire OSHC is OPEN and taking bookings for this
Pupil Free Day
Please contact 0473 172 964
Email: st.francis@aspire-oshc.com.au
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Book Week at St Francis of Assisi Each year since 1945, the Children's Book Council of Australia has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time, schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians create colourful displays, develop activities, run competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. You will often see parades with students dressed as their favourite book character. |
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In conjunction with Book Week this year, our school is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair from Monday 22 August until Friday 26 August. You and your child/ren will have the opportunity to explore a huge range of affordable books featuring characters and subjects kids love and want to read about. From newly released books and bestsellers to award-winning titles and perennial favourites. Whilst online electronic payments will be preferred, cash will also be accepted. This is also a great way for you to learn and discuss your child's interests. Every book sold benefits our school, adding resources to our library and classrooms. Scholastic Book Fairs help us show students the wonder of reading. After all, when kids choose their own books, they will be more excited to read, and they will naturally read more!
National Child Protection Week starts on Sunday 4 September. eSafety supports this important initiative with parent information. Parents are urged to learn about TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube and help children stay safe online. With children back at school the eSafety Commissioner is urging parents to look out for signs of cyberbullying. Of particular concern are social media challenges being shared by young people. While these online challenges can be fun, they can also be used to humiliate and shame others. See the information and video below to assist with Parental controls and upcoming Free Parent webinars regarding the Popular apps and the Parent Online safety book. The video helps parents and carers to understand more about the different parental controls available and which settings are best suited to your family. It’s designed for parents of young people aged 4 to 13 years old.
Catholic schools across Australia will celebrate Family Week from 8 – 14 August 2022, to recognise the significant contribution parents, carers and families have made to the foundation, growth, and continuity of Catholic schools in Australia for over 200 years.
Family Week coincides with the Feast Day of Australia’s First Saint, Mary MacKillop, who was a passionate educator and advocate for children and families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
When families are taking holidays during the school term for 10 days or more, an Application for Leave must be completed, with notice, and submitted at the School Office. This application is required to be approved by the School Principal prior to the leave commencing and a Certificate of Extended Leave will be issued for the parents to have with them during their travels. Please see the attached form for further information.
Don't miss out! Places are filling fast.
ASPIRE OSHC
Before & After school care
AVAILABLE at St Francis School
$500 Government Vouchers available to use
Visit Website: www.aspire-oshc.com.au/st-francis-of-assisi-warrawong
Book Now online here
Upcoming School Events are available for Parents to view
Parents are able to check school events and dates on the school calendar by visiting any of the following: -
- Parent Compass Home page
- View the dates on the lefthand side of the School Newsletter
- Click the link on the School Newsletter at the top right corner and or the left-hand column
- Visit the school website www.sfawdow.catholic.edu.au, News & Events top tab, go to the bottom of the page and view Upcoming Events and click on "view more upcoming events" to view the whole calendar.
- Visit the school website from the newsletter by clicking on "Visit our Website" in left-hand column.
