2021 Term 2 Week 1 Newsletter

Prayer: International Mother Earth Day, 22 April

Around the Grounds - From the Principal

Pupil Free Day/Staff Development Day - Wednesday, 5 May

There will be a Pupil Free Day on Wednesday, 5 May. This day is allocated to the formation of staff and the Proclaim initiative being rolled out across our Diocese. This day is pupil free for all Catholic schools in the Lismore Diocese.

Covid-19 update

The current Covid-19 restrictions have certainly allowed us greater opportunity to connect as a community and for this we are truly grateful and very excited. Whilst this is great news, we should continue to be vigilant to ensure that this remains the case. The restrictions that are important for us to remember are:

• Hand hygiene and cough etiquette
• Record keeping is still mandated and essential every time you visit the school site
• St Francis Xavier has a Covid-19 Safety Plan as prescribed by the NSW and Federal Governments
• Physical distancing is still recommended (1.5m)
• If you are unwell, please stay at home and follow the guidelines for testing and isolation

Thank you again for your support and understanding in this difficult time and as always please contact the school if you have any further questions.

Parent Forum “We’re back!”

Every family is invited to our Parent Forum meetings that are now returning in a face-to-face capacity. The focus in these meetings are community building and family connection. The next Parent Forum meeting will be held on Monday, 10 May and you are invited…

Some topics for discussion will be

• Annual General Meeting where leadership positions will be voted on
• Investing time in child’s classroom
• Projects (market garden, seed bank)
• Potential social activities for our broader community

We really look forward to seeing lots of families in attendance.

High Potential Learning (HPL) - Parent Information Evening

There will be a Parent Information Evening on Wednesday, 28 April at 5.30pm for any families who are interested in finding out more about what is on offer in this intervention space. This is a constantly developing program and we look forward to sharing this with the whole community. Please click on the link below to register for the HPL Parent Information Evening.

All things Learning & Teaching

Welcome Back to Term 2

As always there is so much that happens in a school Term and our students are very keen to be sharing their learning with family and friends. We will continue to share snapshots of learning in the newsletter and on the school Facebook page. If you haven’t already, please make sure you have access to both of these platforms to keep up to date with all the latest goings-on.

World of Maths - Wednesday, 26 April

As part of our focus on Maths this year and Catholic Schools week, World of Maths (a travelling, interactive Maths Workshop) will visit our school next Wednesday, 26 April.

World of Maths offers engaging workshops which provide an ideal opportunity for students to see how maths is applied to everyday life situations and explore Maths in a hands-on environment.

In the workshop students will be encouraged to communicate their Maths ideas and answers with other students in small teams, working together. Students have the opportunity to gain insights into problem solving, working in teams and explore various mathematical applications, all of which reinforce the school's teaching approach to Mathematics.

We look forward to a highly engaging workshop which will show that Maths is everywhere and is important and of course that Maths can be fun! 

Open Classrooms

We look forward to welcoming parents and friends to join us next Friday in Catholic Schools Week to visit and explore the school.

Please see the invitation in Faith and Mission for a starting time.

Faith and Mission

Mini Vinnies

Mini Vinnies is a group of students who meet once a week to learn about social justice issues and come up with ways to help and serve those in our community who are less fortunate. We are currently working on creating Care Packs for St Vincent de Paul to give to the homeless. You can help by sending in toiletries (such as those from hotels), that are small enough to fit in a sandwich size zip lock bag. Items include:

• Body wash
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Hand sanitiser
• Body lotion

Munsa and Sophia (on behalf of the Mini Vinnies Team)

Catholic Schools Week

Next week, Catholic schools across Australia will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week, this year marking the milestone of 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. 

This year’s theme, “Faith in the future” reflects the core purpose of Catholic education to form students in their faith, and to provide an education that enables graduates to make a meaningful contribution to the world. The theme reflects our commitment to build on the great work of those who have come before us and to provide a Catholic education for future generations of students in a world that is rapidly changing and posing new challenges for Catholic school communities. Yet, we have faith that we can face these challenges and continue to build on, and strengthen our mission of Catholic education.

The numbers:

• 1820 First Catholic school in Australia founded in Sydney by Irish Catholic priest Fr John Therry and run by convict and lay person George Marley. 
• 31 students attended 
• 2021: one in five school age students in Australia attend a Catholic school
• 777,000 students
• 1,755 Catholic schools 
• 100,000+ teachers and staff employed

There are a number of events planned to mark Catholic Schools Week. In particular, a Liturgy on Friday, 30 April at 9.30am. Following this, parents are invited to visit classrooms and then stay on for a picnic lunch. The Canteen will be open and families are welcome to order lunch online by 8.30am (using your child's account) or at the Canteen by 9.30am.

School and Parish Masses

Now that Covid restrictions have eased, allowing parents back on site, we are able to invite families to come along and participate in our weekly Wednesday Masses here at school at 10.30am in the Hall. Stages are rostered on to attend twice a term and the students are heavily involved in Altar serving and providing the reading and music ministries. Kindergarten and Stage 3 will be attending in Weeks 6 and 9, Stage 1 in Weeks 4 and 7, Stage 2 in Weeks 5 and 8. We would love to see you there!

Children’s Liturgy at the Sunday Parish Mass was another ‘Covid casualty’ last year and we are pleased to be kicking off again this Sunday for the first time in over a year! Children’s Liturgy is run by teachers and parishioners. During Children’s Liturgy (which takes place during the time when we listen to readings from the Bible and the priest’s homily), the children listen to a simplified version of the readings, participate in discussion and prayer and complete a short activity. The children then rejoin the rest of the congregation for the remainder of Mass. Mass starts at 9.00am at St Francis Xavier Church. All are welcome, all belong! 

Mother’s Day Assembly - Friday, 7 May (Week 3) 

Please join us at 2.15pm on Friday, 7 May for a special assembly dedicated to all the amazing mums and significant women in our lives. All families (even those who are unable to attend) are asked to send in one digital photo per family to be included in a special visual presentation which will be shared with the school community. Photos can be of just Mum or Mum with family members. Please email photos to katrina.ryan@lism.catholic.edu.au by next Friday, 30 April.

Date Saver

Spotlight on HPL

On Monday the Stage 3 High Potential Learning (HPL) students travelled to St John Paul College.  The day began day with a paper chain challenge. The students were required to make the longest paper chain they could within a 5 minute limit using only 3 pieces of equipment - an A4 piece of paper, a glue stick and a pair of scissors. The students then compared the length of each chain and reflected on the way they went about the task and their approach to solving the problem by using the “I like...I wonder…” strategy. The winners of the challenge were Eli and Rune followed closely by Bonnie and Kyah. 

The second challenge was speed dating scattergories. This involved the students sitting opposite each other in pairs, in a line down the table. They were then given a different category or topic and had to list as many examples of that criteria as they could within one minute. Both partners were required to write down the same words or answers on their own lists. Once the timer finished, one side of the table moved to the partner on the right. The winner was the student who had the most words after 8 rounds. Eli was declared the winner after Rune had some questionable answers. Rune is looking forward to the next opportunity to challenge Eli!

The final challenge of the day was to construct the strongest bridge possible to support a minimum load of 100g and with a length of fifty centimetres. The materials the students could use were bamboo skewers, sticky tape and a hot glue gun. The overall winner would be the pair who could construct a bridge that could hold the most amount of weight before breaking. Every group achieved the minimum load with the top pair taking out the title with a weight of 2.8 kilograms. Well done to Kyah and Eli!

The students are looking forward to our next session at St John Paul College in two weeks time.

Sporting Roundup

Key Dates:

• Wednesday, 28 April - Zone Cross Country
• Thursday of Weeks 2-7 Whole School ‘Get into Rugby’ Program (Friday of Week 4 due to Naplan).
• Friday, 28 May - Whole School Athletics Carnival

Running Club

Running Club began this week. It will be run on Wednesdays and Fridays 8.40am until 9.00am. Each student who participates will have their own running card to record their laps and this will be tallied. Awards and prizes will be presented at assemblies when students acheive milestone distances.

Get Into Rugby Program

This Term, students from K-6 will be participating in a ‘Get Into Rugby Program’. This Program will take place on Thursday afternoons beginning next week and will be run by our local NSW Rugby Union Development Officer, Gary Wilson and other Rugby Union NSW coaches. We were lucky enough to receive funding to run this Program for Term 2 so this will be at no cost to families. The Program will run for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the first three weeks and then Kindergarten, Years 1 and 2 for the second three weeks.

Rebel Sport

If you shop at Rebel, please sign up to the Rebel Active membership and nominate our school to recieve the 5% donation from all purchases to buy new sports equipment for students to use in the playground. Featured in the photo below are some of the students from the Sport and Play Team who have been working hard to get the sports equipment ready to use in the playground next week. 

Certificates of Recognition

Gold Token Winners

Diocesan Winter Sport Trials Participation Awards

Cross Country Age Champions

Kindergarten 2022 Enrolment Open

McAuley Catholic College Open Night

Year 7 2021 Enrolment St John Paul College