St Francis Xavier Primary School Woolgoolga eNewsletter

Prayer Focus

This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, regarded as the birthday of the Christian church. We remember when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles (ten days after his ascension into heaven), to help them in their ministry to go out into the world and spread the Good News. At Pentecost we reflect on how the Holy Spirit is alive in each of us and how we can be disciples, using our gifts to share Christ’s message of love with the world.

God of light,

You sent the Spirit down upon your Son

so that others might know who he was.

Send your Spirit on us,

So that we can spread your message

of love and peace to others.

Amen

From the Principal

On Monday, 24 May a Mass celebrating 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia will be held at St Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore. Principals and two student leaders from each school have been invited to attend. Our student leaders, Bonnie Plunkett and Eli Nalder will accompany me to Lismore on Monday for the Mass and a light lunch afterwards.

All Things Learning & Teaching

NAPLAN Completed for 2021

A big congratulations to all of Year 3 and Year 5, whom over the course of the last two weeks have completed the national literacy and numeracy tests. We are very proud of each and every one of you.

Classroom Focus On - Stage 1

This week we take a glimpse into the vibrant Stage 1 learning space. The students in all three classrooms love the large, flexible environment where they can interact with one another and where learning is supported and nurtured.

Reflecting On Our Impact

This week there have been multiple opportunities for us as a school community to reflect on the impact we are having on our world. World Bee Day, National Simultaneous Storytime and Action for Climate Change. All have been opportunities for our students to reflect on the difference we can make in the world around us. Pope Francis’ call to us in Laudato Si is for us to care for our common home and is empowering our students to think of ways they can make a difference.

Faith and Mission

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

On Thursday, 27 May St Francis Xavier School will be hosting an Australia's Biggest Morning Tea at 9.30am at Woolgoolga Beach Reserve to raise money for the Cancer Council.

St Francis Xavier families and the wider Woolgoolga community are invited to attend. Visit the Hub Cafe to grab a take away coffee (they will be donating a portion of proceeds from coffee sales on the day), head across to the park for something yummy to go with it and enjoy a chat, the view and the sunshine (fingers crossed), all while helping to support a worthy cause. Please share the word!

We are in need of donations to assist us with this event.

*Baked goods - cakes, cupcakes, slices, etc. Please send these in on Wednesday, 26 May to allow for portioning and plating. Please label baked goods with ingredients. Do not send baked goods that require refrigeration. Containers that are clearly labelled will be returned to students.

*Succulent cuttings and interesting cups/mugs - Please send these in by Monday, 24 May as students will pot the succulents into the cups/mugs at school on Tuesday. Thank you for your support!

Kindergarten and Year 6 Church Excursion

On Wednesday, 26 May, Kindergarten and their Year 6 buddies will be catching the bus to St Francis Xavier Church for a ‘tour’ with Fr Joy. Kindergarten have started the unit ‘Belonging to God’s Family’ in Religion and will be learning about the Church building, the symbols and liturgical gestures.

Climate Change - Day of Action

Today at assembly we prayed together as a school community for the environment. In the Gospel of Mark we heard, ‘You are the light of the world…….. let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:14-16). We hear Jesus remind his disciples about the uniqueness of every person. Especially, the unique way we hear the voice of God. Some hear it easily while some people struggle to hear it because the voice of the world is so loud. God can be found in everything good, true and beautiful. We can look into the world around us and see God in people and nature. God’s voice calls us to love our neighbour and honour our common home, the earth.

How will you radiate God’s radical messages of love to all people and caring for creation?

Spotlight on HPL

This Term Mrs Coster and Mrs Speirs have been working together to co-teach English in the Year 6 classroom. The students have been participating in novel studies and learning to go beyond the text and explore the underlying concepts and themes. There has been a focus on higher order skills in particular analysing, summarising and evaluating when responding to texts.

In addition, the students have been researching and learning about the past treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. The 1967 Referendum has been a focus and the students have learned about the impact this decision had on the rights and freedoms of Indigenous Australians.

Mrs Coster and Mrs Speirs have enjoyed their time teaching together and we are so proud of what the students have achieved during this time. Although Mrs Coster will be moving into the Stage 2 classrooms next week, she will continue to support Mrs Speirs and the Year 6 students behind the scenes.

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)

Our PBS Team has something planned using our old tokens. Students designed these special wooden tokens in 2020 and they were used to support our out of class rewards system. With our new St Francis Xavier PBS Tokens hitting the scene in 2021, our PBS Team are putting their creative minds to work. I wonder what the final masterpiece will be?

Sporting Roundup

Athletics Carnival

The whole school Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday, 28 May at the lower High Street Fields.

Parent Helpers: If you would like to assist on the day please email me at tiffany.wishart@lism.catholic.edu.au. I am especially looking for someone to help with long jump. If you have talent in this area, please let me know. All volunteers must sign in at the office and collect a yellow lanyard before proceeding to the Carnival. Spectators must also sign in using the QR code on the day.

Running Club

Running Club is on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 8.40am. If it is raining or the field is too wet, Running Club will need to be postponed.

Sport and Play Team

A big thank you to the Sport and Play Team for conducting a survey of sports equipment that students across the school would like to see in the playground, as well as setting up and labelling all of the new sports equipment ready for playground use. They have also organised a borrowing system that will ensure we don’t lose our sports equipment during lunch and recess.

Rebel Sport

Thank you to families for your continued support by nominating our school when you buy sports equipment at Rebel Sport. This enables us to buy new equipment regularly for playground use.

Sport Lunch Club

Each week at Sport Club we focus on a different sport for different age groups based on student voice. So far we have enjoyed cricket, netball and basketball. Here are some pictures from basketball this week.

Get into Rugby

This week the Kindergarten and Stage 1 classes began the ‘Get into Rugby’ Program. Below are some snaps from our first session. We will have one session a week for the next two weeks.