2022 Term 2 Week 1 Newsletter

Prayer Focus

From the Principal

A very warm welcome to Term 2! 

The commencement of a new school term is a good time to highlight child safety. Child safety is taken very seriously at St Francis Xavier by the school Leadership Team and all staff. The school’s governance and operational practices are continually reviewed to ensure The Child Safe Standards as set out by the Office of the Children’s Guardian are met. A special email message was sent out to families on Wednesday this week highlighting how The Child Safe Standards are being used in different scenarios here at St Francis Xavier. Here is a link to that message in case you missed the email.

The school also has mandated obligations in relation to Child Protection. I would encourage everyone to take the time to read our Child Protection Policy that can be located in the School Office and on the school’s website  by clicking on the link below. 

Protected Industrial Action

I would also like to draw your attention to pending industrial action that may impact on the school.

Kindergarten 2023 Enrolment Applications are open

The month of May is when we open enrolment applications for Kindergarten 2023. Word of mouth is a highly effective way to advertise as well as promote our amazing school. With this in mind, please spread the word that next month is the time to enrol your Kindergarten child for 2023.  Enrolment applications can be located on the school’s website.

Yours in Faith,
Warren Niethe
Principal

All Things Learning & Teaching

Term 2 Learning 

Welcome back to another exciting term of learning. The ANZAC Day march was a lovely way to begin the week and we would like to acknowledge the wonderful turn out. St Francis Xavier was certainly well represented.  Thank you to all those who were able to be present. We have a number of students with family connections to the Armed Services and it was wonderful to see them marching with or on behalf of family members. Noah Stephinson from Year 5 spoke about his family experience and shared some interesting items with his classmates this week. 

Friendship, fun and enthusiasm are words that sum up this week of learning. The students are very keen to dive into the learning and the teachers are refreshed and excited to welcome everyone back. We look forward to celebrating Catholic Schools Week next week and we are extending an invitation to the wider community to come and join us. What a positive start to the term!

Woolgoolga School Leaders Event

The School Leaders were lucky to participate in a Leadership Day in the holidays, hosted by our Local Member, Kevin Hogan. The guest speaker was Danielle Wallace, who is an international fashion designer and local business owner. She shared her leadership story and talked about the importance of being resilient and confident, asking questions and working hard to achieve your goals. 

‘I really enjoyed listening to Danielle’s story and meeting other school leaders.’ Matthew Pope

NAPLAN 2022 Test Window

Just a reminder that our Year 3 and Year 5 students will take part in NAPLAN online in the upcoming weeks. This is a snapshot of learning, at a point in time. Below is an infographic about the test window and our school timeline. Students are familiar with the process. The only equipment required is a set of headphones which most of our students have.  All the best to Year 3 and Year 5.

Sharon de Dassel
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching

Easter Celebration

We began Term 2 with a whole school Easter celebration on Tuesday. While Easter Sunday occurred in the holidays and our memories of Easter eggs and family gatherings may be fading, Easter is not finished. The season of Easter continues until Pentecost, some 50 days after Easter Sunday. In the words of Pope John Paul II, which were reiterated by Bishop Greg in his Easter message this year, ‘We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!’ As children of God, we are invited to be more like Jesus by living a life of faith, hope and service to others. 

Catholic Schools Week 

Next week, our school will join with more than 620 Catholic schools across NSW and the ACT to celebrate the annual Catholic Schools Week.

 This year’s theme “Community, Care, Compassion’’ echoes the broader mission of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Lismore, to provide opportunities for all of our students to experience life to the full as caring and compassionate school communities.

All families are invited to join us for Mass, followed by a BYO Family Picnic Lunch on Tuesday, May 3 at 10.15am. In addition to Mass on Tuesday there will be a Mother’s Day Afternoon & Assembly on Friday at 1.45pm (see below). Please RSVP for the Afternoon Tea via the Facebook Event Post or contact the Office.

Katrina Ryan
Assistant Principal Mission

Spotlight on High Potential Learning

Stage 3 High Potential Learning (HPL)

During Week 10 of Term 1, the Stage 3 HPL students came together with other Stage 3 HPL students from St Augustine's and Mary Help of Christians at St John Paul College. The students were learning to collaborate with others to solve problems by applying their critical, lateral and creative thinking skills. 

The students worked within their school groups to solve a series of clues to crack codes and break out of the boxes. St Francis students won the first challenge by being the first to successfully solve all clues and crack the codes on all the locks!

Stage 2 HPL

This term Stage 2 HPL students will continue to develop and refine their technological skills in the specific area of coding using the online tool, Scratch. 

Suzie Coster
Leader of Learning HPL

Communicating Diversity

To celebrate the Easter Season, students enjoyed investigating artworks by Artist Linda Naparula Walker, a Warlpiri woman from Yuendumu Community in Central Australia. These beautifully crafted paintings show Jesus’ journey through Holy Week, ending with his resurrection. To find out more information about these artworks and artist, click the link below. 

Laura Cooke
Leader of EAL/D

Sporting Roundup

Zone Cross Country

Zone Cross Country will go ahead on Wednesday, 4 May. Due to the recent wet weather and flooding there has been a change of venue.  The event will now be held at the Grafton Racecourse.  Notes have gone home with qualifying students today.  Please return notes and payment on Monday, 2 May.

Congratulations to Evie Gibson who represented the Lismore Diocese at Polding Football (Soccer) Trials today in Bathurst. The team won three of their four matches.  Well done Evie!

Basketball Clinics

This week Stages 1 and 2 began their basketball clinics. The students learned how to dribble and  control the ball. Below are some pictures of Stage 1.

Tiffany Wishart
Leader of Sport

Gold Token winners

Congratulations to all token recipients this week and congratulations to the Gold Token winners!  Keep up the great work everyone!

Year 7 2023 Enrolment SJPC

Year 6 Families, please refer to the email sent this week for further information regarding enrolment at St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour for Year 7 2023.

Term 2 Covid-19 Update

The NSW Government has announced close contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case will not be
required to isolate, provided they comply with NSW Health guidelines. This includes students.

Scholastic Book Club

Issue 3 of Scholastic Book Club is open for ordering. Catalogues will come home with students this week.  Please order online using LOOP or in cash at the school office by Wednesday, 4 May.