Dear Parents and Carers,

On Monday, we had a very successful Swimming Carnival after a 2-year layoff. I would like to thank Lauren MacDonald and the Swimming Carnival Team for running such a successful day. Congratulations to all our swimmers who participated on the day and to our winning house Cunningham! Ribbons for our 50m events will be given out at Monday morning assembly next week.

Annual Improvement Plan (AIP)

I wrote about the formation of our Strategic Plan in our last newsletter referencing how the Annual Improvement Plan is the first slice of our Strategic Plan and will be updated each year to reflect progress on our Strategic three-year goals. St Francis of Assisi Primary School - Calwell eNewsletter (schoolzineplus.com)

The Annual improvement plan is made up of 3 goals which are short, sharp and easy to remember, ideally 8 words in length. These are then fleshed out with targets, success indicators and strategies for implementation. Our Three AIP Goals are:

1. Initiate a culture of excellence in teaching and learning.

2. Prioritise community well-being and partnerships.

3. Enhance the use of school resources to optimise teaching and learning.

I will unpack each goal separately over the next few weeks by highlighting some key success indicators, targets and strategies you can expect to see from each of the goals.

ELC Update

We are excited to announce our ELC will be opening in 2024! Watch this space for an expression of interest for enrolment that will be available shortly. We have also created a tab on the school website which will be the go-to space for enrolment information.

Fete Meeting

We have booked our Fete for later this year after a covid related hiatus. For our Fete to run successfully we need your support! Please consider volunteering some time to support this worthy fundraising opportunity and community-building activity. The first Fete meeting will be on Wednesday 8^th March in the Staffroom at 6 pm. All are welcome!

Principals’ Retreat

Next Wednesday – Friday, I will be attending the Principals’ Retreat in Bowral, with the Director of Catholic Education Ross Fox, as well as other senior leaders within Catholic Education. The three days are invaluable for the discussion and sharing of system initiatives, strategic planning, and directions, as well as the time spent on faith development.

Lenten Penance reflection from Fr James

“Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).

The season of lent is an invitation to all of us, ‘to step back’ to understand ourselves more clearly and ‘to step forward’ in the path of Christ. It is also an invitation to ‘step out’ of our comfort zones to move a step closer to God and our fellow human beings. The concrete expression of this happens through our Lenten prayers, fasting (self-denial) and acts of charity. In other words, through our acts of going beyond the normal through this season of lent is a way to come closer to God and our brothers and sisters.

Each of the faithful is obliged to receive Holy Communion at least once a year. This is to be done between Ash Wednesday, 22nd February, and Trinity Sunday, 4th June, 2023 unless for a good reason it is done at another time during the year. All the faithful are obliged to confess their grave sins at least once a year.

DAYS OF PENANCE
1. Abstinence from meat, and fasting, must be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. All who have completed their eighteenth year and have not yet begun their sixtieth year are bound to fast. All who have completed their fourteenth year are bound to abstain.
2. On all other Fridays of the year including the Fridays of Lent, the law of the common practice of penance is fulfilled by performing any one of the following:

1. (a)  prayer – for example, Mass attendance; family prayer; a visit to a church or chapel; reading the Bible; making the Stations of the Cross; praying the rosary.
2. (b)  self-denial (fasting)– for example, not eating meat; not eating sweets or dessert; giving up entertainment to spend time with the family; limiting food and drink so as to give to the poor of one’s own country; limiting use of social media, smart phones or television.
3. (c)  helping others – for example, special attention to someone who is poor, sick, elderly, lonely or overburdened.

Absences Email Push Notifications:

We know that every day of attendance at school adds to your child's chances of success and achievement from Kindergarten through to high school. You play a key role in making sure your child attends school every day, and you do this because you understand that attendance leads to success, not just at school but later in life. Every day at school counts towards your child’s learning.

Coming out of the Covid pandemic over the past three years we have seen some students disengage from their learning. To address this, we have implemented a school goal around student attendance, as we know that student attendance is imperative to their learning. 

So, from Monday we will be sending, via email, push notifications that will inform you of your child’s absence from school. In the email, there is a link directly to Compass for you to provide a reason for the absence (It is a legal requirement for all absences to be explained). If you believe the absence to be incorrect we ask that you please contact the child’s teacher.  We are implementing this change to:

Track student absences and encourage students’ attendance at school for the benefit of their learning.

1. Allow you, as parents, to give a reason for the absence, via Compass, quickly and easily and;
2. Increase the uptake of parent engagement with the Compass portal.

We realise some absences are unavoidable due to health issues or other circumstances. However, we also know that when students miss too much school, no matter the reason, it can cause them to fall behind academically. The more absences your child has the harder it is for them to catch up on missed work and stay connected to their school community. Absences add up quickly. If your child is absent just one day every two weeks over the course of a school year this will add up to 20 days of lost learning. This is almost half a school term.

As a school community, it is our job to work together to ensure the best possible learning for our students and so we look forward to continuing to work with you for the benefit of all our students.  Please contact Mrs Annie McArthur if you have any queries about this new school initiative.

Blessings and Best Wishes

Sean Rutledge

Principal