Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
In preparation for Easter 2023, Pope Francis released his annual message, encouraging Catholics to listen to what Jesus wants to tell them through the Scriptures and others. His message asked Catholics to listen to Jesus, and proclaimed, "Lent is a time of grace to the extent that we listen to him as he speaks to us."
In our busy lives, we often do not take the time to listen to Jesus. The Holy See has encouraged all faithful to engage in scripture this lent by coming to mass and hearing God's word. In his Lenten letter, he also states, "in addition to the Scriptures, the Lord speaks to us through our brothers and sisters, especially in the faces and the stories of those in need". So as we journey towards the end of Lent, please look out for those in need in our community and do what you can to support them this Easter.
The full text of the Pope's Lenten Message can be found here: Lent 2023: Lenten Penance and the Synodal Journey | Francis (Vatican.va)
Pupil Free Day
Next Term, students in all Catholic Schools will not start back to school until Wednesday, the 26th of April, due to a Pupil Free day on Monday, the 24th, and ANZAC Day on Tuesday 25th of April.
Our staff will participate in a Staff Development Day on the designated Pupil Free Day. BASCA has emailed all enrolled families and will offer a care program for the day if there is sufficient interest. Please respond to Louise's email if you require care on this day.
Anna Corkery
On Monday, Anna Corkery welcomed Sunday Pearl Love to the world. Mum and Bub are doing well. Anna was shocked that Sunday decided to come a couple of weeks early and had planned to work until the end of the Term. We wish Anna, Cody and Sunday all the love, joy and happiness as they enjoy this special time together as a family.
Graduations
This week two staff members, Jesse Waltmann and Georgie Wiley, graduated from the University of Canberra with bachelor's degrees. As a school community, we congratulate them on this huge achievement.
Staffing
This Term, we have had the luxury of some extra relief staff in the form of Jess and Anna, who will both be on maternity leave by the end of the Term. This has meant we have been in the enviable position of not having to split classes in the first 8 weeks of this term. With Anna and Jess both on leave, next Term will be harder, and we may be required to split classes to cover staff shortages.
Playground and Grounds Update
Our new senior playground equipment is in production and is scheduled for installation in May. We have recently completed works to remediate paving areas in front of the Canteen that was lifting due to tree roots. In this space, we have installed a raised platform and three outdoor ping pong tables that are getting a good workout from our senior students. Over the school holidays, work will occur to open up and expand the sensory courtyard outside the Principal and Assistant Principal offices.
We look forward to commissioning this space for our students next Term. Last week we completed painting works throughout the school, which has been an enormous undertaking to give the 35-year-old buildings a facelift.
Enrolment Period
We are fast approaching the enrolment period for 2024. Last week our Yr 6 students were visited by Mr Michael Lee and his team from MacKillop, including some ex-students. We have also been visited by St. Clares College Principal Dr Ann Cleary and some students who addressed our Yr 6 girls. The purpose of these visits is to give our Yr. 6 students information related to upcoming open days.
We are finalising our own school enrolment period for 2024 and have locked in dates for our open days- Monday, 1st of May and Thursday, 18th of May. We will be hosting school tours from 9-11 am and 4-6 pm on both days. You will soon see signs out advertising these days, and our Enrolling Now! fence wrap is going up over the holidays.
By far, the most significant contributor to enrolments in the school is our current parent body's word of mouth. Can I please ask you to like and share our material on Facebook during this period and encourage any parents interested in potential enrolment to come along on one of these days? We can also accommodate visits on other days, with notice, if these days and times are unsuitable.
The Catholic Schools' official enrolment period is from 1st -26th May. We have already received a significant number of enrolment enquiries and applications for Kinder 2024, which have been submitted through our school website Enrol Now! @ St Francis of Assisi Primary School - Calwell . Can I strongly encourage all current families with siblings looking to enrol into Kinder for 2024 to ensure we receive your applications ASAP to ensure you don't miss out.
Next week we will place more information on our website regarding ELC enrolment for 2024 at our new ELC. Monitor St Francis of Assisi Primary School ELC - Calwell for more information. We will also post information related to this on our school Facebook page (20) St Francis of Assisi Primary School | Canberra ACT | Facebook.
AIP Goals
In the last few newsletters, I have been introducing our Strategic Plan and Annual Improvement Plan (AIP) Goals. This week I will focus on our second AIP goal:
Prioritise community well-being and partnerships.
With this goal, we are looking to target and improve student attendance at school which has declined during Covid combined with a sharp increase of anxiety amongst our students. This has been observed in counselling referrals, teacher observations, well-being team triage, and Personalised Plans in all year levels and is consistent with data reported in other schools and society in general.
In this space, we have launched The Resilience Project (TRP) in all grade levels along with parent resources and modules to continue the conversation around Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness at home. This ensures consistent messages from home and school, which we know get the best outcomes for children.
We are also providing experiences, community-building offerings and education to our parent community around Numeracy, Inclusion and well-being support throughout the year.
Jeremy will shortly begin Parent Maths sessions to break open the numeracy curriculum and how parents can best support their children with maths. We have had very successful All-Stars sports clinics for our K-2 students and their parents this term. Next term, we will open this to our 3-6 students.
Finally, we are looking at ways to support our staff through workload reduction and prioritising and ensuring work-life balance. The statistics around the national teacher shortages are shocking, and teachers are leaving the profession at a staggering rate, with more than 30% leaving the profession in the first five years. Our strategies are looking to enhance culture, promote teacher attraction and retention through investing in well-being, Professional Learning opportunities and establishing a network to support teachers to become Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers. A highly sought-after certification that classroom teachers can work towards attaining.
Kinder Celebrations Day
On Wednesday, I was privileged to spend some time with our Kindergarten students as they packed their bags and passports to visit countries as a part of their celebrations unit. The students visited Lebanon, Mexico, China and India as a part of their journey experiencing aspects of culture, celebrations, dress, entertainment and food from these countries. I thank the Tabaja and Young families, who graciously donated their time, knowledge and expertise to provide our students with a rich cultural experience. I also thank the Kinder team for their organisation and preparation of the day. If you are interested in a sneak peek, look at the photos on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Morning Drop-off
You will notice a reduced presence at the morning carline from our Classroom Support Assistants. They are all currently engaged from 8:30 am in Literacy intervention programs with students who have been identified as potentially at-risk readers. We will have a duty teacher and any unassigned CSA's to assist with morning drop-off. A reminder that our school day begins at 8:55 am and teachers and support staff will move inside to begin the school day at this time. Any students dropped off after this time must be signed in by an adult through the Compass Kiosk in the front office.
Prime Energy Drinks
We have become aware that some students are consuming 'Prime Energy Drinks'. Like all drinks containing stimulants such as Red bull or Mother, children's health can be seriously harmed if consumed. We are aware that some versions don't contain stimulants; however, our school does not allow energy drinks of any kind. If students bring them to school, we may ask parents to collect them from the front office. We also encourage students not to bring empty containers to school to use as water bottles. We appreciate your support and understanding.
Blessings and Best Wishes
Sean Rutledge
Principal