Dear Parents and Carers,

“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” - St. Francis of Assisi

Happy Mothers’ Day to all our mums I hope you enjoyed our community Mother’s Day celebration this morning. I thank all mothers and significant women in our lives for the influence, love and care they have for us. I hope you have an outstanding day and are celebrated fittingly on Sunday. Thank you to Mrs McArthur for coordinating the community breakfast and to Yr 4 for their outstanding Mother’s Day Prayer Celebration.

Early Learning Centre (ELC) @ St Francis

Many of you know we will open a new ELC at St Francis in 2024. This week final approvals were granted, and site possession will take place next week, with the team breaking ground before the end of May. I have included some architectural representations of the new building below. If you have questions related to enrolment, Child Care subsidy or full-time/part-time options, come along to our next open evening on the 18^th of May to speak with members of the Catholic Education ELC team. Alternatively, you can email us at elc.stfranciscalwell@cg.catholic.edu.au or call the school office on 62924500.

Camp

During Week 1 our Yr. 6 students attended their camp at NSW Sport and Rec in Berry. The students had an excellent time and enjoyed getting away with their peers to partake in a range of activities that challenged them to try something new. We were blessed with the gift of beautiful weather and even managed to get in for a swim.

Camp is a beneficial event in the school calendar where we can strengthen bonds between the cohort, build resilience and independence, and try new things previously thought impossible. A huge thank you to the teachers who took time out of their busy lives and spent time away from their families to support this activity. Our Yr. 5 students will leave for their camp in Sydney in a couple of weeks’ time.

Open Days & Enrolment Period

We are currently in the official Catholic Education enrolment period until Friday, 26^th May 2023. We held our first Open Day last week with tours of the school led by our very capable Yr 6 leaders. Our Open Day was very popular, and many people came through, which was exciting. Our last Open Day is Thursday, 18^th May, between 9:30-11 am and 4- 6 pm. We will have members from the Catholic Education ELC Team in attendance to answer questions related to enrolment.

Next week we will send home an enrolment flyer with students who believe they have a sibling looking to enrol in Kinder 2024 to serve as a reminder to submit applications before the end of the enrolment period. A reminder that all enrolment is completed online and links to the portal can be found on our school website or via this link Primary ACT | St Francis of Assisi Primary School (stfa.act.edu.au)

Being a part of a Catholic system allows our school to illustrate our holistic approach to educating children who personify Catholic values and serve their communities. At St Francis, we are extremely fortunate to have strong connections with Catholic High Schools and Secondary Colleges, creating a complete P-12 Catholic education pathway. 

We know the greatest contributor to new enrolments in our school is word of mouth from our parent community. We have information packages for parents who want to pass these on to a friend or neighbour. Please contact the office to organise the collection of one of these. We would also ask you to like and share our material on the school’s Facebook page as this helps to spread the word about our beautiful school.

We can accommodate people outside our open days for tours and to answer any questions. Please encourage those interested to contact the office to arrange a time to come in and see us.

Playground Equipment

We are awaiting delivery of our new Senior Equipment which should begin next week and is scheduled for completion by the end of May.

How to view the Newsletter and Electronic Calendar

The Newsletter can be read by anyone via our school website St Francis of Assisi Primary School - Calwell eNewsletter (schoolzineplus.com). Please pass this link onto grandparents or others who may like to follow the school’s activity.

We have also been made aware that many parents are having trouble accessing the school calendar, the most up-to-date representation of happenings and our one source of truth. There are a couple of ways to access this quickly:

• Through the Compass app or desktop webpage, by selecting the school calendar.
• The school Calendar tile on our School Webpage St Francis of Assisi Primary School - Calwell (stfa.act.edu.au) or the tab at the top of the website.
• Download a public .ical file to overlay the school calendar on your personal or work calendar. https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/saintfrancis.calwell%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics
• Directly visit the School Calendar browser public link https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=saintfrancis.calwell%40gmail.com&ctz=Australia%2FSydney

These calendar links do not change year to year and will roll over to 2024, with the new dates populated once they become known.

 Retirement of Kurt Munro from BASCA

Last term, I accepted Kurt’s retirement as he prepares to work on his golf swing full-time. Kurt is a much-loved school community member and will be well-known to many. I would like to thank Kurt for his contributions to the school over several years and the friendly relational manner in which he goes about his work. Kurt will continue in the role until a replacement is appointed and will help transition his replacement.

Blessings and best wishes.

Sean Rutledge

Principal