Dear Families,

Welcome to week 7 or Sabbath Week. It is where we get to spend time doing family things and resting rather than spending time on homework. I hope you all managed to get some 'connection' time as a family this week.

Staff also get to recharge and prepare for the reporting period by not attending any meetings this week. It is important for us all to slow down and rest.

School Wide Positive Behaviour

The school is currently updating and revamping our School Wide Positive Behaviour program. This includes updating our 'gotcha' system and promoting following the expected behaviours we like to see our students showing consistently and with integrity. Ask your child to tell you all about it.

We will be focusing on a rule and the expected behaviour attached to the rule and sharing this with you via the newsletter. Please keep an eye out and use the language at home. This will help build communication and support between school and home.

Along with this we are focusing on our Be Safe rule that has the behaviour expectation of we keep our hands and feet to ourselves. The staff and students have been asked to keep an eye out and all 'hands on' behaviours are being referred to the school leadership team to conduct a 'thinktime' without a warning or timeout with a teacher.

A thinktime is not a punishment. It is the school's chance to work through mistakes with students in a restorative manner. It is important that students acknowledge a mistake, own their behaviour, discuss ways to make amends, apply this thinking and hopefully learn how to better deal with the behaviour that occured the next time it arises.

We are not tolerating violence from students at school, either in or out of the classroom. We want our students to understand that there is always another way to deal with situations that make them feel angry, frustrated or annoyed and that hitting, kicking, punching, pushing or slapping is never an option. Children, however, make mistakes, as do adults. This is why we use the thinktimes to make amends in the first instance. If students get three thinktimes we will contact parents to come in for a meeting to discuss ways to support both students and families. Please have a look at our behaviour support procedures that can be found on the school website for more detail about this (this is also being updated and the new version will be live on the website soon). You can always contact your classroom teacher or myself for further clarification. We do appreciate your support of this.

Reporting Period

The staff are currently working hard on compiling the school reports for Semester 1. Please note the following timelines for the coming weeks:

Week 9 - Reports will be published on Compass on Friday 28th June @ 4pm

Week 10 - Parent interviews Monday, Tuesday and/or Wednesday. Information about this will be sent home via Compass in week 9. Please look out for the News Item on how to book in a conference.

Sunsafe - no hats in June and July

Because the Cancer Council ACT does not recommend sun protection in Canberra during June and July, StFA does not enforce the wearing of hats during this time. Beginning this week the “no hat, no play” rule is shelved for the next two months. Bring on that Vitamin D!

Resignation of Sharon Aksila

Last week we received Sharon's letter of resignation effective 27th June 2024. Sharon has been with us at St Francis for more than 15 years and has been the face of the school during this time.

I thank Sharon for her contributions to the St. Francis community and wish her continued success in her future endeavours.

Parking

Another reminder, please do not park on the grassed area around the ring road in either the morning or the afternoon. This is very dangerous as it blocks views to people walking across the crossing. Students will not be allowed to cross the crossings without parent supervision. If the carpark is full you can use the Calwell courts and use the bus gate to enter and exit the school grounds, or you can utilise the pickers drive through. We thank you for your assistance with this request.