Dear Families,

REMEMBRANCE DAY

One of the highlights of the school year at St Francis of Assisi is the annual Remembrance Day Ceremony. We do have many parents in our school who serve in the defence forces, so this (and ANZAC Day) has significant meaning to us. Thank you to our Year 4 classes and their teachers for leading us in a solemn prayerful reflection.

KINDER ORIENTATION

This morning we welcomed 63 Kindergarten students for 2020. This was an exciting day for our current Pre-Schoolers who spent time with their new classmates and their teacher. It was also a great opportunity for staff and members of the community to speak with the parents and let them know a little more about what school life is like. This is an exciting time for these students. Our Kinder Teachers for 2020 are Mrs Jo Grogan, Miss Lauren Mewburn and Mrs Katie Brook. I thank each of them for their work in making this a memorable day for all our new students and their families.

CLASS ALLOCATIONS CONCERNS ARE NOW CLOSED

Thank you to the parents who have written to me to share concerns for class placements for next year. This has now closed as teachers begin putting classes together for 2020. This is a huge job with all teachers considering gender, friendships, behaviour and academic abilities when placing students.

STAFFING NEWS

Next year, Catholic Education has allocated St Francis of Assisi 20 classes. We are currently working on the make-up of this classes. More information regarding this will be made available as soon as decisions have been made.

At the end of this year we farewell a number of staff. Wayne Young will be moving with his family to Waramanga. Kate Foley and Sam Ryan intend on meeting up with Maddi Holgate and travelling throughout Europe next year. Michelle Aiken will be taking a year’s LWOP and Tanya Dunley will remain at Waramanga on a permanent basis.

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI PRIMARY SCHOOL FETE – FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER

Our major fundraising event of the year is our School Fete. Our School Fete is in just over a week and is gaining momentum. Thanks for your support with our major community and fund-raising event of the year. Please consider assisting in any way you can as the time approaches. We will need lots of assistance for this to be a community and financial success.

Our fete this year is on a Friday night and combining set-up and dismissal of students is a bit problematic. We sent home correspondence last week, regarding the pick-up arrangements on this day. The instructions are included again in this newsletter.  Please note that the ring road will be closed from 2.00pm. If you are collecting your child after this time you will need to pick-up from the Calwell Playing Fields.

I understand it is difficult as a parent to find time to help at school. We all lead very busy lives and often it is difficult to make time to assist. Working parents can find it difficult to assist at the school during the week, however, one way you can be of help and actively involved in your children’s school is assisting in events such as Working Bees and Fetes. For busy parents, helping out on events like this gives you a great opportunity to contribute to our community and meet new people. Please assist! We need you!

Volunteer rosters for the fete are now live through the SZAPP app.  Please volunteer your time to help make the fete a great success!

STEM SHOWCASE

Tomorrow afternoon, there will be a small showcase of some of the learnings that have taken place in STEM this year. Our drone coding club will be demonstrating some of their skills in the hall, starting at 2.15 pm. They have been busily creating aerobatics displays to music and some of their work is pretty cool. Please feel free to stop by and ‘check it out’.

BYOD MEETING

The school will be hosting a BYOD information evening on Monday 25 November at 6.00pm. The information session will take place in the library and parents of Year 3 students are urged to attend.  Our IT Coordinator will be explaining processes and routines in greater detail and will also be available to answer any questions you may have.

SPECIAL ASSEMBLY

On Monday afternoon we will be hosting a special assembly which has not been posted on our calendar. This assembly will celebrate the culture of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. They will showcase an Aboriginal dance that they have been practicing all term.  All families are most welcome to join us. The assembly will start at 1:50pm in the school hall.

Peace and Best Wishes

Kate Markcrow

Principal