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Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the 2022 school year! I am excited to be re-joining this incredible community and very much looking forward to reconnecting with those parents I already know and those who I am yet to meet. I know our current Covid restrictions will not make this easy, but I am looking forward to connecting with people where possible during the morning and afternoon carline. I have completed my isolation period as of Tuesday, and I am delighted to be back in school and getting to know your wonderful children.
On Monday, we welcomed 11 new students across Year 1-6 and yesterday, we welcomed 66 Kindergarten students for their first day at school. Although I was in isolation and unable to be present, I have spoken to teachers who reported very successful first days at school for all our students.
I also wanted to welcome several new staff members to the school:
- Sharee Thomas (Religious Education Coordinator & Grade 6 teacher)
- Laura Hay (Year 5 Teacher)
- Tabatha Way (Year 4 Teacher T1)
- Rosie Todd (School Finance Officer)
- Madison Graeber-Browne (Classroom Support Assistant)
- Grace Aksila (Classroom Support Assistant)
I trust you will join me in welcoming these staff members to our community. You will get a chance to meet many of these people during our Parent Information Night in Week 3 which will be hosted online via Microsoft Teams. More information will be contained in our newsletter next week.
Covid Testing
Yesterday I sent out information related to our Rapid Antigen Distribution and information about notifying the school of positive results via our Compass Portal. Please ensure you read this letter and are familiar with our arrangements. We have received our second delivery for next week and working to get them out to parents ASAP. We will send a Compass message to inform you when they are on their way home.
Compass Parent Portal
We have had some issues with our Compass Parent Portal and new data synced from our database program MAZE. Unfortunately, this has primarily affected our new families and meant they were not receiving communication until the 28th of January. We believe this issue has been fixed and ask any parents who are not receiving communications via Compass to contact the school. For many people, the first email providing your details about how to log into the Compass Parent Portal finds its way to junk folders, especially if your email is associated with a work email address.
Term 1 Events
As I outlined in a letter last week and in line with CECG policy decisions, all school events that can not be easily moved online are not to proceed in Term 1. This includes all scheduled Sports Carnivals, excursions, and camps. We will look to rebook any missed dates later in the year when the restrictions have been lifted.
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
― St. Francis Of Assisi, The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi
The poignant words of our Patron Saint ring true today more than ever, especially in our schools. May the 2022 school year bring each student who illuminates our school an abundance of hope, joy, peace and learning.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can support you or your family in any way.
Blessings and best wishes
Sean Rutledge
Principal
Welcome to 2022 and an extra special welcome to those, who like me, are new to the St Francis community! I have felt so welcomed by the children and those families I have met during morning and afternoon duty that I already feel part of the family. I come to SFA after 10 years as an REC at St John Vianney’s in Waramanga and I look forward to working with you all.
2022 Theme- Relationships: God, Myself, Each Other
This year has once again started differently due to the everchanging landscape but what hasn’t changed is our need to connect and form deep relationships with each other and God. Last week the staff had the opportunity to spend 2 hours (remotely) looking at the first section of out theme: What is my relationship with God? We looked at the different seasons that our faith and relationships with God go through and why each season is vital to continually develop a deeper relationship.
Weekend Gospel Reflection
In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear the familiar story of Jesus preaching from Simon’s (Peter) boat where the men have been fishing all night without catching a thing. Jesus tells the men to throw their nets out on the other side where they catch an abundance. Simon Peter becomes a follower of Jesus immediately. He calls Jesus “Lord”—the title given to Jesus after his Resurrection—and protests his worthiness to be in Jesus' presence. Today's Gospel, therefore, marks a turning point in the relationship between Jesus and Peter. Jesus gives Simon a new job, telling him that he will become a different kind of fisherman. No longer will he catch fish; instead, he will catch people. In these words, we hear the beginning of the leadership role that Peter will have within the community of disciples. Peter was chosen for this role. His task will be to bring others to Jesus. Already he is doing so; the Gospel tells us that all the fishermen with Peter also left their nets and followed Jesus.
The people that Jesus choses to be his closest friends—his disciples— are normal human beings, like us. God used the gifts they were given to transform them into new people, leaders showing us the way to Jesus and the kingdom of God.
This week as a family, discuss how we can lead others to Jesus through our words and actions. Consider the questions; ‘how do I show leadership in my faith?’ and ‘how can I develop a deeper relationship with God in order to enhance the lives of others?
Have a great week.
Sharee
My name is Sharman Hampson and I have been part of the CatholicCare Student and Family Counselling team since August 2020. I have worked in various schools in Canberra as well as some of our regional schools as a student and family counsellor.
For the last 10 years I have worked extensively in Canberra and Queanbeyan supporting families, children and young people as a Social Worker in a variety of community organisations including Barnardos, Headspace and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
Before joining CatholicCare I supported women in addiction within a Drug and Alcohol service. Not only was I intensively supporting women to learn new skills to help in their recovery but also supporting their children.
I am excited to be back at St Francis this year and be part of the school community. I will be here every Wednesday, Thursday and every second Friday (odd weeks). If you have any questions about school counselling and the service, please do not hesitate to contact me through the school. If you would like to refer your child, please use link below
https://catholiccare.force.com/housing/s/school-referral-form
NAPLAN Online will occur in our school between 10 and 20 May 2022.
NAPLAN Online is a more engaging assessment that adjusts questions to each student’s achievement level. It also delivers more precise results to schools and parents more quickly.
NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.
All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.
