Dear Parents and Carers,

“…you might remember where God started in loving you. It wasn’t that you were brilliant, beautiful and the best thing since sliced bread, but that you were someone in need. If you don’t… recognise someone in need of your loving contribution, chances are that you are not listening enough.”

Peter Steele SJ, ‘The Mind’s Guests’

I quote these very wise and pertinent words in the light of Easter, as we move towards the great feast of Pentecost. Steele’s point is, simply, that love is gratuitous, and where we experience God’s love is where we are in need, within ourselves, of God’s healing. Love is merited. It is given unconditionally. Steele urges us to consider what need we might recognise and try to meet in others – our children and families most obviously, but also the person across the street, the person who makes us a coffee, the homeless man in Civic, our work colleagues.

Pupil Free Day

A reminder that tomorrow is the first of our scheduled Pupil Free Days for our school this term. This day has been scheduled to help teachers engage in essential Professional Learning and Development which has been missed due to Covid-19 restrictions and provides an opportunity for teachers to engage in planning and moderation with their colleagues.

Many Canberra schools have returned to remote learning across the ACT to manage Staff shortages. Our school has avoided this by collapsing classes, using Leadership/Learning Support staff and cancelling teacher Release from Face to Face Teaching to cover absences. We appreciate your flexibility in accommodating this important and necessary day in support of our staff. If you have any questions, please contact me directly.

 This week, staff from across the ACT and NSW are participating in two days of protected action. From Wednesday, staff have the opportunity to wear union badges and materials, promoting staff concerns, and Friday sees teachers and non-teachers participating in Protected Industrial Action. St Francis will experience minimal disruption to student care and supervision, as tomorrow is a pupil free day. BASCA will continue to provide care tomorrow for those interested families. Please contact BASCA directly if you require care tomorrow.

Change to Recess Break

We will be trialling a change to our eating and play arrangements until the end of term. At 11 am, students will move outside to enjoy their 20 mins of playtime. The bell will then ring, and the students will move to their eating area to eat their recess before returning to class. Hopefully, this change will ensure students have time to eat, combat rubbish in these areas, and allow for closer food consumption monitoring. With this change, it is imperative that students have fruit break, packed each day to last them until they eat after playtime. I will let you know the outcome of this trial and if it will be considered for Lunchtime arrangements as well.

OPEN Days & Enrolment Period

The official Catholic Education enrolment period closes tomorrow, Friday 27^th May 2022. We are holding our last open day today a big thank you to all our Yr. 6 leaders who volunteered to take interested families on tours of the school.  A reminder that all enrolment is completed online, and links to the portal can be found on or 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 Secondary Colleges creating a complete K-12 Catholic education pathway. 

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.

The Tell Them From Me

The Tell Them From Me (TTFM) survey tool will go live to our families tomorrow. You will receive a Compass message from me inviting you to please take some time to complete the survey. The survey is the same tool that was used last year and is an opportunity for the school to gather some valuable data about our core business as a school, the Teaching and Learning of children. The survey is completed by staff, parents, and students in Yrs. 4-6. The data gathered from this survey will be used in strategic planning for next year.

Tuning Into Kids

We had an excellent turnout for our first Tuning Into Kids session last night. The session focused on defining emotional intelligence and exposed participants to the concept of emotional coaching. The sessions will run for the next 3 weeks. We will look to run another session next year for those families interested.

Camp

Last week our Yr. 6 students attended their camp at NSW Sport and Rec in Berry. The students had an excellent time and enjoyed the opportunity be getaway with their peers after an uncertain few years.

We know a camp is a beneficial event in the school calendar where we can strengthen bonds between the cohort, build resilience and independence as well as 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 next week.

 Easter Egg Fundraiser

Our Easter Egg fundraiser raised $377.20 for the Community Council and will go towards supporting our school community. A big thank you to Jane (Yr 2 Mum) for organising our spectacular prizes and Mrs C in the library for her organisation and support of the logistics to make the competition happen.

Take care in the week ahead.

Blessings and good wishes

Sean Rutledge

Principal

Today we celebrate National Sorry Day. Sorry Day (May 26) is an important moment to remember the past policies of forced child removal and provides people with the opportunity to come together and share the steps towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities. In the lead up to Sorry Day on 26 May, we reflect on the sad and painful history of the Stolen Generations and recognising moments of resilience, healing and the power of saying Sorry.

Tomorrow marks the start of National Reconciliation Week. National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The dates for NRW are the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively. 

27 May 1967 On this day, Australia’s most successful referendum saw more than 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and recognise them in the Census.

3 June 1992  On this day, the Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision, the culmination of Eddie Koiki Mabo’s challenge to the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ (land belonging to no one) and leading to the legal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of lands. This decision paved the way for Native Title.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities. In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first National Reconciliation Week. In 2001, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of National Reconciliation Week-and subsequently across bridges in cities and towns-to show their support for reconciliation. 

Today, National Reconciliation Week is celebrated in  workplaces, schools and early learning services, community organisations and groups, and by individuals Australia-wide.

So what are we doing?

Today, Tuesday and Wednesday, Mrs Thomas, as a Gundungurrah and Thurawal woman, is spending time with each class, explaining the importance of Reconciliation and helping each child to be brave and make a change in any small way that they can. All members of our school community will also be decorating a hand that will be placed on the ring road in a 'sea of hand's' to show our commitment to reconciliation. A photo of our sea will be submitted to the Canberra Sea of Hands Reconciliation Day 2022 site.

On Tuesday we also ask all members of our community to 'wear it yellow, for children's ground'. The idea is to choose a day during NRW (Tuesday) to wear yellow, the colour of Children’s Ground, have meaningful discussions with your group and others about what your role is in the ongoing process of reconciliation.

Our First Nations Children will also be making their mark on a map of Australia to show which mobs they come from and how diverse our culture and countries are. The map will then be displayed in our school on the wall as an artwork.

How can you get involved? 

If you and your family members would like to decorate a hand to add to our 'sea of hands' please email me sharee.thomas@cg.catholic.edu.au and let me know how many hadns you would like. I will send home the template for you to complete over the weekend and when it is returned next week, it will be added to our school display. 

There are numerous events on in Canberra, including the fifth annual Reconciliation Day, being celebrated on Monday 30 May 2022 at the National Arboretum. See the following site for more details. https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/calendar/list/?tribe-bar-search=canberra 

Sharee Thomas

Today the children receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation will be bringing home their stole and a symbol of the Sacrament. The instructions were sent home to

families in an email from Anne and the Tuggeranong Sacramental Team. Once the stole is completed it can be returned to Mrs Thomas at school.

We will be celebrating the Sacrament on Thursday 9th June at 6pm in Holy Family Church, Gowrie. Each candidate has been allocated 8 seats* including the candidate and their sponsor. If your family requires more than 8 seats or you require special seating, eg wheelchair access, please contact the Parish Office or send an email to tuggeranongsouth.sacraments@cg.org.au *1 seat = 1 person
If you have any questions about the Sacrament, please do not hesitate to contact me here at school or Anne at the above email address. 

CONGRATULATIONS- Once again we congratulate Xavier Bryant, Damian Kraljevic and Hannah Vaughn who this week received Eucharist for the first time in preparation for their Sacrament of Confirmation. 

Year 6 children enrolling in Systemic Secondary schools including St Mary MacKillop Catholic College and St Clare’s College, online enrolment forms need to be submitted to the school of your choice by Friday 27 May.  If you are needing your child's school report they can be accessed on Compass under the reports tab.

The Council meets twice a term on a Monday evening, if joining the council is of interest to you please reach out to Mr Rutledge or the school office for more information.

We would like to invite parents and care givers to our next Open Community Council Meeting on Monday 5th September 2022 at 6pm.

Please just make your way to the School Office.

 After school exhaustion

With covid-19 restrictions easing, schedules are starting to get very busy again and it’s a lot on us as parents, and it’s even more on our kids. Take this article as permission to rest! Monitor how your kids are going and if you are observing that post-school restraint collapse happening more than just occasionally, it is time to scale things back.

 Here’s some tips to help make late afternoons more peaceful when your child is exhausted from school:

 Expect kids to fall apart – Your child might hold it all together and be on their best behaviour at school and then the minute they get home they go off the rails. This is NORMAL behaviour. Your child works so hard to follow all the rules and have so many social interactions that they need to let it out at some point.

 Plan for downtime – School days are draining and your child needs to rest. When you notice a pattern of after-school meltdowns, clear their afternoon/evening schedule for the week where possible. Postpone the playdates, skip the supermarket visit on the way home, and go straight home and let your child unwind.

 Have a healthy snack ready – Your child might not eat enough at school. Drinking and eating are social in nature, and children just tend to snack until they are comfortable. Be prepared for their HANGRY side to come out and be ready with a nutrient dense snack.

 Don’t take it personally – You’re probably so excited to see your child/ren at the end of the day to give them a hug and find all about what they got up to at school. Then you pick them up and they are tired and limited in what they want to share, making you feel disappointed or rejected. It’s not about you, give them space, time, rest and food.

 Sensory play – Draw a bath with lots of bubbles and their favourite baths toys. Or put on some calm music and let them relax with kinetic sand play. They will love it, it will help them decompress.

 There is a great resource book by Author Jane Godwin and illustrator Anna Walker. They have created a delightful picture book all about families’ busy lives. It’s called ‘Today We Have No Plans’ - a busy week, a slower day brings time to dream and time to play. Also available for loan at Libraries ACT.