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Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to another school year. I hope and trust that you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday and it was a time of renewal for you and your loved ones. Our children have had a very calm and settled beginning and we are all looking forward to another excellent year of learning.
Apart from our 66 new Kindergarten students, we also welcomed 24 new families from Grades 1 – 6 to the school. We also welcome a number of new staff members who you will get to meet at our PIN on Monday night:
- Annie McArthur (Assistant Principal)
- Kristy Everding (Inclusive Education Coordinator)
- Izzy Johnston (Yr 4)
- Olivia Mullens (Yr 2)
- Amanda Stevens (Yr 5)
- Barbara McHatten (Yr 3)
- Kelly Delaney (Yr 6)
- Karen Byrne (Classroom Support Assistant)
I trust you will join me in welcoming these new staff and families to our community and wish you a long and happy association with the school.
A part of our strategic plan, for the next 3 years, will be prioritising the rebuilding of our community, relationships and connecting parents with the school, after a period of absence due to Covid.
This year we will be looking to engage parents with the school in many ways, including parent workshops, community gatherings, sporting opportunities and the Community Council. Please keep an eye on the newsletter for opportunities to engage with the school throughout the year. A plethora of research links parental engagement in their children’s schooling to the likelihood of future academic success. Please get involved in whatever way you can.
All-Star Sports
We are proud to be offering an initiative in the school to connect parents with other members of the community, have fun with their children and learn some sporting skills in a safe and supportive environment. Attached is a flyer for All-Star Sports, who we have engaged to work with groups of parents and their children after school on the oval. Places are strictly limited to 30 and we will begin with our Kindergarten cohort in Weeks 4-6 on a Wednesday from 4-5 pm. See the link and flyer below for more information. This is a free initiative organised by the school. Please come along, have some fun, learn some new tricks/skills and meet other parents in the school. We will run similar sessions with our Yr 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6 cohorts in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on Compass to register your spot.
Community Council
The Community Council is one-way parents can become involved in the school. The Council is open to anyone, operates as an advisory body to the Principal, and serves as a committee to help organise events in the school. The best Council is a diverse council with members across genders, year levels, family arrangements and those with a range of specific/special skills suited to the smooth operation of a school. Nominations for the Community Council are open and you can become involved by emailing a request to me sean.rutledge@cg.catholic.edu.au, that outlines what you could bring to the Council.
PIN Information
On Monday, we will have our Parent Information Night (PIN) on the Hardtop from 5:30 pm. Please see Compass for more information and a link to a form to register your attendance for catering purposes.
Google Translate
Do you speak a language other than English at home? Did you know that our newsletter can translate into over a hundred languages at the click of a button? Simply look for Google Translate at the top of your newsletter and select your preferred language.
Building Update- Classrooms and ELC
I thank our teachers in Yrs 3 & 4 as well as our specialist teacher (Library, Music STEM) for their efforts to get learning spaces up and running in preparation for our renovation project beginning. These staff have not had to only set up for the school year but have had to redesign/reimagine their classrooms and learning spaces totally. They have done an incredible job and I am excited for the parent community to see their work at our PIN on Monday.
Gifted/High Potential Learners and English as a Second Language support
This year we have a new initiative being offered in the school by two of our teachers with specific skill sets who will be of great benefit to our community. Please see a piece below from Ms Hay describing the Gifted Project at SFA. Ms Jenvey will use her experience teaching in Introductory English schools to support our EaLD students in the school, bringing them up to speed with peers.
We look forward to seeing their work progress and benefit students this year.
Renovation and ELC Projects
Our 3/4 and Learning Support renovation will handover to the engaged contractor this Month.
I hope to be able to share some exciting news related to our Early Learning Centre BGA application, which was submitted in 2022, in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for this!
“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 2023 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
Today, when we describe a person as being the ‘salt of the earth’ it’s generally meant in a way that says the person is hard working, straight talking and pretty down to earth. When Jesus tells the disciples that they are salt of the earth and the light of the world he is really saying ‘You are to be the salt of the earth; you are to be the light of the world.’ It is more of a directive than an affirmation of them.
This Sunday’s first reading from Isaiah helps to shed light on Jesus’ meaning in the gospel passage: ‘Share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, clothe the man you see to be naked and turn not from your own kin. Then will your light shine like the dawn.’ It sounds a lot like the message from the last judgment in Matthew 25 when the king says ‘whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ It’s a message of justice and right relationship not only with God but with one another also.
To be salt of the earth and light of the world means to be the one who puts their hand up and steps forward to speak for, work for and act for those who are the least in this world. To have the potential and resources to be a force for good in the world and not act on it is to be like salt that’s used for salting the streets or a lamp that’s under a tub.
As a family this week talk about what you can do to be salt and light – an example – for others.
SACRAMENTS
This year the Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated midway through Term 2. Parents of Catholic, baptised, Year 6 students will soon receive an information letter outlining the process for enrolment and key dates.
ALL children in Year 6 who wish to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation MUST be enrolled in the Parish program via the Parish QkR!. The enrolment period open on Monday 6th February and lasts until Monday 6th March. If you child is baptised and wishes to receive the Sacrament but has not received the Sacraments of Reconciliation or Eucharist, please still enrol them and then contact Ann Gowan, out Parish Sacramental Coordinator via email on TuggeranongSouth.Sacraments@cg.org.au.
Eucharist will be celebrated with Year 5 in Term 3 and Reconciliation with those children n Year 4 during Term 4. More information about these Sacraments will be released closer to the time.
This year at St Francis we will be running a program for students who display the traits of gifted and high-potential learners. St Francis of Assisi adopts Gagné’s definition of gifted and talented and the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2019).
Gifted: refers to a students’ natural ability in one or more domains, placing that student in the top 10 percent of age peers;
Talent: refers to the performance in one or more domains that places a student in the top 10 percent of age peers.
High-potential and gifted children tend to:
- be intensely curious
- learn new ideas or skills quickly and easily
- display a good memory
- ask complex questions
- be creative
- enjoy thinking in complex ways
- require fewer repetitions when learning new things
- become intensely focused in their area of interest or passion.
Children with high potential like to be challenged. If you observe your child is more advanced than their peers, in any area or domain, it is recommended that you discuss this with your child's teacher or other professional.
A rapid rate of learning means these children may enjoy opportunities beyond the typical level of other children their age.
Miss Laura Hay
Laura.hay@cg.catholic.edu.au
Access Canberra speed and parking operations in School Zones
The start of the school year is a particularly busy time in our school carparks and surrounding streets. To help keep students safe when making their way to and from school, please ensure you drive and park safely and legally, at and around, school grounds. We all have an important role to play in supporting road safety. Access Canberra has notified us that mobile speed and parking vans will be in operation to support our students’ safety. These enforcement teams play a critical role in supporting our students get to and from school safely and we thank them for their ongoing support. In addition to sticking to the speed limit, please remember to park safely – including not parking across pedestrian crossings, in no stopping zones, on corners, verges and double parking. Unsafe and illegal parking can reduce visibility of our students and motorists to see each other, creating a significant hazard when students cross the road. Let’s work together to keep our kids safe.
Welcome to the 2023 school year!
Term 1 fee statements will be sent out in the next week or so. To ensure your fees are billed correctly, please notify me if:
- You do not wish to pay the building fund of $200.00 per term (this is a voluntary, tax deductible payment to the Canberra Catholic Schools Building Fund)
- You have older students attending a systemic high school - this will ensure you are charged the discounted Catholic Education tuition fee, and you will not be charged the building fund contribution at St Francis Calwell.
Many families have already provided me with this information through the sibling discount form that was sent out last year. Attached is a copy if you have not yet returned this form.
I will also be happy to assist with your 2023 fee calculations. Please send me an email requesting this assistance and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Kind regards
Julie Rummukainen
Please remember to update your child’s YEAR and CLASS when ordering lunch or recess so the order will go to the correct class. This is accessed under the profile tab. If this is not done the orders will go the class the student was in last year. Thank you.
Headspace is offering two free mental health education webinars in Term 1, 2023 for Parents and Carers in the Murrumbidgee and Southern NSW Health areas.
The sessions: Connecting and Communicating with my Young Person and Navigating uncertainty and change.
Look no further than the Australian Girls Choir (AGC) because we encourage, challenge and inspire girls as they learn to sing, dance and perform. School aged girls are invited to come along to our Open Day on Saturday February 18 to try our fun and inclusive classes and learn more about being part of the AGC! Please visit our website to register to attend our free Open Day: https://ausgirlschoir.com.au/joinagc/