Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 4! I hope you had a safe and restful school holiday and found some time to recharge. As always, this term is particularly busy, with key events like reports, Kinder Orientation, meeting new teachers, Christmas celebrations, School Captain selection, and graduation, among others.

Given that Term 4 effectively spans only nine weeks, with Week 10 consisting of just one day, we’ve had to adjust our calendar, moving all events forward by a week. This has resulted in a more condensed schedule.

Boorowa Touch and Netball

Next week, around 160 of our students will participate in the Boorowa Touch and Netball Carnival. I’d like to sincerely thank Ms. Nikki Arcidiacono for her efforts in organising the event, which was aptly supported by Ms Warren, Mr. Hosie, and Mrs. Lehmensich. A special thank you as well to the dedicated teachers and support staff who have volunteered to attend. Without their support, this carnival simply wouldn’t be possible.

I’d also like to acknowledge the parents who have volunteered to manage and coach on the day. Their role, while sometimes overlooked, is crucial to the success of our teams. I wish all our teams the very best as they compete and proudly represent our school.

ROSTRUM

Last term, one of our Year 6 students, Khya, represented our school at the ACT Rostrum public speaking competition held at Canberra College. Khya represented the school amazingly well and spoke beautifully. She won or placed highly in 3 regional and school events to qualify for the ACT competition, which is an outstanding achievement. A link to her speech is here: https://youtu.be/HD49wfbFDws?si=0f1P_lIL4J8PDUA6.

Catholic Leaders Day

Next week, I will be away from school on Thursday and Friday to attend the Annual Catholic Leaders Day for Principals and CE staff. The day's focus will be on embedding Catalyst and will promote reflection on what we can, will, and have already done in schools to prioritise the structures, processes, and systems that enable the conditions for improvement in Teaching and Learning. This will help inform our Annual Improvement Planning process, which the Leadership Team will be working on this term.

Archdiocesan Assembly

This weekend, the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn is holding an Archdiocesan Assembly as part of the Synodal journey that the Catholic Church is undertaking. All Catholic school principals have been invited to attend, and I will be participating in the assembly. A link to the Assembly webpage can be found here, which includes information about the nature and purpose of the Assembly. https://www.cgevangelisation.org.au/assembly/

Classes for 2025

We will shortly begin forming classes for 2025; as you can imagine, it is a complex task. I want to share with you some of the key factors our teachers carefully consider when determining student placements:

• Additional Needs
• Work Habits
• Cognitive ability
• Friendships
• Behaviour
• Gender
• Health considerations
• Religion (to assist in achieving a balance between classes, especially in Sacramental years)
• Common names

Ideally, we aim for a balanced and equal spread of both positive and challenging characteristics. Where practical, parental requests based on genuine educational concerns will be considered.

If you have specific considerations about your child’s placement that you need to share, please provide them in writing via email no later than COB Friday, November 8th, Week 4.

Parental concerns with genuine educational considerations will be examined and seriously considered during the process. However, it must be clearly understood that there is no guarantee that these can be honoured.

Peaceful Relationships Workshop

New date, on 29 October from 6:30-7:30 pm, the Community Council will host a parent engagement workshop facilitated by Connections Counselling Canberra, which takes an evidence-based approach to parenting, offering parents the chance to learn about the emotional needs of both their children and themselves while also enhancing their understanding of children's brain development. This event is free for our families, and BASCA will provide care for anyone who requires it. Please use the link below to sign up.

https://forms.office.com/r/qTsktGzG03

Open Community Council Meeting

A reminder that our next Open community council meeting will be on 28^th October at 5:30 pm. All school community members are invited to attend. If you intend to attend, please register so we can select the correct venue for the meeting. One of the topics at the meeting will seek feedback on a new podcasting series we are looking to begin as another community communication tool. Your presence is always appreciated. https://forms.office.com/r/ywZ627hcRd

Leaving in 2025

If you will not be at SFA in 2025, can you please email the front office to notify them of your intentions. This will help us with planning and preparation for 2025. As part of legislative requirements, we need to list the school you have enrolled in on our exit register.  

Parking in Carpark

Please be mindful of parking in the car park around 3 pm. It can get congested, particularly in the back row closest to our neighbour's fencing. Please ensure you leave enough room for cars to get out and exit the gate. If you find it congested, please consider using our carline from 3:15 pm or parking at Calwell Oval and walking across to school. 

Blessings and best wishes

Sean Rutledge

Principal

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

This term our Year 4 students will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday 5th December starting at 6pm. In preparation for this celebration, parents of the children who wish to receive this Sacrament are invited to attend one of the Parent Formation Evenings at the Holy Catholic Church in Gowrie. The dates and times for these evenings are Wednesday 23rd October, 5.30pm-6.30pm or alternatively, Thursday 24th October at 7pm. If you have not yet enrolled your child into the Sacrament you will need to complete a manual enrolment form which can be found here and bring it along with you to the parent formation evening. Some other key dates for the Sacrament are as follows:

Commitment Mass weekends are 26/27 October and 2/3 November.
You and your child will need to attend one Mass on either weekend to present your child and make your commitment to the program. Weekend Masses times are Saturday 6.00pm, Sunday 8.00am, 10.00am or 6.00pm. You will need to bring your completed Commitment Form to Mass with you. Do NOT send the form to the school. 

Reconciliation Retreat Days - Days of Reflection and Prayer.  

Wednesday 13 November - St Francis of Assisi School & Marist 

First Reconciliation Sacrament  

Thursday 5 December - SFA, SCA & Marist (If you need to change sessions please contact the parish office by phone or email.)

If you have any questions or concerns around the Sacrament please email myself or the parish (tuggeranongsouth.sacraments@cg.org.au )

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Mark 10:35-45

In this Gospel, James and John ask Jesus for special places beside Him, but Jesus teaches them a deeper lesson. He explains that true greatness comes from serving others, not seeking power or recognition. As a community, this reminds us to encourage our children to think about how they can help and care for others. By showing kindness, including everyone, and putting others first, we follow Jesus' example. As families, we can talk with our children about what it means to serve and how small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of others.

Have a great week

Sharee Thomas

REC

sharee.thomas@cg.catholic.edu.au 

In Week 3 we will be celebrating St Francis of Assisi Feast WEEK!

There will be an activity each day for the children to participate in to celebrate who we are here at St Francis of Assisi Primary School.  As a community you are more than welcome to join us on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for our activities. 

 If you have any questions or concerns about the week, please do not hesitate to contact me via email!

See you in Week 3!

Sharee Thomas

REC

sharee.thomas@cg.catholic.edu.au 

The very first episode of the StFA podcast is now online and available for your listening pleasure. Here our staff discuss school events in a fun and informative way while you're driving to work, drinking your morning coffee or just while doom-scrolling on your choice of social media.

Today's guest is our very own Annie MacArthur, discussing her role as Child Safety Advocate and talking about next Thursday's Day for Daniel. She is supported by several members of our SRC, who provide timely news updates from around the school.

Click the link below to tune in and find out more!

https://youtu.be/-0gS5PE3C0w

Day for Daniel

Working on gratitude helps us to be thankful and appreciate what we have in our lives, rather than focusing on what we don’t have or what we want. When we practise being grateful, we start to scan the world to look for positives – this only takes 21 days! Practising gratitude every day increases our levels of energy, and helps us to feel happier and more focused, determined and optimistic. It even helps us have better sleep, lowers levels of anxiety and depression and we are less likely to get sick. So many benefits – let’s all try to be grateful for the things and people in our lives every day!

Whole Family Activity:

Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

• As a family create a scavenger hunt list of things that make you happy or you are grateful for, you can make your own list or use the examples below:
• Something that makes you happy
• Something you love to smell
• Something you enjoy looking at
• Something that is your favourite colour
• Something you like in nature
• Something that is useful for you
• Each member of the family uses the list and has to find as many things as they can.
• You can hunt for things inside or outside, or both. You can hunt for real things, or you can also do this using magazines or pictures from the internet.
• After a set amount of time hunting, come back together, have a look at what each person collected and let them explain why they are grateful for each item.

Family Habit Builder:

Every night at dinner, have each person talk about their favourite thing about that day.

Dear SFA families,

At the beginning of Semester Two this year, I started a Running Club for all of our students. The aim of this club is to increase fitness in a fun and relaxed social environment. We meet at recess on Fridays every week and the students participate in activities such as relays across all age groups, games, novelty events and running races. I have a regular group who always come but always encourage more students to join.

The Canberra Times Fun Run is taking place at the beginning of next month, on Sunday, the third of November, and I would like to invite all our SFA families and friends to take part in this activity if it is something that you would like to do. My family and I are participating in it. There are four distances to choose from this year. There races are a 2km kids run, a 5km, 10km and half marathon for those aspiring runners out there. The fun run takes place on a flat course which takes you past some of Canberra’s most iconic landmarks and at the end of the course there is an event village that will have live entertainment, a family-friendly kids’ area and a cool down section. The races start at different times but they all finish near the event village making it a perfect spot to meet up with other families. The link to register for the Canberra Times Fun Run is solemotive.com

There is a family discount of 10% if three or more people register and pay in the same transaction. Hope to see some of my wonderful runners there.

Caroline Kontny

Attached is a link to the latest MacKillop College Podcast on the ACT Election which was recorded yesterday. It featured Liberal MLA Mark Parton, ACT Greens MLA Laura Nuttall, and Labor candidate Brendan Forde.

https://www.mackillop.act.edu.au/index.php/news-events/the-podcast/item/podcast-episode-13