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Dear Parents and Carers,
This week, we have celebrated SFA feast week, which is in observance of St. Francis of Assisi Feast Day, which falls on the school holidays every year. This special day reminds us of St. Francis’s profound love for all creation and his commitment to peace and service.
In our observance of his feast day this week, we focused on the spirit of compassion and stewardship that he exemplified, fostering a sense of community and care for one another and the world around us. The school community has engaged in an activity each day this week designed to bring St. Francis and the vision and values he shares and stands for alive. Today, we culminate our Feast Week with a Variety Concert that allows our students to showcase their varied gifts and talents. I sincerely thank Sharee Thomas for organising this week and the staff supporting the activities this week.
World Teachers Day
Last week, we celebrated Teachers Day. This day acknowledges the hard work, dedication, and impact that teachers have on their students and communities daily. Teaching is hard work, and anyone who has been a teacher will tell you it is not a walk in the park and is very much a vocation. Thank you to all our dedicated teachers who make a difference every day in students' lives.
Congratulations to Kelly, whom we nominated for a ‘Teaching Giant’ Award for her work in developing the Numeracy Intervention project for our school's students. Her full nomination is attached below:
Building Works
We encountered a design issue with the toilets, which the architect needs to redesign and has been the source of the delay. This has been rectified this week, and we are making progress again. The flooring will be laid tomorrow, and tiling will begin next week.
Staffing
After an interview and selection process, we will welcome four new teachers to our team in 2025: Sara Meins, Courtney Allais, Alice Nordin, and Sarah Forester. Students will have an opportunity to meet these staff members at our meet-and-greet later this term. We will also be farewelling Mrs Amanda Stevens and Ms Emily Barr (both moving interstate) and sending off Katie Brook and Anna Corkery on maternity leave for 2025.
Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Survey Data
Over the next few weeks, I will share some snapshots and key themes from our 2024 survey data. The survey was open to all teaching staff, parents, and students in years 4-6.
Our Parent Survey had 56 respondents, similar to the number that completed the survey in 2023. The 'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey is based on a comprehensive questionnaire covering several aspects of parents' perceptions of their children's experiences at home and school. It is based primarily on Joyce Epstein's framework for fostering positive school and community relations. Successful schools foster greater communication with parents, encourage parental involvement in their child's schoolwork, and enlist parents to volunteer at the school and participate in school governance. The survey also provides feedback to schools about how parents feel the school supports learning and positive behaviour and promotes a safe and inclusive environment.
The survey includes seven separate measures, scored on a ten-point scale. A score of 0 indicates strong disagreement; 10 indicates strong agreement; 5 is a neutral position (neither agree nor disagree).
Below is a radar graph showing the regional average for Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese; the blue line represents our school's Mean against the seven areas.
The top 3 areas of strength and areas for future development are below:
Strengths:
- Welcoming and inclusive environment (8.0/10 for feeling welcome)
- Open and accessible communication with leadership (7.7/10)
- Parents actively encourage and praise children’s learning (7.6/10)
Areas for Development:
- Schedule parent activities at more convenient times (6.2/10)
- Improve reporting on social-emotional development (5.8/10)
- Enhance communication on children’s behaviour updates (6.4/10)
The leadership team will continue to review the parent survey and use it to inform our 2025 Annual Improvement plans.
Responses to the open-ended question related to where do you want to see fundraising directed towards in the future had the following condensed responses/themes:
- Well-being and Resilience Programs: Strong suggestions to continue funding initiatives like the "Resilience Project" to support student mental health and emotional well-being.
- Improvement of Green Spaces and Landscaping: Several responses highlight the desire to improve outdoor areas, such as green spaces, gardens, and overall landscaping around the school.
- Library and Canteen Enhancements: Parents also recommend directing funds towards more library books, a revised canteen menu, and improvements in school facilities that support learning.
- Sports Facilities: Continued investment in sports infrastructure, such as new or improved sports facilities, which could include equipment or areas dedicated to physical activity.
- Kinder Play Space: A specific suggestion is to improve the play space for kindergarten students, which is looking a bit tired and in need of a refresh.
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.
Leaving in 2025
If you will not be at SFA in 2025, can you please email the front office (office.stfranciscalwell@cg.catholic.edu.au) to notify them of your intentions. This will help us with preperation and planning for 2025. As part of legislative requirements, we need to list the school you have enrolled into on our exit register.
Podcast
If you haven't yet, listen to our new podcast, which features students from the school and is created and hosted by our very own Mr Jeremy Stevens.
This podcast has been made to inform parents about what we do at school around assessment, feast days, the colour run and more. It is designed to supplement our newsletter and cover the weekly topics in more detail, but can easily be listened to as a standalone.
Also, we've made the move from YouTube to our very own channel on our website, where you can listen to us anytime, anywhere. You can also listen and follow along through either Spotify or Apple Podcasts, using the link below.
Blessings and best wishes,
Sean Rutledge
Principal
The week of celebrations including our Grand friends picnic, our teacher swap, Mass with the community, sport afternoon and talent show were so much fun and a way to join as a community to celebrate who we are at our amazing school.
A big thank you to all those in our community how came along to help celebrate in some way over the week- we love having you on site and as part of our school community.
Photos of the amazing week will feature in next week's parent memo.
Gospel Reflection: Mark 12:28-34
In this Gospel, Jesus reminds us of the two greatest commandments: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. These simple but powerful words guide us in how to live each day. For parents, this offers a moment to reflect with children on what it means to love God and others. We can talk about how we show love through kindness, sharing, and forgiveness. By focusing on these two commandments, we help create a caring, compassionate community both at school and at home, following the example Jesus gave us.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
A reminder that our last commitment masses will be held this weekend for all children who wish to receive the Sacrament and have not already attended a weekend Mass. Mass times are: Saturday 6pm and Sunday, 8am, 10am or 6pm
All families should've received an email today with the first home session to be completed as a family. If you didn't receive this email, please contact the Parish on tuggeranongsouth.sacraments@cg.org.au
Have a great week!
Thank you to all of the students who entered our Photo Competition to celebrate Feast Week! We had some incredible entries. The winners are as follows:
Eleanor KD
Jedd 1N
William 2N
Lewis 3N
Ella 4K
Ben 5D
Lucia 6D
All of the photos are below for you to have a look through. Congratulations to our winners!
The Sustainable Canberra Expo – For all schools and families – This Saturday!
The Sustainable Canberra Expo is a family-friendly event for ALL Canberrans!
There will be face painting, colouring in and a scavenger hunt for children, along with cooking demonstrations, EVs on display and an array of stallholders with information for householders who are interested in sustainable living.
The Sustainable Schools Program team will be there, and you are invited to vote for the People’s Choice award in the Sustainable Steps Poster Competition.
Come along to EPIC this Saturday 2 November between 10am and 4pm.
Dear Kinder Parents and Carers,
This is a reminder that catch-up appointments are available for kinder students who missed their Kinder Health Check as part of the Kindergarten Health Check Program.
Catch-up appointments are held at City Health Centre, 1 Moore Street, Canberra City, on the second floor.
Appointments can be made by calling Community Health Intake on 5124 9977.
If you have any questions, please contact the School Health Team office on 5124 1585.