Welcome to the School Newsletter for Term 4 Week 5.

Dear Families,

REMEMBRANCE DAY

One of the highlights of the school year at St Francis of Assisi is the annual Remembrance Day Ceremony. We do have many parents in our school who serve in the defence forces, so this (and ANZAC Day) has significant meaning to us. Thank you to our Year 4 classes and their teachers for leading us in a solemn prayerful reflection.

KINDER ORIENTATION

This morning we welcomed 63 Kindergarten students for 2020. This was an exciting day for our current Pre-Schoolers who spent time with their new classmates and their teacher. It was also a great opportunity for staff and members of the community to speak with the parents and let them know a little more about what school life is like. This is an exciting time for these students. Our Kinder Teachers for 2020 are Mrs Jo Grogan, Miss Lauren Mewburn and Mrs Katie Brook. I thank each of them for their work in making this a memorable day for all our new students and their families.

CLASS ALLOCATIONS CONCERNS ARE NOW CLOSED

Thank you to the parents who have written to me to share concerns for class placements for next year. This has now closed as teachers begin putting classes together for 2020. This is a huge job with all teachers considering gender, friendships, behaviour and academic abilities when placing students.

STAFFING NEWS

Next year, Catholic Education has allocated St Francis of Assisi 20 classes. We are currently working on the make-up of this classes. More information regarding this will be made available as soon as decisions have been made.

At the end of this year we farewell a number of staff. Wayne Young will be moving with his family to Waramanga. Kate Foley and Sam Ryan intend on meeting up with Maddi Holgate and travelling throughout Europe next year. Michelle Aiken will be taking a year’s LWOP and Tanya Dunley will remain at Waramanga on a permanent basis.

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI PRIMARY SCHOOL FETE – FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER

Our major fundraising event of the year is our School Fete. Our School Fete is in just over a week and is gaining momentum. Thanks for your support with our major community and fund-raising event of the year. Please consider assisting in any way you can as the time approaches. We will need lots of assistance for this to be a community and financial success.

Our fete this year is on a Friday night and combining set-up and dismissal of students is a bit problematic. We sent home correspondence last week, regarding the pick-up arrangements on this day. The instructions are included again in this newsletter.  Please note that the ring road will be closed from 2.00pm. If you are collecting your child after this time you will need to pick-up from the Calwell Playing Fields.

I understand it is difficult as a parent to find time to help at school. We all lead very busy lives and often it is difficult to make time to assist. Working parents can find it difficult to assist at the school during the week, however, one way you can be of help and actively involved in your children’s school is assisting in events such as Working Bees and Fetes. For busy parents, helping out on events like this gives you a great opportunity to contribute to our community and meet new people. Please assist! We need you!

Volunteer rosters for the fete are now live through the SZAPP app.  Please volunteer your time to help make the fete a great success!

STEM SHOWCASE

Tomorrow afternoon, there will be a small showcase of some of the learnings that have taken place in STEM this year. Our drone coding club will be demonstrating some of their skills in the hall, starting at 2.15 pm. They have been busily creating aerobatics displays to music and some of their work is pretty cool. Please feel free to stop by and ‘check it out’.

BYOD MEETING

The school will be hosting a BYOD information evening on Monday 25 November at 6.00pm. The information session will take place in the library and parents of Year 3 students are urged to attend.  Our IT Coordinator will be explaining processes and routines in greater detail and will also be available to answer any questions you may have.

SPECIAL ASSEMBLY

On Monday afternoon we will be hosting a special assembly which has not been posted on our calendar. This assembly will celebrate the culture of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. They will showcase an Aboriginal dance that they have been practicing all term.  All families are most welcome to join us. The assembly will start at 1:50pm in the school hall.

Peace and Best Wishes

Kate Markcrow

Principal

Welcome to Fr Andrew Lotton, our new Assistant Priest!

 A few facts about Father Andrew by 2 Fire

• He was born on the 30th September 1963, in Canberra.
• He is 56 years old.
• He moved to London when he was 3 years old and later came back to Canberra with a slight English accent.
• He was ordained as a Priest on 5^thof June 2009 in a parish in Perth as the Cathedral was being fixed at the time.
• His favourite teacher was his high school Maths teacher.
• 2 Fire think Father Andrew is humble, peaceful, caring, happy, nice, grateful and kind. We enjoyed meeting him.

First Reconciliation

Students enrolled for their First Reconciliation enjoyed their Retreat Day this Wednesday at Holy Family Church, Gowrie. They will share their experiences in our next newsletter.

Celebration of First Reconciliation for SFA: First Reconciliation will be celebrated at Holy Family Church, Castleton Crescent, Gowrie, Thursday 28 November at 6:30pm.

Masses

2 Water reflected on their Mass last Wednesday morning:

‘The main message was that God should come first in our lives because he helps us to be good, he forgives us and he made us.’ (Ella and Joki)

‘At Mass today, I felt like God was caring for me.’ (Miles)

‘At Mass, it felt peaceful.’ (Laura)

On 27 November, 2 Fire will be participating in Mass at our Sacred Heart Church at 9:30am.  

You are always very welcome to join them.

Vinnies Christmas Appeal

What does Christmas mean to you?

Christmas is all about family. Spending time together, sharing a meal and creating meaningful memories. These moments are precious. But what if you couldn't provide a meal for your family, or even a home? This is the reality which many Australian families face this Christmas. It's hard to feel joy when you don't know where your next meal will come from.

Please send in Christmas hamper items, food items or special gifts. 

Each class has a box for donations.

Suggested items are:

Kindergarten – Candy canes or bon bons

Year 1 – Shortbread biscuits or packet jelly

Year 2 – Tinned corn, beetroot or pineapple

Year 3 – Savoury biscuits

Year 4 – Chips, Cheezels, Pringles, corn chips

Year 5 – Tinned fruit

Year 6 – Sweet biscuits or long life custard

Please send an item or two in to school each week till Dec 11th.

With warm wishes,

Lisa Conroy

Religious Education Co-ordinator

Come and see our talented students put their skills on display tomorrow (Friday 15 November) at our STEM Race Day and Drone Display:

• Year 6 Race Challenge will commence at 9.30 am in the hall

• Year 5 Race Challenge will begin at around 11.45 am in the hall

• Drone Coding Display will happen at around 2.15 pm and will be open to anyone who wants to come and have a look in the hall

We have removed the Shepherd's Pie off the menu as the supplier has stopped producing them. 

Sue and Jo. Canteen Managers. PH: 62927477.

Helpers roster for week 6 and 7 

Monday 18 November

AM Help please

PM Help please

Wednesday 20 November

AM Help please

PM Help please

Thursday 21 November

AM Help please

PM Help please

Friday 22 November

AM Maz S-Gaffney

      Help please

PM Help please

Monday 25 November

AM Help please

PM Help please

Wednesday 27 Noveomber

AM Help please

PM Help please

Thursday 28 November

AM Help please

PM Help please 

Friday 29 November

AM Maz S-Gaffney

      Help please

PM Help please   

A reminder that all fete raffle tickets are due back at school, sold or unsold, as soon as possible.

As a registered raffle we do need to account for all tickets.  If you have lost the book assigned to your family, please pop into the front office to sign a Statutory Declaration.

Tickets can be paid for in cash ($2.00 per ticket/$40.00 per book) or by QKR!.

Thank you for your support of our Fete Raffle for 2019!

A big thank you to two of our families who answered our call to help with our new coffee machine!

James Pope plumbed in the new machine, and Paul Villella (coffee machine tech) came and gave it a service ready to use for the school fete next week.

Thank you for your help and we look forward to serving coffee from the old canteen at the fete on Friday 22 November.

A reminder to all families that Term 4 fees are due for payment by Friday 29 November, unless paying by regular instalments.

With the end of term fast approaching, if you are unsure of your account balance please give me a call or send me an email and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  I am in the office from Tuesday to Friday each week.

Fees for the 2020 school year are under review and will be approved by the Community Council in early December.  Once they are approved by the Community Council, the 2020 fees will be communicated to all families including a fee calculation sheet for next year.

Kind regards

Susan Rowell

susan.rowell@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Statements for Term 4 Weeks 3 and 4 Before and After School Care were issued on Monday. 

Statements for Term 3 Vacation Care are now overdue, with payments requested to be made this week.

Kind regards

Kurt Munro

kurt.munro@cg.catholic.edu.au

A reminder that school banking is every Wednesday.  Please bring your bank books with deposits to school each Wednesday and they will be returned by Thursday of the same week.

The last day to redeem tokens for school banking rewards for this year will be Wednesday 4 December (Week 8).

The last week for school banking for 2019 will be Week 9 and will recommence in Week 1 of Term 1 in 2020.

Thank you for your support of school banking this year!

Orders for the final issue of Scholastic Book Club for the year are due by 3.00pm tomorrow - Friday 15 November 2019.  Sorry but no late orders will be accepted.

Thank you for your support of Scholastic Book Club this year!