Newsletter-Term 3-Week 6-Friday 26th August 2022

Principal's News...

Dear Parents,

This week we held our final community night with our Year 1 parents. Having had the opportunity to share in these evenings with our Kinder to Year 2 families, I really appreciated the interest of our
parent community in strengthening our school culture. Your commitment to supporting your
children by building strong relationships within our school network will have a profound impact on their experience of school and community engagement. On behalf of our teachers, parents and
students, I would like to thank Mrs Leanne Robbins from the Catholic Schools Office for her support of these evenings and her general support of our parent community through the Parent Assembly. I would also like to thank Mrs Kristie Pettit for her initial suggestion to run these evenings having seen the need in these early years. Currently Kristie is our only parent representative on the Parent Assembly team. If you feel you could support our school as an additional Parent Assembly Rep, please feel free to contract me to find out more about the role.

We commenced our Reconciliation Sacramental Program this week with the family session on
Tuesday night. Please keep our candidates in your prayers as they continue through their
preparation process before receiving the Sacrament.

This morning our Kindergarten class connected via zoom with Karen Sensei and Anna Sensei from Osaka. They sang a greeting song in Japanese that they had prepared with Sensei Gubby in class and they practised some colour and number recall. Well done to our Kindergarten children for positive engagement in the session and thank you to our Kindergarten team and Tazuko Sensei from SCU for supporting the experience. A special thank you also to our Stage 3 Japanese extension students for supporting our Kindergarten buddies with their singing.

I have met with key personnel from the Catholic Schools Office who are endeavouring to support our Martin Street drop off zone. Whilst this project may still be a while off completion, preparations are underway to see that traffic management around our school is drastically improved.

I look forward to seeing our dads at next Friday’s Fathers’ Day breakfast and Liturgy. If you have not already returned your order for the breakfast, please do so by Monday (29th Aug).

Peace in Christ

Dan Gubby

School Calendar-Term 3...

Assistant Principal Mission News...

Xavier Instrument Tuition Program                                            

Not only has learning an instrument been proven to enhance learning, but it can also be a fun way to meet new like-minded people and play together with other musicians. It can be the beginning of a lifelong skill that can bring joy to you and others throughout your life!

At Xavier Catholic College, Holy Family and St Francis Xavier students have a great opportunity to have professional tuition during the school day on a range of instruments and voice. The Band has also re-started on Tuesday mornings at 8:10am at Xavier.

This term we welcome a new Flute Tutor, Kate Gabarelli, and welcome back Peter Jaggle, Drum Tutor (SFX and HF).

Application forms for the Instrument Tuition Program can be accessed using the QR Code :

Further information can also be obtained from kathleen.mclennan@lism.catholic.edu.au (Instrumental Program Coordinator)

Term 3 Sacramental Program (Students in Year 4 and above)

The Sacramental program for Reconciliation is underway with our first family session being held last Tuesday evening. We keep all of these students in our prayers as they move toward their Reconciliation Sacrament this coming Tuesday at 5.00 pm in the St Francis Xavier Church.

Sacramental Dates

• Parish Welcoming Mass for Candidates- Weekend of 27th and 28th August
• Sacrament of Reconciliation- Tuesday, 30th August at 5:00 pm (Week 7)
• First Holy Communion Family Session 1- Tuesday, 6th September at 5:00 pm(Week 8)
• First Holy Communion Family Session 2- Tuesday, 13th September at 5:00 pm  (Week 9)
• Student Reflection Day- Thursday, 15th Sep (Week 9 at Holy Family)
• Sacrament of First Holy Communion- Sunday, 18th September at 11.00 am (End of Week 9) followed by a bbq lunch at the school hall.

Term 3 School Masses

All families are welcome to attend our whole school Masses during Term 3.

Tuesday, 6th September at 2.30 pm (Celebration of the beginning of the Season of Creation)

Matthew Ritchie

Assistant Principal Mission

Parish News...

Revised NSW Government Restrictions for Places of Worship

• Hand sanitiser is provided at entrances to our Churches
• Masks are not mandatory, personal choice can be made if you prefer to wear a mask
• Receival of Holy Communion in the hand only
• Singing is allowed
• Social distancing not mandatory, but encouraged
• Density limits are not mandatory
• If unwell please stay home until you feel well again

Parish Mass Times

Learning & Teaching News...

Dear Parents and Families,

Tournament of Minds

On Sunday, our Stage Three Tournament of Minds (TOM) students will be competing at Terranora. TOM is a program for all primary and secondary students providing the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork. 

The students will present a Long Term Challenge and a Spontaneous Challenge. Results will be posted in next week's newsletter along with a description of the problems presented and the groups’ solutions. They have worked hard all term preparing for the challenges and are ready to compete.  

Social Science Team: Maggie Doyle, Charlotte Doyle, Alana McCarthy, Sophie Meany, Erynn Ralph, Holly Tyrrell, Raine Wallace.

STEM Team: Jakobe Chan-Gale, Max Sharpe, Sophie Wigley, Kayla Kanyaro, Quinn Campbell, Emma Patterson.

We thank Miss Abbie Beecher and Mr Brad Kliese for assisting these students to prepare for their challenges. Good luck teams!

Parent Forum Meeting Week 8, Wednesday, 7th Sept (5:30-6:30pm)

At St Francis Xavier, we have been focusing on embedding a culture of feedback in the classroom to improve Literacy learning outcomes. You may have seen information in the school newsletter regarding learning intentions, success criteria, and bump it up walls. These strategies are all part of assessment informing instruction and developing our students’ skills to identify how they’re going with their learning and what they need to do next to improve.

Please come along to our next Parent Forum Meeting if you’re interested in hearing more, as there will be a 30min session on this topic, including a visit to classrooms to look at our learning walls (third teacher).

Kristie Coster

Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching

Sports News...

Richmond Zone Gala Day

The Richmond Zone Gala Day was held last Friday, 19th August at various venues around Lismore.

The Paul Wilson Memorial Football Challenge, Netball Challenge and Multi-Sports Events were played with the other eight Richmond Zone Catholic Primary Schools.

The SFX Football team performed extremely well on the day with two wins and one loss. The team battled bravely against Holy Family in the finals but were narrowly defeated 3-2. A great effort boys and girls!!

The SFX Netball Team also performed well on the day and progressed to the Grand Final against Holy Family. Unfortunately SFX lost the match in a tough battle however it was a fantastic effort to make the final. Well done girls.

The remaining Year 6 students had a great day learning the skills of tennis, table tennis, AFL, Soccer and Hockey.

Thank you to Rob Cook, Katrina Miles and Megan Ringin for organising, managing and supervising Year 6 on the day.

Gala Sports Day

Polding Representatives - Lismore Diocese Sports Medals

On Monday of this week I had the pleasure of attending the Diocesan Sports Council Meeting in Grafton. John Cocciola, Diocesan Sport and Health Coordinator, presented the medallions to Zone Executives to take back to various school sports coordinators. Congratulations to Zali Raudonikis (Touch Football & Netball), Luke Dogan (Cross Country) and Alexandra Dogan (Cross Country) who were Polding Representatives from the Lismore Diocese.

Well done on your fantastic achievements!!

Enrichment PE - Lawn Bowls at Cherry Street Bowling Club

In Enrichment PE this week the Stage 2 and Stage 3 students walked down to the Cherry Street Bowling Club to play Lawn Bowls on the practice bowling green. It gave the students the opportunity to get a feel for the weight of real lawn bowls as opposed to the lightweight rubber ones used during PE classes.

A massive thank you to Glenn-Maree and Cherry Street Bowling Club for allowing us to use their facilities.

Champions of Champions Tennis Tournament

Last weekend Teo Amit (Year Two) and Gali Amit (Year Four) competed in The “Champions of Champions” Tennis Tournament in Grafton. Gali performed extremely well on the day and finished Runner-Up in the Under 10 Division. Well done Gali! Teo went a step further and came first place in the Under 8’s. Congratulations Teo!

The Australian Jiu Jitsu Championships

Jessica and Madison Aslin were also successful on the weekend in their chosen sport. The sisters travelled down to Melbourne for the Australian Jiu Jitsu Championships. Both Jessica and Maddison came first in their Age Divisions.

Well done girls on an amazing achievement!

Canteen News...

Sliders Day

Wednesday, 31st August

Cost: $3.50

It's Sliders Day on Wednesday, 31st August. Please order via the QKR App by Tuesday, 30th August  at 8:30am

Please note Canteen will not be open for any other food on Wednesday, 31st August. 

NO LATE ORDERS ACCEPTED

Sushi Special Day

All Sushi Orders need to be placed via the QKR App by 8:30am Monday morning prior to Sushi Day

Week 7	Tuesday, 30th August
Week 9	Tuesday, 13th September

Student Awards-Term 3-Week 6

Congratulations to all of students who received an award this week

Happy Birthday...

Friday, 26th August to Thursday, 1st September

Wishing all of our students a very happy birthday!

Fathers' Day Information...

Fathers’ Day Stall

Wednesday, 31^st August 2022

&

Thursday, 1^st September 2022

(only if not sold on Wednesday)

There will be a Fathers’ Day Stall, in front of the Canteen starting at 8:30am until 8:55am, for the children to purchase gifts.

A variety of gifts will be available for sale, prices range from $2.00 to $6.00.

Fathers' Day Breakfast

Friday, 2nd September 2022

7:30am to 8:30am

We will be holding a Fathers’ Day Breakfast on Friday, 2^nd September 2022 from 7:30am – 8.30am.  All dads, father figures and grandfathers are welcome to come along with your family and enjoy a bacon and egg roll and a cuppa.

All dads, father figures and grandfathers will receive 1 free bacon and egg roll.  All other family members are requested to pre pay $4.00 per bacon and egg roll. 

If you wish to attend, please order via the QKR App, no later than Monday, 29^th August for catering purposes.

Parent Reminders...

Newsletter Update

We will now be publishing our School Newsletter on a fortnightly basis. The newsletter will be published in Week Two, Four, Six, Eight and Ten of each Term. All important notices and events will be communicated via Compass on a regular basis. Our school Facebook page will be updated regulary with exciting events that have happened at school.

COVID-19 Communications 

Close Contacts Attending School

As previously communicated; students and staff who are close contacts and have no symptoms can continue to attend school if they follow guidelines below:

• They must notify the school if they are intending to return under this provision.
• They should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for 5 school days.
  
• Any visitor to a school site who is a close contact is required to advise the school that they are a close contact before they come on site. These visitors should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result before attending. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times. 

Positive COVID-19 Cases

If there is a positive case in school, staff and students can continue to attend school in line with NSW Health advice.

If a student receives a positive RAT test, parents need to:

• record the positive RAT result through the Service NSW website or Service NSW app.
• notify the school of the positive RAT or PCR test result as soon as possible.
• follow NSW Health advice to isolate for 7 days.
  

Attendance - Text Message Responses

When you are entering an explanation for an absence for your child on the Compass App, please make sure you click on the link within the text message and that you are inputting a written reason in the Details/Comment section to explain the absence further. To submit the text back, please click on the Add Attendence Note button.  If you use the Travel option in the drop down box, this will be overwritten by our administration staff to the Unjustified option.

Office Hours

A reminder for parents that our school office hours are 8:30am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday.

Late Arrivals

If your child arrives after the school bell in the morning, you MUST bring your child to the front office to be signed in.  Your child will then get a late slip to hand to their class teacher. Parents are reminded that ALL VISITORS MUST sign into the school grounds via the school office.

Change of Details

It is extremely important that you notify the school of any change of address, telephone contact numbers, email addresses, family status and/or residential arrangements. Please email these changes to balp@lism.catholic.edu.au

Notification of Extended Leave

Travel outside of the school holiday period is counted as an absence for statistical purposes.  If your child/ren are absent for 10 to 100 days, please ensure that you complete a Form A4 Notification Extended Leave Travel (available at the School Office or click on the link Extended Leave Form).  An absence in this case will be recorded using the Code ‘A’ (Unjustified Leave).

In exceptional circumstances parents may complete a Form A1 Application for Extended Leave-Travel for consideration, explaining why an absence for extended leave is in the best educational interest of the student.  The Principal may accept or decline this application. 

Please note relevant travel documentation such as an e ticket or itinerary (in the case of non-flight bound travel within Australia only) must be attached to these applications.

Please note, a return text message notification will NOT be accepted for Extended Leave. 

Compass Events-School Excursions

The Compass Event Module will be where you will receive all the information about an excursion. It will also be where you are required to give consent and make payment. 

The Event Module is replacing the hard copy note that would normally be sent home.  If you receive an event notification or email, this means your child/ren are required to participate in the event. Please do not disregard the notification or email. If you have any questions about an event, please contact the class teacher or the school office.

Parents are required to action the Excursion Event in Compass prior to the due by date that is stated in the event, unfortunately if you miss the due date your child/ren may miss out on attending. Event notifications will come via email and Compass notification on your Compass App. 

A kindly reminder that this is a new process for everyone, parents, teachers and administration staff, we are all learning together.

School Fees...

Please note that Term 3 School fees for all families not on an official payment arrangement, are now due.   

If there is a genuine financial difficulty in meeting this request it is imperative that an appointment is made with the Principal in order to discuss a suitable payment arrangement.

It is an expectation that payment arrangements are strictly adhered to at all times.  If payment instalments are in arrears it is also imperative to contact the school immediately to discuss the issue with the Principal.  

You can access and pay your school fee account through the Compass App or at the School Office. 

Please note that Direct Payments into our school bank account is not a valid method of payment. 

Please use Bpay, Compass Pay (online options) or EFT & Cash (school office options)

Community News...

Far North Coast Table Tennis 

Julie Burton- Juniors Coach-Wednesdays 330pm-5pm- School Term-$6 per week