Newsletter-Term 4-Week 2-Friday 21st October 2022

Principal's News...

Dear Parents

We have had a very positive start to the term, following what seemed to be a restful break for most of our community. It was great to see the children start back with such enthusiasm.

On Tuesday afternoon we held our 100 Seconds Times Tables Challenge in which 9 of our students from Years 4, 5 and 6 competed against our Parent-Teacher team. Event compere, Mrs Newton, introduced the student team, before the teachers presented themselves along with our parent representative, Mr Jamie Doyle. The rules of play were set out and the audience settled before the competitors engaged in an intense 100 seconds of automatic multiplication fact recall. At full time, the responses were marked and the team averages announced. The students achieved an impressive 98.4, while the parent-teacher team came home with an average of 107.7. Although the student average fell just short of the 100 and below that of their competitors, the overall champion with a score of 122 was our Year 6 student, Fletcher “Gunna Getcha” Pereira. I congratulate Fletcher on his outstanding achievement and commend all competitors for their great effort. A big thank you also to our enthusiastic audience for your support and to Mrs Newton for her very entertaining compering. I look forward to engaging in this competition again next year and hope to see an even higher standard of competition from both sides.

This week, along with five of our staff, Mrs Conte, Mrs Coster, Miss Beecher, Mr Hosie and Miss Ninness, I participated in a two day workshop on a learning improvement program we have been engaging in, led by Canadian education researcher, Dr Lyn Sharratt. The “Learning Collaborative” supports us as a staff through a number of different techniques that help us to strategically target student needs and that ensure our students have a deeper understanding about their learning. We have already seen very positive impacts of the program and expect to see continued growth as we further embed strategies throughout our school.

On Monday next week, we will celebrate Loud Shirt Day to show support for those children in our school who live with hearing impairment. Our participation in the event will be in the form of an awareness program, rather than a compulsory fund-raiser, however I do encourage you to make a donation on the following link: https://www.loudshirtday.org.au/beneficiaries/the-shepherd-centre/donations/new

Loud Shirt Day -Monday, 24th October 2022

Time to wear it loud!!!!

All students are invited to wear a loud colourful shirt to school with their school shorts/skorts & school shoes. 

You’re invited to make noise and wear it loud for kids with hearing loss. It couldn’t be easier to show your support, all you need to start is a loud shirt!

Welcome back everyone.

Peace in Christ

Dan Gubby

Principal

School Calendar-Term 4...

Assistant Principal Mission...

Exuro Year 5 Retreat

On Tuesday eight of our Year 5 students had the opportunity to join students from around the Lismore Diocese for a special retreat called Exuro. The theme of the retreat was discipleship and throughout the day the students worked in groups and played fun games around learning to be a servant leader. A big thanks to Mr Puglisi and Mrs Hague from Trinity College and Our Lady Help of Christians for organising and running such a memorable day.  

Below is what the students had to say about the day.

"Our experience at Exuro was fantastic because there were lots of fun games and activities that taught us how to be a leader of our faith and how to be better people in our lives like Jesus' disciples. We brainstormed qualities of disciples and thought how they already apply to us in our daily lives. We also got to know and work with other year 5 students across the diocese and together we will all be role models for our school community". 

"When we went to Exuro we learnt how to be disciples of Jesus and how to show kindness by seeing the face of Jesus in others. We also learnt age and height does not define what great things you can achieve, and does not mean you can't be a role model for others and a leader of faith. We now know how to be better people in our community and to go out being deciples who spread compassion, kindness and love".

Singer/Songwriter Andrew Chinn visits Year 4

To launch their Religious Education unit on Psalms, last week Year 4 had a very special visitor join them via zoom. Andrew Chinn zoomed in to educate the students on songwriting and to introduce their Religious Education Unit for the term. Andrew has also offered to turn the best student’s work sample into a published song for our school. How awesome is that, thanks Andrew! Andrew Chinn’s bio is below.

Andrew Chinn

Andrew worked as a classroom teacher in Catholic Primary Schools in Sydney, Australia for nearly twenty years before moving into his full time music ministry. Andrew has visited more than 1000 Catholic primary schools, performing in 2000 concerts across Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada sharing his music and his faith with children, teachers and parents. He has released 10 CDs, 5 DVDs and 5 picture books, which are used widely by teachers and catechists in the faith development of children.

Matthew Ritchie

Assistant Principal Mission

Parish News...

UPDATE TO PLACES OF WORSHIP

Easing of restrictions within our Churches from November

• Collections by way of passing the plate may recommence. Plates to be sanitise before and after use.
• Communal sign of Peace may be exchanged physically.   It is up to the individual.  Bowing and waving are also commonly being used.
• Administering the Eucharist on the tongue may recommence. As far as possible those who receive on the tongue should come after those who receive on the hand. This is for the safety of the person distributing Holy Communion and those later in the queue.
• Offertory procession to recommence. If you would like to be involved in this, please advise the Parish Office and a roster (if needed) will be prepared for our weekend Masses.

Parish Mass Times

Learning & Teaching News...

Kindergarten Writing

In Kindergarten the students have been learning about writing persuasive texts. They are expressing their point of view and backing it up with reasons why. Today they read the picture book, ‘Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus’. Would you let the pigeon drive the bus? Why or why not?

Let’s see what the Kindergarten students thought about it.

• I think that the pigeon should not drive the bus because he doesn’t have a drivers licence and he is too little. Also he doesn’t know how to drive the bus and he won't wear a seatbelt-Oscar B
• I think that he should not drive the big bus because the bus driver said don't let the pigeon drive the big bus-Archie
• I think that the pigeon shouldn’t drive the bus-Oscar M
• Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus because the pigeon does not have a licence and the pigeon can’t reach the pedal-Macey
• The cool pigeon shouldn’t drive the bus because he will hit himself and he will bump everywhere-Frankie
• The pigeon should not drive the bus because he could crash-Lockie
• The pigeon should not drive the bus because the pigeon can not reach the pedals-Lucy
• I believe that the pigeon should not drive the bus because he will make it crash-Mary
• I think the pigeon should not drive the bus because it doesn’t have a drivers licence-Alejandra
• I believe that the pigeon should not drive the bus because he might crash-Yindiana

KINDERGARTEN 2023

On Tuesday we welcomed our Kindergarten 2023 parents for a meet and greet morning tea whilst the students attended their Kindergarten transition session. It was wonderful to be able to welcome those parents and share with them information about our school family. We discussed our school values, getting ready for school and early literacy and numeracy ideas to do at home. 

Wheel Chair Visit

DJ and Cathie from Social Futures visited our Year 5 students on Monday this week, giving them the opportuntity to experience wheelchair basketball first hand. DJ spoke to the children about his own challenges with living with a disability and also shared with the students the Olympic silver medal that he won playing wheelchair tennis. The children really enjoyed this experience.

Lisa Conte & Kristie Coster

Leader of Pedagogy & Assistant Principal

Sports News...

Richmond Zone Summer Sports Trials

The Richmond Zone Summer Sports Trials will be held next Wednesday and Thursday at various venues across Lismore. The trials are only open to students in Years 4 and 5 who are of a representative standard or have had experience playing their respective sport at a high level for a number of years. All trials commence at 4pm.

Students who are attending these trials have been notified. The online nomination form needed to be completed today, Friday 21st October by 5pm.

Wednesday, 26th October

• Basketball Boys & Girls - Venue: Goonellabah Sports and Aquatic Centre

Thursday, 27th October at various venues across Lismore (Back up date Tuesday, 1st November)

• Cricket Boys & Girls - Venue: Marist Brothers Nets
• Touch Football Boys & Girls  - Venue: Hepburn Park, Goonellabah
• Tennis Boys & Girls  - Venue: On Tour Tennis Facility, Lismore

Students who are selected at these trials will compete at the Diocesan Summer Sports Trials in Lismore on:

• Tennis: Tuesday, 22nd November
• Cricket, Softball, Basketball, Touch Football: Friday, 25th November

St Francis Xavier Intensive Swimming Program

Our Intensive Swimming Program for all classes starts in Week 6 of this term. The following dates and times have been locked in with Francis Quinn at Ballina Memorial Pool. We thank Francis, once again, for being so accommodating for our school. Students should come to school with their swimmers underneath their school uniform and bring a towel, goggles, wet shirt, change of underwear, a bag for wet items and a pair of thongs to wear to the pool. Students will be taught by qualified swimming instructors and supervised by class teachers. They will be walking with school staff to and from the pool each day. An Event has been set up and will be published in the coming days, please make sure you give consent and pay by the due date of 13/11/2022. Unfortunately we are unable to accept pool passes. 

Kinder to Year 2 (8 sessions)

Monday, 14th November-Friday, 18th November (5 days) and Monday, 21st November-Wednesday, 23rd November (3 days) 

• Kindergarten-2:00pm-1:00pm 
• Stage 1 (Year 1 & 2)-1:00pm-2:00pm 

Years 3 to 6 (6 sessions)

Monday, 14th November - Friday, 18th November & Monday, 21st November

• Stage 3 (Year 5 & 6)-9:30am -10:30am 
• Stage 2 (Year 3 & 4)-10:30am -11:30am 

NSW PSSA Athletics Carnival

On Wednesday of this week Alexandra Dogan travelled to Sydney to compete in the NSW PSSA Athletics Carnival at Sydney Olympic Park. Alexandra finished 1st at the NSW CPS Carnival last Term with a blistering 1500m run that broke the previous Polding record. Alexandra ran well on the day and finished an outstanding 6th place. Great effort Alexandra. We are extremely proud of your efforts!

SFX Swimming Carnival

A reminder that the school swimming carnival will be held on Friday, 25th November. 

Canteen News...

We Need Volunteers for our School Canteen

Tammy is looking for volunteers for the canteen. If you are able to spare a couple of hours, between 9am and 11:30, once a month please contact the school office on 66863370 or contact Tammy in the canteen and let her know what day suits you.  

Canteen Roster-Term 4

Week 3 

Monday, 24th October- Friday, 28th October

Week 4

Monday, 31st October- Friday, 4th November

Tuesday Sushi Day

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

Week 3	Tuesday, 25th November (Cancelled)
Week 5	Tuesday, 8th November
Week 7	Tuesday, 22nd November
Week 9	Tuesday, 6th December

Student Awards...

Term 4-Week 2

Congratulations to all of our students who received an award this week. 

Welcome Awards...

We would like to warmly welcome the following students to our school family.

School Fee News...

Please note that Term 4 School Fees for 2022 are available for payment in your Compass App.

Happy Birthday...

Wishing all of our student's a wonderful birthday!

Friday, 21st October to Thursday, 3rd November

Parent Information...

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.

School Assembly Update

School Assemblies are now on a fortnightly basis, in line with our Newsletter. 

Student Absences

Parents are reminded that if your child/ren are absent from school you must follow the following steps:

• Reply to the text message that is sent via Compass before 3pm, or
• Email the school office on balp@lism.catholic.edu.au
  

All absences must be received in writing. 

Notification of Extended Leave

All notification of extended leave MUST be submitted prior to the  leave commencing. 

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 has replaced 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 Uniform

With the warmer weather upon us, please make sure your child/ren are in our summer uniform.

Parent Sign In

All parents are reminded that if they are entering the school grounds, for what ever the reason, you MUST sign into the school via the Ipad in the front office or via the QR codes at our gates. There are no exceptions. 

NSW School Travel Information for Parents

Please click on the link below to read all the information regarding school travel for 2023. 

Please click on the link below to read important information regarding safe parking in school zones. 

Term 1 2023 Start Dates...

• Friday, 27th January 2023-Staff Administration Day (staff only)
• Monday, 30th January 2023-MAI (Years 1 to 6) & Best Start Assessments (Kinder 2023)
• Tuesday, 31st January 2023-MAI (Years 1 to 6) & Best Start Assessments (Kinder 2023)
• Wednesday, 1st February 2023-First day of Term 1 2023 (Years 1 to 6) & Best Start Assessments (Kinder 2023)
• Thursday, 2nd February 2023-Best Start Assessments (Kinder 2023)
• Friday, 3rd February 2023-Best Start Assessments (Kinder 2023)
• Monday, 6th February 2023-1st day for Kinder 2023

Community News...