Newsletter-Term 4-Week 2-Friday 20th October 2023

Principal's News...

Dear Parents

At the commencement of Term 4, we prepare our Year 5 children for the process of electing our School Captains for the following year. Our Year 5s have engaged in a Leadership Retreat Day last Thursday, and earlier this week, I outlined the sequence of events that will lead to the election of our captains. The process requires prospective nominees to reflect on their commitment to our school values and behaviour expectations and present a letter of nomination to me accompanied by a personal reference. We hope, in this process, to instil confidence in our children to put themselves forward by reflecting on their leadership qualities. The personal reference provides a nice affirmation for them that they are a worthy nominee. Nomination letters are due to me by November 10^th. Students will present their speeches to the Years 3 to 5 students on Monday November 27^th and a peer and staff vote will be conducted. We will announce the successful Captains and Vice Captains at our Carols on the Green on December 5^th. Children who then wish to present speeches as nominees for the Sports House Captain positions will do so on Tuesday 12^th December. I wish all our Year 5 nominees the best as they engage in this process.

On Friday, 3^rd November we will celebrate Grandparents Day. This day holds a special place on our school calendar as we share our learning environment with those very special people in our lives, our Grandparents. As has become a tradition in our school, I would like to invite distant grandparents who are unable to physically attend, to submit a short video message that we can add to a video collage as a lovely surprise for our children. Given that we had so many messages last year that we ended up with around 15 minutes of video, I ask that you please keep your messages to no more than about 20 seconds. I appreciate that this is very brief, but we do want to be able to include everyone and still keep the video at a reasonable length. If you can submit your video to our school email address balp@lism.catholic.edu.au by Friday 27^th October, we will add your message to the video for presentation at our Liturgy the following Friday, 3^rd November. In responding to some feedback from last year’s event, I understand that some of our grandparents will be travelling a reasonable distance for the day. Whilst the official day will commence with Open Classrooms at 12:45pm and conclude with our afternoon Liturgy, our long distant travellers are very welcome to join us in class from the start of the day at 9am. Please notify the school office if your family will be requiring this additional time as you have grandparents travelling a long distance on the day.

We will be holding our annual 100 seconds times tables challenge on Thursday afternoon 16^th November. I would love to have a few parent volunteers to join our parents and teachers’ team. Last year we were just beaten by the students’ team with Fletcher taking out first place. Clearly the objective is to encourage our students to push themselves and they love a little competition, so if you feel you have the goods, please email me (daniel.gubby@lism.catholic.edu.au) - I would welcome your support.

Last week four of our children competed in the Polding Athletics Carnival in Sydney. Congratulations to Alex, Jack, Olivia and Luke for making it to Polding and competing so well. We now wish Alex and Luke the very best as they compete in the State Championships next week.  Please see Mr Wilde's sport report for more details.

Peace in Christ

Dan Gubby

School Calendar-Term 4

Term 4

2024 Term 1 Dates

Tuesday, 30th January	Administration Day (STAFF ONLY)
Wednesday, 31st January	MAI-Years 1-6 Best Start Assessment-Kinder
Thursday, 1st February	MAI-Years 1-6 Best Start Assessment-Kinder
Friday, 2nd February	MAI-Years 1-6 Best Start Assessment-Kinder
Monday, 5th February	First Full Day of School for Years 1-6
	Best Start Assessment-Kinder
Tuesday, 6th February	Best Start Assessment-Kinder
Wednesday, 7th February	First Full Day of School for Kindergarten

Assistant Principal Mission News...

The Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This coming weekend's reading is from Matthew 22:15-21 - The Pharisees send their disciples to test Jesus with a question about taxes. 

Paying taxes is unlikely to be a topic of conversation around the dinner table. Yet, families  can still learn something from this weekend's reading. Jesus’ answer to the Herodians and Pharisees redirects their question to focus on the issue of greatest importance: loving and honoring God. 

As a family, list all the activities you spend time doing together such as household jobs, holidays, recreational activities. Discuss the importance of each of these tasks. Do we spend more time on some tasks than others?

Pray together as a family, that you will keep things in perspective, remembering to keep God first in your lives. 

Source: https://www.loyolapress.com 

Silent Retreat

This week, I have been fortunate enough to attend a 5 day Silent Retreat. I have received input on Ignatian Spirituality as a method of finding God in all aspects of daily living and participated in a variety of prayers, silence, spiritual conversation and reflection using Scripture and drawing on personal experience.

I thank the Catholic Schools Office Lismore for allowing me to take part in this wonderful experience. 

Exuro Retreat

The Exuro retreat was held on Tuesday, 17th October at Tullera Hall. 8 students from Year 5 along with Miss Beecher attended this retreat. The retreat was a one-day experience allowing those who attended to build relationships with other Year 5 students from our local Catholic schools.

Congratulations to the following students for nominating and participating in this day. 

Sophia, Grace, Willow, Amity, Toby, Emma, Evie and Makayla. 

Whole school Mass for Term 4

Our whole school Mass for Term 4 will be held on Thursday, 23rd November at 2:30pm in the Church. All are welcome to attend this Mass. 

Our Year 6 Graduation from St Francis Xavier School will take place on Wednesday, 13th December. Our Liturgy will begin at 9:30am in the Church, followed by the Awards presentation. 

Socktober

Each year, we support Catholic Missions with their continued involvement with families overseas who are less fortunate. 

This year’s theme is Kicking Goals for Good in 2023. By raising funds we are supporting children and their families in Timor-Leste to have a brighter future by providing vital medicines and health care support. 

This year, we will be kicking goals - literally, to raise much needed funds to support Timor-Leste. 

More information on how we will be ‘kicking goals’ to support Catholic Missions will be provided soon.

Light of Jesus Awards

Congratulations to the students who were awarded a Light of Jesus ticket at our last Assembly.

• Macey Buchan - Year 1
• Mason Hordern - Year 2
• Jessica Aslin - Year 4
• Frankie George - Year 4
• Amy Sharpe - Year 4

Congratulations to the following students on receiving 10 or 25 Light of Jesus Tickets. They now receive a certificate and a blue or green armband plus a free drink voucher from Zarraffa's Coffee Ballina. 

• Rani McKirdy - Kindergarten
• Olivia Rosewarn-Reed - Kindergarten
• Colbie-Rae Chason - Year 1
• Soli Edwards - Year 1
• Samuel Goodlet - Year 1
• Eleanor Hosie - Year 1
• Oscar McElroy - Year 1
• Scarlett Sullivan - Year 1

Kasey Miles-Assistant Principal Mission

Parish News...

St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish of Ballina

• St Francis Xavier Church-47 Cherry Street, Ballina
• Holy Family Church-94 Ballina Street, Lennox Head 

Parish Mass Times

Learning & Teaching News...

Year One Writing

In Year One the students have been learning about pollution in the ocean and they researched the Great Pacific garbage patch. Their goal was to write a compound sentence about this. That is where two simple sentences are joined together, with a co-ordinating conjunction. The sentence must include a cause-and-effect relationship, meaning an action or event (which is the cause) produces an outcome or result (which is the effect). The students were encouraged to self-assess by re-reading their writing and bumping it up, using the success criteria. One of the criteria was to use a range of vocabulary using Tier 1, 2 & 3 words. This means:

Tier 1 words are common, everyday words that most children enter school knowing already.

Tier 2 words are more sophisticated words that appear more frequently in texts rather than in oral language. Eg minuscule is a more precise word for the Tier 1 word, tiny.

Tier 3 words are used minimally in everyday conversation. They are often limited to specific topics and are most likely to be new for all students eg aquatic creatures

Some examples of the sentences from our Year One authors’ included:

We should not put pollution in the ocean because aquatic creatures can mistake it for delicious prey. By Polly.

Plastic pollution is devastating to the world because it is murdering seals so the ocean is depopulating. By Charlie.

The plastic bags are getting blown into the ocean and the turtles think that the plastic bags are jellyfish so they eat it and die. By Macey.

Pollution is bad because it can kill sea animals so we need to make sure we keep pollution out of the ocean. By Tyler.

Year 6 Religion

The students in Year 6 are studying Laudato Si' in Religion. To demonstrate their knowledge and understanding the students were given the option of doing an oral presentation or writing for an audience to deliver this content. This week we were blessed to have Sienna and Indy present to our entire staff family at the Monday morning briefing before school. All of our Year 6 students have been very busy presenting across K-6.

Year Two Music

In Year Two the students have been learning about tempo, beat, pitch, dynamics, rhythm and structure of music. These superstars knew all of these concepts!

World Teachers' Day

Australia will celebrate the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 27 October 2023.  Let’s celebrate St Francis Xavier’s teachers for their skilled work in educating, inspiring and supporting our students. Hats off to our SFX teachers this World Teachers’ Day!  

Lisa Conte-Leader of Pedagogy

Sports News...

SFX Intensive Swimming Program

Our Intensive Swimming Program for all classes will be commencing this Term. The program is compulsory for all students. 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.

A Compass Event was sent out before the end of Term 3. Payment and Consent will need to be completed by the end of Week 4 (Friday, 3rd November). Thank you to those parents who have already completed consent and payment.

A reminder that Ballina Shire Council Pool Passes will be accepted. Please note that Fitness Passports cannot be accepted by the Pool. A copy of the Pool Pass needs to be supplied to the School Office. IMPORTANT: If you have a Pool Pass please contact the school office before you give consent and pay on Compass.

K to 2 (8 sessions)

Monday, 6th November - Friday, 10th November (5 days)

and

Monday, 13th November - Wednesday, 15th November (3 days)

Kinder-12:00 Noon-1:00pm 

Years 1 & 2-1:00pm - 2:00pm 

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Years 3-6 (6 sessions)

Monday, 6th November - Friday, 10th November

and 

Monday, 13th November

Years 5 & 6-9:30am -10:30am 

Years 3 & 4-10:30am -11:30am 

MiniRoos Kick Off For Girls

Northern NSW Football are running a MiniRoos Kick-Off for Girls program in Ballina next week. We would love to get more young girls playing football and each registered participant will go into the draw to win a signed Matildas shirt! Here is the link to the website: https://www.northernnswfootball.com.au/get-involved/miniroos-kick-off-for-girls

When you go onto the website, scroll down and find the Ballina Pop-Out box. When you click on that it will open up and the details and registration links will be there.

 Program Details:

• 8 Week Program
• Girls Only Program, recommended age is 4-9 Years.
• Running Wednesdays from October 25th.
• Time: 4:00pm
• Venue: Saunders Oval 
• Cost: $100
• Can use an Active Kids voucher if you would like to.

You will also get a pack in the mail containing:

• MiniRoos Shirt (your choice of size in online registration)
• MiniRoos Ball
• MiniRoos Program Certificate

Successful Sporting School Grant - Hockey

Last Term St Francis Xavier successfully applied for a Term 4 Sporting School Grant. Stage 2 and 3 will be participating in hockey for 4 weeks (weeks 2-6) which will be run by a Hockey NSW Development Officer. We are looking forward to the Hockey NSW Development Officer/s visiting the school every Wednesday and Thursday to teach the Stage 2 and 3 students the game of hockey and the skills involved.

Polding Athletics Carnival

St Francis Xavier had four students (Luke & Alexandra Dogan, Olivia O’Brien and Jack Keough) competing at Homebush (SOPAC) in Sydney last Friday, 13th October, for the Polding Athletics Carnival. To reach this level of competition is an outstanding achievement. Polding encompasses all of the Diocese north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and South of the QLD Border (Armidale, Bathurst, Wilcannia/Forbes, Broken Bay. Maitland/Newcastle and, of course, Lismore.

Congratulations to Luke and Alexandra Dogan who will progress to the NSW PSSA Athletics Championships on Wednesday, 25th October – Thursday, 26th October 2023 at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre.

Luke Dogan 

• 1st-Junior Boys 1500m
• 3rd-Junior Boys 800m

Alexandra Dogan 

• 1st-Senior Girls 1500m
• 6th-Senior Girls 800m

Olivia O’Brien 

• 12th-8 Years Girls 100m

Jack Keough 

• 12th-Senior Boys Long Jump

Richmond Zone Summer Sports Trials

The Richmond Zone Summer Sports Trials is a selection trial for talented students of a representative standard in the following sports: basketball, softball, touch football, tennis and cricket. The trials are open to only Year 4 and 5 students.

There has been a major change to the Richmond Zone Summer Sports Trials format this year. Students may trial for multiple sports if they show a high level of skill. This is not a pathway for participation but for students that are of representative standard.

Cricket - Play in the Far North Coast Cricket Academy

Touch Football - Play for the Ballina Bull Sharks

Tennis - Have a current UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking)

Basketball - Currently play in a local competition or of a representative standard.

Softball - Currently play for any local Softball Team or Association (nominations only)

Students may trial for Basketball or Tennis. These sports are run on the same day at Polding, Dio and Zone level. All other sports are run on seperate days to allow students to trial in more than one sport.. 

The following dates have been allocated for the Richmond Zone Summer Sports Trials.

Tennis

• Date-Thursday 26th October - Term 4 Week 3
• Time-12:30-3:00pm
• Venue-On Tour Tennis Courts Lismore

Basketball 

• Date-Thursday, 26th October - Term 4 Week 3
• Time-4:00-5:30pm.
• Venue-St John's College Woodlawn

Cricket

• Date-Monday 30th, October - Term 4 Week 4
• 4:00-5:30pm
• Venue-St John's College Woodlawn

Touch Football 

• Date-Tuesday, 31st October.- Term 4 Week 4
• Time-4:00-5:30pm.
• Venue-St John's College Woodlawn

Softball

• Nominations only

Paddy Wilde-Sports Coordinator

Canteen News...

We Need Volunteers for our School Canteen

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

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Canteen Roster-Term 4

Week 3

Monday, 23rd October - Friday, 27th October

Canteen Roster-Term 4

Week 4

Monday, 30th October -Friday, 3rd November 

Wednesday Specials-Term 4

PLEASE NOTE THAT ON OUR WEDNESDAY SPECIAL DAYS STUDENTS CANNOT ORDER ANY OTHER FOOD ITEM FROM THE LUNCH MENU

Sushi Specials Term 4

$3.90 each Chicken, Tuna, Avocado or Vegetarian-Sauce 20c each.

Student Awards...

Congratulations to all of our students who received an award.

Happy Birthday...

Wishing all our students a wonderful birthday!!

Friday, 20th October  to Thursday, 2nd November

Kinder 2024 Information...

Kinder 2024 Information...

The schedule for the remainder of our transition program is as follows:

Parent Reminders...

Students NOT Returning in 2024

As we have a number of perspective students on our wait list, parents of current students NOT intending to return to St Francis Xavier Primary School in 2024 are asked to notify the school in writing as soon as possible.

We are currently in the process of planning our 2024 classes and this information is essential.

Student Messages

If you need to contact the school to give your child/children a message regarding a change to arrangements for after school transport, please ensure you phone the school office prior to 1:45pm to ensure the message can be delivered in time. Unless it is an absolute emergency, we are unable to ensure messages can be delivered at such short notice and PLEASE NO EMAILS to notify your child/children of any changes, as we cannot guarantee that the message will be delivered in time to your child.

All after school care arrangements should be relayed to your child/children prior to arriving at school and in the case of infant’s children, the teacher should also be notified of any change to arrangements, particularly in relation to bus travel, by a written note/email.

As you can appreciate the school is a very busy place at home time, so your assistance and consideration in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

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. 

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

All absences must be received in writing. If your child/ren are absent for 3 days or more due to a medical illness, you are asked to supply a medical certificate. This can be uploaded onto Compass or emailed to our school office. 

Student Partial Absences

Parents are reminded not to enter a partial attendance note in Compass for their child/ren. To be compliant with the attendance SOP, we need to ensure that child safety is maintained as far as possible. Parents are to come to the school office to drop/collect the student. This gives the parent the opportunity to provide the reason for the early departure/late arrival at that time. 

NSW Transport News...

Community News...