Newsletter-Term 1-Week 4-Friday 23rd February 2024
Principal's News...
Beginning School Mass - Year 6 Leaders Induction
On Wednesday, we inducted our 2024 Year 6 Leaders into their roles at our Induction Mass. We congratulate our Year 6 students on their leadership roles and look forward to their representation at many school and community events throughout the year.
Student Representative Council (SRC) members for 2024
We congratulate the following students who were elected by their peers to be our SRC members for 2024.
- Year 2 - Florence Hamilton and Charlie Downs
- Year 3 - Benji Simpson and Ari Hilyard
- Year 4 - Aurelia Houghton and Kellah Pholi
- Year 5 - Jessica Aslin and Jarrah McGauran
- Year 6 - Willow Hilyard and Chase Thompson
- Captains - Ella Rule and Damien Hernage
- Vice Captains - Isabel Hudson and Jacob Richardson
School Calendar...
Term 1
| Week 5 | Tuesday, 27th February | Family Session 1-Reconciliation |
| Friday, 1st March | Diocesan Swimming Carnival-Kempsey | |
| Pupil Free Day (Staff Development) | ||
| Week 6 | Friday, 8th March | Diocesan Winter Sports Trials (netball, league, soccer, hockey) |
| Week 7 | Tuesday, 12th March | Family Session 2-Reconciliation |
| Wednesday, 13th March | Andrew Chinn Workshops | |
| NAPLAN (year 3 & 5) | ||
| Thursday, 14th March | Parent Forum Meeting-5:30 pm to 6:30 pm | |
| Reconciliation Reflection Day | ||
| NAPLAN (year 3 & 5) | ||
| Friday, 15th March | NAPLAN (year 3 & 5) | |
| Week 8 | Tuesday, 19th March | Sacrament of Reconciliation |
| SFX Cross Country | ||
| Sunday, 24th March | Palm Sunday | |
| Week 9 | Friday, 29th March | Good Friday |
| Saturday, 30th March | Easter Saturday | |
| Sunday, 31st March | Easter Sunday | |
| Week 10 | Monday, 1st April | Easter Monday |
| Week 11 | Thursday, 11th April | Whole School Mass-12 pm to 1 pm |
| Last Day of Term 1 (students) | ||
| Friday, 12th April | Pupil Free Day (Staff Development) |
Assistant Principal Mission...
Second Sunday of Lent
This coming weekend's reading is from Mark 9:2-10 - Jesus is transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John.
Every family has a special moment or event that they remember and share over and over again. When we share these stories and events, the importance and meaning of these deepen and develop over time. This is how it was with the Disciples’ remembrance of Jesus’ Transfiguration.
What the Disciples saw and experienced could only be explained after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. As the events of Jesus were recorded in the Bible, our understanding of what it means to call Jesus God's own Son has deepened.
As you gather as a family, think about and share some special memories that your family tells over and over again. Talk about why these memories are important to your family.
Source: https://www.loyolapress.com
Sacrament of Reconciliation
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is open to students in Year 4 and above and have completed the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Please note the following dates in preparation for the Sacrament:
- First Family session - Tuesday, 27th February at 5:30pm
- Second Family session - Tuesday, 12th March at 5:30pm
- Sacrament of Reconciliation - Tuesday, 19th March beginning at 5:30pm in the Church.
If you wish for your child to complete their Sacrament of Reconciliation, please complete the Google Form before the first Family session.
Expression of Interest - Musical Instruments
Students, do you play a musical instrument? Would you like to learn a musical instrument?
Our expression of interest is now open for those who play or would like to learn a musical instrument and possibly be a part of the school band.
If your child is interested in learning a musical instrument or can already play, please complete the Google Form by Monday, 26th February to register your interest.
Light of Jesus Awards
Congratulations to the students who were awarded a Light of Jesus ticket at our last Assembly. They now receive a canteen voucher.
- Pearl Niland - Kindergarten
- Shubhan - Year 5
- Molly Gerada - Year 5
- Samantha Turnbull - Year 5
- Remi Nathan-Costigan - Year 6
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
| St Francis Xavier Church Ballina |
Saturday Vigil Mass-5:30pm |
Sunday Mass-9am & 11am |
Weekday Masses-12 Noon (Tuesday to Friday) |
| Holy Family Church Lennox Head |
| Sunday Mass-7:30am |
Learning & Teaching News...
YEAR THREE WRITING
In Year Three the students have been studying Roald Dahl’s book, Fantastic Mr Fox. The students identified that the author has used a particular writing structure when introducing a new character. They established that each paragraph begins with the farmer’s name and occupation, followed by details about their appearance, diet and personality. Their brief was to create a vivid character description for a fourth farmer that could be added to the text of Fantastic Mr Fox using a similar structure. Check out some of our budding authors character descriptions below:
KINDERGARTEN MATHEMATICS
In Kindergarten the students are studying attributes of shapes and putting them into repeating patterns both in a linear line and in a circular shape. The students then went outside and collected some real life nature pieces and we examined their attributes. The students then placed these objects into repeating patterns both in a straight line and in a circular motion. They were examining what stayed the same in each persons pattern as they did a gallery walk around the classroom.
EXTENSION MATHEMATICS & ENGLISH
Congratulations to our Year Six students who were selected to participate in the Extension Mathematics and English programs in our Diocese this Term. This is an outstanding achievement as it encompasses entries from all schools across the Lismore Diocese. The students assessment data, work samples and reasons for wanting to participate in the program were all included in the selection criteria. Our students will now participate in weekly zooms, learning alongside like minded peers.
- Our Extension Mathematics team comprises of Xavier, Michele and Cooper.
- Our Extension English team comprises of Adelaide, Savannah, Max and Cooper
Lisa Conte-Leader of Pedagogy
Sports News...
Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival
On Tuesday, 13th February, 43 students from St Francis Xavier Ballina travelled to Alstonville Aquatic Centre for the annual Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival. Conditions were ideal for the competitors and the students performed extremely well against a talented field. St Francis Xavier had 11 students selected to progress to the next level by finishing in the top three in their respective events. Congratulations to the following students who will now progress to the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Macksville on Friday, 1st March. Good luck boys and girls.
| 2nd Junior Boys Relay | Oliver Seymour, Darcy McDermott, Teo Amit, Archie Tozer |
| 2nd Senior Girls Relay | Madeleine Druzynski, Indi Williams & Isabel Hudson |
| 2nd Junior Girls Breaststroke | Mabel George |
| 2nd Senior Boys Breaststroke | Thomas Briggs |
| 2nd 11 Years Boys Butterfly | Fletcher Bernardes-Skelton |
| 3rd 11 Years Girls Butterfly | Madeleine Druzynski |
| 3rd 11 Years Girls 50m Freestyle | Madeleine Druzynski |
| 3rd Senior Boys 200m IM | Thomas Briggs |
Polding Tennis Trials
On Friday 9th February Gali Amit travelled to the beautiful town of Sawtell to compete in the Polding Tennis Trials. This sees the best Catholic primary school tennis players from south of Tweed Heads to north of the Harbour Bridge compete against each other. Gali played some excellent tennis over the course of the day and won all of his matches. As a result, Gali was selected in the Polding Tennis Team to compete at the NSW PSSA Tennis Championships on the Central Coast from May 14th - 17th. Good luck Gali!!!
Touch Football - PE Lessons
Last year St Francis Xavier was fortunate enough to secure a $3000+ sporting school grant allowing a Touch Football Development Officer run sessions at the school. Eddy Boston who plays for the Ballina Bullsharks and QLD Touch has been running the sessions for Years 3-6 the last two weeks. We are looking forward to Eddy visiting us again next week and teaching the students new skills and game tactics through fun modified games and drills.
AFL Clinics Kinder & Year 2
This week we were fortunate enough to have QAFL Development Officers visit the school and run free AFL Taster Sessions on Tuesday and Thursday for the Infants classes. The students had lots of fun playing games and learning new skills. Those students who enjoyed playing AFL and would like to continue developing their skills are invited to register for the 8 week Auskick Program at Fripp Oval, Ballina starting on Wednesday 3rd March commencing at 4pm and finishing at 5pm.
Swimming – 2024 Speedo Sprint Series
Koah Matheson has been selected in the Swimming North Coast Speedo Sprint Team to compete at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday, 2nd March in the male 8yrs 50m backstroke.
Koah competed at the Speedo Heats North Meet in Casino on Saturday, 3rd February where the top 4 swimmers in each age group from the combined North and South Meet (held in Taree) were given the opportunity to progress to the finals.
Koah is part of the Alstonville Swim Club who have 8 of the 77 selected swimmers that have made the Speedo team. Well done Koah and good luck!!
Richmond Zone Winter Sports Trials
The Richmond Zone Winter Sports Trials were held on Thursday, 15th February (Rugby Union) and Thursday, 22nd February (Boys Football, Girls Football, Rugby League 11’s, Rugby League Opens, Netball & Hockey) at various locations across Lismore. St Francis Xavier had students from Years 5 and 6 trialing in every sport. Selection into a Richmond Zone Team for the Diocesan Winter Sports Trials is always tough as students from the other eight Richmond Zone teams vie for a spot.
Congratulations to the following students who were selected to attend the Diocesan Winter sports Trials in Grafton. Well done boys and girls!!!!.
| Rugby Union | Maverix Thomas & Vincent Benfield |
| Hockey | Oscar Donald |
| Rugby League 11's | Cannon Hamilton, Nash Whitton, Reef Molyneux & Vincent Benfield |
| Rugby League Opens | Jacob Richardson & Chaz Gibson |
| Netball | Amity Pettingill & Indiana Buchan |
| Football Boys | Gali Amit, Charlie Mattinson & Luke Dogan |
| Football Girls | Willow Gordon, Edee Muldoon, Jessica Aslin & Sophia Davy |
Paddy Wilde-Sports Coordinator
Canteen News...
We Need Volunteers for our School Canteen
We are looking for volunteers for the canteen. If you are able to spare a couple of hours, between 9am and 11:30am - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, once a month please contact the school office or Kristie on 66863370 and let us know what day suits you. Volunteers MUST sign into the school via the school office.
Canteen Roster-Term 1
Week 5
Monday, 26 February - Friday, 1st March
| Monday, 26th February | HELP NEEDED |
| Tuesday, 27th February | Jo Samaradellis & Jemima Masterton |
| Wednesday, 28th February | CANTEEN CLOSED |
| Thursday, 29th February | Barbara Jones |
| Friday, 1st March | PUPIL FREE DAY |
Canteen Roster-Term 1
Week 6
Monday, 4th March - Friday, 8th March
| Monday, 4th March | Cheryl Pettit |
| Tuesday, 5th March | Jo Samaradellis & Jemima Masterton |
| Wednesday, 6th March | CANTEEN CLOSED |
| Thursday, 7th March | Ashleigh Oke & Emma Smith |
| Friday, 8th March | Glenn & Sharon Black & Tara Strudwick |
Please click on the link below for QKR App Instructions
Canteen Special Day-Thursday
| Week 6 | Thursday, 7th March | Nacho's Day |
| Week 8 | Thursday, 21st March | Pasta Day |
| Week 10 | Thursday, 4th April | Sausage Sizzle Day |
Sushi Day-Thursday
| Week 5 | Thursday, 29th February |
| Week 7 | Thursday, 14th March |
| Week 9 | Thursday, 28th March |
| Week 11 | Thursday, 11th April |
Fish Burger available Friday's during Lent
$5.00
Crumbed fish with lettuce, tomato and mayo on bread roll
Reminder
Canteen is CLOSED on Wednesday's
Student Awards...
Congratulations to all of our students who received an award!
| Theodore Samaradellis | Freya Writer | Jessica Dogan |
| Maebh Flynn | Sienna Suffolk | Darcy McDermott |
| Jayden Chenhamo | Noah Heke-Styles | Luke Dogan |
| Isabelle Comin | Alexander Twiname | Taylah Wooldridge |
| Alice Lett | Michele Ciccia | Makayla Washington |
| Evie Price | Kenzie Rozario | Conor Mullagh |
| Isabella Peters-Serrato | Hudson McGregor | Harley Thompson |
| Olivia Rosewarn Reed | Ivy Boizard | Jaxon Smith |
| Owen Williams | Oliver O'Donnell | Emily Nguyen |
| Benjamin Giradi Paciello | Maxon Andrews | Enzo Conomos |
| Edie McKay |
Happy Birthday...
Wishing all of our students a wonderful birthday!!
Friday, 23rd February to Thursday, 7th March 2024
| Alba Murray | Poppy Ford |
| Ekam Dhillon | Ruby Simpson |
| Mason Hordern | Oliver Seymour |
| Oscar Washington | Amira Harry |
Parent Reminders
Newsletter
We publish 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
School Assemblies are on a fortnightly basis, in line with our Newsletter.
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.
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 (preferred method)
- Add an attendance note via Compass; 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.
Please see below for some guideance with entering absences.
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.
Students are supervised at school from 8:30am. If your child/ren are walking, riding or being dropped off, they are not to arrive before 8:30am. When they do arrive at school they are to sit under the Shelter Shed until instructed by the teacher on duty.
When leaving school, students depart in one of four ways:
Bus - Children are to sit in bus lines and wait for teachers’ instructions to board their bus. Bus pass forms are available online.
Bike - Students are to move quickly to their bikes or scooters and walk these to the gate at the front of the school. They must not ride these on school premises and they should take the shortest and safest route home.
Walking - These children should leave through the front school gate without delay. Any child needing to cross Swift Street should wait at the crossing and be directed by the Crossing Supervisor.
Pick up - Children being picked up should wait in the School Hall with the supervising teacher until collected and then leave with their parent or guardian. Students should be collected no later than 3:20pm.
Parents are reminded not to ask their child/ren to wait outside the school fence or in an unsupervised area. This is for the safety of the child/ren. All students MUST be collected from the School Hall or Martin Street Gate.
Road Safety Around the School
In order to keep our students safe, please adhere to the road safety rules around St Francis Xavier when dropping off or collecting your child.
All roads surrounding and adjoining our school are signed and subject to School Zone Road Restrictions from 8am to 9:30am in the morning and 2:30pm to 4pm in the afternoon on all school days. Ballina Shire Council enforces these road rules and does issue penalties, particularly for double-parking.
There are two private residences, one on the corner of Swift St and Martin St, and one on the corner of Martin St and Crane St. Please ensure you are not parking in these driveways. These driveways need to be kept clear at all times for resident access.
Compass Events-School Excursions/Events
The Compass Event Module is where you receive all the information about an excursion or an event. 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 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.
Compass Parent Guide
Please click on the link below to view the Parent Compass Guide for any information you may require to help you with accessing Compass.
Xavier Catholic College News...
Community News...
New South Wales Health Alert
Please click on the link to view the health alert for cryptosporidiosis.
Parent Assembly News...
Position Available-Parent Assembly Coordinator-Catholic Schools Office.
Please click on the link to view details of the position available.