St Francis of Assisi College - Term 1 Week 5 - 2022

The Season of Lent and Project Compassion

This week we celebrated Shrove Tuesday, with Miss Camporeale’s Religious Education class cooking pancakes outdoors on the BBQ.  Home Group classes ran Ash Wednesday liturgies to mark the beginning of Lent. 

During Lent, each Home Group will be running fundraising activities in allocated weeks, and this will contribute to Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign – For All Future Generations.  Spanning across the six weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes, and supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world. 

College Blessing and Official Opening

Monday the 28th of February was a significant milestone in the College’s short history, we welcomed more than 100 invited guests and families to celebrate the Blessing and Official Opening of the College.  Bishop Karol Kulcycki SDS and Fr Hau Lee celebrated the Liturgy with our school community, and at the conclusion of the celebration, Bishop Karol walked through the school blessing the physical spaces.  Mrs Nichii Mardon, Director of Catholic Education for the Port Pirie Diocese, Minister John Gardner, Minister for Education, Professor Denis Ralph, Chair of South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools each spoke as part of the Opening, and each captured, in different ways, the magnitude of now having a Catholic secondary pathway for Riverland families.  We were also very fortunate to have Emeritus Bishop Greg O’Kelly join us for the day, a strong advocate for College, Bishop Greg was the Bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Port Pirie at the time it was confirmed there would be a secondary Catholic school for the Riverland. 

It was with a great sense of pride that our students all stepped up in a range of ways in preparing for, and celebrating the Opening and Blessing. Having only been together for the first four weeks of term, that manner in which our students carried themselves demonstrated we are indeed forming our own identity as a Catholic learning community.  We received many comments on the day, and following, highlighting how impressed our guests were with the contributions made by the students, who after all, are the reason we are here.  Monday’s celebrations were also the first opportunity this year for parents, carers and family members to come in to the school and join the students in the school.

The Blessing and Opening celebrations on Monday in many ways were symbolic of the contributions of many over a long period of time, that now sees St Francis of Assisi College a reality for our Riverland families.  Long standing members of Our Lady of the River Parish spoke about the attempts over many years to have a secondary Catholic school here.  We had members of the CESA Project Team, and other CESA team members in attendance, who all contributed significantly over the past two years to see St Francis of Assisi College become the outstanding learning community it is now becoming.  It was also significant to have the Principals and School Leaders of our Riverland Parish Primary Schools part of the celebrations, along with their Student Leaders, a symbol of the Early Years to Year 12 Catholic Education Pathway now available to families.

There are many people who I have not mentioned that have contributed in significant ways to the College, as a school community, we now continue to shape our own Catholic Identity moving forward, with a clear understanding of those whose shoulders we stand on.

Wellbeing Initiative – Classroom Pulse ‘Check-In’

Each term this year, in weeks 5 and 6, all students in Catholic Schools in South Australia will participate in an online Classroom Pulse Check-in.

The purpose of the Classroom Pulse Check In is to find out how students are feeling about their experience of school.

Students will each be asked some simple questions about:

Identity
Learning
Relationships
Belonging

Our aim is simply to “check in” with our students and measure how they are feeling.

Your child’s responses will help us to identify any potential social, emotional, or learning needs that they may have.

They will also be used by Catholic Education SA to help highlight trends across Catholic Schools that may need to be addressed.

You can view sample Classroom Pulse Check Ins below:

https:///www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/files/61884/Classroom_Pulse_Check_In_4-12.pdf

College Communication Methods

As a College we are working intentionally to establish consistent methods of communication and information sharing with families.

All email communication is based on the primary guardian contact email address provided at the time of enrolment. We can allocate a second guardian contact for a student; please contact the College office if you would like this to happen. 

To identify any gaps our communication systems, here is a summary of key information families should have received to date: 

SEQTA 

A welcome email from SEQTA, outlining login details to SEQTA Engage.   

• An introductory email from the College, including an introduction video clip to explain how to access SEQTA Engage has also been sent via email through SEQTA. 

Edsmart 

• Primary contacts have been sent a welcome email with access details from Edsmart.  
• A Swimming and Aquatics Medical Consent Form for parents to complete online. 

Newsletter: 

We are producing an electronic newsletter every fortnight, this is being emailed directly to the primary contact provided from families, and is also available on our College website.

We always welcome feedback, if you haven’t received any communication that has gone out, please contact either of your child’s Home Group teachers.   

College Board Formation

The formation of the inaugural St Francis of Assisi College Board is a significant step in ensuring sound governance and strategic oversight of the College in our formative years.

Diocesan School Boards have delegated responsibility from the Archbishop/ Bishop for the overall well-being of its school, within SACCS’ (South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools) and diocesan policies and guidelines.

If you are interested in nominating for a position on the College Board, or you would like to have a conversation about this with me, please contact Claire Smith on 8595 4500.

Term 2 Pupil Free Day - Change of Date

At St Francis of Assisi College, we are committed to providing early confirmation of key dates for the school year to support forward planning for families.  It is with reluctance that our Term 2 Pupil Free Day has been changed from Friday June 10th and will now be on the first day of Term 2, Monday 2nd of May.  This change is due to the availability of David Kelly from the Life Buoyancy Institute (LBI), who is facilitating our staff professional development day.  Along with his work with the LBI, David is also the Minister for Youth Mental Health.

Parent Information Evening

We initially had Parent Evening scheduled at the beginning of this term, and due to COVID settings for schools, had to postpone this. Recent updates to COVID settings mean we can now hold this event outdoors, and this is scheduled for 6.00pm -7.00pm, Wednesday 9th of March, Week 6. 

The purpose of this session is to provide an opportunity for parents and carers, to meet face to face with our College team, ask questions and provide feedback on the term to date.

There will be food and refreshments provided on the night.

Please register your attendance: https:///www.assisi.catholic.edu.au/news-events/events

Nathan Hayes

Principal

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Matthew 6:26

St Francis of Assisi built bonds of love with all kinds of creatures in the animal kingdom. However, he had a special relationship with birds, who often followed him around and rested on his shoulders, arms, or hands as he prayed or walked around outside.

Birds symbolise spiritual freedom and growth. Believers think that the miracle of the birds listening intently to Francis' message was sent by God to encourage Francis to continue his work preaching the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

The 15th century book ‘Little flowers of St Francis’ about St Francis’ life speaks dearly of his relationship with birds:

Francis walked over to a spot beside the trees and began an impromptu sermon,

"My sweet little sisters, birds of the sky," Francis said, "you are bound to heaven, to God, your Creator. In every beat of your wings and every note of your songs, praise him. He has given you the greatest of gifts, the freedom of the air. You neither sow, nor reap, yet God provides for you the most delicious food, rivers, and lakes to quench your thirst, mountains, and valleys for your home, tall trees to build your nests, and the most beautiful clothing: a change of feathers with every season. You and your kind were preserved in Noah's Ark. Clearly, our Creator loves you dearly, since he gives you gifts so abundantly. So please beware, my little sisters, of the sin of ingratitude, and always sing praise to God."

Birds featured during the blessing and opening of our college. Our local bird, the Pelican, helped us to acknowledge the country our college stands on, Meru Country, the land of the Erawirung and Ngintait people. The pelican, or Nori in local First Nation language, connected our Riverland towns together in spectacular images created by First Nation, Berri based, artist Kat Bell.

I have spent a good deal of time on the river or at Lake Bonney and been watching the pelicans. They come down gliding over the water like fixed-wing airplanes in formation and then suddenly dive down in the water hunting the little fish splashing around near the surface. If they are successful, you can see them gulp down a fish. Sometimes they seem to pause to rest, but only briefly, floating on the water and then, flap their wings to take off. 

The pelican symbolises social responsibility, teamwork, charity, generosity, and harmony. This is because these birds are highly social and reliant upon their groups. Hunting is a group effort, in which many members of the flock work together to gain abundance.

Pelicans teach us that no matter how heavy our burdens, we will always rise to the top. They teach us how to forgive ourselves, by releasing ourselves from that which holds us down and they teach us how to ‘team up’ with others in harmony.

We need to call on our inner pelican when we need to let go of resentment or anger towards others, when we feel overwhelmed and want to rise above our emotional state and when we feel the need to keep our heads held high, despite our trials and tribulations. Pelicans encourage us to develop friendly, caring, and supportive relationships with members of our own communities.

Therefore, the image of the pelican is a strong reminder of our Lord, who suffered and died for us to give us eternal life and who nourishes us on our journey with the Holy Eucharist. May that image move us to show the same charity and self-giving love toward ourselves, others, and our common home.

Nanda de Winter

Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission 

The students have well and truly settled into the daily routines of the College. It is normal for your child (or yourself) to begin to feel challenged, overwhelmed, or exhausted at this time. They have gone through a huge change in their transition to secondary schooling, in forming new friendships, and beginning to build the culture of a brand-new College. As a result, it will be normal for your child to immediately refer to any negative aspects of their day or week. Take the time to speak with your child about the positives in their day - reinforce these moments by asking how they felt in these situations or events and how they could continue to create positive experiences.

However, if your child has raised that they are having difficulties in their social networks, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s home group teacher and myself to ensure it can be managed and resolved in a timely manner. We are committed to providing a safe and respectful environment for every adolescent at St Francis of Assisi College from the moment they leave for school on the bus to the moment they get home. We will work alongside you and your child to ensure they always feel safe and are always respected.

House Formation

Thank you for your feedback and time in completing the House Naming survey. I am pleased to inform the community that, on the back of your input, Bishop Karol (Bishop of the Port Pirie Diocese) has approved our submission.

The College House System is:

I expect many would be asking, but what is the Canticle of Creation? The Canticle of Creation is an important document in the Catholic Church. Written by St Francis of Assisi in 1224, the Canticle is a prayer of praise for the creator God. The Canticle reminds us that we humans are as dependent on the elements of creation as they are dependent on us. With his marvellous respect for creatures of all kinds, for sun, moon, stars, water, wind, fire and earth, Francis came to see that all creation gives praise to God. The Canticle has a powerful link to our College motto, Laudato Si’ (meaning Praise), and to our focus on integral ecology – that all things are interconnected.

Student Leadership

I would like to thank all students who applied for a leadership position for Semester 1. It was a strong pool of candidates and the students who were interviewed put their best foot forward.

After reviewing applications, interviews, and the student elections, we are pleased to announce the following students as student leaders for Semester 1, 2022.

*forms Year 7 Leadership Committee
**forms Year 8 Leadership Committee

The broader student population will have the opportunity to seek informal leadership in the below list of student action groups led by the elected student leaders and overseen by the Leader of Wellbeing:

Home Group

A reminder that if you have any concerns or questions or information to share regarding your child’s wellbeing or academics, please contact their home group teacher in the first instance via email.

Volunteers Needed

As part of looking out for our student’s wellbeing and needs before and after school and during recess and lunch, the College has begun to purchase a collection of books. We are seeking any members of the community who would be willing to collect some books from the College and cover with contact laminate and return to the College The College will provide all materials required. Please contact Miss Annika Newman via email (Annika.Newman@assisi.catholic.edu.au) if you are able to assist.

“When young people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it is our job to share our calm, not join their chaos.”

L.R. Knost, Gottman Institute

Luke Cotter
Leader of Wellbeing

Leader of Learning 

In the Coding and Robotics elective the Year 8 students have been investigating how to code an mBot Ranger to perform basic movements. Using block code, students have successfully driven their robots forward and made them turn. One of the challenges that students faced was making the robot turn a fixed number of degrees. Using the gyroscope was proving difficult, and the software does not have a command to perform a 90° turn. 

Time was devoted to mapping out the requirements to perform turns in 10° increments. Students then created a function block with parameters to enable them to program turns as required. This turn function, in conjunction with a function that uses the ultrasonic sensor, stopping the robot from a fixed distance from an object will be combined to create code that will ‘hopefully’ allow a robot to manoeuvre through a maze. 

All HPE classes have started Term 1 with a focus on Athletics. The Year 7 classes have been participating in a range of different activities, then choosing one event to focus on. They are using iPads to capture their techniques, applying feedback from a range of sources to practice and improve. The Year 8 classes have also had a taste of the variety of events. They are now using demonstrating their understanding of the athletic techniques, by acting as coaches for Year 3/4 students from St. Joseph’s Renmark.

Commencing from Week 6, all HPE classes will be participating in a Come & Try Rowing program. The 5-week program will involve all students provided the opportunity to get on the water with our Rowing coach Mrs. Stephanie Turnbull, as well as member of the Renmark Rowing Club. They will also participate in a range of land-based technique training, conditioning and education sessions both at school and at the Renmark Rowing Club.

This learning will benefit students in preparation for our inaugural Athletics Carnival in Week 7. We will be hosting the Athletics Carnival at the College on Friday 17^th of March. The day will include a range of running, field and team events, with students provided the opportunity to earn points for their house. Under the updated COVID guidelines, families are allowed to attend the Athletics Carnival to watch their child participate. We will also be looking for some parent helpers to assist at events. If you have an interest in volunteering on the day, please contact the front office and register you interest.

Due to limitations on oval space, we will be completing some running events off site in the days leading into the Athletics Carnival. Detailed information regarding the event program will be provided in the coming weeks. Following our College Athletics Carnival, we will be selecting our Athletics team to compete in Adelaide at the Catholic School Carnival (Monday, Week 9) and the Schools SA Carnival (Wednesday, Week 10).

The Year 7 classes have had the opportunity to get a taste of Outdoor Education throughout Term 1. The focus for the first unit has been Ocean Ecology, which has involved viewing the documentary Blue. Students have then explored the concepts food webs, food chains, water as a resource and human impacts. This will lead to then taking social action on a particular issue of interest.

With the latest update of COVID restrictions not allowing non-SACE overnight camps until at least the end of Week 8, we have had to adapt our plans. Unfortunately, we will no longer be travelling to Port Hughes to conduct our two-night camp. However, our camp provider Wilderness Escape, have been willing to be flexible and are going to come up to the Riverland instead to run 3 one-day excursions.

These excursions will occur on the planned dates of Monday 21^st – Wednesday 23^rd of March (Week 8). Students will arrive and depart school as per a normal school day, therefore, those students who travel by bus can continue to do so.

While the camp will not be at the beach like originally planned, it will still have a strong focus on water safety, minimising environmental impact, being resilient, and getting students out of their comfort zones. The updated activities that students will have the opportunity to participate in include offsite kayaking, raft building, fishing, mountain biking, problem solving activities, billy carting, rock wall climbing and more!

Ash Wednesday – 2 March 2022 (Week beginning Monday 28th February)

This week the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allows Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

The theme of Project Compassion 2022 is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues.  We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion. Each family will receive a Project Compassion box and/or a set of envelopes for their donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: https:///www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/anatercia-Story-video

First Week of Lent (Week beginning Monday 7th March)

We begin our annual Lenten Project Compassion journey by learning about Anatercia, a 12-year-old girl living in a small village in southern Mozambique. She began to take on more and more adult responsibilities as her mother has chronic health issues. She did most of the household chores and had to travel up to five hours every day to collect clean water. Water scarcity also meant that harvests were poor and there was never enough to eat.

With your support, Caritas Australia’s local partner, Caritas Regional Chokwe, was able to help Anatercia’s family to irrigate their farm to improve their food security. They also improved water access for households in the village, delivered sustainable farming training, and provided Anatercia with essential school supplies.

Anatercia’s health, education and quality of life have improved, along with the outlook of her whole community for all future generations.

Watch a short film about Anatercia’s story https:///www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/anatercia-Story-video

Second Week of Lent (Week beginning Monday 14th March)

This week through Project Compassion we learn about Biru who lives in a rural village in India’s east. He lost mobility in one of his legs, after contracting polio as a child. Biru worked as a shepherd, looking after other people’s cattle, to support his wife and four daughters. Keeping up with the cattle was a challenge.

Biru taught himself how to repair bicycles by watching other people, but he never dreamed of using those skills to start his own business. With your generous support, Biru was able to access an entrepreneurship and livelihoods training program, run by Caritas Australia’s partner, Caritas India. He gained the support and skills he needed to start his own bicycle repair business. Now, Biru earns enough money to support his family.

Watch a short film about Biru’s story https:///www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/biru-story-video

Third Week of Lent (Week beginning Monday 21st March)

We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Janice, a Wagilak woman and traditional dancer who tells her family’s stories through movements handed down over generations.

Like many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Janice’s faces a range of challenges – low employment and education, financial hardship, poorer health and lower life expectancy.

With your help, Caritas Australia supports Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation, which operates a centre for traditional and contemporary Aboriginal arts and culture, providing employment and generating income for local communities.

Janice believes that Djilpin Arts’ work is essential to create opportunities for young people to stay on-country, to share intergenerational knowledge between elders and the younger generation - to promote healing, and to keep culture alive.

Watch a short film about Janice’s story https:///www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/janice-story-video

Please support Project Compassion: http://lent.caritas.org.au