St Francis of Assisi College - Term 2 Week 4 - 2023

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National Volunteers Week 

National Volunteer Week (NVW) is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteers. From Monday 15 May to Sunday 21 May, NVW celebrates the significant contribution of Australia’s almost six million volunteers. The week-long event recognises the vital support that the millions of volunteers provide to their communities and encourages people to consider volunteering. National Volunteer Week 2023, with the theme The Change Makers, is a celebration of our power to drive change and ensure volunteering is inclusive of all members of the Australian community.  

At St Francis of Assisi College, we are so thankful to the parents, caregivers, students and staff who volunteer their time to our school and parish community in a variety of ways, and this is an area we are committed to growing moving forward. 

We thank the volunteer support for initiatives such as school excursions and camps, significant events such as Sports Day, Catholic Education Week, and assistance with general maintenance around the College. 

Any parents who would like to offer their time as volunteers, please contact Mrs Claire Smith on 8595 4500, or claire.smith@assisi.catholic.edu.au. 

2024 Enrolment of Students 

I am very pleased to see that the College is experiencing significant demand in relation to enrolments. Current projections indicate our two year 7 classes will fill to capacity by mid-2023 and parents planning to enrol their child are encouraged to do as soon as possible.   

To assist with our medium and long-term planning I encourage parents to lodge an enrolment form with the school as soon as they have decided to enrol their child at the school.  

There remains places for enrolment open in years 8, 9 and 10 for 2024. 

Should you wish to discuss this further please contact our College Registrar, Claire Smith (phone 8595 4500, or email claire.smith@tenison.catholic.edu.au). 

Staff Professional Development Day – 9 June 

Families are reminded that Friday 9th of June is a Pupil Free Day, and college staff will be coming together for a professional learning day, with a specific focus on teaching and learning. 

I trust students and parents will experience the benefits of the work that occurs on this day through our service to students and families. 

Catholic Education SA (CESA) COVID-19 Approach

The most recent CESA Covid-19 procedures state the following:

Schools should continue to emphasise that students, staff and site visitors who are showing COVID-19 symptoms should stay away from school until acute symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, cough and fever) have cleared.

Staff are required to notify the school if the return a positive COVID-19 test.

Families are recommended to notify the school/centre if their child returns a positive COVID-19 test.

Nathan Hayes, Principal

Education Perfect Maths Competition

From May 23 to May 25, all students at the College were able to participate in the ANZ Education Perfect Maths Competition where they were able to revise and deepen their understanding of a variety of mathematical concepts.

Our overall results were outstanding!

The following are some of our notable achievements:

1st overall in SA out of 53 schools

16th overall globally out of 1,563 schools

2nd overall in the 101-250 students category out of 241 schools

10th overall in Australia out of 1,103 schools

2nd in Australia for the 101-250 students category out of 168 schools

1st in SA for the 101-250 students category out of 8 schools

The student who achieved the highest score at was Armann K with 5,370 points. This was an outstanding effort, placing him 90th in Australia.

Other notable achievements:

Elite Awards (4,000 points)

Armann K
Aaron K

Emerald Awards (2,500 points)

Samuel D
Campbell D
Jack O

Gold Awards (1500 points)

Henry D
Riley B
Tejdeep S
Sebastian C
Avreet K
Tate S

Silver Awards (1000 points)

Gurtaj N
Henry M
Yvette K
Denver K
Heath K
Riley L
Hugh R

There was also 14 students who gained a Bronze Award (500 points)  and 62 students who gained a Credit Award (200 points).

Congratulations to all students who achieved an award and to all the students who participated. Also, many thanks to the Maths Teachers for their support and encouragement of the students. The end result is a whole school effort. 

The award winners will be celebrated on assembly in Week 10. We look forward to being involved in the competition again next year.

MathsPathway

At St Francis all our Year 7 and 8 students engage in the MathsPathway program in their maths classes. Traditionally in schools, it has been extremely difficult for one teacher to cater to the learning needs of 20 individual students. As a result, not every student has experienced success in maths, with many students finding it particularly stressful or difficult. Our teaching team has been working very hard to change that, by evolving the way we teach maths so that instead of all students learning the same topic at the same time, each student will focus on only what they are ready to learn. This means that every student can experience success in maths. There are a few things that happen in the classroom that might be different from your previous maths experience:

• Class wide rich learning tasks that aim to get your child excited and engaged in problem solving using the maths skills they’ve developed, alongside their friends.
• Tailored mini-lessons rotated through smaller groups of students. Teachers can hone on specific mathematical topics with smaller groups of students who will benefit most from that lesson. 
• Your child will receive maths that they’re ready for. Each student will have their own maths program tailored to what they’re ready to work on next while working with their teacher to figure out how they can continue to develop their learning skills. That includes regular check-in tests and goal setting to figure out what your child wants to achieve next.
• One-on-one teacher support and feedback. When students are stuck on a particular piece of maths, their teacher will help them out as needed.

This structure has been proven to increase student learning and engagement in mathematics.

We encourage you to chat with your child about their progress and learning goals for MathsPathway.

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s maths teacher.

Natalie Meuret, Leader of Learning

Student Transitions

This week we welcomed Year 5/6 students from Our Lady of the River School, Berri for the first Immersion Day of Term 2. The students were well-hosted by our student leaders and engaged in Science, PE, and Digital Technology lessons.

We look forward to welcoming St Joseph’s School, Barmera next week!

The College will share further communication via your child’s classroom teacher at all four catholic primary schools. If your child is enrolled at a non-Catholic school, please contact the College on (08) 8585 4500 or via email info@assisi.catholic.edu.au 

A reminder to pop your name down for the Breathwork and Meditation session with special guest Val, for Wellness Hub on Tuesday, Week 5!

Sign up sheet is on the student notice board.

Laudato Si’ Action Group

The Laudato Si Action Group are seeking to gauge interest for a Chess Club. If you would like a Chess Club at the College, please complete the form using the QR code below or click here: Chess Club Form

“Every person on this earth is full of great possibilities that can be realised through imagination, effort and perseverance.”

– Scott Kaufman

Luke Cotter, Leader of Wellbeing 

As part of a Year 9 Religion unit, students worked together to create class definitions of the 4 elements which make up The Holy Spirit. Students first explored provided resources, then created their own sticky note definition which was shared with the rest of the class. From there we agreed on what we thought encompassed Love, Compassion, Mercy and Service.

Isabella Trudgian, Teacher

This term we have been privileged to support our first pre-service teacher, Teagan McCarthy.  Teagan is studying teaching through Swinburn University and today has completed a four-week practical placement at the College. 

Teagan has been involved in a range of teaching tasks which have included Fraser Sampson's HPE classes and Amber Burgess' cooking classes. She has been a great help at the rowing sessions and was a keen contributor during our recent Combined Catholic Schools Celebration Day. 

We wish Teagan the absolute best in her teaching career, and know that she is, and will be, a fabulous teacher.

Yr 7 HPE Rowing

Year 7’s are continuing their rowing practicals during HPE at the Renmark Rowing Club. Students are enjoying getting onto the water, showing a growth in confidence from start to finish. They are progressing well with their stroke sequencing and learning to row together.

Here is a short video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRDBkF4Vle8

Stephanie Turnbull 

Rowing Coach

Our Year 7, 8 and 9 team mountain bike riders completed in the Schools SA Mountain Bike Teams Championships in Sturt Gorge Recreational Park at Flagstaff Hill recently.  The day was very successfull and super fun for the teams.  Big thank you to Luke Prokopec for coordinating the event that was held over two days, and to our parent volunteers who assisited on the day and helped to transport the students to and from Adelaide. 

Mountain Bike Teams Championships video

Mountain Bike Teams Championships Results 

Congratulations and well done to all students who competed for their house in the 2023  College Cross Country Championship. A big thank you to Mr Cotter and all staff who assisted in the running of the event. A summary of the results is below:

South Australia Commission for Catholic Schools is calling for nominations to serve on the Commission applications to jackie.phillips@cesa.catholic.edu.au 

Checkout RYTs latest newsletter:

https://mailchi.mp/eda9d227aa82/a-newsletter-for-john-dawes

Yates Menswear supply our College uniforms directly to families.  Jenny, from Yates, has let us know they have the following knitwear and softshell jackets available:

Softshell jackets sizes: 10, 12,14,16, XS, S, M and L

Rugby knit jumper sizes: XS, S,M,L,XL and XXL

Knit jumper sizes: 12, 16, 18, 20 and 22

A number of other winter uniform items are due for delivery to Yates in two - three weeks time. 

Students currently attending the College do not need to re-enrol.