St Francis of Assisi College - Term 3 Week 2 - 2024

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Welcome Back

It has been another terrific start to the new school term!

At St Francis of Assisi College, we often talk about the importance of good starts, and finishes, and we have experienced a very settled start with outstanding learning underway from day one. I sincerely thank the efforts of our educators and students for their collective focus and engagement that has contributed this.

Already our students have been involved in a range of experiential learning opportunities, including:

• Year 8 Student Retreat Day
• Year 9/10 Boys Knockout Soccer
• Year 9/10 Girls Knockout Netball
• Rowing Program:  Rowing Capsize Excursion
• Wakakirri Dance:  Intensive preparation for their Adelaide performance in Week 3
• Year 10 RE: Community Outreach visit to Calvary St Catherine's Aged Care

The above are just some examples of the rich experience’s students are participating in at any given time and again reflect the committed staff, student, and families to ensure these experiences are successful.

Senior Student Pathways

Prior to the Term 2 school holiday break, Mrs Amber Burgess facilitated our VET Information Night for our 2025 Year 11 students, and in Week 3, we are running our first SACE Information Night.  These are both significant milestones marking our entry into SACE Stage 1 and Stage 2 in the coming two years.

There will be a range of communication and information emailed to parents, and distributed to year 9 and 10 students, providing information around senior school pathways and subject counselling opportunities.  I urge parents and carers to engage with your adolescents to support their thinking around subject selections in readiness for 2025.  Please be sure to contact the College for any clarifying information, key teachers are Mrs Natalie Meuret (Leader of Learning) and Mrs Amber Burgess (Careers and VET coordination).

CESA Community LLL Perception Surveys

By the conclusion of week five of term 3 all Catholic Schools in South Australia will complete the CESA Living, Learning, Leading Perception Surveys. The surveys are a product of a collaboration between Catholic Education SA (CESA) and Curtin University and are focussed on the development, validation, and use of a system-wide survey to examine the understanding of the vision and extent to which Catholic Education SA's Living Learning Leading Framework is taking place in schools as perceived by students, family and staff.

Each survey has been trialled, refined, and piloted in a range of CESA school settings and the development team is confident that schools will derive very useful information for planning and improvement.

2025 Enrolments

I am very pleased to see that the College is continues to experience significant demand in relation to enrolments. Current projections indicate our two year 7 classes will fill to capacity 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.

Places for enrolment also remain open in years 8, 9, 10 and 11 for 2024.

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

Mr Nathan Hayes, Principal

NAPLAN Reports

Individual NAPLAN reports have arrived at the College for year 7 and year 9 students and will be distributed in envelopes to families via students early next week. NAPLAN individual student reports provide information about what students know and have achieved in reading, writing, conventions of language and numeracy. The report will also show how your child performed in relation to national minimum standards.

Student achievement in NAPLAN for 2024 is reported using proficiency standards for each assessment area at each year level. The standards are set at a challenging but reasonable expectation of what students know and can do at the time of testing. There are 4 proficiency levels: 

• Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing. 
• Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing. 
• Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
• Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes that are expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

The aim of the descriptions is not to describe each individual student, but to provide a fair summary of typical skills and understandings for a student at the level. If you have any concerns about your child’s NAPLAN report, please contact your child’s teacher. The College will analyse the data from the NAPLAN reports to inform our teaching and learning, however we understand that the tests are only one snapshot of a child’s learning and therefore we also consider teacher assessment and every child’s needs. We value all students for who they are and the qualities they bring to the college.

Mrs Natalie Meuret, Leader of Learning

Community Wellbeing Week

Our Student Leaders introduce Community Wellbeing Week from Monday 9th – Thursday 12th September in Week 8! 

Community Wellbeing Week focuses on promoting the physical, mental, and emotional health of students, staff, and the broader community. The week aims to foster a supportive and positive environment, encouraging self-care and resilience among the entire school community and beyond, engaging families in the process.

There will be a range of activities across the week, run in Lesson 1 and 2 each day, where students are encouraged to wear their HPE uniform each day.

See below for a weekly outline, with further information to follow.

Understanding Friendships & Bullying

The College has an educational partnership with Open Parachute to support the pastoral development of our students and now the broader community! Open Parachute have announced their second Parent Webinar Series for our community. Please see details below.

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 or through the College phone number - (08) 8595 4500.

Mr Luke Cotter, Leader of Wellbeing

We were fortunate to have Julie and Perrine join us for two months during Term 2 and Term 3 as our first exchange students. At the end of week 1, we bid farewell to both the girls as they were to return to France that weekend. Julie and Perrine formed strong bonds with many of our Year 10 students during their time with us and not only learnt a lot from us they also left our students and staff with a greater understanding of their culture and educational experiences.

We thank Julie, Perrine, their families, and their host families for choosing to spend their time in Australia continuing their education at our school. We look forward to hosting many more exchange students in the future!

If you are seeking an international exchange for your child or interested in learning more, please get in touch with:

Student Exchange Australia New Zealand

ABN: 49 101 489 356

Office: 1300 135 331 / (02) 9997 0700

Fax: (02) 9997 0701

Email: info@studentexchange.org.au

Miss Modlinski's Year 7A recently engaged in an interactive Blooket game to consolidate their Probability Unit. This dynamic activity allowed students to test their understanding through fun, competitive quizzes and real-time feedback. The experience not only reinforced their grasp of probability concepts but also fostered teamwork and enthusiasm for learning in a vibrant classroom setting.

Year 7B has begun their exciting Kitchen Garden Elective unit with Miss Modlinski, diving into bush tucker, weeding the school veggie patch, and cooking up a variety of delicious dishes. This term promises hands-on learning, from exploring native ingredients to mastering culinary skills, fostering both practical and environmental awareness.

Rowing Program students travelled to West Lakes on Monday 29^th July to participate in a controlled boat capsize event.

An important part of our program is ensuring students know what to expect and how to manage a capsize. This is performed in single sculls, as these boats possess the greatest chance of capsize due to instability. Some students even challenged their balance and stood up!

On Monday 8^th July, Riley, Ruby and Noah took part in the Riverland NAIDOC Week March through the streets of Berri, stopping at the riverfront for the flag raising ceremony. They joined many other children, students, families, business and organisation representatives and community members who walked to recognise and celebrate NAIDOC Week in our region. This event marked the beginning of Riverland NAIDOC Week celebrations with a calendar full of events held throughout the region.

Tri State Graphis are looking for a junior staff member to work after school hours.

3.30pm to 5.30pm, 3 nights a week plus two – three Saturday mornings per month, plus extra hours.

Looking for someone who is available during school holidays.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

- Regular cleaning & dusting of the showroom and office area.

- Assisting sales staff with shop displays

- Pricing stock

- Refilling clothing racks

- Answering phones occasionally.

Required Skills and Experience:

- Ability to work independently and within a team

- Reliable and committed

- Willingness to learn

- General knowledge of computers

- Polite phone manner

- Good Communication skills

- Position to start Mid-August.

If this sounds like the position for you, please present your resumé and cover letter to our business manager in person or email a copy to: accounts@tristategraphics.com.au

Manager

Tri State Graphics

216 Renmark Avenue

Renmark S.A.

85865815

Catholic School Parents SA are delighted to share the Parenting Conference with you. There is an outstanding line up of guest speakers, who will touch on three different topics:

• Maggie Dent: Help Me Help My Teen.

• Paul Dillon: Teens, Parties, Alcohol and Vapes. What do parents need to know?

• Madhavi Nawana Parker: Being calm in the eye of a parenting storm.

Event details :

• Tickets $25 including light lunch along with the fantastic line up of speakers
• Held at The Sanctuary Adelaide Zoo  
• Term 3, Sat 31^st Aug 2024
• 9:30am – 3:00pm

Saver Plus is a FREE 10-month matched savings and financial education program funded by ANZ and the Australian Government Department of Social Services and delivered by The Smith Family.

The program aims to help participants to learn how to better manage their money and develop long-term savings habits.

Saver Plus is available to anyone who is eligible across Australia.

Eligible participants learn money skills and receive up to $500 to help with their school expenses.

* 10 month program (commence at any time)

* Save $50 a month for 10 months and receive $500 towards educational costs

* Complete up to 10hrs of Virtual workshops called MoneyMinded (support provided)

* Must hold a Health Care Card/Pensioner Concession Card and meet the following eligibility.

* Income: Carers payment / child support are also considered with other eligibility.

More information at www.saverplus.org.au

Don't hestiate to contact the College office on 8595 4500 if you have any difficulty with the various mediums used by the College to commuicate with families.