St Francis of Assisi College - Term 3 - Week 3 - 2022

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Living Learning Leading Survey

All CESA school communities are currently completing the Living Learning Leading Survey (LLL), with a version of the survey to be completed by all staff, students and the invitation for parents and care givers to complete the survey.

The Living Learning Leading Survey was developed in collaboration with Curtin University to help schools rate participants perceptions of school performance against the Living Learning Leading Standards. An important principle is mutual accountability, involving the shared agenda between the Catholic Education Office (CEO) and Catholic schools have in promoting Catholic identity and striving to create excellent educational outcomes for all students.

St Francis of Assisi College Wellbeing Model

The College has partnered with the Life Buoyancy Institute, adapting their Impact for Schools Wellbeing fame work to inform our whole of school approach to school community wellbeing. 

Towards the end of 2021, our Leadership Team participated in a strategic planning process with Dr David Kelly, to develop our draft wellbeing model.  As we settle into our first school year, we will continue to engage further with students and families around this model, as it is a whole of community approach to wellbeing.

The model is designed to provide a sustainable and cohesive method to implement an evidence-informed wellbeing culture for the entire St Francis of Assisi College Community.

The St Francis of Assisi Wellbeing Model is a ‘contextualised’ or ‘grass-roots’ model of wellbeing. This means:

It has been mapped to the specific local context of the community (including students, families, Catholic values, and ethos), and by doing so, it draws upon the wisdom, strengths and needs of the local community and the Riverland region of South Australia.

The model has been developed in response the following key contextual factors:

• Catholic ethos and values
• Multiple community members
• Diverse needs
• Community and social context
• Science of building wellbeing responsive communities
• Science of wellbeing

Laudato Si’ Action Plan

The College Motto of Laudato Si’, underpins all we do as a school community, and a simple way to view this, is care for self, care for others, and care for our common home.  This incorporates the social economy, financial economy, and ecological economy.

To support a planned, and strategic approach to embedding this, we are using the ASSISI Model as an overarching framework to inform our approach. 

The ASSISI Model, designed by Catholic Earthcare is:

A Strategic Systems-based Integrated Sustainability Initiative to assist schools on the ecological conversion journey.

What does a Strategic Systems-Based Integrated Sustainability Initiative (ASSISI) mean?

The work is linked to the strategic intent of our College, thereby overcoming a potential ad hoc and fragmented approach to sustainability.

The whole school and the broader community of which it forms a part is involved. ASSISI seeks to integrate all aspects of school life, for example, school activity, planning and management, resources, grounds and building management, community networks, learning processes, and the religious dimension.

This process will continue to be communicated across our school community, including engagement with key stakeholders at key points in the planning process.

Enrolments 2023

I advise parents and caregivers that interviews have well and truly begun for 2023 Year 7, 8 and 9 Enrolments. Please contact Claire Smith to arrange an Enrolment Conversation.

COVID-19 Provision Of Rapid Antigen Tests to Support Future Possible Testing Of Classroom Contacts

Next week your child will bring home two Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) for you to store at home in case of a potential outbreak of COVID-19 at school. Please rest assured that this is a precaution and not an indication of any immediate concerns within the College community. SA Health defines an outbreak in an educational setting as five or more COVID-19 positive students in a home class/room across a seven-day period. In the event that there is an outbreak in your child’s home class/room, you will be notified that your child is a classroom contact and if they are asymptomatic, they are recommended to utilise one of the provided RATs prior to returning to school. This approach takes into account the updated advice provided by SA Health to educational settings. Note that all students in our school will be provided with two RATs to store at home.

If you have any queries in relation to this correspondence, please contact Nathan Hayes via the Administration Office on 8595 4500.

Nathan Hayes, Principal 

The Assumption

Monday 15 August is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a Holy Day of Obligation. The Feast of the Assumption commemorates Mary’s entrance into Heaven, body, and soul. Mary is a special symbol for Catholics, reinforcing our confidence that death is not an end. In her assumption Mary is a wonderful sign of hope for us, because after her Son, she is the first to be assumed body and soul into heaven. Just as Mary’s Immaculate Conception is a symbol of what God is doing for all people, her Assumption is also a symbol of what will happen to all people in the ‘ages to come’ when everyone who has died will be given a new and different kind of life. So, the Assumption is a feast of profound hope; a hope that inspires all we do as a Christian community, because, as reiterated by Saint John Vianney, “Jesus on the Cross said to the disciple whom He loved: “Behold your Mother!”.

The feast of the Assumption is for all Catholics. Its meaning has been caught in a later feast instituted by Pope Francis for a more inclusive Church, Mary Mother of the Church. It focuses on Mary’s links to us as well as to God, and points to the links that unite all Christians and all Churches. The Feast of the Assumption enlivens our hope that we shall be with Christ as Mary now is.

Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

“Never see a need without doing something about it.”

Monday 8 August was the feast day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s first saint. We send special love and greetings to all the Josephite sisters, who carry on Mary’s work in Australia, New Zealand, and our world today. 

St Mary MacKillop, intercede for the needs of our local communities, remember all who are suffering from drought, sickness, poverty, abuse, homelessness, or any kind of need and, as always, bless the children.

Dear Mary, pray for us all and lead us to God.

Amen.

Nathan Hayes, Principal 

Peer Observation

This term, all teachers will be taking part in peer observation. The process of peer observation will provide an environment where collaboration and continuous development among teachers is encouraged and supported. Peer observation will enable teachers to focus on an aspect of high-quality teaching. This will build their teaching capabilities and empower staff to continue to develop. The process will also enable teachers to observe other teachers therefore promoting collaboration and learning from each other. This will improve not only teaching performance, but will ultimately impact student learning, leading to an increase in student achievement and learning outcomes.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

Natalie Meuret, Leader of Learning

In Term 3, all Year 6 students enrolled in a Riverland Catholic primary school will visit the College for their second Immersion Day. In Week 2 and 3, we welcomed students from OLOR, St Albert’s and local government schools to engage in PE, Woodwork and STEM lessons. We welcome Year 6 students from St Joseph’s Barmera next Tuesday.

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 to register for one of our final two sessions!

Luke Cotter, Leader of Wellbeing

Year 8 students have been learning the basics of hand-sewing in our Creative Textiles class. With their newly found skills, students are in the process of making a Softie that they will incorporate into a Childrens story or puppet show. The plan is to showcase this work to the Reception Children at St Joseph's in Renmark. Students have been really enjoying these classes and have been extremely focused on their projects. Watch this space for the final results! 

This term the Year 8s are studying Business and Economics in HASS. They are participating in a program called $20 Boss, which is designed to help the students build their enterprise and financial literacy skills to become globally minded citizens, as well as helping them develop confidence, communication, collaboration, risk-taking and resilience. 

 The students are working to identify a problem in the market and formulating a solution where they can then build, design and deliver a business of their own with real money and real consequences.

 We have asked some local business owners to come and speak to the Year 8s over the next few weeks about starting up and owning their own business and talk about the ins and out of managing a small business. 

This week we had Hayley from Zynsky Bakes, who discussed her journey and how she uses Instagram to help promote her business. The students were excited to learn first hand from a small business owner and asked some great questions to help guide their own decisions.

All of us here at St Francis congratulate Riley Halupka, Ethan Thomas, and Mitchell Ebert (pictured above) on their selection in the Riverland Baseball team competing at the SA Country Championships in October. Riley has been selected as first pitcher and is the captain of the squad. Good luck boys!

We are holding a Short Course Ergo Rowing Competition at lunch times during Weeks 6 & 7 of this term. This competition is open to everyone. Distance of this one will be 500m - so should take 2-3 minutes each. We have a separate competition for both year 7 and 8 boys and girls consisting of a 1st Round, Quarter Finals, Semis and a Grand Final.  Race days will be on normal PE days.  Students can register by adding your name to the list located outside the Teachers Office.

We will hold a long course competition (1,000m) later on in the year - so look out for that one too!!  We encourage everyone to have a good go, give it your best effort & see how much you can improve over time.

It’s Catholic Schools Open Week from August 22-28.

Choosing a school is one of the most important decisions that a parent makes.

This Catholic Schools Open Week, we are hosting a Principal's College Tours on at 11am and 12pm on Thursday 25 August 2022. This is an opportunity for families to see our school in action and discover the benefits of a Catholic education here at St Francis of Asisisi College. 

Register for our Tours here

Please feel free to invite friends or family members who might be interested in learning how a Catholic education can set their child up for life.

Tours can easily be arranged outside of our guided tour times, please feel free to contact us to arrange a time. 

St Francis of Assisi College is establishing a Family Business Directory and inviting families to be part of the Directory. 

The Family Business Directory is an opportunity for families who run businesses to promote their business through our College community, via our College webpage and Facebook page.

The Family Business Directory is also an opportunity for members of the College community to consider supporting businesses from the Directory when making their purchasing decisions.

The Family Business Directory is free of charge for current families of the College.

To be included, send the following information to inf@assisi.catholic.edu.au

Family Surname (not for publishing):
Business Name: Sample Family Business
Business Phone Number: 1800 SAMPLE
Business Email Address: sample@familybusiness.com.au
Business Website: www.sample.com.au

And your business logo or photo (small file size is fine).
We look forward to seeing many College families' businesses get involved!

St Francis of Assisi College adheres to Catholic Education SA policies in relation to Child Safety. These policies are available on our College website and can also be accessed via links below.

Catholic Diocese of Port Pirie Child Safeguarding Policy

Responding to Online Safety Incidents in SA Schools: Guidelines for staff working in education settings

Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum information for educators

Reporting Harm of Children and Young People Procedure

The Clare Valley will soon host the very 1st Rubik Cubing event in regional SA, run by the WCA - the World Cubing Association! This event has been organised by local students. Students can be any age and any ability to compete.