St Francis of Assisi College - Term 1 Week 6 - 2024

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SFOAC Educators Professional Learning Day

This Friday our staff gathered for a day of shared professional learning, with a focus on excellence in learning and teaching.  These days provide the opportunity for teachers take a step away from the day to day of school, to collaborate, share expertise and learn from each other.

The day was broken into four sessions:

1. School Improvement:  The application of the Clarity Learning Suite to improve student learning outcomes.

2. Assessment Design:  Standards based assessment tasks aligned to Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum, linked to the Achievement Standards.

3. Assessment Moderation:  Teachers collaborating to ensure consistency in A – E assessment grades.

4. Collaborative and Reflective Practice:  Teachers reflecting on their professional practice to identify strengths and areas of professional growth for 2024.

Learner Conversations

Parents will receive information about the learning conversations in Week 10, including how to book an interview with your child’s home group teacher.  Home group teachers play a key role in supporting students pastorally at school, and this is why the initial conversions in Week 10 are with the home group teacher.

At St Francis of Assisi College, learner agency is valued, and we encourage students to attend and play an active role in these learner conversations, with parents / carers and home group teachers.

I do emphasise to parents that you are most welcome to contact the College if you would like to make a time to meet with a specific subject teacher, in addition to the home group teacher.

Please contact the College administration office with any queries.

Board Annual General Meeting – Wednesday 27th March, 7:00pm

Parents and carers are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting, held on Wednesday March 27^th, starting at 7pm in the Collaboration Centre (Year 7 – 9 teaching building).

There are vacancies for the School Board and nominations sought for people interested in serving on the Board this year.

The School Board is responsible for the governance of the School in the areas of policy review, financial management, pastoral care (staff, students and parents), maintenance and development and strategic planning. Elected members serve a 2-year term on the Board and newly elected members will join the existing Board members.

The timeline for nominations and elections is:

• Monday 18 March, 2024 Nominations close 2:00pm

• Tuesday 19 March, 2024 Voting papers sent to parents if required

• Monday 25 March, 2024 Voting closes

 • Wednesday 27 March, 2024 AGM of the School Board

Thank you for your time and attention given to the formation of the School Board for 2024.

College Athletics Carnival

The College Athletics Carnival, held on Thursday 7th March was an outstanding day, showcasing individual excellence in sporting endeavours, perseverance, team spirit and fun.

Students and teachers continue to develop a strong sense of connection and identity to their house teams.  Celebrations like this bring our whole school community together and provide the opportunity for students to come together in their house team and work towards a common goal.

Congratulations and thanks go to Mr Sampson and Mr Prokopec for their planning and organisation for the day, and to our student leaders for maximising participation in their house teams on the day.

We look forward to the Combined Secondary Catholic Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 19th of March, and the School Sports SA Athletics Carnival in Adelaide on Monday 25^th of March.

Stage 2 Build Program

As the major component of the Stage 2 build program, it has been pleasing to see this remain on schedule throughout the build program.  We can confirm that we will be utilising the learning spaces in the new building from the beginning of Term 2.  We will be consulting with our year 10 students in the remaining weeks of Term 1 to set up agree expectations around how we will get the most out of this new space.

Wellbeing Initiative – Classroom Pulse ‘Check-In’

This week all students in Catholic Schools in South Australia participated 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

Mr Nathan Hayes, Principal

Religion In Year 10

Our Year 10 RE classes have been learning about creation stories through different perspectives, cultures, interpretations and lenses. This week, we were lucky to have Sam Mitchell from Riverland NADOC visit our RE lesson and explain creation from a local Dreaming Story Perspective. Students took part in a cultural smoking ceremony where Sam explained the importance of washing away any negativity and connecting with our country and ancestors. He told the local Ngurnderi Dreaming Story related to the Murray and Malley regions. We are very grateful for this experience and we look forward to working with Sam and learning from him again throughout the year and into the future.

Project Compassion Term 1 Fundraising

Aqua House are organising a fundraiser this term to support Project Compassion. Their fundraiser is a ‘guess how many lollies in the jar’ competition that will be running until Easter or until all squares have been filled. 50c for 1 square or $1 for 3.

Aqua House Mass

Each month, our House Teams have the opportunity to celebrate Mass with Fr Hau and local parishioners. Members of the community are also very welcome to join these Masses. On Thursday, Aqua took part in a House/Parish Mass celebrated by Fr Hau. Thank you to all the students who helped with different parts of the Mass and to Fr Hau also with his message of helping others during Lent. He spoke of small sacrifices we can make in order to donate or help others and also to appreciate the things we are blessed with in life.

Loving God,

Who gives life to us and all creation,
Help us to share your love with others and care for your world.
We ask this through Jesus our brother, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Mrs Sheridan Bonney, Assistant Principal, Religious Identity and Mission

Student Free Day – Professional Development

On Friday March 8, the St Francis of Assisi staff gathered for a professional development day focusing on assessment task design and moderation. In our continuous endeavour to enhance the quality of education we offer, our dedicated team worked on crafting design standards-based assessment tasks, thoroughly aligned with the V9 Australian Achievement Standard. This alignment ensures that our assessments accurately reflect the curriculum objectives and provide meaningful insights into student learning. One key aspect of this development process has been the careful selection of cognitive verbs to incorporate into these tasks. By strategically choosing these verbs, we aim to empower our students to demonstrate their understanding and proficiency at various levels of performance standards - whether it be achieving at an A, B, or C level.

Our staff also actively engaged in moderating student work, a crucial step in ensuring the reliability and validity of our assessment outcomes. This process involved teachers from each year level and learning area coming together to review samples of student work across different grade levels, from A to E. During these moderation sessions, our staff analysed the samples, looking for evidence to support the assigned grades. This collaborative effort allows us to confirm or adjust the assigned grades based on concrete evidence, ensuring fairness and consistency in our assessment practices. It also serves as a valuable opportunity for providing constructive feedback to our teachers. By discussing the strengths and areas for improvement identified in the student work samples, our staff can further refine their teaching practices and tailor their instructional strategies to better meet the needs of our students.

Term 1 Student Progress Update Reports

Student progress update reports will be released through SEQTA on Friday 15 March. To access these reports, click on assessments and the relevant subject.

The aim of this report is to provide parents/carers feedback about their child’s progress before a formal grade is given in the end of semester report. Feedback enables a student to monitor their learning and focus on areas of improvement. It also provides a starting point, for parent/carers to discuss their child’s attitude to learning, to ask about your child’s strengths and how they can be enhanced, to ask which subjects are most challenging for your child and why, and to focus on your child’s learning growth and progression rather than the grade. We hope you find these progress reports valuable.

Learner Conversations

Learner conversations will occur over two nights, 2 and 3 April, from 4-6pm at the College. These meetings will involve home group teacher, parent and child. Your child is an important part of this conversation as they reflect on their strengths and needs as they become a capable learner. 

Further details will be provided on how to make a booking with your child’s home group teacher.

Mrs Natalie Meuret, Leader of Learning

Student Leadership Council Formation Day

Our Year 8-10 Student Leaders travelled to Adelaide last week for the GRIP Student Leadership Conference developing their skills and knowledge of what it means to be a great leader!

Our student leaders worked through sessions covering:

• Taking Steps Forward

• Sacrifices We Make

• How to Encourage Others to Follow

• Improving School Culture

In our meeting this week, we have reflected upon our learnings to guide our approach to 2024 as representatives for our respective year levels and houses!

We have decided as a group the our Top 3 Guiding Principles for the year will be:

Make it Fun!

We seek to have small wins and celebrate our successes to ensure we enjoy the role we are in.

Have a Shared Intent

We will listen to the broader student body to identify a common goal we can work on together.

Role Modelling

We will be role models that leave a legacy and act appropriately to set an example of expectations and culture.

Student Leadership Applications

I thank all Year 7 students who have applied for a leadership position. The broader student leadership team are excited about the possibility of who our new members will be and look forward to adding the final touches to the group for 2024.

There will be four successful Year 7’s (one from each House – Aqua, Ignis, Terra, and Ventus). These four students will be selected by Leadership staff through the below process:

• Reviewing Applications,
• Shortlisting to a minimum of two students per House who will be notified by Friday Week 6,
• Shortlisted students undertaking an interview (notes allowed) in Week 7.
• The broader student body voting on their preferred shortlisted candidates,
• College staff consultation.

Please note that successful applicants will be selected based on their application, interview, vote results and staff consultation.

The successful applicants will be notified by Monday Week 8.

Circle of Support

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.

Quote of the Week 

Mr Luke Cotter, Leader of Wellbeing

Our Athletics Carnival on Thursday was a great success!  Congratulations to Aqua for winning the Championship Shield, Ventus for the Team Games Shield, and Terra for the Team Spirit Shield.  Congratulations also to the individual age champion winners, but most of all congratulations to all the students who participated in any way during the day.

We wish to thank

• St. Joseph’s Renmark and Barmera (for generous use of equipment)
• Mr Prokopec (hours of organisation, marking out the oval)
• Ivan Smith (fixing things, hours of work setting up and packing up, supplying radios)
• Parents/Volunteers (generosity, time, creating a great community culture)
• Staff (flexibility, understanding, support)
• House Captains (organisation with individual and team nominations)
• Students (dedication, participation, support for one another)

Mr Sampson Fraser, HPE Teacher

School Premiership Series Regatta, West Lakes Sat 24^th Feb

Our Senior rowers travelled to West Lakes recently to compete in the School Premiership Series Regatta. We entered a Schoolboy Yr 10 4x+ and Schoolgirl Yr10 4x+.

This was the first regatta for our boys as a full crew, as we faced an injury during Term 4. They managed to compete in the heat, while not their best time, it was still an opportunity to learn. However due to an illness on the day they were forced to scratch their final’s race. They were faced with some very stiff competition in their division, with crews displaying a lot more race experience than us. This is something we will continue to build on as a program.

Our girls crew, like the boys, faced the same challenges racing against some quick crews with lots of experience. They managed to improve their race from heat to final, finishing up in 5^th place in their division, a field of 7 boats. It is also worth noting that they improved their race time by a whopping 46 secs since the Riverland Regatta in December.

A big thank you to Adelaide Rowing Club and St Ignatius’ College/Riverside Rowing Club for supporting us with the use of their equipment.

Rowing Training

After competing in our recent regatta, students have enjoyed some time on the water in smaller boats. This provides a great opportunity to develop boat feel, confidence and also work solely on personal technique. They have been great sessions and all students have shown huge growth! We look forward to getting back into our quads next week to see how this translates into crews.

They also thoroughly enjoyed the freshly painted Renmark Rowing Shed and new signage, highlighting the ‘Home of the St Francis of Assisi Rowing Program’. Another incredible milestone for us all.

Mrs Stephanie Turnbull, Rowing Program Coordinator, Rowing Coach & Learning Support

St Francis was well represented with seven students swimming in the Secondary Schools Swimming State Championships held at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre on 26 February 2024.

All swimmers performed very well, both in and out of the pool, with Ruby, Harper and Hugh having some outstanding performances. Our Team was also really fortunate to catch up with Kyle Chambers, a proudly SA born Olympic medalist! 

Well done to all the swimmers, Charlize P, Ruby, Sophie, Harper, Daniel, Louis and Hugh, and a big thank you to the parents who provided transport to Adelaide. 

Mrs Janet Riedel, Parent Swimming Support 

The College has set up a Second Hand Uniform Facebook Group to enable parents and caregivers to buy, sell, swap or giveaway second hand uniforms. For these transactions parents and caregivers will deal directly with each other, with the Facebook Group merely acting as a way to connect families disposing of, or wanting, second hand uniforms.  

The group is for members only and the following group rules apply: 

- it is the parent/caregivers responsibility to liaise directly with each other for the purpose of
  buy/swap/sell/giveaway of second-hand uniforms

- detailed information about the College's uniform policy is available on the College website
   www.assisi.catholic.edu.au/enrolment/uniform and can be referred to as required

Please use the link if you would like to join the group

www.facebook.com/groups/sfoacrsecondhanduniform

Learn more:  join our two-week tour to Timor-Leste on 5th May to see Palms program participants and our local partner communities in action together. 

Dear Parents & Caregivers,

As a college, we will be participating in the SA Premiers Reading Challenge in 2024. The Premier’s Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program that was introduced by the Premier in 2004 to encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading, as well as improve overall literacy levels. The Challenge requires students to read 12 books between the beginning of the school year and early September (6^th of September 2024).

To complete the challenge, students are required to read a combination of books from the Challenge booklists and books of their own choosing. 

• Year 7- 9 students need to select at least 4 books from the Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist and 8 books of their own choice.
• Year 10-12 students can select 12 books of their own choice at an appropriate literacy level.

The booklists are available on the Premier’s Reading Challenge website. Book List | Premiers Reading Challenge SA

We understand that each student at our college will have different entry points due to various reasons when it comes to reading. However, we strongly encourage all students, no matter their reading ability, to participate and find personal confidence and enjoyment in reading. There are a range of strategies and tools that can be used to support reading, and we encourage all students to communicate with their English teacher to choose appropriate books to their reading level, as well as find other platforms that can support them to complete this challenge.

Public libraries across South Australia strongly support the Premier’s Reading Challenge. They play an integral part in the program by providing books for students to borrow.  Many of the books in the booklists can be downloaded for free or borrowed in hardcopy format through the statewide OneCard library catalogue. Your OneCard allows you to borrow and return Premier’s Reading Challenge books to any of the public libraries across South Australia.

→ Join online and search the library catalogue at libraries.sa.gov.au/join
→ Read parent and family information about the PRC  at libraries.sa.gov.au/prcparents                          

→ Access the digital services, including PRC ebooks and audiobooks at libraries.sa.gov.au/digital  (Libby and BorrowBox are recommended free apps that have a large collection of e-books and audiobooks)

If you have any further questions about the challenge, please email your child’s English teacher, or contact the front office and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Isabella Trudgian                                               Natalie Meuret

Learning and Wellbeing Coordinator              Leader of Learning           

Catholic School Parents SA Info Session – attend in person or online

Tuesday 12 March, 6.00pm – 8.00pm

No matter what we say to young people about not caring about what others think, this is the age where they care the most. During this period of psychological change and growth, pre-teens and teenagers want to fit in. This workshop will help you understand what’s going through their minds, how to help, and the importance of staying connected.

This practical workshop will give you an insight into the minds of this age group, how best to respond to their social and emotional needs to prepare them for the next stage of their education. The event will have online and in person attendance options.

Madhavi Nawana Parker, Director of Positive Minds Australia is one of Australia’s leading experts on Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Cost: Free

Register via the CESA Registration Centre - https://registrationcentre.cesa.catholic.edu.au/event-5602363

Many families are experiencing cost of living challenges as well as increased education costs.

Saver Plus supports eligible families to take some control of their finances by offering a matched savings incentive and financial education workshops.

If parents commit to saving up to $50 a month for 10 months, ANZ will match their savings up to $500 for families to put towards school uniforms, stationary, camps, laptops, sports fees and music lessons.

*The program accepts Child Support, Carers Payment and Cash in hand as regular income.

If families join in February 2024, they can claim their matched savings in December 2024 in time for 2025 school costs.

To learn more about Saver Plus attend an online Information Sessions: Register here.

Gi Youth is a community youth group located in Berri aimed at young people across the Riverland region in years 7-12. As a ministry of Riverland Central Church, we want to be a safe space for young people to be in community with other like-minded young people, make friends and learn more about who they were created to be. Plus, we have a LOT OF FUN!

"Do you complain there is nothing to do in the Riverland? No bowling alleys, cinemas, frozen yogurt shops?

Well, G1 Youth provides a fun program on Friday nights during the school term for high school aged students. We welcome everyone from all ages, gender identities, religions, home situations and Riverland regions!