St Francis of Assisi College - Term 4 - Week 3 - 2022

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All Saints and All Soul’s Days  

The month of November begins with All Saints Day, 1 November, followed by All Soul’s Day, 2 November. Traditionally this month the Catholic Church honours and remembers the Saints and heroes of the Church and relatives and friends who have died. We are reminded that living or dead, we belong to the Communion of Saints, that those living on earth, and those who have lived before, are all united in the Body of Christ.  

The pagan festival, Halloween, celebrated with growing enthusiasm in Australia, and interestingly, ‘hallow’ is an Old English word and literally means holy and can be used to describe saints. Halloween then actually means All Hallows Eve - or the day before All Saints Day.  

These saints and these souls who have gone before us and responded to the invitations of their time with an imagination, creativity, and courage. In honouring their journey, we also commit ourselves to evolving our vibrant faith tradition in a way that honours the past, with excitement for the future, and confidence in a life beyond what we know. 

St Francis of Assisi College Strategic Plan 2023 - 2027 

There is a school community consultation session being held on Monday November 14 from 6pm to 7pm, in the Collaboration Centre. 

Beginning in September, the College’s first strategic plan is in draft form, and we are currently undertaking a consultative process engaging with key stakeholders, none more important than our parent / carer and family community. 

The strategic plan will be tabled for formal endorsement by the College Board at the November 30th Board Meeting later this term. 

Key dates for the commencement of 2023: 

A full list of 2023 key dates will follow soon, but to assist with planning I inform our College community of dates to commence the 2023 academic year: 

Week 0 

Monday 23 January College Leadership Planning Day 

Tuesday January 24 All Teaching Staff commence 

Wednesday January 25 All Teaching Staff Planning Day 

Thursday 26 January Australia Day Public Holiday 

Friday 28 January  

Week 1 

Monday 30 January All students commence 

School Calendar 

We now have a live school calendar with key school events that can be accessed via our website at St Francis of Assisi College | Calendar.  This will contain all key dates and will be updated throughout each term to reflect the most current information for parents and carers. 

We will have all key dates for 2023 on this calendar by the end of this school year to assist with planning for families, and then continue to update throughout the 2023 school year. 

Nathan Hayes, Principal

PAT and NAPLAN data

This week, all students completed the Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT). There are two tests: PAT-R (reading) and PAT-M (Numeracy). These are diagnostic assessments conducted to measure student’s growth throughout the year. They provide valuable information to teachers about your child’s learning strengths and needs.  The tests will indicate what skills students have mastered, what skills they are consolidating and even more importantly what skills they need to be educationally stretched. Later in the term, all teaching staff will analyse both NAPLAN and PAT data to enable them to better plan learning programs and ensure successful learning outcomes for all students

Mrs Natalie Meuret, Leader of Learning

Today, our College was joined by Constable Jacob Trudgian from the Berri Police Station to share with students information on safe use of social media. Jacob covered a variety of topics that included listing strategies to increase privacy settings, avoid scams and suspicious users, and understand the legal process involved in illegal online activity (e.g. sexting, cyberbullying, sharing and ownership of explicit material). Underpinning the session was a constant focus on caring for self and others when we use social media.

Afterwards, home group teachers led students in the development of a Cybersafety and Social Media Use Agreement. Home group teachers will contact their students’ families directly with further information.

This term, we will share an article each newsletter that may be of benefit to our parent and caregiver community in raising a teenager in a digital world and economy.

In this edition, you can access an article from ReachOut Australia providing strategies and conversation starters on how to set realistic boundaries with your teenage son or daughter.

Read more here: Set realistic boundaries with your teenager - ReachOut Parents

Malala Yousafzai, is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pakistani and the first Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the Pakistani Taliban have at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement. Her autobiographically book, ‘I am Malala’, shares her story globally and is an excellent read. There are many versions of the book available to suit any age group.

Luke Cotter, Leader of Wellbeing

River Dowling travelled to Adelaide last weekend to compete in the State All Schools SA Athletics Games. He proudly represented St Francis of Assisi College. River achieved outstanding results in: 

100 M Sprint (11.7 sec)
Long Jump  (winning jump was 5.5 metres)
100 M Hurdles (14.84 sec)
200 M Sprint (25.61 sec, convincingly winning ) 

River will now represent the College at the Nationals in December in the four events. Well done!

On Saturday 22 October (going through to Sunday morning) our College was involved with the Relay for Life event, hosted in Renmark.

Relay For Life is a fun and moving experience that raises vital funds for the Cancer Council’s research, prevention and support services. Relay is a chance for the Riverland community to recognise and celebrate local cancer survivors, those going through a cancer experience and their carers, to honour and remember loved ones lost and to raise money to help save more lives.

Our students raised $6,485 and overall the event raised over $80,000! The experience was incredibly moving and the students were really motivated, completing a total of 423 laps which was the most laps for any of the Relay Teams. 

Check out our TEAM SFoAC activites during the Relay  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXtkCCNfhq8

Thank you to organiser, Mrs Amber Burgess, and everyone who was involved with the event and to those who were able to donate. A special thanks to Woolworths Renmark, Charcoal Chicken and Hi-Prime Painters for keeping us all fed.

https://www.relayforlife.org.au/fundraisers/TeamSFoAC

www.relayforlife.org.au

Yates have received more stock and sizes of the College uniform including boy's and girl's blazers, boy’s formal short sleeve shirts and girl’s sports shorts. 

Key messages

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a rare but serious disease caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). JEV is transmitted to humans through bites from mosquitoes carrying JEV.
We are expecting another wet summer this year, which means there may be more mosquitoes around, and potentially a higher-risk of mosquito-borne disease. Anyone can catch JEV, but those who spend time in areas where JEV has been detected such as people who live and work along the River Murray are most at risk.

While most people infected do not experience any illness, they can experience mild symptoms such as fever and headache.

A small number of people will have encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). This may begin with symptoms such as tiredness, fever and headache, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea. Confusion, unusual behaviour, sleepiness, seizures, weakness, and abnormal movements may develop. Encephalitis can cause permanent damage to the nervous system or death

If you have symptoms consistent with Japanese encephalitis, seek medical attention. If you have any severe signs such as severe headache, vomiting, confusion, paralysis or seizures you should seek urgent medical attention.

Some people who live or work in eligible postcodes along the River Murray are eligible to receive the free JEV vaccine. To check if you are eligible and find out where you can get vaccinated, visit sahealth.sa.gov.au/JEVvaccine

There are simple steps you can take to protect yourself and your family against mosquito bites and mosquito-borne diseases. Protect yourself by wearing long, loose fitting clothing; using insect repellent and eliminating the water the mosquitoes can breed in. For more information visit sahealth.sa.gov.au/fightthebite

People eligible for the free JEV vaccine

Free JEV vaccination is available soon for the following eligible groups:

People aged 2 months and older who have a primary residence in an eligible postcode AND spend at least 4 hours per day outdoors most days.
People employed in a role located in an eligible postcode AND spend at least 4 hours per day outdoors as part of their occupation most days.

More information about the program and eligibility

sahealth.sa.gov.au/JEVvaccine

https://fruitfly.sa.gov.au/outbreak-mapFruit fly outbreaks are still in place throughout the Riverland, however recent changes were made to ease restrictions on the movement of store-bought fruit and vegetables.

Fruit and vegetables purchased at a Riverland shop can now move freely across the Riverland, with a receipt. This means you can once again safely add store-bought fruit and vegetables into your school lunchbox. You do not need to supply a receipt with lunchboxes, but please retain your receipt at home as proof of purchase for fruit and vegetables bought at recognised retail outlets.

You still cannot bring any restricted home-grown fruit to school if you live in a red outbreak area. It is a high risk for fruit fly and has not had agreed treatments applied like shop-bought produce.

Please visit fruitfly.sa.gov.au to see what home-grown fruit and vegetables are at risk from fruit fly and are therefore restricted. 

Our school is currently in a red area. See map for full details: Check the fruit fly outbreak map - PIRSA

This means if you live in a yellow or green area, home-grown fruit and vegetables can be brought to school but must not return home. All fruit waste, including fruit not grown at home, must be disposed of at school. 

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 info@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!

Check out our Family Business Directory:      listings so far!