Term 4: Week 6

Principal Message….

Dear SFA Community,

I hope this message finds you well as we move closer to the end of the year. I'd like to begin by congratulating Shannon, our Year 5 teacher, on her recent marriage to her husband Liam. We are all so happy for her and wish them the very best for their future together.

In other exciting news, I am thrilled to announce that we have entered into a new partnership with Dr. Nathaniel Swain, PhD. Dr. Swain is a teacher, instructional coach, and Senior Lecturer in Learning Sciences at La Trobe University. He is also the founder of Think Forward Educators, a community focused on educational excellence and equity. As the author of Harnessing the Science of Learning, Dr. Swain brings a wealth of expertise, and we are fortunate to have him working with our leadership and teaching teams. This collaboration marks an exciting step forward as we continue to refine our teaching practices and improve student outcomes.

In addition to these developments, we are currently exploring the possibility of Extend, our after-school care provider, operating a school holiday program at SFA. To determine if there is sufficient interest, we kindly ask you to complete a short survey, which can be found at the bottom of this newsletter. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us shape services that best support our community.

We are also in the process of finalising the teaching staff for 2025, and we look forward to announcing next year’s classroom teachers in the upcoming newsletter, so please stay tuned for this important update.

Lastly, I’d like to remind all families to mark your calendars for the End-of-School Mass on Thursday, December 5th at 1:30 pm. This is a special occasion to come together and celebrate the close of the school year. Following this, we will be hosting our SFA Family Christmas Celebration later in the day. We will share more details on this joyful event in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your continued support as we approach the close of another wonderful school year.

Take care, Michelle

This fortnight, we’ve noticed the veggies and plants have really exploded. There are lots of new flowers and vegetables and salad ready for eating. We’ve almost finished the stick fence our students weaved. They have been so proud of their efforts so far. The next goal is for them to finish laying the edging for some of our garden beds.

Fairy Tale Day

Our Prep students were swept into the world of fairy tales during our recent Fairy Tale Day, a highlight of this term’s knowledge-rich unit on fairytales, kings, and queens. Dressed as characters from enchanted lands—princes, princesses, dragons, and more—the children embarked on a day of magical learning and creativity.

Students read the story of The Gingerbread Man and brought it to life by baking and decorating their own gingerbread cookies. We also had a special craft session where students made Cinderella’s magical carriage, letting their creativity shine! Adding to the enchantment, we watched the oldest Disney fairy tale movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, giving students a unique glimpse into the timeless magic of these stories.

Thank you to our Prep families for supporting the costumes and helping make this Fairy Tale Day a truly memorable experience that deepened our students' love for reading and storytelling!

Visual Arts

This Term in Visual Arts the Grade 1's have been exploring painting. We have created close-up flowers in warm and cool colours, inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe.

We also painted funny pumpkin faces, after learning about the history of Jack O' Lanterns. The students have had so much fun and have been demonstrating the disposition of Creativity! Toyah Art Teacher

On Monday 11th November, the children at St Francis participated in a Remembrance Day Prayer Service. Our School Captains, along with our Faith and Community Leaders also attended a service at Thomas Carr College, where they laid a wreath of Poppies which they had made, on our behalf.

Thank you to everyone who purchased a Red Poppy Pin to wear on Remembrance day. Together we were able to raise $284 for the Werribee RSL. Lest We forget!

Advent Angels are back for 2024! Only $3 each! Online sales will open on Saturday 16th November.

Please View Here to see this year’s variety. Get in early and Order Here for your selection online.

Online purchases may be collected at all weekend masses at St James church from 23rd/24th November until 14th/15th December.

Advent Angels and other items will also be available for sale at St James church at all weekend masses on 23th/24th November.

This year all money raised will be donated towards Bishop Giovanni Cefai’s Mssp mission in Peru. Please support this initiative and help make a difference.

Term 4: Week 4