Principal's News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2025!

Firstly, I would like to thank all our families for ensuring the children returned to school in the correct uniform and were well rested and eager to commence another academic year in St Francis Xavier.

Across the school, the children have settled back into school routines very well and are enjoying their new classes. Teachers are reporting the children are working hard and this is exactly what I see when I visit classrooms.

The success of our school readiness program has come into fruition over the last week. Our new Kindergarten children are delightful and their enthusiasm for school is terrific to witness. The careful planning and delivery of our readiness program has undoubtedly benefited our newest learners.

95th Anniversary mass

We are busily preparing for our special anniversary mass on Friday 21st February at 9:30am in our church. This mass celebrates the 95th anniversary of the Ursuline Order establishing our school in 1930. 

As per our traditions, we will commission our new leaders and staff. 

The team and I look forward to welcoming back former staff and students as well as seeing our current and new families.  Families are welcome to the morning tea but as there will be hot beverages etc and a lot of adults, we ask that no pre-5 children attend to prevent accidents. There have been a few near misses with the younger children last year and I do not want any hurt, especially on a busy day in the hall.

We have returned with 377 children this year, an 6.5% increase in student numbers from the 353 when I returned. As you are aware, the school is highly regarded across the Inner West for its high standards of leadership, staff professionalism, teaching and learning and, most importantly the pastoral care of the children. As such, we have a high volume of applicants for Kindergarten 2026, 50 at the moment and that is before we our open days commence. If you wish your child to obtain a space for Kindy 2026, please complete the enrolment application forms.  Interviews will take place in March and April.  

School Disco

Please join us for our disco on Friday 28th February. We need many volunteers to make the night a success. Please contact a member of the team if you would like to volunteer. As this is an after school event led by families there is no requirement to access the Volunteer Training before the night. 

Parent Calendar 

Please use the calendar and check any updates on the weekly parent memo. 

Meet the Teacher

Further details will be released to parents soon. This is an opportunity for you to share information about your child to their new teacher.  Teachers will not be giving progress updates on individual students at this time. Please remember that these meetings last 10 minutes each, and parents and teachers can organise another meeting if required.  Meetings for children who have personalised plans are in the calendar for March and will be shared with families at the end of February.

Parents and Friends Meeting

This will be held on Monday, 10 March at 7pm. I will share our goals and objectives and future plans for the 2025 academic year.

A Child Protection Parent Volunteer session will be held at 6:30pm before the meeting commences.

Recess Lunchtime Pick-ups

Please remember the if you need to pick-up your child, this needs to happen before or after lunch and recess. As you can understand it is hard to locate your child and collect their belonging during this time.

Enjoy the weekend ahead 

Brian