Principal's Report

Saint Francis Xavier - Principal's Report

Term 1 - Week 8

Dear Parents and Friends of St Francis Xavier,

It is so nice to finally be in a position where we can welcome families back into the school for something other than pick up and drop off!

For the last two Thursdays, we have opened up the gates and invited families to stay for a coffee and watch their kids participate in 'Kinect to Dance'. By my count, we had nearly 60 parents and grandparents attend on the first day which was absolutely brilliant. These opportunities have been extremely limited for families who started their S.F.X journey in the last 3 years. We are very mindful of this and know how important is is for families to have regular opportunities to make connections with other members of the school community. Our next planned event is the Family Picnic evening, which will take place on Friday 1st April and run from 5:30pm - 7:00pm. 

As restrictions continue to ease, we look forward to phasing back in many of the indoor events that have run in the past such as Prayers in Pyjamas, Movie Nights, Discos, Student Work Showcases, Grandparents Day and more. This is not possible at the moment, but hopefully not too far away!

Running Club

Hasn't it been great to have Running Club start up again?

We have now had 3 sessions and the number of students who have turned up has been amazing. Running, jogging or walking laps of Beauty Park for 20 minutes is such a positive way for the students to begin their school day. If you are yet to do so, I encourage all families to set the alarm a tad earlier on Wednesday mornings so you can arrive at school ready for an 8:10am start. 

We run from 8:10am - 8:30am every Wednesday morning (weather permitting).

Grade 3/4 Camp

This week, our Year 3/4 students were lucky enough to attend our camp at Camp Manyung in Mount Eliza. They enjoyed a wonderful time with their teachers and other staff members who attended the camp. This was the first overnight camp that we have been able to run in two years due to the pandemic - so it was a huge relief.

A special mention of thanks to the teaching team who attended the camp for their dedicated work in reassuring, encouraging, managing and supporting our Grade 3/4's who were all attending camp for the very first time! 

Now we can look forward to August, when the Grade 5/6 students will set off for Camp Rumbug in Foster.

Working With Children Checks

It is no surprise that over the past few years, we have had a huge decrease in the number of Working With Children Checks (WWCC) that have been sent in to school. We also know that many of the cards that we had on file have now lapsed. 

WWCC's are required by law  for people who engage in child-related work. This includes parents/family members who wish to help out at school. Schools must make reasonable efforts to gather, verify and record information about a person who they are proposing to engage in child-related work and child-connected work. This could include helping out with reading, assisting at sports days or incursions, walking a class to the local library or anything of that nature.

If you have a current WWCC and would like to be able to help out with activities such as those listed above, please email a copy of your card through to the office and we will keep it on file.

If you would like to obtain a free WWCC for volunteers, please visit

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/individuals/applicants/how-to-apply-1

Late Arrivals

Could I please ask all families to make sure that children are arriving at school no later than 8:40am. 

We seem to be having quite a few students arriving late at the moment. When students arrive at school late, it can be very difficult for them to get started once they enter the classroom. They will have missed instructions that have been given to their classmates and it is very difficult for the teachers who need to then repeat themselves. 

I get that mornings can be unpredictable and I completely understand if students are late once or twice in a term. If it is starting to be a regular occurrence in your household however, please make an effort to be as organised as you can the night before. Help students to take their uniforms out and have them ready, pack their bag and make their lunch. Then in the morning, get them out of bed a bit earlier than usual and leave yourself enough time to get to school, stress free with some time to spare. 

Facebook and Instagram

Both our Facebook and Instagram pages are up and running. Thank you to everybody who is following the pages. Feel free to comment on the posts. 

Just a reminder that if you have not ticked the 'Social Media' box on the Student Photo Permission Forms, then we can not include photos or videos of your child on these platforms. That will mean that from time to time, we may need to ask them to jump out of photos or videos that we are taking for social media purposes. 

Next Week

I just wanted to let you know that I will be away from school next week from Tuesday - Friday as I will be attending the VACPSP Conference in Lorne. 

Have a brilliant weekend everyone.

Steve Peart

School Principal