Saint Francis Xavier - Principal's Report

Term 3 - Week 2

Dear Parents and Friends of St Francis Xavier,

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope everyone enjoyed a relaxing and refreshing break. It's been wonderful to see the students return with smiling faces, ready to learn, reconnect with friends, and embrace all the exciting opportunities this term has in store.

RE Symposium

Today marked Day 2 of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Religious Education Symposium at the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings. Over the past two days, Ms Marion, Ms Laura, Ms Lisa and I have had the privilege of attending this inspiring conference and listening to a range of outstanding keynote speakers and presenters.

The symposium has provided a valuable opportunity for us to deepen our understanding of Religious Education, engage with contemporary research and best practice, and connect with colleagues from Catholic schools across the Archdiocese.

Through keynote presentations and collaborative workshops, we explored ways to enrich faith formation, strengthen Catholic identity, and enhance the learning experiences of our students at St Francis Xavier. The knowledge, practical strategies, and insights we have gained will be shared with the wider staff, helping to further strengthen our Religious Education program and support our ongoing commitment to nurturing the faith, learning, and wellbeing of every student.

Upcoming School Closure Day - Friday 7th August

Friday 7th August is a school closure day at S.F.X. On this day, our staff will participate in professional learning with Phillip Coloca. Phillip is an experienced educational consultant who works with schools to implement evidence-informed teaching practices that improve student learning and teacher effectiveness. The day will explore evidence-based strategies that strengthen student engagement, improve knowledge retention, and support effective classroom instruction, with a particular emphasis on designing clear, structured lessons that maximise learning for all students.

Prep -2 Swimming Program

Our Prep–2 students will participate in a week of swimming lessons at PARC from Monday 17 August to Friday 21 August.

Swimming is such an important life skill, especially living where we live, and we look forward to providing students with a safe, enjoyable, and confidence-building experience in the water. Students will have access to their own change rooms, which are not shared with the public, and staff will be available to assist after lessons where needed. However, children will be encouraged to change independently and manage their own belongings, so we would appreciate your support in practising these skills at home over the coming weeks.

Further information, including a permission form and a swimming ability survey, will be sent home in the coming weeks. Thank you for your support—we're looking forward to a fantastic week of swimming!

Basketball Clinics

As part of our Physical Education program, we are fortunate to have Liam Ingram from the Westernport Steelers Men's team working with all of our classes during their Week 3–5 lessons. Liam's engaging coaching sessions focus on developing fundamental basketball skills, teamwork and confidence in a fun and supportive environment. Liam ran similar sessions with us last year, and since then we have seen a significant increase in the number of students who have gone on to join local basketball clubs and participate in regular competition. It has been wonderful to see so many students develop a passion for such a great sport.

School Fee Statements

School fee statements will be issued within the next two weeks. We kindly ask all families to review their account upon receipt and arrange payment of any outstanding balance as soon as possible.

If you are unable to do so, we encourage you to contact the office to discuss entering into a direct debit payment arrangement or make regular payments using CDFpay. Direct debit is a simple way to manage school fees through regular, scheduled payments.

Please note that throughout this term, we will be contacting families with outstanding accounts to follow up on overdue balances. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and thank you for your ongoing support and cooperation.

Catholic Schools Parents Newsletter

I would like to bring to your attention the Catholic Schools Parents Newsletter which can be found at www.cspv.catholic.edu.au

New editions are produced quarterly. The latest includes information on:

Introductions for the CSPV Chair and Executive Officer
NAPLAN Results Are Coming Home – What do they mean for your child?
Parenting in the Digital Age
Webinar – Understanding AI and New Online Risks for Children – presented by the eSafety Commission.

Welcome to SFX

We warmly welcome Logan and his family to our school community. We are delighted to have Logan join our Grade 4 cohort as part of the wonderful 3/4B class.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Steve Peart

School Principal

HERO AWARDS