Dear Families,

2027 Enrolment – Change of dates

We will be holding our Enrolment Information night this term, as well as our Principal Led Learning Tours. The dates for these are as follows:

March 23 Principal Led Learning Tour @ 5.00pm
March 24 Principal Led Learning Tour @ 9.30am
March 25 Principal Led Learning Tour @ 12.30pm

We will also hold our Enrolment Information evening on Tuesday 24 March @ 7.30pm in the Meeting Room. Bookings for the Principal Learning Tours and the Information Evening can be made by clicking on the 'Event Registration' button on our school website

Please note that parents can complete the enrolment application form attached to our school website link under the 'Enrolment Application' button.

Please note that enrolments will be open from Tuesday 21 April and will close on Friday 22 May. These dates are the same for all Bendigo Catholic schools.

Pupil Free Days

All Catholic Schools are allocated Pupil Free Days each year. CESL has determined that all Catholic schools in the Sandhurst Diocese will be required to hold Pupil Free days to support all staff members to further refine their practices within the suite of Magnify programs.

In addition, each catholic school has an extra two Pupil Free Days to focus on the professional development that staff members require to achieve the Strategic and Operational Goals set each year. In order for this to happen the school is closed for the day, though Day Care will be provided through YMCA if enough student interest is registered. Please note that we will finalise the dates of the two Pupil Free Days and inform all families once finalised.

Our Pupil Free Days for 2026 are as follows:

Monday 20 April - Learning & Teaching PD
Friday 5 June - Student Wellbeing & Safeguarding PD
Wednesday 5 August - Staff Spirituality Day
Monday 2 November - Report Writing Day
Wednesday 16 December - 2027 Planning day

Project Compassion

As part of our annual tradition, we will once again be participating in Caritas Ks. This year’s event will take place on Friday, 20th March at 9:30am. During this time, students will carry buckets of water as they walk laps around the school track. This symbolic action helps them experience, in a small way, what many communities supported by Caritas must do each day to access clean water. It is always a powerful and memorable experience for our students.

In previous years, our school community has shown incredible generosity, together we have raised over $6,000 to support Caritas’ life‑changing work. It would be fantastic if we could reach, or even exceed, this mark again in the year ahead.

If you are able to contribute, please use the QR code provided OR the following link to make a donation:

https://www.projectcompassion.org.au/fundraisers/stfrancisofthefieldsschool

Every contribution, no matter the size, helps create opportunities and hope for communities in need.

Thank you for your ongoing support and for helping our students live out the values of compassion, justice, and service.

NAPLAN 2026 – Year 3 & 5 Students

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment that students in Years 3 and 5 at our school participate in each year. It is the only national assessment undertaken by all Australian students.

This year, the NAPLAN test window begins on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 and concludes on Monday, 23 March 2026.

If parents or carers decide that they do not want their child to participate in one or more NAPLAN tests, we are required to process a formal withdrawal using the official forms. This means please instruct your child’s class teacher no later than MONDAY 2 MARCH. A record of all student withdrawals must be maintained by the school. Please discuss this with your child’s classroom teacher to organise an official withdrawal form.

St. Francis of the Fields will use the results of NAPLAN to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in Literacy and Numeracy.

If you have any concerns regarding NAPLAN, please discuss these with your child’s classroom teacher prior to Monday 2 March.

Wellbeing Barometer Survey 2026

The Wellbeing Barometer survey is an important annual check-in that helps our school better understand the wellbeing of our students.

Your participation is strongly encouraged. We ask that you take a few moments to complete the survey for each of your children, based on your observations from the past 12 months. All responses remain anonymous and are reported only in aggregate.

If any of the content raises concerns for you or your child, please contact the school or seek professional medical advice.

Here is the link to this Special Report

http://sfstrathfieldsaye.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-wellbeing-barometer-survey-2026-au

Shed Unavailability

The shed will be unavailable for training use on the following dates:

Thursday 26 March - School Photos
Friday 27 March - School Photos

Repeat - St Francis Community Care 2026

A part of our school’s Community Care is to support families through difficult times by providing a meal, helping with ironing, shopping and making sure that occasions, that need acknowledgement, don’t go unnoticed.

If you know of someone who may need support throughout this year, please advise our School Counsellor, Mrs Maree O’Connor, or our office staff or either of us.

All information is strictly confidential.

Maree’s email address is - moconnor@sfstrathfieldsaye.catholic.edu.au

We are in the process of compiling a new list of helpers for 2026. In the past, we have had a great response from our families and have only needed to ask for assistance from them once per year. If supplying a meal, a foil tray will be sent home for filling and to be returned to the school office.

If you would like to assist in this area, please click on this link and submit the form as soon as possible.

St Francis Community Care 2026

Swimming Lost Property

We have an abundance of lost property from the swimming lessons and sports. We would appreciate families taking the time to check if they are missing anything.

Towels
Bathers
Googles
Clothes
Underwear

Plus, the usual

Drink bottles
Containers
Lunch boxes
Balls
Etc

Christ has no hands but yours.

Tim Moloney | Principal

Term 1 Unit Newsletters

Please click on the links below to access the Unit newsletters

St Francis Basketball Club - Registrations open

The Winter 2026 Basketball registrations are now open. Students from Fdn to Year 6 can register to play this season which runs for Term 2 and 3. The season starts April 20th. You can find more information on our website:

https://stfrancisbasketball.majestri.com.au/home

The registration link can be found on the above website or on the Facebook page 'St Francis Basketball '

St Francis Mums’ Needlepoint Group – First Event! 🎉

We’re so excited to kick off our very first Mums’ Needlepoint Group event with a fun night of Barefoot Bowls!

This is a wonderful opportunity to meet new mums, connect with other families in our school community, and enjoy a relaxed night out together. Whether you’re brand new to the school or have been here for years, we would absolutely love to see you there.

All the details are below — we hope you can join us!

Parent Bulletin

Term 1 Week 5 · 26 Feb 2026

In this issue