Dear Parents & Carers,

Our term is now well underway and, as always, St Francis Xavier is a hive of activity.

The month of May is dedicated to Our Lady and, as a school community, we will pray the Hail Mary each day throughout this special month. We look forward to our first Crowning of Our Lady prayer service on Friday 22 May during our Friday afternoon assembly. As we journey through May, we ask our Blessed Mother to intercede for us all and lead us ever closer to her Son, Jesus Christ.

Family Educator Appointment

I would like to announce the appointment of our new Family Educator Mrs Cindy Miu.

Cindy is currently the Family Educator at Holy Innocents Croydon and will work between both schools. Cindy's days at St Francis Xavier will be Monday, Tuesday and alternate Fridays.

We look forward to Cindy joining our team

Mother’s Day Celebration

Last Friday, we welcomed more than 270 mums, grandmothers and mother figures to our Mother’s Day prayer service and celebration. The occasion was filled with joy, gratitude and love as we gave thanks for the remarkable women in our community.

A sincere thank you to all staff who arrived early to ensure the morning was so enjoyable for our families. A special mention to Mr Criniti for his organisation of the event, and to Mrs Radano in the canteen, whose catering was, as always exceptional.

World Support Staff Day

Yesterday, the school community came together to acknowledge and celebrate our wonderful support staff at SFX. These women contribute so much to the life of our school each and every day, and we are deeply grateful for their time, care, effort and commitment to the St Francis Xavier community.

Enrolments

As many families would know, we received more than 95 applications for 64 Kindergarten places for next year. I am currently in the process of interviewing both new and sibling families.

Next year, our Kindergarten to Year 2 classes will be at full capacity and I can also confirm that, in 2027, we will have two Year 5 classes and two Year 6 classes.

During enrolment interviews, I often ask families why they choose St Francis Xavier. The responses are remarkably consistent: our reputation, consistent and strong leadership, caring teachers, Catholic ethos, high academic standards and continually strong NAPLAN results, as well as the strength of our community.

As I explain to prospective families, a positive school community does not happen by osmosis. It is something we intentionally build and nurture every day.

The families we seek to welcome into our community are those who support our Catholic ethos, value education, are aspirational for their children and trust my leadership team and staff as experts in our field.

Families also frequently comment on the breadth of opportunities available at St Francis Xavier. While I hold high expectations that all children will achieve success in literacy and numeracy, I strongly believe that Catholic education must develop the whole child.

This is why we continue to invest in quality programs across Sport, Music, Visual Arts, Languages and Library. We also provide opportunities for private piano, violin, guitar and drum lessons, as well as Martial Arts and Chess clubs, choir and art club. More recently, we have expanded our sporting opportunities across the school and are already seeing the benefits this is having for our students.

Students also participate in enriching academic and co-curricular opportunities such as the Da Vinci Decathlon, Tournament of Minds and a variety of excursions, including the annual Stage 3 overnight camp. Participating in representative sport and Eisteddfods.

Our new system strategy, Magis 2033, calls us to nurture and develop the whole child. Magis, a Latin term meaning “greater,” is grounded in Jesuit spirituality and encourages us to continually strive for excellence in all that we do. This is something we do exceptionally well at St Francis Xavier, and we remain committed to continually improving the opportunities and experiences we provide for our students.

As always, we welcome parent feedback and suggestions. In Term 2, families will be invited to complete the Tell Them From Me survey. Mrs Scullion will provide further details in her newsletter article.

In the meantime I hope all families enjoy a restful weekend with their children and loved ones.

Congratulations

Please join me in congratulating Miss Biskupic who is getting married on Saturday.

Also Miss Loupis who will be getting married Saturday 23rd May.

Regards

Brian

Family and Faith