Saint Francis Xavier - Principal's Report

Term 4 - Week 9

Dear Parents and Friends of St Francis Xavier,

The 2023 school year is rushing towards its conclusion and I can’t quite believe it is happening so quickly. There is so much to celebrate, to plan for and to share. Please read this important newsletter carefully and take in all the information contained here.

School Advisory Council 2024

Firstly, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude towards the group of parents/volunteers who have been part of the School Advisory Council in 2023. To Emilia, Claire, Shaunie, Meghan, Mel, Christine and Ms Marion, thank you for the time and energy that you have provided to the group throughout 2023.

We are now looking for 2 parents to become new members of the St Francis Xavier School Advisory Council in 2024.

Being a member of the School Advisory Council provides you with a unique opportunity to:

• Contribute to the success of the school

• Make a positive impact

The main purpose of the School Advisory Council is to keep track of the big picture of the school, listen to feedback and help make proactive decisions. It facilitates voice at the parent and community level.

The SAC meetings will be held on Thursday evenings at 7:00pm on these dates in 2024;

Term 1 - 29th February

Term 2 - 16th May + 20th June

Term 3 - 1st August + 5 September

Term 4 - 7th November (A.G.M)

If you are interested in joining the SAC, please give me a call at school to discuss or email me for more information. principal@sfxfrankston.catholic.edu.au

Class Structure for 2024

Year Level	Teacher/Teachers
Prep	Ms Melanie Paton
Year 1/2 T	Ms Terri Burridge and Ms Vanessa O'Brien
Year 1/2 N	Ms Nicole Pitrun
Year 3/4 B	Mr Brendan Adcock
Year 3/4 L	Ms Lisa Johnson
Year 5/6 T	Ms Tamara O'Connell
Year 5/6 AG	Ms Ashleigh Mills and Ms Georgia Dickinson
Specialist Teachers	Teacher
Visual Art	Ms Renee Verkerk (returning Term 2)
Music	Ms Tara Campbell
Italian	Ms Kelly Ruffell
P.E	Ms Tara Campbell
Science/STEM	Ms Kim Ryan
Student Intervention/Extension/ESL Support	Teacher
	Ms Kim Ryan
Learning Support	Staff
Prep	Ms Anto Maxell
Year 1/2	Ms Jane Denning Ms Sue Hunter
Year 3/4	Ms Michelle Graham Ms Rebecca Spry
Year 5/6	Ms Karen Fensome Ms Yvette Underwood
School Leadership Team	Staff
Principal	Mr Steve Peart
Deputy Principal/ Religious Education Leader	Ms Marion O'Brien
Literacy Leader/ Wellbeing Leader	Ms Melissa Sotelo
Mathematics Leader/ Learning Diversity Leader	Ms Erin Walton
School Finance/Administration	Staff
	Ms Kellie Burke
	Ms Claire Francis-Pester

Please note that we will farewell Mr Cameron McGill, Ms Sarah Browning and Ms Nicole Lee at the end of the year.

We most sincerely thank Mr Cam for the outstanding service that he has provided over the years to S.F.X. He will be greatly missed by students, staff and parents alike. Cam, we wish you the very best in all of your future endeavours.

We also thank and farewell Ms Sarah Browning for the support and dedication she has shown to both the staff and students at S.F.X over the past two years. We thank you most sincerely for your work.

Finally, a very sad farewell to Ms Nicole who will be moving into the Performing Arts position at a new school in 2024. Thank you for your energy, creativity and for building up the confidence of so many students in the Performing Arts space over the past three years.

Cam, Sarah and Nicole will be greatly missed and we send them off with our love and best wishes.

Welcome to New Staff

We are delighted to welcome Ms Lisa Johnson, Ms Nicole Pitrun, Ms Tara Campbell and Ms Jane Denning to the S.F.X staff in 2023. Lisa will join the Year 3/4 team, Nicole will join the Year 1/2 team, Tara will take on both the Physical Education and Performing Arts positions and Jane will be a Learning Support Officer based in the Grade 1/2 classes. We look forward to welcoming them into our wonderful school community.

Meet the Teacher Session

On Tuesday 12th December, all S.F.X students will meet their new teachers for the 2024 school year. At 10:00am, the students will assemble with their new classmates and their new teacher for an introductory ‘get to know you’ session. Please endeavour to ensure that your child is at school on time so they do not miss any of the session.

Final Assembly

The final whole school assembly for the year will take place next Tuesday 5th December, commencing at 2:00pm in the Red Centre. At this assembly, the following will take place;

-Presentation of the following awards, Living in Faith, Dunkley Shield + 3 General Excellence awards

-Running Club trophies and certificates, acknowledging 50, 100 and 150 lap milestones

-Grade 6, 2024 School Leader announcements

-Grade 3/4 Camp Photos and presentation

-Birthday celebrations for December

Parents are welcome to attend.

Christmas Carols

This year, we will be running a small Christmas Carols afternoon at school. This will take place on Monday 11th December, commencing at 2:00pm. Each class will get up in front of the school to sing a Christmas Carol to the school community. Students should wear Christmas colours to school on this day. Parents and family members are most welcome to attend.

School Fees

After consulting with our School Finance Business partner and the School Advisory Council, the school fees for 2024 have now been set. Please read through the attachments below which explain how the fees are decided upon. The school continues to make every effort to keep fees as low as possible.

Can I also ask that if you have any outstanding fees left for 2023, that these please be settled by the end of next week.

Reports

There is a new parent platform for nForma, which you will need to access in order to download Semester Two reports.

We will send information out on how to login to the new platform and access reports next Friday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Steve Peart

School Principal

HERO Awards

Semester 2