From the Principal

HABEMUS PAPUM

God Bless Pope Leo XIV

St Francis de Sales, Lynbrook joins the worldwide Catholic community in celebrating the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV’s first address was one of unity, missionary zeal and humble service. Speaking to the faithful gathered in Rome and watching across the globe, he called for renewed solidarity and spiritual courage.

“Peace be with all you"

was Pope Leo's first public statement from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, setting a tone of blessing and unity for his papacy. Pope Leo also said, "The world needs Christ’s light. Humanity needs him to be the bridge so that God and his love can reach us.”

“With gratitude and humility, I accept the call to serve as your shepherd, The Pope. Let us walk together in faith, hope and love, seeking peace and unity for all.” – Pope Leo (X) 09.05.2

We pray that God will protect and guide him as he leads the Catholic Church around the world with wisdom, compassion, and strength

O God, who in your wondrous love watches over your Church,

We pray that your Holy Spirit may be with Pope Leo XIV

to strengthen him to be a messenger of love, peace, and unity in our world.

We offer our prayer through our Lord, Jesus Christ,

your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen

Happy Mother's Day!!

We had a lovely Mother's day morning tea in a beautifully decorated Community room. The selection of food looked so good and was delicious. It was great to see so many parents drop by to enjoy this lovely event organised by our Parent & Friends Association (P&F). The choir also performed. Thanks to the many local businesses and school families who sponsored the raffle or event. There were some great prizes with all the money going the Cancer Council of Victoria. The children were delighted to shop at the Mother's Day stall and select there special gift. I hope our families have a great day on Sunday. Hope all our mum;'s. grandmother's and special people who mother and spoil us enjoy the especially chosen gifts. Happy Mother's Day.

Annual Report to the Community

We are currently completing our 2024 Annual Report to the Community. This annual report provides details of our achievements from the past twelve months on our School Improvement Plan. Our entire leadership is involved in this reporting and in addition we have reports from our school governors - Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools. We look forward to presenting this report to the community once it is checked and ready for publication. This report will appear on our SFS school website, there will be a link in our newsletter and it will also be sent to you via Operoo.

School Uniform

It is now time to have all children in the correct winter Uniform.

Some reminders:

Please ensure children only have hair bows and ribbons in our school colours.
Black school shoes need to be worn.
Runners are only worn on sports days. ( See Junior or Senior newsletters for PE days)
Only black tights are permitted with the girls winter tunic.
Jewelery should not be worn to school. Necklaces are an OH&S risk to your child.

It is important that parents support to ensure that children wear the correct uniform.

Democracy Sausage Sizzle

A BIG thanks to our P&F for organising the BBQ on election day. By all reports the many voters in the queue enjoyed a democracy sausage as they waited to cast their vote.

It was great to have the polling booth at St Francis de Sales for the third time. It helped to raise some funds that will be put to good use in projects planned for our school.

Our Working Bee

The First Working Bee for 2025 will be held on Saturday 24th May 2025

We will be holding our first Working Bee for 2025 on Saturday, 24th May. A variety of gardening and odd jobs around the school will be undertaken to improve our school grounds.

Parents who attend 2 working bees per year, sign in and participate for the full 3 hours will receive a $250 credit towards the Maintenance Levy on their school fees.

We ask all parents to bring gloves, hat, sunscreen and a drink bottle. If you have a wheelbarrow, rakes or digging tools to remove weeds, please bring these along.

Please indicate your attendance via the notification on Operoo that will go out.

All are welcome to attend.

School Photo Day - Tuesday, 27th May

Please check your child's school bag for your individual order flyer with unique code that went home recently.

All students are required to wear their full Winter uniform, including their red school jumpers. Please ensure your child arrives at school on time and is dressed neatly for their class and individual photos.

To avoid any disruptions, we kindly ask that you do not schedule any appointments for your child on this day.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in helping us capture these special school memories.

Christine White

Principal