Dear Families,

In today's Gospel, (Luke 6:27-38), Jesus calls us to love generously, forgive freely, and show mercy to others. As a Catholic school community, we are invited to look beyond our differences and treat one another with kindness, respect, and compassion, reflecting God's love in all we do.

I share with you this beautiful prayer...

Loving God,

Today we hear Jesus invite us to love others as You love us, even when it is difficult. He teaches us to be kind, to forgive, and to treat others the way we would like to be treated.

As a school community, help us to choose compassion over judgement, patience over anger, and forgiveness over resentment. Give our students the courage to be peacemakers in the playground, thoughtful friends in the classroom, and caring members of their families.

May we recognise Your image in every person we meet and respond with kindness, especially to those who may be lonely, hurting, or in need of support. Teach us to be generous with our words and actions, sharing Your love wherever we go.

We ask Your blessing upon all families, staff, and students of our school community.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

School Disco

Thank you to each of our parents who coordinated or assisted in this afternoon’s School Disco. Your support of our students is very much appreciated.

Class Placements for 2027

Our staff will be working on Class Lists for 2027. There are many factors to consider in this process. Teachers spend many hours to ensure your child is placed in the best learning environment possible. Any requests for class placement must be based on educational reasons and must be put in writing and emailed to the Principal via the following email address – principal@sfstrathfieldsaye.catholic.edu.au no later than Wednesday 7 October, 2026. Rather than ask for specific teachers, parents are requested to write down the type of teacher skills that would benefit their child.

Please note that not all requests can be honored.

Finalising 2027 school numbers

It is at this time of the year that we begin to forecast how many students will be attending our school in 2027. These forecasts are very important as they tell our Advisory Council how many classes will be required for 2026. This of course impacts how many teachers are required.

Subsequently, I ask that all parents advise Tim Moloney -

tmoloney@sfstrathfieldsaye.catholic.edu.au if children will be leaving St. Francis of the Fields. Thank you.

End of Term 3

A reminder that Term 3 finishes Friday 18 September at 2.30pm. This means that all children need to be picked up at 2.30pm from school and that the buses will be leaving approximately an hour earlier than usual with exception of the Transit bus. This bus will run at its normal schedule.

After School Care at St. Francis of the Fields will be operating from 2.30pm and finishing at the normal time of 6pm.

Term 4 School Closure Days & Public Holidays

Please note that our school will be closed on the following days:

Wednesday 28 October - Bendigo Cup Holiday
Monday 2 November – Report Writing Day (as prescribed by CESL)
Monday 14 December - 2027 Planning Day
Tuesday 15 December – 2027 Planning Day
Wednesday 16 December - 2027 Planning Day

This means the last day of the school year for our children will be Friday 11 December. Our school will finish the 2026 school year at 3.20pm on this day.

Summer Uniform

Please note that children may wear either their summer or winter uniform from Monday 31 August during the changeable weather conditions. All children will need to be in Summer uniform by Monday 19 October.

Please note that school hats will need to be worn from the start of Term 4 – Monday 5 October.

Assembly

2S & 2HL will lead our next school assembly on Friday 11 September from 2.45pm in the Shed. All parents, grandparents and guardians are most welcome to attend.

Kind Regards,

Tim Moloney

Principal

2026 Prime Minister's Spelling Bee

Congratulations to the following students for their selection for and participation in the 2026 Prime Minister's Spelling Bee. They all did an amazing job of spelling some fairly tricky and many unknown words. All students will be presented with certificates at the next school assembly.

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Sophie Ryan

Sophie Coultas

Raffi Hayes

Oscar English

Ollie Mitchell

Olivia Wynne

Olivia Blacker

Maggie Palmer

Luca Mitting

Jake Anderson

Gus McKenzie

Georgia Cybula

Esther Marshall

Dominic Oxbrow - Bowen

Charlotte Delaney

Bowie Marshall

Billie Fidler

Asher Hudson

Zach O'Sullivan

Taylah Marsh

Sebastian Rodda

Nathan McCormack

Nakita Myers

Mireya Mendoza

Max Stubbins

Madeline Bridge

Jamie Nicholson

Hudson Birt

Harvey Taffe

Harvey Rhode

Hazel McDermott

Felix Parker

Eva Byrne

Elsie Crameri

Elliette Foster

Beau Griffin

Addison Chilver

Toby Chandra Thio

Thomas Durrant

Saige Cail

Madison Besiroglu

Madison Berry

Mack Gallagher

Lucy Fidler

Levi McKenzie

John MacIver

Jasmine Marshall

Isla Nicholson

Audrey Brown

Edward English

Daphne Shackcloth

Amelia Austin

Airlie Intamanon

Xavier Connolly

Spencer Lamprell

Samuel Palmer

Ryder Singh

Oliver Waters

Nash McMaster

Matilda Sharples

Jude Fraser

Josh Waterworth

Joshua Munro

Iden Lau

Grace Lunney

Holly Hayes

Millie Simpson

Emma MacInnes

Eloise Turpie

Elliott Lynch

Adior Malual

Noone Uniform - holiday hours

Term 3 Holidays

Last day of trade in school shop: Wednesday 16th September

School Holiday Trading Hours

Onsite School shop CLOSED - items can be purchased at Noone Bendigo

The following normal onsite trading hours resume from Monday 5th October

Monday - 8.30am - 9.30am

Wednesday - 2.30pm - 3.30pm

YMCA - OHSC