Catholic Identity

Father’s Day Breakfast & Mass

A big thank you to everyone who attended our Father’s Day Breakfast and Mass. We would especially like to thank the teachers who arrived early to prepare breakfast, Fiona for organising the food, and the Parents and Friends group for their generous support in funding the event.

We would also like to thank Fr. Jake, the altar servers, readers, and all those who undertook important roles during the Mass. A special thank you goes to the Foundation to Year 2 students and staff, who put in a tremendous amount of work to make the Mass so special for all of our male role models.

We hope that all the dads and special male role models had a wonderful day on Father’s Day last Sunday.

Sporting Colours Day - Friday, 18th September

We’re inviting all the students to wear your favourite team colours—whether it’s AFL, soccer, netball, basketball, or cricket. It’s a great way to celebrate sport, school spirit, and community.

We’re also supporting the Opening Doors Foundation through a donation via CDF Pay. This foundation helps support Aboriginal people in our communities by giving them greater choice and access to education—empowering futures through opportunity.

So let’s come together in colour, in generosity, and in support of a great cause. Thank you for being part of it!

Blessing of the Animals & St Francis of Assisi Awards

When: Friday, 16th October, 9.15 am (until 10.15 am approx.)
Where: Basketball Court
Who: Everyone, especially our beloved pets!

We will celebrate St Francis of Assisi’s Feast Day on Friday, 16th October. A part of the Feast Day celebration will be the Blessing of the Animals. We invite our school families to bring along their pets to be blessed. Students can bring along a photo of the pet to be blessed if they are unable to bring along their pet or if their pet has died. It is important to note some safety requirements that we need to be mindful of for our Feast Day celebrations:

Pets must be on leads and small animals would be best left in their cages for safety
Parents must remain with pets at all times, especially the larger dogs. Parents are invited to sit with their child and pet amongst the class group.
We ask that large dogs are kept to the edge of our gathering area around the basketball court. Your child can sit with you.
All pets are to be taken home at the conclusion of the awards.

Following the Blessing of Animals, the St Francis of Assisi Awards are presented to two recipients from each year level. One boy and one girl will be recognised for their work in emulating the charism of St Francis throughout the year. Each student will receive an award and a beautiful citation written by their teacher to illustrate how they live out the Gospel values as St Francis did. We hope to see you all there with your beloved animals. All are welcome!

Memorial Service

On Friday 6th November at 11:45 am, we will hold our Memorial Ceremony at the Memorial Garden. During the ceremony, we will remember and pray for our loved ones who have died and will always hold a special place in our hearts. All are invited to join us for the ceremony.

We ask our school families to please contact Dave Waters via email,

dwaters@sfstrathfieldsaye.catholic.edu.au by Friday 18th September, if they have a family member that has passed away and they would like them to be considered for inclusion on the Memorial Wall.

Eligibility for the Memorial Wall

Present and past staff
Immediate family of a child whilst enrolled in the school.
Present students and their siblings and past students.
Families of St Francis of the Fields School can have their loved ones included retrospectively in keeping with 1, 2 and 3.

Families who have had loved ones die in the past twelve months or represented on the Memorial Wall will be invited to the Remembrance Liturgy.

A period of 12 months for grieving and reflection is recommended before a plaque will be placed on the wall.

Catholic Identity Leader

Dave Waters

Thank You

We would like to sincerely thank the principal, staff, students and families of the St Francis of the Fields School Community for their generous contributions ($920) to our Winter Appeal. Your donations enabled us to “give a hand up” to many families in our parish and Bendigo area who are experiencing financial difficulties at present.

We are very grateful to the school community for the ongoing assistance that you have given us over many years.

In appreciation,

St Therese’s Conference St Vincent de Paul Society of Victoria