Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching

Buongiorno a tutti

What a great day Italian Day was! The kids, boccied, da Vincied, spaghettied and

Pinocchioed in their house groups. Thank you to the staff who helped on the day and to the parents who came and supported their students. I think everyone had un tempo fantastico!

Now to the serious stuff……

As I conclude my time at St Francis’, I want to offer my heartfelt gratitude for the privilege of walking alongside all of you. I have been continually inspired by the dedication, courage, faith, and professionalism of staff, clergy, friends and the wider St Francis community. Every day, you place the needs of young people at the centre of your decision-making, ensuring that our school remains a place of learning, hope, belonging, and Gospel witness.

While reflecting on this journey, I have a mixture of gratitude, pride, and a touch of sadness. Leaving a community that has been such a significant part of my life is not easy. The friendships, shared purpose, moments of celebration, challenges, and collective commitment to our young people have enriched me beyond measure. St Francis’ has never simply been where I worked; it has been a community in which I have grown, learned, laughed, prayed, and found inspiration. While this chapter comes to a close, the memories, relationships, and deep sense of belonging will remain with me always.

Grazie a tutti per tutto!!

Rosina Gemmill

Learning Diversity

A Spotlight on Autism Spectrum Disorder:

This information sheet explores some of the common characteristics of autism, such as differences in social relating and sensory preferences. That said, it’s important to remember that these characteristics vary greatly between individuals. Autism is truly a spectrum, and every Autistic person is unique.

Foundation

Our Initial Write sessions consisted of becoming detectives and searching our school for different types of properties (smooth, rough, bendy and rigid). We have been learning about how everything we see and touch can be described in different ways. We have started to write a procedure on how to make a magnifying glass.

During Religion this fortnight we have been looking at ways we can be more like St Francis. We spoke about being Stewards of creation, caring for what God has created. We worked as a team to create a poster promoting ways that we can care for our school.

This fortnight the Foundation class have finished off our unit on grouping and sharing. We had lots of fun sharing blocks and skittles into groups showing equal groups and leftovers. To finish the term off we played some maths games that incorporated lots of the skills we have been working on throughout the term. We co-operated with each other taking turns and loosing gracefully. It was a fun way to finish off the term after lots of learning.

Year 1

The Grade One class have had an action packed third term. The Storybook Programme has seen them enjoy working on The Day the Crayons Quit, Now We Are Six, The Story About Ping, and Harry by the Sea. Most recently in InitiaLit we have been learning about contractions, and during InitialWrite, the students have enjoyed learning about the types of clouds, working on following and writing procedures.

Highlights of Term 3

My highlight of the term was getting to play Tenzi. - Lexi.

My favourite time was Book Week. - Darby, Elsie and Jacey

I enjoyed Athletic Sports Day. - Edwin

My favourite day was Athletics Day. - Lewis

I think my favourite part of the term was learning about counting by 5s and 10s. -Cody

My favourite part of the term was learning about numbers and patterns. - Harrison

My favourite time has been coming to St. Francis School this term. - Elenah

My highlight has been colouring in pictures. - Arlo

My favourite time in term three has been drawing time. - Tom

My favourite activity was high jump. -Rykah My favourite thing to do has been colouring in. - Louisa

Year 2

Grade 2 students have had a great end to the term; they have finished off our shape unit by experimenting with 3D objects looking at their features and finding out which objects will stack and why. Our writing has focused on recounts of our weekends and events at school, making sure we include lots of detail in our writing pieces.

Please find our favourite events from the term below.

I liked cooking with my Mum-Sam K

I liked doing RRRR-Hendrix

I liked Italian and Science-Billie

I liked doing Athletics-Bill, Jason and Lily

I liked cooking-Georgie, Macie, Dusty and Jack

I liked doing Art-Margot

I liked learning about shapes-Sam H

I liked doing Italian and Art-Arlo and Audrey

I liked doing Literacy-Sam B

Year 3/4

The students have been busy planning and designing their own robot. This activity links beautifully with our class novel, The Wild Robot.

Here is a glimpse of a special robot in our class. We will complete this task next term, so watch this space!

EVENT	DATE
First Day Term Four	Monday October 5th
Book Fair	Monday October 12th - Monday 19th October
F-2 Excursion - Twisted Science Echuca	Friday October 23rd
Student Free Day - Report Writing day	Monday 2nd November
Student Free Day - Melbourne Cup	Tuesday 3rd November
Grandparent's Mass	Thursday 5th November


Term 1	30th January - 2nd April
Term 2	20th April - 26th June
Term 3	14th July - 18th September
Term 4	5th October - 14th December

School Information & Dates

Term 4 Dates

2026 DATES