Principal's Report
Saint Francis Xavier - Principal's Report
Term 1 - Week 6
Dear Parents and Friends of St Francis Xavier,
Lent
With yesterday being Ash Wednesday, we have now entered the Season of Lent. We are called as Catholic Christians to experience a ‘change of heart’ during Lent. We are all called to:
Pray more often
Practise self denial
Practise Almsgiving or acts of charity
For the forty days from Ash Wednesday till Easter Sunday, we are all called to become more thoughtful, patient, generous and Christ-like people. This is what the children in our school are learning about and practising.
As we are called to pray more often during this period, I strongly encourage everybody to direct many of your prayers to both the people in Queensland and New South Wales who have been impacted by the devastating floods, as well as the people of Ukraine who are currently engulfed in the horrific war that is taking place.
Social Media
We are very excited for St Francis Xavier Primary School to finally be entering the social media world!
The school is just about ready to launch both Facebook and Instagram pages which we encourage the whole school community to follow. Links to join both pages will be forwarded to you all via SkoolBag over the coming days, alternatively, you can just search for the school and then follow. We will be using both Facebook and Instagram to celebrate all the wonderful things that take place at school each and every day. We want to share these experiences with you, our amazing school community, as well as with prospective future families.
Could I please stress to all parents and family members who follow the pages that you must ensure any comments you add are positive and appropriate. If you ever have any concerns with school-related issues, please email the school or give us a call rather than share them on these platforms.
Last year, we shared new MACS photo/video permission forms with all families to update our files. We had some families not tick the ‘Social Media’ permission box, which on reflection is understandable considering the school had never launched social media platforms before. As that is now changing, teachers either have or will be contacting any families who did not tick the Social Media permission box over the coming days, just in case you would like to change your mind. If you do not give permission for your child’s image to be included on school social media pages, from time to time there may be some photos/videos that we need to ask your child not to be part of.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Parent Coffee Mornings
As you will no doubt be aware, every Thursday morning all classes in the school have been attending dance classes, led by the team from 'Kinect to Dance'. These fun and engaging sessions take place on the basketball court.
For the next two sessions, we are inviting parents and younger children to stay and watch the children dance the morning away! We will have a coffee van onsite from 8:30am - 10:30am for the next two weeks, which will provide free coffees/hot chocolates to all parents (possibly Babycinos for toddlers too;) who are able to stay to watch the dancing and have a chat.
The timetable for the dance sessions is as follows;
Thursday 10th March
9:00am - Prep, Grade 1 + Grade 2
9:40am - Grade 5 + Grade 6
10:20am - Grade 3 + Grade 4
Thursday 17th March
9:00am - Grade 3 + Grade 4
9:40am - Prep, Grade 1 + Grade 2
10:20am - Grade 5 + Grade 6
Welcome Picnic
With the easing of certain restrictions in schools being announced earlier in the week, we are now in a position to hold a Family Picnic Evening here at school!
This will take place on Friday April 1st and will run from 5:30pm - 7:00pm. Hopefully, the weather is kind to us as we would need to cancel if it is raining. Fingers crossed!
Families should bring their own dinner, snacks and drinks, we will not be cooking pizzas as we have done in the past. Icy Poles will be on sale for $0.50.
I need to remind all families that due to Child Safety regulations, this is an Alcohol-Free event.
There will be a large jumping castle for S.F.X students and a smaller jumping castle for toddlers. Siblings who are attending secondary school will not be able to use the jumping castles.
It is also important to mention that students cannot be dropped at the Welcome Picnic and left alone. This is a family event and all students (and siblings) must have parental supervision at all times while on the school grounds.
Running Club
What a brilliant turn out we had at Running Club yesterday! The weather was perfect and what better way to start the day than some exercise with friends and family in the fresh air?
The children will continue to count their laps each morning, aiming to get to the 25km, 50km and 100km milestones at some stage throughout the year.
Running Club takes place every Wednesday morning (weather permitting) from 8:10am - 8:30am.
Year 7 Enrolments
Just a reminder to Grade 5 parents - If you are wanting your child to enrol in a Catholic Secondary School, you need to do this by the 19th of August 2022. Please mark this date in your calendars. John Paul College in Frankston is our local Catholic Secondary School. Please contact them if you have any questions or would like to organise a tour.
Prep Enrolments for 2023
If you have a child who is ready to startschool in 2023 and you have not submitted your enrolment form, please do so at your earliest convenience. We can send the information home with a sibling or you can come into the office and collect one directly. Thank you to the families that have already completed this task.
Miss Georgia
Finally, I just wanted to share with you all the exciting news that Miss Georgia (Grade 3/4) and her husband Dan are expecting their second child later in the year! We are extremely happy for them and wish them all the very best over the coming weeks, months and years ahead.
Miss Georgia will begin her Maternity Leave at the beginning of Term 2.
Have a brilliant weekend everyone.
Steve Peart
School Principal