From the Principal

Welcome Back to 2022 School Year

It is wonderful to welcome all our families to the 2022 school year. We warmly welcome all our new Foundation Families and families with students other than foundation who are also new to our school. We look forward to a wonderful positive year together in partnership as we support your child's learning and growth. We do not have a crystal ball to know what this year will bring, however, I pray that it will be a great one for all of us at St Francis de Sales. We know we are a resilient community and despite all the challenges we have faced over the previous two years we have been able to work together to ensure the very BEST learning opportunities for our students.

The start of the year will have its challenges and we have been asked to be as cautious as possible over the next four weeks as we navigate the Omicron Virus we are currently facing in Melbourne. I ask you to take personal responsibility for your safety and the safety of our staff and students. Whatever we do we need to mitigate the risk as best we can. Please take note of the changing guidelines and COVID safety plans that will be communicated to staff and the school community. If we each do our part as we have done before we will ensure the least disruption to learning so that our children can enjoy all the opportunities we can provide for them at school.

The theme we have for 2022 is ....

Take the Way of the Gospel - Connecting for a Spirited Tomorrow

This theme compliments our vision to be ‘Animated by love’ to provide an education that is full of life and hope, developing young people able to make a positive contribution and meet their challenges with resilience. A spirited presence and a spirited community is vital as we re-connect and get the most out of 2022. We each bring gifts that build up our school –Gifts that benefit the community and our children. We invite parents, staff and students to share their gifts to build connection and a vibrant spirited community in 2022.

This year let us work together with a strong and supportive home-school partnership sparking the imagination and igniting the passion of our students and community. Let us look for the opportunities to be animated and make a difference. Let us like Mary MacKillop “never see a need without doing something about it” and like St Francis de Sales let us,” Bloom where we are planted, being who we are and being that perfectly well. There are many ways to be involved and I invite you to connect with us. I pray that all our efforts will plant the seeds for a spirited year and a spirited tomorrow.

If you have any concerns, it is vital that you discuss them with your child's Home Group teacher or with me immediately. It is important that we work in partnership as a team to ensure constructive solutions and ensure the best possible outcomes. I trust that together we may lead the children in our care through a rich and engaging educative program inspiring excellence as outlined in the Vision of this school.

Staff News

At the start of this new year, we are delighted to welcome three new teachers to our staff team. Two of the three names are returning to our school and we welcome their return.

Grace Larzabel - will be working in LS3 each Monday. Grace was working with us as a Home Group teacher previously and also as a Classroom Replacement Teacher (CRT).
Daniella de Bella - will be our LOTE Italian teacher. Daniella was working with us previously as our Visual Arts teacher and also as a CRT.

We are pleased to have them join our team in 2022.

New to our school in 2020.

Keely Comerford - Keely is a new Learning Support Officer who will be working with junior students in LS2. Welcome Keely!

In a new role for 2022

Natasha de Silva - will be a Home Group teacher in LS1 this year. We congratulate Natasha and welcome her to this new role at SFS.

First Day of School - A Spirited Beginning

We had no tears from children this year on day 1!!! They all walked in with great confidence and have had a great first week. All Foundation students looked very smart in their new uniform. Well done to all the parents for getting their children ready for school.

The CIRCUS CAME to SFS!!

Well maybe not the entire circus but we had a lot of FUN during SWELL week learning some circus tricks and watching a circus performance. It was a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of cooperation, perseverance and having a go by stepping out of our comfort zone. It also reinforced our school values such as enthusiasm, responsibility, respect and commitment. A great spirited start to 2022.

Builders awarded the Contract

The year will also see some great physical changes to our school with the building and completion of our long awaited Multi-purpose Hall. The builders for our new Multi-Purpose Hall have been announced. The builder who have succeed in the tender process is FIMMA Constructions. https://www.fimma.com.au/ . We had our first construction meeting today and are looking forward to the commencement of the project. We will see the start of the building program in mid March. We are planning a sod turning ceremony to mark this exciting development at our school in 2022.

We look forward to finishing the year or starting the new year with a celebration of our school when the building is opened. We missed the 10th Anniversary but the celebrations are just on hold and we cannot miss the party. We have so much to celebrate after years of waiting for our Multi-purpose hall.

School Picnic

Unfortunately this great community event to start off our year has had to be postponed. We will re-schedule this event for later this term once these first four weeks are over.

Rapid Antigen Tests

Free Rapid Antigen Tests will be available for the first four weeks of Term 1 2022. Supply for the first two weeks were distributed this week. All students will receive another packet of 5 RATS for week 3 and 4 as soon as supplies are delivered to us. We are requesting that students complete a Rapid Antigen Test on a Sunday night and again on a Wednesday night for the first four weeks of Term 1.

Students and staff will do the tests at home; they only need to report their result if it is COVID-positive. They must report a COVID-positive result to:

the school by phone or email; this is so that we can support students, record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.
the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398.

Information about how to do a test and how to read RAT results, including a how-to video translated into 33 languages, is available online.

Parents are requested to support us keep our school open for learning by doing the tests. Your support will help keep our staff and students safe and minimise the spread of this virus. It is vital that children, staff and parents do not come to school if they have any COVID symptoms.

Vaccination requirements

Parents and carers must have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid medical exemption (with limited exceptions) to enter school buildings. To reduce risks for the next four weeks parents will not be able to enter the learning spaces. All visitors to schools, including parents who enter the office or learning space must check in using the QR code, as was the case last year.

SFS will be a Vaccination Centre

On Sunday February 20 from 2 to 6 pm our school will be a place that our primary aged students to receive the COVID vaccine for children. Further details will be available for parents to book an appointment online. We encourage parents to take advantage of the convenient location.

Please use this link to book your child/children's appointment/s. Please note that the venue is at St Francis de Sales 122 Patterson Drive, Lynbrook and NOT at the medical centre in the booking form.

Book Children's COVID Vaccine Appointment

COVID-19 vaccinations for students are not required for them to attend school but vaccination for students is encouraged.