Principal's Report
Saint Francis Xavier - Principal's Report
Term 3 - Week 2
Dear Parents and Friends of St Francis Xavier,
It is an absolute pleasure to welcome everyone back to school for an engaging and exciting Term 3. I hope it has been a smooth transition back from the holidays, which seem like a distant memory already. On the whole, the students have settled back extremely well.
I am thinking of this term as the 'Lets Get Active' term at S.F.X.
One of the legacies of the 2020/21 COVID lockdowns in Victoria is the impact they had on children's physical fitness and wellbeing. This was due to a wide range of factors including no community sport during the period, families inability to gather socially for kids to play and a general lack of motivation that many suffered during these challenging periods.
We have started to notice the impact here at school. For many of the students, simply getting through their regular 40 minute Physical Education class without becoming overly fatigued has been a struggle. There has also been a decline in skills such as throwing, catching and bouncing compared to previous years.
I believe one of the key reasons of this decline is the fact that a large number of children, especially those in the 4-7 year old age group, did not have the opportunity to get involved in any of the amazing junior sport programs offered locally in the past due to sport being cancelled for so long. I wanted to draw your attention to some of the amazing programs which are accessible in Frankston and the surrounding suburbs, such as Auskick (AFL), Aussie Hoops (Basketball), Mini Roos (Soccer), NetSetGo (Netball), Hot Shots (Tennis), along with many, many others. They are all brilliant, back up and running and always keen for new faces to walk through their doors. If you would like for your child to start getting more active, I strongly encourage you to have a look at the following websites and give them a call.
https://play.afl/auskick/login (AFL)
https://aussiehoops.basketball/ (Basketball)
https://www.playfootball.com.au/miniroos (Soccer)
https://vic.netball.com.au/woolworths-netsetgo (Netball)
https://hotshots.tennis.com.au/ (Tennis)
If none of these sports appeal to your child, then possibly gymnastics, martial arts, golf, little athletics, swimming, dance classes, skating or something completely different might be worth a try. A google search of any sport will point you in the direction of a variety of options in the Frankston and surrounding areas.
As a school, we are also making sure that there is ample opportunity for our students to have fun playing sport and keeping fit. Yesterday's Kaboom Sports Day was a great example of students being outdoors, working together, having fun and keeping active.
Some of the other things to look forward to this term are;
- Weekly Circus Skills sessions and a whole school performance at the end of term
- An extra Physical Education class each week with Miss Emma, focusing on fitness and coordination
- Running Club every Wednesday morning between 8:10am - 8:30am (parents are more than welcome to run/jog/walk a few laps ;)
- An AFL 'Footy Day' on Tuesday 30th August
- Grade 5/6 students attending Camp Rumbug, an adventure camp in Foster.
COVID/Masks update
The Department of Health is strongly encouraging all students over the age of 8 to wear face masks while indoors at school until the end of Winter.
We have had a lot of phone calls to school this week asking as to whether there wearing of masks is mandatory or just recommended. I can confirm that it is strong recommendation, however it is not mandatory for students of staff to be wearing a face mask.
Rapid Antigen Test will not longer be provided to each student. However, if a student is feeling unwell you can request a box of rapid tests by calling the office.
Please continue to keep your children at home when they are unwell. I know that many families are doing this and I thank you for helping to stop the spread of various bugs and germs in the school by doing so.
Steve Peart
School Principal