Good afternoon parent and carers,

NAPLAN Assessment Period

Today draws a close to our busy fortnight of NAPLAN assessments for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students. Thank you to all of our staff members for their support during this two-week period, as they supervised and offered technical guidance to our students throughout the assessment phase. A special thank you to all our parents for ensuring our students had a good night sleep and a healthy breakfast prior to the day of assessments.

VET Courses in Stage 5

This year our Stage 5 students (Year 9 & 10) have been provided with an opportunity to complete a VET Course (Certificate 1) as part of our elective offerings. This year our students have had the choice of:

Certificate 1 Hospitality (Food & Beverage)
Certificate 1 Retail
Certificate 1 Workplace Skills (Formerly Business Services)
Certificate 1 Manufacturing (TAFE)

These offerings provide students with an exciting future pathway if they wish to pursue their interests in Stage 6.

As you are no doubt aware, our canteen is closed one Monday each fortnight to allow for this space to be used as a 'micro' commerical kitchen for the delivery of the Certificate 1 Hospitality. During this term, the Hospitality students in Stage 5 have been acquiring knowledge about maintaining elevated levels of hygiene for ensuring food safety, while also actively engaging in safe work procedures. Our students have also been developing their cooking skills and knowledge through learning knife skills and preparing:

Chocolate Chip, Blueberry, and Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins
White Chocolate, Oat and Cranberry Cookies
Milkshakes
Hot Chocolate

The pictures below show our current students demonstrating their new hospitality skills and talents.

Prime Energy Drinks

Yesterday a number of students in Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6) and Secondary (Years 7-10) brought into school a newly released energy/hydration drink called Prime Energy as a result of a 'global' hype surrounding the release of this drink by well known (maybe not to our parents but definitely to our students) social media personalities Logan Paul and KSI. The school is asking our parents to engage with their children regarding the health risks associated with the consumption of these types of energy drinks.

I have included a number of BTN (Behind the News) articles (and their children) to provide further clarity around these drinks.

I would ask that parents support the school by ensuring that these 'types' of energy drinks are not making their way to school in their children's bags. Having these drinks at school is not suitable for students and any student discovered with them will have them confiscated. Parents will be contacted to collect the drinks from the School Office. Drinks will not be given back to students once confiscated.

Moree Youth Gathering

Thank you to the many students that participated in the first St Francis Xavier Youth Gathering on Sunday evening. Approximately 30 young people (from Year 5 to Year 11) gathered at St Francis Xavier's Catholic Church to celebrate a Mass organised and run by our youth for our youth. Mass was followed by a pizza dinner and an information session. Thank you to Father Damien, Fr Vic, Miss Roache, Miss MacMahon and Mr King for your engagement and support in the gathering. As a result of the events success, the parish plan to organize at least two additional gatherings in the upcoming term. More details regarding the events will be shared at the start of next term.

Thank you all for a wonderful week. Have a great weekend.

God bless,

Jamie McDowall

Principal

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