From the Principal

Happy Father's Day to all our dad's, Granddads and important people in our life who are a father to us. Even though we are in lockdown for another Father's Day we hope you have a special day as family with lots of fun time together and even on What's app of Face time.

Please click here to watch the Week 8 Father's Day Assembly.

We will succeed together

Due to the ongoing level of community transmission of COVID-19, the Victorian Government has announced that the current restrictions in place across Victoria will be extended. This means remote and flexible learning will continue in all Victorian schools until the end of Term 3. At St Francis de Sales we will continue with the program as we have been doing over the past few weeks. We understand this time has been challenging for students, parents and staff. I commend our school community on the way we have all worked together to support the learning of our children. We will continue to succeed through this time together.

At St Francis de Sales we do have a well being team that includes a school chaplain, Well being leader, a school based psychologist and a Student Wellbeing Team. Please reach out to your child's Home Group teacher or call the school if you wish to connect with our well being team. Alternatively please chat to the teachers at parent/teacher interviews that will be held on Thursday 9 September.

Further support is also available online. 

• ‘There are some great websites you can check out to get more information.  There is headspace or ReachOut or youthbeyondblue. 
• ‘Did you know that you can get free and confidential support online or over the phone from places like headspace, Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 and Lifeline? All of these services are anonymous and can help you figure out what’s going on for you and where to go for the right support.’

You are not alone, there is support. Please reach out, we can get through this time together. We cannot wait to see our children back at school as soon as possible.

NAPLAN 2021

NAPLAN 2021 reports for Year 3 and Year 5 students arrived this week. Year 3 and Year 5 reports can be collected from the school office during school office hours from 8:30am to 4pm each day next week. Please remember to wear a mask and maintain social distancing. Only two parents are permitted to enter the foyer. We ask you to follow our safety plan. Alternatively, you can request to have your child's report mailed to you. Reports not collected after Thursday 9 the September will be mailed.

We are very pleased with the results of our students which shows they have maintained their learning despite the interruptions due to our lockdowns last year. In the vast majority of areas tested our school has performed better than when tested in 2019. Our school average is very similar to the state average. Victoria as a state had the best results in Australia. We are delighted by the gains made by students from Year 3 to Year 5 in particular. Our school mean Yr 3 to Yr 5 comparison, is better than the state mean in all areas tested.

1:1 Device Program at St Francis de Sales

We have consulted with our Year 3 parents regarding the trial implementation of the 1:1 device program in 2021. The response has been very positive and 92% are in favour of continuing with the program for their child. 

St Francis de Sales has decided to phase in a 1:1 device program for senior students for use at school and to continue learning at home. 

• In 2022 - Yr 4’s will continue. Yr 3 will commence.
• In 2023 - Yr 5 & Yr 4’s will continue. Yr 3 will commence.

Full implementation in 2024 with all seniors having access to our 1:1 device program.

Parents will have the choice of paying for the device upfront with a discount or paying for it over 4 years or opting out. At the end of the four years the child will own the device.

There will be a ZOOM information session held on Wednesday 8th September for current Year 2 parents. Details have been shared via Operoo.

Numeracy Professional Development

On Thursday our staff attended an online numeracy professional development session run by the mathematics team from MACS. The junior staff attended a session from 9 am -11 am and the senior staff attended a session from 11:30 am -1:30 pm. This is our fifth session for the year. Despite this week's session being online, our staff have found the time to consider strategies for teaching concepts very valuable. These sessions help ensure a common understanding and consistent approaches across the school. Consistent implementation will further enhance the learning opportunities and outcomes of our students. 

The focus for this week's session was on Addition and Subtraction. We had a focus on the development of mental strategies.

The development of mental strategies is a prerequisite to students completing formal algorithms. A good understanding of number is essential and we need to give children time to practice these strategies before we show them procedures on paper. 

In mental computation the student has to think about the particular numbers involved, and use understanding of number relationships and the operations involved, in order to come up with a mental solution strategy. Thus mental computation demands active thought about numbers and operations, rather than unthinking recall of procedures.

e.g We want children to be able to calculate 109 + 12 mentally by for example using known fact families to 10 or even better fact families to 20. So 12 + 8 equals 20 +1 = 21 and adding 100 makes 121, rather than  trying to do a vertical algorithm with pen and paper or imagining doing a vertical calculation in my mind ( 9+2  is 11 so put down the 1 and carry the 1,)  is not an efficient mental strategy.

As parents you can help your child practice these skills when playing games with dice, cards, dominoes, spinners and velcro dart board etc. Modify games you know.

e.g Learning fact families to 5 - The game fish is played by asking for a matching card. Deal out 5 cards each.  Use a pack with only ace=1, 2.3.4 and the game can be to ask for the card to pair with the card in my hand to make 5.  If the partner does not have it, you fish for another card by taking the top card in the spare stack. Thus practicing fact families to 5. 4+1, 3+2, 2+3, 1+ 4,  if you have blank cards you can also add 5+0 and 0+5. You can increase the difficulty to fact families to 10. We will share other games with you in coming weeks.

Stay safe and Happy Father's Day.

Christine White

Principal