St Francis Xavier Primary School - Lake Cargelligo eNewsletter

During 2021 our educational focus will be to improve Literacy and Numeracy skills — staff, students and families working together so all our students achieve at least 12 months growth. Other goals for the year are:

Build a community that continues to learn

Through:- Building a school wide approach to the teaching and learning and increasing teacher capacity.

Enhance and maintain the wellbeing of all

Our target for the year:- Attendance rates will increase from 88% to 95% across the school, and we will maintain representation throughout the community

Build a community that is connected

Our target for the year:- Increase family attendance at interviews and open day and introduce Yarn Time sessions

Thank you to families for supporting our school community with the new health regulations. We also really appreciate the medical certificates when students are returning to school.

Just to remind everyone again the NSW regulations are as follows: -

If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. If your child becomes unwell during the day you will be asked to collect them.
Students absent or sent home due to flu-like symptoms need to be tested
Students must not return to school until they return a negative COVID-19 result and are symptoms free
Schools must sight the negative COVID-19 test result prior to allowing students to return to school
Parents and community members should avoid routinely entering the school where possible but can attend scheduled school events and meetings with teachers where required (physical distancing and hygiene measures still apply).

I would also like to thank all that attended our School Community Council Meeting last week. Even though it was via Zoom the meeting successfully discussed many items, including Well Being of Staff and Students, 2021 class arrangements, fundraising and uniform.

There were some changes made to the Winter uniform, including allowing blue tights to be worn with the girls skorts and the summer T-shirt being allowed to be worn with winter jumpers and trousures.

The discussion regarding student and staff well being was really important. We are aware that with COVID restrictions families and students have struggled with not seeing relatives, not being able to travel, not being able to play sport or go to sport events and these and the remote learning has caused increased anxiety and other well being concerns. As a school we are aware of some of these concerns with our students and are implementing programs and support for these needs.

If families have any further concerns regarding the well being of your child please let us know. Our school counselor, Emma McRae will be visiting Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th of next week to work with our students.

Kinder/1/2 have been learning about countries and maps this week in class. Children worked together to draw and label maps of Australia, China, Poland and Germany.

Next Friday is National Walk Safely to School Day. This is an annual event when all Primary School children are encouraged to walk and commute safely to school. It is a Community Event seeking to promote Road Safety, Health, Public Transport and the Environment.

Please consider (if possible) walking to school next Friday to celebrate this event.

Last week students in Year 5/6 cooked fried rice and strawberry mousse. Most ingredients used were locally sourced. The students enjoyed their cooking experience and loved taste testing (as did the staff - particularly with the mousse - YUM!).

Student Wellbeing

Last year we were successful in securing funding to implement a School Chaplaincy program to support student wellbeing. We have been fortunate enough to employ two amazing staff for this role and our Wellbeing Officers started this term. To date Miss Nicole and Miss Emily have participated in professional development, established great rapport with the students and provided much needed support on the playground. Miss Nicole and Miss Emily will be working with individuals, small groups and whole groups for the rest of the year. Some of the programs being implemented are:

Bounceback supports teachers and schools promote positive mental health, wellbeing and resilience for both students and teachers and builds safe and supportive class and school learning environments.

Girlwise focuses on social and emotional wellbeing – providing strategies to manage feelings and self-esteem, negotiate friendships, identifying own strengths and talents and builds a sense of belonging and community of caring for others. Seasons for Growth builds on skills and knowledge to strengthen social and emotional wellbeing, exploring the impact of change and loss and learning effective ways to respond to and adapt to these.

Next Friday the 11th we will celebrate White Balloon Day at school,

White Balloon Day raises awareness of the crime of child sexual assault and how our community can take an active role in protecting children.

We will have Ice-Cream Sundaes for sale at recess for $2.00 each.

On the day students are encouraged to wear White T-shirts to school.

All money raised will be donated to Bravehearts, White Balloon Day.

A Prayer in the Time of the Coronavirus

Almighty and All–loving God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
we pray to you through Christ the Healer
for those who suffer from the Coronavirus Covid–19
across the world.

We pray too for all who reach out to those who mourn the loss

of each and every person who has died as a result of contracting the disease.

Give wisdom to policymakers,
skill to healthcare professionals and researchers,
comfort to everyone in distress
and a sense of calm to us all in these days of uncertainty and distress.

This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord
who showed compassion to the outcast,
acceptance to the rejected
and love to those to whom no love was shown.

Amen.

The Early Years Foundations for Learning website is now live!

‘Phase One’ of the Early Years Foundations for Learning website has been launched.

The Early Years Foundations for Learning project responds to the national and NSW bilateral reform priority to support students, student learning and student achievement, with a particular focus on boosting early achievement in literacy and numeracy.

The project has been funded under the Commonwealth Government’s Non-Government Reform Support Fund.

The website can be found at https://earlyyears.csnsw.catholic.edu.au/

Areas to check out are the Literacy, Numeracy, Learning through Play and Well-being for Learning areas.

This week students in Year 3/4 have been working on some beautiful art creations.

Our school will be participating in Fruit and Veg month, this week and until the end of the term. We are challenging each class to eat more fruit and vegies. We will have a reward for the class that eat the most fruit and veg during this month. We will also be doing some exciting cook ups and working in the school veggie patch as well as learning about the importance of eating fruit and vegies.

Please support this important month by helping your children to eat more fruit and vegies each day!

PLEASE NOTE: The first 2 days of Term 4 are Pupil Free Days due to some important staff professional learning days. Staff will be completing these learning opportunities via Zoom, so school will be open.

Students return on Wednesday 14th October in full summer uniform including HATS.

Wishing all our wonder male role models a happy day for this Sunday.

The Importance of Sleep ~ Take Steps Towards Successful Shuteye

Set a realistic daily schedule that your family can consistently follow to make sleep a priority—your child will find comfort and security in the predictability of the day!

Night-time routines can include books, teeth brushing, bathing, and bedtime.

The research is clear: children learn more and are healthier when they get enough sleep. While there are no hard-and-fast rules for bedtime, you can use this chart as a guide to help you set a bedtime you can consistently maintain.

Summer Uniform

Polo Shirts $20.00

School Dress $35.00

Navy Skort $22.00

Navy Shorts $18.00

Sports Uniform

Sports Shorts $15.00

Sports Polo Shirts $20.00

Track Pants $28.00

Jackets $40.00

Winter Uniform

Navy Blue Trousers $25.00

Navy Blue Slacks $25.00

Blue LS Shirts $25.00

Polar Fleece Jumpers $30.00

Accessories

School Hat $15.00

School Tie $10.00

School Beanie $10.00

School Scaves $5.00

School Headband $3.00

School Scrunchie $2.00