As we begin Term 2 we would like to continue to thank our families for their continued support in keeping us all safe and healthy. We ask families to continue to keep students home if they are unwell. 

We have a few changes to staffing this term. We would like to welcome new staff members, Miss Ellie Shannon and Ailsa Smith. Year 1/2 have Miss Shannon working with Mrs Shaw as their classroom teachers. Mrs Shaw will teach Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while Miss Shannon will teach on Thursdays and Fridays.

Ailsa Smith has joined our school community again, as our cleaner. Ailsa has done an amazing job this week. Brett Asmus resigned at the end of Term One and we were extremely grateful for all his work in our school. Thank you to Kristy Brooks for covering the cleaning in the interim period.

Another change to our classroom teachers is in Year 5/6. Miss Anita Carter will be team teaching with Miss Corcoran and will be the teacher on 5/6 each Friday.

Mrs MacRae will be taking this term off as Long Service Leave. While on leave this term Mrs Rebecca Keeley will be working in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

As a school community we continue to be blessed with amazing staff that care for our students and our school community. 

Congratulations to Shellie Lawlor on winning the Thermomix Mothers Day Raffle that was drawn today.

Thank you to everyone that supported this fantastic fundraiser.

TERM 2 

Thursday 12th May - AECG Meeting @ Land Council 3.30pm

Friday 13th May - Pirate Day - preschool visit

Tuesday 17th May - School Community Council Meeting @ 6pm 

9th to 20th May - NAPLAN for students in Year 3 and Year 5

Friday 20th May - Biggest Morning Tea at 11am

                        - School Mass @ 11.30am

                        - Assembly Kinder and Year 5/6 @ 12.30pm

                        - First Eucharist Information Session @ 1pm

Tuesday 24th May - CWA Public Speaking

Thursday 26th May - 5/6 League Day (Griffith) and National Sorry Day

Tuesday 31st May - Reconcillation Day 

PLEASE NOTE - End of Term 2 will be Wednesday 29th June for students. Thursday 30th June and Friday 1st July will be additional Pupil Free Days.

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit in May each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students do. As students progress through their school years, it’s important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.

Our Year 3 and Year 5 students will sit these assessments over the next 2 weeks. The agenda for these assessments is as follows:-

Tuesday 10th May - Year 5 Writing

Wednesday 11th May - Year 3 Writing

Thursday 12th May - Year 3 and Year 5 Reading

Friday 13th May - Catch up day

Monday 16th May - Year 5 Conventions of Language

Tuesday 17th May - Year 3 Conventions of Language and Year 5 Mathematics

Thursday 19th May - Year 3 Mathematics and Catch up if needed

More information for families can be found at the following website - https://www.nap.edu.au/home 

A Faith Formation session for the Sacrament of First Eucharist will be held on Friday 20th May at 1:00pm in the School Library. The commitment mass for students and families is Saturday 4th June at 6:00pm. Children will celebrate the Sacrament on Saturday 18th June at 6:00pm. Please contact Mrs Morris with any questions.

Students in Year 3/4/5/6 have been writing speeches this week for the CWA Public Speaking Competition. Students will present speeches in class next week to work out the students eligible to represent the school this competition. Notes will come home next week to the 4 students chosen to represent the school. If you have time on the weekend please ask your child about these speeches and assist in any way you can. Thanks.

There was a terrific turn out of our students representing our school at the Lake Cargelligo Anzac Day Ceremony. The students showed respect, excellent behaviour and outstanding leadership, particularly from our senior students. We were so proud of Seraya Clarke who did a fantastic reading for the Anzacs by the Lake foreshores.

During Term 2 Library days for students are as follows - 

* Wednesday - Kindergarten and Year 5/6

* Thursday - Year 1/2 and Year 3/4

Students will need to bring a library bag to school to bring library books home. If students forget their library books on their library day they can bring them in any other day to Mrs Elwin and they will be returned so students can borrow new books.

NEW DATE - Term 3 School Community Council meeting will be held on next Thursday, 25th August 2022, in the staff room. 

Current Agenda Items are:

• Uniforms
• Fundraising (Father Day Raffle and Art Show)
• 5/6 Excursion (Amount)
• Mission and Vision Statement
• Interagency catering
• Attracting Teachers
• Pupil Free Days
• Covid Update
• Tell Them From Me Survey
• Volunteers – Cleaning Kitchen
• Lunch Boxes (Lollies at School)
• CDF Netbanking
• Contract Renewals
• Bus Shed/Shelter
• 2023-2025 Strategic Plan - Brad Gaynor from CE will support us with this process.

If there is anything that you would like added to the agenda please contact either Jacinta or Sharna.

We encourage and welcome all to attend the School Community Council meetings. If you would like to find out more about the School Community Council please contact the school.

Year 5/6 students worked hard filling new garden beds and planting lovely scented plants for our new Sensory Garden area near the sand pit, as well as delicious fresh herbs for us to use in cooking lessons. The boys also dug out the old compost pile which has turned last years fruit and lunch scraps into beautiful new soil. All students at SFX are contributing to a more sustainable environment!

We wish all of our mothers a very happy Mothers Day for Sunday. Thank you to the families who attended our Mothers Day School mass today.

For those who enjoy crafting - easy to follow Mothers Day Cards with Origami Hearts (keep the kids busy)...

Art with Jane- Mothers' Day Cards with origami hearts - YouTube

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

As it is near the end of the term and so many children are getting sick, Years 1 & 2 will not be getting any homework for Weeks 9 and 10. However they will continue to get books to read. Reading 15 mins a night will significantly increase a child’s stamina for reading.

YEAR 3/4 NEWS

Marley has enjoyed being creative at lunch time. 

YEAR 5/6 NEWS

Join us to support Australia's leading cancer charity, working to support people impacted by cancer when they need it most, speak out on behalf of the community on cancer issues, empower people to reduce their cancer risk, and find new ways to better detect and treat cancer.

Our morning tea is set to be bigger and better than ever! We'd love to connect with you over provided coffee, tea and nibbles!

When: Friday, 20th May         Time: 10:30am to 11:15am

Where: St Francis Xavier School Staffroom - join us afterwards for our School Mass

What day is Sports Day for my child?

Term 2 Sports Days for studens is Friday's for Kinder, Years 1, 2, 3/4 and 5/6

As you know, reading at home for fun has long-lasting benefits. It builds vocabulary, comprehension, and phonological awareness. Each of these skills is a prerequisite for later success in reading, but of even greater importance is that frequent, pleasurable reading time spent with family to fall in love with the joy and power of books!

Celebrate reading more this May in a way that works well for your family. Make a personal reading challenge and encourage the whole family to do the same. Join in the fun along with author Josh Pyke, our National Family Reading Month Ambassador for 2022. Following this link to find out more National Family Reading Month 2022 | Scholastic Australia

Ms Wheeler has sent home a request for your favourite family recipes to add to a school cookbook, so please get them into us and ask other family member too - the more the better. Thankyou for your help with this.

Some cooking inspriation...

Sticky lemon & sesame chicken

 Ingredients

• 8-10 skinless boneless chicken thighs
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tblsp peanut/olive oil
• 2 tsp cornflour
• zest and juice 2 large lemons
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• cooked noodles or rice, to serve
• cooked greens (such as sugar snap peas and pak choi), to serve

Method

Pour oils into wok or frying pan. Chop chicken into pieces and stirfry in the oil.

To make the sauce:

• Add cornflour into a bowl and whisk in the lemon zest and juice until any lumps disappear.
• Add the honey, soy and sesame seeds and mix again. 

Pour the sauce over the chicken, making sure every piece is well coated – it will still be very runny at this stage.

Cook for another 5-10 mins, spooning the sauce over the chicken every 2-3 mins as it thickens. If the sauce gets too thick, add a splash of water and scrape any sticky bits from the bottom of the tin.

Serve with noodles or rice, and vegies, with the extra sauce poured over the top.

ENJOY!!

Thank you to those who have put their names down for the Canteen Cooking Roster. It would be ideal to have 2 parents on each Friday to share the load. Please contact Sharna on 0427 399 970 if anyone else can assist with cooking for the Canteen.

6th May - Therese Stenhouse

13th May - Anna Doyle and Rebecca Keeley

20th May - Sharna Hayward and Jacinta Elwin

27th May - Kate Alexander and Amy Golding

3rd June - Anna Doyle and Shelley Ma

10th June - Erika Bartholomew

17th June - Therese Stenhouse and Jacinta Elwin

24th June - Amanda Faff and Sharna Hayward

1st July - Amanda Faff and Shane Phillips

Our lovely School Counsellor, Emma McRae, will not be with us this term. To continue offering support to our students, families and school staff, Donna Spillman, a Telehealth Counsellor will be filling in for her. Donna will be available on Thursdays via Zoom for our students, and we will provide a private space with an adult close by to take them back to class when finished.

Donna will also be offering some courses for parents, so this is a wonderful opportunity for us to make use of different services. The first on-line course on offer is the "Bringing up Great Kids" program. This is free to parents and consists of 12 hours online in small groups, spread over the school term.

Donna would love to hear from you with other topics or activities that would be valuable for you and your children. You can contact her directly at donna.spillman@catholiccare.cg.org.au. The normal referral process for individual counselling will continue. Register here School Referral Form (force.com)