St Francis Xavier Primary School - Lake Cargelligo eNewsletter

During 2023 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 - Implement system Literacy and Numeracy initiatives which will increase student assessment data.

Enhance and maintain the wellbeing of all - Continued increase of attendance rates and implementation of school-wide Well Being Policy.

Build a community that is connected - Increased promotion of the school Vision and Mission statements throughout the community and to continue to increase family attendance at school events.

What a wonderful Term 1 we have shared together!

All classes have settled well into new cohorts, new routines and new learning programs. Each day we see many examples of Kind Voices, Kind Words and Kind Actions both in the classroom and on the playground.

We have welcomed many consultants this term to support teachers continuing their own learning and development. The value of these sessions are evident in teaching and learning programs our staff are developing and delivering.

Highlights for the term include the Life Education van, the ZooMobile, Representative Sport, Meals on Wheels, Opening Mass, and our fantastic Art Show!

Many thanks to our students for their resilience, determination, joy and wonder.

Many thanks to our families for working with us to improve student learning.

Biggest thanks to all staff for their care and commitment to the SFX community! We wish you all a happy and healthy break, see you for Term 2!

Term 1

Thursday, 6th April - Holy Thursday - Last Day of Term 1

Friday, 7th April - Good Friday

Tuesday, 25th April - Anzac Day, Meet at the Post Office 10.45am

Wednesday, 26th April - Students Return - 1st day of Term 2

Friday, 28th April - WR Cross Country at Grenfell

Wednesday, 3rd May - School Community Council Meeting

Tuesday, 16th May - Year 3/4/5 preformance at Griffith Regional Theatre 'The Twits'

Holy Week is a time that is set apart in our Church’s liturgical year for our spiritual renewal. It is time that is set apart for us to focus on how we are spiritually renewed through the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

The liturgies of Holy Week are filled with some of the richest and most ancient symbols of the Catholic faith. The waving of palms on Passion (Palm) Sunday reminds us that we are called to be followers of Jesus, not just fans who cheer from a distance.

Lent 2023 — Calvary Episcopal Church

The washing of feet on Holy Thursday speaks to us of the selfless love that we are called to practice in imitation of Jesus. The veneration of the cross on Good Friday reminds us that, as Christians, we believe that Jesus can overcome anything, even death. The lighting of the Easter fire in a darkened church and the celebration of baptisms on Holy Saturday speak to us of the new life that is ours because of Jesus’ triumph over the darkness of sin and death through his resurrection. We look forward to concluding our term with a liturgy across at the Church. The liturgy journeys through Holy Week, providing time and space for us to reflect and renew our commitment to live as Jesus did. Many thanks to Mrs Golding for the work that goes into preparing a liturgy.

Kindergarten

Kinder have been working hard in literacy.

Year 1/2

Year 1/2 attended a session in the Healthy Harold van last week where the students learned about eating well, looking after our bodies and doing exercise to stay fir and healthy. They learned where all the important organs are located in our bodies, and talked about how to keep our heart and lungs and skin safe.

Year 3/4/5

What a busy term we have had! I think everyone is looking forward to a well earned break. Over term one year 3 and 5 tackled NAPLAN. It was a long two weeks with lots of timetable changes and a lot of amazing work and effort put in by all the children.

Some of our favourite moments from term one include:

Zoo mobile
Whole school sport
PE with year 6
Dance with Miss Laura
Science
Energisers and movement breaks
Playing Kahoot
Reading then watching the BFG
NAPLAN

As we wind down for the holidays we have been learning all about Easter and why it is such a special celebration. We would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter.

Class 3/4/5 did some cooking last week. They made Popcorn Rocky Road with lots of delicious indredients. They set them in individual patty cases so they didnt have to wait so long!

10m prep, 10m cook, makes up to 8 cups

Ingredients

1/3 cup popping corn

200g milk dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup mini marshmallows

190g packet raspberry jellies, halved

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Step 1 Cook popping corn following packet directions. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl, removing any unpopped corn. Cool completely.

Step 2 Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Step 3 Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds with a metal spoon, until melted

Step 4 Pour half the chocolate over popcorn. Mix well to coat. Toss through half of the marshmallows and raspberry jellies and 1/3 cup coconut.

Step 5 Spread out onto prepared tray. Drizzle with remaining chocolate. Top with remaining marshmallows, raspberry jellies and coconut. Set aside to cool completely.

Step 6 Break popcorn into pieces. Serve.

Year 6

As we come closer to the end of term one, we sadly say goodbye to one of our favourite teaching support staff, Miss Charlotte Browne. She has supported many students of SFX, especially year 6 Yibaay students. Yibbay would like to wish you all the best of luck on your journey to Townsville QLD, and hope to see you back for visit.

Year 6 have also been involved in the Good to great schools science program. Lake SFX Yibaay (Year 6) students racing to get their experiment under way.

Today students learnt about Micro-organisms using tank water. Studnets analysed, observed and assessed the water. What fun!

Students are invited to march on Tuesday, 25th April 2023 for Anzac Day. They are to wear full winter uniform and ties for the march will be supplied. Students are to meet at the Post Office at 10.45am. We look forward to seeing students there on the day.

Seasons for Growth

Seasons for Growth will commence for year 6 students the second week of term 2 with an information session being held on Thursday the 27^th of April. We will be joining with students from Lake Cargelligo Central School with the sessions being facilitated by Bridget Byrne from LCCS and Nicole Wood and Emily Blacker from SFX. Notes have been sent home this week, please return asap.

Seasons for Growth is an innovative, evidence-based change, loss and grief education program that draws on the metaphor of the seasons to understand the experience of grief. It builds the knowledge and skills necessary to strengthen social and emotional wellbeing following significant loss by:

Exploring the impact of change and loss
Learning about effective ways to respond and adapt

Participants learn that they are not alone in their experience of change, loss and grief, and are able to build their communication, decision making and problem-solving skills within the context of a safe and supportive peer group learning environment.

Factsheet_Children_Grief_Web.pdf

Factsheet_Children_Grief_Web _pdf 264.72 KB

A number of staff members are undertaking training in the Body Bright Program, this will be implemented in our school over the next few months.

Butterfly Body Bright has been developed by the Prevention Services Team at Butterfly Foundation with the support of Australian body image, eating disorder, mental health and education experts as well as people with a lived experience.

Why_is_BBB_important.pdf

Why_is_BBB_important _pdf 65.18 KB

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The School enjoyed healthy Harold this week. They learnt about various things like learning about what foods are healthy and unhealthy. What things are safe and unsafe and they also learnt about the organs that make up our bodies. Year 6 attended a relate, respect and connect session and saw the Golden Toilet.

May be an image of text that says "6 April Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents 12 April Reading at Home With Your Child 21 April Developing Resilience in Children 24 April Supporting Your Child With Pencil Grip at Home April Webinars for Parents"

As Term 1 comes to an end, you may notice your child is having difficulty in some areas of their learning or wellbeing. We have a range of free parent webinars that provide you with practical strategies to support your child in Term 2.

See what's coming up in April

Register here: https://bit.ly/3kkCAIP

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