St Francis of Assisi News
Term 4 Issue 38 16th November 2023
ANNUAL COMMUNITY MEETING - TUE 21 NOV @ 3:30pm
CHRISTMAS CONCERT WED 29 NOV 6pm
NOONGAR SEASON OF KAMBARANG (OCT-NOV)
PRINCIPAL'S POST
Dear Parents & Caregivers,
Welcome to the second last newsletter of 2023! We are right in the thick of the events season at school so please read on and take note of some significant dates approaching.
ANNUAL COMMUNITY MEETING - Tue NOV 21st (3:30pm)
Our Annual Community Meeting of the School Advisory Council and Parents & Friends Association will take place on Tuesday 21st November from 3:30 - 4:30pm. The meeting will be streamed and will outline a review of 2023 for both groups including major achievements across the four pillars Catholic Identity, Education, Community and Stewardship. Staffing for 2024 will also be announced along with school fees. I encourage all parents to attend or watch the stream via this link:
https://youtube.com/live/_3JLyzL89Do?feature=share
FRIENDS OF FRANCIS GAMES DAY - Wed 22nd Nov
Congratulations to our whole school for their efforts in the Friends of Francis this year. As a result of the whole school making their target, there will be some giant games for play on the oval next Wednesday 22nd Nov. Children will be able to wear FREE DRESS for the day! Thank you to Mrs Ward and the Wellbeing Team (Miss K, Mrs Coker, Mrs Kavanagh, Mrs Baker, Ms Ford) for all their coordination of Friends of Francis this year.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT - Wed Nov 29th (from 4:30pm)
Our children have been super excited preparing with Make A Move Performance Program for our annual Christmas Concert. A lot of creativity and rehearsals have taken place to ensure a polished performance on the night. To make a community night of it, we have organised two food trucks to be on site from 4:30pm. Last orders will be taken at 7pm to ensure there is plenty of time to pack up.
- The Pitch Inn - Burgers
- Passaporola Pizza - Pizza
Parents are encouraged to come with their families early and find a spot on the grass or under the new covered area to enjoy some non-alcoholic beverages and delicious food from the two food vans. I have attached menus for both food trucks below. Doors to the hall will only open from 5:45pm to avoid families saving seats and give everyone an opportunity to view the concert. For those unable to attend but wishing to watch a live stream of the event, it can be accessed here:
https://youtube.com/live/7s0Zc9_NWnc?feature=share
THANKSGIVING & GRADUATION MASS - Wed 6th Dec (8:45am)
Our final mass and gathering of the year will take place on Wednesday 6th December. Traditionally, this is our whole school mass to give thanks for the year we have enjoyed and all our successes. It is also an opportunity to formally farewell our Year 6 children as they graduate at St Francis of Assisi. Any staff moving on are farewelled and there is a morning tea (provided by the P&F) for the Year 6 graduates and their family after mass. It is an extended mass and presentation of awards so please be prepared for this to conclude at 10am. This mass will also be streamed and a link is provided below.
https://youtube.com/live/kpdHLUhprJk?feature=share
SEQTA ENGAGE REPORTING - S2 ACADEMIC REPORTS 7th Dec
A reminder that our Semester Two academic reports will once again be released via Seqta Engage at the conclusion of the school year. Please ensure you have your username and password and can access the SEQTA ENGAGE app. If you have any difficulties, feel free to email mailto:ithelp@stfrancisbutler.wa.edu.au
CLASS LISTS & TEACHER REQUESTS 2024
In preparation for the coming school year, discussions and meetings are taking place with teachers, students, support staff and leadership. Many hours are spent taking a very measured and balanced approach when preparing these lists and placing children in classes. Classes are always evenly distributed according to academic, social and emotional needs.
Processes are in place across the school so that each child nominates five friends and we guarantee at least one friend preference is met. We do take into consideration every child's personality, learning and social needs, and balance the class accordingly. As a result, we cannot accommodate parent requests. I appreciate parents know their child and want the best possible outcome for them, but please trust that we are striving for the same outcome for the needs of every individual child in the school. I ask that parents please do not contact teachers to make class or teacher requests. Any such requests can be directed to me.
LOCAVORA LUNCH ORDERS 2024
If you are yet to do so, please create an account with Locavora to enable your child to order lunches from Monday - Thursday in 2024. Parents can setup their account this year and add credit through the My Wallet feature and the attachment below explains this process.
*PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ANY ORDERS IN 2023 AS THESE WILL NOT BE FILLED!
https://schools.locavora.com.au/
2023 P&F CONTRIBUTION
Thanks to the enormous success of the Colour Run and the outstanding efforts from families and the P&F volunteers, I am please to announce that the P&F are contributing $20 000 to the school to support the installation of two new key additions:
1. K/PP Bike Track
2. Year 5/6 Nature Play Fort
Both these projects are only possible thanks to the generosity of parents and the hours of hard work by volunteers throughout the course of 2023. The School Advisory Council engaged with quotes from various suppliers and the most creative and purposeful contractor will be installing the new features over the summer holidays ready for 2024! Our sincere thanks to all parents in the community and their commitment to raising funds to benefit our children.
2024 PUPIL FREE DAYS AND TERM DATES
All pupil free dates and term dates have been finalised for 2024 and are attached below. Please familiarise yourselves with the holiday dates and pupil free days. We have liaised with IMCC to try to align dates where possible as we did in 2023. The important dates for Term 1 will be released in the last newsletter of this year and all other dates will be added to the school online calendar.
If you are planning any holidays for 2024, please take the time to go through the online calendar and ensure there are no important school commitments at a similar time to any travel plans. Please remember, you also need to complete the extended leave of absence form on our website for travel plans - this is a requirement of the Department of Education to ensure whereabouts of children not at school during term time.
I look forward to seeing all our parents in the next couple of weeks, whether that be at the ACM, Year 6 Assembly, Christmas Concert or Graduation and Thanksgiving Mass! Good luck to the Australian Men's Cricket team tonight for the World Cup Semi-Final!
Have a great couple of weeks ahead.
Best wishes
Jason Baker
Principal
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
CHRISTMAS HAMPER APPEAL 2024
It's that time of year again, when we come together as a school community to assist other families in our parish to enjoy and experience Christmas. Our annual Christmas Hamper Appeal for St Vincent de Paul started on Monday and will continue to Monday 4th December. Please keep reading the newsletter & check seesaw for details.
ADVENT
What is Advent? Anticipation. Expectant waiting. This is what Advent has always been and will always be about.
After Christmas began being celebrated on December 25th (in the 4th century), church leaders started to treat it similarly to Easter and asked people to worship and prepare their hearts in advance to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Christ has died, Christ has risen, and at Advent, we remember that Christ will come again.
Advent became a time to remember that we are living between two advents: the first coming of Christ (His birth) and His second coming. Today, many Christians mark the four weeks before Christmas as the season of Advent., focusing each week on a different aspect of our relationship with Jesus: the hope, peace, joy, and love He brings. Advent also serves as the beginning of the Catholic Church Liturgical Calendar.
The Advent season is an opportunity to focus on Jesus and prepare our hearts to receive the gift of His love.
Each Monday until the end of Term, we will share Advent prayers with our school community.
Pax et bonum - peace and goodness (St Francis of Assisi)
Miss Dee Campbell
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Congratulations to Kaden Keen who competed in the WA state title for flat tracking last weekend and came away with 1st place. Kaden tells me he has upgraded his bike to 65cc so be on the lookout! Well done, Kaden. A great achievement!
SCHOOL FEE INFORMATION
Dear Parents,
Just a gentle reminder that all school fees need to be finalised before the end of term 4. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please contact me ASAP on 089562 9528 or finance@stfrancisbutler.wa.edu.au
All families on Centrelink Health Care Card (HCC) need to provide the school with their current card to continue receiving the discount for 2023. If your card has expired, please bring in your new card to the school office ASAP.
Kind regards,
Geneve Bastian
P&F NEWS
The P & F’s final meeting for the year will be Tuesday 21st November at 8:30 am. We will provide a full P & F update for 2023 at the ACM later that day.
The Colour Explosion Fun Run was a huge success and a massive $18,685 was raised. This money will go towards the new playground in the Year 5/6 area and the new bike track for the Kindy’s and Pre Primary’s. Your prizes are on the way with those who raised over $20 each, to go into the draw to Slime-A-Teacher on the last day of school.
Congratulations to PPW on being the class that raised the most money. Beauden Morgan from PPB raised a whopping $875. The top 3 fundraising students were Beauden Morgan, Tatenda Mandirahwe, and Zoe Stevens. They will be attending Lunch with Leadership this term. A big thank you to all the organisers and volunteers for the Colour Run, it was a great success, and everyone had so much fun.
Our upcoming event for the P & F will be the Cake stall on the 1st of December. The Year 1 and 2’s will be donating the delicious cakes, and a letter is going home on Monday.
Thank you for your continued support.
P & F
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Happy Birthday to the following students who are celebrating their birthday over the next two weeks:
Dan Joseph, Quinn Heron, Mila Weko-Hauraki, Indi Prunster, Elijah Richards, Rayan Javadi, Nate Goldie, Phoebe Allan, Mariah Lynch, Nathan D'Angelo, Chloe King, Elizabeth Stanisic, James Grantham, Logan Harms, Liam Piwowarczyk, Lily Hicks, Jake McAlister.
We wish you all a wonderful day!!
IMPORTANT DATES
Friday 17 November - Pre-Primary Assembly (8:45am)
Tuesday 21 November - Dance Lessons/Yr 3 Swimming/Yr 6 Indoor Beach Volleyball/P&F Meeting (8:45am)/School ACM (3:30pm)
Wednesday 22 November - 'FOF' whole school reward games (free dress)/Yr 5-6 Talk Money incursion/2024 Kindy Parent information meeting (3:30pm)
Thursday 23 November - Yr 6 Summer Carnival / Yr 3 Marble Run expo
Friday 24 November - Yr 6 Performance Assembly (8:45am)
Sunday 26 November - St Andrew's Feast Day
Monday 27 November - 2024 Kindy orientation/Dance lessons
Tuesday 28 November - Year 3 Swimming lessons / Dance lessons (whole school)
Wednesday 29 November - Christmas Concert (6:00pm)
Friday 1 December - Merit Assembly & Junior Choir (8:45am) / P&F cake stall / Yr 4 excursion
Tuesday 5 December - PP to Year 6 transition morning (9:00am) / Christmas Hamper assembly
Wednesday 6 December - Graduation & Thanksgiving Mass (8:45am)
Thursday 7 December - Yr 6 Beach Day / reports released via SEQTA
Friday 8 December - P&F Community lunch / Last day of Term 4 for students
UNIFORM SHOP
The uniform shop is open on Monday afternoons from 2.00pm to 3.00pm during school term.
** Please note all children going into Year 1 next year require the full school uniform. Uniform fittings are available by booking on the jfe website.
Uniform can also be ordered online: sales@jfe.net.au (school code: 2147)
Where: Operating out of the demountable at the rear of the school!
Ph: (08) 9204 1701
Email: mailto:sales@jfe.net.au
Address: 1/85 Guthrie St, Osborne Park 6017
CAMP AUSTRALIA
IRENE McCORMACK CATHOLIC COLLEGE
Please see information regarding IMCC Sunset Tours being held on 22nd November.
CONTACT US
Mon-Thur: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Friday: 8:00am - 3:30pm
Email: admin@stfrancisbutler.wa.edu.au
Website: www.stfrancisbutler.wa.edu.au
Location: 1051 Connolly Drive, Butler WA, Australia
Phone: (08) 9562 9500
Facebook: facebook.com/stfrancisbutler
Instagram: https://instagram.com/stfrancisbutler
ST ANDREW'S CATHOLIC PARISH
Email: standrewsclarkson@gmail.com
Website: http://www.standrewsclarkson.com/
Location: 53 Belleville Gardens, Clarkson WA, Australia
Phone: (08) 9407 7512
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/standrewsclarkson/