St Francis of Assisi News
Term 3 Issue 31 27th July
NOONGAR SEASON OF DJILBA (AUG-SEP)
PRINCIPAL'S POST
Dear Parents & Caregivers,
Early next week we enter the Noongar Season of Djilba. During the season of Djilba, this is the start of the massive flowering explosion that happens in the South West. Beginning with the yellow flowering plants such as the acacias. Djilba is a transitional time of the year, with some very cold and clear days combining with warmer, rainy and windy days mixed with the occasional sunny day or two.
Traditionally, the main food sources of our Aboriginal people include many of the land-based grazing animals including the yongka (kangaroo), the weitj (emu) and the koomal (possum).
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY
Last Monday on the pupil free day, the staff gathered at Quinns Community Centre for a faith development professional learning day. The day focused on being Catholic in our current society and explored the Catholic culture currently prevailing in today's world and how this permeates the Catholic culture within our school. We were led through the day by Karl Brown from Faith Ministries who facilitated some personal reflection, and discussion around our own individual encounters with God in what has become an individual-centric and busy world. Opportunities like these allow for personal connection and coming together as a faith community, which only enriches our role with the children.
Further to this staff development, I will be undertaking some professional learning at the Australia Primary Principal's Conference until Friday 4th August. The conference is an opportunity for Principal colleagues to gather from different sectors around Australia including CEWA, AISWA and the Department of Education. The conference this year is being hosted in Hobart, Tasmania and covers a range of educational issues, from listening to governing bodies exploring the future of education to personal agency in wellness for Principals. There will be a lot of learning and collegiality shared throughout the conference. I look forward returning to SFOA refreshed with some new ideas!
NAIDOC WEEK CELEBRATIONS
Throughout last week our children returned to school celebrating NAIDOC 2023 - For Our Elders. Although NAIDOC week is marked by the first week of the school holidays in July, we choose to acknowledge and celebrate Aboriginal culture as we return to Term 3. Thanks to our Cultural Awareness Team, consisting of Mr Gorman, Mrs Ridley, Miss Walton, Ms Hamilton and Mr Cunniffe for the number of activities that were planned, including a whole school canvas thumbprint of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait flags, cultural dance by the Wesley Mooditj Mob, year level activities such as leaf painting, water swirls and traditional aboriginal games and finally, the liturgy and closing concert. Thank you to those parents who attended the concert and celebrated Aboriginal culture with us as a school. It was a great way to return this term.
NAPLAN - YEAR 3/5
Last week the Year 3 and 5 parents were provided this year's NAPLAN results in both hard copy as well as through Seqta Engage. This year has seen a change to the way NAPLAN is assessed with a move to four different achievement categories:
- Needs Additional Support
- Developing
- Strong
- Exceeding
As a school we are very pleased with the overall efforts and achievements of our children and we will be exploring these results in more detail as a staff to identify areas of improvement in our teaching and learning. Our NAPLAN summary and analysis will be available to our community later in the year through the Annual Community Meeting and also the MySchools portal.
TERM 3 EVENTS
There are a number of various events taking place this term for our children and parents including Year 6 Confirmation, Book Week Parade, One Big Voice (Yr 4), Father's Day and also the athletics carnival. There is a full list of events in the attached below so please note any relevant dates on your calendars. For the most accurate list, the live calendar is updated regularly and can be accessed by the link.
WINTER UNIFORM
A reminder about our Term 3 uniform requirements is below. Please feel free contacting me should you have any issues with the school uniform requirement. We appreciate your continued support in maintaining high expectations across our school.
Have a fantastic fortnight ahead!
Best wishes
Jason Baker
Principal
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
CONFIRMATION COMMITMENT MASSES - YEAR 6
The commitment Masses for the children receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, are this coming weekend. All children receiving this sacrament + one supporting adult (parent or sponsor) must attend ONE Mass at St Andrew's Church, Clarkson, and bring the white Commitment Card (completed).
SATURDAY - 6pm
SUNDAY - 7:30am, 9am or 5pm
Thank you to all families who attended the workshop on Tuesday. If you were unable to attend, please contact me via seesaw or email, to arrange another time to complete the workshop.
CAN DRIVE
Next week on Wednesday 1st August there will be a can drive for The Pantry. More information will be provided on SEESAW. Children who bring a can to school can wear free dress!
FIRST COMMUNION - PHOTOS
Please make sure you have ordered your photos online ASAP. See below for details.
Masses & Liturgies
Parents and extended family are invited to attend class and whole school Masses. We are always looking for family volunteers to be involved in our Masses. Roles include reading, bringing the offertory forward or being a special minister - it is a great way to show your children/grandchildren that you view their spiritual journey as important. Newcomers welcome! We would love to include and provide support for anyone willing to be involved.
Term 3 Masses
Friday 4 August - Yr 3 Class Mass 8:45am SFOA Hall
Tuesday 8 August - St Mary Mackillop Mass (whole school) 1:45pm SFOA Hall
Tuesday 15 August - Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary Mass (whole school) 1:45pm SFOA Hall
Thursday 17 August - Sacrament of Confirmation - 6pm St Andrew's Church
"The deeds you do may be the only sermon some people will hear today."
St Francis of Assisi
Dee Campbell
Assistant Principal RE
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Congratulations to Year 6 student, Zac Humski who has been featured on social media, Channel 7 news and a variety of other media outlets around the world for his amazing footage of a whale appearing to teach its calf to breathe! Zac is an Accredited Drone Pilot and the footage he captured has gone viral. A truly special encounter with nature and creation captured by one of our own. See the link on PerthNow here:
Please respect Zac's privacy and refrain from hounding the media star for autographs and pictures!
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Many parents would have seen from our socials and feedback from their children about our new covered area seating, decking and bag racks. The new area has been extremely well received by all staff and kids. I would just like to acknowledge the work our Groundsman, Mr Mark Hughes, has undertaken in preparing this space over the July holidays. Mr Hughes is a qualified carpenter, building supervisor and project management specialist and his attention to detail and pride he takes in delivering nothing but the highest standard for our school is exceptional! Parents, please feel free to acknowledge Mr Hughes for everything he does to maintain the immaculate presentation around SFOA. Thank you Mr Hughes.
After much investigation, a staff photo of Mr Hughes doesn't exist in the SFOA archives. Much like the mystery of the Yeti, capturing a picture of Mr Hughes in his natural habitat is very rare, however, the photo attached was snapped in a rare sighting this past week. Scientists have confirmed its authenticity.
SCHOOL FEE INFORMATION
Dear Parents,
For any families who have not started paying their school fees, could you please attend to these ASAP. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please contact me 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
SCHOOL CENSUS DAY
School Census Day is on Friday 4th August. If your child is not at school for any reason, please ensure you advise the office by email or phone early morning.
Please see below a 2023 Non-Government Schools Census collection notice regarding how and what information is collected for the Census.
SPORT NEWS
Before and After School activities have commenced this week, please see the table below to view what is on offer for this term. Rugby will commence next week (Week 3). We ask parents to be prompt in picking up your child at the end of the activity.
P&F NEWS
The P & F committee had its first meeting this week and it was jam-packed discussing all the fun events for Term 3.
First up, we have our secondhand bookstore, which will be held in the hall, before school, on the 21st and 22nd of August (starting from 7:45am). More details to follow.
Our next event will be the Father’s Day stall on the 30th of August. A note will be sent home with further details.
For the Father’s Day raffle, we are hoping that some local businesses will be able to donate raffle prizes. If there are any families and friends willing to donate prizes please contact the P & F via the Facebook page or email.
We have plenty of events coming up and we will be looking for volunteers throughout the term, so keep a lookout on our Facebook page. The P & F would like to thank the school community for their continued support.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Happy Birthday to the following students who are celebrating their birthday over the next two weeks:
Willow Farrelly, Alexandar Srbinovski, Mia Reynolds, Cooper Benton, Dakota Radosevich, Jesse Smith, Kourtney Stewart, Rueben Smith, Juvontino Raj, Riak Chol, Isabelle Kinsey, Indigo Farrelly, Kian Prasad, Blanche Odongo, Miller Corrigal-Locket, Coby Morgan, Rose Barker, Brianna Donatti, Ella Kearns, Tia Kearns, Seth Gregory, Olivia Brown, Kayla Rasheed.
We wish you all a wonderful day!!
IMPORTANT DATES
Friday 28 July - Merit Assembly/'Friends of Francis' raffle draw (8:45am) / PP Musical Storytelling incursion
Saturday 29 July & Sunday 29 July - Confirmation Commitment Masses @ St Andrew's Church
Monday 31 July - Year 2 Bricks 4 Kids incursion
Wednesday 2 August - Year 6 Confirmation Retreat / Year 3 & Yr 5 REA Testing
Friday 4 August - Yr 3 Class Mass (8:45am) / School Census Day / Kindy Bricks 4 Kidz incursion
Tuesday 8 August - Mary MacKillop Feast Day (1:45pm)
Wednesday 9 August - Fr Darek Confirmation visit
Thursday 10 August - Confirmation Rehearsal
Friday 11 August - Merit Assembly/'Friends of Francis' raffle draw (8:45am)
Monday 14 August to Friday 18 August - National Science Week
Monday 14 August - Kolbe Feast Day
Tuesday 15 August - Assumption of Mary Mass (1:45pm) / School Advisory Council meeting (6:00pm)
Wednesday 16 August - Science incursion
Thursday 17 August - Science incursion / Sacrament of Confirmation (6:00pm)
Friday 18 August - Book Week Parade (8:45am) / One Big Voice Choir
UNIFORM SHOP
The uniform shop is open on Monday afternoons from 2.30pm to 3.00pm during school term.
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
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/