The end of Term 3 is almost upon us and it is hard to believe that we are about to enter our final term for the year. Next term will see us welcome our 2022 new Reception students for Transition visits, whilst also preparing to farewell our present Year 6 students as they make their own transitions towards secondary schooling.

Whilst our COVID restrictions continue, we look forward to being able to welcome parents back into the school yard some more next term whilst still adhering to guidelines. Term Four has a number of events in store and we will provide you with more detail in this newsletter of some key dates and our proposed management of these. As always, these events are subject to change at short notice, given the fluctuating context of COVID restrictions. Please be assured that we try to offer as much as we can and where we are permitted to have parental involvement and presence, we will endeavour to do so.

Last week our Year 6 students participated in a Leadership Experience at AFL Max. The students were taken through ‘4 quarters’ of Leadership learning, where they had the opportunity to learn, reflect and put into practice the essential components of Leadership. The students had a great time away and the Staff at AFL Max gave glowing commendations on our students levels of participation, respect and cooperation. This is always very affirming feedback for us.

In the last fortnight we have also had our Father’s Day Stall and I would like to acknowledge our P & F volunteers for coordinating this event. We trust that our Dads and ‘father-figures’ all enjoyed a special gift on Father’s Day, combined with some celebrating and quality family time.

Coming up next week our school Choir will participate in the Catholic Schools Music Festival to be held at the Convention Centre on Tuesday evening. We wish our Choir all the best and we look forward to seeing them on stage! We will be cheering for you!

A reminder to all families that Term 3 ends for all students next Thursday 23^rd September.

Friday 24^th September is a Student Free Day and NO OSHC is available on that day or Monday 27th. 

On Friday 24^th September, all Staff are involved in Professional Development on the Berry Street Education Model which is a whole school approach to student wellbeing and academic growth. We look forward to sharing more about this with you next term.

The P & F warmly invite you to share in an End of Term coffee and cake at Fine Foods Cucina 9.15am Thursday 23^rd September. Please come along if you are available and meet with other parents for the morning.

The Montevergine Festa will be held in our school grounds next weekend (25-26^th September) and you are invited to come for the Mass and join in the festivities afterwards. The final weekend of school holidays will see the St Francis of Assisi Feast Day celebrated in the Parish and more celebrations held. Please refer to the Parish website for further information.

Term 4 for students begins on Monday 11th October and we remind all that Summer Uniform is to be worn.

You will be aware that there is currently a Uniform Review and quite significant progress has been made. We will distribute a letter to families this week with an update of information. Please look out for this to come via Skoolbag.

In closing I would like to share with you some information about our whole school approach towards Literacy teaching and Learning.

Last week Ms Hubner and I attended a professional learning course on DIBELS Assessment Measures on the 5 Big Ideas of beginning reading.

These 5 Big Ideas are:

• Phonological Awareness
• Alphabetic Principle
• Accuracy and Fluency with Connected Text
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension.

There is comprehensive research supporting this as a clear roadmap for Early Reading Instruction so that we can then make informed decisions as educators in: What to teach? When to teach it? How to teach it? This body of evidence that exists is known as ‘The Science of Reading’ and basically explains the cognitive and neural pathways involved in reading. This involves drawing on all information that is known to us, connecting reading with: cognitive psychology, neurology and linguistics.

A very central understanding to the Science of Reading is that, whilst humans are genetically wired for language, they're not wired for print. Children do not just ‘absorb’ printed language in the way they do for spoken language. Beginning readers must use letter-sound relationships, through phonology, to access the meaning of a written word that exists in their oral language. Once a word has been read correctly multiple times, it can then be stored in long-term memory so that the meaning can be automatically retrieved from the print. That process is called orthographic mapping.

Over the past two years our school has been working comprehensively to align our teaching and learning in Literacy to the Science of Reading. The approach used by our teachers, our resources and our assessment measures reflect this. Through a controlled and supportive environment, with explicit instruction, our children will learn reading skills correctly through modelling, guided practice and sufficient repetition in a multisensory approach. Using assessment measures, such as DIBELS, we will be able to effectively monitor student progress and target our intervention strategies more directly.

For our parents who would like to learn more about this or to support their child’s home learning more in Literacy, I suggest you try these websites as a starting point:

https://www.speldsa.org.au/

https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/modules/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness-introduction

https://www.littlelearnersloveliteracy.com.au/

I wish all our Families a happy and safe holiday break and look forward to seeing you all in term 4.

Belinda Burford

September is Catholic Charities month. Mini Vinnies have organised a Pyjama Day this week to raise money for Catholic Charities which is an organisation that supports the following agencies:

• Hutt St Centre
• SA Catholic Deaf Association
• Aboriginal Catholic Ministry
• Our Lady of La Vang and St Patrick’s Special Schools
• Centacare Catholic Family Services.

Donation envelopes were sent home with children last week. Your donations support our most vulnerable South Australians. Please send a gold coin with your child on Pyjama day to support this worthy cause. Please remember that children need to have appropriate footwear on this day.

On Sunday the Catholic Church in Australia marked ‘Safeguarding Sunday’ which was formerly called Child Protection Sunday. This concluded National Child Protection Week which annually acknowledges the abuse of children within Catholic Contexts. Our school along with the Archdiocese is committed to the care, wellbeing and protection of children. May our message be that child protection and the dignity of every person is the responsibility of every adult. You can find out more about the Church’s work in this area at:

www.catholic.org.au/safeguarding-sunday

Gracious God,

You love and care for all of your children,

Especially the smallest and most vulnerable.

We entrust to you the lives of our children at risk

And whose trust and innocence has been destroyed.

Let your grace and love flow gently now upon our children,

Giving them inner strength, peace and resilience to seek assistance when required.

We ask this prayer through Christ our Lord

Amen

Upcoming Religious Dates

Sacramental Program Information Session

On Wednesday evening at 7pm there is an information session in the school library for any parents interested in enrolling their child in Reconciliation this year. Registration is compulsory through Skoolbag App and a notice was sent out last week. Please ring the Front Office if you have any questions or contact me directly at mcanil@sfoa.catholic.edu.au.

Festa Di Montevergine

A solemn Mass celebrated by Fr Eldridge will be held on Sunday 26^th September at 11am. We are asking for children volunteers to do some special readings. Please let me know ASAP if your family is attending the Festa and would like to be part of the Mass. The Festa is a wonderful community event for St Francis and will continue throughout the day with food and drinks available. We hope your family can come and support our Parish Community.

Feast of St Francis

On Saturday 9^th October there will be the annual blessing of the pets on the steps of St Francis of Assisi Church. We encourage families to bring their pets for a special blessing on this evening. On Sunday 10^th of October we celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi with a Mass and Procession around the Church starting at 10:30am.

The actual Feast day of St Francis of Assisi is on October 4^th and he is the patron Saint of animals and ecology. St Francis founded the Franciscans and devoted his life to helping the poor. We honour St Francis our patron Saint in our school community with our commitment to ecological sustainability and helping those in need.

Melissa Canil

Growth Mindset – 5 Ways to help children build positive relationships

As it nears the end of term we can notice an increase in playground conflict as students become tired. This is normal and our role as parents and educators is to nurture positive relationships and continue to model growth mindset when challenges arise. Children thrive on healthy positive connection with others. Quality relationships are one of the strongest predictors of wellbeing. Research shows that children’s relationships have an enduring impact. Early connections to caring adults and peers result in greater feelings of self-worth, higher achievement and even better mental health in adulthood.

5 Ways to create the conditions for supporting children to build positive relationships are:

1. Model Respect

Model respect for your child by listening, caring about their feelings and staying calm when you’re upset.

2. Practice Mindful Speech

Before we speak our words should pass through three gates.

• Is it true?
• Is it helpful?
• Is it kind?

3. Disagree Respectfully

Teach children how to assert themselves respectfully during conflict. Even in tricky moments, children can learn to disagree in ways that maintains the other person’s self-respect.

4. Embrace Diversity
5. Teach Empathy

Empathy is a key component in positive relationships, it deepens sensitivity and attachment to others.

Adapted from BIG LIFE JOURNAL www.biglifejournal.com

n September 2021, the annual Catholic Schools Music Festival will showcase 2000 extraordinary students from the ages of 10-18 years on the stage of the Theatre in the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. We have 9 students from St Francis joining the Festival Choir and will be performing on Tuesday 21^st of September. Click this link to purchase tickets and find out more information. This is very exciting for St Francis as it has been many years since a choir has joined the Catholic Schools Music Festival. We hope you can come and support our performers.

Please see the attached programme for Vacation care during the September/October School Holidays

September/October School Holiday OSHC Programme

September/October School Holiday Programme BOOKING FORM

For online bookings: https:///www.sa.ymca.org.au/what-we-do/oshc/st-francis-of-assisi

Please follow the link to the latest edition of the Southern Cross Newsletter, 14/9/2021