Newsletter Week 2 Term 1 2024

From the Principal

Dear Community,

I’d like to start by saying thank you for the unbelievably warm welcome to the community. It’s been great getting to know some of you over the past week and spending some time during the days having a chat to the children about our school. The energy of our school has been wonderful, with the teachers and support staff determined to start the year in a positive manner.

This school has a wonderful history that I’m learning about through reading past year books, and talking to the wonderful staff and families.

Today through this quick article I wanted to give you a bit of an update on a few things that we have been working on over the past couple of weeks to strengthen the teaching and learning programs at our school in the immediate term.

A strong school has settled and inclusive classrooms.

In a world where information is constantly updating, it’s unique that the one piece of legislation that guides us the most was written in 1992.

The Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 states that that all students, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities, receive the same opportunities for learning and personal development.

In short this means that our classrooms need to be for everyone. For all learners. That’s the ongoing question we try to answer. How do we make a school for everyone?

To demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity we have and are making some ongoing appointments to ensure our classrooms, families and most importantly our children are receiving the support they deserve.

Late last year I appointed Michelle Page as the Assistant Principal Learning Diversity.

Michelle will be here fulltime to work alongside our parents, teachers and ESO’s to ensure our classrooms are for everyone. Michelle has strong experience in the disability sector as well as managing disability adjustments at a school larger than ours. This is a strategic appointment to ensure that our community is supported in working with all children.

As you may or may not know 1 in 4 children have a disability that impacts on their learning. Michelle’s work not only benefits those children, but all children in our classrooms.

Michelle’s work will complement the ongoing work of Melissa Canil as our Assistant Principal Religion Identity and Mission. We now have a strong depth to our leadership team here at SFOA.

Another initiative is to increase the amount of Educational Support offered to our students. We have currently advertised for 3 full time (or part time equivalent) ESO’s to join the family at SFOA. This is a considerable investment for the school to ensure that our classrooms are the safe, calm and inclusive environments we want them to be.

If you know of high-quality individuals, please direct them to the positions vacant page of Catholic Education (simple google search), where they will find simple directions to apply for the role.

2024 Launch

Please put in your calendars our 2024 Launch on Wednesday evening the 21^st of February. This will be a relaxed evening where there will be a complimentary sausage sizzle available for parents and students and the classrooms will be open for your child to tour you through their learning space.

At 6:30pm I will address the community about the vision for the year and the future directions for SFOA. This will only be for around 20-25 minutes before we conclude the evening at 7pm.

Thanks again for the welcome and making me feel part of the community here at SFOA.

I think I’m where I’m meant to be.

God Bless,

Scott

APRIM News

Parish News

Thankyou to the families who joined us for Family Mass on Sunday. As you would know Newton Parish is undergoing a transition time. Fr Eldridge’s final Mass as Parish Priest is Wednesday morning at 8am. Fr Anthoni Adimai is our new Parish Priest who will be installed by the Archbishop at Mass on Saturday 10^th February at 6pm. We are very excited to have Fr Anthoni join our community and we look forward to working in partnerships with him.

Sacrament Update

Sacrament workshops will begin in Week 4 and I have communicated directly to sacramental families. If you are interested in enrolling your child in the Sacrament Program, it will begin again in July. Keep an eye out for information regarding this on Audiri and the Newsletter closer to July. Our current cohort of sacramental students will be making their First Holy Communion and Confirmation on 25^th and 26^th of May.

Lent

In Week 3 we begin our Lenten Journey with Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The students will reflect on how we spend the forty days of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus. Lent is a special time for growing and changing as we get ready for Easter. It is a time when we try hard to be good, to help others, to be sorry when we hurt others and try to forgive as God forgives us. Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and giving to others. When we pray, we come closer to God so that we are better able to realise our baptismal promise to live justly as Jesus teaches us. Fasting helps us remember the needs of the poor, who often have no choice but to go without basic needs such as food, water and shelter. Giving to the poor, or ‘almsgiving’, is a sign of our commitment to justice. It reminds us of our blessings and allows us to give thanks for all that God has given us. Project Compassion boxes will be distributed next week to families to support Caritas Australia. All donations go directly to support communities around the world to tackle poverty, food security, education, water and sanitation and disaster risk reduction

Prayer for Ash Wednesday

God our Father, as we begin this holy season of Lent, help us to see that your merciful love is with us always, even when we wander far from you. With the help of your grace, may our prayers and sacrifices over the next forty days lead us closer to you and to each other, the poor, the sick and the lonely so that together, we can fulfil your promises for all who live in your love. Amen

Volunteering at SFOA

It is a privilege to have supportive parents that are willing to volunteer their time and effort to support our school. We are looking to increase our pool of registered volunteers at SFOA. Once you are a registered volunteer you can support with excursions, P & F Events and volunteer for in class support. There is a process for becoming a registered volunteer and the front office can give you more information. I will be running regular inductions throughout the year that you can book into online (one is on Thursday next week). If you are unsure whether you are a registered volunteer or would like to become one please contact Angela in front office. We value your contribution to our school community and we are often in need of more hands to help out. Thankyou for your partnership.

Please use the link to book into the Volunteer sessions: https://sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=921

Monday 19^th Feb 6pm

Thursday 29th February 9am

Melissa Canil

APRIM