St Francis of Assisi News

Dear Parents & Caregivers,

What a couple of weeks it has been at St Francis with the events of the Scholastic Book Fair last week, culminating in the ever popular Book Week Parade on Friday! Thank you to all our parents and children for supporting the Scholastic Book Fair and our push to encourage the children to read. This year, there was over roughly $8000 spent at the Book Fair. As a result of this, the school is awarded credits which will be used to receive a further 200 books into our library in 2025 as well as pay for student licences to access the Lit Pro levelled readers. A massive effort from families!

None of this would be possible without the efforts of Mrs Kristina Bowden (Student Support Coordinator) and Mrs Linda Howell (Library/Literacy Support). They were ably supported by Mrs Melissa Carroll (Literacy Support) to ensure the library not only looked vibrant and engaging but also were kept busy with order taking, counting money, restocking books and dressing up every day. Their passion for reading and the magic that it brings young minds is a blessing for our school. A sincere thanks to the team for all their efforts last week!

PUPIL FREE DAYS - TOMORROW AND MONDAY!

A reminder to families that tomorrow, Friday 23rd August is a pupil free day and Monday 26th August is also a pupil free day. On both days no staff will be on site. Tomorrow is our Catholic Day where each school has one available per year for the various catholic school commitments staff attend.

On Monday 26th, the staff will be joining St Anthony's Wanneroo, St John Paul II Banksia Grove and St Elizabeth's Hocking, to take part in some professional learning around resilience and personal responsibility for self-care. Amongst the demands of the education profession, developing personal strategies to manage the expectations of the role are essential. This collaborative learning opportunity with other catholic schools will hopefully provide staff some further insight into strategies to approach resilience and a networking opportunity between schools.

STAFFING

There have been a number of staffing announcements over the past couple of weeks that I would like to share with the community. Miss Dee Campbell has been successfully appointed as Assistant Principal at St Brigid's in Middle Swan to begin the 2025 school year. Miss Campbell has been an integral part of our community over the past 12 years and has significantly impacted our families and staff in her leadership role over the last seven. Whilst we will be disappointed to farewell Dee at the end of the year, we are also excited at the challenges and professional growth that lay ahead for her.

Further to this, Mrs Jackie Hunt, Leader of Teaching and Learning has successfully been appointed Assistant Principal at St Anthony's, Wanneroo to begin 2025. Mrs Hunt has been the Year 2 and 4 teacher at our school whilst this year undertaking the critical role of supporting Teaching and Learning. Over the past six years, she has continued to foster and develop her leadership potential and is excited at this new opportunity. Whilst we will be disappointed to lose Mrs Hunt, we know the community of St Anthony's and the wider CEWA system will benefit greatly from her leadership.

Miss Meagan Kruenert (PE), Miss Sian Cruse (4W) and Miss Zoe Walton (2B) have all decided to conclude their time at St Francis of Assisi at the end of 2024. All three staff came to our school in 2022 directly from their university Assisted Teaching Program (ATP) in a time of staff transition. However, after almost three years as graduate teachers they are looking to broaden their experiences through travel, work and the challenge of new opportunities. We hope they have gained as much as they have given over this period and we will show our appreciation for their contributions at the end of the year.

I am pleased to announce Mrs Sarah Kavanagh has been appointed in the role of Assistant Principal for 2025. Mrs Kavanagh has ably stepped into this position in the past and is looking forward to undertaking the role in a full time capacity next year. She will continue as Kindy B teacher in 2025 as well as Assistant Principal. Other processes are already in place to appoint suitable staff members to fill vacancies in physical education and the classroom for 2025.

FATHER'S DAY BREAKFAST & ASSEMBLY

A reminder to parents that next Friday 30th August will be our annual Father's Day breakfast from 7:45am outside the hall. It will be followed by a Father's Day themed assembly by our wonderful Year 2 classes. As always, children may invite a Father, uncle, step-dad, brother, grandad or any person that supports them and they would like to attend. To help with catering, please RSVP your attendance asap via the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/st-francis-of-assisi-fathers-day-breakfast-tickets-970227666067?aff=oddtdtcreator

CATHOLIC PERFORMING ARTS - SPIRIT OF THE ARTS

Term 3 is renowned in Catholic Schools for the Spirit of the Arts, a festival of performance art from children in schools across the system. Every year individual children from SFOA as well as choirs and instrumentalists perform as part of the festival. We have seen vocalists, instrumentalists and choirs all perform and they have enjoyed the opportunity to shine in front of the parents and peers. A number of these items will be showcased at the Grandparents Assembly on the last day of Term 3. Today, Mr Cunniffe took both the Junior and Senior choir to perform at the Vasto Club. Congratulations to all performers - never easy to shake the nerves and perform in front of others!

UNIFORM SHOP

Please note that due to staffing changes the Uniform Shop will be adjusting their opening hours from Term 4. Also, there have been some slight price increases with various uniforms that have been adjusted and the updated price list will be available on our website. The new opening hours will be posted below. We appreciate your understanding that this is out of our control.

With the Olympics over and the AFL heading towards a final series that hopefully has one WA team competing, it is time to turn our attention to the Paralympics! With the official kick off date next Wednesday 28th August, let's get behind another group of incredible Australian athletes and support them as they strive to achieve their dreams. The link to support our Paralympic athletes is below and provides a great topic of conversation with your children. Let's go, Aussies!

https://www.paralympic.org.au/

Enjoy your 4-day weekend.

Best wishes

Jason Baker

Principal

Dear Parents & Caregivers,

Congratulations to all the children who were strengthened by the Holy Spirit in Confirmation! It was a special night to celebrate these children as they received the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Sacramental Program is reliant on our community – St Francis of Assisi School community and wider, in the St Andrew’s Parish community. We are so fortunate to have support from Father Darek and Father Marian, as well as our favourite acolytes – Mr Tony Summers & Mr Errol Raftos, and our thanks go out to them for supporting our Confirmands on their faith journey.

On the evening we had a number of children who volunteered to be either an Altar Server (thank you Elora, Alex and Ajok – you were amazing) or to sing in the Choir – 17 angelic voices, Hunter, Eleanor, Bettysap, Paige H, Abby, Audrey, Atheena, Naomi, Ashton, Isaac, Katie, Elizabeth, Daniel, Jedd, Rylan, Aria and Meghna. Many of these children are NOT related to anyone receiving Confirmation this year. I cannot thank you enough for wanting to support your fellow school members, and for making Confirmation even more special. Thanks also to Mr Cunniffe for coordinating the Choir and wrangling with the organ on the evening!

Thanks must also go to Mrs Bond and Mr Gorman who prepared the candidates so well over the last few weeks and supported them on the night, calming nerves and reassuring nervous children!

St Francis of Assisi Prayer Garden

Last week a talented local artist, Peter Ryan, completed the mural in the SFOA Prayer Garden. This mural was commissioned in celebration of SFOA celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year. St Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, birds and the environment, and is often pictured with a wold and other animals local to Assisi, Italy. He was often seen talking to them.

Peter was asked to incorporate the animals aligned with our four factions, AGNES (Dwert - Dingo), BENEDICT (Noorn - Snake), KOLBE (Koolbardi - Magpie) and McCORMACK (Yongka - Kangaroo) as well as the doves of peace. I'm sure you'll agree the mural is incredible, and we are very grateful to Peter for creating such a unique and stunning piece for our school. The Prayer Garden will be completed in coming weeks, with the addition of the School Prayer.

Kolbe Feast Day

Kolbe Feast Day is next week, Friday 30th August (Fathers’ Day Breakfast & Assembly). All children in Kolbe will take part in fun, team building activities and share a pizza lunch, followed by an icy pole.

St Maximilian Kolbe

Maximilian was born in Poland in 1894 and became a Franciscan friar, following the path of St Francis of Assisi. He had tuberculosis, and though he got well, he remained frail for the rest of his life. He founded a Movement dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, and spread the Movement through magazines and radio programmes. The movement helped to form a community of 800 Franciscan Men who dedicated themselves to the service of Our Lady.

Maximilian journeyed to Japan and India spreading the Movement. He returned home to Poland in 1939 due to ill health. After the Nazi invasion of Poland he was imprisoned and later released for a time, before being arrested again in 1941, and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

On 31 July 1941 one prisoner escaped the camp. For punishment, TEN men were chosen to die by starvation. One of the men chosen was a young husband and father. Maximilian Kolbe offered himself in place of the young father. He died two weeks later on 14th August - his feast day.

Crazy Sock Day

Crazy Sock Day is also Friday 30th August. Start planning those crazy socks! Dads are welcome to join in the Crazy Sock Day fun!! All money raised will go to building more wheelchairs at W4Kids.

"The world is a great stage on which God displays his many wonders." St Francis of Assisi

Miss Dee Campbell

SFOA Athletics Carnival

Please see below for the SFoA Athletics Carnival Program and division list. There are no times for the events, therefore if you are wanting to come and cheer on your child, please arrive earlier than expected in case we are running early.

Divisions are final and students have had numerous opportunities in class to produce their fastest time. These have been taken into consideration for divisions and champions races.

Please use SFoA toilets near the library and NOT IMCC.

Students are to stay for the whole day to support the factions and other students.

I look forward to a fun-filled day!

Meagan Kruenert

Sports Teacher

A special mention to Elora Guelfi, who performed in the Instrumental Solo: Strings (Primary) category as a violin artist in the Catholic Performing Arts - Spirit of the Arts Festival. Elora received an 'Outstanding' which is the highest mark possible. Elora is a dedicated violinist who will now be considered for performance in the Festival Concert at the conclusion of the festival. A huge effort, Elora. Congratulations!!!!

Dear Parents,

Thank you to families who are continuing to pay their fees. If you have not made any payment throughout this year, please do so ASAP. We will be contacting those families in the next week.

All families on Centrelink Health Care Card (HCC) need to provide the school with their current card to continue receiving the discount for 2024. If your card has expired, please bring in your new card to the school office ASAP. If we do not receive your HCC you will be charged the full fees.

Kind regards,

Geneve Bastian

The P & F have a busy few weeks coming up and here are some updates on our events:

Father’s Day Stall – Wednesday 28th August

The Father’s Day stall is next week on Wednesday 28th of August. QuickCliq orders are due Monday 26th August at 8am.

Sports Carnival Accessories Stall – 27th to 30th August

This year the P & F will be holding a “Sports Carnival Accessories” Stall from the 27th to 30th of August from 8:00am to 8:20am each morning, outside the school hall. No more last-minute trips to the shops trying to find Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow accessories. These can now be purchased from our stall. Cash and EFTPOS are available and check out our P & F Facebook page for pictures of the items available.

Sports Carnival Lunch- Subway- 6th September

The P & F will be taking Subway orders for Sports Day. These will be online orders only and need to be ordered via QuickCliq by 6am on Monday 2nd September.

Spooky School Disco -Friday 13th September

The Spooky School Disco is on Friday 13th September. Spooky costumes are optional and there will be a prize for best dressed. Notes went home earlier this week with all the information.

P & F donation for Sports uniforms

We are thrilled to announce that the Inter School sports uniforms the P&F purchased have arrived !!! Our teams are now all set to hit the field with style and confidence whilst representing our school.

We look forward to seeing you at these events and thank you for your support of our school community.

Happy Birthday to the following students who are celebrating their birthday over the next two weeks:

Bailey Foster, Kyden Smith, Anahi Brennan-Fernandez, Cooper Benton, Dakota Radosevich, Ethan Gismondi, Lucas Gismondi, Aubrey Lawrence, Simon Sokiri, Atuer Kuach, Alfie McSheffrey, Myriam Hakim, Edward Atuer, Jaxon Canzirri, Alicia Ridley, Javier Villamor.

We wish you all a wonderful day!!

Friday 23 August - Pupil Free Day (no school for students)

Monday 26 August - Pupil Free Day (no school for students)

Tuesday 27 August - Kindy Bootcamp / Yr 3 excursion to Brownes Dairy

Wednesday 28 August - Yr 6 Spring Carnival / P&F Fathers Day stall

Thursday 29 August - Yr 4 excursion to City of Wanneroo

Friday 30 August - Fathers' Day Breakfast/Father's Day Assembly / Kolbe Feast Day / Crazy Sock fundraiser

Sunday 1 September - Fathers Day

Wednesday 4 September - PP excursion to Perth Zoo / SFOA Jumps & Throws Day (Yrs 3-6)

Friday 6 September - SFOA Athletics Carnival / P&F Subway lunch

Thursday 12 September - R U OK Day

Friday 13 September - Merit Assembly/Kindy Hospital incursion / Yr 5 EEC Incursion/Lunch with Leadership / P&F Disco

Please see below for the latest Camp Australia newsletter.

SUNSET TOURS

Please see below for information regarding Sunset Tours being held at the College on Wednesday 28th August.

YEAR 7 2025 INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC & CHORAL SCHOLARSHIPS

Applications are invited from students entering Year 7 2025 for Instrumental Music & Choral Scholarships. Apply online, applications close on Friday 20th September 2024. For more information, please see the details below.

The Uniform shop is open every Tuesday morning from 8:00am-9:00am during school terms.

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

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

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/

ST ANDREW'S SPRING DINNER DANCE

When: Saturday 31 August

Time: 7.30pm - 11pm

Venue: Quinns Mindarie Community Centre

Cost: $50pp (includes dinner, dessert, coffee/tea). BYO Drinks

**Live Band - Replikate