Dear Parents/Carers,

Last Sunday’s Gospel reading at Mass was Matthew 14: 22-33. The disciples of Jesus were sacred as they were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee fishing and a storm came up. Rough waves threatened to capsize the boat and they feared drowning. Jesus appears to them by walking on the water and initially this scares them further as they thought He was a ghost.

This reading means a great deal to me. In January, I was fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to travel on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with our former Bishop, Peter Ingham and other teachers from the Diocese. We celebrated Mass on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee which was very special and helped make so many of the Gospel stories come to life.

The most important message in this Gospel story is to trust in God. God is always present in our lives, sometimes we don’t get a sense of His presence because of the storms. In these stormy times of COVID, it is very easy for us to ask ‘how could He let this happen?’ but it is very unrealistic for us to expect to cruise through life without challenges. Instead we need to turn to God in prayer and trust that He will deliver us to the place He needs us to be. Sometimes the destination we expect to get to, is not where God wants us to go. Trusting that God will never leave us is key.

Building Update

I am very pleased to say that Morabuilt Constructions are on track to deliver our new Performance Centre on time and we will look to moving in over the holiday period. The building is looking fantastic. This fortnight will see the remaining pinboard installed, the Harlequin dance floor laid, whiteboards and acoustic tiles installed. Balcony and hand rails will soon be completed. Technology such as projectors, TVs & WIFI access points will shortly follow.

The recent rain has temporarily turned our Hall construction site into a lake. We hope to have fine weather so that concrete floors and huge steel frames can be erected in the coming weeks.

Stage 4 Commences!

Our Middle Years Block which has a large undercroft area, 18 general classrooms and 2 practical activity spaces, will commence construction next fortnight on Monday 24^th August. FAL were the successful tender for the building and they will operate in the area pictured below. It is an exciting time for St Francis with our Performance Centre opening in Term 4 and the Hall and Middle Years Block opening in the middle and later part of 2021.

A reminder that a new 3D walk through of the scope of completed building works is available on our college website.

Assembly

It was a pleasure to finally be able to have a very brief assembly to hand out Bronze and Silver Awards to our hard-working students.

There are still a couple of students who are awaiting the presentation of Gold Awards. These are so significant we have delayed the presentation to hopefully allow parents to attend. 

Congratulations to our Bronze Award Winners

Congratulations to our Silver Award Winners

Congratulations our Diocesan Swimmers

Our Diocesan representative swimmers have waited some time to be presented with their ribbons. 

Please see below for their achievements at Diocesan level:-

Congratulations to Stephanie G

1st - 50m Breastroke
2nd - 50m Butterfly
2nd - 100m Freestyle
3rd - 50m Freestyle
3rd - 50m Backstroke

Age Champion - 13 years Girls

Congratulations to Bella G

1st - 50m Butterfly
1st - 50m Freestyle
1st - 50m Backstroke
1st - 100m Butterfly
1st - 100m Freestyle
2nd - 100m Backstroke
2nd - 200m Individual Medley
3rd - 100m Breastroke

Diocesan record-breaking Swim for Female Intermediate 100m Butterfly
Age Champion - 15 years Girls

Congratulations to Zach H

2nd - 50m Backstroke
2nd - 100m Freestyle
3rd - 50m Butterfly
3rd - 50m Freestyle
3rd - 50m Breastroke

Runner Up Age Champion - Senior (Primary) Boys

May God continue to bless you all.

Mr Simon Abernethy
College Principal