Dear Parents & Friends of St Francis,

Welcome to 2019! For approximately 60% of parents and students, it’s “welcome back” for the other 40% it’s “welcome and thank you for joining our community”. It has been a very busy but settled start to 2019. Systems were put in place to cater for the additional 300 students for this year and by and large they seemed to have worked very well. I would like to thank parents for their patience and support, adjusting to new procedures.

COLA - Covered Learning Area

Finally we have our new COLA (Covered Outdoor Learning Area). This will be the new assembly area for Junior Years students K - 4 and the area in which parents can pick up students from Years 1 - 9 each afternoon.

The Technology, Art & Science Centre is progressing quickly. The roof went on over the holidays and teams of bricklayers have been constructing internal and external walls. Currently our builders are lining internal walls.

Class Groupings Blue, Green, Red

I have been asked by several parents over recent weeks, “which class is the academically higher class?” Let me reassure parents that all K-6 classes are ‘mixed ability’ classes. This means that they are not grouped according to academic ability. Each class will have a mixture of academically stronger children who learn the basic curriculum quickly and need enrichment activities to deepen their understanding. Each class will have some students who struggle to learn some aspects of the curriculum and require additional support. Research suggests that all young students benefit from having a mix of learners within a classroom. It allows for modelling of best learning and peer to peer learning which can deepen understanding. So, to answer the question: there is no top or bottom class. Kindergarten classes were grouped by teachers observing students at playgroup & at Orientation, examining the notes from student enrolment interviews and reflecting on ‘Best Start’ data.

The College engages in regular and routine academic assessments to provide feedback to students and parents and monitor your child’s academic performance. We also keep a database on meritorious behaviour and behaviour that requires intervention. This data is used along with teacher professional dialogue each year to rearrange the class groupings for the following year and ensure a diverse mix of student abilities and personalities for each class.

Our adolescent cohorts for Year 7 - 12 remain mostly mixed ability classes. There is one high-performance class in each year group for Year 7 & 8, 2019 based on student’s English and Mathematics results. Students can move in and out of the high-performance class depending on their ongoing academic performance. Again, all student results are closely monitored by the College and it is expected that all students be challenged in their learning regardless of whether they are in a mixed ability or high-performance classes. Students who make up the high-performance class however, typically learn faster and as such there is an expectation that they will develop a deeper understanding of course content. The majority of students remain in mixed ability classes which promote inclusive, engaged learning.

Homework Club

Homework Club will recommence next week on Tuesday afternoons from 2.45pm - 4.00pm. Homework Club is for Middle & Senior Years students (Years 5-9). It relies on the goodwill of teachers who volunteer to assist students if they require support to complete homework, classwork and assessments. Please note that it is not an after-school care service. Students should only attend Homework Club if they have meaningful work they need assistance with. Parents should arrange to pick up students promptly at the end of Homework Club. Students who live within walking distance are permitted to walk home from Homework Club if they have parental permission. I thank the many teachers who have volunteered to run Homework Club.  A note will go home this week with students from Years 5-9.

Independent Study

A limited number of places are also available in our College library on Wednesday afternoons from 2.45pm - 3.50pm for independent study. This is for students in Years 7-9, who wish to use the library’s resources and take advantage of a quiet space to complete their work and/or study. Students using the library at this time are expected to be self-motivated and be able to study independently. These sessions are supervised by Mrs Forbutt, our SSO/Librarian. Students may borrow library resources but should not expect Mrs Forbutt to assist with the completion of their academic work.  A note will go home this week with studetns from Years 7-9.

Car Park

The extension to our car park has worked beautifully. Carline remains a very popular way to drop off and collect students from school each day. Hundreds of students are moved through carline within 15 minutes. The extended car park has allowed us to stretch the carline each afternoon and avoid having as many cars queuing on Jardine Drive.

When using carline, please remember the following:-

• You must wait in line and move up in order.  Please do not drive around cars if you see an empty space.
• Students are not permitted to go behind the car to the boot at any time.  Bags must be kept with the student inside the car.
• Students must exit and enter the car on the kerb side only.
• Parents are not permitted to exit the car to assist their child at any time.  
• Your school-allocated sign must be displayed on the passenger side sun visor so it is easy to read and highly visible.

The new bitumen in the car park extension has shed gravel and this was anticipated. A street sweeper has been to clean the gravel from the car park, and parents would have seen an improvement from this morning's drop off. Thank you for your patience.

Enrolments 2020

We have already received a large number of enquiries for enrolments for 2020. We will be offering enrolment packages shortly for Kindergarten – Year 10. Our College Open Day is on Saturday 9^th March and all new prospective families are welcome to attend. Information on enrolment, application packages, tours of the College, food, drinks and displays occur on the day. If you have friends who are unfamiliar with the College, please ask them to set this day aside.

Parent Volunteers for Open Day

We are seeking volunteers from our current parent community to assist on Open Day.  We have various jobs that parents will be able to assist with such as BBQ cooking, balloons/popcorn/fairy floss stalls.

If you are able to assist on the day between the hours of 10.00am and 2.00pm, please contact Ms Bernadette Manchester via College Reception (02) 4645 3400 by Wednesday 27 February 2019.

Exciting News

We are very pleased to announce that Mrs Katrina Borg and her husband Scott, are expecting their first child in the middle of 2019. 

We are also very happy to announce that Mrs Kylie Jeymour and her husband Jey are also expecting their first child in August 2019.

This is a very exciting time and we pray for Mrs Borg, Mrs Jeymour and their families  as they prepare to welcome their new little bundles of joy.

Looking forward to a very exciting and productive year.

Warm regards

Mr Simon Abernethy, College Principal