Dear Parents/Carers,

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the Catholic Church’s season of Advent. The first candle lit on the Advent wreath is the candle of Hope. 

The readings on this First Sunday of Advent suggest that we are waiting in hope for more than just Christmas. We are waiting for the Day of the Lord.

Pope Francis invites us to experience renewed hope. He says in his third encyclical, Fratelli Tutti 2020, that hope  "speaks to us of a longing for a life of fulfilment, a desire to achieve great things, things that fill our hearts and lift our spirits to the realities of truth, goodness, beauty, justice and love.” He says, “that hope can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile.” May this Christmas season help us all encounter new paths of hope for all our families.

St Francis students continue to excel. Today I received a large number of Gold Awards for the Premier’s Reading Challenge. It is outstanding that so many students are committing to their ambitious reading goals. Well done to all!

Congratulations to Nikolas K. (Year 6) who was a finalist in the Christmas Story Competition. Nikolas built on his success at this level last year and in 2020 he has been awarded a Journey Award. Congratulations Nikolas!  Further details appear later in this newsletter.

Planning for 2021 is well advanced and on Monday 14th December our students in Years 1-6 will be involved in a ‘promotions’ morning. This is an opportunity to hear about and experience life in the year group that they will be moving to for 2021. A list of teachers and classes for K-4, 2021 will be published to parents in Week 10. 

Our Pastoral Team has been adjusted for 2021 and I pleased to announce the following existing and new staff in these key positions:-

• Mrs Sarah Hains (Leader of Pastoral Care K-4) 
• Miss Allira Figueiras (Pastoral Assistant K-4)
• Miss Jasmina Cox (Years 5 & 6 Pastoral Coordinator)
• Mrs Nadia Greci (Year 7 Pastoral Coordinator)
• Mr Matthew Watson (Year 8 Pastoral Coordinator)
• Mr Stavros Arzapitian (Year 9 Pastoral Coordinator)
• Mr Spiro Zakris (Years 10 & 11 Pastoral Coordinator)

Further support will be added to the Pastoral Care Team with the College receiving funding for increased school counselling - an increase from 8 days/fortnight in 2020 to 10 days in 2021.  We certainly welcome this news. 

Ms Helen Lyons will be employed 7 days a fortnight next year as our Careers/Transition Pathways Adviser. Ms Lyons will work with students in Years 7-11 to develop their understanding of career options, TAFE & University pathways and organise work placements. 

We are excited to announce that several of our temporary staff have secured a permanent contract for next year and we have over 12 completely new staff starting next year. Our new staff completed an induction program over the last fortnight and had a tour of the College. The new staff will bring fresh experience and a range of expertise to our community. We are eager to have them on board. 

Farewells

I attended Mass this Sunday at Mary Mother of the Church, Macquarie Fields to farewell Father Joseph (Assistant Priest). Father Joseph has been a great supporter of the College since arriving at the parish and we are sad to see him leave. We wish him well in his new ministry. 

At the end of the year we will farewell the following permanent staff:-

• Mr Damian Sligar has accepted a teaching and middle leader role at Magdalene Catholic College, Narellan.
  
  
• Mrs Bridgeen Pritchard has accepted a position as an Education Officer at the Catholic Education Office, Wollongong.
  
  
• Mr Tim Stibbard will be relocating his family to Newcastle and has accepted a teaching position there. 

We will miss our departing staff and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

May God continue to bless you.

Mr Simon Abernethy
College Principal