Jump Rope for Heart Success!

Congratulations to all our K-6 students and our older student leaders, who took part in organising and running our week-long ‘Jump Rope for Heart’ event! Together, we raised nearly $20,000—an outstanding amount directly supporting life-saving heart disease research, a cause significant to our College and the wider community.

Special thanks go to Miss Meli for her fabulous early work on this project and to Ms Laskaris for her skilful coordination throughout the event. It was fantastic to see so many students (and even staff!) enthusiastically skipping and, in some cases, learning to skip for the first time. We were also thrilled to watch a few of our talented students mastering the art of ‘double Dutch’—skipping with two ropes simultaneously!

Thank you to our students, parents/carers for embracing this initiative. Your support and enthusiasm have made a real difference!

Year 12 HSC Concludes

I congratulate the 2024 Year 12 cohort on their conduct throughout the most recent exam period. Examinations always present particular challenges, and students need to remain focused throughout their individual exam timetables. I’m pleased to say that our students did stay focused, and the exam invigilators were very impressed with them throughout.

We now look forward to the Year 12 Formal next week!

Friends of Francis 

This is a reminder to our community that the Friends of Francis group's next meeting is on Monday, November 18 at 6pm.

The meeting will be held in the Staff Common Room. Please meet outside the College office.

All parents/carers are welcome to attend.

Please send any possible agenda items for possible consideration to: manchesterb01@dow.catholic.edu.au

Blessing and Opening of New Buildings

The official opening of our new Stage Five, Six, and Seven buildings will occur this coming Tuesday. We look forward to welcoming a number of special guests to the College, and Bishop Brian Mascord will bless the new Admin, JY classrooms and our new library Space during the event.

New Pedagogies for Deep Learning

I am very excited about the current progress that is being made with the introduction and spreading of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning.

For those who haven’t followed this, 1800 schools across 20 countries worldwide currently use New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. It is framed around students in every year group, building their critical thinking. The Framework has six competencies: Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Citizenship, Character and Communication. Not surprisingly, in our proud Catholic College, we have added a 7th Competency of Catholicity.

All staff are working on explicitly building at least one of these competencies into their lessons, and next year, they will be included in numerous teaching and learning programs.

I look forward to sharing more about this in the future. This program will increase engagement and prepare students more for the world ahead.

PRAYER

A Prayer for Wisdom and Understanding

Heavenly Father,
Grant us minds that seek truth and hearts open to understanding.
Guide us in our thoughts that we may see beyond the surface.
Let us recognise Your presence in all that is true and good.
Help us to question with humility and listen with patience,
May we discern with clarity, so that our pursuit of knowledge leads us ever closer to Your wisdom and love.

–Amen.

This is a strong reminder to our parent/carer community that the College continues to have high traffic volumes both in the morning and afternoon, and all drivers must adhere to road rules and common safety sense.

40km/h school zones help protect children on their way to and from schools at the times and places where they are often in high numbers. This lower speed limit reduces the risk and potential severity of a crash. 40 km/h speed limit – motorists should drive no faster than 40 km/h through school zones, which operate from 8:00am to 9:30am, and from 2.30pm to 4:00pm, on school days.

Please ensure you:

• Only drop students off in the school-designated areas, NOT in the middle of the driveway or car park.

• Speak to your child/ren about using the footpaths to enter and exit the College. NO child should be entering or exiting the College via driveways. This is extremely dangerous.
• Park safely and legally, even if it means walking further to the school gate. Parking signs are planned with children’s safety in mind. 
• Never double park, as it puts children at risk and is illegal.
• Do not do manoeuvres such as U-turns and three-point turns, as these are dangerous.
• Model safe and considerate behaviour for your child – they will learn from you.

The College is working closely with the Catholic Education Office Wollongong and Liverpool Council on the current traffic congestion and management of this. We are very hopeful for additional signage and, hopefully, pedestrian crossings. Regardless of future additions, we ask for your patience and understanding when travelling in and around the College. It is not acceptable to speak rudely to our staff, we are only trying to ensure the safety of all students, staff and parents/carers of the college. If you are not doing the right thing you will be challenged on this. Additionally, Council rangers visit the College site regularly and will fine motorists for not doing the right thing.

Please help us keep everyone safe.

Bronze Awards

Year 1 
Spandana A
Christiano S

Year 2
Arwin D

Silver Awards

Year 2
Isabella A
AlexanderB

Year 3
Camilla V
Nicole T
Mahli W

Gold Awards

Daniel J, Ariana A, Emilyjane R