Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been great to have students return to full-time onsite learning over the last fortnight. Whilst afternoon pickup remains a little congested and K-4 early dismissal at 2:30pm is something we do not want to maintain, they remain necessary for the short term. As COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease will re-evaluate dismissal arrangements. 

Last week Principals met to revise their comprehensive plans to facilitate a coordinated dismissal should we have a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 among the school community. Put most simply, the NSW Public Health Unit (PHU) would advise the College that a member of the school community had tested positive and the College would need to be closed temporarily for deep cleaning to occur. A process of working with the PHU to establish contact tracing would also occur and families that came into contact would be advised to self-isolate. 

In the unlikely event of a temporary school shutdown, parents would be advised via Compass and a text message on their mobile phone that a positive case has been confirmed. You would be asked to pick up your child from school, but this would not be urgent. Further instructions would be provided to parents via Compass but essentially parents would need to nominate one of three possible pickup points to collect their child. The first would be to pick up your child in carline, the second would be to pick up your child at the Pozieres Gate (Walkers North) or at the end of the Bus Bay (Walker South). Students would be supervised by members of the College Leadership Team at the pickup points immediately before collected by parents/carers. 

Deep cleaning of the entire school would then be organised over the next day or two and the PHU team would examine contact tracing details and inform families that are required to isolate. 

It is hoped that we never have to activate this plan and with fewer and fewer cases each week it is unlikely, however we need to be prepared and the safety of our community is always at the forefront. 

The pandemic has presented issues for every workforce. Ours is no different and there a number of staff changes as a result:

• Miss Nadia Gregory has formally resigned, to be replaced by Ms Ellen Lombo for the remainder of 2020
  
  
• Ms Lisa Christensen will be taking extended leave for the remainder of 2020
  
  
• Mrs Jessica Gallaty will be taking leave up to her maternity leave & therefore will not return in 2020
  
  
• Mrs Maria Ramos will be taking leave up to her maternity leave & therefore will not return in 2020

Building Program

This week we finalised the tender for the Middle Years Block. This block will commence construction in July and will provide 18 new permanent classrooms and 2 practical activity spaces for students in Years 5-8. This will be the third block under construction at the moment at St Francis, so things are really happening quite quickly. 

The image below, provided by Sydney Aerial Imagery, shows the Performance Centre in the middle of the site which is due for completion for the beginning of Term 4. Next to it, the foundations of the Hall are clearly visible. The Middle Years block will be constructed adjacent to and parallel with the Innovation Centre which is located top right of the image. 

Submissions for funding the remaining permanent buildings (Admin, Junior Block, Library & Senior Block) were submitted to the Catholic Grant Block Authority last week.

We look forward to hearing about funding arrangements for these remaining blocks in November. 

May God continue to bless you all.

Mr Simon Abernethy
College Principal

Just a reminder

That we are being safe and following road rules when parking your cars during drop off and pick up times.

Parking vehicles on the footpath and nature strip is dangerous to pedestrians, as well as being illegal. Motorists need to ensure that the footpath and nature strip are kept clear at all times.

The NSW Government parking rules define a footpath/nature strip as an area of a property between the letterbox and the roadway.Fines can be applied to cars who park on the nature strips outside houses. For example, parking on path/nature strip in residential area carries a possible $268.00 fine for people caught parking there.

We are very keen on maintaining a positive partnership with residents who live adjacent to our College, and would appreciate parents/carers cooperation in assisting us to keep this relationship healthy by abiding by the road rules and keeping the nature strips surrounding the College clear of cars.

As you may be aware, the Staff Development Day scheduled for this term was postponed due to COVID-19. 

Please be advised that the new date is during Term 3 - Friday 28 August. 

Please add this date to your calendars.

Mrs Agostino
Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care

Dear Parents/Carers,

It is an extremely exciting time at SFCC not only for the Creative and Performing Arts faculty but for our College community at large as we watch the Performance Centre being built right before our very eyes!

After recently having the opportunity to go on a tour of the building, I am so excited for both the students that currently study the arts as well as those that no doubt will be drawn towards the arts by trying out performance based subjects due to the beautiful facilities that will be unveiled later on in the year. 

It is with great pleasure, that I announce the starting and continuation of a number of CAPA Clubs at SFCC, all of which are starting up this week. Most of these clubs are inclusive so if your child has any curiosity about the arts, now is the time to get involved and have some fun. The current goals for all groups are to build skills, interest and a love for the arts!

DANCE CLUBS

There are a number of dance clubs that are starting up across the College. These include:-

Years 3 & 4 dance club (run by Miss Cordina and Mrs Davidson)
Years 5 & 6 dance club (run by Mrs Wright and Miss Laidlaw)
Tap crew (run by Mrs Jamieson)
and a Years 5 to 10 all boys hip hop crew (run by Mrs Kells). 

MUSIC CLUBS

We have two clubs on offer for students who enjoy music.

The College Band is an auditioned group and an integral part to any school community. This is for students from Years 7 – 10 with some technical music ability and is run by our music specialist, Miss Buggé.

The College Choir is also integral to the fibre of any Catholic community so if your child is in Years 5 - 10 and loves to sing then please encourage them to get involved. This club is run by Mrs Weaver and Miss Buggé.

VISUAL ARTS CLUB

In the Visual Arts realm, our Art club will start up in Week 7 and will be run by our Visual Arts specialist, Miss Cusack. Students from years 5 – 10 are encouraged to come along and get creative as they focus on dry mediums (such as drawing) and explore ideas that are self-directed. 

DRAMA CLUB

The Drama club is for students who have a love of the theatrics from Years 7 – 10. I look forward to running this club and will be developing student’s improvisation and ensemble skills throughout the rest of this term. 

CIRCUS CLUB

The last club that I am excited to introduce to you is the Circus Club. I personally have a passion for all things Circus Arts and can’t wait to pass on this passion to students at the College. This is a club for students from Years 7 to 10 that enjoy sport, drama, dance or students will an open mind that love new challenges. We will be conditioning our bodies for circus through strength work and learn to manipulate objects such as scarves, juggling balls and hula hoops!

Announcements have gone out in regards to day and time slots for each club for the rest of the term and there is a lot of excitement amongst the students.

Yours in creativity, 

Ms Allen
Leader of Creative and Performing Arts

During August, the College will be offering UNSW ICAS Assessments in the subjects of Science, Digital Technologies, English and Mathematics, targeting students' higher order thinking and problem solving skills.

A note was sent home last week via Compass to all parents/carers of students in Years 3-10, inviting our most able students to participate in the assessments, which will be held here at the College during class time.

Please note, all payments for ICAS are now to be made via an online portal direct to UNSW Global. 

Details of the payment system are outlined in the letter that was sent home via Compass. 

If you would like your child to participate, please ensure that you register via the UNSW Global Parent Payment portal prior to Friday 17 July 2020.  Please note, all payments must be made prior to this date.  Strict deadlines are enforced by UNSW and parents who attempt a late payment will not be included in the Assessments.

Please refer to the letter sent home to parents via Compass for further information.

With COVID-19 restrictions in place, Catholic Youth Ministry Wollongong (CYMW) have gone digital in a new initiative called LIVE online. 

LIVE online with CYMW is a 20 minute weekly show that aims to support young people to either commence or deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, in the hope that through Him they may have life and have it to the full (Jn 10:10).

LIVE online embraces many of the features of other CYMW events including interviews, scripture, music performances, games and presentations.  Each Thursday at 7pm a brand new and action packed episode is released. If you cannot watch the launch, episodes can be viewed any time.

Each episode and the related resources, including reflection questions, can be accessed via the SFCC Remote Learning Google Site: 

https://sites.google.com/dow.catholic.edu.au/sfccwellbeingremotelearning/youth-ministry/live-online

This is not only a great resource for students, it also provides an opportunity for your family to join together in deepening your faith.

So tune into LIVE online with CYMW and join us as one community on this exciting journey.

Miss Jessica Flegg