Dear Parents & Carers,

At our End of Year Mass last week, Father Bosco and I reflected on the Advent Wreath which appears in our Church during the Christmas season. The wreath contains four candles, one for each week of advent. We encouraged students to reflect on each of the four virtues that the candles represent during their holiday break. These virtues include Hope, Peace, Joy & Love. 

We asked students to consider how they can be people of hope this Christmas. Hope filled people are positive, optimistically looking to the future. They show appreciation for others and their enthusiasm is infectious. 

Peaceful people start by forgiving others. They seek to let go of past wrongs and let people know that despite what may have happened in the past, they are still valued. They are calm and good listeners.

Joyous people are fun to be around. They have a good sense of humour, enjoy celebrating the successes of others and look to build people up rather than be overly critical. Joyous people consciously look for positives in their day.

We all need love and to feel loved. We encouraged students to recognise the ‘small love’ they receive daily from their family. To acknowledge the things that they usually take for granted; the preparation of a meal, cleaned clothes, a gentle hug, encouragement and so forth. We also asked students to express how they feel in word and deed and show appreciation for their loved ones over Christmas.

If we commit to putting these virtues into practice over the Christmas break, it will lead to not only us being truly happy but also significantly contribute to the happiness of those around us. 

For my part, I would like to say thank you for your support, patience and kindness throughout the year. It certainly has been a busy year that has tested us all. I do however feel proud of what we have achieved and the resilience we have built in our community. I pray that the Christmas break brings you and your family many blessings.  

“May Christ's peace and hope be with your family now and in the days ahead. May His love warm your hearts, may He give you a spirit of wisdom.”

Best wishes

Mr Simon Abernethy
College Principal

Senior Leaders

Principal: Mr Abernethy
Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care: Mrs Agostino
Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching: Mrs Vella

Junior Years Learning Team (K-4)

Leader of Learning: Miss Laidlaw
Numeracy Coordinator: Mrs Jeymour
Literacy Coordinator: Miss Morgan
Leader of Religious Education: Mrs Weaver
Leader of Pastoral Care: Mrs Hains
Pastoral Assistant: Miss Figueiras
Leader of Diverse Learning: Mrs Grant
Diverse Learning Teachers: Mrs Borg, Mrs Chisholm, Mrs Mirigliani, Mrs Bui
Sports Coordinator: Mrs Crescini

Kinder: Miss Laskaris, Mrs Davidson, Miss Papadam
Year 1: Mr Diaz, Miss Morgan/Mrs Shuker, Miss Nasso*
Year 2: Miss Kaka, Miss Meli, Miss Figueiras*
Year 3: Miss Hatter, Mrs Crescini, Miss Micallef*
Year 4: Miss Sultana, Mrs Hains/Mrs Weaver, Miss Messina

Relief from Face to Face Teachers: Ms Autard, Mrs Jamieson, Mrs Anderson
Large Class Support: Miss Cheng

Middle Years/Senior Years Learning (5-11)

Leader of Curriculum: Mr Chapman
Leader of Middle Years Learning: Ms Kolar
Literacy Instructional Coach: Mrs Spencer*
Leader of Religious Education: Miss Randall
Youth Ministry & Liturgy Coordinator: Miss Flegg
Leader of Administration & Events: Mr O’Brien 
Transition & Careers Teacher: Mrs Lyons
Sports Coordinator: Mrs Pavlovich*

Leader of English: Mrs Wagstaff
English Team: Mr Chapman, Miss Issa, Mrs Kelleher, Miss Potts*, Miss Randall, Mrs Sanchez, Miss Shoard, Mrs Spencer, Mrs Vaga.

Leader of Mathematics: Mrs Pangiotakis
Maths Team: Mr Arzapitian, Miss Banks, Mr Beh, Miss Cox, Mrs Inzitari*, Mr Siskas*

Leader of Science: Miss Linkenbagh
Science Team: Mrs Dao*, Ms Kolar, Mrs Opalniuk, Mr Stonefield*

Leader of HSIE: Ms Holmes
HSIE Team: Miss Cagliusso*, Mrs Fielding*, Mrs Greci, Miss Lombo*, Miss Pracy*

Leader of PDHPE: Mrs Kells
PDHPE Team: Miss Cordina, Miss Flegg, Mr Watson, Mr Zakris

Leader of Creative & Performing Arts: Miss Allen
CAPA Team: Mrs Blunden*, Miss Bugge, Ms Cusack

Leader of Technologies: Mrs Sulentic
TAS Team: Miss Meadley*, Mr Suters

Languages: Mr O’Brien
Leader of Diverse Learning (7-12): Ms McGinnes*
Diverse Learning Teachers: Mrs Lyons, Mrs Pavlovich*
EALD Teachers: Miss Rahim & Mr Burge*

Indentured Casuals: Mr Fiztpatrick*, Miss Markus & Miss Tropea

* indicates new staff for 2021

Please see below, various photos from our End of Semester 2 Award ceremonies. 

Our two Medallion recipients Nikolas K and Ellie M are pictured below:-

Nikolas being presented his prize for the CEDoW Christmas Story Art Competition.

In Term 3 St Francis participated in the Nude Food Challenge and 4 Blue were the junior years winners! Our prize was a chance to plant succulents in our own pot and bring it home to care and look after it.

4B participated in succulent planting on Wednesday the 9th of December. Succulents are desert plants and therefore have the ability to provide themselves with water from the moisture in the air. This means 4B does not need to water it very often.

Our class was extremely excited about this, and we are certainly looking forward to caring for the succulent plants we received.

Nude Food was a heartwarming experience to help the environment and all of us can agree that everyone put in their best effort to help the world.  The goal was to reduce the plastic waste from students lunches to create an eco-friendly environment for students and staff.

Students enjoyed being involved and engaged during this exciting experience.

Daisy and Harini
4 Blue

It was the day. The day where Year 4 went on a journey to Wollongong, specifically to Stanwell Park Beach Reserve. It was a day of humidity and complete dryness. Year 4 students travelled on the bus named The Australian Luxury Travel. The day started off like no other. Year 4 had to arrive at school at exactly 7:45am. The people who were early got to talk to their friends while waiting for their teachers. The best part about sitting on the bus was that you got to choose your partner to sit next to and have a fun chat too. The trip had started and everyone had a really good time talking to their friends beside them as they saw the beautiful scenery outside the window. After a long hour and 30 minutes, we finally arrived at the beautiful beach reserve. 

The Stanwell Park Beach Reserve is part of a National Park that is run by Ranger Jamie Tours. There were three rangers named Ranger Jackson, Ranger Kelly and Ranger Ky. Since there were three rangers, there were three activities that were each completed by one class. When we got there we had a little snack and then the rangers spoke to us about some of the animals, including a fox, echidna, possum, snake, bat and crocodile, who were all named Gary which was pretty funny. Flies and bugs were crawling everywhere and we really felt like we were in the outdoors!

Two of the activities involved bug catching. The first one required us to catch bugs among the trees and along the ground in a small container, and the other one required us to catch bugs in the creek with a net. The bugs found in the water helped to identify whether the water was clean or murky. The third activity involved making a habitat for the sea turtles on the beach using buckets and sand - it was similar to making sandcastles which we really enjoyed! After the first two activities, we sat and enjoyed our lunch. Then we continued onto the next activity.

It was a fun experience and Year 4 loved it!