Dear Parents, Carers & Friends, 

Construction on Stages 5, 6 & 7 Commences!

Last Thursday, we welcomed civil works equipment to the top of the college site, as work on our new Administration Block (Stage 5), Junior Years Block (Stage 6) and Library/Resource Centre (Stage 7) commenced. The tender has been awarded to Lloyd Group and it is hoped that at least two of the three buildings will be handed over for use at the beginning of 2024. 

Ground level of Stage 5 incorporates a College Reception area, administration office, student services area, offices and meeting spaces for the College Leadership Team and a specialist support setting for K-6 students. The first floor will provide workstations for teaching staff, meal room facilities, meeting spaces, phone booths and collaborative work spaces.

Stage 6 will provide modern, state-of-the-art classrooms for Kindergarten to Year 4. Each year group will have access to Practical Activity spaces for arts, craft and ‘wet’ activities. 

Stage 7 will deliver a modern library and resource centre for students. It will facilitate the borrowing of hardcopy and digital books, as well as providing an IT support desk, photocopying and printing facilities. It will be a place that supports students K-12 with group work, collaboration, study and research.

Once completed, St Francis will only have one remaining stage left to construct which will be Stage 8, the Senior Students Block. We pray for sustained periods with low rainfall to allow the project to progress on schedule.

May God Continue to Bless You.

Mr Simon Abernethy
College Principal

The first week of school ended with an exciting day for Year 6 - ACTIVATE fire. We had the opportunity to go to Holy Family, Ingleburn and meet Year 6 students from other schools. There was also a friendly team of people guiding us and teaching us new things about God and the sacraments. Through a variety of games, songs, dances and talks, the day was not only filled with fun, but learning about the true extent of God's love and mercy. For lunch, we had a sausage sizzle alongside many other kids. Year 6 was given a chance to make both new friends and new memories that we won't forget.

Daisy B.
Year 6

Congratulations to Angel W in year 7 for her impressive results recently:

* 2022 State Championship 14U Girls Singles Runners up.

* 2022 12U Australian Hardcourt Championship (Nationals) Girls Doubles Runners up

* 2022 12U Australian Hardcourt Championship (Nationals) Girls Singles 5th Place

* 2022 Rafa Nadal Tour ACT 12U Girls Singles Winner

Bronze Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received their Bronze Award recently:

Year 1
Alexander B               
Steffan C
Liam J
Mahli W
Archita G
Eva G
Cherilyn S
Joshua T
Hunter S
Tatiana M
Jacob A                       
Arthur C
Ethan S

Silver Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received their Silver Award recently:

Year 2
Claire C
Mariam A
Benjamin S

Year 3
Dominic R
Belle-Louise H

Year 4
Aaron E

Gold Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received their Gold Award recently:

Emilia B, Annabelle N, Maddison S, Elza E, Savannah M, Ethan D, Madaline S, Sy B

Just a reminder to families who have a child/ren attending St Francis and are not returning next year in 2023, could you please notify our enrolments officer at College Reception on 4645 3400 or via info@sfccdow.catholic.edu.au.

Australia will celebrate the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 28 October 2022.  

Our teachers have shown great resilience during challenging times, all so they can give Australian students the best future possible.

Hats off to teachers this World Teachers’ Day! 

Share your “hats off” selfie to celebrate teachers and tell us what they mean to you.

We are encouraging students, their families and the community to celebrate teachers. What do teachers mean to you? 

On Tuesday 18th, a Compass alert was sent home to families about creating thank-you cards. In addition, on Friday 28 October, you can show your appreciation to teachers by posting a “hats off” selfie on social media, either on your own or with family or friends. Use these tags: #WTD2022 @aitsl 

You never stop learning. If you are a teacher, you never stop being a student.

To continually improve the teaching and learning of languages at SFCC, Ms. Tooby participated in an Intensive Japanese Teaching Seminar during our Term 3 Holiday Break. The 4-day seminar centered around immersion in the Japanese language, with all sessions taught and facilitated in Japanese. The Japanese teachers who attended were able to develop their teaching ideas and knowledge of Japan as it is today, by participating in workshops that focused on Japanese culture, language, and history. 

Some of the cultural workshops included practicing the art of furoshiki (Japanese cloth wrapping), shodou (Japanese Calligraphy), and learning about current Japanese trends such as Gacha Gacha (Japanese Capsule Toys). 

Ms. Tooby is looking forward to engaging Year 8 Japanese students with all that she learned during her time at the seminar. The members of the Japanese Club will be the first to try out some of these cultural activities, including furoshiki (Japanese cloth wrapping) and sadou (tea ceremony). 

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to the term. 

Ganbatte kudasai! (Let’s all try our very best!)

Kind regards,
The Japanese Faculty and the Japanese Club

The University of Wollongong would like to invite your students to Learning Labs, an academic and creative arts enrichment holiday program. We are targeting students from Year 7 to 10, who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners.

Wollongong Campus Dates: 11^th – 13^th January 2023                         

Venue: University of Wollongong (Wollongong campus only)
Applications close: Wednesday, 9^th November 2022

Help us spread the word by passing this information on to your students and their parents via your school newsletters, website, or individual selection process:

• LEARNING LABS program brochure

APPLICATION PROCESS

• Students can be encouraged to apply by their school, classroom teacher, subject specialist teachers from school or out-of-school or by their parents. If a school-based professional is identifying a potential student please supply them with a Teacher Nomination Letter
• Parents/Guardians/student visit our website and read the full list of workshops available by scrolling to the “Workshop Descriptions” section.
• Students apply for workshops that are within their current year (ie. Year 7 students in 2022 will apply for any of the Year 7 workshops). In exceptional circumstances, we are willing to review applicants who would like to try a more challenging workshop.
• Parents/Guardians/student (or school if parent/guardian is unable to) fill out the online application form.
• One piece of supporting documentation for first time applicants is required that demonstrates their ability (see 'Supporting Documentation' section on website). Please note that the Teacher Nomination Letters can be used as a supporting document.

Please know that applications are open now and workshops fill very quickly.

We will also have several sponsorship places available for students who identify as Australian Aboriginal/Torres Strait or students experiencing financial difficulty. 

For further information about workshops and the application process please visit our website, or contact the Learning Labs team via email at learning-labs@uow.edu.au.

We thank you for your continued support of Learning Labs and we hope to share our passion for providing further opportunities to your students!

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