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Thursday 8th February 2024
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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
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It is with great pleasure that I welcome all the staff, students and families of the St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School community to the 2024 school year. We have had a wonderful start to the year and it has been great to see the students both new and returning settling in so well to school life. This year we have welcomed 12 new Transition students as well as 12 students in other year levels. We have also welcomed a new classroom teacher, Miss Cindy Zheng.
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From a personal perspective it has been great to begin my first full year as Principal of St Francis of Assisi. It has been a busy January with staff undertaking training and setting up our learning spaces. In 2024 as a school we have introduced some changes in procedures and learning programs to bring about the best outcomes for our students.
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This year we have changed the use of our classroom spaces to better utilise our facilities. This includes having dedicated spaces for extension and intervention groups to work. Our classrooms are now situated closer to the centre of the school to reduce travel time and make the most of learning time. We have also introduced ‘warning music’ to allow the students to know when a break time is about to end and re-introduced the process of students lining up in class groups before each learning block to ensure a calm return to the classroom.
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In our Junior Classes we are introducing Read, Write Inc. which provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. Read, Write Inc. has been successfully utilised in a number of Catholic schools in the region including Mother Teresa in Zuccoli and St Mary’s in Darwin. Last year I visited both these schools to see Read, Write Inc. in action and I was impressed with its structure and the results the schools were getting. A number of staff participated in a two-day workshop in the break and are very excited to introduce this approach at St Francis of Assisi.
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Across the school we are also adopting the Learning Through Doing approach in the area of mathematics. Learning Through Doing is an engaging hands-on approach to teaching mathematics. Our teaching staff have participated in a number of webinars with the team from Learning Through Doing to help support the introduction of this approach at our school. I will continue to keep the school community informed of other exciting developments at the school over the course of 2024!
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We are thrilled to announce that we will again partner with Mackillop Catholic College to offer our students musical instrument lessons. Tomorrow at our weekly assembly we will be joined by some of the talented music teachers from Mackillop who will treat us to a special performance.
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ELC and Outside of School Hours Care Staffing Update
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As we begin the year we have some changes in our staff at our Early Learning Centre and Outside of School Hours Care (Before School Care and After School Care). Mr Michael Anderson will be taking charge of the Pre-School while he completes his studies in a Bachelor of Education.
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Miss Michelle Ralph will continue in After School Care and will be joined by Miss Sharryn Wilson. Mr Lachie Brodie will be in charge of Before School Care. All of our OSHC team members are well known to our students and school community.
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It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Miss Lydia Hebb has informed me that she will be resigning from her role in our ELC to focus on her studies in 2024. I am sure that Miss Lydia will be dearly missed by the children and parents in our ELC. Miss Lydia is completing her final year of study in Speech Therapy and if we are lucky she may return during her university holidays!
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Child Safety - Please Slow Down!
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A reminder that to ensure the safety of all children please stick to the speed limits when driving on the school grounds. Staff have witnessed a number of cars travelling too fast on the schools internal roads - please slow down!
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With Faith in their Future
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School: (08) 8988 1212
Early Learning Centre: (08) 8988 2821
After School Care: 0429501507
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