Term 3 Issue 2

Grandparents/Special Friends Day

On Friday 27^th October we will be hosting Grandparents/ Special Friends Day. This has been in the yearly Calendar since the start of the year so hopefully you have informed Grandparents/ Special Friends to save the date. The day will commence on the oval at 9:00am with Community Prayer and conclude at 11:00am. We are asking that only four people per family attend as we will not have room to cater for more than this. More details will follow about the outline of the day. We look forward to seeing Grandparents and Special Friends at SFX for this special occasion.

Independence Day

Independence Day will continue next term on a Wednesday as this ties in nicely with the Breakfast Club. Thank you to everybody for following the rules on Independence Day.

School Uniform

Just a reminder, Term 4 is "no hat, no play", so please ensure your child is wearing their school hat from the first day of Term 4.

SRC

I would like to acknowledge our Semester 2 SRC students. We congratulate all of these students on being selected by their peers to represent their class for the Student Representative Council.

School Disco

I would like to thank the Parents and Friends for all their hard work in making the School Disco a successful night for the children. The children danced the night away and each took home a goodie bag.

Molly

Molly has enjoyed her first term at SFX and is doing a great job.

She enjoys Enrolment Tours with new parents and walking around the school on yard duty at recess and lunch. She also enjoys helping Daphne, the School Counsellor, and assisting in the Front Office.

Molly has the opportunity to sleep and rest when she is tired.

We look forward to seeing Molly next term on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Catholic Schools Music Festival

I would like to congratulate the SFX students who performed at the Festival Theatre on Thursday night in the Catholic Schools Music Festival.

You were amazing and had us hanging on every note. You made us so proud. It is a night you will remember forever, performing in front of a packed theatre in the heart of Adelaide. Well done!

Term 4 Calendar

Attached to this edition of the e-News is the Term 4 Calendar. Below are the key dates you need to be aware of.

Key dates

16/10  First day of term

25/10  School Photos

27/10  9:00am-11:00am: Grandparents/ Special Friends Day

2/11    2:15pm: Whole School Mass

6/11    2:15pm: Reception Assembly

6/11    SACPSSA Athletics Carnival

10/11  10:30am: Remembrance Day Liturgy

14/11  6:00pm:  Children’s University Graduation

21/11  6:00pm: Transition evening new Receptions

26/11  10:30am: TTG Parish Christ the King Feast

28/11  6:00pm: End of year Christmas concert on oval

1/12    9:15am: St Francis Day Liturgy

1/12    St Francis Day children's activities

4/12   2:15pm-3:00pm Year 3 Assembly

6/12   9:15am: End of Year Whole School Mass

7/12   Transition Day classes 2024 and new students

11/12  6:00pm  Year 6 Graduation Liturgy

12/12  6:00pm  Year 6 Graduation Dinner and Disco

13/12  Last day of term for all students

School commences Tuesday 30^th January 2024.

R U OK Day?

RU OK Day is one of National Awareness for mental well-being. A day and a time to stop and genuinely ask each other how we are travelling along life’s road.

While children can't be expected to fix someone's problems, they can be encouraged to listen to what their friend is saying, show they care and tell a teacher, school counsellor or trusted adult if they are worried about their friend.

Prayer:

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark:

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three : Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four : Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six : Build your future on high ground.

Seven : For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine : When you're stressed, float a while.

Ten : Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

Laudato Si Grant

Congratulations to The Year 2 classes for a successful grant application of $500 for their Cricket Farm project.

Some news from the Year 2 Team…

Every day the animals in the Enviro Centre are fed crickets. Wouldn’t it be great if we could breed and supply our own nutritious feeder crickets?

The Year 2 students in Rooms 10 and 11 applied for a sustainability grant from the Catholic Education Office at the beginning of Term 3. We were very excited to hear that our grant was successful, and this became our STEM challenge and Inquiry for the term.

The children engaged in the ‘Engineering Design Process’ to build a small-scale enclosure that could safely house the feeder crickets. After an excursion to the Adelaide Zoo and an education session on animal habitats, the children began building enclosures that would cater for all their needs.

Mr Thacker and Mr Amos have helped build the enclosures for our breeding program and we look forward to observing and documenting the life cycle of crickets throughout Term 4.

Fingers crossed we have baby feeder crickets to feed and sustain the animals in the Enviro Centre very soon.

INDIGENOUS LITERACY DAY with Year 5's

September 6^th was Indigenous Literacy Day. The celebration aims to raise awareness about the educational struggles faced by Australia’s First Nations communities and some of our classes took part.  

Room 18 embarked on a virtual plane trip to Barunga in the Northern Territory, Rubibi in north Western Australia and Weipa and Napranum in Far North Queensland. 

Our first stop was Garamilla, also known as Darwin and the traditional land of the Larrakia people. From there, we learned it is a 3 hour drive to the Aboriginal Community of Barunga. This place is the traditional lands of the Jawoyn people, and while there are 15 languages here, the main language spoken and taught is Kriol. It was here that we met the students of the Barunga school who had written and illustrated a book titled Shordi Krik based on their experiences in a creek 100 metres from the school. The students sang their story and showcased their beautiful country and culture with footage taken of and around Shordi Krik. 

Making our virtual journey back to Darwin, we flew to Rubibi, also known as Broome in Western Australia. We then travelled to the Bidyadanga Community with a population of 750 residents in Karajarri Country. They sang us the story book they had written in language titled, Country tells us when… and again we gained some insight into life within the community, but more importantly, how they ‘listen to country’ and their connection to land and water. 

Our next destination was to the Country of the Alngith people, The story book We Look, We Find was launched in Weipa but is set 10 minutes south of Weipa, in Napranum.  We looked and we found a kyembal (crocodile)!   

These books are just some of the work that communities are doing to keep their language alive, engage young Indigenous people in literacy, and educate us about Indigenous cultures and connection to Country.

Term 3 Sports Programs at SFX – Scott Hughes 

This Term there has been a variety of sports offered to students before and after school. These offerings provide SFX students an additional opportunity to be physically active and accrue the practice volume necessary to master fundamental movement skills. Fundamental movement skills are the “building blocks” for more complex and specialised skills that students will need throughout their lives to competently participate in different games, sports and recreational activities.

We have partnered with Golden Grove Tennis Club. Each Tuesday morning, a group of Junior Primary students received coaching from tennis coach, Craig Mousley. Craig is an accredited Tennis Australia Talent Development Coach, and he was twice awarded as Coach of the Year. He has a well-deserved reputation as one of the state’s top coaches, and he is passionate about developing younger players to help them reach their full potential. Hot Shots (modified) Tennis returns to SFX in Term 1, 2024.

Thursday afternoons have been dedicated to the SimplySports NET Started netball program. Junior Primary students involved in the program have been learning netball skills and techniques in a friendly, nurturing and inclusive environment. The focus has been on technical skill development through a games-based approach. NET Started netball returns to SFX in Term 3, 2024.

Auskick has returned to SFX with more than 70 students enrolled in the Friday afternoon program. Auskick is the best way to introduce children to the great game of Australian Rules Football. It’s all about fun, getting hands on the footy and constantly being involved in exciting activities. Auskick continues for the remainder of Term 3 and the first four weeks of Term 4.

Finally, we are very excited to have launched the Gleeson World Football Program: SFX Experience; a partnership program with Gleeson College. The World Football Program is an engaging and interactive 8-week soccer program with coaching from former A-League players, Marcos Flores (Adelaide United FC) and Alex Mullen (Sydney FC). The program supports transition into Gleeson College: World Football Program, which is offered to students in Year 7. There are currently 25 Years 5 and 6 students enrolled in the program. We are confident that the program will return to SFX in 2024.

Next term we introduce another new offering to the extensive SFX Extracurricular Sports Program: Simply Sports NEW Ball Cricket. The program is aimed at Reception to Year 2 students interested in learning the fundamentals of cricket: batting, bowling, and fielding. More information about this program will be distributed to parents in the coming weeks. No prior experience necessary.

For more information on before and after school sports programs, please contact Scott Hughes on shughes@sfx.catholic.edu.au

For more information on school sports teams, please contact Tania Krawczyk on tkrawczy@sfx.catholic.edu.au

Breaking news…SFX boys triumph Netball Carnival in Adelaide’s Northern suburbs.

The now famous team named Juggernauts, locked in beast mode and rode to victory undefeated at the SAPSASA Netball Carnival. They have come off-side the Div 1 courts with famous nicknames and all the glory of sinking epic goals, rocket-like passes, ferocious attacking and defending lines that would make the Thunderbirds run a mile.

SFX girls brought a strong hustle to the courts winning 2 out of 5 games.

Coach Stagg said “All students represented our school with pride, great teamwork and with excellent respect towards their opponents and umpires. It was a tremendous effort from the boys in particular, going through undefeated and winning their section of the carnival. You should be very proud of them.”

Congratulations to Chloe Howard (Room 17) who has achieved her certificate for reaching 40 new pieces learned this year in piano.

Just like when we read more books, we become better readers, so too with learning more music, we become better players.

The Term 3 After-School Lego Robotics students explored the programme’s crazy carnival games, transportation vehicles and quirky creations.

Students took their learning to the next level and went on to produce some incredibly innovative and creative builds.

We finished up the term’s course by revisiting a few earlier vehicle builds and a raced a range of buses, taxi’s, cars and jeeps.

As we close this term's chapter and prepare for the last term in 2023, we hope these holidays bring you a well-deserved rest. Enjoy the break with your family.

In Kindness, from all of us here at SFX.