TERM 3

• Fri, 4th Aug - Year 3 Sleepover
• Mon, 7th Aug 1.45pm-2.45pm Action Hour
• Tues, 8th Aug Feast Day of Mary MacKillop - 9.30am -Whole School Mass Time  and Andrew Chinn Concert
• Wed, 9th Aug- School Board Meeting 
• SAPSASA Basketball - Year 6 
• Thurs, 10th Aug - Catholic Schools Cross Country Carnival
• Wed, 16th Aug Year 1 Assembly 
• Fri, 18th Aug, School Disco
• Fri, 18th Sept- Reception Excursion to the Zoo
• Wed 23rd Aug, Bookweek Parade
• Wed 30th Aug, 7pm P & F Meeting 
• Thur 31st Aug, Father's Day Stall
• Fri, 1st Sept, Father's Day Breakfast
• Tues, Journey to Emmaus Day
• Fri, 8 Sept - Pupil Free Day - OHSC is available 
  
• Wed, 13th Sept- School Board Meeting 
• Fri, 22nd Sept - Year 2 Italian Night 5-8pm
• 23rd & 24th Sept, First Holy Communion Celebration
• Wed, 27th Sept, Reception Assembly 
• Fri, 29 Sep - Last Day of School 12:30pm dismissal

TERM 4

• Mon, 16 Oct - First Day of School
• Wed, 1st Nov, School Board Meeting
• Wed, 29th Nov, School Board Meeting
• Thurs, 14 Dec - Last Day of School 3:05pm dismissal

Dear Parents and Community Members,

It has been truly wonderful re-connecting with the children and many parents as I returned this term. Thank you very much for your warm welcome back and the many questions in regards to my time away.

My 6-weeks in Europe was a truly wonderful time of renewal both personally and professionally. In the first 3 weeks I took part in the Australian Catholic University Study Tour called ‘Leading in Catholic Education in a Change of Era’ in Rome and Assisi. I was in a group of 18 leaders from 5 different countries and I was the only SA representative amongst the Australian leaders. It was wonderful that my wife Sylvia was able to join us for the tours and with the whole group we had the opportunity to visit some of the most historical and important Churches built in the early days of Christianity in Rome each with tour guides explaining different aspects of the Churches and its paintings.

I was privileged to visit a Church,  St Clemente which had 3 levels: 11th Century Church at street level which was built above a 4th Century Church which in turn was built above a 1st Century Pagan century church.

At a Church called Santa Prassede, I saw a large piece of the column that is believed to be the column Jesus was tied to in Jerusalem when he was whipped prior to his crucifixion. I was able to visit the Sacred Stairs that are believed to be the stairs Jesus walked up in Pontius Pilate Palace. Both the column and the Sacred Stairs were brought over from Jerusalem to Rome by St Helena who was the mother of the Emperor Constantine and her influence on her son was pivotal in changing Rome from persecuting Christians to becoming a Christian community in the 5th Century.  

It was a very moving experience to celebrate Mass near the Tomb of St Peter and I prayed near the tomb of St Paul’s, two of the most important Apostles of Jesus who were instrumental in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ enabling me to connect to the early stage of Christianity. The Vatican was amazing and I had the opportunity to also visit the Vatican library and met with bishops, cardinals, priests, brothers and sisters who lead different dicastery and consequently work very closely with Pope Francis. 

Following the Study Tour, I then took 3-weeks of Long Service Leave and absolutely loved travelling to several places in Poland, Prague and different places in Croatia. My highlight in Croatia visiting Dubrovnik, Split and Plitvice Lakes National Park. I must say my wife and I were particularly impressed with the friendliness and welcome of the Croatian people.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Catia Frasca, Josh Page and Josie Minorchio for stepping up to respective leadership roles while I was on leave, and I thank all our staff for their tremendous effort in working through the new SEQTA report and coordinating a successful school concert.

Approach to Learning Excellence Awards

As you are aware in the new Report generated through SEQTA ‘Effort’ has now been changed to ‘Approach to Learning’. As an educator, I strongly believe in the importance in valuing how hard a child works at their learning, their ability to remain on task, support others, show persistence and willingness to complete their work regardless of their level of academic achievement. As parents and educators, we regular say to our children ‘Always try your best’.

At Whitefriars Catholic School we acknowledge children who receive a high amount of ‘Excellent’ as they are children who are, not only maximizing their own learning, but also the learning of others through their role modelling and example. 

One of the trends at our school is that children who begin to move to Year 4, 5 and 6 begin to take their learning more seriously and they continue to work harder at their learning. This was evident in our cohort of Year 6 children where 23 out of 59 children (39%) received 7 or more ‘Excellent’ to their approach to Learning. I am very proud of all the Year 6 children as they are a remarkable group of children.

PLEASE SEE PHOTOS BELOW

NAPLAN Results

The NAPLAN Results were sent to the Year 3 and Year 5 families yesterday and, in our early analysis of our results, Whitefriars Catholic School was above the National and above the State average. This is a great result for our teachers and support staff and for our parents who work hard to help their children at home as we work in partnership. Our task now as educators is to drill down to each child’s result and continue to support each of them in their learning.

NAPLAN data is one aspect of our assessment that your child undertakes in their time at school, and it is an important one as we gain a direct comparison nationally. Together with other assessment we gain a good understanding to where each child is at and what they need next.

It is wonderful to be back and look forward to continuing to serve this Catholic School community in the best way that I can

Kind Regards

Frank Congedi 

Welcome back for another busy term. I hope everyone had a wonderful break and have returned refreshed and ready for another term of learning.

St. Vinnies – Winter Appeal – Clothing Donations and Canned Goods

A very big thank you to everyone who has donated clothing for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal, and for your participation in the Canned Food Drive as part of the Crazy Hair/Crazy Sock fundraiser last week.

The cans were collected on Wednesday, and the bins were collected on Thursday – and will be redistributed to those families and individuals in need. Sister Catherine Seward, a local parishioner who works within St Vincent de Paul, in particular wanted me to share the organisations heartfelt gratitude for our schools community support.

Action Hour – Monday 7th of August

To celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop we will be holding our annual Action Hour fundraiser on Monday the 7th of August between 1:45pm and 2:45pm.

On this day all classes/units organise stalls, with each stall being priced between 20c and a dollar for a turn. Students during this hour then go from stall to stall to play the games. So please raid your money boxes and go break those notes ready to participate in another fun action hour.

This year, all money raised will be going to support a Mary Mackillop foundation project for those in need.

Parents and grandparents are welcome to attend and participate in our Action Hour activities.

Whole School Mass – Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Tuesday the 8th of August

Tuesday the 8th of August is the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Australia’s First Saint.

Mary MacKillop was an Australian who co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866. The Order grew because it was needed. There were 750 Sisters in the Order when she died. Even in her dying she was deemed to be a saint. Today there are over a thousand Sisters, who live the charism of Mary MacKillop, to do the will of God with love and gratitude, in their day to day lives.

St Mary Mackillop was a prolific writer and there is so much wisdom in her words; wisdom for all time.

Mary MacKillop reminds us to slow down in our minds and be in peace there. If only we could keep our mind in peace, we would not miss the ordinary. Slowing down offers the opportunity to take in more of the ‘ordinary’ things in our lives, that in busyness we can overlook. The ordinary has so much to offer if we are in tune and have a feeling for what is going on around us. St Mary MacKillop was always aware of the presence of God hidden in the ordinary things of life. She knew that she was called to bear her cross.

Mary MacKillop died on 8th August 1909 in the Josephite convent in North Sydney. She was beatified in 1995 and was canonised on 17th October 2010. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of her Canonisation.

We will be having a Whole School Mass at 9:30am in the Mary MacKillop Hall on Tuesday the 8th of August to celebrate Mary Mackillop’s feast day. To make this occasion more special, the music and sung responses will be led by Andrew Chinn, one of Australia’s most prolific religious musicians.

Andrew will be with us for the day – and will also work with the students across all year levels culminating in a Whole School concert from 1:45pm in the Mary MacKillop Hall – Parents and Caregivers are invited to attend both celebrations.

National School Improvement Partnership Survey (Living Learning Leading Surveys) – Parent/Community responses

Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) through National School Improvement Partnerships (NSIP) are asking parents/caregivers to participate in a survey regarding Whitefriars Catholic School.

This survey is being offered to Catholic schools across South Australia. When you access the survey and enter the specific code for our school community (details below), all the relevant information will be sent to our

school. Staff and Year 2-6 students are participating in a similar survey, and like the parent/caregiver survey, all responses are confidential.

We would like as many parents/caregivers of our school to complete the survey to provide feedback across the various domains of the survey. The information provided is used to affirm the strengths of the school, whilst also providing information to identify areas of opportunity to improve the school. This data can be useful to inform decision making when planning the schools Strategic Goals for the short and long term.

This year – all families who complete the survey will go into the draw (random selected) to win a $100 Coles Myer gift card – to enter the draw – please take a screenshot of your completed survey and email to jpage@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

If you would like to complete the survey please click on the following link https://www.nsipartnerships.com.au/

and enter the unique school code when asked: WSLLLP The survey closes on Friday the 25th August 2023 (end of Week 5). Further information about the survey is available via the attached document.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding the survey

Made in the Image of God (MITIOG) Human Sexuality Curriculum – taught in Term 3

This Friday a letter will be sent home via Seesaw and Audiri regarding the MITIOG Human Sexuality curriculum that will be taught to all students by the end of Term 3. Classes will begin the curriculum from Week 7 onwards. The letter will detail the outcomes being taught for each year level. As we work in partnership with you as parents, being the first educators of your child, this is one area of our curriculum that you do have the option of removing your child from the lessons, if you would prefer to teach these concepts yourself. I encourage you to read the letter to gain an understanding of the content being taught and to ask any questions that you have. If you do wish to remove your child from the lessons, please speak with either Mr. Frank Congedi or Mr. Josh Page.

I will be running a parent information session which will provide further context to the curriculum and the purpose of the curriculum. This will provide further opportunities to ask questions (this is the same session that I have run over the previous few years). This session will be held at 9am on Wednesday the 30th of August (Week 6) upstairs in the Caritas Building. To RSVP please email jpage@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

If you are unable to attend the parent information session but would like to know more about the curriculum please do not hesitate to contact me via email

Josh Page

APRIM

CELEBRATING BOOK WEEK

We are excited to announce that Book Week is happening in Week 5 and students will engage in lots of fun activities across the next two weeks.  

Please start planning costumes for the parade on Wednesday 23rd August.

We encourage you to get creative and use what you already have at home. There is no expectation that costumes are bought for this occasion.

This year, the theme is ‘Read Grow Inspire’ Children can come dressed as their favourite book character or a character related to the theme.   

On Tuesday 22nd we are hosting a Book Swap.

Students are invited to bring a maximum of two good quality books into the library in the morning and they will be given a ticket (Reception students are asked to give their book directly to their class teacher).

Stalls will be set up in the library where students can come with their class and swap their ticket for a new book to keep.   

On Wednesday 23rd at 10am is our whole school parade.

There will be a class by class parade. 

We will formally present our Mayoral Make-A-Book Literacy Challenge winners for 2023 and other winners of our Book Week Competition.  Parents and friends are welcome to come along and join us.   

We look forward to the fun-filled celebration of Book Week!  

Congratulations to students who entered in the Charles Sturt Mayoral Make -A-Book Literacy Challenge 2023.

We had twenty-two entries from over thirty students this year. What an amazing effort by all!

Congratulations to the following winners who have been chosen by the Charles Sturt library judges;

Quinn F (2ST)

Kara H (3T)

Edel L (6LP) & Eliza F (6C)

Eva T (6LP) & Fleur K (6C)

Ivory G (6C)

The children will attend a presentation awards night in August, at the Woodville Town Hall where they will receive their award by Mayor Ms. Angela Evens.

We look forward to reading and sharing their winning creative stories.

Students in Years 2-6 who have registered to participate in the ICAS Assessment/s, this will be held in the Caritas building (EALD room) on the following days:

Digital Technology             Monday 7th August 9:30am

English                                 Monday 14th August 9:30am

Science                                 Monday 21st August 9:30am

Maths                                   Wednesday 30th August 9:30am

In Term 2, the students in 4GK have delved into the realm of Minecraft Education. The students have ventured into this virtual world and have embraced the challenge of creating sophisticated animal habitats while smoothly integrating their knowledge from the HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) curriculum.

The immersive experience has proven to be an invaluable educational tool, fostering a deeper understanding of diverse ecosystems and their inhabitants.

With an infectious sense of enthusiasm, the young explorers collaborate, problem-solve, and unleash their creativity to fashion these remarkable habitats. The dedication and passion displayed by the students of 4GK has been truly impressive.  

Congratulations!

What a wonderful night at the school concert.

I would like to thank everyone involved in organising and running this event, and for all of you who bought tickets and came to see your children perform. I also wish to again acknowledge all the sponsors of this event, whose generous donations helped to make it possible for the show to go on. Please take the time to visit our school website to view the sponsors slide show and support businesses in our Catholic School Community. 

Our main characters Bethany, Hugo, Stella, Japjot and Bailey worked very hard to memorise their lines and were fantastic at acting out our school garden storyline – all in their ‘school uniform’ costumes!

We also had many hands backstage on the night, working together as a well-oiled machine.

Our performing arts leaders were excellent stage managers, joined by Miesha (6LP) and several staff. We also had several staff who served at front-of-house, ushering, offering first aid and running the raffle.

And throughout the term, there were many creative and artistic hands who made props and sets for us.

The list of thank yous could go on and on because an event such as this takes 'Teamwork’, as our Receptions spelled out for us!

But finally, thank you to all the Whitefriars students who provided us with such a great night of entertainment.

Below are some of the comments from students about the concert, as well as some photos from the night.

‘I loved all the fun music and lights, as well as all the stage makeup.’

‘When I came on I felt “This is the moment!”’

‘I did my best to stay in character.’

‘I loved learning the dance moves.’

‘I loved EVERYTHING.’ ‘It was so much fun.’

‘I loved dancing with my friends and having fun!’

‘I loved performing and showing the school community what we learnt and practiced.’

‘My favourite was the whole school dance at the end.’

‘When I posed at the end, that was the time I felt more proud than ever.’

‘I loved when the people were clapping for us.’

The concert was filmed on the night and we have already been able to preview it.

A link to watch it at home will be available very soon – keep a look out.

Congratulations to the following music students!

Jacqueline N (5M) was recently awarded an A+ (High Distinction) for her Grade 1 AMEB piano exam. Congratulations Jacqueline, and thank you to our piano teacher, Johanna Ng for her expert guidance.

Lina B (6LP) performed in the U14 brass division of the Adelaide Eisteddfod on her french horn on Saturday 29th July, and came away with first prize! An amazing achievement.

She played the first movement from Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.1. She is pictured above with her accompanist.

Each year we have over 100 registered volunteers who help our school in so many different ways, contributing to our school and supporting children and staff.  Registered volunteers contribute to the school community in just some of the following ways:

• School Board 
• Parents & Friends events
• After School Sports (Coaches and Team Managers)
• Canteen
• Learning Assistance Program (LAP)
• Reading with children
• Assisting at excursions

All volunteers are required to obtain appropriate clearances, including a Department of Human Services (DHS) Clearance and Catholic Clearance.

Once submitted, clearances may take up to 6 weeks to process.

When you receive your clearance or card please bring this into the office for us to update to the Volunteer Register.

If you would like to volunteer, please see staff in the front office for a Volunteer Information Pack and support in registering as a volunteer.

Please see below for current volunteers wanted in our school.

Thankyou to the following volunteers assisting in Term 3, Week 1 & 2.

If you would like to contribute to this wonderful school community and spend some of your day making delicious food, chatting and laughing in good company, having fun and of course drinking coffee, whether you are able to assist for both recess and lunch, or just an hour, it makes a huge difference and we would love to have you join us.

• Monday - Friday
• Times: all day (9-1:30pm), recess (10:50-11:30am), lunch (12:50-1:30pm) or just an hour wherever you can!
• Tasks include: Making popcorns, jellies, sandwiches, assembling burgers, serving at the counter, packing lunches and stacking the chip rack.

Tasks are given in very easy, manageable steps so everyone can comfortably learn as you go.  No experience necessary!

If you would like to volunteer some time in the Canteen or would like to ask questions about what is involved, please contact Iris at the Canteen before school.

Iris Mori

Canteen Manager

We acknowledge and pay our respect to the Kaurna people as the traditional owners of the land of Mikawomma on which Whitefriars Catholic School is located.  We come with open hearts and minds to listen and learn from Elders - past, present and emerging.