Dear Parents and Community Members,  

It’s wonderful to be back, even for a short time, leading this amazing school community once again as Acting Principal. I feel incredibly fortunate to work alongside such dedicated and passionate staff who consistently go above and beyond to support student learning and wellbeing. Our families continue to demonstrate such care, collaboration, and commitment to their children’s education, and it’s truly appreciated. Most of all, our students bring so much joy and energy to the school, every day is filled with moments of curiosity, kindness, and growth. It is a privilege to witness the strength of our community in action and to contribute to its continued success during this time.

After School Supervision

A gentle reminder to all families about after-school supervision: if your child is playing on the playground after school, they must be supervised by an adult. While we encourage play and community connection, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children is our priority.

If you are waiting for a child participating in after-school sports training, please keep younger siblings close to you rather than allowing them to play unsupervised on the school grounds. 

Thank you for your continued support in helping us create a safe and respectful environment for all.

Extra-Curricular Sports

Our extra-curricular sports program is a fantastic opportunity for students to stay active, develop teamwork skills, and experience the joy of sport, all thanks to the dedication of our wonderful parent volunteers. We are incredibly grateful for the time and energy they give to make these experiences possible.

A reminder that all parent volunteers must have a current Catholic Police Clearance to support or coach teams. This is essential to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our students.

As representatives of our school, both on and off the field, it’s important that we live out our school virtues in all that we do. Let us continue to lead with kindness, show respect to others, and always demonstrate good sportsmanship. 

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for our sports program. 

Yours faithfully, 

Catia Frasca 

Dear Families,

In Term 3, Week 2, we are delighted to invite you to a very special Community Prayer as we celebrate Grandparents and Grandfriends Day. This beautiful occasion coincides with the Feast of St Joachim and St Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, and offers us a meaningful opportunity to honour the cherished elders in our lives.

St Joachim and St Anne are respected in our Catholic tradition as models of faith, love, and family. Though not mentioned in the Bible, their legacy lives on through the nurturing and guidance they gave to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Their feast day reminds us of the vital role grandparents play in passing on faith, wisdom, and unconditional love to younger generations.

To mark this special day, we ask that you bring along all grandparents and grandfriends to join us. I am requesting that photos of your grandparents/friends are emailed to me by Thursday, 3rd July.  If they can’t be present with us on the day or are in God’s eternal care please send a cherished photo.   It will be a time of reflection, gratitude, and celebration of the incredible impact these special people have on our lives.

After prayer, we welcome everyone to stay for a friendly chat and a warm drink from our Community Coffee Machine, located at the canteen. It’s a lovely way to continue the celebration and connect with others in our school community.

📅 Date: Term 3, Week 2 – Monday, 28th July

📍 Location and Time: School Hall at 9.10am

☕ Coffee & Conversation: Following Community Prayer at the Canteen

Please make sure to let your grandparents and grandfriends know about this event—we’d love to see them there!

With blessings, Josie - jminorchio@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au 

 Vinnies Clothes Donation Bins

A big thank you to families who have noticed the Vinnie donation bins around our school grounds. We kindly invite you to bring in donations of clean, good quality clothing that can be reused and loved by someone else. Your generous contributions will go directly to helping individuals and families doing it tough in our wider community. Let's work together to make a difference - Every item counts. Thank you for your ongoing support with clothing and food donations.

Can you imagine being the person who gets to design a bridge!

We had to think about what makes a successful bridge, but instead of making it out of concrete and metal, we were challenged to make a bridge using only a piece of paper!

Our bridge had to span 10cm across and hold toy cars. We couldn’t use any sticky tape or glue. At first, we weren’t sure how to make the paper strong enough to hold the toy cars.

We learnt that triangles are a strong shape and that is why we often see triangles in tall buildings and bridges. Then we worked in teams to design and make our bridges.

We folded our paper and tested our bridges to see how many toy cars they could hold. Have a look at some of our bridges.

Welcome back to Parent Corner.

Unhurrying Childhood: Why Slowing Down Is the Best Thing for Our Kids

For many of us, we appreciated the slower pace, the extra family time, and the relief from overscheduled calendars. And yet… here we are. Back to full days, packed evenings, and exhausted kids. Welcome to the age of the Hurried Child.

In this week’s Insight’s article, ‘Unhurrying Childhood: Why Slowing Down Is the Best Thing for Our Kids ‘, Justin talks about the age of the ‘Hurried Child’.  This is described as when we push our children to grow up too fast.  Childhood isn’t a race. And it’s not our job to hustle our kids into the future. It’s our job to give them a safe, steady present. Justin explains how we can change this culture of hurry and be more intentional.

Please click on the link below to read this week’s article.

For more parenting information, visit the Happy Families website: https://happyfamilies.com.au./

Thank you.

Grace Loizos Wellbeing Leader gloizos@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

We have a new contact email for all volunteer clearance enquiries - clearance@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

We’d love to welcome more volunteers into our school community! Getting started is simple just head to our school website to get started:

🔗Whitefriars Catholic School | Volunteering

If you have any questions or need a hand, feel free to pop into the front office and chat with our friendly staff, or email us at clearance@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

Thank you for supporting our school and helping make Whitefriars such a vibrant, connected community! 

Week 9 - TERM 2

• Monday - 23rd June - Help needed
• Tuesday - 24th June - Help needed
• Wednesday - 25th June - No help needed
• Thursday - 26th June - Tina Bodjo, Helen Burns - Clarke
• Friday - 27th June - Linda Light

Week 8 - TERM 2

• Monday - 30th June - Help needed
• Tuesday - 1st July- Help needed
• Wednesday - 2nd July - No help needed
• Thursday - 3rd July - Tina Bodjo/Helen Burns-Clarke
• Friday - 4th July - Half Day - No lunches

 Catholic Schools Basketball Carnival

Last Friday, Whitefriars Year 6 boys and girls team played in the Catholic Schools Basketball Carnival at the State Basketball Centre in Wayville. The girls’ team was comprised of 2 of our amazing school Basketballers along with some talented Netball and Soccer players. Our boys’ team was made up from our school teams and had some very experienced and talented basketballers.  All day the teams supported each other and tried their best against some very strong teams. The boys team lost some very close games with the girls team winning 3 of their games. Well done to all the students who represented Whitefriars so well on the day.  

Western Districts Soccer Carnival 

Last Wednesday Whitefriars entered the Western Districts Soccer Carnival which was held for the very first time. We have some very talented and keen male soccer players in Year 6 so we had to hold trials at school to select the team of 12 players. Our girls team consisted of 2 Year 6 players who were selected in for the SAPSASA carnival last year as well as some skillful players from our Year 5 and 6 cohort. Each team played 6 games throughout the day so the players were exhausted by the end. The boys were pitted against some of the smaller schools and prevailed in each of their games, playing some outstanding team soccer. Our girls team won every game except for 1 which was an amazing effort. We have 4 boys trialling now for the SAPSASA team and 7 girls selected to trial.

Thanks to all the parents and grandparents who came and supported, the players loved having your support. Congratulations to all players who represented Whitefriars so well!!

Dear Families,

It is important to know that Whitefriars Catholic School holds enrolment meetings approximately 2 years ahead of the child's start date. 

In Term 3 this year we will be conducting enrolment meetings for children eligible to commence Term 3 2027 (Children born 1st May 2022 to 30th October 2022)

In Term 1 2026 we will be conducting enrolment meetings for children commencing in Term 1 2028. (Children born 1st November 2022 to 30th April 2023)

PLEASE ENSURE ALL SIBLINGS ARE ENROLLED FOR ALL FUTURE YEARS.

Thank you 

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.