Dear Parents and Community Members,

The first week has quickly come and gone, and with only seven weeks ahead of us, this term promises to be a busy and exciting one. There will be a variety of events and celebrations of learning taking place, offering our students opportunities to showcase their growth and achievements.

To ensure you don’t miss any important dates or festivities, I encourage you to regularly check the parent calendar and any notices sent home. These communications will keep you informed of upcoming events, ensuring that you can join us in celebrating your child’s learning journey.

We look forward to sharing these moments with you and making this a memorable term for all.

After School Pick Up

As a Catholic community, we are encouraged to live with respect, kindness, and compassion in all that we do. By parking responsibly and considerately, we show care for our neighbours and reflect Christ’s love in our daily actions. This mindful approach highlights our commitment to living out our faith through service and respect for others.

We kindly remind all parents and caregivers to:

• Avoid parking across or near our neighbours’ driveways.
• Refrain from parking in no-parking zones or blocking intersections.
• Be patient and follow traffic rules to ensure the safety of both children and other drivers.
• Park with consideration when on the road, avoiding the use of two parking spaces if possible.

Please note, the police have advised that cars must not line up on Beaufort Street, as traffic needs to move freely. Fines will be issued for any violations. The local council is also monitoring the area and may continue conducting patrols.

Let’s continue working together, guided by our Catholic values, to create a safe, respectful, and considerate environment. Thank you for your cooperation in making school pick-up and drop-off times as smooth and safe as possible for our community.

Staffing 2025

I am pleased to share with you our teaching staff for 2025, as currently set. Please note, this list may be subject to change as the year progresses but rest assured that every teacher in our school is dedicated to delivering the highest standard of education.

Our teaching team consistently works together with a shared vision and commitment to the success of every student. They collaborate regularly to plan, ensuring that their approach to teaching and learning is consistent across all year levels. This teamwork fosters a unified approach where agreed whole-school practices are followed, providing a stable and enriching learning environment for our students.

We are incredibly fortunate to have a team of such passionate and skilled educators who are focused on maintaining a positive, supportive, and dynamic classroom environment for every child in our care. Their dedication to upholding the values of our school ensures that all students receive a high-quality education.

Yours faithfully, 

Catia Frasca 

All Saints’ Day/ All Souls’ Month of November

On Friday, 1st November at 9.30am we will be remembering and honouring saints with a liturgy in the Mary MacKillop Centre, led by our Reception students.  Saints provide us with examples, fellowship and intercession.  Who is your favourite saint and how does he/she inspire you? Saints help us grow our faith, each through his or her own life and example.

Did you know? Antonietta Meo is possibly the Church’s youngest modern saint (non-martyred). Her story is one of inspiration and a reminder that age is not a block to give a strong and vigorous Gospel witness and deep commitment to faith, Jesus and Christian virtues. Antonietta died at 6 ½ years of age but her strong relationship with Jesus and prayer led her to our Father with so much trust and peace in her heart. While battling cancer, the pain of an amputated leg, Antonietta offered all her suffering up to God for the sinners of the world.  Her acceptance of her cancer with God by her side gave her balance to continue to have genuine joy, charisma and a love of life. If you are curious to learn about her or need a model to inspire you through your suffering or that of your child, I encourage you to google ‘soon to be saint Antonietta Meo’.  If you find yourself feeling down and suffering you could ask Antonietta to help you to become a living saint today. We too are all called to be saints and holy.

Who has Pope Francis recognised as becoming the first Millennial saint?  Clue….the person is an Italian computer-coding teenager known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  Blessed CARLO ACUTIS (1991 – 2006) Google him too!!!

During the month of November, we are also encouraged to continue praying for departed souls, especially those souls who don’t have anyone to pray for them.

During Week 3 and leading up to All Souls’ Day on Saturday, 2nd November our students, staff and families will remember and honour loved ones who have died by creating a Remembrance Wall with crosses made from wooden pop sticks.  You are invited to write the names of the deceased family members and pets on the crosses and reverently say a prayer while adding the cross to the wall.  Crosses will be available before school outside the canteen. You are also invited to add a memorial card next to the cross.

The focus of this initiative is to remember to place our eternal hope in the Resurrection and eternal life at home with God. In God’s Kingdom there will be no death and no mourning.  That is God’s promise. The Christian view of death is that life is changed, not ended.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal 2017

Can you help to bring some Christmas joy? The Vinnies Christmas Appeal runs annually to support the people in our community that will suffer in silence and doing it tough over the Christmas period. The Croydon Parish volunteers will be packing hampers and will need to collect our donations by Monday, 9th December. Donations of new toys, new clothing and toiletries are some gift ideas. Please do not wrap the items so the volunteers can decide if the gifts are for adults, teenagers or children.  Classes will be collecting donations and placing them in a big Christmas bag.  Our SRC students will collect donations at the end of each week to ensure the bag can be refilled. Thank you for your generous contributions.

This term, 5HM have been hard at work on their exciting STEM projects. As part of the STEM Showcase, we created our own Bizarre Bazaar—a vibrant marketplace full of unique products designed by students. Using their design, technology, problem solving, artistic and collaboration skills, the students crafted various items for display, focusing on creativity and sustainability.

Throughout the unit, we emphasized the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Students repurposed recycled materials to create new and inventive products. Additionally, they used a green screen to create engaging advertisements for their items. Collaboration was key, with students working in small groups to bring their ideas to life. We’re excited to share these innovative projects at the showcase!

On Wednesday 6th November we will be holding our annual instrumental and vocal concerts to celebrate the progress and achievements of students who learn an instrument or have singing lessons here in the Whitefriars Instrumental Program. We hold three sessions, at 4pm, 5pm and 6:30pm upstairs in the Caritas Building.

Your child should have received a form from their music tutor with all the information. This should be returned to the office asap with your choice of timeslot.

We cannot wait to see our music students shine.

SAPSASA Soccer

Our school is part of the Western District zone for the State Championships in School Sport. Each year we have talented students going to the trials for a range of sports vying for selection against students from other schools in our area. To be selected to go to the State Championships students need to be dedicated, skilful and a team player.

Last term the State Championships for Soccer were held. The boys trials had over 80 players, the girls had close to 50 players wanting to be selected with only 12 being picked for the final team so to be selected in these teams is very challenging. In the past Whitefriars have had 2 or 3 children selected in across the boys and girls' teams however this year we have a very strong group of Year 5 and 6 soccer players.

Whitefriars had 3 boys selected and 6 girls. The Whitefriars girls made up half the team for the district which is a phenomenal achievement. Dion D, Anthony T and Zen B were selected for the boys team who were playing in Division 1. Stella R, Ella B, Jaida N, Gabriella P, Lucy G and Brooklyn P played in the girls teams who played in Division 2. Teams played in multiple games over the 3 days against teams from all over South Australia. Congratulations to all our wonderful students who represented our school so well and showed incredible skill and attitude to be selected. 

On the 22nd of October, the Indigenous students attended the Southern Cultural Immersion Centre in Warriparinga Way. Blessed with beautiful weather, the students all gathered for a Welcome to Country that involved a smoking ceremony and an ochre blessing on our foreheads. Then the students enjoyed a range of cultural activities outside. In particular, the students went on a bush walk and tasted bush tucker, engaged in native plant propagation, and learnt about the different ways to care for Country.

However, the highlight was meeting native animals and even getting to experience holding a snake and catching a sugar glider.

15 Ways to Raise Kids Who Bounce Back: No Fluff, Just Grit

Resilience is a muscle built through experiences and relationships.  You can’t be resilient unless you face those hardships. 

Building resilience is an ongoing process. It’s about nurturing a mindset, not checking off a list. Be patient, be present, and most importantly, be the safe harbour your child needs to navigate life’s choppy waters.

In this week’s Insights article, "15 Ways to Raise Kids Who Bounce Back: No Fluff, Just Grit," Justin discusses practical strategies for fostering resilience in children. He emphasises how life experiences—like setbacks, mistakes, and disappointment—play a key role in developing this essential skill. I highly recommend taking the time to read this insightful piece on building resilience.

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

Thank you.

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

• Week 3 - TERM 4
• Monday - 28th October - Help Needed
• Tuesday - 29th October - Anne Vu
• Wednesday - 30th October  - No Help Needed
• Thursday - 31st October - Tina Bodjo/Helen Burns-Clarke
• Friday - 1st November - Help Needed

• Week 4 - TERM 4
• Monday - 4th November -Help Needed
• Tuesday - 5th November -Anne Vu
• Wednesday - 6th November - No help Needed
• Thursday - 7th November - Tina Bodjo/Helen Burns-Clarke
• Friday - 8th November - Help Needed

We have over 280 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.

Dear Families,

We are currently conducting Term 3, 2026 student enrolment interviews.

Term 1, 2027 interviews will be scheduled in Term 1, 2025.

All interviews are usually scheduled 2 years before commencement date.

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.