From the Principal….. Dear Parents,

Last week we sent home 100 school improvement surveys to randomly selected families. At this stage only

20 of these have been completed. Whilst this will provide us with some valuable information to help guide

future planning, the more surveys completed, the more accurate our understanding of the current climate of

our school will be. If you have received a survey, please take the time to complete it on paper or online as per

instructions in the pack. Your input really is valued and crucial to the formation of true reflection of our parent

community voice. Additional to the parent surveys, all children from Year 3 to Year 6 and all staff will

complete respective surveys. This accumulated set of feedback data will be collated in a detailed report on our

school culture. The report will cover a range of fields, such as behaviours, resources, communication and

spiritual formation.

We have commenced our Kinder 2020 interviews and it has been wonderful to meet some new families. I

always suggest that new families can best gauge the culture of our school by talking with existing parents. In

many cases, this is the very reason that the new families have decided to look at enrolling their children in our

school. Please remember to encourage any families you may know of who are looking for a Kinder 2020

enrolment to contact our school office to make an appointment for an interview. We plan to place three classes

of 18 again next year to become two classes of 27 from Year 1 the following year. With this in mind, places

will be limited. We hope to have all interviews and placements finalised by the end of this term.

Today our Year 3 and Year 5 children completed their NAPLAN assessments. The results of these tests assist

us in determining areas in which we are providing effective learning opportunities and areas in which we need

to provide greater support. As results vary from individual to individual and cohort to cohort, we will analyse

our 2019 results along with our previous results to determine patterns and anomalies that reflect specific

teaching strategies and practices used in our school.

Have a great week,

Dan Gubby

PRINCIPAL

St Francis Xavier Primary School

38-50 Swift Street, Ballina NSW 2478

Phone: (02) 6686 3370 Facsimile: (02) 6686 0244

Email: balp@lism.catholic.edu.au

Website: http://moodle.balplism.catholic.edu.au/

SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Week 3 Term 2 Friday, 17th May 2019

From the Assistant Principal

On Monday we celebrated Mother’s Day at St Francis Xavier Primary with a special breakfast and liturgy. I

love these days at our school because the whole community comes together to celebrate. We made hundreds

of bacon and egg rolls, a great big thank you to the staff and parents who came to school to cook and prepare

extremely early so that we could serve the mums by 7.30 am. Also, a big thank you to Year 2 for the Mother’s

Day Liturgy which completed the wonderful morning in prayer.

Our Parent Forum meeting was on Tuesday night and the next Parent Forum will be held on Tuesday, 18th

June at 6pm. I encourage parents to come along to these meetings as the parent voice is an important part of

your child/children’s educational journey. Many of our recent school improvements have come through the

discussions held at these meetings and we need parent ideas and opinions to help make our school even better

than it is.

Online NAPLAN testing was run during the week with minimal disruptions from the online system. Any

student that was absent for one or more of the tests will complete a makeup exam next week. A big positive

for the online test is that if all tests run successfully around the country, the NAPLAN results will be available

to schools earlier than in previous years. For further information regarding the testing process please click on

the NAPLAN website link.

Regards and God Bless,

Matthew Ritchie

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

DATES TO REMEMBER

Please note – Newly added events or date changes will be highlighted in blue.

TERM 2 - 2019

Week 4 Monday, 20th May CANTEEN CLOSED

Kinder 2020 Interviews

Tuesday, 21st May Kinder 2020 Interviews

Wednesday, 22nd May Kinder 2020 Interviews

Confirmation Reflection Day

Confirmation-SFX Parish – 5.30pm - 6.30pm

Thursday, 23rd May Kinder 2020 Interviews

Friday, 24th May Kinder 2020 Interviews

Diocesan Cross Country- South Grafton

Week 5 Monday, 27th May CANTEEN CLOSED

Tuesday, 28th May School Photo Day

Friday, 31st May PUPIL FREE DAY - Staff Proclaim Day

Week 6 Monday, 3rd June CANTEEN CLOSED

Wednesday, 5th June Crowley Visit-Year 6

Friday, 7th June Whole School Mass-12 noon

Saturday, 8th June Family Mass-Stage 1

Week 7 Monday, 10th June PUBLIC HOLIDAY-Queens Birthday

Thursday, 13th June Casino All Schools Rugby League

Friday, 14th June Assembly-Year 1-2:30pm-School hall

Week 8 Monday, 17th, June CANTEEN CLOSED

Thursday, 20th June Crowley Visit-2L

Friday, 21st June NO ASSEMBLY

Weekend Mass Times

Sacrament of Confirmation-5:30pm Wednesday, 22nd May 2019

Next Wednesday the candidates below will be involved in a Confirmation Reflection

Day held at St Francis Xavier School along with the other children from the Parish

who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. They will be involved in

activities and reflections throughout the day to deepen their knowledge of the

Sacrament of Confirmation.

On Wednesday night they will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Bishop Gregory

Homeming will confer the Sacrament. Please keep these children in your prayers as they prepare for the

Sacrament of Confirmation.

Marlee Balcombe Quinn Campbell Alexandra Dogan Charlotte Doyle

Maggie Doyle Ellen Freeman Indiana Hughes Dimity Jackson

Sienna Judge Saoirse Lockwood Alana McCarthy Matilda McDermott

Flynn McLennan Ava Morley Vinnie Paciello Oliver Rehwinkel

Saturday Ballina 6:00pm Vigil (No Children’s Liturgy)

Sunday Ballina 9:00am (With Children’s Liturgy)

Sunday Lennox Head 7:30am (With Children’s Liturgy)

RE News…

Louis Rosenbaum Callan Ross

Mother’s Day Liturgy and Breakfast

It was lovely to see so many families celebrating Mother’s Day with their mums

and grandmother’s at the breakfast on Monday morning. Please click on the link to

view the photos. Mother’s Day Breakfast 2019

A big thank you to Year 2 for preparing and leading the beautiful Mother’s Day

Liturgy.

Year 6 Incitare Retreat Morning

On Wednesday Year 6 participated in their Year 6 Retreat. Mrs Coster led the Retreat with sections being led

by the Year 6 leaders who attended Incitare in Term 1. These leaders were presented with their Faith badges

by Mrs Coster.

The theme of the retreat was based on a reading from St Paul to the Hebrews:

‘And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not

neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another’

Students spoke about what they really value in life and were encouraged to

make a difference in our world. We discussed how sometimes it requires

courage to be a Christian… to be confident to stand up for our beliefs and

actions and help others.

Thank you to Mrs Leanne Robbins, representing Parent Assembly, for

providing morning tea for our Parents and Grandparents who attended. Please

click link to view the photos. Year 6 Retreat Morning

Fourth Sunday of Easter

“Whoever enters through the gate is the Shepherd of the Sheep. The

Gatekeeper opens it for Him, and the sheep hear His voice, as the Shepherd

calls His own sheep by name and leads them out”

Jn -10:2.3

20.05.19 to 24.05.19

Monday: CANTEEN CLOSED

Tuesday: C. Wales, HELP NEEDED

Canteen News…

Wednesday: A. Spencer, S. Gale

Thursday: C. Whitty, HELP NEEDED

Friday: S. Balcombe, G. Wisemantel

Tammy is looking for any volunteers for canteen on Wednesdays, Thursdays and

Fridays. If you are able to spare a couple of hours, please contact the school office on

66863370 or see Tammy in the Canteen.

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PLEASE NOTE THAT ON OUR FRIDAY SPECIAL DAYS STUDENTS CANNOT

ORDER ANY OTHER FOOD

Pasta Day

COST: $4.60

Please place orders on a lunch bag and return, together with payment, to the Canteen OR place your order

via the QKR App by Thursday, 23rd May -8:55am.

Normal menu items ARE NOT available on this day

____________________________________________________________________________________

$3.90 each - Sauce 20c each

Chicken, Tuna, Avocado or Vegetarian

Friday, 24th May Pasta Day

Friday, 31st May PUPIL FREE DAY

Friday, 7th June Sliders Day

Friday, 14th June Pie and Sausage Roll Day

Friday, 21st June Chicken Sub/Wrap Day

Friday, 28th June Chicken Kebab Day

Week 4 Thursday 23rd May

Week 6 Thursday 6th June

Week 8 Thursday 20th June

Week 10 Thursday 4th July

Please note that any chicken or tuna sushi that are ordered will NOT have avocado in them.

____________________________________________________________________________

17th May to 23rd May 2019

Just a reminder to parents about the upcoming Athletics Carnival on Tuesday, 25th June in Week 9. If you

would like your son or daughter to be nominated for Zone in either High Jump or Discus, you’ll need written

evidence from a qualified person or Little Athletics secretary, of having been trained in this technique. We

ask this as we do not run these activities at school or on the day due to the high risk nature and risk

assessment policies. Please see Mr Cook for a form.

Year 3 Indigenous Guest Speaker

On Wednesday Year 3 enjoyed a visit from Ashley Moran. He shared his extensive knowledge on the

traditional lifestyles of indigenous people from our area. This visit supports the work the students are

completing in their History unit during Term 2.

My favourite part of Mr Moran’s talk was when:

- he told us about the battles and shields that were

used by the indigenous people (Jake 3C)

- we learnt that the indigenous people used tree

trunks to make shields (Zali 3H)

- he explained how boomerangs and spears were

thrown (Aliyah 3C)

Marlee Balcombe Maddison Mikaere

Lachlan Colegate Kai Colegate

Ivy McLennan Lorna O’Donnell

Damien Hernage Daniel Rule

Jaxon Whitty

Happy Birthday…

Sports News…

Year 3 Class News…

- we learned about shells and middens (Jakobe 3C)

Pupil Free Day

Friday, 31st May 2019

Staff Proclaim Day

Students do not attend school on this day.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kinder 2020 Enrolments

Please contact the school office on 6686 3370 to make an appointment, including all existing families wishing

to enrol siblings. The following documents are required at the time of the interview:

1 Enrolment Form duly completed in full and signed by both parents and/or guardians;

2 Original Birth Certificate;

3 Baptism Certificate

4. Immunisation Certificate.

Please return student and sibling envelopes before Tuesday, 28th May

School News…

School Photo Day

Tuesday, 28th May 2019

HOW TO ORDER

EACH STUDENT MUST HAND IN THEIR OWN COMPLETED ENVELOPE AND RETURN TO

THE SCHOOL OFFICE

Sibling Envelopes are available at the school office-please do not place your sibling envelope inside the

student envelope.

The School Photographer accepts the following payment methods:

Cash- Please enclose the CORRECT money as NO CHANGE will be given.

Money Order- All money orders are to be made payable to “The School Photographer.”

Online Credit Card Payments- Visit www.theschoolphotographer.com.au and follow the prompts-

Please write your receipt in the space provided on the student envelopes.

Combined Payments- If combining payments for more than one child please complete the

“combined payment” box provided.

Late Orders- Any late orders placed after school photographs have been delivered to the school will

incur a $15.00 handling fee (includes postage).

Woolworths Earn and Learn Stickers

We are collecting Woolworths Earn and Learn

stickers for 2019. Please place stickers in the

collection box in the Front Office OR there is a

collection box at Woolworths Ballina Fair.

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NCCD Information

Please click on the link NCCD Information to read more information regarding Nationally Consistent

Collection of Data on Schools Students with Disability.

Community News…