Friday 21, February 2025

From the Principal's Desk

There was a wonderful feeling last week at our Meet and Greet afternoon. There were many relaxed and happy family groups walking around, interacting with each other as well as visiting classrooms. Hopefully, you have gained an insight into how each classroom will operate and the expectations for that year level. We thank our P & F executive for having a refreshments table set up for families to stop and have a chat during the visit.

A reminder, if you need to see your child’s teacher at any time, book an appointment so they can make themselves available before or after school. Later this term we will have Parent Teacher Interviews and bookings will be available through ‘Booked’ for those. 

Farewell to Fr Frank Gordon

This Sunday our parish community will join Fr Frank for his final mass at St Francis Xavier’s Church.  We celebrate the amazing service he has provided to our parish and school as well as his vocation as a priest for such a commendable time.  We wish Fr Frank all the best and look forward to hearing about what he is up to.

Prep 2026

With our new year off and running we are now accepting enrolments for 2026.  I encourage all existing families to submit your applications asap as we will be commencing interviews next week for Prep 2026. 

Wellbeing Dog – Welcome to Bailey

Our core team at SFX have been working through our training towards accreditation with Dogs Connect.  Bailey, our wellbeing dog, is going to be coming in for some familiarisation and will visit classes for a brief visit next Monday.  She is so excited about her ‘work’ at our school commencing in the near future. We went through some key messages at assembly yesterday to ensure staff, students and Bailey’s wellbeing are looked after. 

Students in Yrs 3-6 will be asked to complete a short questionnaire with their teachers about their experience/interactions with dogs. Students in P-2 will take theirs home to do with their parents. We would appreciate a speedy return of these so that staff are aware of students we need to support with our wellbeing dog onsite. 

Parents and carers – keep a look out for an email with further information about our Wellbeing Dog in the next week.

Wishing all families a wonderful week ahead!

Narelle Harney

Assistant Principal Administration

Last Wednesday SFX had its annual Parent Meet and Greet night. This is always a wonderful opportunity not just for staff and families to connect, but for other families to connect with each other. These are the sorts of events that help build the SFX community. Thank you to all parents who helped on the night, especially those on our P and F. Many of our school events could not happen without the effort of the Parents and Friends association. The P and F is another great way of connecting with the school community so if you are interested in becoming part of this, please contact the front office for details.

Friday of Week 3 saw our Year 6s begin their Water Confidence lessons. Students were broken up into groups and got straight into learning and consolidating their water skills. A great time was had by all students, especially given how hot it was! Students have four more weeks of lessons to go, and I am sure they will continue to have fun in the pool.

Last newsletter I spoke about uniform expectations and briefly touched on hair. SFX does have a policy on hair. Our policy states:

“Extreme hair colours (eg: bleached, green, pink or purple rinses) and/or extreme hairstyles (eg: mohawks) are not permitted.”

While it can be fun for students to have an extreme hairstyle for the holidays, it is important that upon returning to school, hairstyles fit within the school policy. I thank you in advance for your understanding and support of this.

Following on from this, SFX has a behaviour matrix that we follow and refer to in order to ensure our students are clear in their understanding of school-wide expectations. School-wide expectations encourage consistent communications and establish a common language of expectations for all staff and students and across all settings. Agreed upon student expectations promote the school’s Catholic Identity and provide consistency across the staff and school community. Our expectations are:

● Be Respectful of our peers, staff and property

● Be Responsible for our actions, learning, belongings and environment

● Be an Active Learner by working to our personal best, striving to improve, being resilient and celebrating success

Our school behaviour expectations matrix is a visual tool that outlines the expectations of behaviours we expect all students and staff to learn, practice and demonstrate. They allow us to teach proactively and to provide students and parents with a positive message about behaviours for learning at school.

Finally, I would like to remind all parents that there are designated parking spots available at drop off and pick up time, as well ‘stop, drop and go’. Parents are reminded that they are not to park in front of driveways. These belong to private residents of Atkinson St and need to be able to have access to the street.

Thank you

Kristina Armstrong

Assistant Principal Religious Education

On Friday 14 February, our Years 4 - 6 classes stopped to acknowledge the 17th Anniversary of the National Apology to the First Nations people of Australia. I thank the efforts of Miss Erica, our Indigenous Liaison Officer in the lead up to this event as the students discussed the significance of this event throughout the week with resources sourced by Miss Erica. 

Week 4

I am looking forward to celebrating as part of the parish farewell to Father Frank Gordon this weekend at the 8am Sunday Mass. Our school staff were honoured to have our Commissioning Mass last weekend, which included a special blessing for our year ahead.

Thank you to the families that joined us in the church for the Beginning of School Mass and Senior Badge Presentation on Friday 7 February. It was wonderful to have Father Frank Gordon and Father Biju Kuriakose available to join us for this occasion. We wish our Year 6 leaders all the best for 2025.

Wednesday 5th March (week 6) marks the beginning of Lent within the Catholic Church. As part of the Lenten journey, our school supports Caritas Australia - through Project Compassion. Each class will have a collection box added to the classroom Prayer Table. During the last 5 weeks of Term (Lent), classes will learn about ways Project Compassion has helped people from many different countries. Students will be encouraged to add money to the project compassion box on their prayer table, as well as other fund raising activities during the remainder of Term 1. We will collect donations weekly from classes and keep a tally of how much we raise as a school. With your contributions, Caritas Australia will be able to support communities around the world to tackle poverty, food security, education, water and sanitation and disaster risk reduction. Project Compassion 2025 reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Link: https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/

At St Francis Xavier’s, our school motto of Know, Love and Serve helps us have an awareness of reaching out to others in need. If any of our families are having financial difficulties, please reach out to leadership staff or alternatively Centracare Emergency Relief page (https://www.centacarefnq.org/emergency-relief) has a listing of organisations available in our Cairns region that can support families in a range of ways. 

Blessings

Debbie McGuinness

Fr Frank Gordon Parish Priest

This will be my final contribution to the School Newsletter.

There are lots of memories associated with St Francis Xavier’s School beginning with 1959 when I recall celebrating Sunday Mass in the original brick building which became class rooms for the week days.

As parish priest from 1984 to 1993 I recall the preparation and establishing a school board and the many working Bs as the school expanded.  The annual School/Parish Fete was a major fund raiser.

Returning to the parish in 2011 I found a school grown in numbers and buildings.

St Francis Xavier’s School is truly a faith community where I have always felt at home.

Thanks for the happy memories.

Fr Frank

Leader of learning and Teaching

NAPLAN

NAPLAN assessments will occur for all students in Years 3 & 5 in March. The schedule for these tests is as follows:

Wednesday 12th March Year 3 & 5 Writing

Thursday 13th March Year 3 & 5 Reading

Monday 17th March Year 3 & 5 Conventions of Language

Tuesday 18th March Year 3 & 5 Numerac

If you know that your child will be absent on a scheduled test day, please let me know so that I can schedule catch up sessions. 

Academic Reports

In Term 2, our school will be transitioning to a new student academic reporting platform called The Learning Dashboard (TLD). The new system will bring some small changes from the look and feel of the current Parent Portal. It will also include the addition of a Student Portal, which will provide our students with access to their own academic reports at the same time they are made available to Parents and Carers. This is an important step in ensuring our students are at the centre of their own academic journeys.

Some of the benefits of the new solution include:

1. Students will have increased visibility over their academic outcomes, supporting increased engagement and planning.
2. TLD will follow your child/ren across CEDC schools (primary and secondary), enabling you to maintain visibility of academic reports throughout their school years.
3. TLD is designed as a web interface rather than a PDF document. This enables an improved viewing experience on all platforms and devices (smart phone, IPad, Laptop).
4. The solution also supports the ability to create a PDF copy of the report for your records.

We’ll be providing you with more information next term regarding when and how you’ll be accessing the new solution.

Meg Donnelly

Leader of Learning and Teaching

Performing Arts

Gondwana Workshop

Our senior Choir students in Years 5 and 6 were treated to an enjoyable and enriching workshop on Tuesday 4 February. This rehearsal was led by music educator Elizabeth Vierboom and Senior Chorister, Taylah from Gondwana Choirs. It was a fantastic first lesson for the year where our students participated 

Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir

The Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir is based in Cairns and welcomes First Nation children aged 9 and over. The Choir has a commitment to commissioning new choral music incorporating First Nations language and story in collaboration with cultural custodians. If interested in joining the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir, please contact 0452090778 for more information or click on  the link below. https://gondwana.org.au/

St Francis Xavier’s School Choir

On Tuesday morning, we had our first full Choir rehearsal with new and returning students from Years 3-6 attending. What a wonderful turnout, with 53 students participating! The students enthusiastically started with numerous vocal exercises and games. We look forward to learning our choral repertoire over the next few weeks in preparation for the Cairns Eisteddfod.

We love to celebrate the achievements of our students here at St Francis Xavier’s School, therefore please email me at rrichardso1@cns.catholic.edu.au to keep me updated with any Performing Arts successes in music, drama or dance. I look forward to sharing these with our school community.

Musically Yours,

Rianne Richardson

Mackillop Centre

Dear Families,

We have had a very busy start to the school year. We welcomed back all classes in week 1 and went over our library expectations with them. Mrs Havill also read Bowerbird Brood, by Aura Parker, to all of the classes. This book is the sequel to last year's National Simultaneous Storytime book, Bowerbird Blues.

Most students have quickly settled into the routine of library borrowing. Families are reminded that students are able to borrow if they bring their library bag to keep their books in. 

Library borrowing days are:

On February 14th, we celebrated Library Lovers’ Day. Our library is a beautiful space that is enjoyed by many students throughout the day. They read books or listen to a shared story; they play board games at lunch times; they interact with their friends, and they meet new friends in the library.

Happy reading,

Mrs Reilly, Mrs Havill & Mrs Ross

Mary Amongst Us Awards - Week 3 & 4

PE News

TCC Trials 

Trinity Coast Central School Sport (TCC)

Students born in 2015, 2014, and 2013 have the opportunity to participate in Trinity Coast Central Sport Trials, which provide a pathway to Regional Championships at the Peninsula sporting level in their chosen sport.

Process for Interested Students and Parents/Carers:

1. Refer to the attached list of trial dates.
2. Complete the TCC Trials Parent Slip, which has been sent to Year 4, 5, and 6 students. (Only students born in 2015, 2014, or 2013 are eligible.)
3. Download the Peninsula Student Booklet (attached to the Parent Slip or below).
4. Parents/Carers must complete the booklet in full, print it, and return it to the school for signing. Ensure all sections are completed and relevant areas are circled, or it cannot be signed.
5. Once signed, the Peninsula Student Booklet will be returned to the student, who must bring it to the trial.

Important: No signed Peninsula Student Booklet = No Trial.

For any questions, please contact Secretary.manunda@catholic.edu.au.

2025 Term Dates

Term 1 Upcoming Events

Please note this dates may change so please keep an eye out on the MYCE school Calander, Facebook and Broadcasts sent home to families. If you unsure please contact the office on 07 4037 9900. 

Prep Enrolments for 2026

Children who were born between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021 are eligible to attend Prep in 2026.

Enrolment applications for the 2026 Prep year are currently being accepted! Interviews for placement in the 2026 Prep classes are underway, with offers now being made to families.

A friendly reminder to existing families: please ensure that enrolment applications are completed, and interviews are scheduled for younger children transitioning to Prep. It's important to note that having a sibling at SFX does not automatically guarantee the enrolment process.

For those with family or friends seeking a high-quality education for their children, we kindly urge our school community to share your experiences with St Francis Xavier’s School and the positive impact of a Catholic education. Encourage them to reach out to the school at 4037 9900, explore our website, or visit us in person so that we can engage in a discussion about enrolling their child.

Tuckshop News

Mr Walsh runs our tuckshop to keep our little tummys happy. Tuckshop is open Wednesdays and Fridays each week. Menu is below

Place all your school orders online quickly and easily with Flexischools. Flexischools is a well-established organisation allowing you to place all your canteen orders online at any time.

Download the Flexischools app from the App Store or Google Play for details on how to set up your account. https://www.flexischools.com.au.

Volunteering

Parents, grandparents, and carers are always welcome to come and assist with the preparations in the tuckshop. Please contact the front office on 07 4037 9900 if you are able to assist.

Download the MYCE Parent App NOW!

Community News