St Francis of Assisi News

Dear Parents & Caregivers,

Welcome to our Week 6 newsletter! With a nine week term, there's just over three weeks to go until the end of Term 1. There is a lot happening over the next three weeks, so please take note of some important information below.

SHORT TERM PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENT AT PADBURY CATHOLIC

Families would have received communication earlier this week that notified them of my temporary appointment as Principal at Padbury Catholic Primary School in Term 2 and 3 of 2026. This was an unplanned appointment and my acceptance of the position is to support the wider CEWA system as an experienced Principal was needed to fill the role temporarily.

As communicated, Mr Geoff Clarke and Mrs Sarah Kavanagh will undertake the Short Term Principal positions at our school over Term 2 and 3 respectively, with Mrs Kristina Bowden moving into the role of Assistant Principal. I have no doubt our school will continue to flourish under their leadership and look forward to returning in Term 4.

INAUGURAL SFOA SWIMMING CARNIVAL YEAR 4-6

We are very excited about our inaugural St Francis of Assisi Swimming Carnival which is taking place next Monday 16th March at Joondalup Arena. The carnival is for students in Year 4-6 and will include a number of 50m and 25m races, as well as some novelty races for less confident swimmers. Champions and Runner Up will be awarded but the focus of the day is on enjoyment and fun.

A reminder to parents that the focus is on participation and the team environment. These days are designed to build community and faction spirit with a shield being awarded to the winning house. Therefore, the expectation is that children remain until the end of the day and parents reinforce that the day is not about individual achievement but team and community spirit. Teachers have been asked to direct any parents wishing to take their child home after their race to me.

Thank you to Mr Rebeiro who has initiated the swimming carnival and promoted the participation aspect to children during phys ed lessons. We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to this with over 20 parents volunteering to assist on the day. Without their help, this would not be possible!!!!!

STUDENT VOICE: WINTER UNIFORM TIES

At St Francis of Assisi, student voice continues to play an important role in shaping decisions that impact daily school life. Recently, we sought feedback from our Year 4–6 students regarding whether ties should remain part of our Winter Uniform. A total of 166 students participated, providing a clear and representative snapshot of student opinion.

While some students shared that wearing a tie helps them feel smart, more grown up, and proud of their school (22% combined), the majority expressed concerns. Most students—78%—indicated they would prefer that ties not remain part of the uniform. Their main reasons centred on comfort and practicality, with many finding ties uncomfortable (49%) or restrictive during play and movement (23%).

Students also highlighted that the winter uniform overall can feel impractical for everyday school activities, with 89% stating it is only sometimes practical or not practical at all.

This feedback provides important insight in continuing to review our uniform expectations. As communicated to all parents via email earlier today, the decision has been made to listen to our students and remove ties as part of our winter uniform. We hope this measure enhances learning environments and practical activities for our children.

UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS - JEWELLERY

I highlighted the need to adhere to uniform policy in regards to jewellery in my last newsletter communication. I have reiterated to the children this week that only one single sleeper or plain stud (plain stud is a small stone) can be worn in each ear. As we move into Week 7, any child not wearing correct jewellery will have the items confiscated and stored in the office for parents to collect at the end of the day. We have been very patient and provided plenty of opportunities for parents and children to adhere to the jewellery policy. If you are unsure, please visit the link below:

https://www.stfrancisbutler.wa.edu.au/uniforms

BREAKFAST CLUB

A reminder to parents that our 'Breakfast Club' service is a community service for children to have an additional piece of toast before heading to class on the Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It is not intended to replace the breakfast children should be eating at home so please do not rely on this as the sole nutritional intake for the morning. Occasionally, due to staff shortages or supply chain issues, breakfast club may be cancelled without warning at very short notice. Hence why we do not promote the service to replace a healthy and balanced breakfast meal at home.

Breakfast Club (much like Running Club) is run by staff and volunteers as an additional commitment outside of normal duties so we appreciate the support and understanding of all parents.

ST PATS DAY - TUESDAY 17th MARCH

Next Tuesday, 17th March is the Feast of St Patrick, Ireland's patron saint! Born in the late 4th century, he was captured by Irish pirates and held for six years before escaping. He later returned to Ireland to spread Christianity, establishing churches, schools, and monasteries.

St Patrick is famously associated with driving all snakes out of Ireland, symbolising the eradication of paganism. He is believed to have used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We have a number of Irish families in our community, so those with Irish heritage are welcomed to come dressed in green. This is not a free dress day, however, an opportunity for our Irish families to proudly celebrate a significant day for their culture.

After an interesting opening round with a few rule changes to get used to, the real litmus test is this weekend for Round One. Both West Coast and Freo are in action so I'm sure we'll have a better idea of the season ahead once the cobwebs are blown out this weekend. Good luck to your teams!

Best wishes

Jason Baker

Principal

LIVE CALENDAR

STATIONS OF THE CROSS

Our drama teacher, Mrs Mieschbuehler, is very busy coordinating our Stations of the Cross with our upper primary students. We look forward to this and all parents are warmly welcomed to attend at 8:45am on the last day of term. (2nd April)

CARITAS PROJECT COMPASSION 2026

I am very excited to announce that as a school we have already raised $380 for Project Compassion. As we enter our third week of Lent, we should be very proud of our achievements, but still have a few weeks to go. The class with the most amount raised will win a prize and celebrated at our final assembly. Well done to our Year 6s classes, who are currently in the lead thanks to their self created fundraising stall. We are working towards raising enough money for a large water tank and will hold a 'Crazy Hair Day' on the last day of term to go towards this.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

A very big thank you to Mrs Anderson and Miss McLean for their time and efforts put into the parent/child reconciliation held on Tuesday night. It was a wonderful reflection on the importance of this special first school based Sacrament and we look forward to seeing these children receive this Sacrament next Tuesday.

RECONCILIATION FOR YEARS 4-6

Our Year 4-6 students will have the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the afternoon of 26th March.

Lenten Reflection

Lent invites us to slow down and return to God with open hearts.

Through prayer, we listen more deeply to God’s voice.
Through fasting, we loosen our grip on the things that distract us.
Through almsgiving, we turn our hearts outward in love and compassion.

May these forty days draw us closer to Christ, renew our spirit,
and help us become a more generous presence in the lives of others.

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Did you know… St Francis of Assisi was born into a wealthy merchant family in Assisi around 1181, but gave up everything to live a life of poverty?

Sarah Kavanagh

Assistant Principal

Enhancing the wellbeing of the students within our care is extremely important to us at St Francis of Assisi. Evidence shows that student flourishing enhances engagement, productivity, and achievement. Strong wellbeing also promotes positive behaviour, motivation, and school connectedness.

This year, we will be using the CEWA Assessing Wellbeing in Education (AWE) tool, a short online survey that helps us understand how students are feeling, functioning, and connecting at school. The assessment is available to CEWA schools twice each year.

In 2026, we are beginning with our Year 3 and 4 students because they are at a key developmental stage where social‑emotional skills and learning habits are rapidly forming. Focusing on this group allows us to:

Collect accurate, developmentally appropriate data
Identify emerging needs early
Build a strong foundation for later years
Pilot the tool effectively

Starting small allows us to refine the process before extending it to other year levels in the future.

The collective results from these surveys will be used by the extended Leadership team in our school to strategically plan wellbeing initiatives across the whole school community to support our students to thrive.

The Mood Meter, part of the RULER social–emotional learning approach, helps students recognise and name their emotions so they can manage them in healthy ways. The Mood Meter has four coloured quadrants based on energy (high–low) and pleasantness (high–low).

We will be focusing on the Yellow Quadrant which represents emotions that are high in energy and pleasantness. These are feelings that are positive and energising, often linked to motivation, excitement, and enthusiasm.

A child in the yellow quadrant may:

Show lots of energy
Participate actively
Demonstrate confidence
Be eager to contribute or try new things
Approach challenges with optimism

These emotions can help students learn, connect with others, and feel successful.

Working Together

You can help your child build emotional awareness by:

Naming the emotion “Wow, you seem really excited about your project!”
Connecting emotion to behaviour “When you feel proud like this, it helps you keep going.”
Encouraging reflection “What helps you get into a positive, energised mood?”
Celebrating successes

Reinforcing moments of confidence and motivation helps strengthen these feelings.

Mrs Liz Ward

Leader of Teaching and Learning

Good afternoon Parents and Carers,

Our 2026 Swimming Carnival has finally arrived, being held on Monday, March 16th at Arena Joondalup from 9:00am until 2:00pm for students in Year 4 to 6. Thank you to all the parents and students for sending through the completed race nomination forms.

I have now compiled the races and placed students into their selected events, please find the running sheet below, please check your child’s events and if any changes are required, please message me prior to Sunday. Racing will begin around 9:30am and all 50 metre races will be completed in the morning session before the pool is transformed into a 25-metre pool. Unfortunately, due to the unknown nature of the swimming carnival, I cannot provide more accurate event times.

Key points:

Students will need to arrive at school on time with their bathers on underneath their faction/ sports uniform. Students can wear slides, crocs or other open footwear. The bus will be leaving at 8:40am.
Goggles are encouraged, please ensure all equipment is labelled to ensure there is no lost items.
The café will be open only for parent use only, students will not be permitted to purchase from the café so they will need to pack recess and lunch as well as their water bottle.
Parents are not able to sit with their children in faction bays, there will be separate areas for you to sit.
Parents will need to use the disabled toilets in the swimming area.
Parents will be charged an entrance fee for the pool, if you have volunteered to help and been contacted, please let them know at the entry.
Students are expected to remain for the duration of the carnival, if you would like to sign your child out after the presentations, please sign your child out with their classroom teacher.
The idea of the carnival day is to create a fun atmosphere where children feel safe to develop their skills, please encourage your children to have a try.
For safety purposes, there will be a lifeguard and our school nurse on site as well as a teacher able to go into the water if required.
Swimming will stop at 12:30pm until 12:50pm to allow students to eat their lunch.
The running sheet has a faction relay as the last event; however, this is time dependant and will not occur if we run out of time.
There will be a champion boy and girl as well as runner up champion boy and girl for each year level. This has been formulated to ensure fairness for all students as some events have multiple races – in these events, all times will be compared and students placed in order across all of the races before being allocated points.

Please feel free to message me or email me if you have any outstanding queries. I am looking forward to a fun day at Arena Joondalup, and I encourage all families to come and support their children if they are available to.

Thanks,
Chris Rebeiro.

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SFOA 2026 Swimming Carnival Event List (Yrs 4-6).pdf

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This fortnight, we introduce Miss Aoife Duffy, Year 4W teacher.

My go-to binge on a streaming service? The Office is my go-to comfort show, but I also enjoy a good limited series thriller.
If I could be elite at any sport, it would be? Soccer, without a doubt! I used to play growing up and still love watching the game.
All time favourite music artist? It would have to be Adele. I never get tired of her music.
Bucket list holiday destination? Canada — I’d love to do a road trip and explore the mountains and lakes.
Peanut butter - crunchy or smooth? Crunchy — smooth just doesn’t compare.

YOUR MOVE PROGRAM

St Francis is again participating in the Your Move program this year and our regular active travel days have begun. Walking Wednesday's and Feel Good Friday's are well underway and look out for special star charts to record our active travellers.

NATIONAL RIDE TO SCHOOL DAY

On Friday, 20th March 2026, St Francis of Assisi will proudly be taking part in National Ride to School Day. If you actively come to school on this day, you will receive a raffle ticket and winners will be announced at our Year Four Harmony Day assembly. There will also be a prize for the best dressed bike. We have also been lucky enough to secure a grant from the City of Wanneroo, to provide each child with a piece of fruit to begin their day. The fun will begin at 7:45am :)

Dear Parents,

Families who haven't returned their Payment Option Form need to do so ASAP.

If your Concession Card has expired please send an updated copy to the school.

Kind regards,

Geneve Bastian

If your child is born between 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 they are due to commence Kindergarten in 2027. If you have not already submitted an application for your child please do asap as we will be commencing our interviews next term. Enrolment Applications are submitted online and are available on our school website www.stfrancisbutler.wa.edu.au under 'Our School' 'Enrolment'.

We require copies of Birth Certificate, Visa (if applicable), Baptism Certificate (if applicable) and a current up-to-date Australian Immunisation History Statement.

Cadbury Chocolate Fundraiser

Cadbury Fundraiser boxes were sent home with students earlier this week. If you did not order a fundraiser box, but would like to support the fundraiser, you are still welcome to make a $20 donation. Please submit box payments and donations by 30 March.

Easter Raffle and Raffle Tickets

Information regarding the Easter raffle and raffle tickets was sent home with students this week. The P&F would appreciate any donations of Easter eggs or Easter-themed items to fill the raffle gift baskets. Please check information sent home for suggestions. The Easter raffle will be drawn on Thursday 2 April. Please submit tickets and payments by Wednesday 1 April.

Volunteers are needed to help make the Easter raffle hampers on 31 March. Please fill out the volunteer slip and drop into the P&F box in the school office if you can help!

Happy Birthday to the following students who are celebrating their birthday over the next two weeks:

Cassius Lawrence, Ben Swan, Jasmine Gray, Mckenzie Peacock, Elijah Gauvain, Charlie Hayman, Isaac Magistro, Antonio Magistro, Luisa Freitas Libardi, Harley Murphy, Nohn Kiir, Theory Saggers, Matteo Barrientos Gullotto, Jonah Messiha, Leah Darcy, Chet Rudduck, Aloyo (Elizabeth) Sebit, James Stratfold, Charlie Jones, Lauren Clark.

We wish you all a wonderful day!!