Newsletter-Term 3-Week 6-Friday 29th August 2025

Principal's News...

OUR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

We want to keep everyone in the loop! Our fortnightly newsletter is here to update you on school activities and important information. By reading it each fortnight, you can better support your child and help them stay prepared for events like excursions or special dress days. The newsletter is sent out every fortnight on a Friday during term time and can be referred to anytime, as past newsletters are archived on our website and available through your Compass notifications.

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

Last week, I was one of more than 1,400 Catholic educators, leaders, clergy, parents and others involved in Catholic education from across Australia and overseas who gathered in Cairns for the 2025 Australian Catholic Education Conference, three unforgettable days of professional learning, celebration and collaboration.  

With the theme ‘hope, anchored in faith’, the conference focused on the strategic vision and mission of Catholic education across three key areas – Faith, Excellence and Access. It featured a broad range of speakers, presentations and workshops focused on Catholic identity, mission and formation; learning and teaching; leadership and governance; parent engagement; parish and community engagement; resourcing and infrastructure; advocacy and marketing; and more. One of the real positives of the Conference was the quality of guest speakers and forums that delivered on issues and strategies to strengthen the role that Catholic Education provides for our families.

The conference Eucharistic Celebration, concelebrated by Bishop Joe Caddy AM, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP and other visiting bishops and clergy was a highlight with over 1,000 students including a 400-voice student choir attending from across the Cairns diocese. It was simply magnificent.

Unfortunately, on arriving in Cairns last Tuesday I rolled my foot crossing the road, creating a chipped bone in my right ankle. I am currently on leave and Miss Kasey Miles is Acting Principal in my absence. I hope to be back at school later next week.

CELEBRATING LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: What a wonderful week it has been at St Francis Xavier! Our students have had the opportunity to take part in so many extra activities and events, including the Book Week Parade, Spelling Bee, Poetry and Public Speaking Competition, Writer’s Festival and the Lismore Eisteddfod. In each of these, it was a joy to see our children showcasing their talents and representing our school with such pride, enthusiasm, and commitment.

I am very proud of our learners and the way they continue to embrace challenges, persist in their efforts, and celebrate their progress. Every day, we see students growing not only in their knowledge and skills, but also in confidence and resilience. This is a testament to the positive culture of learning that we are building together as a community.

Of course, this growth does not happen without the incredible dedication of our staff. Our teachers work tirelessly to design and deliver high-quality, engaging learning experiences that stretch and support every child. They reflect deeply on student progress, refine their practice, and draw on evidence-based approaches to ensure all learners have the best chance to succeed. Just as importantly, they foster calm, structured, and supportive classrooms where students feel safe to take risks, develop their confidence, and thrive.

It has certainly been a busy time at St Francis Xavier – and it will continue to be – but the joy we see in our students as they learn, perform, and grow makes it all so worthwhile. Thank you to our staff, students, and families for all you do to support this journey.

LISMORE EISTEDDFOD SUCCESS: I had the wonderful opportunity of being able to see our students perform at the Lismore Eisteddfod this week. Congratulations to our wonderful students who represented St Francis Xavier with pride at this special community event at Lismore. Their performances were filled with confidence, joy, and teamwork, and they also showed great respect as audience members.

A heartfelt thank you to our dedicated staff who prepared the children so well and supported them on the day. We are delighted to share our fantastic results:

• School Choir– 2nd place (K-6)
• Dance Group– 1st place (Combined School Dance Work K-6)
• Year 3– 1st place (Class Work Group Stage 2)
• Year 4– 2nd place (Class Work Group Stage 2)
• Year 6– 1st place (Own Choice Poem Stage 3)

Well done to all involved – a wonderful achievement for our whole school community! We are very much looking forward to our school band performing on Monday morning at the Lismore Eisteddfod.

SAFETY REMINDERS: Safety is a vital part of schooling, as such, we need all of our community to promote the following:

Our staff are on duty each morning from 8:30am. If students arrive prior to 8:30am they must sit under the Covered Outdoor Learning Area (COLA) until the duty teachers commence at 8:30am.  Please note that prior to 8:30am, students are not directly supervised unless they are booked in with Active Kids Before and After School Care.

Collection of students is from 3:15pm.  Students are supervised for bus collection and car pick-up. Staff will wait with students until all children are collected or the last bus leaves.  

Whilst there has been a great improvement in the management of traffic and adherence to driving protocols within the school precinct, we still have some issues, please note:

Do not park or stop in areas that are not designated for pick up – Pedestrian Crossing near bus bays.

Our teachers assist with the arrival and departure of students each day, and this supervision helps immensely, but we also need all families to play their part so we can continually teach our students to play safe and be safe!  I ask that all families reiterate these important rules with their children at home.  

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY: A reminder that the last day of term, Friday 26th September is a Professional Learning Day for the staff of St Francis Xavier which means it is a pupil free day.

SCHOOL COMMUNITY GROUP MEETING: The next meeting of our School Community Group will be held on Tuesday 2nd September in the School Library from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. All parents and carers of our school are warmly invited to this meeting to have input and find out more about our school.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Tony

School Calendar...

Assistant Principal Mission News...

The Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

This coming weekend's reading is from Luke 14:1,7-14 - When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

In this weekend’s Gospel, Jesus talks about doing good deeds for others and expecting nothing in return. Ask your children how they would feel completing chores, cleaning their rooms or packing the dishwasher without a raise in their allowance. “Emphasize that Jesus teaches us that it is our duty as his followers to take care of the needs of others and to do so without expecting repayment”.

Discuss what other types of rewards we can find when doing good things for others. 

Source: https://www.loyolapress.com 

Father’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy

We welcome our Fathers, Grandfathers and Father figures to join us next Friday 5 September for our Father’s Day breakfast and Liturgy. Breakfast will begin at 7:30am outside the Canteen area and the Liturgy will begin at 9:15am in the Hall.  

Whole school Masses - Term 3

Please note the change in date for our whole school Mass in Term 3. We welcome our families to join us for this Mass.

Friday 19 September - 12pm in the Church. This Mass will celebrate the Year of Jubilee as the Jubilee Boat enters the Parish from Tuesday 16 - Monday 29 September. 

Upcoming event

A Parent’s Guide to Puberty - we invite all parents to this engaging workshop on puberty. Please see the attached flyer for further information and to register your interest in attending this workshop. This workshop will take place on Tuesday 9 September 5:30 - 6:30pm. 

Waste Free Wednesday - Wednesday 3 September

The Student Representative Council (SRC) are working with the Ballina Council who are supporting us to reduce the amount of waste we produce as a school. As part of this, the SRC are working to create a Waste Free Wednesday. 

What does Waste Free mean? 

A waste-free lunch contains no throwaway packaging and produces no food waste. The typical waste-free lunch is packed in a reusable lunchbox or bag. Food is put in reusable containers rather than wrapped in disposable packaging. A drink is in a refillable bottle and all containers are resealable so that leftover food and drink can be saved for later. Fruit and vegetable scraps (e.g. apple cores and banana skins) will be composted at school through our compost bins.

On Wednesday 3 September we will be holding a waste-free day. The class with the least amount of plastic waste will receive a prize (as determined by the SRC). 

We thank you for supporting the SRC in creating a waste-free environment at our school and look forward to seeing a reduction in our plastic waste here at school. 

Light of Jesus Awards

Congratulations to the students who were awarded a Light of Jesus ticket at our last Assembly. They now receive a canteen voucher. 

• Hollie Wilcox - Year 1
• Rosie Bogetti - Year 2
• Maya Hordern - Year 2
• Marcel Messager - Year 3
• Amra Basson - Year 6

Congratulations to the following students on receiving 10, 25 or 50 Light of Jesus Tickets. They now receive a certificate and a blue, green or yellow armband. 

• Theodore Samaradellis - Year 1
• Cooper Base - Year 2 x 50 tickets (yellow band)
• Tarah Winkler - Year 2
• Yindiana Pitt - Year 3 x 25 tickets (green band)
• Victoria Reddan - Year 3 x 25 tickets (green band)
• Kaydence Lindsay - Year 5

Parish News...

Learning & Teaching News...

THANK YOU 

A heartfelt thank you to Hayley Loadsman and Carly Rule for their wonderful coordination of the Book Week Parade, Spelling Bee, Poetry and Public Speaking Finals, Writers Festival and the Book Fair. Week 5 was a true celebration of our school community, with families joining together to support and encourage our students. We are especially grateful for the generosity shown at the Book Fair, which raised an incredible $2,000 through Scholastic. These funds will allow us to purchase new books for our Library, a gift that will continue to benefit all students for years to come.

ICAS ASSESSMENTS

Over the past two weeks, many of our students have proudly taken part in the voluntary ICAS Assessments. These assessments give students the opportunity to challenge themselves, extend their learning, and showcase their skills in a variety of subject areas.

This year, a large number of students across Years 2-6 participated in Digital Technologies, English, Spelling Bee, Mathematics, Science & Technology, and Writing. We are so proud of their courage to step up to the challenge and their commitment to doing their best.

We congratulate every student who participated and look forward to celebrating their achievements when the results are released. Their effort and enthusiasm are a wonderful reflection of the learning spirit within our school community.

Leader of Pedagogy News

Congratulations to all of the talented students who participated in the Poetry & Public Speaking Competition and the Spelling Bee Finals last week. Our school is so blessed to have so many students who strive to do their best in these areas. 

Poetry & Public Speaking Competition

First and second place will progress on to the Zone Finals at Holy Family Primary School on Thursday, 18th September. We wish them the best of luck!

Early Stage 1 Poetry: 

Finalists: Yoko Smith, Millie North, Zoe Patterson, Louis Messager and Quincy Pickford.

Alba Murray and Yasmin Dogan will be absent.

Stage 1 Poetry:

Finalists: Conor Mullagh, Maddie Downs, Charlie Zhou- Roberts, Pearl Niland, Lulu Lawrence, Olivia Rosewarn Reed, Jazz Smith, Lucy McConnell, Harley Thompson and Lara Gillespie.

Stage 2 Poetry:

Finalists: Victoria Reddan, Lennox Farrell, Poppi Kirk, Lara Dowden, Nox Loadsman and Oliver Rose.

Stage 3 Poetry:

Finalists: Mila Laranjeira Miranda, Evie Whitty, Jarrah McGauran and Lilla Morley.

Stage 2 Speech:

Finalists: Lea Leturgie, Oscar Booy, Van Hogden, Poppy Sellen, Knox Thomas and Finn Budnick.

Stage 3 Speech:

Finalists: Ruby Hernage, Mila Bernardes-Skelton, Lilly-May Budnick, Reef Molyneux, Hugo Leturgie and George Boyle.

Spelling Bee Finals

Kindergarten, Year 1 & Year 2:

Finalists: Mila Wilson, Louis Messager, Yoko Smith, Enzo Gamba, Axel Stewart, Theo Samaradellis, Conor Mullagh, Jagger Smith, Mason Curry, Lulu Lawrence, Rani McKirdy, Josh Rose, Jasper O’Rourke, Luan Lang and Cooper Base.

Stage 2:

Finalists: Marisa Williams, Frankie Daenerys Valdellon, Alejandra Gonzalez, Jinda Chuangprateep, Lea Leturgie, Emily Nguyen, Olivia O’Brien, Lenox Loadsman, Lara Dowden and Sophie Arguello Sullow Peyrat.

Stage 3:

Finalists: Honor Hodges, Max Mitchell, Lilly-May Budnick, Leo Wilson, Aurelia Houghton, Mila Bomba, Luke Dogan, George Boyle, Hugo Leturgie and Lilla Morley.

Lismore Eisteddfod

Congratulations to our wonderful students who represented St Francis Xavier with pride at this Lismore Eisteddfod on Wednesday. This event is a fantastic opportunity for our students to experience performing on stage for a crowd, and also to enjoy the performing arts presented by students from other primary schools and high schools. 

• School Choir – 2nd place (K-6)
• Dance Group – 1st place (Combined School Dance Work K-6)
• Year 3 – 1st place (Class Work Group Stage 2)
• Year 4 – 2nd place (Class Work Group Stage 2)
• Year 6 – 1st place (Own Choice Poem Stage 3)

Writers Festival

On Thursday this week we held our Annual School Writers Festival. Each grade created an ‘Inspiration Station’ for students to visit throughout the day. A special thank you to some of our Year 6 students who created their own stations to inspire our budding creative writers. Each station had a unique theme, intriguing questions and writing prompts to inspire the students with their creative writing. Please see the photos below of each Inspiration Station. We look forward to reading the creative writing from our students over the next week and we will publish some student samples in the following newsletter. 

Writers Festival Gallery

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Sports News...

Cross Country Achievement

Luke has been in Ballarat, Victoria last weekend competing at the Australian Athletics Cross Country Championships. He represented Queensland and came 10th in Australia. He finished second of the QLD competitors. His under-13s team came second in their age team event, getting him a National Silver medal.

It was a very challenging course with mud-filled pits, timber logs and hurdles!

Diocesan Athletics

Well done & congratulations to the students below who participated at the Diocesan Athletics Carnival in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday. We are very proud of your amazing efforts.

Well done to Isla Parker, who achieved Age Champion for her division.

Good luck to the students who progress at the Polding Championships in Newcastle on the 12th of September. 

PE News...

Girls Breakfast Blitz Cricket Program

On Wednesday 6th August the girls who have been participating in the Girls Breakfast Blitz Cricket Program were fortunate enough to meet two special visitors. NSW Breaker, wicketkeeper batter Kate Pelle and NSW Blue Ryan Hicks who both came directly from Ballina Airport to the school grounds. Impressive stuff and greatly appreciated!!

After a Q & A and autograph session with students from Stage 2 and 3, the NSW players participated in the session with the girls who had registered in the program.

The girls had lots of fun and enjoyed pizza from Dominoes after the session finished.

A big thank you to Cricket NSW Development Officer Jacob Graham and Cricket NSW Blast Specialist Hridit Jobanputra for their support over the duration of the program.

OZ-Tag Clinics

On Tuesday 19th August SFX were invited to participate in some free Oz-Tag sessions from NSW OzTag. A huge thank you to NSW Oz-Tag Game Development Officer Lacie Bowling who reached out and offered us the morning sessions free of charge. Unfortunately not only was their flight delayed but the sessions were also impacted greatly from the inclement weather.

Thank you to Lacie and co. for making the effort to travel up from Sydney to promote OzTag to the students. Year 3 and Year 6 both had the opportunity to engage in the clinic in the undercover area and hall and, from the look of the photos, they had a lot of fun.

Oz Tag Gallery

Sporting Schools Grant Football Australia

Last Term the school applied for a Sporting School Grant through the Australian Government & the Australian Sports Commission. We were successful in our application and received $2550.00. The program commenced in Week 3 and the sessions are run by Jayden from Football Australia. The students in Year 3, 4 and 5 are enjoying participating in the fun games and drills which focus on the skills of communication, listening, dribbling, passing, striking, speed, agility and ball control.

Paddy Wilde

PE Teacher

Canteen News...

We Need Volunteers for our School Canteen

We are looking for volunteers for the canteen.  If you are able to spare a couple of hours, between 9 am and 11:30 am - on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, once a month please contact the school office or Kristie on 66863370  and let us know what day suits you.  Volunteers MUST sign into the school via the school office.

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Canteen Roster-Term 3

Week 7

Monday 1st September to Friday, 5th September

Canteen Roster-Term 3

Week 8

Monday, 8th September to Friday, 12th September

Student Awards...

Learning & Class Awards

Congratulations on your well-deserved success! You've worked incredibly hard for this achievement. 

Happy Birthday...

Wishing all of our students a wonderful birthday!!

Friday, 29th August to Thursday, 11th September

2026 Kindergarten Information...

It is not long now before we commence our 2026 Kindergarten Transition to School Program.  We look forward to seeing  and working with all our new Kinder students as they prepare for their first year of primary school.  

The transition program will start with our first session on Monday, 8th September 2025.  On all the transition days, parents will drop their children off at 8:50am in our school hall, via our Crane Street entry. Parents will collect the children from the school hall.
 
Throughout the transition program, the children will be introduced to a number of school routines and expectations.  They will also meet their big buddies who will help them with their transition into their new school environment.  All children will need to bring a hat, water bottle, closed-in shoes and a small fruit or veggie snack for “fruit break”.

Please add these dates to your calendar for the transition program: -

 This is a very exciting time for both students and parents but can be a time of some uncertainty.  Through participation in the transition program we hope to cater for all the needs of both students and parents so that the beginning of your child’s formal education will be as smooth as possible.

We are looking forward to seeing you on our first transition day.  Please do not hesitate to contact our school office on (02) 6686 3370 if you have any queries.

The School Photographer...

St Francis Xavier Primary School-Sport & Special Photos

Community News...