Term 4: Week 8

2025

Nov 28

As we enter the final weeks of the school year, there is a strong sense of pride and gratitude for all that has been achieved across our school community in 2025. It has been a year filled with learning, growth, and faith-filled connection, and I thank our students, staff, and families for their ongoing support and partnership.

We recently celebrated the teachers who have undertaken the final step in their teacher registration process to move from provisional to full teacher registration. Congratulations Isabella Loverso, Nicola Teich, Danel Miller and Isabelle Sammut. I take a moment to acknowledge the dedication, enthusiasm, and professional growth shown by these teachers throughout the year. It has been wonderful to see the positive impact Isabella, Nicola, Danel & Isabelle have had on the students they are teaching. A huge thank you to Michella, Michelle A. and Sarah, who mentored these teachers and supported them through their graduate teaching years.

I recently gathered with the St Francis School Advisory Council members to share dinner as part of the Parish Advisory Council, a beautiful evening of fellowship and shared purpose. I welcome our new council members:

Michelle Burgess
Rebecca Garner
Buthsanda Wettewe

Each of these parents has taken on a two-year tenure. I know they will continue to strengthen the partnership between our parish and school in the years ahead. A special thanks to all the parents in our community who volunteered to be part of the council. We will revisit your interest in the future as the tenure for these positions concludes.

Our second open morning was another great success, showcasing the engaging learning that happens every day in our classrooms and our strong, knowledge-rich approach to curriculum. Thank you to all staff and students for the warmth and professionalism they displayed in welcoming all of our families into their learning communities.

As the year draws to a close, we look forward to our End of Year Mass and Morning Tea, a time to gather in thanksgiving for the blessings of the year and to celebrate as a community of faith. We hope you can join us on Friday, 5th December at 9:30 am.

We are delighted to welcome the following new staff who will be joining our community in 2026, and look forward to the gifts and talents they will bring.

Sarah Guthrie
Marcia Dawson
Sarah Moloney
Chane Van Deventer
Chloe Scott

We also welcome back Linda Nguyen, Chloe Waldron and Alyssa Faleni, who are returning to the school and celebrate the new role that Mia Tollis will be taking on, moving into a teaching position in 2026.

Thank you once again for your continued support throughout the year. May the coming weeks be filled with joy, gratitude, and a strong sense of accomplishment as we conclude another wonderful school year together.

Warm Regards,

Michelle

Subscribe to the SFA Parent Calendar
5 DEC 2025 - 9:30 - 10:30 am End of Year Mass
5 DEC 2025 - 10:30 - Parents’ End of Year Morning Tea in the SFA Staff Lounge
10 DEC 2025 - Year 6 Graduation
11 DEC 2025 - Student Reports Sent Home
16 DEC 2025 - **12 pm** Term 4 Ends
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29 JAN 2026 - First day of school for **Preps**
29 JAN 2026 - Year 1 - 6 Students attend Assessment interviews (Bookings open soon)
30 JAN 2026 - No Preps at School
30 Jan 2026 - Year 1 - 6 Students’ first day of school
30 Jan 2026 - Opening School Mass - All families are invited
2 FEB 2026 - All students at school

The finish time for the last day of term is 12pm Monday 16th December
💲 Please ensure you have finalised payment for school fees by Friday 5th December. If you would like to discuss this, please contact Vanessa in the office.

Compass for Schools

Due to the closure of the Operoo business, SFA is moving to a new platform called Compass. This will be our central hub for all school communications, permissions, and student data.

Compass offers:

A single location for school news and updates.
Easy access to school information anywhere, anytime via the app.
Student reports, learning updates, and parent-teacher interview bookings to the platform.
You will receive an email with login details in the coming days. This goes to your original enrollment email address (which may differ from your Operoo email). Contact the office if you need to update your linked email address.

URGENT – Medical Information Update

To ensure student safety, we need you to act immediately upon logging in.

Families need to re-enter their child’s medical conditions and plans into Compass. Before the end of this year.

For safety reasons, we can not have your child on-site at school without up-to-date medical information in the new system.

Closure of the Thomas Carr College Date

Students finish at Thomas Carr College on Friday December 5th. The gate from SFA to Thomas Carr College will be closed from 9 am on Friday, 5th December. If your child uses this gate, please organise an alternative route for the remainder of the year. The gate will reopen in Term 1 2026.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who purchased a red Poppy pin in support of the Werribee RSL for Remembrance Day Together. **We raised $170.00.**
Thank you also, everyone, who has donated items of non-perishable goods for our Community Hampers. You can continue to send non-perishable goods to school up until **Friday, 5th December.**

SFA Meal & Grocery Bank

Recently, we called out for people to support a number of families in our school who are in need of some support. Thank you to all of those families who made cash donations through Qkr, and to everyone who responded via Operoo. More help would be greatly appreciated.

Celebrating Excellence in Korean Language Learning!

Our LOTE program, in partnership with the Korean Education Centre, is excited to acknowledge students who have shown exceptional passion and dedication to learning the Korean language. Throughout the year, these students have demonstrated our SFA learning dispositions, including being courageous learners, self-directed learners, and striving for mastery in their Korean learning.

Congratulations to the following students, who received a certificate and a gift card for their hard work and enthusiasm:

Year 4: Aaron & Roshen

Year 5: Abak & Josh

Year 6: Alexis & Mckayla

Well done to all these amazing learners! Keep up the great work!

2026 Student Orientation Days

Planning for 2026 will begin next week, and orientation sessions will also commence. Over the following two weeks, students will have the opportunity to meet their 2026 teachers, and they will bring home a letter from their new teacher.

Reports

Reports will be sent home via email on Thursday, 11 December, and they will also be available on the ICON portal on the same day. Families are encouraged to check both their inbox and the portal to ensure they receive their child’s report. We look forward to sharing the growth and achievements of your children with you.

Knowledge Rich Open Morning

We were once again very pleased to see how many families were able to make time to join us at school to see and hear how we build knowledge in our teaching. We look forward to continuing this series with more Open Mornings in 2026.

Please join our End of Year Mass & Morning Tea

We warmly invite you to join us in celebrating the many successes of our School Year, during our End of School Mass celebration next Friday, the 5th December at 9:30 am, in the Gymnasium at TCC. Families are asked to **sign in via SFA no later than 9:15am** to ensure enough time for walking over to TCC via our connecting School’s Gate. You are also **warmly invited to join us after Mass** in the Staff Lounge at SFA for refreshments. For organisational purposes, we ask that you indicate if your family will be joining us by responding in Operoo, and we look forward to celebrating with you soon.

Year 3 & 4 Walk for Water.

As an act of Social Justice, after learning about the important work of Missionaries throughout the world, who support many people who do not have access to clean drinking water, last Friday, the 21st of November, our Year 3 & 4 students participated in a ‘Walk for Water’ to raise funds for Catholic Missions. Fr Jude also joined the children in their Walk, and he was delighted to inform the children that together, they had raised $2, 747.95 for others in need. Thank you to everyone who sponsored and supported the children.