Our Mission is ‘to work in an environment of mutual respect for cultures and backgrounds and celebrating the Gospel principles in order to achieve quality education for all.’

‘You are the Light of the world, let Jesus shine through you to others.’

Matthew 5:14-16

Mission through Courage, Kindness and Reconciliation

During 2024 our educational focus will be to improve Literacy and Numeracy skills — staff, students and families working together so all our students achieve at least 12 months growth. Other goals for the year are:

Build a community that continues to learn - Implement system Literacy and Numeracy initiatives which will increase student assessment data.

Enhance and maintain the wellbeing of all - Continued increase of attendance rates and implementation of school-wide Well Being Policy.

Build a community that is connected - Increased promotion of the school Vision and Mission statements throughout the community and to continue to increase family attendance at school events.

This week started with a visit from CGCE Director, Mr Ross Fox. Mr Fox visisted the classrooms, observing our DI programs, speaking with students, staff and representatives from our School Community Council. Discussions with Mrs Elwin and Mrs Morris included our current Building Grant Application that was submitted earlier this year and the challenges around recruitment of staff. Mr Fox will finish up at the end of the school year, it was a great opportunity to thank him for his support and direction of the years and to wish him well for his next adventures.

Mrs Golding and our Primary students delievered a wonderful liturgy yesterday, celebrating the Feast of St Francis Xavier. Our values of Mission through Courage, Kindness and Reconciliation is an example of how St Francis Xavier lived his life. His success was based on his ability to connect and relate to all those he met. This is also a priority for our school. Thank you Mrs Golding and students.

We still have several events coming up - Small School Swimming Carnival, Year 6 Dinner, Excursions, Thanksgiving Mass & Fr Dominic's farewell, Presentation Evening. Please check your child's Compass Portal to ensure that permissions are completed. Please ensure you return your RSVP for Presentation Evening to the front office by Monday. Please contact the office if you require printed permission forms to complete. 

Our students will participate in the Small Schools Swim carnival on Friday. NPS are organising the carnival and will be looking for volunteers. Races start at 9:15am, all students are required to be at the pool by 9am (staff will be supervising from 8:45). 

We encourage all families to join us to farewell Fr Dominic on Friday 13th December at 1:00pm. Fr Dominic has been part of our school family for 5 years and we will miss him very much. 

Special shout out to Aunty Ailsa, Uncle Stan, Aunty George and Uncle Craig who work hard, keeping our school clean and grounds tidy and safe. We appreciate you very much!

As the year winds up, we reflect on our goals, our successes and challenges. We welcome feedback from our families and communitites. If there is anything you want to see more of, anything we need to change, or anything you would like to see introduced, please let us know!

Help me become a hero – One who executes both spiritual and physical feats; ​One who gives himself up to be a part of something greater; ​

One who departs on a journey and returns changed. ​

Help me to emphasize the magis – One who does his best in every area;​ One who strives to be great in all aspects of his life;​

Help me to become a person with and for others – One who respects himself as well as others;​ One who performs deeds not for himself, but for others. ​

Help me become a leader – One who persuades others to do the right thing;​ One who guides others through action, not talk.​

We pray to you for help, St Francis Xavier​

                                                                            Amen​

School holidays are nearly here, and this may represent a struggle to limit screen time. We all already know that it is healthy to set boundaries around screen time to help support mental health and physical health. So, it’s important to balance screen time with getting ourselves moving, outside, playing games, doing sport or getting together!

However, electronic devices are a prominent feature of our modern world and there are a multitude of apps which can be used to actively support our mental health. 

Why not explore a new app this holiday and promote some family self-care?

Many of you will already have heard of Smiling Mind which is an app that has a range of mindfulness exercises for young children, teenagers and adults. The exercises are engaging and easy to follow. This is a free app with free content. Why not give it a go?

Another app which has many mindfulness exercises for all ages is Calm. This app also has some sleep stories (some narrated by celebrities) which can really help those children, young people or adults who are struggling to get to sleep or get back to sleep. This app has free content but to gain access to all of the stories and exercises you do have to subscribe.

A reminder: If you or anyone you know needs further support during the school holidays, please see the information below for helpline contact details:

For young people aged 12-25 check out: headspace.org.au - 1800 650 890 

For children aged 5 – 25 check out: Kids Helpline, a 24-hour telephone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25 – kidshelpline.com.au 1800 55 1800 

Lifeline has a 24-hour telephone counselling service as well as online chat and text services -  lifeline.org.au -  13 11 14 

Parentline is a free telephone counselling and support service for parents/carers of children aged 0-18 - www.parentline.org.au -   1300 1300 52

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy break.

Emma, School Counsellor