St Francis Catholic School - Hughenden eNewsletter

From the Principal

Welcome to Week 3! The term is already flying by, and I hope everyone has had a wonderful week.

This past week, I have been attending our termly Principal's Conference in Townsville. It has been a fantastic opportunity to connect with other school leaders, share ideas, and bring back fresh insights to enrich our school community. I’d like to extend a big thank you to Karen Pearce for stepping into my role early in the week. Ms. Pearce’s continued commitment to our school is invaluable, and we are always grateful to have her with us.

Our Annual Cocktail Evening was held last Saturday night, and what a massive success it was! Thank you to Patrice Bergerson and her team for the mouth-watering food that everyone thoroughly enjoyed—you truly went above and beyond, and every dish was a hit. Also, a big thank you to James Nielsen from Flinders Rural for shuttling guests to and from the event with style. Not only did he ensure everyone’s safe return home in the early hours, but he was also back bright and early to get the bus clean and tidy.

A special shoutout goes to our incredible “mixologists” in both bars—Greg & Bronwyn McNamara, Greg & Terressa Ford, Brendan McNamara, Corey Egan, Mickala Gough, and Taree Walsh—who kept up an impressive pace all night! Thank you for keeping everyone refreshed with a smile. We’re also grateful to Sneaky Beats Music for providing sensational live music, and to Ben & Kerry, who made sure everyone had a fantastic and safe evening.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to our wonderful sponsors—Flinders Shire Council, Synergy Consolidated, WestWind Energy Australia, Windlab, Page & Co, Beef Peddler, Basalt Grazing, VIPER Water Solutions, and Royal Hotel Hughenden—whose support made the evening possible.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge our incredible local community, who came together to make this event such a success. Whether it was lending us equipment, setting up light poles, or lending a hand with last-minute preparations, your support was crucial in making this a night to remember. We wanted to provide our community with a fun-filled evening in support of St. Francis, and you all helped exceed that goal. We’ve received so much positive feedback, and it’s clear that everyone had an amazing time.

Thank you, St. Francis families and community volunteers, for your continued support and commitment to our school.

Sharn Greenaway

Principal

Flinders Mix & Mingle

Adolescence is the transitional stage of development that is usually associated with the teenage years. In 2018, the Australian Curriculum Assessment Authority, redefined adolescence as affecting young people aged between 10-24 years. During this time, they experience rapid physical, cognitive and psychosocial growth which affects how teenagers feel, think, make decisions and interact with the world around them.

During adolescence, a child's brain can be considered as being “under-construction”. The rate at which this progresses will vary depending on the individual and also their gender. As a result, some parents may view adolescence as stressful or difficult. However, it does not need to be. Setting boundaries, implementing consistent monitoring and maintaining a strong and loving connection will help families adjust during this time.

It is also an important time to keep the communication lines open through clear and age appropriate conversations. Speak openly about changes that they are experiencing and be conscious of their mental health as many of the conditions people confront in adulthood, can begin to manifest in adolescence.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers can learn how to guide and best support their young person as they transition through adolescence.

Here is the link to your Edition https://sfsh.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/understanding-adolescence

Assembly

Join us from 8:30am in the library for assembly!

Student Of The Week

P/1: Declan McClymont

2/3/4: James Moloney

5/6: Adley Crozier

Prep/1 Happenings

This week, the Prep/1 students have been diving into the world of Literacy and Numeracy with the help of their Chromebooks. Engaging with fun, interactive activities, they’ve been exploring letter sounds, sight words, and number games. It’s amazing to see how quickly the students are adapting to using technology as a learning tool!

In an exciting new addition, we’ve also begun using the school iPads to explore Australian Decodables, enhancing the students' reading experience. The Prep/1 class loves this hands-on approach and looks forward to more digital adventures in their learning journey!

Miss Brown,

P/1 Teacher

This week in our 2/3/4 class, we've been learning how to write procedural texts. One of our big focuses has been using adverbs and adverbial phrases to help describe actions more clearly. These little language tools can make any piece of writing more exciting and precise. We’re excited to share some of our awesome adverbs and adverbial phrases with you—perfect not only for procedural texts but for any type of writing! Keep an eye out for our examples in this week's spotlight.

Miss Allison,

Year 2/3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6 Happenings

This week the Year 5/6 class had a blast learning about our science unit for this term, states of matter! Through a super fun (and tasty) experiment, making jelly! The students got to see firsthand how matter can change from a solid to a liquid and back to a solid again. We started with jelly crystals, observing how they were solid. Then, we added hot and cold water, and watched the crystals dissolve. The magic happened when we left the mixture to cool, and the liquid slowly turned back into a solid as it set into delicious jelly. The students loved seeing these changes up close and, of course, the best part was getting to taste the jelly at the end! It was a fun and tasty way to learn about the states of matter.

Make sure to ask your child all about the experiment—they might even tell you the science behind it!

Miss Rowe,

Year 5/6 Teacher

We have been learning about our Identity in Health this term. In 2/3/4,we read the book “All the ways to be smart” by Davina Bell. We discussed that we all have different strengths that make up our identity. We talked about the ways that we are “smart” - things that we are good at or strengths we have. The students created posters to show the things they are good at.

Miss Eriksen,

Specialist Teacher/Inclusive Practices Teacher

Last week we headed to the daycare to visit our friends in the Pre-K/Kindy Room. We had a blast making Salt Dough love heart ornaments with the little people. The students were so efficient we even had time to read some stories with them! What a wonderful afternoon spent with our Mercy Makers at the Daycare! We have so many more great activities planned for the rest of the term we can't wait to share these with you!

Library News

We are preparing for our bookfair in Term 4! This years theme is Bookaneer!

Tuckshop Notices

We will no longer be serving Homebake treats in Tuckshop.
Tuckshop requires more helpers. If you can volunteer your time on a Friday from 9am-11:30am that would be greatly appreciated. The staff serve second break so parents are only required to cook & serve first break and then cook and package second break meals.