Growth Through Love & Loyalty

SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dear Parents

I spent most of this week at a conference for Principals and Catholic Schools Office Executives to plan for the

next phase of Catholic education in our Diocese. We explored a number of key elements that will shape our

future based on feedback from staff, students and parents to provide a higher quality service for our respective

school communities. I look forward to sharing this all with you as it becomes available in a concise format.

Amongst other topics, our discussions and processing sessions focused on areas such as our Catholic Mission,

Family Partnerships, Learning Innovation, and System Management. With the Spirit of Christ at the heart of

all discussions, our children remained central to all our decisions.

On Tuesday night next week, we will hold our first Parent Forum meeting for

the year. We will discuss a number of key points including our school

playground upgrade, our new school crest, and the new Compass app for

parent communication. We will hold the meeting in the library at 5:30pm. I

hope you are able to attend.

38-50 Swift Street, BALLINA NSW 2478 PO Box 1647, Ballina NSW 2478

Phone: (02) 66863370 Web: www.balp@lism.catholic.edu.au

Email: balp@lism.catholic.edu.au

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL – Week 5 – Term 2 2021

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Please continue to keep our Confirmation candidates in your prayers as they journey towards the reception of

the Blessed Sacrament on June 10th at 5:30pm at Xavier Catholic College.

Peace in Christ,

Daniel Gubby

Principal

TERM 2 2021

Week 6 Tuesday, 25th May Parent Forum Meeting 5:30pm (Library)

Wednesday, 26th May Diocesan Cross Country- Grafton

Friday 28th May Assembly- Prayer Year 1 – 2.30pm

Polding Touch Trials – Port Macquarie

Week 7 Friday 4th June Assembly- Prayer Kinder – 2.30pm

Week 8 Thursday, 10th June Sacrament of Confirmation 5.30pm

Friday 11th June Assembly- Prayer Year 4 – 2.30pm

Year 4 Retreat

Week 9 Monday, 14th June Public Holiday (Queens Birthday)

Thursday, 17th June SFX Athletics Carnival – Xavier Catholic College

Friday 18th June Assembly Prayer Year 3 – 2.30pm

Week 10 Monday 21st June Spelling Bee

11.45am K-2

12.30pm 3-6

Friday 25th June Assembly Prayer Year 6 – 2.30pm

LAST DAY TERM 2

School Calendar

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Assistant Principal News…

Dear Families and Friends,

Unwanted School Uniform Items

To support our families in need, we are currently collecting any unwanted school uniform items. If you have

items of school clothing that no longer fit your child/ren or you no longer need, you can donate these to the

school and we will provide these, at no cost, to our families in need. Items of school clothing can be sent to

the school office.

Lost Property

With winter on our doorstep, please label all children’s jumpers, jackets,

track pants etc. so that if these items end up in lost property, we are able

to return them to their owner.

Kristie Coster

Assistant Principal

Religious Education News…

Parish Mass Times

2021 Sacrament of Confirmation in the St Francis Xavier Parish

A friendly reminder that the venue for our Confirmation Sacrament on the 10th June has been changed

to Xavier Catholic College Magis Centre. This is because of the number of candidates and their families this

year being beyond the COVID-19 capacity at our Ballina church. Please be there by 5.15 pm.

SFX Ballina Parish

(max 200 people) Lennox Head

Parish

(max 75 people) 6.00 pm Saturday Vigil Mass 5.00 pm Saturday

Vigil Mass 9.00 am Sunday 7:30am Sunday

11.00 am Sunday

All weekday Masses will be at 12.00 noon in SFX Church with a capacity of 200 people at each Mass, including our

weekend Masses. Registration is essential.

If you wish to attend a Mass, please contact the Parish Office on 66811 048 by 12 noon on Fridays to register

your name and contact details or you can use the QR codes available upon entry.

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The second family meeting was held this week in our school library and in the Holy Family school hall. We

had an excellent evening of prayer and reflection as well as some fun learning experiences on the importance

and meaning behind the Catholic Sacraments.

The number of students wanting to take part in the Sacrament of

Confirmation this year has been outstanding, with 77 students

enrolled in the program from our local Catholic and State Schools.

Earlier in the year the Xavier Catholic College Youth Ministry

Officers spoke to our students and shared their stories about the

impact of the Sacraments in their own lives.

Weekend Masses During the Weeks of Preparation

15th and 16th May, 22nd and 23rd May, 29th and 30th May, 5th and 6th June

Your family is invited to select and attend one of our parish Mass times each weekend. The children making

the Sacrament of Confirmation will be involved in a special way at each of these Masses.

This week the candidates will carry forward a candle during the entrance procession. The battery-operated

candles will be handed out before mass at the rear of the church.

The Mass times are: St Francis Xavier Church Ballina - Sat 6:00pm / Sun 9:00am and 11am

Holy Family Church Lennox Head - Sat 5:00pm / Sun 7:30am

Sacrament of Confirmation Reflection Day

Thursday 10th June 9:00 - 2:30pm

This will be held in the hall at Holy Family Primary School, Skennars Head and a bus has been booked to take

our students over to the school and back again. Children do not have to wear their school uniform but are

asked to wear red on this day. Red is the Liturgical colour of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. Lunch will be

provided on this day.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Thursday 10th June 5:30pm (please arrive by 5.15 pm)

The Magis Centre – Xavier Catholic College, Skennars Head

Bishop Gregory has asked that families be seated in the church by 5:30pm as he would like the opportunity to

meet you all. The liturgy will then follow. We will organise for each child to be photographed as they are

confirmed by Bishop Gregory. These images will then be emailed to each family.

Kerrily Jelfs

Leader of School Evangelisation

Matthew Ritchie

Leader of Cathechesis and Assistant Principal

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Student Awards…

Kinder Learning & Class Awards

Ben Girardi-Paciello Aria Llewellyn Ari Hilyard

Year 1 Learning & Class Awards

Harry Dayman Kellah Pholi Noah O’Loughlin Ruby Hernage

Year 2 Learning & Class Awards

Reef Molyneux London McGregor Indi Williams

Lilla Morley Maverix Thomas Luke Maguire

Year 3 Learning & Class Awards

India Bianchi Chaz Gibson Jasmine Davis Alysha Miller

Year 4 Learning & Class Awards

Madison Ellis-Lang Quinn Campbell Vinnie Girardi-Paciello Ellen Freeman

Year 5 Learning & Class Awards

Erika Wisemantel Zahlia Chilcott Lennox Molyneux Zali Raudonikis

Year 6 Learning & Class Awards

Max Buchanan Paris Kelly Indira Stokes Yali Amit

MacqLit Awards

Fletcher Pereira Aliyah Gerada Noah Johnson

Sport Awards

Mason Hordern Braxton Whitton Dustin Kennedy

Dhkyra Jarrett-Torrens Indiana Hughes Rhyah Bateman Amalia Anderson

Happy Birthday…

21st May to 27th May

Damien Hernage Antoni Druzynski

Marlee Atkinson Amity Pettingill

Isabella Iverson Liliana Thompson

Maxon Andrews Oscar Donald

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Canteen News…

Tammy is looking for volunteers for the canteen, if you are able to spare

a couple of hours, between 9am and 11:30, once a month please contact

the school office on 66863370 or see Tammy in the Canteen and just

let her know what day suits you.

Canteen Roster – Term 2 – Week 5 2021

Monday, 24th May to Friday, 28th May

Date Parent Helpers

Monday, 24th May Aimee Mattinson, HELP NEEDED

Tuesday, 25th May Nicole Graham, HELP NEEDED

Wednesday, 26th May Louise Tyrrell, HELP NEEDED

Thursday, 27th May Nat Hannah, Kristie Pettit

Friday, 28th May Sue Keough, HELP NEEDED

Wednesday Specials Term 2

Date Weekly Special

Week 6 Wednesday 26th May Chicken Sub/Wrap Day

Week 7 Wednesday 2nd June Pie & Sausage Roll Day

Week 8 Wednesday 9th June BLT Day

Week 9 Wednesday, 16th June Sausage Sizzle Day

Week 10 Wednesday, 23rd June Roast Beef & Gravy Roll Day

Wednesday Weekly Special

(Wednesday, 26th May)

Chicken Sub/Wrap Day

$4.90

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Tuesday Sushi Day - Term 2

Week 6 Tuesday, 25th May

Week 8 Tuesday, 8th June

Week 10 Tuesday, 22nd June

COST - $3.90 each - Sauce 20c each - Chicken, Tuna, Avocado or Vegetarian

Sports News…

Polding Touch Football Trials

Next Friday, 28th May, Zali Raudonikis, Amalia Anderson and Lillian Bruncke will be competing at the

Polding Touch Football Trials in Port Macquarie. Their selection to attend these trials occurred at the

Diocesan Summer Sports Trials last year. Good luck girls and safe travels.

NSW PSSA Girls Hockey Trials

This week Marley Donald travelled all the way down to Unanderra on the South

Coast to compete at the NSW PSSA Girls Hockey Championships. The Carnival is

a three-day event which sees 14 sports regions across NSW compete against each

other and attempt to gain selection in the NSW State Team to compete at the School

Sport Australia Carnival. To reach this level of competition on the representative

pathway is an outstanding success. Polding finished a highly respectable 4th after

losing to Hunter 2 nil yesterday. Although Polding lost the match Marley was

selected in the NSW PSSA Girls Hockey Team. Unfortunately, due to Covid there

are no National Titles this year. Congratulations Marley on your outstanding

achievement!!

St Francis Xavier Ballina Athletics Carnival

Our annual Athletics carnival will be held on Thursday, 17th June at

Xavier Catholic College, Skennars Head. We greatly appreciate XCC

allowing us to use their oval and facilities on the day.

Paddy Wilde

Sports Coordinator

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Spelling Bee News…

7th Annual Primary School Spelling Bee 2021

Parents are warmly welcome to attend our Annual Primary School Spelling Bee

on Monday, 21st June, (Week 10 of Term 2) in the school hall.

● Students in K-2 will compete from 11:45-12:30pm

● Students in Years 3-6 will compete from 12:30-1:45pm

In the coming weeks students can choose to enter into spelling bee heats in their grade level. The top five

spellers from each grade will then compete in the Primary Spelling Bee Finals. I encourage all students to

start brushing up on their spelling skills and have a go in the grade heats. Take this chance to make learning

fun and exciting!

Year 2 Class News…

In Science and Technology this term, Year 2 are working on designing a product that would clean dirty water,

making it safe for drinking.

This week, students worked in teams to test a variety of filters in order to find out which materials and

processes would be the most successful.

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Parent News…

Green Zones

Those of you who have been on site this term will

be well aware of the Green Zones at all entry points

to the school. As previously mentioned, the Green

Zone has been initiated by the Catholic Schools

Office as part of the updated guidelines for parents

and visitors presenting on site at schools under Child

Protection procedures. We initially partitioned off

areas around school entrances to provide a clear

visual of each of the Green Zones. This visual did

not form any physical barrier, but simply served to

make parents aware of the need to register their

presence via the QR Code or iPad. Parents presenting on site for the purpose of dropping children off or

picking them up are not required to sign in if they do not venture beyond the Green Zone. If you are attending

to business beyond the Green Zone, however, you are required to sign in and identify your reason / the person

you are visiting. We will no longer have taped off sections, but still require parents to respect our Green Zones

and associated sign-in protocols.

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Tuesday, 25th May

5.30 pm in the Library

All Welcome

Next Tuesday 25th May at 5.30pm is the first Parent forum meeting of the year. The role of the Parent Forum

is to provide parent feedback and opinions to the school leadership group, and to discuss changes around the

school. There are no fundraising jobs to be done and no on-going commitment. Parents are welcome to come

to every meeting or just occasionally.

The Parent forum also has the opportunity to request resources for the school via the fundraising levy. If your

child has an interest or activity at school that could do with better resources we’d love to hear from you.

With all the disruption of last year, it has been a while since the Parent forum met. It would be great to have a

broad representation of parent voices and opinions, so if you have a little time and an interest in the school

community, please come and be part of it.

Cheers,

Amy Campbell

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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Our school will be transferring over to The Compass platform at the beginning of Term 3. The app and

computer parent portal will be our school and classroom communication to you. The Compass app will

allow you to:

● Monitor your child’s attendance, and enter in explanations for absences.

● Update family contact details

● View student reports.

● View newsfeed of school announcements, updates or events.

● Provide consent for events and pay for excursions and school fees.

● Make canteen orders.

Please note that there are many features of The Compass app available to parents. Please keep an eye out in

our newsletter more information regarding these features in the coming weeks.

Student Pick up Arrangements

We recognise that students’ pick up arrangements can change throughout the day and this then needs to be

communicated to students prior to the end of the day. A reminder that if your child’s pick up arrangement

does change during the course of the day, please phone (no emails) the school office prior to 2pm – please

note that office staff are not allowed to advise students that they will be collected outside of school grounds.

It is extremely important that, where possible, your child is very

clear about their daily pick up arrangement.

Reminder

Students are supervised at school from 8:30am. When they arrive at

school they are to sit in the Shelter Shed until instructed by the

teacher on duty.

When leaving school, students depart in one of four ways:

Bus - Children are to sit in bus lines and wait for teachers’ instructions to board their bus. Bus pass

forms are available on-line.

Bike - Students are to move quickly to their bikes or scooters and walk these to the gate at the front

of the school. They must not ride these on school premises and they should take the shortest

and safest route home.

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Walking - These children should leave through the front school gate without delay. Any child needing to

cross Swift Street should wait at the crossing and be directed by the Crossing Supervisor.

Pick up - Children being picked up should wait in the School Hall until collected and then leave with

their parent or guardian.

Change of Details

It is extremely important that you notify the school of any change of

address, telephone contact numbers, email addresses, family status

and/or residential arrangements.

Please email these changes to

balp@lism,catholic.edu.au

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Monday, 14th June 2021

Queen’s Birthday Long

Weekend _______________________________________________________________________________________

Last Day of Term 2

Friday, 25th June 2021

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Growth Through Love & Loyalty

Community News…

Year 6 Weekly Visits to River Street Pre School

Over the past three weeks, students from Year 6 have been working with the staff and students at Ballina River

Street Childrens Centre, as part of our community engagement and leadership program.

The students have been playing games, reading books and doing art and craft activities each week.

The Year 6 students have represented themselves and our school beautifully at all times. Congratulations

Year 6