Berwick Campus – 6 September 2018

NAPLAN Results

2018 NAPLAN results were released last week.

These results, whist representing a snapshot in a students’ academic journey, do help inform teaching and learning practices through data analysis and identification of learning trends.

For example; when tracking the rate of growth of our current Year 9 cohort at Berwick, it is very pleasing to note the following:

Writing: The number of students displaying a HIGH growth rate from Year 7 to 9 is above the state average.

Numeracy: The number of students displaying a HIGH growth rate from Year 7 to 9 is above the state average.

Grammar and Punctuation: The number of students displaying a HIGH growth rate from Year 7 to 9 is above the state average.

A very promising culmination of work from both students and staff.

Student Progress Meetings

Bookings for student progress meetings have been open for some time and can be accessed through PAM. The dates for student progress meetings are as follows:

Wednesday September 5 (2 – 8 pm)

Thursday September 20 (2 – 8 pm)

Students will be dismissed at 1pm on the above dates.

Student Progress meetings at held in Term 3 are an opportune time to highlight two main things:

1. What particular strengths a student possesses that enables them to achieve academically
2. One area of focus that will best set students up for success in the future

If for some reason, parents cannot book a time with a specific staff member on these dates it is always possible to arrange to meet later before/after school or communicate via telephone.

Sakuragaoka High School

Well done to all of our students that recently played host to the students from Sakuragaoka High School. It was a most exciting week that gave our exchange students a glimpse of what life is like at St Francis Xavier Berwick.

Thanks to the staff that gave up time to run special sessions for students including; sports clinics, cooking sessions and language games.  Special Thanks to Ms Kate Bamford for coordinating such a beneficial exchange program and to the following host students; Jordyn, Liam, Shaelyn, Angelina, Tara, Eliza, Paris, Sienna and Astrid.

Schools on Stage

Congratulations to all students who were involved winning the Premier Division of the SIS Schools on Stage competition held at Bunjil Place last week. This is third year in a row St Francis Xavier College has taken out this prestigious award and special thanks to Ms Leah Rolfe and Ms Hayley Griffin for their guidance of the following Berwick students who performed so well on the night.

Gabrielle Dempsey, Adam Marshall, Tara Medlen, Evie Van Dam, Grace Sajn, Eliza Mettes, Sarah McRae

SIS Division A Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to all 44 students from Berwick that represented St. Francis Xavier Berwick admirably at Lakeside Stadium last week. All students competed with vigour and St. Francis Xavier College came second overall only narrowly missing by 80 points.

Much success and enjoyment was had on the day with SFX Berwick awarded pennants in the following divisions:

U/13 Girls, U/14 Boys, U/15 Boys, U16 Girls and the Intermediate Shield.

Thanks to Mr Adam Lawrence for his coordination and Mr Joshua Wright for his assistance along with staff on the day.

Social Justice – Farmer’s Drought Relief

Thanks to Year 9 students Bethany Martin and Ellie Keysers who have come up with a great idea to support the Farmer’s Drought Relief Appeal. The girls enlisted the support of our canteen staff who were able to order Shepherd’s Pies at a discounted rate.

This meant that not only were the pies cheap to buy but $1 dollar from each pie sold could be donated to the Farmer’s plight. The sale was on for one week only and due to popular support in excess of $153.00 dollars was raised to donate to this worthy cause. Well done Beth and Ellie!

Student Profile Questionnaire

In coming weeks, students across the College will be given a Student Profile survey to complete within an allocated Caregroup time. The purpose of the survey is to gather information about individual students’ language, literacy and cultural backgrounds, as well as their education experience. The aim is for subject teachers to have access to this information so that they may more effectively support their students in accessing, comprehending and using English (Standard Australian English) within their classrooms. The College will only use this information internally.

Given students’ oral language skills develop far more quickly than their reading and writing skills the need to develop a profile of their linguistic backgrounds is imperative to teachers’ ability to address individual learning needs. Information collected will be used to facilitate the identification of practical teaching and learning strategies.

This information will be collected in accordance with the College Privacy Policy and will not be shared with any third party. If you have any questions with regard to the College Privacy Policy, please contact the Deputy Principal: Mission – Mr John Fazzino at the College. You can find a copy of our Privacy Policy on the College Website.

Kind Regards,

Diana Di Conza.

National Child Protection week (2-8 September 2018) – preventing child abuse and neglect 

The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic education. At St Francis Xavier we have a zero tolerance for child abuse and are committed to acting in children’s best interests and keeping them safe from harm. The College regards its child protection responsibilities with the utmost importance and as such, is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and maintain a child safe culture. St. Francis Xavier College is please to support the National Child Prevention week in its efforts to build a Culture of Child Protection in our community. 

National Child Protection Week will run from Fathers’ Day Sunday 2 September to 8 September with a range of campaigns, events, and announcements to support the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and remind us that protecting children is everyone’s business. 

NAPCAN Deputy CEO, Leesa Water, urges Australians to start thinking about child abuse as something that can be prevented rather than a problem to be fixed after the fact. 

“Most people are surprised the learn that approximately 1 in 32 children are the victims of substantiated child abuse each year in Australia. 

“And these are just the ones that are severe enough to reach the high threshold required to be picked up by the statutory child protection system. Hundreds of thousands more children have less than optimal lives but are not counted in these alarming statistics. 

“However, we know that these rates of abuse are not inevitable. There is clear evidence that much of this abuse is preventable. 

“Children thrive when their families have the support they need, and are part of strong connected communities. 

“Our aim is to encourage governments, service providers, and the broader community to direct resources and efforts into prevention, so that all children are?valued, nurtured and able to live free from violence, abuse and neglect.” 

Importantly, we need to remember that the little things we do every day can help to create safer environments for children. For instance: 

• Be kind to children and parents 
• Be a good role model around children 
• Get involved in your local community, say ‘hi’ to neighbours 
• Look out for signs of abuse or neglect; if you suspect something is wrong talk to an expert 
• Always take reports of abuse seriously 
• Avoid blame and do not judge; instead, ask yourself what you can do to help 
• Listen to the needs of children and spend time with them 

National Child Protection Week will include the presentation of NAPCAN’s Play Your Part Awards which honour individuals, communities and organisations that carry out inspiring and effective actions promoting child safety and wellbeing across the country, from rural communities to inner cities, from our suburbs to the outback. 

If any member of the St. Francis Xavier College Community would like more information on the College’s Child Protection System please contact John Fazzino – DP Mission jfazzino@sfx.vic.edu.au