News & Calendar Events
Year 8 Outdoor Camp 2023
Enjoy our short video on the College's first ever Year 8 Outdoor Camp. Students participated in a range of water-based activities including kayaking (backwaters only), orienteering, surveying water bugs, walking and education talks. They also enjoyed a range of games and duties to strengthen their communication and teamwork skills. They certainly had fun!
Community Engagement
Year 8 & 9 Rowing Day Camp
During Term 3 students took part in their first Rowing Day Camp, it was a full day of learning. With the assistance of my former Australian Rowing teammate, Anna Petersen, students were stepped through some of the more technical aspect of rowing. We spent time working through some key drills and introducing them to the universal language used in rowing. It highlighted the need to be mentally switched on throughout a session, working as a crew, reacting to changing drills and how to respond to coach feedback. Tim Pfeiffer volunteered his boat and captaining skills, allowing Anna and I to rotate between our 3 crews. This additional coaching added great value in supporting our young rowers.
Students were based in set quads (4x+) for the day, which really gave them a great opportunity to focus on and develop the skills introduced. After three on water sessions, there were many sore hands and weary bodies. Well done to all rowers and coxswains, it was a great day and sets the tone for what is sure to be an exciting season ahead!
An extra special thank you to Anna and Tim, Mrs Camporeale and Miss Gibbons for assisting during our day.
Enjoy a video of the Rowing Day Camp
Stephanie Turnbull, Rowing Program Coordinator and Rowing Coach
Catholic Education Week
Riverland Combined Catholic Schools Celebration
Our Catholic Education Week was celebrated across all CESA schools in South Australia from May 15 – 19. Schools within the Port Pirie Diocese also celebrated with some specific initiatives across the week. Wednesday May 17 was a particular highlight when the College hosted St Albert’s School, St Joseph’s School Renmark, St Joseph’s School Barmera, and Our Lady of the River School.
The Port Pirie Diocesan theme is ‘Called to Community’ and our day began with a Liturgy with students and staff from all schools participating, demonstrating our Riverland Catholic Community.
The five schools spent the afternoon participating in a range of organised activities, grouped in four rotation sessions, based on: Creative Arts, Novelty Games, Sports Games, and Design and Technologies.
It was an outstanding celebration and a very special day bringing everyone together. Our year 9 students were terrific role models as they facilitated the Sport and Novelty activity stations throughout the whole afternoon.
Combined Riverland Catholic Schools Catholic Education Week Celebration 2023 video
Relay for Life 2022 & 2023
On 22 and 23 October 2022 26 students and staff participated in Relay for Life at the Renmark Oval. Over 19 hours fifteen Relay for Life Teams participated, raising funds and awareness for Cancer Council SA. The SFoAC Team ran/walked 423 laps, winning the overall 'Most Laps' trophy. The Riverland community raised almost $80,000 for Cancer Council SA, which was an incredible effort.
$20 Boss Market Day
During Term 3 of 2022 our Year 8 Students developed their entrepreneurial skills while gaining important experience through teamwork, organisation and time management. Students went through a range of planning activities and after producing a pitch were given $20 to start up their business. The highlight of this program was our Market Day! Students set up their own stall and sold their product to the school community. The Market Day was run as an in-school event, it was so successful we hope to open the market up to families in the future. Some of the business ideas students pursued included: Cookies, Spider Drinks, Printed T-Shirts, Clay Bead Accessories, Dehydrated Limes and Choc-Dipped Oranges, Slime, Puppy Treats, Seeds, Pot Plants, Decals and Sausages. The students did such a fantastic job at showcasing their products and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
St Francis of Assisi College and Lumination
XR Challenge
In 2022 St Francis of Assisi College is engaged in the XR Challenge, a joint initiative between Catholic Education South Australia and Lumination aiming to foster innovative solutions to real-world issues using virtual and extended reality technologies. The 7B class are working on the topic of ‘Sustainable Futures’ and are creating solutions to local and global issues through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of:
Affordable and clean energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable sustainable and modern energy for all
Industry, innovation and infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Sustainable cities and communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
The class had the privilege to be the first students through the doors of Lumination’s state-of-the-art Learning Lab in Thebarton. The students were engaged with Hand-Held Virtual Reality (HHVR) headsets and Immersive Virtual Reality (IMVR) experiences to empathise with a range of problems related to sustainable futures. The Lumination team supported students through the Design Thinking process to enable students to define problems and ideate solutions. The students are working diligently back at the College within CoSpaces and TinkerCad to realise their solutions in a virtual environment.
Later in the year we were delighted to learn that Sophie, Year 7 student from St Francis of Assisi College was the awarded recipient of the 2022 Catholic Education SA Extended Reality Challenge.
Sophie’s project was selected from amongst the many talented student entries, as winner of The Moonshot Award category. Sophie’s "Water World" submission was considered above and beyond, it comprised an “Earth Water City in 2050 when land has gone underwater due to global warming.” Sophie's city includes hydroelectric power plant, solar panels, interactive garden, a school, sea bins to collect rubbish on the water’s surface, an animal farm and space-saving apartments. Sophie was excited to win the challenge and looks forward to learning more about immersive technologies and being innovative into the future.
College Community Engagement
Year 6 Immersion Days
This year we have again been welcoming Year 6 students from Catholic, and non Catholic primary schools, to immerse themselves for a couple days in life at the College. Immersion Days are offered during Terms 2 and 3 as part of student’s transition to secondary schooling.
Formal transition days are held in Term 4 for enrolled students.