3 August 2016

Newsletter Articles

VISION STATEMENT

St Rita’s School will be a compassionate and supportive community built on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, specifically incorporating the Mercy Values which are lived out. We will be a values-based community reaching out to and welcoming the wider community. Our strong school spirit will shine. St Rita’s will be a school in which every member is respectful of self and others.

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a wonderful start to the term we have had in the past three weeks! The children have settled into the new term with ease, teachers have finished working on their curriculum plans and our team of parent volunteers has been busy assisting in the classroom and on excursions. Well done everyone!

Since our last newsletter we have celebrated two significant events on our 2016 school calendar. On Thursday 21st July, our NAIDOC Week celebration recognised the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Ms Tua Snowball, our Indigenous Liaison Officer, successfully organised an action-packed day of special activities for our visitors, special guests, staff and students. Thank you Miss Tua for the extra effort you put into marking this important event on our school calendar!

St Rita’s School engaged in a wonderful celebration of Catholic Education Week last week. Our students participated enthusiastically in a wide range of special activities focused on this year’s theme, 'Opening Doors in the Year of Mercy’. Celebrations throughout Queensland focused on the Year of Mercy, drawing on the symbolism that Catholic schools ‘open doors’ for students in a holistic educational sense. The theme enabled us to engage in a broad range of activities which showcased the opportunities that Catholic education provides.

As a school community, it was a time to appreciate what makes a Catholic school different and to feel pride in being part of Cairns Catholic Education. We were especially proud to belong to St Rita’s School during our whole school excursion to Good Counsel Primary last Tuesday. In Good Counsel Church, the St Rita’s ‘block’ was used to build a symbolic arch with those of the other five schools and college in the Southern Deanery; St Clare’s Tully, St John’s Silkwood, St Rita’s South Johnstone, Good Counsel Primary and Good Counsel College of Innisfail.

We finished the week with a visit by St Rita’s parishioners to our school after morning Mass last Friday. The Prep/Year 1 children were thoroughly absorbed by the story reading time they could have with Father Grundy and the parishioners. An afternoon of games was then organised by Mrs Masina to cap off a wonderful week of CEW celebrations. Our community-focused visit to Abbeyfield House this week was also planned as part of our CEW program of events.

Letters from your classroom teacher will be distributed at the end of this week informing parents about what is happening, what is being taught in your child’s class in Term 3. This important source of information sharing is recognised as being an integral part of enabling the partnership between home and school. If you have any queries regarding what your teacher has planned for this term, please arrange a meeting soon.

Our Semester Two parent-teacher interviews are planned for the next fortnight. At these meetings you will receive your child’s Semester One Student Work Folio and review his or her Semester One Report. Goals for this semester will be discussed and any queries or concerns you may have can also be shared at this time. I was pleased to know that all parents have scheduled a time to meet with their classroom teachers. Thank you for your interest and support!

The St Rita’s P & F is a dedicated and active group of parents whose common goal is to support the school. I firmly believe that all parents contribute in some way to our school community. Our P & F meets monthly at 5:00pm to present reports, discuss issues and provide feedback to the school, and organise special events, such as the School Disco, the Father’s Day social evening and the Harvest Festival. I hope you are able to spare a short time attending the meetings this semester to show your support of the P & F. The Committee does an awesome job!

Could I please take this opportunity to remind you of the St Rita’s uniform policy, as I do not enjoy having negative conversations with children about wearing incorrect uniform, jewellery and nail polish. If your child is ‘out of uniform’ for a specific reason, please let your teacher know by writing a short note of explanation in the Student Diary. As Gymnastics lessons occur on Friday this term, sports uniform is worn on this day only.

St Rita’s has a school uniform for the purpose of school identity, spirit and pride. It is also about creating an equitable environment. Much consideration has gone into making the uniform functional, attractive and suitable for students of Primary School age.

St Rita’s Uniform

Hats: Navy blue broad-brimmed or legionnaire cap
Shoes: All black closed in shoes or joggers
Socks: Navy ankle socks
Girl’s Uniform: Navy skort with teal and navy shirt with school emblem
Boy’s Uniform: Navy shorts with teal and navy shirt with school emblem
Sports Uniform: Navy shorts/Navy skort, green and navy polo shirt with school logo
Winter Uniform: Navy taslon pants and taslon jacket
Jewellery: Watch, earrings (studs or sleepers only), plain religious medallion
Hair: If hair is longer than the shoulder it must be worn up with plain, simple hair accessories of school colours
Nails: Kept short and clean for safety, and nail polish not permitted
(Excerpt: St Rita’s Parent Handbook)

Thank you to those parents who have been patiently waiting for stock of our dress shirts and sports polos since the beginning of the year. Our supplier has been very proactive on our behalf, but unfortunately the cyclone in Fiji impacted severely on their production.

We have many exciting and engaging school events planned for this term and I hope you can join us for as many of these as possible. Our first school Disco promises to be a fun-filled evening for primary school children in the Babinda community. Julie Parker and I are happy to be the coordinators of this P & F fundraiser, and I am sure that we will be supported by a large band of merry helpers cooking, serving and supervising on the night. We also have Book Fair, Science Week and Children’s Book Week in the near future. Please join in!

I look forward to meeting you around St Rita’s this fortnight.

Regards and blessings,
Judy Billiau

STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS 2016 - 2019

This year CES Staff has published the new Strategic Directions document for the next four years of Catholic Education in the Cairns Diocese. The key Strategic Directions animate the Vision and Guiding Principles focused on students achieving their full potential through quality Catholic education opportunities and life-giving relationships enhancing spiritual, academic and social development.

“I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)

Our Vision:

To offer quality Catholic education so that each person may know and come to identify more fully with the living Spirit of Christ.

Guiding Principles:

In seeking fulfilment of our Vision we are inspired to:

• Be people of Mission and Witness inspired by what is best for all students in our schools

This means that Catholic schools work within both the secular domain and God’s domain and we strive to be examples of God’s love to those we encounter and have a focus on the common good.

• Embrace the gifts and talents of all through commitment to Subsidiarity and Co-responsibility

Catholic schools honour the Christian tradition of working together as a community to improve the learning opportunities for all students. All members of the community share this responsibility and are challenged to take on leadership roles according to their abilities.

• Be courageous – encountering possibilities and engaging in Dialogue to achieve excellence in all we do

Catholic schools are open to working with the community to improve the learning opportunities for all students by engaging all members and seeking feedback.

• Move forward together – strengthening relationships between Families, Staff, School and System leaders, Clergy and the Diocese

All schools within the Cairns Diocese are part of a community of schools and as such work together to improve the learning opportunities for all students.

• Be accountable for student learning through continuous improvement

Catholic schools focus on analysis of student learning data to identify specific areas for improvement

At St Rita’s School this challenges our community to continue to be people who witness to the outside world the Good News of Jesus through the way we live our lives and the respect and support we show to others, particularly those less fortunate than ourselves.

St Rita’s will strive to build strong, positive relationships and be a place where new members joining our community will feel welcome and supported. The focus for all members of our school community will be student learning and the encouragement to strive to be engaged and positive learners, always working towards achieving new goals.

Judy Billiau
Principal

APRE THOUGHTS …..

In a time where we are constantly bombarded by negative stories, full of hate, sadness and anger, it was so uplifting and reassuring to watch our children participate in the activities of Catholic Education Week in Week 3. This year’s theme ‘Opening the Doors of Mercy’, was explored during various lessons in the classes, and all children were well versed in the theme song, “Catholic Schools in Queensland.”

The highlight of the week was no doubt the visit to Good Counsel Primary School, where we attended a beautiful Mass with approximately 600 students from the Southern Deanery. The feeling in the Church was incredibly special and all children participated with reverence and respect. I would especially like to thank the APRE of GCPS, Mrs Maria Caltabiano, for all the effort and time she put in to create an amazing experience for our children.

After the Mass the children had the opportunity to mix with children from all over the Deanery via a number of activities. The Preps and Ones stayed at the primary school and were involved in dancing, face painting, blocks, new playgrounds and games of ‘Rob the Nest’. Our children truly enjoyed themselves as I am sure you can see from the photos included. A big thank you must also go to the Year 12 girls from Good Counsel College as they were very popular painting so many little faces! They were kind, well-mannered and put a lot of effort into their work!

The Year 2/3/4 class, along with Mrs Jago and Mrs Stone, walked to Warrina Lakes where they were involved in numerous games. The children came back very tired, with great big smiles and various NRL badges attached to their uniforms. Every child I spoke to had a fantastic game and really enjoyed mixing and playing with the children from the various schools. Again, a big thank you to Good Counsel College, as I believe it was their PE students who ran these activities, showing again the spirit that is alive in Catholic Schools.

Finally, our senior students were broken into various groups to explore the future, in the form of the high school, Good Counsel College. Led by the Principals and senior teachers of the Southern Deanery, they were able to tour the buildings and facilities to gain a better understanding of what high school may be like for them in the future. The children all appeared to be quite excited about the prospect of how high school operates.

The senior students were again treated on Wednesday with a visit from NET. The National Evangelistic Teams are groups of young people that teach the love of Jesus to children and teens via music, drama and storytelling. This is the second year the senior students have experienced NET and they were fully engaged in the afternoon activities. This year the team members included youth from Brisbane, Hungary and even Uganda. It was a loud, interactive and fun afternoon and a great big thank you to Anne Chellingworth, Diocesan Youth Ministry Director, for arranging this visit.

As you can see it has been a very busy couple of weeks in the lives of our students in Catholic Schools. Enjoy the next fortnight.

Blessings,

Bec Burns
Assistant Principal Religious Education

SEL NEWS

Persistence continues to be the Key taught in our classrooms this term and today I thought I would share with some stories that involve characters displaying persistence. A number of these can be found in your local library, bookstore or on line and are a great way of beginning a discussion about the characteristics of Persistence with your children.

The first is a very short story found via the link below. Although a short, simple stories it is suitable for all ages, as it touches on why we should never give up on our dreams, even when others do not believe we have what it takes.

The second is also a short story, aimed more towards our 4-6s called the “Opera Singer”. This wonderful tale explains the importance of practice, practice, practice, because you never know when your chance will come.

Thirdly, “The Drawing who talked” is great for P-3 children who have particular tasks they do not enjoy. This is a funny story which shows how if we stick to tasks, even the ones we do not like, the results can be amazing.

These stories are tales, but the real life stories are just as interesting:

Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first television job because she was ‘unfit for TV’. Jerry Seinfeld was booed off the stage the first time he tried to deliver a comedy routine. The manager of the Grand Old Oprey fired Elvis Presley after his first performance, suggesting he “go back to driving a truck.” Dr. Seuss was rejected many times before publishers accepted his first book.

Other story books you can share include, “Thank you Mr Falkner”, by Patricia Polacco, especially for those who become frustrated when reading; “Sally Jean Bicycle Queen” by Cari Best and “The Persistent Owl” by Elfast Haddi.

I hope these resources allow you the opportunity to spend some time not only reading with your child, but also enhancing your conversations regarding persistence and the feelings of frustration we all can feel when learning new concepts or dealing with tasks we find tedious or boring.

Have a wonderful week,

Bec Burns
SEL Coordinator

CASTING THE NET

Spiritual Works of Mercy: To bear wrongs patiently

Have you ever been wronged? Of course you have. And the advice ‘to bear wrongs patiently’ would have been very difficult to take. In the midst of the anger and hurt, humiliation and the desire to hit back, to be told to just take it calmly and peaceably seems not only like further insult, it seems down-right impossible – for it is. When we are hurt, we are hurt and no amount of pretending otherwise will take away the pain. But, and you knew that ‘but’ was coming, we are not being told to take the wrong but to bear it ‘patiently’ and that is a very different thing. The word ‘patient’ comes from the word for ‘passion’ so this advice really is ‘to bear wrongs passionately’ given that in the Christian understanding this means with passionate love. We are not meant to be timid in the face of hurt, or to lash out in anger. We are meant to be passionately involved, seeking to understand our own pain and that of the others involved, including the perpetrator/s.

And that is why we have to ‘bear’ wrongs. Something we bear involves work and time. We engage with the situation long enough to find out what is really happening: what is the real cause of our hurt, what can be done realistically and how could grace and love work creatively in this situation? If this sounds like a big ask, it is. It is much easier to be a doormat or to lash out in the face of injustice. For us to transform such a situation, we need help from on high: the wisdom, courage and fortitude of the Holy Spirit. Thinking on your own experience of being wronged, can you imagine how you could creatively and lovingly act with such a power helping you?

Come Holy Spirit, give me the wisdom and courage I need to unleash your creative love in the situations where I am wronged. I ask this in the name of Jesus who turned an unjust death into the place of life.

Sr Kym Harris osb

COUNSELLOR’S CORNER

MISTAKE … WHAT MISTAKE?

Dear Parents,

Accepting that life moves forwards is an important aspect for children to learn. Sometimes we see children get ‘stuck’ in a negative cycle of self-blame when they have made a poor decision.

As parents it is important to be able to help our children see that we all make mistakes. It is about acknowledging, taking responsibility and helping resolve the dilemma that has occurred.

It is not about allowing your child to ‘beat themselves up’ about what has happened, but about how they can reflect on what has happened, how they contributed or did not contribute to the outcome, what they learnt about the experience and what choices they would make next time.

It does not mean that a child should not receive some consequence for their behaviour, if this is appropriate. However, it is about making sure there is a connection and relevance to what has occurred and what the consequence is, so the children can learn and grow from the experience in a healthy way.

Sometimes life provides natural consequences to us and this is all we need to look at to help us understand the situation and the outcome.

Yours in Counselling,
Carmel Parisi

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS

Guest Author and Illustrator Matilda Bishop visits the Year 2/3/4 classroom

LOCAL AUTHOR INSPIRES

On the 27th July, a high school student called Matilda Bishop came to St Rita’s Babinda to show us her artistic books that she has written and to teach us how to sketch. Matilda gets her ideas by thinking of an animal, its personality, how it acts, who can be its friend and adventures it could have. Then she sketches. If it’s not right, Matilda attempts to improve her sketches until she’s satisfied. Every page in her books rhymes and once you read it, you feel like you’re in the book!

At the age of thirteen Matilda wrote her first book called, ‘Parrot Party at Paronella Park.’ It was published when Matilda was fourteen years old. When she was fifteen, Matilda wrote her second book called, ‘SQUAWK!! Take the Skywalk!’ It was published when Matilda was sixteen years of age. Matilda uses rainforest animals in her stories. She uses paints and sometimes pencil in her art. Matilda has a toy cockatoo called Sky. Sky has been her friend since Year Three and she still loves it today.

Matilda is very gifted and she was very delightful and entertaining during her visit to St Rita’s School.

Thank you Matilda Bishop!

By Georgina Stone (Year 4)

MEETING AN ARTIST

Last Wednesday, St. Rita’s School Babinda welcomed illustrator and author Matilda Bishop for a visit. Matilda read her two books ‘Squawk! Take the Sky Walk’ and ‘Parrot Party at Paronella Park’, everyone was so delighted to hear her books. Matilda also brought in her inspiring toy cockatoo named Sky.

Sky, the cockatoo, was in each of her books. Matilda has had Sky since she was in Year Three but now Matilda is in Year Twelve. Matilda’s first book was published when she was at the age of fourteen and her second book was published when she was sixteen. She also uses rhyme in each and every page of her books.

When Matilda visited, she read her two books and taught us how to sketch Sky the cockatoo and a possum featured in one of her books. Matilda’s books take place in the rainforest, with many rainforest animals being used as characters.

After she left, I thought carefully about her art work and it inspired me because I love books and I love to illustrate and write books too.

Overall, I had a wonderfully delightful afternoon reading and drawing with Matilda in our classroom. Thank you Matilda Bishop!

By Sorayah Salvestrin (Year 3)

LIBRARY NEWS

Hello, my name is Mrs Darelle Horsford and I am very pleased to have joined the learning community at St Rita’s School Babinda. As part of my role as District Teacher Librarian for the southern cluster of schools in the Cairns Diocese, I will be visiting the students and teachers of St Rita’s every Wednesday throughout Term 3.

The first two weeks of the term has flown by with lots of exciting learning experiences happening in the library across all year levels. The students in Prep/One have been engaged in reading for enjoyment from a range of sources including eBooks by Julia Donaldson and newly published children’s books such as ‘The Lion Inside’ by Rachel Bright. Be sure to pop in and see the children’s work on display in our beautiful library.

The Two/Three/Four students have been practising their research skills by locating online information about the rainforest and the animals that live there. The students can access the interactive websites they have been using in the library at home by typing in our school Library Portal address stritasbabinda.ces.cmeweb.libcode.com.au

We were also lucky enough to have local author and illustrator Matilda Bishop visit Mrs Jago and her students on Wednesday for a special Author’s Meet and Greet session. Matilda read her latest book ‘Squawk! Take the Skywalk!’ which is set in our local World Heritage Rainforest. Students were able ask Matilda questions about how she begins her writing process and how she develops personality traits for the characters in her stories. The class also enjoyed learning some tips on how to draw several characters from Matilda’s latest book.

Our senior students have been very busy as well, researching, collating and note-taking information from a range of different online Convict Databases and websites using their Chromebooks. Each student has been given the name of a convict by Mrs Masina and during our sessions in the library the students have been tracing the details of their history, crimes, and journey to Australian penal settlements.

Darelle Horsford,
District Resource & Information Specialist - Teacher Librarian

BOOK FAIR

Yippee!!! The time has finally arrived! Next week, St Rita’s will once again hold its annual Book Fair. A Scholastic Book Fair is a lively and fun event that engages children’s interest in literature and promotes literacy. It also enables children, parents, teachers and community members to purchase quality books and classroom materials at reasonable prices, while earning free books for our school.

Students, parents and teachers love Book Fairs for a number of reasons, including:

• It is an opportunity for children to see, touch and connect with books they want to read
• It offers affordable books for parents to buy, which suit every interest and reading level
• It provides an excellent range of books which are selected from over 60 publishers worldwide
• It allows us to build our own library resources, as every book sold at the Fair earns free books

Please visit our Book Fair in the St Rita’s Library from Monday 8th August. For your convenience, you can visit the Fair from 8:00am - 8:30am each morning, and from 3:00pm - 3:30pm on Monday and Wednesday afternoon. If you are unable to visit the fair, students will be bringing home a ‘wish list’ of books they are interested in purchasing and this can be returned to school at any time.

This is a terrific time to purchase some amazing gifts for upcoming birthdays, Christmas or special occasions. If parents would like to purchase books or stationery as gifts and would like to keep it quiet to surprise their children, I am more than happy to help in any way I can. Parents can phone the office on 40 671467 and leave a message regarding your requests and I will arrange your purchases for your collection, at a time suitable to you.

See you at the Book Fair!

Lisa Calcagno
Library Assistant

NAIDOC WEEK CELEBRATIONS

Last Thursday St Rita’s celebrated NAIDOC week. The theme for this year was ‘Songlines – The Living Narrative of our Nation’. This theme highlighted the importance of Songlines to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Our Thursday morning started with a beautiful liturgy organised by Mrs Burns before returning to our daily school routine. The students had an early second break so they could get straight into our NAIDOC celebrations. We were very fortunate to have the traditional owner of Babinda, Auntie Annie Wonga welcome us to her country and read us a wonderful story. Dance troupe, The Gumba Dancers, were a big hit with the students of St Rita’s. They performed three traditional dances and didgeridoo player Damien Schrieber gave students some tips on how to play the didgeridoo.

There were three activities the students participated in during the afternoon; rock painting, Indigenous games Keentan and Wana, and Indigenous jigsaw puzzles/weaving. These activities wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the staff of St Rita’s and the Snowball family.

I would also like to thank CES Education Officer, Ms Lillian Miller, for helping with the NAIDOC celebrations and a big thankyou to Aunty Annie and the Gumba Dancers for giving up their Thursday afternoon to share their culture with our school.

So all in all, we had a very successful afternoon celebrating the amazing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and I’m looking forward to next year’s NAIDOC celebration.

Many blessings,

Tua Snowball
Indigenous Liaison Officer

DATE CLAIMERS

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

St Rita’s School congratulates those students who were awarded ‘Student of the Week’ at Assembly on Monday 1st August 2016.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Nicholas Stone, Billie Luce and Matthew Mellick all the very best for their recent birthdays. We hope you had wonderful birthday celebrations. Congratulations Nick, Billie and Matthew!

SCHOOL DISCO

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

COMMUNITY NEWS

FARINELLI TENNIS ACADEMY

St Rita’s Babinda after school coaching.
Tuesday from 2:55pm for all ages
Cost is only $5 per lesson and you will be invoiced for the term.

Sign your child up and they will be given free membership of Farinelli Tennis Academy and go in the draw to win a Family weekend at Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park. Forms are available at the school.

Coach Travis Farinelli