Issue 9 - 6 June 2017

Newsletter Articles

MISSION STATEMENT

St Rita’s School mission is to create a community which inspires a love of holistic, life-long learning grounded in the Catholic Christian faith. Childhood is celebrated and nurtured by caring adults. A student’s capacity for their best future is realised in the context of our small rural community. We provide a safe and supportive environment, characterised by strong, life-giving and respectful relationships with students, staff, families, parish and the wider community. The school strives to ensure we are living out the Mercy values.

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last week, St Rita’s hosted its annual ‘Australia's Biggest Morning Tea’ fundraising event, a date on our school calendar that is very dear to our hearts. Organised by Mrs Debbie Kurucz, the school community joined together for a delicious morning tea to contribute to the Cancer Council’s goal to help beat cancer by fundraising to fund research and to provide prevention and support services to those affected by cancer. St Rita’s is most grateful to those parents and parishioners who participated in this important event.

It has been wonderful to witness the progress the children have made with Mrs Masina’s athletics program this term. High Jump training has been very popular, with the focus being on achieving a higher P.B. even of one centimetre. A focus on improvement and skill development during Physical Education lessons has enabled all children to feel a sense of personal achievement regardless of their physical abilities.

The highlight of the term’s lessons is, of course, our Interhouse Athletics Carnival, which will be held on Wednesday 7th June. After completing a program of track events at Bill Wakeham Park, we will return to school for the field events, followed by the fun of ball games in the afternoon. Parents and families are most welcome to join us on the day. A team of older students (9 - 12 years) will go on to compete at the Combined Schools carnival at Babinda State School on Friday 16th June.

This term, the children have once again enjoyed participating in ‘Dance Fever’ dance lessons each Thursday. The two new instructors, Indianna and Rachel have successfully engaged all the children in their weekly classes. Even those who were a little reluctant, and didn’t participate fully last year, have had an amazing turnaround! I take this opportunity to thank the P & F for providing financial support of the ‘Dance Fever’ program to reduce the cost of the curriculum activity levy for parents.

Indianna and Rachel are keen to showcase the specific dances they have been teaching the children at the ‘Dance Fever’ Showcase on Thursday afternoon, 15th June, beginning at 5:00pm. For the performance, students are welcome to wear special dancing clothes. Last year we had a huge turn-out of parents and friends, so I hope you can once again take time out of your busy day to visit St Rita’s for this wonderful whole school event.

The development of a Community Carers group has been a particularly exciting innovation at St Rita’s. We believe that young children gain valuable experience from interacting with members of the local community in organised activities. In the last week of term, Mrs Gaul and our Community Carers will be visiting the elderly residents of Abbeyfield House. We are proud of the children’s interest and involvement in this special student group, and St Rita’s proudly supports its community engagement plans throughout the year.

Have a happy week!
Regards,
Judy Billiau

WINTER UNIFORM

It is June and the cooler weather has arrived at Babinda! And so has the need for parents to find the St Rita’s winter uniform that has been stored away during summer. We stock navy blue jackets ($30.00) and navy blue long pants ($25.00) which are our winter uniform at St Rita’s.

As stock is available in all sizes at the School Office, we ask that you ensure your child is wearing the correct school uniform to school during the winter months.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK 2017

Catholic Education Week in Queensland is a special opportunity for Catholic Education ministries to celebrate their distinctive mission and share the great things they are doing with their school, parish and wider community. Catholic Education Week will be celebrated from Sunday 23rd July to Saturday 29th July 2017.

The theme for this year's celebrations is.... Sharing the Journey.

Pope Francis has said:

“Today, we need a Church capable of walking at people’s side, of doing more than simply listening to them; a Church which accompanies them on their journey.

The whole journey of life is a journey of preparation…to see, to feel, to understand the beauty of what lies ahead, of the homeland towards which we walk.

What is important is the whole journey by which we arrive at the mission the Lord entrusts to us”.

In the Southern Deanery, St Rita’s will be joining the four other Catholic primary schools and a college to celebrate Catholic Education Week 2017 on Tuesday 25th July. We will be travelling to Good Counsel Primary in Innisfail for a day of activities with Good Counsel Primary, Good Counsel College, St Rita’s South Johnstone, St John’s Silkwood and St Clare’s Tully. Further information will be available at the beginning of Term 3.

APRE THOUGHTS

Easter Endings

With the celebrations of the Ascension of our Lord and Pentecost Sunday over the last two weeks now complete, this signals the end of the 50-day season of Easter in the Church’s Liturgical Calendar. While the Ascension celebrates the life we share with the risen Lord and signifies that Jesus is alive and present to us until the end of time, Pentecost commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit, which saw the formation of ‘The Church’. As such, Pentecost is often referred to as the Birthday of the Church, and signifies Christ’s fulfilment of the promise that he would send the Holy Spirit after his Ascension into Heaven.

Scripture tells us that, at this significant event, the risen Jesus stood in the midst of the disciples who were in a closed room, and blessed them with peace. Jesus said to them, “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you” (John 20:11). He then breathed on them, and issued them with the power to forgive. When the disciples received the gift of the Spirit, they were empowered to begin their Mission as followers of Jesus, and preached the ‘marvels of God’ (Acts 2:11) to the visitors gathered in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of Pentecost, in memory of God’s covenant with Moses.

Through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, Catholics share in the gift of the Spirit, which enables us to praise and proclaim the glorious life we have with the risen Christ, both now and forever more. Like Jesus, we too can open our hearts to peace and forgiveness and bring the love of God to others.

Make me a Fire

I am only a spark
Make me a fire.
I am only a string
Make me a lyre.
I am only a drop
Make me a fountain.
I am only an anthill
Make me a mountain.
I am only a feather
Make me a wing.
I am only a rag
Make me a king!
MEXICAN PRAYER

Sharing Kindness at St Rita’s

Last Friday, the Years 2, 3 and 4 classes celebrated a Liturgy with a focus on ‘kindness’. Jesus was always kind to those people he met. He showed love and compassion to those who were marginalised and alienated by society - he spent time with them, healed them and helped them. How wonderful it is to see our students reaching out to each other each day, living the way of Jesus by showing kindness, care and thoughtfulness to one other!

Every day, there are treasured moments of kindness with children helping each other, looking out for one another and enjoying the gift of each other at St Rita’s. In addition to our amazing students’ kind deeds, there are also the thoughtful and caring actions of our valued parents, parishioners and staff! It’s easy to see what a great community we have!

Just imagine what our world could be if more people could take a moment to show a little extra kindness to those around them… In fact, you may like to view this youtube ‘Pay it forward’ clip. It will certainly make you smile! Many thanks to Father Kerry and our staff, students and parents for sharing in this happy celebration.

Blessings for a happy week ahead!
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

CASTING THE NET

The Example of the Mancunians

I had a disagreement with someone last week. No, we did not have a fight. I withdrew because I knew I would lose. Yes, my cause was right and so was hers, though I’ll be honest, I believe my cause was more right than hers! But I withdrew and then what? I sulked and thought bad thoughts of her. Yes, over a relatively minor issue, I allowed a barrier to go up in my heart and thoughts towards this person. When I stopped and thought and prayed about it, I recognised that we have far more in common that what we disagreed about: our common faith, the people we love, the community in which we live, our humanity. Still part of me wants to be against her.

In the past few weeks in the Gospel readings, we have heard Jesus offering ‘Peace!’ This peace is not an absence of conflict but rather something alive and active that allows a person to celebrate all we have in common with others, rather than give into negativity or even revenge. Those who chose to go ahead with the charity concert in Manchester show us the courage and bigheartedness that living a peaceful life needs. The Mancunians did not close down within themselves, they did not attack. Doubtless necessary precautions were taken but they went ahead with the concert, knowing they were still vulnerable to attack. They stood up to hatred with far better weapons than any guns.

So what about my little situation? Right as I may have been about my position, my withdrawal was wrong. For peace to flourish, I need to stay in touch, think kind thoughts, do positive actions towards this person. In other words, do what makes for peace. Not easy, but we have been given the Holy Spirit for just this.

Loving Father, send me your wise Spirit that I may do what makes for peace in the hard and easy situations of my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name, confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

World Environment Day, held on 5th June, aims to be the world's biggest and most widely celebrated environmental action event. The ‘THINK.EAT.SAVE – REDUCE YOUR FOOTPRINT’ campaign focuses on the waste or loss of food in our world. A recent study has revealed that about one third of all food production world-wide gets lost or wasted in the food production and consumption systems, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes. In industrialized nations, retailers and consumers discard around 300 million tonnes that is fit for consumption, around half of the total food squandered in these regions. This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 900 million people hungry in the world.

Do you Waste Food?

Wasting food is often a subconscious act. You might think it's not something you do, but check out these facts and you'll realise there's so much food going to waste, some of it might actually be coming from you!

Why does it happen?

The main reasons for throwing away food are:

• Your kids don’t always want to eat what you’ve cooked for them
• Too much has been cooked or prepared eg pasta and rice all the time
• It hasn’t been used in time - fruit and vegetables are a typical example because they’ve gone off in the fruit bowl or in the fridge
• The food hasn’t been eaten before it goes past its use-by date (keep an eye on the 'best before' and 'use-by' dates. The 'best before' dates are more about quality than safety, except for eggs. So when the date runs out it doesn't mean that the food will be harmful, but it might begin to lose its flavour and texture).

There are all sorts of reasons why food might not get eaten in time:

• Plans change.
• We forget what food we have in the cupboards, forget to freeze or chill something to use at a later date.
• We simply don’t know how best to use up our leftovers.

And what to do with leftovers?

Why not give your leftovers a makeover? Making the most of leftovers is a great way to reduce food waste, so to help you with ideas our THINK.EAT.SAVE partner “Love Food Hate Waste” have come up with a free leftover celebrity cookbook, just for you.

Is Food Waste Bad for the environment?

You bet! There are serious environmental implications to wasting food. The amount of food we throw away is a waste of resources. Just think about all the energy, water and packaging used in food production, transportation and storage. This all goes to waste when we throw away perfectly good food. Check out our pages and find out how you can use food and not waste it.

CURRICULUM

ICAS TESTING: UNSW Global Educational Assessment Australia

If you are interested in your child sitting the ICAS English and Mathematics tests this year, registrations are now open for the testing which is scheduled to take place on 1st August and 15th August 2017. The cost per test is $9.90. Please contact the Office by the 9th June if you wish to register your child for ICAS Testing next term.

DATE CLAIMERS

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

St Rita’s School congratulates those students who were awarded ‘Student of the Week’ at Assembly on Friday 2nd June 2017.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Nicole Bland and Tony Pham all the very best for their recent birthdays. We hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration. Congratulations Nicole and Tony!

We also congratulate Miss Donna on recently celebrating her 50th Birthday with us at school. Happy birthday from us all!

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

We congratulate Roisin Stager and Georgina Stone who successfully contributed to the Cairns Post ‘Inspire’ feature on Tuesday 16th May 2017. Georgina and Roisin’s article, titled ‘Community ‘falls in’ for big parade’, discussed the significance of Anzac Day and Babinda’s ANZAC Day parade being of particular importance to St Rita’s students. We loved your published article Roisin and Georgina!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

PARENTS & FRIENDS NEWS

Dear Parents,

Our planned fund raising event will be a car wash near Cootharinga on Saturday 10th June from 8:00am. It would be greatly appreciated if we could get as many children helping with the fundraising at this event. It will be fun!

We would love to see some new parents involved in our fundraising events. We know parents have busy lives, but so do the P & F committee members and our usual helpers. Your support would be appreciated in our continued effort to raise money to assist with the costs of ‘Dance Fever’ dance lessons, SAKG, camps, excursions, educational programs and additional resources for the school.

Regards,
Shane Wiles
President
St Rita’s P & F Executive

COMMUNITY NEWS

Well Women’s Clinic – Babinda Hospital

(This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients)

Wednesday 21st June 2017
All services are provided by a specially-trained Women’s Health Nurse.
For appointments phone 4067 8200