Issue 5 - 28 March 2018

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,

We had a very successful visit from Police Liaison Officers, Stacey Kneubuhler and Michael Sands, on the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence on Friday 17th March. Our visitors spoke to all children about safety and respect, with the senior class having an additional presentation on cyber safety and the appropriate use of technology by primary-aged children. Officer Stacey has generously offered to present an information session to parents next term, which I will be encouraging you to attend. Let’s continue to say ‘Bullying, no way!” all year round at St Rita’s!

One of the highlights of this week will be a team of our senior students participating in the Term 1 Gala Sports Day at Babinda State School. Mrs Masina has been training the team in futsal both during P.E. lessons and the lunch breaks. Enjoy the competition team! All classes have been training for the Cross Country sporting event which will be held in Term 2. Seniors (10 - 12 years) are eligible to compete at the Combined Schools competition at Bill Wakeham Park on Tuesday 24th April.

Once again, all other St Rita’s children will showcase their running skills at a non-competitive Fun Run held at school on the same morning. Our youngest children, the five year olds, will run 500m and the oldest age group attempting 1.5kms. The children thoroughly enjoy this sporting event and the ten year olds are looking forward to their first year of being eligible to participate in the interschool Cross Country event. Parents and families are most welcome to come along to support our runners at either event.

During this period of Lent, you would have heard your children talking about Project Compassion, its significance at St Rita’s, and the specific activities that we have completed in the past weeks. Project Compassion is the primary fundraising drive of CARITAS that links the personal prayer that we undertake during Lent with a vision of providing service to others across the world. On Tuesday, Mrs Gaul and Mrs Stone have organised our annual fund-raiser, the Caritas Café. During the second lunch break, we will be enjoying Vegetarian Fried Rice and Limeade prepared by the senior class during SAKG cooking lessons. I’m looking forward to sharing this event with staff, students and parents.

Have you noticed what the recent very wet weather has brought us? Other than the rain that is! Like all residents in the Babinda district, St Rita’s has noticed an increase in the number of mosquitoes around the school grounds. Last week, the Babinda Pharmacy gave us a number of small brochures featuring a locally-manufactured insect repellent which has become available, ‘Sandfly and Mozzie Stuff Insect Repellent’. We sent these home to inform you of one of the options you may wish to purchase.

Although I understand that most children are coming to school each day having had repellent applied at home, in the course of the day it is necessary to re-apply this protection. Aerosol sprays are not permitted at school, however roll-on type repellent or cream in a tube would be suitable to have in your child’s school bag for application during the day. As we do not have authorisation to use any product or device for all children, I ask that you please stress to your child that his or her repellent is for personal use only.

At the end of term, I am reminded of the many successful events we have had at our school for the past ten weeks. I sincerely thank St Rita’s families for supporting the staff in ensuring the success of this first term of 2018. New staff members this year, Mrs Mollie Harbour (Year 5/6) and Mrs Marjan Jazbani (School Counsellor) have been made especially welcome. I know that all members of the St Rita’s staff team feel supported in their endeavours to provide the best teaching and learning experiences for our students.

I wish all St Rita’s families a happy and blessed Easter celebration. I hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday together, and I look forward to seeing bright, enthusiastic students returning to school on Tuesday, 17th April. Especially take care on the roads if your family is going on a road trip over the break. Please note, Monday 16th is an additional student-free day due to the Commonwealth Games being held next month.

God’s blessings for Easter,

Judy Billiau

HEALTH ALERT

AVOID MOSQUITO BITES

Protect yourself against mosquito bites. Not only are they irritating, mozzie bites can also spread disease.

Different types of disease-carrying mosquitoes can bite at different times of the day, so it's important to be vigilant at all times.

• Use insect repellent containing DEET or Picaridin, to protect against mosquito bites.
• Read and follow all directions and precautions on the mosquito repellent product label, especially for infants. As a general rule, repellent is not recommended for infants under the age of two months (babies under two months can be protected with light coloured clothing covering their arms and legs).
• For young children, apply just enough repellent to cover exposed skin, re-apply every four hours and avoid applying repellent to a child's hands or near their eyes or mouth. Do not allow children under five years to apply repellent to themselves.

APRE THOUGHTS

LA RE CONGRESS

Sometimes in life, all good fortune seems to align to create the most memorable moments; moments that delight the senses, gladden the heart and lift the spirit. Attending the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in California last week, has become one such memorable moment in my life. The experience of sharing Liturgy and learning with more than 31,000 other people of the Catholic faith was extraordinary and awe-inspiring, and almost unbelievable to behold such a scale of enormity!

The theme of the Congress was ‘Rise Up!’ based on John’s gospel account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the tomb (John 11). There were many stirring accounts of people who have walked dark and difficult life journeys suffused with adversity, who rose ‘from their tombs’, above the depths of human suffering and hurt, to live life to the full, secure in their faith. Hearing stories of how people’s faith sustained them through times of trouble was truly humbling, and highlighted how we can experience such joyous rebirth and renewal when we live in the love of God.

CARITAS CAFÉ and WALK FOR WATER DAY

Our final fundraiser for Caritas’ Project compassion for 2018 will consist of two events: Caritas Cafe and ‘Walk for Water’. Each day, many thousands of children, youth, women and men around the world have to cover many kilometres to access basic necessities like food, water, education or healthcare. In an act of solidarity for those who need walk long distances to collect water for their families, St Rita’s Community Carers would like to invite fellow students to bring along a 2-litre plastic container which can be filled with water to carry on a 30-minute ‘walk for water’ session this Thursday 29th March.

Caritas Cafe will also be prepared and enjoyed on this day for a donation of $4.00 per meal. Our thanks extend to Mrs Jenni Stone and the Years 5/6 students through the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Program for their efforts in providing this shared lunch for us. Thank you parents and friends, for your continued support of our fundraising ventures. Together, through the work of Caritas Australia, we can work towards making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.

HOLY WEEK LITURGY

In the Church’s Liturgical Calendar, we are drawing closer to the celebration of Easter - the pinnacle event upon which our Catholic faith is based. The week preceding Easter is known as ‘Holy Week’ where we remember the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ, such as: Palm Sunday, Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples, the Passion of Christ and his Resurrection. On Thursday morning, at 8:45am, staff and students of St Rita’s will celebrate together in St Rita’s Church with a Holy Week Liturgy. Please feel most welcome to join us.

Happy Easter, Happy Holidays! Blessings to our families and friends as we move into the Easter holiday break. May I extend wishes for many happy family moments together, safe travel and personal rejuvenation in preparation for Term 2.

Blessings,
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

ST RITA’S SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

Looking ahead, in Term 2 St Rita’s will commence our Sacramental Program, which prepares candidates to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist. If your child is in Year 4 or above, is baptised (or is to be baptised) and you would like them to participate in the program, please contact the school office on 40671467 to organise an enrolment form.

Once enrolments have been finalised, an information session will occur, with further details regarding the sessions along with significant dates. Should you be aware of others in our community who would benefit from this information, we would be grateful if you would kindly refer them to contact our school.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

2018 SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN CONFERENCE

This year Catholic Education Services is excited to announce that their annual Safeguarding Children Conference theme is Committed, Connected, Courageous. The Conference will be held on Saturday 28th April at the Pullman Cairns International.

This is a free event, with Leadership and Staff Sessions, Parent and Volunteer Sessions and Diocesan Sessions. The Keynote Speaker is Tom Brunzell, the Senior Advisor Education of the Berry Street Childhood Institute.

Please note that there is no registration cost but places are limited. Registrations are open from 28th February to 20th April 2018. Further conference information and registration details can be accessed via the Safeguarding Children Conference website:

CASTING THE NET

RISING WITH CHRIST

School closes this week for the first holidays of the year and when it reopens, Easter will have been and, one could be tempted to think, gone without making a difference. We easily get into a rut with our faith, not realising just how deeply the presence of Jesus Christ has gone down into our being and transformed us to a new way of engaging with other people and our world. ‘Me, changed?’ I can hear you asking. Yes, let us look at the ways.

As Christians we believe:

That good can come out of bad. The power Jesus gave in defeating death is given to us. We are not defined or confined by the bad things that happen to us. We can turn them to good.

That prayer really makes a difference. The good desires I have for others can be offered to God and sent to surround and care for them – even if they are on the other side of the world.

That forgiveness is not only possible but desirable. When we hear stories of people who have forgiven those who have wronged them, we understand, we get it – even if we feel it might be beyond us.

That virtue is something for which we should work and strive. Yes, we want to be better because we believe we have been made for that.

These are the subtle ways Jesus Christ is alive in you. Let yourself be surprised this Easter by recognising and appreciating the new divine life that is rising in your hearts.

Loving God, my faith can seem so ordinary at times that I think it has little effect on me. Let me realise how the Holy Spirit is alive within me allowing the life of Jesus to rise in my heart and in my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

COLES ‘SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS’ PROGRAM

This year, the ‘Sports for Schools’ program started on 7th February 2018 and ends on 3rd April 2018. You will be able to start collecting Coles Sports for School vouchers from all Coles stores and Coles Express stores nationally. You can also collect electronic Coles Sports for Schools vouchers when you shop at Coles Online.

Every voucher received will go towards the St Rita’s tally which will enable us to order sports equipment for our school. You may send your vouchers into school whenever you collect them. Thank you to all our school families, friends and parishioners who have been bringing their dockets into the Office. Your assistance in resourcing our school in this way is very much appreciated!

LESSONS IN THE LIBRARY

BEAUTIFUL eBOOKS USING BOOK CREATOR

Classes at St Rita’s have been busy creating beautiful eBooks with the Book Creator iPad App this fortnight. Book Creator (by Red Jumper Limited) is suitable for children of all ages. It enables students to produce engaging multimodal books combining video, audio, images, text, drawings, music and animations.

Book Creator is a wonderful App for inspiring young writers. It stimulates creativity and supports all aspects of literacy learning as students are engaged in combining written, spoken and visual elements to create a cohesive eBook. Students can print their eBook creations or they can be exported and shared as video files.

Both the Prep/Year 1 and Year 5/6 classes have especially enjoyed creating with Book Creator this term.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES READING CHALLENGE

The Commonwealth Games is almost upon us and what better way to celebrate than to participate in St Rita’s own Commonwealth Games Reading Challenge! The Reading Challenge kicked off at the start of this term and will continue over the school holidays and into the first week of Term 2. It’s not too late to participate and earn yourself a gold, silver or bronze medal!

Congratulations to Tony Pham, Jack Clarke and Georgina Stone who have all earnt gold medals this term.To earn your reading medal/s, please remember to return your completed Recording Forms to the library. Happy Reading St Rita’s!

Michelle van Dugteren
District Librarian & Resource Teacher

PARENT TIPS FOR RAISING STRONG READERS AND WRITERS

GROWING READERS!

Got a newspaper? You’ve got learning! Most families have access to a newspaper. Either one arrives on your doorstep or a local community paper is available for free at the coffee shop or grocery store. Even just a few pages from the newspaper can be turned into lots of early learning activities. Grab your young child and a pair of scissors, and let’s get learning with a newspaper!

Letters and words

Have your child cut out the letters needed to spell his first and last name. Have him glue these onto a piece of paper. Ask your child to find capital and lower case pairs of letters. Glue the pairs onto a piece of paper. Ask your child to find and cut out all the words in headlines that she can read. Paste them on a piece of paper and practice reading them together.

Writing

Cut out a few pictures from the paper. Ask your child to write a caption for each one. Compare their caption with the paper’s caption. Talk about ways captions help readers understand one small piece of the story. Turn a recent family event into a newspaper story. Try to write a headline, the story, include a picture or drawing, and add a caption. Ask your child to circle all the ads they can find in the paper. Discuss what makes a good advertisement and what does not. Discover what types of words and punctuation are often used in ads, and how those are tools writers use to capture a reader’s attention. See if your child can create an ad for their favourite game or TV show.

Understanding the news

Help your child understand the structure of the newspaper. Browse through the different sections of the newspaper. Sort news stories into international, national and local. Point out other sections such as sports, food and entertainment. Talk about the difference between fact and opinion. Then, read one of the articles from the newspaper. Are there facts in the story? Are there any opinions? How can we tell the difference? What sorts of words are used for each? Within which section are opinion stories usually found? Choose an interesting and age-appropriate story from the newspaper. Read the story with your child. After reading, ask your child if she can answer the “who, what, where, when, and why” questions about the story.

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS

A VISIT FROM ‘ZOO TO YOU’

Australia has the most amazing and interesting animals. Do you know that wombats have backward pouches? This is so dirt does not enter when it is digging. Or, that a platypus lays eggs and feeds its babies through milk pores from its skin. Do you know that echidna babies are called puggles!

From Prep to Year 6, in Biological Science, St Rita’s students have been interested in learning about the features, family groups, habitats and survival needs of Australian animals. We have been reading and researching from books and iPads from our school library, naming features and animal groups and creating some really cool artworks. Learning is busy work!

‘Maggie’ the green frog, ‘Chip’ the sugar glider, ‘Froggie’ the Papuan-frogmouth and ‘Chomp’ the crocodile came to school last Thursday the 14th of March, to teach us about their champion survival skills. Rachael, from ‘Zoo To You’, explained that our native wildlife needs clean fresh water, food and safe shelter to live happily. But, we threaten our native wildlife by land clearing habitats, spraying pesticides on our gardens that run off in floods or heavy rain and sometimes our pets can attack and harm bush animals.

“Before Rachael and her animal visitors were unpacked, I peeped through the Year 5/6 windows. I was so excited to see ‘Zoo To You’. My favourite animal visitor was ‘Chomp’, the metre-long crocodile. I was brave to hold him. His skin felt rough along its back and smooth under his belly,” said Hunter.

“Chip the sugar glider was the most adorable marsupial. I loved patting her super soft fur,” exclaimed Hayley.

“I couldn’t stop staring at Froggie the Papuan frogmouth’s bright red eyes. I thought she was going to fly around the classroom,” said Katara.

“We couldn’t touch Maggie the green frog, so we gave Maggie a welcoming hello!” said Hannah.

The visit by ‘Zoo To You’ has been are real treat for us to see, handle, pat and learn about these magnificent animals. Thank you also to the P & F who sponsored the zoo’s visit to our school.

Mrs Masina and Prep/Year 1 class

LIBRARY LINKS

ENCOURAGING HOLIDAY READING

Read and talk about books in the car. Lengthy car trips during the holidays are a perfect time for the family to enjoy having long chats together. Read a new and interesting book together the day before you leave and encourage your child to talk about what happened in the story. Ask them who their favourite character was and why; or how the story made them feel and why.

For children who aren’t keen to read books over the holidays, perhaps you can cook together. Let your child read out the ingredients and quantities for you. It will also be a great way to learn measurements and temperatures, and shows them just how useful reading can be for making their favourite foods!

When UK teacher, Dawn Hallybone, asked the children in her Year 5/6 class what they felt was important to them about reading in the holidays, they said:

I need a space to read – a bedroom or garden, somewhere of my own choosing. Lia 9

I want to choose my own books not have them chosen for me. Ben 9

I want to read all sorts of things including comics and graphic novels and information about Gaming. Connor 9

I like reading series of books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Faye 9

I like reading to my younger brothers. Aqila 9

The blurb and illustrations catch my eye first. Mohammad 9

I like reading magazines and websites about my favourite authors so I can find out more about them and why they write. Jasmine 9

However and wherever it happens, try to spend some time reading with your children over the holidays …. a wonderful experience to share.

See you in Term 2,

Lisa Calcagno
Library Officer

MULGRAVE DISTRICT SPORTS

GOLF TRIALS

DATE CLAIMERS

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

St Rita’s School congratulates those students who were awarded ‘Student of the Week’ at Assembly on Friday 23rd March 2018.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

We congratulate Amethyst Ripps and Ayden Stubbs who successfully contributed to the Cairns Post ‘Inspire’ feature on Tuesday 13th March 2018 with an article describing how to make a We Do Lego robot move. Well done Amethyst and Ayden!

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Katara Ambrum and Mrs Jenni Stone all the very best for their recent birthday. They both celebrated their birthdays on St Patrick’s Day! We hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration. Congratulations Katara and Mrs Stone!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

COMMUNITY NEWS

Well Women’s Clinic – Babinda Hospital

(This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients)

Wednesday 11th April 2018

All services are provided by a specially-trained Women’s Health Nurse.

For appointments phone 4067 8200