Issue 15 - 18 September 2018

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,

I am pleased to be home to St Rita’s this week. After four weeks of travel through Asia, it is always good to return to our beautiful part of the world. By all accounts, St Rita’s continued to have a successful term with Science Fun Day, National Literacy and Numeracy Week and senior class camp events. Once again, I acknowledge the tremendous effort of our school staff to ensure the high quality of learning that takes place in our school. The success of whole school events such as these is only made possible by the dedication and hard work of St Rita’s staff. I must also thank Mrs Gaul who capably filled my position during my leave.

I was pleased to hear that our senior camp went extremely well last week. Our students joined with St Rita’s South Johnstone to enjoy two days at the Echo Creek Adventure Centre. I know you will enjoy reading Saffron and Matthew’s recount of their camp experience in this newsletter. On behalf of us all, I would like to especially thank Mrs Harbour and Mrs Calcagno, who also thoroughly enjoyed camp, for ensuring the camp’s success. They were immensely proud of the children’s behaviour and level of participation. Well done St Rita’s!

There seems to be a special ‘day’ for almost everything nowadays, such as ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’, ‘Sustainable House Day’ and ‘Sustainable Rivers Day’. But I personally believe that Gratitude Day, celebrated annually on 21st September, is one of these days that is worth a moment of reflection. By celebrating Gratitude Day on Friday, each of us can reflect on the many facets of our lives that we can be grateful for. I like to make a mental list of all the things I am grateful for on this day and be extra mindful to be grateful and appreciative of these throughout the day. What can you be grateful for on Friday? Apart from the school holidays starting of course!

The history of World Gratitude Day is quite interesting. The celebration started in 1965 in Hawaii when an international gathering decided that it would be a good idea to have one day per year to formally express gratitude and appreciation for the many wonderful things to be found in the world. Following the meeting in Hawaii, many attendees marked Gratitude Day on 21st September 1966 when back in their own countries. Ever since then, the number of people celebrating Gratitude Day across the world has grown and grown.

How to celebrate World Gratitude Day

The awareness of the benefits of having time in one’s life for gratitude, appreciation and positive reflection have become increasingly apparent. The hope of the founders of Gratitude Day is that by taking time, one day a year, to reflect on the many amazing things we have in our lives, it would positively impact our well-being and make us happier, more contented people.

As third term concludes this Friday afternoon, I sincerely thank all families and friends who have contributed to St Rita’s over the past ten weeks. During this term, our school has enjoyed the celebration of many important events as a happy and thriving learning community. We have hosted Catholic Education Week, NAIDOC, Children’s Book Week, Science Week, National Literacy and Numeracy Week and the parish sacramental program. Most recently, the Father’s Day social evening allowed our families a special time of celebration for our dads. All of these events showcased St Rita’s as being a place of learning, community and faith.

Early in Term 4, I will be organising class structures, the placement of classroom teachers, whole school timetables, specialist teachers and visiting programs, such as ‘Dance Fever’, for the new school year. Parents are usually keen to know which teachers are teaching which year levels. The only information I can provide, at this early stage, is that staff will be meeting at the beginning of term to discuss year level preferences and special programs that they might be interested in developing in the 2019 academic year.

Plans for next term are well underway, and we have already set dates for our swimming program which will be conducted at the Babinda Pool, the commencement of the Pre-Prep program each Monday and the school float and display for the Harvest Festival at the end of the first week of term. The monthly meeting of the P & F was held on Monday afternoon, and I am proud to acknowledge the tireless effort of this group in supporting our school. All parents are encouraged to attend these short, productive meetings which are held monthly in the library. We have an exciting time ahead!

I hope you have a relaxing school holiday beginning on Friday, and enjoy the time to enjoy the company of family and friends in this wonderful weather we are having. I thank you for being an active part of your child’s education and I hope to continue seeing parents around the classrooms, in the tuckshop and at assemblies next term. I believe that what we do, and how much we achieve at St Rita’s, the result of our strength as a successful school community.

Have a restful and happy holiday!

Regards and blessings,
Judy Billiau

APRE THOUGHTS

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Friday, Father visited with us at St Rita’s, celebrating Reconciliation and a Feast Day Mass with staff and students, and then later, visiting and speaking with each class. Friday 14th September is a special Feast Day in the Catholic Church, known as the ‘Exultation of the Holy Cross’. Legend has it that early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, who was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, searched Jerusalem for holy places of Christ’s life. Her son, the emperor, commissioned the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher to be built over where the tomb of Christ was suspected to have been. While workers were excavating the site, they found three crosses and through the miracle of healing a dying woman, believe that they located the cross on which Jesus died.

This feast day is significant as it highlights the importance of the cross, and what it stands for in our Christian tradition. Of course, Christianity would not exist without the cross! In the time of Jesus, the cross was an instrument of suffering. For us today, the cross represents the great sacrifice of Jesus and his immense love for us that we may share in eternal life through his death and resurrection.

In our daily lives, there is struggle, and we feel the burden of suffering. In dealing with our troubles, we may feel that we are ‘taking up our cross’. Consider for a moment though, how life-giving it is for others, when we make a personal sacrifice and help those in need. Christian living involves choosing little sacrifices that we could well have avoided. But the good news is that by giving up a little of our lives each day to reach out and support others, we are sacrificing to save our lives and the lives of others. Small sacrifice indeed! Through the cross, our Christian hope can be realised.

Many thanks to Father Nathan for sharing his time so generously with us last week!

A Prayer of Blessing

God of the poor, bless us with your compassion.
God of the bereaved, bless us with your comfort.
God of the humble, bless us with gentleness.
God of the righteous, bless us with wisdom.
God of the merciful, bless us with forgiveness.
God of the pure in heart, bless us with kindness.
God of the peacemakers, bless us with understanding.
God of the persecuted, bless us with courage.
Amen.

Happy Holidays

Parents and friends of St Rita’s, once again poised at the end of a fun-filled term, thank you most sincerely for your continued support of our staff and students. Thank you for your smiles, your presence, your conversations and your care and concern. It is very evident that together, we are all striving to be the best we can be, and are very focused on building a happy and friendly place for all. Looking forward to the two week holiday ahead, may I wish all staff, children and their families a wonderful break time. I hope that it is a refreshing and rejuvenating experience for you all, whatever your plans! Take care, stay safe and enjoy!

Blessings,
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Skills for conflict resolution

The skills needed for effective conflict resolution include thinking skills for problem solving, as well as skills for managing emotions and communicating with others.

The key conflict resolution skills are:

• Being able to control angry or anxious feelings
• Learning to listen even when you disagree
• Understanding the other person’s options and feelings
• Being able to think of different solutions
• Exchanging ideas with the other person
• Finding ‘win-win’ solutions.

How parents and carers can help

Using the steps of conflict resolution to coach children to come to their own solutions helps them learn the skills they need. Learning to resolve conflict successfully takes good coaching and lots of practice.

Coaching children to resolve conflict

Step 1. Help children see conflict as a problem they can sort out fairly with help. For example, you might say: “It looks like there’s a problem here. I’m sure if we talk about it we can sort it out.”

Step 2. Get each child to explain how they see the conflict. Get them to focus on what they want or need, and what their concerns or worries are, rather than blaming the other person.

Step 3. It is often helpful for the coach to then re-state the concerns of both parties. “So, Eli, you’re worried that you won’t get a turn; and Van, you’re trying to make it to the next level of the game and you’re worried that if you stop now you won’t get to it.”

Step 4. Get children to suggest at least three different solutions. “What are some ways to solve this so you can all feel okay about it?” If they can’t think of any, offer some ideas for them to think about.

Step 5. Help children agree on a solution that will work and put it into action.

Step 6. Praise them for sorting it out.

CASTING THE NET

‘Just think what they are going through’

I am currently travelling through New Zealand at the end of a mild wet winter. In this landscape vibrant with green, inundated with showers, it is hard to imagine what drought would be like. Yet I must do that. Central Queensland is where I have come from and to where I will return and I am part of what happens to the people that form my larger community. Recognising what happens to those outside my personal circle is essential if I want to be a true compassionate human being, if I want to call myself Christian.

As God became human in Jesus, we can know that he knows what we go through, what we experience. But for us to appreciate what happens to others, we have to find out what is happening to them and to use our imagination to feel for them. When this is done, our help to others can be practical and sensitive. The project in our schools to help the farming community out west is an excellent example of this compassion at work. Drought doesn’t just affect the farmers, it also impacts on the town communities. The decision to give vouchers that can be used by local businesses helps not just individuals and families but the wider community.

As this project has been begun in our schools, what has happened is that the students themselves are coming up with creative initiatives to help raise funds. This is the marvel of good compassion. It not only stretches our hearts, minds and imaginations, it makes us into creative people. As we reach out to help, we become Godlike. Entering into the life and struggles of others, we become like Jesus and his life and love can flow through us.

Loving God, give me a wide heart and a good imagination and mind to enter into the suffering of others and to help them in sensitive and loving ways. We pray for those suffering from the drought, that they may have rain. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us

Sr Kym Harris osb

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS

Best Camp EVER!

Is there anything better than toasting gooey marshmallows over a crackling, smoky fire?

Our senior class, along with students from St Rita’s South Johnstone, had an amazing time at our school camp at Echo Creek Adventure Centre.

Soon after we arrived, we went straight into our first activity of Team Building, getting to know our new friends from South Johnstone. We worked as a team and guided each other through a giant, black web.

The tricky Obstacle Course was MAGIC! A gigantic tyre climbing wall was really scary, but we didn’t give up and made it over the top. Competition was strong during Archery, until Team Candy Floss won with an impressive 275 points.

There was more fun to come when we divided into two teams, ready to construct survival rafts. Our mission was to design and build the fastest, unsinkable raft and win the race. Materials included tyre tubes, plastic pipes and climbing ropes. Team work was inspiring as we worked together, and before we knew it, we were off. Sadly, one of our rafts collapsed in the middle of the pond, but we all laughed and had lots of fun.

Camp food was DELICIOUS! We were starving following our energetic activities, so everyone went back for seconds. Steamy spaghetti bolognaise, creamy ice cream with syrupy topping and tasty cheese and tomato pizza. YUM!

We fell into our sleeping bags, exhausted and happy, at the end of the day. Our cool tents made us feel like we were on safari.

Delicious food, exciting activities and best of all, great friends. School Camp was FANTASTIC; only 364 sleeps until the next one!

By Saffron Ripps and Matthew Mellick
Year 5

LESSONS IN THE LIBRARY

Shadow Puppet EDU

Our Prep/Year 1 class has been using the Shadow Puppet app to create engaging video presentations of a procedural text. Using photos and voiceovers, the students have produced fabulous videos detailing step-by-step instructions for making toast. Well done on all your hard work in technology this term Prep/Year 1! You have come up with some fabulous creations!

Challenge and Innovation with Lego WeDo 2.0

Year 5/6 students have been rising to the challenge of coming up with creative solutions to real-life problems using WeDo 2.0. Some students were faced with the task of creating and programming a helicopter that could drop precious supplies to people who were stranded due to natural disaster. Other groups were faced with the task of safely dropping water from a helicopter to put out raging fires.

By working through the Engineering Design Process (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test and Improve), Year 5/6 have been able to build and program some innovative prototypes in response to their given situation. It has been great to see students drawing on their lateral thinking skills and collaborating successfully as a team to solve the WeDo 2.0 challenges this term.

Michelle van Dugteren
District Librarian & Resource Teacher

LIBRARY LINKS

There are many excited faces around the school with holidays just around the corner! Some are busily planning for an adventure filled break, while others are looking forward to a more restful, restorative holiday. Perhaps you may even be able to sneak in a little reading time together; great fun can be had sharing a good book. Whatever your pleasure, enjoy this special time with your family.

Week 2 of Term 4 will see our Book Fair arriving, sure to delight as it always does. This year Book Fair will take place in the library, over five (5) days, Monday 15th October to Friday 19th October. For your convenience, the library opening hours will be as follows:

8:00am – 8:30am each morning, Monday to Friday
3:00pm – 3:30pm each afternoon, Monday to Friday

I would love to see each of our families visit at some time during Book Fair week. If you are hoping to find some inspiration for Christmas gifts, and would like to keep your purchases a surprise, I would be happy to help. Don’t hesitate to contact me in person or via our Admin office; it would be my pleasure to assist in any way.

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading,

Lisa Calcagno
Library Assistant

DATE CLAIMERS

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

St Rita’s School congratulates those students who were awarded ‘Student of the Week’ at Assembly on Friday 14th September 2018.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

We congratulate Hunter Bell and Katara Ambrum (Prep/Year 1) for completing different levels of their M100W high frequency words. Katara successfully completed Lilac, Purple and Green levels in her M100W word lists. Hunter was also presented with a Gold level M100W certificate at Assembly on Friday. Well done Hunter and Katara!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

COMMUNITY NEWS

BABINDA COMMUNITY KINDERGARTEN

FUTSAL SIGN-ON

TRIVIA NIGHT