Issue 17 - 30 October 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,

St Rita’s participation in the annual ‘Day for Daniel’ event last Friday saw the whole school walk through town at the end of the school day. We had mums Jenni and Chelsey, younger siblings and Kylee’s cute little puppy join us too! We must thank Constable Jeromy Last who led us on the walk and the senior class who helped us prepare the red balloons to take on the walk.

Last week, our Year 2, 4 and 6 students participated in two NAPLAN Online sessions in preparation for the school undertaking the testing using this format in 2019. All Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students in Australia will sit NAPLAN Tests next May. I was pleased to have Mrs Gaul, who organised these practice sessions, report that all the children completed the tests without incident and with confidence.

This week, all students from Years 1 – 6 will participate in PAT Testing, an educational resource developed by ACER (Australian Council of Educational Research). PAT testing in Reading and Maths is undertaken as an integral part of our whole school assessment schedule. From the analysis of test results by teachers, valuable information will inform future planning, as specific learning needs are determined for the individual student.

“The ACER Progressive Achievement Tests are an Australian, nationally normed series of tests designed to provide objective, norm-referenced information to teachers about their students’ skills and understandings in a range of key areas. At the centre of each PAT test is a described proficiency scale, providing both quantitative and qualitative data on student performance, making the PAT tests ideal for understanding students’ current strengths and weaknesses, informing teaching and learning, and monitoring progress over time”.

On Thursday and Friday of this week, I will be attending the two-day Primary and Secondary Principals’ Conference for Cairns Catholic Education at Paradise Palms, Kewarra Beach. The very full agenda includes discussions on strategic planning for 2019, the CES School Effectiveness Framework and Learning Framework, School Annual Improvement Plans and Student Wellbeing. This will be our last professional gathering as a group of CES principals this year, with my colleagues travelling from as far north as Thursday Island, west to the Tablelands and from Tully in the south.

By now all current parents of St Rita’s will have received the welcome news that Cairns Catholic Education Services are providing additional support to both St Anthony’s School in Dimbulah and our school beginning in 2019. Although Fee Remissions and Health Care Card (HCC) discounts have been operating at the school for several years, Catholic School education remains unaffordable to many families in these two particular school districts. The new fee structure, of $100 per term for each child enrolled at St Rita’s, will greatly benefit all families at our school.

This year, Remembrance Day has a special significance. Sunday, 11th November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the First World War (1914–18). Each year on this day Australians observe one minute’s silence at 11 am, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.

One hundred years ago, on 11 November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. With their armies retreating and close to collapse, German leaders signed an Armistice, bringing to an end the First World War. From the summer of 1918, the five divisions of the Australian Corps had been at the forefront of the allied advance to victory. Beginning with their stunning success at the battle of Hamel in July, they helped to turn the tide of the war at Amiens in August, followed by the capture of Mont St Quentin and Pèronne, and the breaching of German defences at the Hindenburg Line in September. By early October the exhausted Australians were withdrawn from battle. They had achieved a fighting reputation out of proportion to their numbers, but victory had come at a heavy cost. They suffered almost 48,000 casualties during 1918, including more than 12,000 dead.

In the four years of the war more than 330,000 Australians had served overseas, and more than 60,000 of them had died. The social effects of these losses cast a long shadow over the postwar decades.

In Week 6, we acknowledge Remembrance Day at St Rita’s with a whole school liturgy organised by Mrs Gaul. Parents and friends are most welcome to attend this special event which will take place in the Year 2/3/4 classroom at 11:00am on Monday 12th November.

We will be extra busy this week assisting t he P & F group organise this Saturday afternoon’s Christmas Cent Sale. If you’ve never been to a Cent Sale in Babinda, I encourage you to come along and join in the fun. They really are good fun! At the same time, you will be supporting the P & F and your school. As parents and parishioners have been dropping off their prizes to the office, I can assure you there are some wonderful gifts for you to win. Share the fun and bring a friend! We’re hoping to have a good crowd for our first ever Cent Sale at St Rita’s!

In the busyness of the past few weeks, beginning with the mammoth effort needed for the Harvest Festival, what comes to mind is how important the ‘little things’ are in the everyday life of a school. The help we receive in completing the many small tasks that need to be done to keep a school running: working in the tuckshop, baking for the Trivia Night and Cent Sale, having an extra turn mowing the lawn, ‘liking’ us and commenting on our facebook page or sending a ‘Thank You’ email. It is these ‘little things’ that let us know that we are appreciated and supported in our work. Thank you!

I hope to see you around the school this week. We have so much for you to be part of and to enjoy at St Rita’s!

Regards and blessings,
Judy Billiau

APRE THOUGHTS

Dear Parents and Carers,

SOCKS OFF (OR ON REALLY!) TO CATHOLIC MISSIONS

There is nothing quite like dressing up to brighten up the day and fill it with smiles, and wearing colourful, zany socks to raise money for Catholic Missions through our Crazy Sock day was no exception to this. There were peals of laughter when children and staff came to school with feet and hands donning socks (despite the warm temperatures) and uniforms covered in a dangling array of assorted sock designs. It was a comical sight, with such an array of foot-coverings to be seen – neons, glitters, pastels, frills, stripes and plain colours in both knee-high and anklet length!

Now in its fourth year, the annual paper plane competition is still as popular as ever, with children intensely vying for the honour of the longest throw. And while we won’t comment overly on the intermittently breezy conditions on the Multi-Purpose Court that day, we have set a new flight record for St Rita’s, with Tony’s throw measuring a staggering 14.9m! Tony claimed the prize for the Prep-Year 2 category and Timmy won the longest throw in the Year 3-6 division, with his best attempt of 9.6 metres. Thanks go to all staff involved, as well as students in Years 5 and 6 for hosting this competition. Thanks also to the competitors who kept the rivalry very friendly and shared their design ideas with others!

On Friday’s assembly, the Years 5/6 class also led our school in a prayer liturgy based on Mission Month. During the prayer service, we prayed that we may be ‘the Gospel in action’ so that all many feel treated with dignity and respect. The prayer also called for us to be people of peace, justice, equality, compassion and love, which mirrors our Mercy school values. It is through these projects of giving that our hearts are able to overflow with compassion and justice and we can continue to grow as an open and caring community. Many thanks to all for supporting Catholic Missions by way of prayer and donations. Monies raised from both events will all contribute towards the building of new schools and training of teachers in Myanmar. Great effort everyone!

ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS’ DAY

Following the death of Christ, Christians who were martyred were considered saints, and then lived forever in the presence of God. From these early times, on the anniversary of the martyr’s deaths, Christians would visit their tombs and celebrate Eucharist, thus filling the Church calendar with memorials of the saints. November 1st – All Hallows’ Day - is a Solemn Day also known as the ‘Feast of the Saints’ designated by the Catholic Church to remember and honour all saints throughout the ages who have attained God’s heavenly presence.

In contrast, on November 2nd – All Souls’ Day - the Church honours our deceased relatives, friends and all who have passed and are awaiting the joy of heaven. In Catholic Churches, names of the faithful departed are listed to be prayed over, in order to cleanse the souls in preparation for their entrance to heaven. Prayers to commemorate the dead are continued throughout the month of November.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them,
with your Saints forever, for you are merciful.
Amen.

You may be intrigued to know that a Holy Day from centuries ago was the source from which what is now known as Halloween is derived. On the ‘Eve of All Hallows”, Christians gathered to ask for God’s blessing and protection from evil, donning costumes to act out the battle between good and evil. While our modern celebration has its roots in this religious ceremony, it is important to note that Halloween is most definitely a secular event and not associated with the Church.

Blessings,
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

CURRICULUM CORNER

NAPLAN TESTING 2018

Have you heard the one about NAPLAN tests that are fun? Well, according to the Year 2, 4 and 6 students, who sat practice NAPLAN tests digitally last week in readiness for the 2019 NAPLAN Online, it is! Our training sessions were quite simply, a perfect run-through! The children were relaxed, calm and engaged in their tasks, and all students capably navigated the operating platform. This was so pleasing to see! My sincere appreciation goes to our fantastic staff for upskilling the children in the competent and confident use of their Chromebooks, in preparation for the real fun next year. Well done everyone!

Recently we have also had the pleasure of analysing our data collected from the 2018 NAPLAN Tests that the Year 3s and 5s participated in earlier this year. Across all areas of Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy, St Rita’s students in Year 3 performed very strongly. We can very proudly state that our school’s average scores are all higher than mean scores across both the National and Diocesan levels, and that some of our school averages are in fact, significantly higher.

Likewise, our school’s Year 5 average results in Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation are all above the corresponding National and Diocesan levels. And while our Numeracy averages are slightly less than these levels, and Reading too, our Year 5 students are still performing very pleasingly.

In essence, this means that, on average, our students’ skills sets are at a high level, and we have the most delightful ‘problem’ of how we continue to expand these and sustain growth in student learning! As a school, we do however, have learning areas that we are striving to improve upon; writing and reading comprehension are two such areas that we are currently targeting. Looking forward to 2019, we are investigating innovative ways that we can further our students’ literacy and numeracy skills, and continue to provide a quality education within our multi-age setting.

Congratulations to all staff and students for their commitment to teaching and learning at St Rita’s!

Maureen Gaul
Curriculum Support Teacher

UNSW ICAS TESTING

We are proud to congratulate all students who participated in the ICAS English and Maths Assessments last term. These tests are ‘designed to recognise and reward academic excellence’, are based on the Australian Curriculum for the relevant year and require the students ‘to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning.’

These tests are very challenging and the results our children have achieved are very pleasing for both their parents and teachers. Very well done Amethyst, Timmy, Kylee, Harrison and Georgina!

(Photo left to right : Amethyst Ripps, Timmy Pham, Kylee Hansen, Harrison Stone and Georgina Stone.)

DATE CLAIMERS

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

St Rita’s School congratulates those students who were awarded ‘Student of the Week’ at Assembly on Friday 26th October 2018.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Elijah Geary all the very best for his recent birthday. We hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration. Congratulations Elijah!

P & F News

Dear Parents,

We have been very busy finalising plans for our P & F Christmas Cent Sale this Saturday afternoon. If you have yet to shop, we will still welcome any donations by Friday afternoon. The prizes we have received so far are looking wonderful!

As we will be providing Afternoon Tea during the Cent Sale, any donations of home-baked goodies would also be much appreciated. These can be brought along on Saturday afternoon when you come, or dropped off to the Office on Friday.

We’re looking forward to making our last P & F fundraiser of the year a huge success!

Kind regards,
Maryjane Masina
P & F Secretary

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

COMMUNITY NEWS

ST RITA’S CHRISTMAS CENT SALE

Well Women’s Clinic – Babinda Hospital

(This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients)

Wednesday 21st November 2018
All services are provided by a specially-trained Women’s Health Nurse.
For appointments phone 4067 8200