Issue 16 - 24 October 2019

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,

Welcome to the first newsletter of the term! The first week of Term 4 was an incredibly busy and exciting one at St Rita’s, as we threw ourselves wholeheartedly into the Babinda Harvest Festival celebrations. The community spirit, which is so evident in our school, was especially highlighted throughout the week. Beginning with our annual Trivia Night on Wednesday 10th, participants enjoyed an evening of social fun and games. I thank our staff team for organising a very successful evening, and once again Vicki Jago kept the evening running smoothly as M.C.

Congratulations to the winning team this year, ‘Swinging Belles’, who won the coveted prize for the first time, after missing out narrowly on winning the top prize last year. The Stager family and friends have been supporting St Rita’s Babinda for many years, so we were happy to see them share the wine, chocolates and other goodies in the winner’s hamper. Costumes filled with feathers and colours saw the Best Dressed points awarded to the ‘Rosellas in Rio’. This group has also joined us for many years at the Trivia Night. Congratulations to both teams!

Teachers and school officers also need to be congratulated for organising a vibrant school display and colourful parade float for the Harvest Festival. Everyone had to ‘hit the deck running’ in the first week of school to complete these extra tasks before Saturday. A special thank you to Jimmy and Mariza, of ‘One Time Cleaning’, who generously sourced the hire of the truck we used in the parade. To all the parents who joined us at school to decorate the float and also to set up the canteen at the showgrounds the morning of the festival, St Rita’s is very grateful for your help and support. Without everyone’s involvement, the event would not have been such an outstanding success for our school!

The Term 4 Swimming Program will commence this Friday, 25th October. It is expected that all students participate in the six-week swimming program during Weeks 3 - 8 of this term. It is a safety requirement that slip-on style footwear (such as thongs) be worn when walking to and from the pool, and that a sunshirt or t-shirt is worn to provide sun protection during the lessons. Each class will have three instructors; Mrs Masina, the accredited Austswim instructor, with Mrs Gaul and Mrs Stone working with her to provide more individualised instruction.

We encourage all students to have their own roll-on sunscreen in their school bags so it can be applied before leaving for the pool. Because of the possibility of allergies to specific sunscreen products, the school cannot provide sunscreen to students. H.P.E. is not an optional subject, so students will need to bring a note (written in student diary) if they are sick and unable to participate in a lesson. Students who are well enough, but are not swimming, will walk to the pool and read quietly while the class is swimming.

This month we will be celebrating three significant events in our school community. On Friday 25th October, World Teachers’ Day is celebrated in over 100 countries to acknowledge the efforts of teachers in an increasingly complex, multicultural and technological society. At our school, we do not distinguish between the various teaching roles, so we will celebrate the extraordinary work that our teachers and school officers do at St Rita’s. I know that parents and students also appreciate the dedication and commitment of our teaching staff, so you might like to send a special message to school with your child on Friday!

“World Teachers’ Day was inaugurated on 5 October 1994 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to commemorate the 1966 joint signing of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. In adopting this recommendation, governments unanimously recognised the importance of competent, qualified and motivated teachers in society. Internationally World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on 5 October. However, as this is usually during Australian school holidays, Australia celebrates the day on the last Friday in October of each year”.

On Sunday 27th October we celebrate a third community event in Queensland, Grandparents’ Day. This day is a chance for children to thank grandparents for their love and support, and for the community to acknowledge the significant contribution that grandparents make to their families. It is also an occasion to recognise the important role grandparents play in our society through their wisdom, skills and experience. All grandparents have a story to share about their life and experience.

I know we have many very active grandparents in our school community, and I hope all St Rita’s grandparents have happy celebrations on the weekend. Grandparents are such very special people in our lives; they are significant role models in our families who provide love, advice and support. On Tuesday afternoon, 29th October, grandparents are invited to be our special guests at St Rita’s, as they join us for a whole school liturgy, classroom visits and afternoon tea.

Beginning last week, meetings with Cairns Catholic Education Services Finance and the Southern Schools Support Team provide us with a platform to begin planning for the 2020 school year. This comprehensive process involves St Rita’s staff working closely with CES to carefully and thoughtfully plan for next year’s Budget, the School Annual Improvement Plan, class structures and staffing. In upcoming newsletters, I will be pleased to share more information about goals and initiatives we are planning for next year.

To all parents, I thank you again for your continued support and assistance of our school. Have a happy week and I look forward to seeing you around St Rita’s!

Regards and blessings,
Judy Billiau

‘GET SET FOR PREP’ PROGRAM

Last week St Rita’s commenced its ‘Get Set for Prep’ program. In this program, prep children who are enrolled in school for next year attend St Rita’s each Monday during Term 4. Parents also participate in this school readiness program, with information workshops presented by parent educators, Catholic Education Services specialist and support staff, such as speech therapist and guidance counsellor, and Education Officers in Learning & Teaching. All pre-Prep children eligible to begin school next year are encouraged to participate in this valuable school readiness program.

As parents, the education of our children is one of our most important responsibilities, and for this reason our choice of school has to be given considerable priority. At time of enrolment, Prep parents explain that it is for the value-added education that they wish to enrol at a Catholic school. Catholic Education Schools offer “a quality education that is more than academic, but also nurtures the spiritual, social, emotional and physical development of individuals. Our schools offer a caring, safe and respectful environment that is faith based”.

DAY FOR DANIEL

The 15th annual ‘Day for Daniel’ will be held on Friday 25th October and students are asked to wear a red t-shirt with their sports shorts on this day. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation held the first Day for Daniel in November 2005. This National Day of Action aims at raising awareness of child safety, protection and harm prevention. It also aims to help empower our children to ‘Recognise, React and Report’ if they feel something is not right. St Rita’s is proud to be once again registered for this national event.

By participating in ‘Day for Daniel’, we aim:

To raise awareness about child safety and protection and to promote a safer community for children.

• To educate children regarding their personal safety and empower them to ‘Recognise, React and Report’.
• To provide free safety and educational material.
• To honour the memory of Daniel Morcombe.
• To be part of the more than 1 million people Australia-wide who participate in Day for Daniel.

APRE THOUGHTS

Sock it to Poverty with Socktober’s Sockball!

Catholic Mission's 2019 appeal has been inspired by Pope Francis' call for an Extraordinary Missionary Month this October, which is an invitation for all to join in and do something extraordinary for mission. Pope Francis has chosen the theme 'Baptised and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World'.

The theme of World Mission Month 2019 is “Do not fear for I am with you.” Our focus country is Ghana, where the Church seeks to provide shelter, food, education, and life-fulfilling opportunities for children in need, especially those with disabilities.

In Ghana there are many children who go to school, hang out with friends and family, and do fun things like sport. Some children though - especially those with a disability - struggle to have their basic needs met, such as nutritious food and clean water, healthcare, education and safety. This year’s appeal will go to assist missionaries like Sister Stan Therese Mumuni who are reaching out to provide unconditional love and care to these children when they need it most.

On Thursday 31st October, St Rita’s will host our Socktober fundraising activity with a difference! This year we will forgo our paper plane competition and coin line challenge, and give our crazy socks more of a football feel, to play a game of ‘Sockball’. We hope to engage our whole school community to SOCK IT TO POVERTY.

Here’s how it will work: St Rita’s has our own unique page for Socktober, where we would encourage you to register your child/ren. You can view it at the link below:

Should you choose, please consider helping your child set a target and fundraise for the poorest children in Ghana to receive an education. Once registered, Socktober involves children gaining sponsorship for five attempts at kicking a soccer goal – one of which is with a ‘Sockball’ handmade by your children at school.

We hope that this new online registration for Socktober provides parents and carers with a convenient option for fundraising, in lieu of bringing along a gold coin donation. However, should you still prefer to provide a gold coin, please do so, as all donations are gratefully accepted. It is important to note that children under 16 years should have a trusted adult to register them on the Socktober platform.

By participating in ‘Sockball’, students can develop an understanding of how their brothers and sisters in Ghana play the international game of soccer. Of course, we would love to have parents come along and support Socktober on the day, so if you are available, come along and join us! Further details will be forthcoming.

On behalf of World Mission, may I thank you in anticipation of your efforts to give generously to this most worthy cause.

Making it Real: Genuine Human Encounter in our Digital World

The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Statement for 2019-2020, “Making it Real: Genuine Human Encounter in our Digital World”, affirms the positive possibilities for encounter and solidarity offered by new digital media, while warning of those elements of our digital world that may be harmful. These include information overload, social isolation, marginalisation of the vulnerable, consumerism and fake news.

The Statement reminds us that the new digital media cannot be seen as neutral or ‘unaffected by any moral considerations’. While many users do not realise it, the core business of social media platforms is to sell advertising and maximise profits. People’s personal lives may be reduced to data that is traded for profit or power, and it is used to target and influence us in ways previously unthinkable. Pushing users to more extreme positions and promoting fake news and conspiracy theories sells, but this is at odds with human solidarity.

The Statement amplifies Pope Francis’ call to us to ‘boldly become citizens of the digital world’, with the image of the Good Samaritan as our inspiration. We are called not only to love our neighbour, but to bring the love of God to the new global neighbourhood. The Statement points out that we are called not just to be inhabitants of their new digital world, but active citizens shaping it. All of us – whether we are users, communities, industrial or political leaders – have a role to play in rejecting hatred, divisions and falsehoods. We have a duty to foster a neighbourhood that promotes those human attributes and social values that lend themselves to genuine human encounter – love, understanding, beauty, goodness, truth and trustworthiness, joy and hope.

Follow the Office for Social Justice of the Australian Catholic bishops Conference Facebook: @socialjusticeACBC and Twitter: @JusticeCatholic

DATE CLAIMERS

Please find listed below some important date claimers to celebrate our faith and mark significant community events. Parents and family are always welcome to join us for these celebrations, so please come along whenever you are able to!

Blessings,
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

CASTING THE NET

Protecting children is Everybody’s Business

I saw a lion last night. I woke during the night and saw the silhouette of a lion at the front door protecting the house. My mind flitted to the image of Jesus, as the Lion of Judah and I felt safe. Of course there wasn’t a lion there – it was the moon shadow playing on the palms at the front of the house. You may have thought my response strange for being pious. I thought it strange for being positive. You see I wasn’t like that as a child. I was fearful, an oddball and had a negative reaction in most situations. I’m not like that now and largely that is due to the many people, in so many different ways that encouraged me to be different, to be positive, to look on the good side of life.

How many knew they were doing this? Hardly anyone at all. You see anyone can take a part in building up the children around them and you can never underestimate the influence of the passing word, the kind gesture or the interest shown in a child’s life. I can think of a shopkeeper that said the right word, a teacher who defended me when I was badly treated by another teacher (knowing what I know now that was powerful), of family members who showed love and a grandfather who was always interested. It was a long journey and I am so grateful to so many people.

As we celebrated Child Protection Week last term, let us recognise that each of us can have a powerful influence on the minds and hearts of the children around us. Most of the time, we will have no idea what that influence may be but it will be there. By kindness, by interest, by sharing we each can offer the protection that encourages them to grow into their best selves.

Loving Father, I thank you for all the many people who have had a good influence on my life. Inspired by them, may I show to all children the love and protection that encourages them to go into the fullness of life. I ask this in Jesus’ name, confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

EMOTIONAL SECURITY IS THE KEY

One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is a felt sense of emotional security. Children who feel delighted in as they explore their worlds, and cared for in their painful feelings, become emotionally secure. You can help your child feel secure by being available in times of need, when painful feelings overwhelm, and they reach out for comfort and care.

Helping your child gain the self-confidence needed to deal with failure, loss, shame, difficulty and defeat is as important - if not more so – than feeling good. When children trust themselves to handle painful feelings – fear, anger and sadness – they gain an inner security that allows them to embrace the world in which they live.

There are many resources available online that have been carefully designed to help children better understand their feelings, and in doing so, gain greater autonomy (freedom) over their lives. Talking about feelings teaches children that it is normal to feel sad, or angry, or scared at times. With greater tolerance of painful feelings, children become free to enjoy their world, to feel secure in their relationships, and to be happy.

FEELING HAPPY

Happiness comes from healthy self-esteem. Happy children have a great capacity for spontaneous laughter, play and enjoyment of the smallest things – from autumn leaves and caterpillars to imaginative games. Plenty of one-on-one time with at least one caring adult helps children feel valuable and become affectionate, outgoing and considerate of other people’s feelings. Happy children have the self-trust needed to cope with difficulties, and in turn, become free from needless insecurities and more open to life and all its possibilities.

FEELING SCARED

Healthy self-esteem reduces anxiety. Spiders, thunderstorms, being alone in the dark….children are scared of many things because they have such vivid imaginations. By listening carefully to your children’s fears, you will help them feel valuable and ensure they don’t become ashamed of being afraid. Talking about scary feelings helps develop the self-trust needed to sit with these feelings and to realise that even the scariest feeling is – in the end – just a feeling and that it will pass.

FEELING SAD

Healthy self-esteem helps children deal with feelings of sadness. Many things can make a child sad – from a family break-up, the death of an important person or pet, to a bad illness. A parent’s love helps children feel valuable, conveys confidence in the goodness of life, and builds self-esteem. When children can identify their sad feelings, and make sense of the losses, they build their self-trust needed to cope, accept and move on.

FEELING ANGRY

Healthy self-esteem reduces defensiveness and anger. Anger is one of the most difficult emotions to come to terms with. Children need to know that everyone gets angry sometimes, and that it’s a natural feeling. By giving children the chance to communicate their thoughts and feelings, they not only feel valued but get to vent their anger in a healthy way. By helping children find their own solution, and then to act on it, they build the self-trust needed to have angry feelings but not be controlled by them.

Larissa Juniper
Guidance Counsellor

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS

Fun at the Babinda Harvest Festival

YAY! It’s Harvest Festival time again this year! Last Saturday 12th October was the Babinda Harvest Festival. For the parade, a bunch of people met at Cootharinga Gardens and then walked around town together. In the parade there were police, people in trucks and on tractors, and even someone walking on long stilts. All the schools around Babinda had a float in the parade, and our school won second prize.

The theme of the Harvest Festival this year was ‘Flora and Fauna’, so St Rita’s Babinda made their float on a truck and Mr Billiau drove it. The teachers and children dressed up as animals and cane farmers. We made a harvester out of cardboard and we put it on the truck first. Then we put bales of hay and real sugar cane on the back of the truck too. I tried to suck the juice out of a piece of the cane, and it tasted sugary and sweet. My mum helped decorate the truck by putting the signs all over its sides and the back. She had to climb on the top of the truck to put our school banner up!

Afterwards everyone went to Bill Wakeham Park where there were lots of different rides that you could pay to go on. The rides were really fun! I liked the Laser Tag and the really enormous slide. I was going to go on the ride with my brother, but I turned around and he was gone. There were stalls that sold food and drinks, and some stalls even had toys. Some of the food was donuts, hot chips, caramel slice, brownies, and there was also drinks like soda, Fanta and lemonade.

I had lots of fun at the Babinda Harvest Festival. It was so much fun that I didn’t want to leave!

Ethan Hansen
Year 2

LIBRARY LINKS

WHAT WONDERFUL SUPPORT!

A HUGE thank you to our wonderful families for giving such enthusiastic support to last week’s Book Fair. I had so many favourable comments, from students and parents alike, throughout the week. Your generous support means we have been able to exceed our goal and rebook our Fair for 2020. Commissions we receive are always put to good use, supplying additional library resources for the continued enjoyment of all. THANK YOU!

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 18th October 2019.

THE CAIRNS POST ‘INSPIRE’ AWARD

St Rita’s congratulates Latoya Ambrum (Year 3) and Hayley Geary (Year 2) on their article published in the Cairns Post ‘Inspire’ on Tuesday 8th October 2019. Latoya and Hayley wrote about the recent visit of Chloe, Sophie and Irene from Surf Life Saving Queensland

Congratulations Latoya and Hayley!

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Kylee Hansen, Aadidev Nair and Elijah Geary all the very best for their recently celebrated birthdays. We hope you had wonderful birthday celebrations Kylee, Aadi and Elijah!

P & F News

Dear Parents,

A huge thank you to all the parents who attended and assisted with this year’s Harvest Festival. The P&F support this year has been incredible. Over the holidays we had many mums who helped with cutting, rolling and pasting costumes.

A very special thank you to the Freeman family who organised this year’s truck for the parade. It was a huge success on the day with many hands helping decorating of the float, setting and cleaning up, and operating this year’s canteen. Again we thank our St Rita’s staff for their tremendous efforts, and Joe Kurucz and Neil Billiau for running the barbeque on the evening of the festival.

Proceeds raised at the canteen are still being finalised, and this information will be at the next P & F Meeting on Monday 4th November. We hope to see you there!

Maryjane Masina
P&F Secretary

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

COMMUNITY NEWS

Well Women’s Clinic – Babinda Hospital

(This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients)

Wednesday 6th November 2019
All services are provided by a specially-trained Women’s Health Nurse.
For appointments phone 4067 8200

ST MONICA’S COLLEGE CELEBRATING 130 YEARS

ONE TIME CLEANING

SCHOOL DISCO