Issue 1 - 4 February 2020

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,

I extend a very warm welcome to all for the 2020 school year! I hope you have had a restful and happy school holiday. As we welcome new families to St. Rita’s, I wish all members of our school community an enjoyable and fulfilling experience during the coming year. I encourage you to be an active part of our school community and enjoy being involved in your child’s growth and development at school.

At the final Assembly for 2019, representatives from St Vincent de Paul’s Babinda chapter, Mr Tony Densmore and Mr Peter Grundman, were presented with the Christmas Hampers we had been busily collecting during the last few weeks of term. Thanks to the generous donations received from our families and parishioners, the School Captains were able to present Tony and Peter with many boxes of goodies which were used by the Chapter to provide Christmas cheer to those in need.

Although I have been lucky to catch up with many parents visiting school last week, I am looking forward to welcoming parents to a significant whole school event in the coming weeks. We have scheduled our annual Parent Information sessions on Monday 17th February. During these sessions, which are held in each of our classrooms, you will be able to meet classroom teachers and learn about the curriculum and classroom routines of your child’s class.

Following Homework Club, the children will be supervised by staff until the meetings conclude. This year, we are trialing holding sessions for two classes simultaneously, so parents can choose which classroom they will visit, or even both for part of the time.

• 3:00pm – 3:30pm: Prep/Year 1 & Year 5/6
• 3:30pm – 4:00pm: Year 2/3/4

I strongly encourage all parents to attend these sessions as they provide valuable information to you as partners in your child’s education. Topics discussed include important Term One dates, Homework requirements, classroom routines, curriculum overviews and how you can help in the classroom. For queries about your child and their progress in class, parents are asked to arrange a meeting time with the teacher at a later date.

At the end of Term 4 last year, Mrs Jago encouraged our students, who were available at the time, to participate in the show which was part of the annual ‘Christmas in Babinda’. Although the group was small, we were proud of the children singing and dancing to traditional Christmas carols played by Mrs Jago. Thank you Mrs Jago and those wonderful students who represented St Rita’s at this community event!

As such important members of our school community, I urge parents to become involved at St Rita’s and to keep in close contact with your child’s teacher. Your teacher is your first ‘port of call’ for any queries or concerns about your child’s learning. You are also welcome to contact either Maureen, our Assistant Principal, or myself should you have any questions about our school. I strongly believe that communication is vital for us to work as partners in the education of your child.

As the wonderful rain caused the grass in the school grounds to especially flourish during the school holidays, we were fortunate to have staff generously give up their holiday time to prepare St Rita’s for the new school year. In the week before school, Debbie and Joe Kurucz worked for many hours, in the heat, to have our lawns and edges look so neat. My husband, Neil pruned all the trees and shrubs around the grounds. A huge thank you from St Rita’s to you all!

Blessings for a wonderful 2020 at St. Rita’s School!

Judy Billiau

AFTER SCHOOL ROUTINES

As we are beginning our second week at school, it is important that we revisit our after-school practices to ensure the safety of St. Rita’s students at the end of each day. When the bell sounds at 2:55pm, all children move to the front of the school to catch one of the buses, ride or walk home, or be picked up by their parents.

For your information, we ask that the following procedures be observed:

• Parents who pick up their children are asked to park on the school side of the street to reduce the risks associated with students crossing the street.
• Students who ride bikes or walk, will leave the school promptly after the last bell.
• For those students who catch a bus, a text message or phone call will suffice for last minute or unexpected changes for that day.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

St Rita’s has a school uniform for the purpose of school identity, spirit and pride. Much consideration has gone into making the uniform functional, attractive and suitable for students of primary school age. If students are out of uniform, parents need to provide a reason by way of a note in your child’s Student Diary or email to the Office.

• Hats Navy blue broad-brimmed hat or legionnaires cap
• Shoes All black closed-in shoes for Dress uniform and joggers for Sports uniform
• Socks Navy socks for both day and sports uniforms
• Girls uniform Navy skort or skirt with teal and navy shirt
• Boys uniform Navy shorts with teal and navy shirt
• Sports uniform Navy shorts/Navy skorts with green and navy sports polo

For the convenience of parents, the School Office stocks all items of the St Rita’s uniform. It is a service we provide for your convenience, and our uniforms are sold at the purchase price with a small delivery charge. Let’s keep St Rita’s students looking smart in their school uniforms this year!

Regards and blessings,
Judy Billiau

QUEENSLAND CANCER COUNCIL ‘SUN SMART’

APRE THOUGHTS

PRAYER FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY BUSHFIRE AND DROUGHT

Across the diocese, at noon last Friday, staff and students interrupted scheduled lessons, to join in with simultaneous prayer for those affected by bushfire and drought. At St Rita’s, we too prayed for healing of our land, our people and our wildlife, and gave thanks for the goodness of people who came to aid. We continue to pray for all who have suffered loss of home, health, animals, income or any treasured possessions: that they will experience the love and support of all God’s people as they seek to rebuild their lives and communities.

Eternal God,
In wisdom and love
You created our earth to sustain us and give us life.

We turn to you now
in faith, hope and love,
asking you to look with favour
on our fire-ravaged and drought-stricken land,
on our starving and
displaced animals,
on our failing crops and burning
farms, towns and forests.

Strengthen, sustain and give new hear
to our farmers
and to all who are affected by drought;
be with those who support them.
Strengthen and comfort the victims of the fires,
those who have lost family, friends, property and stock.
Protect our volunteer firefighters and all members of essential services.

In your loving providence,
send abundant rain to quench the fires
and to restore our parched earth.

Father of all compassion,
hear our prayer
through Jesus Christ your Son,
in whom the promise of new life has dawned, and
through the power of the Holy Spirit,
the Lord the giver of life:
Renew your faithful people;
Renew the face of the earth.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross,
Mary, help of Christians –
Pray for us.
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop –
Pray for us.

Source: https://www.catholic.org.au/images/bushfire/bushfire%20resources%202.pdf Accessed 2nd February 2020

ST RITA’S OPENING MASS

Parents and friends of St Rita’s School, you are warmly invited to celebrate our 2020 Commencement Mass, this Friday 7th February at 9:30am with staff and students. We welcome you to join with us in St Rita’s Parish Church, to celebrate our first school Eucharist of the new decade, and to commission our 2020 school leaders. Afterwards, parents and friends are invited to morning tea in the staff room. Thank you in advance, to Father Mathew Kochuveettil who will preside at our mass.

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP AWARD

St Rita's acknowledges to Hallie Lansdown, who, at the final Assembly for 2019, was awarded the Babinda Catholic Women’s Perpetual Trophy. Hallie consistently demonstrated Christian Leadership, as she was unswerving in her fairness and respect towards others, patient and considerate. Our congratulations extend to Hallie on receiving this award for her fine efforts and excellent commitment to our school community!

Blessings,

Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

SMART CHOICES - HEALTHY EATING

In recent years, levels of overweight and obesity in children and young children have increased dramatically – now around a quarter of our children are overweight or obese. This is a serious issue as overweight and obesity carry a greater risk of a number of immediate and long-term health and psychological problems. Excess weight gain in children is usually a result of excess energy intake (kilojoules or calories) through eating too much food or the wrong type of food, combined with doing too little physical activity or being inactive for too much of the day. Food and drinks consumed by children also affect oral (dental) health and contribute to the high rates of tooth decay in Queensland children.

The development of a strategy to address the nutritional value of food and drinks supplied at school or school activities was identified as an action in the Queensland Health and Education Queensland Joint Work Plan 2004-2007. The Healthy Food and Drink Supply Strategy for Queensland Schools is all about offering healthy food and drink choices to students in Queensland schools.

School food and drink supply includes all situations where food is supplied in the school environment – tuckshops, vending machines, school excursions, school camps, fundraising, classroom rewards, school events such as celebrations and sports days, and food used in curriculum activities.

The Healthy Food and drink Supply Strategy for Queensland Schools reflects the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents and The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGTHE). Information is provided about the following areas:

• the nutritional value of foods
• the most appropriate (and healthiest) food choices
• the nutrient criteria for identifying foods and drinks that need to be restricted.

The Smart Choices – Food and Drink Selector offers a new way of determining which food and drinks are able to be supplied in schools. Making selections can be a very challenging task. There are many potential food and drink items that could be supplied in schools. The information provided in this strategy will help to make this task easier.

HEALTH ALERT

Important information for parents

As you are aware, there has been a lot of information in the media regarding the Coronavirus. Queensland Health manages these matters and we follow their directions. At this stage, there is no alert from Queensland Health for Coronavirus and the advice is to remind all members of our school community of the importance of normal good hygiene procedures, for example, hand washing. If your child is experiencing symptoms of fever, runny nose, cough, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, please seek medical attention.

Updates and general information regarding Coronavirus are available via the following channels.

Queensland Health

• Novel Coronavirus

Australian Federal Department of Health

• Latest updates and information regarding novel coronavirus

LIBRARY LINKS

We are very proud of our Library at St Rita’s School! It is an active learning hub for both students and staff, that is well-resourced with extensive contributions being made by the P & F. Although our Library is used for much more than book borrowing, it is the most significant avenue for accessing high quality literature at school.

The importance of the young child engaging with literature continues to be stressed by educationalists. We have been saying it for a long time! Take advantage of your school Library, model reading at home, read, read and read some more.

This year, library and home reading books will be borrowed by the students each Monday. Please help your child remember to bring their library bag and home reading pouch to school each Monday.

Lisa Calcagno
Library Assistant

THE IMPACT OF READING

A research partnership between the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, ‘Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life’, sets out to explore the connections between parents reading to their young children and their child’s later reading and other cognitive skills.

Key findings

The frequency of reading to children at a young age has a direct causal effect on their schooling outcomes regardless of their family background and home environment.

• Reading to children at age 4-5 every day has a significant positive effect on their reading skills and cognitive skills (ie.language and literacy, numeracy and cognition) later in life.
  - Reading to children 3-5 days per week (compared to 2 or less) has the same effect on the child’s reading skills at age 4-5 as being six months older.
• Reading to them 6-7 days per week has the same effect as being almost 12 months older.
  - Children read to more frequently at age 4-5 achieve higher scores on the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests for both Reading and Numeracy in Year 3 (age 8-9).
  - These differences in reading and cognitive skills are not related to the child’s family background or home environment but are the direct result of how frequency they have been read to prior to starting school.

Source: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/readtoyoungchild.pdf

DATE CLAIMERS

MUSIC LESSONS

Mrs Jenni Marks, an experienced instrumental and singing music teacher, will once again be teaching lessons at St Rita’s. Piano, guitar and singing are the available choices this year.

Students can be taught one-to-one or in a small group of two or three. For fee enquiries please do not hesitate to phone me on home 4067 6157 or mobile 0424 756 157.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

COMMUNITY NEWS

ONE TIME CLEANING

PYRAMID POWER COME AND TRY

BREASTSCREENING IN BABINDA

CAIRNS REDS – BASEBALL SIGN-ON