Issue 8 - 23 June 2020

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,

Semester One is drawing to a close this coming Friday. Although it has been ‘a term like no other’ and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence the day-to-day management of our school, I am pleased to report that we have survived the difficulties and challenges of second term. Your valuable presence in our school community has been missed, both with assistance in the classrooms and volunteering in the tuckshop. At this stage, I am anxiously awaiting advice from CES as to when parents will be once again permitted inside the school grounds. I hope it is soon!

At the end of semester, I like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful teaching staff who continues to provide a rich and meaningful learning environment for our students. A rigorous professional development schedule ensures that teachers at St Rita’s are also learners. Throughout the semester, staff has participated in professional development sessions focused on the development of Writing, through enriching vocabulary and using cohesion, and First Aid Training which was undertaken on the weekend.

At St Rita’s, classroom teachers continue to be supported by a dedicated group of school officers who work together to make a happy and cohesive team. Most days, our Administrative and School Officers go ‘over and beyond’ to ensure that the students they work with are provided with the best possible support in their learning. This term we have had two relief school officers join our team. Thank you Miss Laura and Miss Angela for working in our classrooms when our contracted school officers have been absent.

With the support of the teaching staff, I have chosen to bring forward the placement of teachers in our classrooms which was scheduled to occur at the start of the new academic year. From the beginning of Semester 2, Mrs Vicki Jago and I will be teaching the Year 2/3/4 class, Mrs Maryjane Masina moves to the senior years Year 5/6 room, and Mrs Maureen Gaul and Mrs Deb Carrigan are excited to be teaching the Prep/Year 1 class when returning to school.

The advantage of being a small school is that all students have been taught by us all, either with P.E. lessons, Guided Reading groups, sporting activities, whole school celebrations and teacher release for professional development. We are certain the students will settle happily into the new semester and our aim to ‘push the re-set button’, and fully recover as a school community from the limitations and stresses of the pandemic, will have the positive outcome we desire.

I hope you have a happy and safe holiday beginning on Friday 26th June. Put away those lunch boxes, library bags and uniforms, and encourage your children to play outside and have fun in the great outdoors. Perfect holiday weather in FNQ is most common for our mid-year school break and was my favourite time of year when I was a school mum. I will be travelling to Brisbane to visit our sons and their families. I am especially excited to have the first cuddle of our newest grandson, who was born at the end of March, and whom we are yet to meet.

School resumes on Monday, 13th July with a short week due to the Cairns Show Holiday being on the first Friday of term. If you are driving these holidays, please take care on the roads.

Happy holidays!

Regards and blessings,
Judy Billiau

APRE THOUGHTS

The Trinity

There’s a cute little story that often goes around in Catholic schools, about a young child who says that they are painting God, to which the teacher replies, “That will be interesting! Since no one has seen God, no one knows what God looks like!” The child then plainly states, “Well, everyone will know what God looks like when I am finished my painting!” It’s a funny tale that captures our hearts, as for millennia, humankind has struggled to define God. God is, more than our human minds and hearts can ever know. Indescribable. However, Scripture can give us some insight.

On Sunday 7th June, it was the Feast Day of the Holy Trinity. As Christians, we believe that the Scriptures reveal a triune God. That is, God is comprised of three divine persons who together are one God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Like the Jewish and Muslim faith, we believe in one God, though Christianity differs in believing that one God exists in three persons.

There are a few defining events from the Bible which forms this core belief, but it was the experience at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit of God came upon the disciples, that formed this conviction.

The Trinity is a mystery that has challenged the greatest thinkers. For us, through our faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are enabled to share the Good News of the Gospel. The Christian message of love and mercy for all could not be more needed as now, do you not agree?

Reconciliation Week ‘RAP’ Up

On Wednesday 28th May, the Cairns Catholic Education Community (CES) launched a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). This was a critical milestone for our community. Through this RAP we honour the First Nations peoples of these lands and seas and pay tribute to their contribution to education since time immemorial. We commit to addressing educational disparity in education and employment between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. We imagine the future, where all come to respect, reflect, connect, and embrace the richness of our First Nations histories, cultures, languages and spiritualities.

The Cairns Diocese began in 1869 with the creation of a vicariate by Bishop Quinn (of Brisbane) who sought the support of the other Australian bishops to minister, in particular, to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Far North Queensland. In 1989, the first National Conference of the Aboriginal & Islander Catholic Council (A.I.C.C.) was held at Cairns. At this conference, Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr painted “On with Dreaming in one Spirit”, an artwork that told the story of occupation and hopes for the future. In describing the A.I.C.C hopes, Miriam wrote that reconciliation occurs “in the ordinary events of life when Aboriginals and European live together, like when children are at school together or when white Australians work with Aboriginal communities...We need to respect each other’s cultures to do this.”

If you would like to read more about the Cairns Catholic Education Community’s Reconciliation Action Plan, visit the link below:

Care of God’s Creation following COVID

Recently, I came across a thought-provoking article written by Mark Delaney, in which he shares six learnings from his experience of the Coronavirus season, which may help us better care for God’s creation. It is timely for us, in light of World Environment Day, celebrated each June 5th. In the article, he discusses that COVID-19 may “in fact, be a blessing in disguise – a chance for us all, and perhaps especially for people of faith, to re-imagine what a good life, of loving God, neighbour and creation, looks like…”.

In short, his six learnings that help us better care for Creation include: appreciating nature, staying closer to home, slowing life’s pace and re-learning, being brave and selfless, appreciating science and facts, and working as a global community. If you are interested in pursuing this read, it can be found on the ‘Common Grace’ site, at

I wish all staff, children and their families a wonderful holiday break. 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)

CURRICULUM CORNER

SEMESTER 1 REPORTS

At the end of this term, your child will receive their formal Semester 1 Report. Please be aware that this will look different to previous reports. It will appear as an abridged version, shorter than versions you have received in the past. As you will appreciate, with the advent of home learning, the teaching and learning programs have slowed, with a deliberate focus on consolidating learning. Teachers must report on the parts of the Achievement Standards that have been taught, and are therefore assessable, in each Learning Area. Due to the reduced teaching time over the past months, please expect that the teacher comments will be shorter. Nonetheless, they will be a true reflection of content that has been delivered, and depth of understanding that has been demonstrated by your child/ren.

As a school, we are very proud of the inclusive practices and equitable decisions we have made in delivering a combination of revision materials through the Home Learning workbooks, and new learning through MAPPEN, to support the diverse needs of our community. Equally, our intention has been to ensure the well-being of all staff, students and families throughout this most unusual time. We are indebted to those parents and carers, who took on the role of supporting their children’s’ learning so adeptly, and are grateful for your continued support of the school, as we move into our next phase of learning.

Maureen Gaul
Curriculum Support Teacher

PARENT PORTAL

St Rita’s School has a Parent Portal for the purpose of engaging with the parent community. Access to this portal is restricted to parents and guardians of students at our school, so an individual logon is required. An account has been created for you using the email address you have provided the school, and the details on creating a password are outlined in the attached set-up document.

The Parent Portal will enable easy access to information about happenings in the school, permission slips that need authorising, contact details for staff, forms, documents and much more. There is also a special section to allow you to check the details we have recorded in our enrolment system about your children, and if necessary, advise us of any changes. You can also check on information about your child’s Attendance, academic Student Reports, teachers, timetables, and NAPLAN performance (if applicable).

We will be making increasing use of the Parent Portal to provide a range of information to parents in the future. The initial login requires you to verify your identity and create a password. The attached document will lead you through the process. Please follow the steps carefully and enjoy using the St Rita’s Parent Portal in the future!

GOOD COUNSEL COLLEGE VISIT

Good Counsel College principal Cathy Barrett, along with student representatives will be visiting St Rita’s School on Tuesday, 21st July 2020 to talk with Year 5/6 class students about Year 7 at Good Counsel College and to answer any questions they may have.

With the new year fast approaching, parents are encouraged to submit their enrolment applications for Year 7 2021 sooner rather than later, if they have not already done so. Enrolment applications can be completed online via the College web page at the link below or by collecting an Enrolment Application Package from either St Rita’s or the College office. If you know of someone with a student entering Year 7 in 2021, please encourage them to contact the College on (07) 4063 5300. A letter outlining the enrolment process will be emailed to Year 6 families.

For families financially impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, a significant range of fee concessions have been put in place by Catholic Education. Families in significant financial hardship (of any kind) can make an appointment with Cathy to discuss their financial concerns. Conversations will be treated with sensitivity and confidentiality. Tuition Fees and concessions available can be found on the Catholic Education Services web page at the link below.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Planting for Success

The rain has finally stopped! We can garden! We really should not complain, Babinda is the wettest town in Australia after all. We had been waiting all week to plant the seedlings for our SAKG garden.

Our class had already weeded the garden beds. Then we turned the soil and applied organic fertiliser to enrich the soil. While we were harvesting our sweet potato crop, we found lots of long, squiggly earthworms. Mrs Stone told us to take care with the earthworms since they are our gardening buddies. They help to keep our soil in good condition to grow our herbs and vegetables.

While we were weeding the garden beds, we discovered some capsicum plants and lots of small tomato plants which had started to grow in the soil. We carefully dug the tomato plants out and transplanted them into the tomato bed. We have lots of tomato plants growing and some are already fruiting. This is very exciting!

This season we have planted corn, apple cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, beetroot, basil, chives and parsley. In class we have been learning about spacing plants so they can grow properly. We also learnt about companion planting.

In the coming weeks, we will nurture our seedlings and next term we will be able to make some delicious food using the produce. We are looking forward to making bruschetta, pasta with basil pesto or tomato passata, tomato and corn salsa, salads and hot, juicy corn on the cob. YUM! This is making me hungry.

By Jack Clarke Year 5/6

DATE CLAIMERS

HOUGHT OF THE WEEK

ONE TIME CLEANING

MSF CANE TRAIN SAFETY INFORMATION