Issue 13 - 15 October 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,

Welcome back to St Rita’s! I hope you had the opportunity during the school holidays to have a relaxing and enjoyable break. The staff has returned to school refreshed and eager to begin a very busy and eventful Term 4. Although it is a short term, of only nine weeks, there are many exciting events being planned and organised for our school. I urge you to add the Date Claimers noted in this first newsletter to your family calendar. We will be celebrating the important events of Children’s Book Week, holding our annual Ashton Scholastic Book Fair, and acknowledging World Teachers’ Day and ‘Day for Daniel’ this term. And that’s only in October!

We were super excited to begin our ‘Get Set for Prep’ program this week! Every Monday, the children who will be our Prep students in 2021 come to St Rita’s to participate in a school readiness program to ensure they are well-prepared to begin school, and to meet their classmates and teachers. Parents are also integral to this school readiness program, with a series of information sessions scheduled throughout the term to provide information on the Prep curriculum, school routines, and sharing the important healthy lunchbox ideas. I especially welcome our Pre-Prep families to St Rita’s and I look forward to having you actively involved in our school community.

This week, 11th to 17th October, is National Nutrition Week 2020. Did you know that just 7% of Australian adults and 5% of children meet the recommended guidelines for five serves of vegetables each day? In fact, the average Australian eats only half as much vegetables as they should! Yet, the largest proportion of food waste in NSW - a whopping 33% - comes from fresh produce. Reducing food waste, while enjoying a more sustainable diet packed with vegetables, is the basis for better health, reduces the risk of chronic disease and ensure a healthy food supply for future generations.

Let’s make a change for better health this National Nutrition Week, and what better way to ‘Try for 5’ than by filling our plate with sustainable foods that have the power to improve our health and the health of the planet. One way we can do that is by looking in our own backyard to our native Australian ingredients! Nutrition Australia encourages everyone to “Try for 5’ by thinking about ‘My Plate, My Planet’ – how your plate affects your health and the planet. We are all encouraged to celebrate National Nutrition Week and to aim to eat healthy and sustainable foods!

The Term 4 Swimming Program will commence this Thursday, 15th October. It is expected that all students participate in the six-week swimming program during Weeks 2 - 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 provides sun protection during the lessons. Each class will have three instructors, Mrs Masina, the school’s accredited instructor, Babinda pool instructor Mrs Natasha Grimshaw, and school officer Mrs Jenni Stone.

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 his or her 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.

At the conclusion of the swimming program, select students in Years 3,4,5 and 6 will be nominated by Mrs Masina to participate in the Small Schools Swimming Carnival which will be held at the Babinda Pool during Week 8. As this inter-school competition requires a competent level of swimming to be attained by the participants, the two instructors will be evaluating the abilities of our students in the coming weeks. We will be continuing the tradition, however, of staging a non-competitive swimming carnival for all St Rita’s students on Friday 27th November. All parents are encouraged to come along and watch the children showcasing their swimming skills and having fun with games to end this year’s program.

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

Regards and blessings,

Judy Billiau
Principal

APRE THOUGHTS

The Breath Prayer

Written by Sheridan Voysey

Lord God, fill me with your Holy Spirit
I receive your love and release my insecurity.
I receive your joy and release my unhappiness.
I receive your peace and release my anxiety.
I receive your patience and release my impulsiveness.
I receive your kindness and release my indifference.
I receive your goodness and release my ungodliness.
I receive your faithfulness and release my disloyalty.
I receive your gentleness and release my severity.
I receive your self-control and release my self-indulgence.

World Mission Month ‘Socktober’

World Mission Sunday is celebrated around the world on the second last Sunday in October. It expresses a commitment to build a better world for all of God’s people, a world where everyone has all they need to live a dignified and fulfilling life. This year, students across Australia are encouraged to not only learn about Cambodia and the work of the Church there, but to do something extraordinary for Mission through fundraising, advocacy and prayers.

In Pope Francis’ message for World Mission Day 2020, the Holy Father reminds us of the missionary journey of the whole Church, in light of the suffering and challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, and draws upon the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Here am I, send me” (6:8). It is a call for us to manifest God’s merciful love for our neighbours and share forward God’s generosity. Through charitable giving and the gift of prayer during the 2020 World Mission Appeal, we are able to provide material and spiritual support to children in need, especially those with disabilities.

Cambodia is a country of great natural beauty, with forests, lakes and ancient temples, yet it has a tragic recent history, being impacted by civil war. Currently 37% of people live in extreme poverty, and many have fallen victim to landmine injuries and polio. In Cambodia, Bishop Kike has founded the Arrupe Centre, a school where children who have been affected by landmine injuries, polio or other illnesses are able to receive an education. At the centre, they make and distribute wheelchairs for children with disabilities, hence Bishop Kike is known as the Bishop of the Wheelchairs!

We hope to engage our whole school community to ‘sock it to poverty’ and support the work of Bishop Kike. Look out for details about St Rita’s upcoming ‘Socktober’ fundraising activities! On behalf of World Mission, may I thank you in anticipation of your efforts to give generously to this most worthy cause.

DATE CLAIMERS

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

Tuesday 10th November – Remembrance Day Liturgy (Time to be confirmed)
Thursday 26th November – Year Six Graduation and Supper @ 6pm
Friday 4th December – End-of-Year Mass 11:00am, Final school bell 12:30pm

Blessings,

Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

GET SET FOR PREP 2021 PROGRAM

Last Monday was our first day at Pre-Prep at St Rita’s. We read a book called “Look See, Look At Me” by Leonie Norrington and Dee Huxley, We talked about things that we could do, and drew pictures to match. Mrs Gaul did some writing for us, then we played Poison Ball and played undercover.

After first break, we had some outdoor play activities, like water play, playdoh, Mobilo and easel painting. Everyone had their ‘First Day at Pre-Prep’ photograph taken and collaged their name. We listened to a text about an underground creature and had to guess what it was. It was a snake! We made lots of ‘ssss’ sounds and thought about words that begin with the letter ‘s’. Before second lunch, we went on a school tour and looked at the other students’ classrooms.

Luckily, it stopped raining, so we could play on the playground and in the sand pit. The afternoon was spent on indoor play. We played in home corner and block corner in the classroom. What a great day we had together!

We look forward to seeing the Pre-Preps again next week!

Mrs Gaul
Prep/Year 1 Teacher

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS

Fun, Fitness and Friendship

“Eyes up!” calls the umpire. My cousin Latoya, who is one of the tallest girls in our ALF team, takes the hit out. Out of the ruck, I run hard for the ball, pick it up and kick it towards my goal end. The game has begun.

I play for the Gordonvale ‘Pyramid Power’ Under 11 team and it has been a challenging year in the Cairns competition. But I have made many new friends, Jahzara, Sky, Chloe, Jemimah, Latoya and myself, Eva, and together we have formed an awesome girls’ group. The boys Hunter, Ryder, Cooper, Ahmad, Archie, Jackson, Jake, Saxon, Sekove, Jaxon are all great players. Thursday’s training in Gordonvale is always fun, as we practise our drills and have mini games. The boys often make us girls laugh. Afterwards, before we drive home, we stop at McDonald’s.

Latoya and I travel from Innisfail to Cairns each Sunday for our game. We are looking forward to playing our final game of the season at Cazaly’s on October the 18th. All my family will be there, even my principal is coming to watch us play. AFL is a great game for girls and boys of all ages because it improves your fitness of running, catching and kicking. This is my second year playing for the ‘Pyramid Power’ club and my coach Steve has taught us how to be part of a team, demonstrate good sportsmanship and has encouraged me to really push myself. AFL is a fantastic female sport that enhances your fitness and helps you form new friendships.

Eva Masina
Year 5

LIBRARY LINKS

Hello families,

The big day is almost upon us! As mentioned in previous newsletters, CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK Parade Day will be held next Wednesday 21st October. We would love to see our families come along to view the children parading at 10:00am and if you are able, to stay and share morning tea. This is a wonderful day where books and reading are placed front and centre and celebrated in style. Children will come to school dressed as their favourite book character.

Please remember that this celebration is meant to be enjoyable, so have fun with your child planning their costume. Talk to them about why they have chosen their particular character and what it is they like about them. It is not always necessary to create an entire costume; sometimes an exciting hat, crazy shoes or extravagant tie can be lots of fun to put together with your child (without becoming an enormous operation).

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, ASHTON SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR will be celebrated the following week, commencing Monday 26th October and ending Friday 30th October. Our annual Book Fair is one of our primary fundraisers and is always anticipated with much excitement. It would be wonderful to see each of our families support this event if possible; I look forward to catching up with you. Keep your eye out for a note coming home with all the details relevant to these two events.

Yours in reading,

Lisa Calcagno
Library Assistant

DATE CLAIMERS

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Robert Freeman, Kylie Hansen and Aadi Nair all the very best for their recently celebrated birthdays.

We hope you had wonderful birthday celebrations Robert, Kylie and Aadi!

P & F News

Dear Parents,

As the Senior class are going on school camp this term to Echo Creek at Tully, it was decided to reduce the cost for families by having a ‘Cup Cake for Camp’ fundraiser. Pairs of students will be baking cup cakes at home and selling them to the school Community each Wednesday. We thank the parents of the senior class for their support and hope that the children enjoy a little treat on Wednesdays.

Maryjane Masina
P&F Secretary

Turn Your Trash into Cash!

The P & F is contributing to the St Rita’s sustainability initiative by organising the collection of recyclable containers that earn 10c upon return to Cash 4 Containers FNQ. Although we are yet to receive our collection bins, the school is keen for parents to begin collecting at home.

Please view the poster in this newsletter to show which specific containers will incur the 10c refund. Although it seems like an insignificant amount paid for each container, it ‘all adds up’ if all families start collecting and sending in their containers. We thank you for your interest and support of this fundraising activity!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

MUNRO THEATRE