Issue 9 28 July 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,

Welcome to the first newsletter of the third term. I was especially pleased to begin a ‘normal’ term on Monday 13th July, and it was lovely to see the smiling, happy faces of our students returning to St Rita’s after the two weeks of school holidays. As we have a Term 3 COVID-Safe School Plan, which we are following to keep all members of our school community safe and in good health, we will be able to host a range of whole school events in the coming weeks.

This week, St Rita’s is proud to be part of the state-wide celebration of CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK 2020, a time when we celebrate and highlight the significance of education in Catholic schools in Queensland. As we have traditionally gathered in Innisfail with the five other schools in the southern cluster, COVID has impacted on our ability to meet at such a large gathering this year and our celebrations are quite low-key. I invite all families to join us as we celebrate CEW with a whole school liturgy on Friday 31st July, beginning at 12:30pm followed by a Sausage Sizzle for 2nd lunch.

At the beginning of each term it is necessary to remind St Rita’s parents of our school’s uniform policy. As we have a ‘dress uniform’ and a ‘sports uniform’, these are permitted to be worn on designated days only. This term, as we are having PE and Dance lessons on two days, your child wears the sports uniform on Tuesday and Thursday each week. All other days, it is not optional that the St Rita’s dress uniform be worn. If, for any reason, your child is not wearing the correct uniform, we ask that an explanatory note be written in your child’s student diary for that day. The specific guidelines for the correct uniform have been included in this newsletter.

As we commence Term 3, I would like to once again remind you that St Rita’s is a community of staff and families who, in partnership, provide a holistic education for our students. Adam Voigt describes a school as being like a brain, with each brain cell representing an individual in the school; a teacher, a school officer, a leader, a student or a parent.

“….. it is not individual strength, but the connections and relationships between the individuals which will determine whether your community of learners reaches its potential”.

I encourage all members of our school community to help us continue developing a strong ‘brain’ throughout this second semester. The pandemic proved to be a difficult time for schools last term, and we really missed the support provided by our parent community during that time. For third term, I encourage every one of our ‘cells’ to re-build a strong culture of community at St Rita’s. The staff works exceptionally well together and I am proud to be a member of this team. I urge you to be an active member of the parent team of St Rita’s and to participate in all that we offer at our wonderful little school.

Regards and blessings for a happy Semester 2,

Judy Billiau

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

APRE THOUGHTS

Celebrating CEW amid uncertainty

The Cairns Catholic Education Community will celebrate Queensland Catholic Education Week (CEW) during July 26 – August 1. However, our celebrations this year may look very different than in other years, which have included events such as large scale masses and community gatherings. This year’s celebrations may evoke an image of community from Acts 2: 42-47 where small groups gathered in a family-like atmosphere, encouraging one another, laughing together, enjoying each other’s presence, and offering love and support in personal and meaningful ways drawing on the teachings of Jesus.

This year we’re seeing festivities move to smaller, more intimate simple celebrations: online liturgies, and in-school celebrations. Early Christian communities were models of what our schools in the Diocese of Cairns strive to live out each day as they commit to supporting the dignity of each person, practising Christian hospitality, and proclaiming its values through word and action.

The Diocese of Cairns has a rich and unique history that 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 First Nation people of Far North Queensland. Then, from when Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School – Thursday Island, which began as an orphanage built by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and conducted by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in 1887, Catholic Education has lived on in the strengths and distinctiveness of all our schools, their significant contributions, and the positive impact they make upon the wellbeing and learning of so many young people.

This Catholic Education Week within our school communities we will celebrate our identity, our achievements, and strive to strengthen relationships between students, staff, families and parish, especially relationships with our First Nation brothers and sisters, the traditional owners of the land on which our schools stand. May we use this week and the weeks that follow to not only celebrate what is done in our schools, how it is done and who is doing it, but to explore and commit to ways of how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia and in our own school community. Happy Catholic Education Week Diocese of Cairns!

Social Justice

If you are passionate about the environment and social justice issues, you may find the video Textile Mountain: The Hidden Burden of our Fashion Waste of interest. This clip exposes the social and environmental cost of the second-hand clothing trade, tracing the path of our unwanted garments from recycling bins in Europe to landfills and waterways in the Global South. It really highlights the plight people living in developing nations, and makes you think twice about buying unnecessary items of clothing.

Blessings,
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

SCHOOL UNIFORMS

St Rita’s has a school uniform for the purpose of school identity, spirit and pride. It is also about creating an equitable environment. Much consideration has gone into making the uniform functional, attractive and suitable for students of primary school age.

• Hats
  Navy blue broad-brimmed or legionnaire caps. Students are required to wear their hats at all times when they are outside, even when playing in the shade. This is a sun-safe practice which is essential in the tropics.

• Shoes
  All black (only) closed-in shoes (Dress uniform) and joggers (Sports uniform). Shoes are a necessary item of protection at school for the safety of our children.

• Socks
  Navy socks for Dress and Sports uniforms

• Girls Dress Uniform
  Navy skort with teal and navy blouse with band

• Boys Dress Uniform
  Navy shorts with teal and navy shirt

• Sports Uniform
  Navy shorts with green and navy polo shirt

• Winter Uniform
  Navy tracksuit pants and navy taslon jacket

• Jewellery and Hair
  - Watch, earrings (studs or sleepers only).
  - Plain religious chain/medallion (only to be worn under uniform for safety reasons).
  - Hair for boys should be collar length with no radical styling, for example, undercut, tracks, combover.
  - If girl’s hair is longer than the shoulder, it must be worn up with plain, simple hair accessories of school colours.
  - Only conventional hair styles are acceptable.
  - Hair should be of natural colour only.
  - Nails must be kept short and clean for safety. Nail polish is not permitted.

Please note: If students are out of uniform, parents are asked to provide a reason by way of a note, message in the student diary or email to the school.

LIBRARY LINKS

Hello to all our families and welcome to Term 3.

I must say, it is wonderful to be back at St Rita’s for the start of a new term of learning. Smiling faces and squeals of delight on the playground; children are great levellers and remind us of why we are here and how important our work is.

This term we will be examining the topic of Money in Maths. With this in mind, I came across a terrific little book recently called The Great $20 Adventure by Effie Zahos, the editor of Money magazine. This little treasure is written for children and the relating blurb reads ‘What would you do if your Grandma gave you $20 for your birthday? Max and his dog, George, go on a great $20 adventure and learn that there's more you can do with money than just spend it.’

Throughout the book, the narrator keeps asking the reader what they think Max should do with his money (save it, spend it, give a donation to a charity?) Written with a lighthearted, fairytale edge, children will enjoy the story and learn some great money lessons, while questioning how they feel the money would best be spent (they may change their minds several times throughout the story). Included in the book are a couple of pages of financial advice and ideas to teach children about the basics and realities of money from a young age. I have ordered two copies of The Great $20 Adventure to share through our library.

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 24th July 2020.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

We congratulate Carleigh Geary, Joseph Geary and Phoenix (Prep/Year 1) for completing different levels of the M100W high frequency words. Carleigh successfully completed Blue, Red and Gold levels, Joseph successfully completed Orange, Pink, Blue and Violet levels and Phoenix completed Gold level in the M100W word lists.

Carleigh, Joseph and Phoenix were presented with their M100W Certificates at Assembly last Friday.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Clovel Puime, Ethan Hansen, Havana Postic, Carleigh Geary and Timothy Logan all the very best for their recently celebrated birthdays.

We hope you all had wonderful birthday celebrations Clovel, Ethan, Havana, Carleigh and Timothy!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK