Issue 10 - 12 August 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,

As my mother recently passed away, I was absent from St Rita’s last week. It was heartening to hear that the school continued to run smoothly in my absence, and I am grateful that my dedicated staff worked tirelessly to make this happen. My mother was a cherished Mum of three daughters, a grandmother of thirteen, a great-grandmother of twenty-seven and a great-great grandmother of one. With the assistance of Cairns Catholic Education staff, a funeral mass for our ‘Nan’ was organised and held last Thursday at St Joseph’s Church at Parramatta Park in Cairns. RIP ‘Nan’.

I was greeted with a lovely surprise when I returned to school yesterday. In the true St Rita’s spirit of caring and support for others, the students had left a beautiful gift of cards and poems on my desk highlighting the ‘Happy Principal’s Day’ message. Australian Primary Principal’s Day, which was celebrated nationally on Friday 7th August, is a day of acknowledgement and celebration of the valuable work that primary school principals do in Australian schools. Thank you St Rita’s for allowing me the privilege of being your principal!

Last term, before the pandemic put a halt to our monthly P & F Meetings, it was decided to host a Father’s Day Stall at school this year. Small gifts, such as monogrammed caps, coolers and mugs, for dads and grandads have been purchased, and these will be prepared for sale on the stall in the lead up to Father’s Day on Sunday 3rd September. Please support this P & F initiative, as we join together to celebrate the wonderful members of our families, fathers and grandfathers, in our school community.

The theme of National Science Week 2020 is ‘Deep Blue: innovations for the future of our oceans’ and it features the establishment of the Blue Economy CRC. With this in mind, the theme embraces the innovative technologies, capabilities and skills needed to achieve economic, environmental and social sustainability of our oceans. It features insights and inquiries into workable solutions that generate healthy oceans, healthy economies and healthy communities.

I was interested to learn about the ‘Blue Economy CRC’ and its relevance to what we will be teaching the students during National Science Week.

“Australia has the third largest Exclusive Economic Zone with over 80% being classified as offshore, beyond two nautical miles from the coast and subject to oceanic waves, tidal currents and wind. Renewable energy from these sources can be captured and converted into electricity for both onshore and offshore use, as well as transformed into energy ‘carriers’ such as hydrogen, for storage or export.

Australian aquaculture is challenged by the lack of suitable inshore sites and the knowledge to operate effectively in remote and/or exposed offshore environments. By overcoming these challenges, Australia can substantially develop its tropical, sub-tropical and temperate aquaculture industries.

The Blue Economy CRC will, for the first time bring the aquaculture and renewable energy sectors together to address the challenges of offshore food and energy production, that leverages the benefits of colocation, vertical integration, infrastructure and shared services. Offshore engineering will be central to this emergence, leveraging decades of experience drawn from the shipping, defence, oil and gas industries.”

Altogether we have an exciting few weeks ahead in and around our classrooms. I hope to have a super turn-out of families at all our upcoming school events, especially for our upcoming Science FunDay. I urge you to come and have fun learning with us at St Rita’s!

Enjoy your week!
Judy Billiau

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

APRE THOUGHTS

An Invitation from Mary…

With the Feast of Mary of the Cross MacKillop, our first Australian Saint on the 8 August, it is timely to listen deeply to her wisdom as it reverberates through our current context. Mary was a woman of tremendous strength as those who knew her attest:

Mother Mary was a noble woman, blessed with rare vision and holiness. Where the glory to God and duty to others were concerned she was full of moral courage, fearing no human opinion, always acting according to the dictates of conscience. (Sister M Helena McCarthy, Tokaanu, NZ. 1 December 1925 p. 71.Excerpts taken from Memories of Mary by those who knew her, Sisters of St Joseph 1925-1926.)

Globally, nationally, locally and personally, Covid 19 has afforded challenge and opportunity beyond anyone’s imaginings and one may do well to listen deeply to Mary’s gentle invitation to believe the whisperings of God in your own heart. A chance to connect/reconnect and to serve those in need – Mary ‘s constant drive and call to each of us.

With the Feast of the Transfiguration (6th August) also at this time, we are reminded It is good for us to be here (Matt 17:4, Luke 9:33, Mark 9:5). And in this tumultuous time, Mary through the scriptures invites us to be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works (Heb 24.10).

And some deep listening from another Mary...

Poem of the One World
By Mary Oliver

This morning
The beautiful white heron
Was floating along above the water

And then into the sky of this
The one world
We all belong to

Where everything
sooner or later
Is part of everything else

Which thought made me feel
For a little while
Quite beautiful myself.

Catholic Education Week

Though scaled back and somewhat understated, Catholic Education Week celebrations at St Rita’s were significant. On Friday 31st July, we gathered in prayer to celebrate the occasion, led by the students in the Year 5/6 classroom. Prayers centred around the theme of ‘In the Spirit of Reconciliation: In This Together’, to inspire us to build connection and relationship with First Nation peoples, and to walk together to seek peace and justice.

We were reminded that reconciliation is lived in our ‘heads, hearts and hands’, as it is in the many small acts of all Australians that we can move forward. ‘Commitment hands’ were designed by the senior class as a visible sign of the community #In this together.

“There are no great things, only small things with great love.
Happy are those.” (St Teresa of Calcutta)

Following the prayer liturgy, staff and students shared a meal together – a celebratory sausage sizzle. What a treat! There were many satisfied smiles afterwards, no doubt appreciative of the great cooking on the barbeque by Mr Daniel Masina. It was a relaxed and happy affair, and we were pleased to be joined by Father Mathew as well. Fun times continued into the afternoon with games of T-ball and Baseball for the junior and senior students respectively.

Annually, ‘Spirit of Catholic Education’ awards are presented to students who can demonstrate the ‘spirit’ of Catholic Education. This year, staff presented Eva Masina, Latoya Ambrum and Leo Nelson with these awards. We offer our congratulations to these three students for their continued efforts to make our school a better place by sharing love, joy, faith and learning!

Blessings,
Maureen Gaul
Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM

‘Second Step’ Program: Skills for Social and Academic success

Parent information letter

Dear Parents,

We want your child/children to be as successful as possible at school. Success in school is not just about reading and maths. It is also about knowing how to learn and how to get along with others. We will be using the Second Step program in your child’s classroom to teach these critical skills.

The Second Step program teaches skills in the following four areas:

1. Skills for Learning: Students gain skills to help themselves learn, including how to focus their attention, listen carefully, use self-talk to stay on task, and be assertive when asking for help with schoolwork.
2. Empathy: Students learn to identify and understand their own and others’ feelings. Students also learn how to take another’s perspective and how to show compassion.
3. Emotion Management: Students learn specific skills for calming down when experiencing strong feelings, such as anxiety or anger.
4. Problem Solving: Students learn a process for solving problems with others in a positive way.

Your child will be learning a lot this year-and he or she will need your help! Throughout the year, your child will be bringing home Home Links that go with several of the Second Step lessons. Home Links are simple, fun activities for you and your child to complete together. They are a great way for you to understand what your child is learning and for your child to show you what he or she knows.

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS

Catholic students demonstrate hope during COVID-19

Across Queensland, 307 Catholic schools proudly celebrated what it means to be part of Catholic Education. This is held annually, in the third week of Term 3, with the theme of ‘A Spirited Tomorrow’ highlighting this year's Catholic Education Week celebration. This year marks the 175th anniversary of the first Catholic school opening in Queensland. Schools, families and communities from all over Queensland proudly acknowledged the long held tradition of preparing students for their future.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we keep in mind the quote from Pope Francis, “The future has a name and its name is hope”. We can always have hope for a bright future.

Thousands of students demonstrate their hope by participating in many different activities, which promoted their schools distinct mission and culture. One of these hope-demonstrating activities was holding a Mass or Liturgy in a classroom, church or school hall. Students showed active participation by joining in prayer, small gatherings, singing hymns and decorating the school grounds. Vibrant posters and banners set the festive occasion.

Many schools played a variety of fun games and sports. Smiling and laughing, students connected positively with peers, teachers, families and members of the community to spread God’s love and hope to everyone. At St Rita’s in Babinda, the seniors organised a Liturgy, which was held in their classroom, as the smell of sizzling sausages wafted through the school. During this day, the touch of God filled our hearts with joy.

This year, everyone has truly demonstrated the meaning of finding a way to make important things happen, even during hard times and difficult circumstances.

By Kylee Hansen
Year 5/6

CURRICULUM CORNER

DATE CLAIMERS

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wishes Jax Thomson all the very best for his recently celebrated birthday.

We hope you a had a wonderful birthday celebration Jax!

P & F News

Dear Parents,

As Father’s Day is fast approaching, the P&F have organised a small fundraising event to assist families with this celebration. We have purchased a small range of gifts for fathers and grandfathers, such as monogrammed caps, toiletries, coolers, coffee mugs and picture frames. The Year 5/6 class students, together with available parents, will run the stall on Wednesday 2nd September.

The gifts will range in price at $3, $5 and $7. It will be a wonderful opportunity for the children to purchase a special gift for Father’s Day on Sunday 6th September. A card and wrapping paper will be made by the students in art lessons to compliment the chosen gifts.

I’m looking forward to celebrating this special event with you and I hope you will support this simple fundraiser for this term.

Thank you.

Maryjane Masina
P&F Secretary

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK