Issue 10 - 19 July 2022

Newsletter Articles

VISION STATEMENT

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Dear Families,

It was great to welcome everyone back last week for a brand-new semester. As I said to our grade 6 girls, they have now completed 13 out of 14 primary school semesters and I’m sure the last one will fly by fast. It was great to hear the buzz around the school last Thursday after Queensland’s epic State of Origin win. By the look of it, many students were allowed to stay up for the night to watch it and it was certainly the topic of conversation for the day. My children and I were excited to experience our first origin win as official Queenslanders!

MYP Corp Surveys

By now, at least one parent from each family should have received an email asking you to complete a survey about our school. I’d encourage you all to complete it so we can get a better understanding of the strengths and areas of improvement for our school. It is a great chance to have a say about our school and its direction, in a confidential manner.

Catholic Education Week

Next week is Catholic Education Week, this year’s theme is; Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. At St Rita’s we are proud to be a Catholic school in the Diocese of Cairns. Our school has almost 100 years of history which was started by the Sister’s of Mercy at the Convent next to our school. To celebrate Catholic Education Week, next Tuesday we will be joining with our other Southern Cluster Catholic Schools; Good Counsel Primary & Secondary Innisfail, St Clare’s Tully, St John’s Silkwood and St Rita’s South Johnstone for Mass and activities in Innisfail. A note has be sent this week with further details.

Docemus Awards Night

As part of Catholic Education Week, our wider Diocese of Cairns holds an annual awards night that recognises outstanding employees of Catholic Education. I’m thrilled to announce that Debbie Kurucz has been nominated for her tireless work and dedication to our school over many years. She would be a more than worthwhile recipient. We congratulate Debbie on her nomination and look forward to attending the awards night to further celebrate her service to our school.

St Rita’s Portrait

Last Sunday I presented our finalists from our St Rita’s Artwork competition to the Parishioners of St Rita’s Church. They were tasked with voting for the most outstanding artworks from our students and were most impressed by the quality. We will announce the winners at a special assembly on Monday the 25th of July at 2.30pm. All are welcome to attend.

Sports

Congratulations to all of our students who qualified for the Cassowary Coast Interschool Sports in Innisfail next week. Students over the age of 8, who finished 1st or 2nd in an event at our Small School Sports Day automatically qualify for this meet. We wish them all the best as they represent our school at this level.

This week we have our first dance session with Sian from Step It Up Crew in Cairns. Sian will visit us for the next 6 weeks, teaching the children a dance which they will then showcase to parents on the 25th of August. More details in the coming weeks.

Student Behaviour

As a school we have decided to review our current protocols regarding student behavior. We will be seeking input from our staff, students, and parents in developing this document which will guide us in how we manage Student behavior at St Rita’s. This will be discussed with parents at our upcoming P & F meeting.

Parents & Friends Meeting

Please note, our parents and friends committee meeting has been postponed once again and will now be on Monday the 25th of July. We will be discussing several upcoming initiatives including the Harvest Festival float, Disco and also seeking input on our student behavior protocols. I’d encourage as many families as possible to attend this meeting held in our Library from 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

School Officer

St Rita’s are currently advertising for a School Officer to join our team. Details can be found at from the link below, or contact the school for further information.

Fundraiser

As part of their Technology Unit, our senior students were challenged to create their own NAIDOC designs using this year’s theme, GET UP! STAND UP! SHOW UP!

The students then decided to showcase their designs on mugs, which look fantastic.

They then wanted to expand their product range to include drink coolers, mouse pads, travel mugs and magnets. The students aim to raise enough money to explore Green or Fitzroy Island on their school camp and to learn more about the Reef and its cultural significance.

We are very proud of our senior student’s initiative, and if you can, they would love you to support them by ordering some of their work. Details on how to order are on the school Facebook page or visit the school office to view some of the products and place an order.

Special Mention

Congratulations to Miss Anna Wilson who recently became a fully registered teacher. Anna has been at St Rita’s since the start of 2021 and has proven to be a competent and capable educator who has built a strong rapport with her students. She has done a stellar job with the junior class and I’m sure will continue to develop into an outstanding teacher. Well done Miss Wilson!

Michael Rowe
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Dear parents and carers,

This term we have hit the ground running with MTSS. MTSS is a framework for schools that uses a systematic approach to positive behavior supports for all students. The aim of implementing the framework is to achieve increased academic and social progress and achievement for all students by using evidence - based practices. One of the focus areas is explicit teaching of behaviors that assists students to access learning - academically and socially at all stages of development throughout their education. In keeping with our commitment to establish positive connections with students and families, we aim to use purposeful communication with our wider community. Please see below our Literacy and Numeracy action plan for 2022 which demonstrates our shared beliefs and understandings around engagement and learning.

Kind regards,
Sam Benvenuti
Deputy Principal – Leader of Learning and Teaching

Counsellor’s Corner

Helping Children and Young people in times of Uncertainty and Grief

Welcome back to school. It sure has been a chilly start to Term 3 and we are all finding it a challenge to get out of bed in the mornings! I hope you have had a great winter’s break, enjoyed quality time with your family and found some sunshine to warm your days.

In times of change or grief our children can respond in unique ways. Whether it is a loss of a family member, separation within the family unit or changes in our community such as COVID or overseas conflicts, adults play a vital role in supporting children and young people through change and challenges. As parents, ways we can help include:

First recognise the unique ways our children may respond to change. Children and young people may display

• Worry, clingy and uncooperative behaviours
• Sad and angry one minute, okay the next
• Frightening thoughts and nightmares
• Regression to earlier behaviours
• Stomach aches and headaches

Older children and adolescents may react in similar but different ways:

• Mood changes
• Tired and distracted
• Retreating from social networks
• Sleep problems and headaches

Help your child or young person by:

• Offer your attention, patience, love, and acceptance (all feelings and emotions are normal and ok)
• Calmly listen to your child’s story and encourage them to ask questions
• Acknowledge and affirm your child’s feelings and help them to identify helpful ways to manage those different feelings
• Encourage your child to ask for help from trusted adults. Help them find their safe people (it takes a village to raise a child)
• Involve your child in decisions that affect them
• Respond to their questions with clear and factual age-appropriate information.
• Model positive ways to cope and prioritise quality time together and don’t forget to be kind

Other ways to help:

• Maintain daily routines as much as possible
• Stay social – create ways to connect to special people and loved ones
• Get active – go for a walk, listen to music, sing and play with a pet
• Be curious – learn a new skill or research an interesting topic together
• Help others – encourages social connections and an “I Can” attitude
• Plan fun activities to look forward to

Good Grief’s Seasons for Growth Program is an education program that gently helps children learn about the grief process and ways to cope with changes. If you would like your child to be part of this small group program being offered at St Rita’s and delivered by the School Counsellor in Term 3, please forward your child’s name to the school office by July 22nd, 2022. For any further information, welcome to discuss with

Warm regards,
Miss Jo
School Counsellor

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 June 2022.

PRINCIPAL’S ATTENDANCED AWARDS

Congratulations to all children for their excellent attendance during Term 2. Certificates were awarded at our final Assembly for the term. Annabelle Ford, Mia Bennett, Mike Burrows, Jaxon Costello, Flynn Lansdown, Jaxson Carrigan, Jax Thomson, Jessie Burrows, Daniel Logan, Maddison Owens, Evie Rowe, Brayden Ballarino, Timothy Logan, Joseph Geary, Leo Nelson, Riley Ballarino, Madeline Rowe, Maddisyn Masina, Jude Rowe, Zoe Petryszyn and Kodi Petryszyn. Well done everyone!

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wished Maddison Owens all the best for her celebrated birthday last term.

We hope you all had a wonderful birthday celebration Maddison!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

MUNRO THEATRE

TRIPLE P POSITIVE PARENTING

BUDGETING FOR FAMILIES

GOOD COUNSEL YEAR 7 ORIENTATION