Issue 13 - 31 August 2022

Newsletter Articles

VISION STATEMENT

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Dear Families,

Last week I was fortunate to accompany Miss Anna Wilson to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart school on Thursday (Waiben) and Hammond (Keriri) Islands. It was fantastic to see how another school operated in a remote part of our diocese. We shared many similarities and a few differences as well but we both agreed that our children deserve a ‘World Class’ education, regardless of location.

One thing that stuck out for me on the islands was the friendly and cheerful demeanour of all who we encountered. The students, regardless of their personal situation, were positive about the future and grateful for all they had, no matter how great or small. I have also never received so many hugs in my life!

The gratitude thing has stuck with me. I know I need to show more personally and so do my family. This extends to our staff and students at St Rita’s. I think we could all benefit from stopping and counting our blessings and seeing the positive in situations, no matter how few they seem.

Every Monday I spend an hour in Year 3/4 to teach them their social/emotional wellness program, ‘Friendology’. This week, we took a break from the program and talked about gratitude. I was quickly swept away by the positive attitude of the students. It was amazing the small everyday things that we take for granted, we were suddenly grateful for. A roof over my head, my family, my safe arrival as a baby, food in my lunch box, a family that loves me, were all some of the answers from our students. We also watched a clip on Nick Vujicic, who was born without limbs, but has not let this deter him from achieving great things.

A famous Alan Cohen quote is; ‘Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows’. I encourage all in our school community to show gratitude and thankfulness often. It can only make our families and communities stronger.

Sports Star

Congratulations to Katara Ambrum who qualified for the Queensland State Championships in athletics for runners-up efforts in both the long jump and high jump at the Peninsula trials. We are very proud of you Katara, well done, your future is very bright.

Father’s Day

I sometimes get asked about what I do? The obvious answer would be to reply principal or educator. However, I am mindful that my most important job is as a husband and father for my children. So I practice replying that I am this first and foremost.

Father figures play an integral role in our lives and I have been greatly shaped by my father for 20 years but also my grandfather, uncles, priests and older friends. They have a lot of good and wisdom to pass on and I have learnt a great deal of positive masculinity from them. I hope this Father’s Day can be a reminder to thank these positive role models in our lives.

Please note our Father’s Day breakfast is on Thursday the 1st of September. For $5 our guests will be well fed. Please RSVP via the office asap. We will also draw our Father’s Day raffle prizes on the morning, thanks for all who have donated.

Activities

Over the last two weeks we have had some tremendous celebrations. Our science week and book week festivities were lots of fun and I thank our awesome educators for organising these fun and engaging activities for our students. Also, a big thanks to our parents for organising dress-ups for both these days. Book Week in particular can be stressful in my household, and I’m sure it’s the same case in many others. So once again, thanks for making the day so memorable for our students.

On top of that we had Marc from ‘Deadly Australians’ visit our school and educated our staff and students about some of the creatures we can find in our backyard. Again, this was a highly interactive lesson and by all reports, our children loved the experience.

Camp

The countdown is on and next Wednesday, our Year 5/6 girls along with Ms Benvenuti and Ms Douglas will depart for an action packed three days in Cairns and Green Island. We are very fortunate to offer this experience to our girls, and we hope that they immensely enjoy their time away. School camps are a great memory and I’m sure this will be no exception.

Harvest Festival

Please note the Babinda Harvest festival is creeping up on us and is happening on the first weekend after holidays. Our staff are hosting a Trivia night on Wednesday the 5th of October, please book your team at the office. On the Saturday of the Harvest Festival, our students will be taking part in the Harvest Parade once again with the ‘Magical Wonderland’ theme. They have been busily working on this and will ramp this up in the weeks to come. A big thanks to our P&F team for organising this, if you can help, please contact us. More information will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

Resignation

It is with great sadness that I last week accepted Lisa Calcagno’s resignation. She has been at our school since 2008 and built a wonderful rapport with both our staff and students in her role as library and classroom school officer. We thank her for her service, and wish her well into the future.

School Closure

A reminder that this Friday is a student-free day. Our staff will be undergoing some professional learning on this day. We hope all of our students enjoy their long weekend.

Michael Rowe
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Dear parents,

The Importance of 10 minutes a Day

Did you know that just ten minutes of reading a day will change your child’s life? While that may seem like a big statement to make, numerous studies have consistently shown that 10 minutes exposure to reading materials each day is all it takes to positively shape your child’s future.

And this doesn’t just include complicated educational texts – any reading materials, whether it is comic books, novels, picture books, recipes, magazines or the back of food packets all count towards your child’s daily reading goal.

Reading any of these materials for 10 minutes a day exposes your child to more than 600,000 words in one year – Interestingly, that’s more than double the word exposure of a child who only reads for 5 minutes or less each day.

How can you ensure that you can comfortably set aside some time each day to help your child reach their reading goal?

Here are a few tips:

• Look through Book Club catalogues with your child and talk about the books you would like to read together. Discuss what you think the books might be about.
• Be a reading role model for your child and let them see you reading for enjoyment. For news and for information in cookbooks, magazines, online etc. This way they see that reading is important for many reasons.
• Assign a place in your home for your families books to show your child that books are special and deserver an organized storage space.
• If space allows, create a special area for your child to dedicate to reading. Make sure your child puts aside phones, tablets or any technology device to experience quality reading time.
• Link favourite books and TV shows together. For example, read about sea life after watching a documentary on the ocean. Or connect books and experiences together.

Kind regards,

Sam Benvenuti
Deputy Principal – Leader of Learning and Teaching

Counsellor’s Corner

Transition Preparedness

Secondary schools are preparing for new entrants by offering student transition days and parent information sessions. Now is the time to be attending these sessions, enrolling and preparing your child for this unavoidable transition. Triple P Founder Matt Sanders tells us that the move from primary to secondary school can be a big scary step for many kids (and parents). It marks the transition from childhood to adolescence and heralds the teenage years. While some children might be excited about going to secondary school, it’s common for them to also feel apprehensive. The unknown can be daunting – things like a new and bigger school, new teachers and new friends can play on kids’ minds.

It’s important to be aware of what they might be worried about so you can talk about it and, together, come up with solutions or ways to cope. As a parent it’s totally normal to feel the same excitement or apprehension as your child. But it won’t take long for your child to adjust and you’ll wonder what you were ever worried about. But as a rule of thumb – kids are less anxious about big changes when their parents are confident in their kid’s ability to rise to the occasion. So, if you seem calm and confident in them they will pick up on that.

You can help make the transition easier by being involved in the preparations but give them space once they are there. Take an interest in your child’s day and find out about the school’s standards and expectations for things like homework and uniforms. But don’t do everything for them. One thing children should have a legitimate say in is choosing their subjects. Encourage subjects that interest them or will help them on their desired career path. However, if you are really worried about their choices you can seek advice from teachers about what might be best. If you haven’t already, it’s important to establish a good homework routine. A good example is:- come home from school, have an afternoon snack, and then do homework (before playing or watching TV). At the same time it’s good for children to have a school-life balance that includes things like sport, music and arts. Everyone will be happier for it.

Parenting Tip: If your child has an older sibling at the school that older sibling will have protective instincts. But it’s important for the younger sibling to learn to stand on their own feet. Only ask older siblings to keep an eye out for younger siblings if you think something is wrong.

So don’t hesitate to contact the Secondary School your child will be attending and lock in those transition days and information sessions to prepare for the next phase of their education.

For further information or support, please speak with your Class Teacher or School Counsellor.

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 19th August 2022.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wished Hannah Lansdown all the best for her recent birthday. We hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration!

P & F NEWS

Turn Your Trash into Cash for our school

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. The school is keen for parents to begin collecting at home and bring them into the recycle bin at school.

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!

Thank you

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

MUNRO THEATRE

NQ Photography

Dear Parents,

It’s not too late to order your school photos, please refer to the below mentioned link and shoot key : R9PEAU3H if you still wish to place an order.

CIRCLE OF SECURITY

RAISING BOYS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Strategies for bedtime – Parenting seminar