Issue 9 - 23 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

VISION STATEMENT

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Dear Families,

As another busy term draws to a close at St Rita’s, I’d like to thank all those who make our school a special place. It is a privilege to see our children at St Rita’s grow, each and every day.

Attendance

This term we had 11 of our students attend school over 95% of the time, and a further 12 attending over 90% of the term. This was despite all of the sicknesses that have been running amok throughout the community. Congratulations to Zoe and Kodi who achieved the magical 100% attendance mark. Also, to Madeline, Samuel, Abel, Leo, Joseph, Jude, Maddisyn, Brayden, and Timothy, who all made it to school over 95% of the time, a great effort that will be acknowledged at assembly on Friday.

Athletics

A great day was had by all at our Small School Athletics day on Tuesday. Despite the wet conditions, our students competed all day, supporting each other and their opponents. Our school finished narrowly in second place. Congratulations to Jude, Katara, and Latoya who performed exceptionally well, winning their respective age champion medallions.

Special Visitors

On Monday we welcomed Gemma and Haley to our school all the way from Melbourne. Both ladies are experts in the field of student engagement and have been used as consultants to our staff at St Rita’s this year. They have supported us in our vision of engaging our learners through relevant and hands-on experiences, bringing joy and confidence to learning. This has resulted in us implementing structured, intentional play in our P-2 and contextual projects of inquiry in our 3-6. We believe in time this will lead to increased engagement, and higher-order thinking skills, cultivate creativity and improve general learning outcomes for all our students at St Rita’s. We are very blessed to be able to work with these experts.

Staff

I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of our staff this term who have time and time again proven to go above and beyond their work obligations to put the needs of our St Rita’s students first. It has been a difficult term at times staffing-wise, but our team is always ready to cover for each other so that learning remains as uninterrupted as possible. I’m very grateful for them all and wish them a safe and well-deserved break.

RE News

This is our second year of running the St Rita artwork competition with entries due on Friday. Children were challenged to create a modern artwork depicting St Rita and her affinity to our school. I look forward to seeing all of the entries but have forfeited voting rights to keep things fair. Our staff will shortlist the artworks which will then be taken to our St Rita’s Parish community to vote on the winners for each class and overall. Each class winner will receive a prize pack and framed copy of their art, also having it displayed in their class. The overall winner will have their entry enlarged and converted to canvas to hang proudly in our front office. Winners will be announced during Catholic Education Week in Week 3 of next Term.

The theme for this year's Catholic Education Week is ‘Communities of Faith, Hope, and Love.’ As Catholic schools, it is indeed our mission to share faith, instill hope, and spread love. A special Catholic Education Week Mass and celebration will be held on the 26th of July at Good Counsel Church in Innisfail at 10 am. Stay tuned for further details.

Overheard

I overheard a student come to the office today to tell Mrs Kurucz that she asked her Dad to write a note so she could get out of participating in AFL today. To her surprise her Dad wrote her the note and handed it to her to take to school. When the student opened the note it read- ‘Zoe must participate in everything today!’ Nice try Zoe, and well played Jonathon!

I trust that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday over the next two weeks. Whether you are staying home or going away, I hope the students all get a well-deserved break and recharge their batteries, ready to go for Term 3.

Blessings and happy holidays.

Michael Rowe
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Dear parents and carers,

What a wonderful end to Term 2. As I reflect back on the Term 1 have loved seeing many of our schools initiatives come to light, and am grateful for the wonderful community we have here in Babinda.

A very special thanks to Alana from VPG who so kindly has created a space for parents to share their thoughts on parenting and provided practical strategies. I would also like to mention the wonderful work that Jo’lene does with our students, we love seeing her vibrant personality each Friday and am grateful for her connections with our families.

Alana and Jo’Lene have provided many of our parents here at school with the skills to:

• Understand your child’s emotional world by learning to read their emotional needs.
• Support your child’s ability to successfully manage emotions
• Enhance the development of your child’s self esteem
• Honor your innate wisdom and desire for your child to be secure.

HASS Investigations Term 2

This Term, our P12 students investigated the Babinda Boulders and why it is important. Miss Wilson and I were pleasantly surprised with the questions our students asked. It is wonderful to see students engaged in the world around them. Questions such as: Who takes care of this place? Why do tourists come here? How can we take care of our environment? We were even able to speak to locals who happened to have a foreign accent. Our curious students were able to make the connection between our community and the world. It is important to note that being curious is a beautiful journey of life long learning and the discovery of the unknown.

A big thank you to all who have offered their time to help the students with their projects. Also, a big congratulations to our teachers who invest their time and effort into ensuring each and every child is engaged. Enjoy the break!

Kind regards,

Sam Benvenuti
Deputy Principal –
Leader of Learning and Teaching

Counsellor’s Corner

Unhelpful thinking styles

Our mind is constantly interpreting the world around us, trying to make sense of events. Sometimes we see the world accurately – as it really is – but often our minds take ‘short cuts’ and our thinking can become biased and unhelpful. These biases or ‘unhelpful thoughts’ can have powerful effects, especially upon how we feel (Beck, Rush, Shaw & Emery, 1979). Cognitive therapy proposes that thoughts, feelings, and behaviour are inter-related and that changing unhelpful thinking can lead to changes in feelings and behaviour (Clark & Beck, 2010).

To help our children create an awareness of unhelpful thinking styles, notice the ‘should’ ‘must’ and ‘have to’ you hear in conversation. Identifying these thinking patterns that affect our feelings, supports self-awareness and opportunities to better manage emotional health.

Repeated open and honest conversations in a safe space empower our children and supports resilience to better manage their emotional health now and for the future.

For further information or support, welcome to contact the School Counsellor Miss Jo.

Happy holidays.
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 10th June 2022.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wished Carleigh Geary and Michael Burrows all the best for their recently celebrated birthdays.

We hope you all had wonderful birthday celebrations Carleigh and Michael!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

MUNRO THEATRE

LEARN TO PLAY GOLF IN BABINDA

Well Women’s Clinic – Babinda

(This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients)

Tuesday 28th June and Tuesday 26th July 2022
All services are provided by a specially trained Women’s Health Nurse.
For appointments phone 4067 8200

Babinda Library Holiday activities

Cairns Museum Holiday activities