Issue 8 - 24 May 2023

Newsletter Articles

VISION STATEMENT

St Rita’s school is a dynamic learning community strengthened by our Mercy heritage and inspired through the teachings of Jesus Christ. We are connected and compassionate to the needs of our community and are proud of our local Wanyurr-Majay culture. We engage our learners through relevant and hands-on experiences, bringing joy and confidence to learning.

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Hello Family and Friends,

Welcome to Week Six, we are now into the second half of the second term. In all schools this is one of the busiest for teachers and students with assessments, marking and reporting to be completed by the end of the semester. It is important to remind your children that effort and doing their best with a growth mindset is all that we ask.

I would like to thank the students, staff from both South Johnstone and Babinda along with Parishioners and parents who attended our celebrations for St Rita’s Feast Day. A big thank you to Joe Kurucz for giving up his time to cook the 250 sausages for everyone to enjoy.

Wednesday this week is my last day here before I start at St Josephs’ Paramatta Park as Acting Principal. I would like to thank all the wonderful staff, students and parents who have made me feel so welcome. I have worked in several schools both short term and long term, there is always something that I carry with me from each experience and my time here at St Rita’s will be no different – Thank you.

In my absence until Michael returns on the 5th of June, Cairns Education Services will be sending a familiar face to St Rita’s and that being Megan Newell. Megan is a regular here at St Rita’s assisting Sam and our teachers with curriculum support, she will be at the school from the 25th of May until the 2nd of June offering leadership support.

As parents and families of St Rita’s, please know you have wonderful teachers and support staff working with your children and ensuring the best outcomes for them.

Thank you.

God Bless
Brendon Napier
Acting Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and carers,

ST RITA OF CASCIA

On May 22, the Church celebrates the feast day of St Rita of Cascia, who the late John Paul II called “a disciple of the Crucified One” and an “expert in suffering.” Known in Spain as “La Santa de los impossibiles” (the saint of the impossible), St. Rita has become immensely popular throughout the centuries. She is invoked by people in all situations and stations of life, since she had embraced suffering with charity and wrongs with forgiveness in the many trials she experienced in her life: as a wife, widow, a mother surviving the death of her children, and a nun.

On the 100th anniversary of her canonization in 2000, Pope John Paul II noted her remarkable qualities as a Christian woman: “Rita interpreted well the ‘feminine genius’ by living it intensely in both physical and spiritual motherhood.”

St Rita was canonized in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII. She is the patron saint of impossible causes, sterility, abuse victims, loneliness, marriage difficulties, parenthood, widows, the sick, bodily ills and wounds.

On the 22nd of May, we were fortunate enough to have St Rita’s South Johnstone celebrate St Rita’s Feast day with us. It was wonderful to see students participate in readings and prayers. A special thank you to our staff for assisting us with the cooking of the sausage sizzle and organization of activities. Please see photos below of our wonderful day.

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL– As compiled by Mrs Marlene Nugent from research and information supplied by Mrs. Pauline Lawie

On 21st January 1926, five nuns from the order of the Sisters of Mercy arrived in Babinda to establish a Convent and school. St. Rita’s School, Babinda came into being on 25thJanuary, 1926 with an enrolment of 34 pupils. The numbers continued to grow with 143 enrolments by the end of the year. At this stage there was no school building and lessons were taught in the church.

To make the church useable as a school room, a blue curtain was hung across the sanctuary. During World War 11 plans were drawn up for a new school. In 1945 the foundation stone was laid by Rev. Father McCarthy O.S.A. The parents contribution to help defray costs of building the school is noteworthy. The children were issued with a card and every time they bought one penny to school a pin hole was made in the card. When the card had six holes in it a brick had been bought.

After delays due to weather and cyclone which blew the roof off the new school building, the Sisters and pupils finally moved into the new St Rita’s School after Easter 1946.

In 1948 St Rita’s was also registered for secondary education, and only one class of three girls gained their Junior Certificate in 1950. The school too was used as a Parish Hall, for St Patrick Concerts and Receptions after First Holy Communion, Confirmation and Weddings.

Shared reading with your child

Parents and carers as Book fair is coming to a close, I’d like to spread awareness about the importance of reading. In particular, shared reading is an enjoyable activity which we encourage parents and students to do each night. Shared reading is a collaborative activity during which a child and a grown-up share the reading of a book in order to model strategies that proficient readers use. It can take different forms depending on the stage of reading, but as a general rule, it combines both seeing and hearing the words in order to understand the role that text plays in reading, as well as talking about the story together.

You can implement shared reading in a few different ways. When your child is younger, you can encourage them to read some of the words during your read-aloud time. As they progress in their reading journey, you might take turns reading pages. Shared reading is all about making reading into an interactive experience for your child. The various components of shared reading help to model reading fluency and expression for your young learner.

This technique helps guide your child’s reading time with interactive questions and active dialogue about the book you’re focusing on. It allows your child to feel supported while reading a book at or slightly above their reading level.

The Shared Reading Process

If you’d like to implement shared reading time, the first step is to pick a book! Here are a few things to look for when choosing a book:

• Does it have clear, uncluttered text that is easy to follow?
• Is it engaging? Silly books or books about a subject they love work best.
• To practice inferring meaning, does it have pictures that enhance the story?
• To practice phonological awareness, does it have rhymes or alliteration?

Alternatively, you can get crafty by writing a story on a large poster board or notepad paper. It can be based on a book in your library, or you can make up a story together.

If you decide to go this route, you might include pictures or drawings so your child doesn’t miss out on any illustrative magic!

As we’ve mentioned, the name of the game when it comes to shared reading is “participation.” You want to frequently pause in your reading to address any changes in the story or characters.

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

Counsellor’s Corner

It is a sad time for the St Rita’s Babinda Community with the sudden death of a much-treasured past parent. It is important to remind ourselves that grief is our natural emotional response to the loss of another. Our lives are often shaped by loss and change as we adjust to the circumstances; some of these challenges impact upon us in a significant way and for others they seem easier to adapt to.

Why is this you might ask?

There is no right or wrong way to deal with sadness and loss, we each will manage this differently depending on our past experiences, our faith, beliefs, and of course, our culture. Often specific rituals allow us to feel comforted and find peace with the loss. It can be tougher when there are some losses from our past that sneak into the present when we are confronted with another loss. This is true for both adults and children.

So, what can you do to support your children when there is a sudden loss or change through the death of someone they had a connection to? Here is a helpful brief guide with some ideas of practical ways to support your children, family, and friends.

So how can you help? Remember you are your child’s best resource.

• Acknowledge your child’s feeling with empathy e.g. “I can see you feel sad/upset and this is okay”. Reassure them that you love them, they are not alone, and they can talk to you whenever they need to. A simple hug to let them know you understand is often enough.
• Be factual with information that is appropriate for their age. Never be dismissive, give information when necessary, but resist being sucked into requests for more details about events. This is often your child’s way to make sense of the loss. For example, you can respond with a statement saying, “this is all we know, and I can understand why you are trying to make sense of this”. Again, use empathy and offer them a hug.
• There are also good times to check in with children in a way that is not too probing or confronting. It could be “how is your sadness today? Thumbs up, thumbs down signals avoids the pressure to find words and keep the enquiry brief. Ask if there is anything you can do to help if it is a thumbs down; stay away from offering solutions at this time. This lets them know you are there when they feel the need to share if they can.
• With older children and teenagers, it’s also okay to give them some space when they need it. Sometimes it helps to just sit together quietly, or to offer a simple hand squeeze or gentle hug.

Things we know are important at time of loss and change:

• Try to keep normal everyday routines going as much as possible to provide a sense of security in a time of change. This is important for children of all ages.
• Support your child to say their goodbyes to the person who has died. If there is no service, they can attend then other things like lighting a candle, letting off balloons / or flowers down the creek, saying a prayer or poem or planting a flower or tree.
• At this time there is great value in spending some 1:1 time with your child to help them feel safe and relaxed. A short period of quality time with them can allow them to feel supported and connected to you.
• Importantly, please encourage them to keep doing the activities they enjoy. You can reassure them that it’s okay to still feel happiness, and that this does not take away from how much they care about the person they’ve lost. Children often need reassurance on this.
• A gentle reminder that some children and adults may find it hard to express their sadness in words and instead their behaviour can present as withdrawn, angry, irritable, guilty, numb, physically unwell, unable to concentrate, or unable to sleep. If any of these behaviours begin to interfere with your child’s day to day ability to cope in a persistent way then it is recommended you seek support.

Further information on this topic can be sourced through the links below:

“Little by Little we Let Go of Loss, But Never of Love” – Unknown

Yours in Counselling
Miss Jo

QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE

A Special thank you to PLO officers Stacey Kneubuhler, Michael Sands and volunteerTony for coming to speak with our students today. Liaison with police officers builds positive relationships between police and members of the school community. The program is an integral part of policing and reflects a greater emphasis on police partnerships with the community. Currently there are over 950 Adopt-a-Cops performing duties in over 1100 Queensland schools.

Library News

Week 6 of Term 2 will see our Book Fair arriving, sure to delight as it always does. This year Book Fair will take place in the library, over five (5) days, Monday 22nd May to Friday 26th May. For your convenience, the library opening hours will be as follows:

8:00am – 8:30 am each morning, Monday to Friday
3:00pm – 3:15 pm each afternoon, Monday to Friday

I would love to see each of our families visit at some time during Book Fair week. If you are hoping to find some inspiration for birthday’s, Christmas gifts, and would like to keep your purchases a surprise, I would be happy to help. Don’t hesitate to contact me in person or Debbie in the office.

Loop Book Club – If you are placing an order with Scholastic please select (Prep-Yr 6) as the class option.

As we are a small school, individual classes don’t need to be selected.

Kind regards,

Julie Cross
Library Assistant

DATE CLAIMERS

P & F News

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all the parents who returned their raffle tickets and donated gifts for the Mother’s Day hamper. There were three lucky winners, Congratulations Louise, Dr Renee and Jessica.

Many thanks for supporting the P & F in their fundraising endeavours.

Maryjane Masina

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

Bravehearts: Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure

What will children learn?

Bravehearts Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure Show is underpinned by the following principles of personal safety:

• Differentiating safe and unsafe feelings
• Recognising the body’s warning signs
• Body ownership and that it is ok to say no
• Helping children name public and private parts using anatomically correct names
• Reinforcing that there is no secret that children cannot tell someone
• What to do if you feel unsafe or unsure

Bravehearts aims to teach children these essential principles through a behaviour approach to content delivery, interactive games, and catchy, age-appropriate songs. Our students will also learn ‘Ditto’s 3 Rules’, which are:

• We all have the right to feel safe with people.
• It’s ok to say NO if you feel unsafe or unsure.
• Nothing is so yucky that you can’t tell someone about it.

As part of the program, children are each given a Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure Activity Booklet to take home. We encourage parents, educators and teachers to look at the booklet with the children, using the activities to help cement the personal safety messages from the show.

MUNRO THEATRE

BABINDA GOLF LESSONS