Issue 9 - 7 June 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

Greetings Families,

After nearly three months of being on the road, I can honestly say it is great to be back. My family and I had an amazing time travelling Australia and have been very blessed to see and experience the many great things that our country has to offer.

I love that our country is so unique and diverse, and our ancient land formations and beautiful gorges are out of this world. As a family we were very fortunate to have this experience, but the school was also never far from my mind, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t completely switch off and would often catch myself wondering how the students, staff and our families were travelling. We all very much missed everybody. I know you’ve been in good hands and thank Brendon, Sam and later Megan for keeping things running so smoothly from a leadership point of view.

After seeing a large chunk of the country, I do feel like we are fortunate enough to live in the most stunning and unique part of Australia. The Tropical Far-North is so different to every part of Australia and has so much natural beauty to offer. I feel like I’ve won in life to live here and experience its beauty every day. I know it is very easy to take for granted!

People that know me well, know that I am an avid basketball fan. During my break I was scrolling through some basketball pages online when a particular quote struck me. See below.

In basketball, in America, it almost doesn’t matter what you achieve on the court. Basketball Legend, Carmello Anthony I think has developed the right outlook on life, and one I personally strive to adopt for myself as well as my own children, and the children at St Rita’s. For him, he won life when he got drafted to the NBA and got out of his hometown, Red Hook. Red Hook is in Brooklyn and notorious for substance abuse, gangs and violence. We all know how easy it can be for vulnerable youth to go down the wrong path and he claims it was leaving that behind, was how he won at life.

I challenged the students first thing Monday morning. I asked them, “How have you won at life?” I told them that I won at life because I have four healthy children and a wife that somehow has put up with me and all my flaws. I also have a job that I love that is made easier by the outstanding support that I receive from our staff and families. I won at life!

A few brave children put their hands up and offered their ideas. One particular student won at life because of their adorable pet cat, another because of their supportive family that loves them, another because they won in football on the weekend. I challenged them all to think of something by next week as I’ll be asking them again. It’s another way we can practice gratitude, which I believe has never been so important. Having four primary school aged children myself, I know how quickly they can be trapped in focusing on what they don’t have, rather than counting their blessings and focusing on the positive things in their life. How have you won at life? It might be a great question to ask yourself, and have a discussion in the car or at the dinner table.

Someone who has won at life this week was our Year 6 student, Katara. Katara has been selected for the Peninsula under-12 AFL team to compete in Maroochydore this week. Katara has a tremendous attitude towards life, and although softly-spoken, has an incredible competitive streak and a desire to succeed in all she does. We wish her the very best in her competition, she has already done our school proud.

Next Wednesday the 14th of June we will attend the Small School Athletics Carnival at Babinda State School. Parents are more than welcome to attend and cheer on our school. Students will need to find their own transport to and from the event. We ask that our children can arrive by 8.30am, a note went home last week.

Several of our past and present students currently hold records for different events which is pleasing to see. We hope that many more can be broken and many personal bests are achieved.

For those interested, here are the current record-holders from St Rita’s (records have been kept for this carnival since 2019).

Have a great week ahead,

Michael
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and carers,

In Drama, students create, perform and respond to drama as artists and audiences. They learn to use, manage and manipulate the elements and conventions of drama across a range of dramatic forms and styles. Students learn in, through and about drama as they create dramatic action and communicate dramatic meaning.

The arts are core to the development of creative, confident, compassionate and resilient individuals who can think and reflect critically, celebrate and challenge ideas, people and events, and work towards making a difference in sustaining and reimagining their own and their communities’ futures.

This term, students have been working on a prolonged speech by one person, this is known as a monologue. The term has several closely related meanings in literature and drama. A dramatic monologue is any speech of some duration addressed by a character to a silent audience of one or more people.

A soliloquy is a type of monologue in which a character directly addresses an audience or speaks his thoughts aloud while alone or while the other actors keep silent. In fictional literature, an interior monologue is a type of monologue that exhibits the thoughts, feelings, and associations passing through a character’s mind.

Here is an example of two of our students’ work Hannah and Evie.

Marshmellows

Marshmellows, I haven’t had a marshmellow for a long time, (sigh). I remember being near a cozy campfire with a perfect looking stick in the garden with a squishy, soft, chubby marshmellow looking glorious as it turns a golden brownish colour. It makes my mouth water. My favourite part is probably when I get to eat the delicious marshmellow. The gooeness is delectable when you start chewing it. It makes your mouth melt with happiness. As I swallow I love the warm feeling of the marshmellow touching the sides of my throat. I nearly choke, but, I choke while being happy.

But of course, there are many different ways to eat your soft marshmellow, and I’m about to tell you how to do that. Grab two crackers, chocolate of your choice and gooey marshmellow. First you roast your marshmellow, put it in between the crackers and chocolate. Now you stick it in your mouth and you become the happiest person on earth. It’s called a ‘smore’. It’s one of the most perfect ways to eat your marshmellow instead of just cooking it a pretty gold colour and sticking it into your mouth.

Hannah Lansdown
Year 6

The colour green

I really don’t like the colour green. I mean, come on people what’s the first colour that comes to mind when you say toxic, that’s what I thought, green. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not my favourite at all. I bet you can think of five vegetables that are green. Ready, 1 broccoli, 2 spinach, 3 brussel sprouts, 4 beans, 5 peas.

See done, I could probably do more, I’m just not wasting my time on vegetables. A lot of my friends like green but WHY, there are so many more colours to choose from. Like blue (my personal favourite), pink, yellow, orange or red, but green, really I don’t know maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like the colour green!

Evie Rowe
Year 5

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

Counsellor’s Corner

A new report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has found that if a child is involved in volunteering before the age of 13, the odds of having poor mental health are reduced by around 28%.

As well, children who demonstrate ‘prosocial’ behaviours, such as caring for others or doing acts of kindness, were 11% less likely to experience mental ill-health. The data was collected as part of Growing Up in Australia: A Longitudinal Study of Children (LSAC) which has been following the development of 10,000 children since 2003.

AIFS researcher, Karlee O’Donnell, said the findings indicate that parents should encourage their children to volunteer in the community, particularly in the pre-teen years. “Volunteering is one way for children to develop their prosocial skills as it provides the opportunity to care for others, show kindness and learn to take on others' perspectives,” O’Donnell said.

Volunteering can take many forms, such as helping at a local community sports club, participating in a community working bee, or more formal volunteering with a charity or church group.

“It’s the act of helping others in the wider community, and building empathy and understanding, that is a critical protective factor against mental ill-health,” O’Donnell said.

For further information on the research you can access the full report: Prosocial behaviours and the positive impact on mental health here

School Counsellor
Miss Jo

DATE CLAIMERS

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

St Rita’s School congratulates those students who were awarded ‘Student of the Week’ at Assembly on Friday 26th May 2023.

BIRTHDAY CONGRATULATIONS

St Rita’s wished Riley Ballarino, Charlie Moody, Brayden Ballarino and Mia Bennett who celebrated their birthdays recently at Assembly on Friday 26th May. We hope you all had wonderful birthday celebrations Riley, Charlie, Brayden and Mia!

P & F News

Dear Parents,

On Monday 19th June we will be holding our final P & F meeting for Term 2. Topics being discussed will be Term 3 disco being held on Friday 28th July. Also, this years’ Harvest Festival street parade. To date we have been given quite a few different suggestions for the float theme. We value your input into preparations and planning for this wonderful community event which is held on Saturday 16th September at the end of Term 3.

Many thanks, hope to see you all at this meeting on Monday19th June at 3:00 pm.

Kind regards,
Maryjane Masina

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

SMALL SPROUTS THERAPY

Small Sprouts Therapy is a paediatric speech pathology practice located in Mount Sheridan, Cairns. We provide evidence based speech pathology assessment and therapy services to children aged 0-12 years, and their families.

We have recently opened an Outreach clinic in Babinda and are working from Babinda Family Health on Tuesdays, weekly. We are taking on new clients and do not currently have a waitlist for our Babinda Clinic!

Clients can self refer through our website Small Sprouts Therapy or call us on 0435 835 334. We look forward to working with your families in the near future.

Kind Regards,

Rachael Pierotti & Grace Johnston
Certified Practising Speech Pathologists

MUNRO THEATRE

BABINDA GOLF LESSONS