St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 2, Week 5/A Newsletter 22 May 2017 Your ongoing support of our school can only enhance the learning experiences of our children. And that’s the core business of a good school. Dear Parents The transition to secondary schooling can be tricky and exciting at the same time. Parents of Year 6 children gathered last week to discuss and inspect what is available and how things are done around here. This opportunity is to dismantle obstacles like uncertainty, unanswered questions and unknown people. Year 6 students from a variety of local schools then gathered on Wednesday and spent the day “in Year 7” doing what secondary students do. Those Year 6 students from St Raphs are away on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week on the Canberra Excursion during which the children will be learning about History and Governance. A Year 12 Dinner is being hosted by Year 11 students on Friday. This is a semi-formal gathering for students and parents to affirm and celebrate these young adults in their hard work and focus this year. Every child in our school has the right to feel safe. Physical, verbal and cyber bullying have no place in our school and such misconduct will continue to be directly and firmly addressed here. Those who provoke outbursts are considered as guilty as those who snap, and direct action is being taken to address all aspects of any incident. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking this is a simple issue, it will be eradicated only by continued vigilance, strong home/school partnership and excellent communication. Eisteddfod performances by our choir students have been a great source of pride. This week Secondary Dance is the next item of competition. Thank you for your consideration and flexibility around the Year 11 exams last week. The step up in formality for Stage 6 has been an important learning all concerned. A mufti day with a red theme is being conducted on this coming Friday, May 26, in support of the Salvo Red Shield Appeal (being held on the Sat and Sun). Please attend in clothing in the red theme and bring along a gold coin to donate for the privilege of being out of uniform. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Michael Gallagher Principal
National Sorry Day - 26th May
National Sorry Day is an Australia-wide observance held on May 26 each year. This day gives people the chance to come together and share the steps towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities. Stolen generations refer to Indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed from their families and communities. Father of all, You gave our Aboriginal People the Dreaming. You have spoken to them through their beliefs, You then made your love clear to them in the person of Jesus. We thank you for your care of all people. You own us. You are our hope. Make us strong as we face the problems of change. We ask you to help us, the people of Australia, to listen to our indigenous brothers and sisters and respect their culture. May the knowledge of you grow strong in all people so that you can be at home in all of us; so that we can make a home for everyone in our land. Amen. Adapted from the Prayer prepared by the Aboriginal People for Pope John Paul II's visit to Alice Springs 1996
Monday 22 Year 6 Canberra Excursion. Tuesday 23 Year 6 Canberra Excursion. Verse Speaking Choir at the Eisteddfod. Study Centre @ S17 (Computer Lab 3) 3 8-8:45am. Wednesday 24 Happy birthday to Grace Richmond. Year 6 Canberra Excursion. Study Centre @ S17 (Computer Lab 3) 3 8-8:45am. Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Thursday 25 Happy birthday to Ellie Garlick and Chelsea Kennedy. Study Centre @ S17 (Computer Lab 3) 3 8-8:45am.
Our 2017 theme is: FEEDING, CLOTHING AND POWERING A HUNGRY NATION IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.
Friday 26 Happy birthday to Laura Bennett. Red Shield Mufti Day – gold coin donation. Year 12 Dinner. National Sorry Day.
It is a cross-curricular project that partners schools with Young Farming Champions (YFC’s). We have been partnered with YFC’s Ms Marlee Langfield and Dr Stephanie Fowler. Consequently, our focus will be mixed farming.
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Happy birthday to Thomas Pullen for the 27 and Lily th Doyle for the 29 .
RE Information “If the simple fact of being human moves people to care for the environment of which they are a part, Christians in their turn realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith.”
Selected students work in teams in a Project Based Learning environment to study the shared responsibility of local, national and global issues of climate change, biosecurity, creating healthy communities, fostering awareness of careers in agriculture and welcoming the Young Farming Champions into our school community. The outcome of this research is the creation and painting of our own unique “Archibull”, the design and implementation of our “strapharchie17” blog, as well as integrating our STEM skills in the form of infographics/multimedia and animations. Our blog will document the focus of some of our KLA’s as we make new discoveries. It is a project that breathes life into our Catholic focus of “Laudato Si” – it is a shared responsibility to “Care for our Common Home”.
Laudato Si (Paragraph 64)
Dates for the Calendar 26th May - Year 12 and Parents Mass and Dinner. A chance to socialise and share the journey so far. Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 27 May: Grace and Phillipa Richmond, Ashley Langfield. th Sun 28 May: Ky Garrett. School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 27 May: Mr A Casey. th Sun 28 May: Mr and Mrs Gallagher.
Watch this space - we will keep you posted on our progress. The Archie Team
LIBRARY NEWS WEEK 5 TERM 2 2017 It has been a great start to the 2017 Chess competition with 24 students from years three and four taking part in round one. Well done and great to see so many students having a go! Cowra Newsagency were very generous to give us twenty copies of The Twits by Roald Dahl which students were given as part of a library raffle. These were given out on assembly in week four. Congratulations and happy reading. Mrs Skinner
School Computer Roster th Sat 27 May: Price family. th Sun 28 May: Mrs P Bischof.
St Raphael’s 2017
Archibull
St Raphael’s Secondary students have embarked on Archibull2017. Our fibreglass cow has arrived and we are starting the planning process. We are one of 30 schools across NSW, ACT and QLD to participate.
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE Secondary students have been showing their skills in fine style in recent weeks. The Public Speaking Team of Jaida Smith, Kyle O’Brien, Kate Price, Olivia McLennan, Lucy Proctor and Annaleise Prescott travelled to compete in the annual CWA Competition in Orange. The students spoke with confidence and aplomb with entertaining and thoughtful presentations. In very large sections of more than 45 competitors, our team represented the school with pride. We look forward to next year to build on this year’s success.
L to R: Olivia McLennan, Kate Price, Jaida Smith, Annaleise Prescott, Lucy Proctor, (abs Kyle O’Brien)
In preparation for the Diocesan Spelling Bee in Wellington at the end of May, secondary students participated in the House Spelling Competition with the final held last week. In a very exciting, nail-biting final the winning house was Kilbreda for 2017. Each house fielded 4 representatives in the Stage 4 and Stage 5 finals with the first 2 competitors qualifying to represent St Raphael’s at Wellington. Congratulations to the finalists: Stage 5: Owen Munro, Ellie Garlick, Samuel Frazer, Ky Thompson, Parneet Kaur, Benjamin Myers, Benjamin Azzopardi, Thomas Treasure, Emma Chalker, Logan Leatherland Stage 4: Raziq Shaji, Laura Casey, Ruby Frazer, Matilda Proctor, Cameron Melton, Matthew Mallon, Grace Richmond, Cameron Forsyth, Depp RyanLukasiak, Mollie Pozza,Jessica Trengove Our Spelling Team to compete in Wellington will be Owen, Ellie, Raziq and Laura. St Raphael’s Super Spellers. Ms Sue Whiteley - English Teacher PASTORAL CARE AND STUDENT WELLBEING The word resilience is heard a great deal these days, especially in relation to our young people (of any school age). So what is resilience exactly? Put simply, it is the capacity to bounce back from difficulties. All of us encounter difficulties in daily life. Guiding our young people to develop resilience or the capacity to bounce back from difficulties is a challenge in these times when the individual is king and expectations that life will be perfect is seen as normal. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Below are 10 tips to help build resilience from Andrew Fuller, a clinical psychologist who works extensively with mental health issues in young people. 10 TIPS TO HELP BUILD RESILIENCE: 1. Make connections Teach children how to make friends and develop empathy. Encourage them to be a friend in order to get friends. At school, watch to make sure that one child is not being isolated. Connecting with people provides social support and strengthens resilience. 2. Teach children to help others Children who may feel helpless can be empowered by helping others. Ask for help with a task they can master. At school, brainstorm with children about ways they can help others. 3. Daily routine Following a routine can be comforting to children, especially younger children who crave structure in their lives. Encourage children to develop their own routines. 4. Take a break Although it is important to stick to routines, endlessly worrying can be counter-productive. Show children how to focus on something besides what’s worrying them. 5. Self-care for children Teach child the importance of making time to eat properly, groom themselves, exercise and rest. Children need ‘down time’ to relax, so make sure that not all free time is filled with a scheduled activity. 6. Goals Teach children to set reasonable goals and move toward them one step at a time. Moving toward that goal and receiving praise for doing so will focus children on what they have accomplished. 7. Nurture a positive self-view Help children remember ways that they have successfully handled hardships in the past and how this can help them handle future challenges. Help children learn to trust themselves to solve problems and make appropriate decisions. 8. Be optimistic Even when children are facing very painful events, help them look at the situation in a broader context. A positive outlook enables children to see the good things in life and keep going even in the hardest times. 9. Self-discovery Change and tough times are often when children learn the most about themselves. Help children to see that this is a good time to find out “what they are made of.” Change can be scary for young people, help them to see that change is part of life. 10. Make home a safe haven In high school, taunting and bullying can intensify – home should be a haven, especially as your teen encounters more freedoms and choices and looks to home to be a constant, safe and emotionally secure place in his or her life. Let’s all build up our resilience this week. Ms Sue Whiteley - Pastoral Care and Student Wellbeing
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
School Visits A reminder that, in line with child protection requirements, our school policy requires everyone (apart from students and staff) to come to the front office when visiting the school. Volunteers like readers and canteen personnel, sign in and sign out. We cannot permit visiting relatives to circulate on school property. To see or collect your children, please ask at the front office and they will be called up. Please Note: Particular school events such as assemblies or liturgies do not come under that restriction. Colours of Autumn
Don’t forget to join our St Raph’s Cowra P&F Facebook page to receive information posted there. rd
P&F Meetings are the 3 Monday of every school month at 7pm – we would love to see you there.
WELL DONE Congratulations to the following students who have achieved the next level on the Behaviour Management Programme. Level 5 Raziq Shaji Level 6 Jessica Trengove Parneet Kaur
7 Green 7 Gold Emma Wilkinson 9 Green
7 Gold
Your Teachers are very Proud of You!
1 Gold after their assembly item following week 4 assembly term 2 th
Red Shield Mufti Day Friday 26 May K-12 can wear appropriate mufti on Friday with a “Red” theme for the annual fundraiser for the Salvation Army. Cost is one gold coin. Thank you. Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues 23 Dee Mitchell
Wed 24 CLOSED
Cathy Acret
Thurs 25 Mary Campbell
Fri 26 Kirsty Langfield
Mon 29 Briony Woodhouse
Sally Bruncher
Nicole Pearce
Tracey Gunnyon
Kylie Kollas
Urgent Help Needed. Unfortunately we don’t have as many volunteers as we need to help run the canteen. If you have a morning or a day once a term; any and all help would be very much appreciated. Please contact the front office if you can help at all. Thank you in anticipation. Soup of the Week: Pumpkin P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au