St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 4, Week 3/A Newsletter 24 October 2016
Be More: Aware Dear Parents On Saturday evening last weekend twenty nine candidates had their commitment Confirmed by Bishop Michael McKenna. Congratulations Year 6 students, may your journey forward be richly blessed. Year 10 students will spend this Thursday and Friday on retreat at Bathurst. Such a time out provides the chance to reflect, recharge and realign one’s life and choices. We pray for every blessing of these young adults. As a school, we recognise the need for information based on evidence, not just on short media grabs or from talk back radio. Therefore we have Phil Glendenning here tomorrow to help us get a real handle on the truth of the situation. Come, listen, question and learn – Oct 25, 7:30pm at the Mother Scholastica Learning Centre. Our school’s structure and function have both changed significantly in recent years. The changed purpose challenges us to critique our philosophy and approach. Staff members have worked on reviewing the school’s Vision and Mission Statements. Gathering the myriad of ideas and crafting the statements continues and will be published shortly. The 2017 Outward Bound expedition departs next Sunday for a week (Oct 30 –Nov 5) of “back to basics” in the Namadji National Park south of Canberra. Removal of luxuries, challenging resilience and testing personal limitations is an immensely revealing and strengthening experience. We wish our expeditioners well. Congratulations to the girls cricket teams competing at Canberra last week. The Stage 3 team qualified to respresent (yet again) at Melbourne Cricket Ground later in the year. Congratulations also to out tennis representatives who qualified last Friday to compete in Sydney next month. Financial supervisors from the Catholic Education Office visit the school this week to work with us on the changed approach to finance management. More details will be circulated as they come to hand.
Make this a wonderful week.
Michael Gallagher Principal P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
As Catholics we are called to Be Aware – to pay attention to what is occurring in our midst; to recognise Jesus in every single person we encounter; and to be alert to God’s call in our lives. God of insight and awareness, You know your people’s needs even before we can voice them. Help us to be more like you as we seek to be aware of those around us. Give us your wisdom to see to the heart of a matter. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the compassionate one. Amen
Monday 24 Happy birthday to Madyson Webb and Bryson Sciberras. Primary Touch Trials. Tuesday 25 Happy birthday to Brady Lucas and Jayden Millar. Primary Cricket Trials. Phil Glendenning - Public Lecture at 7:30pm. Wednesday 26 Happy birthday to Rachel Myers and Charlie Stephenson. Primary Tennis Trials. Thursday 27 Happy birthday to Yoi Yap . Kindy Start #5. Year 10 Retreat in Bathurst. Friday 28 Happy birthday to Ben Azzopardi, Kaitlyn Rutledge, Jordan Ryan, and Codie Thompson. Year 10 Retreat in Bathurst. Yr 11 Leadership & Spirituality Day. Happy birthday to Crystal Holmes, Lucas Shepherd th and Amelia Thomson for Saturday 29 . Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 29 Oct: Jessica Trengove, Lucy Proctor, Alizah Walker. th Sun 30 Oct: Orlando Perry, Archer Howden, Maddison Tremble. School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 29 Oct: Ms C Spora. th Sun 30 Oct: Mrs P Bischof, Miss L Pratt. School Computer Roster th Sat 29 Oct: Miss R Downes. th Sun 30 Oct: Lynch family.
Year One Reading There will be no reading on Tuesday 25th October due to Talent Quest auditions. HELP NEEDED! The Infant's Department are currently reviewing the home readers and have replenished some resources. To protect the lifetime of the books some serious covering needs to happen. If you could spare some time to cover books, please fill in the form below so we can be in touch. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. I _______________________________________ am happy to help cover books. I can be contacted regarding the book covering on this phone number ___________________.
Kindy Start In our fourth week of Kindy Start, the boys worked with Mrs Colemane and Mrs McNamara and the girls worked with Mrs Healy and Mr Jeffries. We all had a busy time painting, colouring, cutting and pasting. Next Kindy Start we will be buying an ice block from the canteen and having a lovely play on the Funnel Web.
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Stage One Excursion On Thursday of Week One, the students from Years 1 and 2 traveled to Katoomba to visit Scenic World. 72 children, 5 teachers and 4 parents embarked on a ten hour day to visit the Three Sisters. It was a big day to say the least! 7am and our two buses pulled out, with the three hour trip ahead of us. The "sickly" ones were at the front, with it would appear, the noisy ones towards the back. A quick stop at Bathurst for a toilet stop and a run around, then on to sunny and warm Katoomba!!! Yummy recess outside Scenic World before we were met by our Guides who were ready to show us around. We all went on the three rides on offer, as well as a lovely nature walk down into the Jamison Valley floor of the forest, which included many historical items of interest. When our two hour guided tour was over, we set off for lunch in the park. A quick run around and a play on the equipment and then it was time to leave. Interestingly, when asked who had been to see the Three Sisters, only a handful of hands went up, making the day even more worthwhile, being able to show a majority a big Australian landmark.
The trip home to Cowra resulted in some ' nanna naps' for some, maybe even one of the parents!!! When asked later about what the best part of the excursion was, the bus trip always rates a mention. It is simply a chance to just sit and chat to a mate that many find enjoyable. That, and the fact that they can't leave cause they are strapped into a bus seat and can't avoid your constant talking!!! Excursions like this take a lot of work to organise. Special thanks to our four parents who willingly put their hand up for a ten hour day with 72 six, seven and eight year olds! You must be mad! Thank you Mrs. Keen, Mrs. Breath, Mrs. Rush and Mr. Anning. Also, a big thanks to two of our casual teachers who took on the extra hours to accompany us due to Kindy Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Start being on the same day and illness. 1000 house points go to Mrs. English and Mrs. Brown! Also, to Mrs. Malcolm for joining us, allowing our student to teacher ratio to be even lower. You are a star! Lastly, thank you parents for allowing your child to attend the excursion. Hopefully, they had great stories to share upon their return. Finally, on a personal note, two memorable things happened on this trip for me. 1) No vomiters. Rarely have I travelled on long bus trips without at least one person falling sick. 2) My favourite comment of the day. As we rounded the bend heading close to Lithgow, Wallerawang Dam came into view on our left. Excited voices yelled out, "Look! The ocean!" Just goes to prove how important these trips are, getting children out of Cowra to experience the world!!! PASTORAL CARE AND STUDENT WELLBEING PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS: The teachers were pleased to meet with parents recently at one of our twice yearly Parent/Teacher Meetings. These discussions are very helpful in communicating to each other about the learning of students. They are also opportunities to meet each other and to share our joint interest in the young people in our care. Each teacher has over 20 ten minute meeting spots and these are not always filled. We would like to chat to more parents on these occasions to meet you and to talk about student progress. TECHNOLOGY USE: It seems a number of our students are not making good decisions regarding the use of technology, particularly phones. The school policy is quite clear: phones should be lodged at the school office before school. There is no need for students to use phones during the school day and confiscation of the phone is the consequence. SLEEP: We often have students in class who are very tired. The benefits of enough sleep are well documented, especially for teenagers as they grow and develop. It’s a surprise then, to discover that many of our students are ending their day very late, or early in the next morning. This practice is unhealthy for young people and severely disrupts their capacity to learn effectively. Raising teenagers is not always easy and keeping to routine can be Mission Impossible. Turning off technology at a specific time and re-locating the phone to the parent zone for the night may make life at home difficult for a little while, but in the long term the result would be a better rested teen who can manage the ups and downs of everyday a lot better. Try it and see. HOMEROOM: The secondary school begins the day at 8.50 a.m. and every student is expected to be in class at that time. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
A late arrival must be signed in at the school office for attendance records. A note should be supplied to explain lateness and persistent lateness will be followed up with a phone call to parents. There are consequences for students who continue to ignore the start time for school. A late start to the day can lead to a day spent catching up. Sue Whiteley Pastoral Care
Secondary Sport Uniform Days for Term 4
Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues 25 Skye Muddle Karen Campbell
Wed 26 CLOSED
Thurs 27 Tracey Gunnyon
Fri 28 Kylie Kollas
Mon 31 Jacqui C-Cusack
Racheal Duff
Nicky Hudson
Carol Lynch
Anna Thirkell
Apologies that we have been light on the correspondence but we have been busy working in the background to commence and complete your association’s objectives. The playground upgrade has commenced and we have started on stage 1 with kindergarten. New fencing and a shed have been completed and the new soft fall play area will be ready for the new faces next year. We realise that we have been talking about this for a while but we are all
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
volunteers and it's a matter of time management and coordination! The committee has been working hard on obtaining extra funding and this is slowly coming to fruition and we are hoping to make some big inroads over the next 12 months. The annual Christmas fair is to be held on Friday the 25th of November and the fair committee is to be commended for the hard work. Everything is in place at this stage and this year’s fete will take the more traditional route from the past. The site will remain at last year’s location with a more user friendly aspect with a food court, live entertainment, the ham wheel and the amusement area. Additionally, laser tag will be making its inaugural outing at the fete which will be a highlight for all the “would be” storm troopers at school. On that note we are doing the yearly call out for volunteers. We fully understand that everyone is flat out with work and family commitments but if we could grab just a half hour of your time to help out with ticket sales or manning a stall we will be indebted to you for assisting not only the fete, but helping to raise funds for our ongoing projects for the students. The fete will run from 5.30 - 8.30 and if you can spare some time please make contact through the P&F Facebook page, P&F email straphaelspnf@gmail.com or ring 0409426601 to put your name down or send and email to d.js@bigoond.com and we will slot you in somewhere that suits your movements. Thank you Damien Stephenson – P&F President
WELL DONE Congratulations to the following students who have achieved the next level on the Behaviour Management Programme. Level 6 Thomas Thuaux Level 7 Josee Bruncher Imogen Ousby Lucy Tydd Madison Anthony Lecksi Killick Isabelle Doorey Natasha Smaluck Ellie Thompson Elizabeth Heilman Chelsee White Maddyson Webb Cameron Forsyth Mitchell Pattingale Isaak Dawes Ky Johnson Matthew Prescott
9 Green 3 Green 3 Green 3 Green 4 Green 4 Green 4 Gold 4 Gold 4 Gold 5 Green 5 Gold 6 Green 6 Green 6 Green 8 Gold 8 Green 8 Gold
Maddison O’reilly Laura Price Ky Garratt Mia Hudson Charlie Graham Madeleine Savage Phoebe Smith Lucas McKenzie Natalie Mallon Lily Vardy Daniel Britten Marcus Mullins Bernadette Zarb James Gregory Brady Lucas
3 Green 3 Green 3 Green 4 Green 4 Green 4 Gold 4 Gold 4 Gold 5 Gold 6 Green 6 Green 6 Green 7 Green 8 Gold 8 Gold
Your Teachers are very Proud of You!
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au