St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 4, Week 5/A Newsletter 7 November 2016
Dear Parents Once again our community is called upon to deal with tragedy and grief. The last week has been very challenging: firstly with the sad news of the death of Bob Scott in Canowindra whose family is closely associated with some members of our school family, and then the shocking news of the accident which took the life of Emma Clark on Thursday night. We all have been touched in some way by the sad events of the week; people are distressed by both deaths; a number of us taught Emma (Kindy 1997 – Year 10 2007) and had contact with her since she left St Raph's; the ripples spread out across the school. We will be highly aware of each other and possible difficulties in dealing with these times of sadness. If anyone is struggling, please make it known and support will be available. If we walk with strength and gentleness together, we will overcome the challenges to be faced. Many of the Year 9 students were involved in the Outward Bound expedition for the last week and returned on Saturday afternoon – tired but fit, scruffy but strong and all ready to rediscover the beautiful luxuries of home. Excursions this week have Year 3 exploring caves at Wellington and enjoying a Zoo Snooze at Dubbo. Primary Tennis reps are travelling to Olympic Park to compete at the Todd Woodbridge Cup. Stage 3 is participating in Respect Ed on Thursday and Year 8 are exploring the Weddin Mtns on Friday. Travel safely everyone. Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green and Mr Anthony Morgan will visit on Thursday morning to consider implications of Year 11/12 extension. Bishop Columba is the Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese and Mr Morgan is the Executive Director of the CEO in the Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Leadership is at the forefront of our minds at this time of year in particular, and nominees for leadership roles are those who have demonstrated considerable potential of a long period of time. Teachers, primary and secondary, consider leadership nominations very carefully and know only too well the significance of the nomination process. Leadership is a great deal more than popularity and achievement in specific endeavours. In the next two weeks various processes will lead us to the selection and announcement of student leaders 2017. Michael Gallagher Principal
Be More: Just As Catholics we are called to Be Just – to be aware of the impact our words and actions have on others; even people we may never meet. We are called to think about the choices we make about what we buy, how we live, how much we use and how we treat others. The call to Be Just is a call to integrity. It is a call to make sure that our actions are a true reflection of what we proclaim. God of justice and mercy, You hear the cries of the poor and you weep for those who suffer injustice. Wake us from indifference. Open our eyes to those around us. Rouse within us our knowledge of what is right. Transform our hearts so that we may transform your world. We make this prayer through your son, Jesus, our model of justice. Amen
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Monday 7 Happy birthday to Chantell Rhodes. Tuesday 8 Year 3 Dubbo/Wellington Excursion. Wednesday 9 Happy birthday to Aurinia Emseis, Matthew Grech and Lyla Louttit. Year 3 Dubbo Wellington Excursion. Todd Woodbridge Tennis Cup Sydney. Thursday 10 Happy birthday to Kate Cumming.
taken. They listened to the siren on the police car and checked out the paddy wagon. We would especially like to thank Senior Constable Lynn Stone and Senior Constable Stewart Tydd who came to work especially on their day off to show the children around the station. Kindergarten Green and Gold were also presented with special police cards and sent home with an A4 envelope filled with interesting information. We had a great morning and are grateful for the wonderful learning experience. Kinder and Year 6 th On Friday 28 October, Kindergarten and Year Six enjoyed a technology session. The children played some Maths games and worked on google slides. It was a very interesting afternoon. Thank you to Mr O'Reilly and Six Green.
Friday 11 Happy birthday to Megan Smith. Year 8 Weddin Mountain Excursion. Happy birthday to Jake Pullen, Matthew Terry, Ethan th Thomson and Lucinda Toohey for 12 and Cate th Gallagher and Kyle O’Brien for the 13 .
Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 12 Nov: Rachel Myers, Ben Myers, Meg Jones. th Sun 13 Nov: Volunteers Please. School Readers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 12 Nov: School Leaders. th Sun 13 Nov: Mr M Gallagher. School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 12 Nov: Ms K Slaven, Ms R Downes. th Sun 13 Nov: Mr M Gallagher. School Computer Roster th Sat 12 Nov: School Leaders.
Kindergarten Excursion Kindergarten visited the police station on the th 27 October. They learned that the police keep our community safe and are always here for us if we need help. The children checked out the cells and had their finger prints P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Kindy Start Week Five It was a perfect day for ice block eating on our fifth session of Kindy Start and we all tried very hard to line up and show that we can wait patiently. We also used beautiful manners when we asked Mrs Stokes for an ice block and remembered to say please and thank you. The Funnel Web climbing equipment was also a hit and Mrs Colemane and Mrs McNamara were very impressed with the balance, strength and confidence of our new Kinder Start climbers.
Last week we had our sixth and final Kindy Start for the year. We had a great time playing games and sport and we are now looking forward to starting big school next year. Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
There will be a Parent Information evening on th 17 November at 6:30pm. Please make sure your enrolment forms are sent in as soon as possible. Primary 3D Printing and Coding Workshops Last week, several students from Stage 3 were selected to attend a 3D Printing and Coding workshop at Cowra Public School. This was facilitated by The Corridor Project in conjunction with the CowraCabonne Science Hub and relates directly to the current educational movement of S.T.E.M.S. The students selected to attend these workshops were Matthew Mallon, Marcus Mullins, Cameron Forsyth, Cameron Melton, William Norton and Depp RyanLukasiak. They gained valuable experience and knowledge and returned to school inspired and ready to help inspire others. 3D Printing Reflections Some of the best parts were when we all saw how the different objects were made. My favourite part was how the 3D printed car could drive up to 50km per hour. Making the ear bud holder and our name tags was a great experience for all of us. We saw how a girl born with no fingers on her left hand could finally be able to lift things with a $20 printed hand instead of paying up to $20,000 on a new robotic hand. Thank you. Matt Mallon The 3D printing program was quite entertaining especially designing the objects on the computer. Some cool creations have been made using a 3D printer such as a jetpack, a fully working car that goes 50 km/h and plenty of robots as well as a really creepy spider dress that moves depending on the radius of people or how the wearer feels. To sum it up I think this program should advance because of all the fun and learning that goes into this program. I can imagine 3D printers used all over the world in fact astronauts are already using this technology to repair space ships. Cameron Forsyth
I absolutely loved the experience. I would love to do it again I think everyone should give it a try. I think that everyone would love it. I loved making my game. I loved playing the games and making my characters. I would love to make more games easy or hard .I would love to teach my friends, family and my class how to make a game. Thank you for helping me learn how to code. Depp Ryan-Lukasiak We started by looking at simple coding like making sprites talk with text boxes(Sprites are vehicles, characters) and made them turn, walk forward even made them bounce. We made games based on hide and seek like finding items with another sprite. The information was amazing I will definitely try doing it again to make even more complex games. Cameron Melton
Milo T20 Cricket Blast Schools’ Cup On the 20th October St Raphael’s Catholic Stage Three Girls Cricket Team travelled to the Nation’s Capital to participate in the Southern NSW and ACT State final of the Milo T20 Blast Schools Cup Cricket Competition. The Girls were one of 15 teams from Southern NSW and ACT Schools and were placed in Pool B of the four pool Competition. Round One, the girls were up against The Rock School. With such a formidable school name as The Rock, the girls were a bit hesitant at the start, however, the team bowled extremely well. Winning their first game 134 runs to 75.
The program was very fun and I learnt a lot about 3D printing and designing on the computers. It was all put together very well and I enjoyed it a lot. I found out some interesting things that a 3D printer can print. It can print a working car that can go 50 km/h and that prosthetic limbs can be printed from it. They do use it in space to help on the mission. To conclude it was a very educational program and can help kids to understand technology better. Marcus Mullins Coding The coding system it was called scratch. We started off with a cat sprite (a sprite is a pixelated character, animal, vehicle or item that can be coded in a video game) and learnt about the controls. After that we learnt how to get a backdrop. Then we started to make the game based on what the instructor showed us. I really liked the day and I think I will start making more games on scratch. William Norton P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
With early nerves out of the way, the girls started well in Round Two against rivals Kingsford Smith School taking a few early wickets. However a strong finish to the innings by our new Year 5 recruits, Monique Chang and Georgia Buchtmann, gave the team a respectable total of 129 runs. Some accurate bowling from Emma Wilkinson, Lucy Proctor and Mollie Thompson helped restrict their batters to 93 runs. The last round game saw the girls bat first. Pip Austin, Mikelli Garratt and Annaleise Prescott smash the ball to all corners of the field helping the team to score an Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
impressive 147 runs off just 8 overs. Some great bowling by Kate Cumming and the rest of the team kept their oppositions score to just 73. With girls beaming with confidence (now starting to book flights to Melbourne) they met Aranda in the Semi Final. Both teams reaching the game undefeated throughout their round matches. The game started badly for the St Raph’s girls losing 2 wickets in the first over (giving the opposition a bonus 5 runs for each wicket). The remaining seven overs saw some excellent hitting of 4’s, 6’s and the odd 12. However, losing 12 wickets (60 bonus runs to the opposition) was going to need an exceptional bowling effort to restrict Aranda from St Raph’s final score of only 101. All the girls bowled with outstanding accuracy showing no sign of the pressure of the MCG getting to them. Aranda only managed 63 runs off the bat in their 8 overs, meaning after bonus runs (wickets) were tallied with runs scored St Raphael’s were into the final, winning 141 runs to 123! The final was against Trinity Christian School, who had beaten Blayney Public School in their Semi Final. After the close call against Aranda in our Semi Final and some (hopefully inspirational) words from their coach it was time to see if we would have the opportunity to defend our National Title at the MCG this year. The answer was quite simply YES! The girls saved their best performance for last, claiming wicket after wicket and smashing the ball when batting. MCG here we come, St Raph’s running out convincing winners 193 runs to 102! I would like to thank our ever present support crew who managed to travel down to Canberra for the day! Well done and Congratulations Girls, now let’s take on the rest of Australia! Mr O’Reilly
Talent Quest Wow! St Raphael’s sure does have talent. With over 40 entries it has been a hard choice to select the finalists for this year’s St Raph’s Got Talent! Every child who performed at the auditions should feel extremely proud of themselves and judging by their smiles, I think it is safe to say that it has been enjoyed by all! A huge thank you to the parents who supported their children in doing this! This opportunity has provided a platform for selfexpression and allows students to develop their confidence in a safe and supportive environment. The following Students have been selected to perform in this year’s St Raph’s Got Talent, which will be held on: Wednesday 16th November More details to follow.
Stage One Lily Carson, Sara Rush, Harriett Perry, Pyper Muddle and Bronte Keen, Ahreeshay Ryan, Tobie Hubber and Emma Haslam. Stage Two Phillipa Richmond, Laura Price, Ashley Langfield, Maddison O’Reilly, Elliott Bennett, Natasha Smaluck and Yoi Yap. Stage Three Natalie Mallon, Emma Clements, Meg Jones, Louis Carson, Will Norton, Sophie Johnston and Jess Trengrove and Nick Brown. Good luck to all the finalists! Mrs O’Reilly Head Lice Unfortunately from time to time we have an outbreak of head lice at the school. Please be vigilant in checking your child’s hair and treating where necessary. Your assistance in the matter will ensure the outbreak is short-lived. Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues 8 Lisa Mallon
Wed 9 CLOSED
Thurs 10 Ona Lawrence
Fri 11 Kirsty Langfield
Mon 14 Angela Kollas
Kylie Kollas
Kristy White
Lisa Lette
Anna Thirkell
Don’t forget to visit our website for updates of all that is happening with the P&F and for adding your views. This can be done via the school website at www.straphaelscowra.edu.au
WELL DONE Congratulations to the following students who have achieved the next level on the Behaviour Management Programme. Level 6 Level 7 Kate Proctor Cooper Pullen Grace Shepherd Xavier Lynch
3 Gold William Pearce 3 Gold Tiarna Vale 4 Gold Max Myers 10 Green
3 Gold 4 Green 4 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
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
There is only 3 WEEKS until the St Raphael's P&F Christmas Fair which is on Friday 25th November so please save the date. Christmas Fair from 5.30-8.30pm. Rides begin at 5.30pm.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS Be a part of something great… The Christmas Fair is one of our biggest fundraisers for the year. The profits buy wonderful resources for the students. We can’t do it without your support. As always we are looking for volunteers to help with the many facets of the fair. Donating just 30 minutes of your time will make a huge difference and put a proud smile on your child’s face. Volunteers are needed to help set up and pack down the fair, sell tickets for rides or run raffles (come on Dad’s and Granddad’s!), help with the Cake, Uniform or Jazzy Container stands and so on. You can help before, after or during the Fair. VOLUNTEER CONTACT: If you are interested in volunteering please contact Laura Cranney at straphaelspnf@gmail.com, 0418 412 177 or complete the volunteer slip and return to school. 2016 CHRISTMAS FAIR VOLUNTEER FORM Name: _______________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Phone Number: _________________________________________________________________________ Contact Email: _________________________________________________________________________________ I am able to volunteer to work at the stall between (Please circle): Set up | 5.30-6.00 | 6.00-6.30 | 6.30-7.00 | 7.00-7.30 | 7.30-8.00 | 8.00-8.30 | pack down
CHRISTMAS MONSTER RAFFLE This year we are doing something a little different and having a Monster Raffle instead of the Christmas Hamper Raffle. All prizes are being donated by some wonderful businesses so parents do not have to donate to the raffle this year. Raffle ticket booklets will go home with students today. If you need extra booklets please collect them from the front office. JAZZY CONTAINERS Please send in your Jazzy Containers for the Christmas Fair. Each child will be provided with a new plastic container to use. You can use clean plastic containers with a secure lid if you require extra containers. Use your imagination to fill your jars with new items. Stationary bits and pieces, wrapped lollies, party supplies, hair accessories, art and craft supplies small toys are always popular. The class nd that brings in the most Jazzy Containers will get a FREE PIZZA LUNCH! Containers with 2 hand items or unwrapped lollies won’t be counted. UNIFORM STAND nd Has your child grown out of their uniform? Please send in your unwanted 2 hand uniforms to be sold at our uniform stand, especially any small sizes. This is a great help to parents and helps to raise money for the school. Uniforms can be left at the office. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au