St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 4, Week 9/A Principal Newsletter st 1 December 2014
Dear Parents The P&F Christmas Fair last Friday was both an excellent function and blessed by glorious weather. Thank you to the many helpers from among the student body, the parent community and the wider Cowra community. The way Ona Lawrence orchestrated our efforts so well without appearing externally ruffled was inspirational. That so many are prepared to give support to this school speaks volumes about the calibre of this community we enjoy. Thank you and congratulations. It is with regret that I inform you that Mr Mark Wisemantel is taking leave from St Raphael’s during 2015. We all wish Mark well as he goes north to work nearer to his family. Recruitment is currently underway to find a suitable replacement for Mark next year. Pedestrian safety has recently become an issue on Liverpool St in front of the school. Bus drivers have reported a degree of confusion among motorists in the afternoon due to children stepping onto the crossing then back to the footpath and being indecisive. The pedestrian message will be given at school through classes and assemblies and there will be observations made at the crossing. As parents, please reinforce the safety message. As motorists, please be on high alert. Level Seven and Eight students (in our Behaviour Management Plan) will be having a special treat together by way of reward for their consistently good quality decisions they have made throughout the year. Recognition of achievements in the classrooms and other arenas is being made at the two special assemblies and Awards Day. Soon, too, the Semester Two Reports will be circulated, detailing specific achievements for each child. Recognition and celebration of achievements is a major motivator for us all and I am sure your families will find appropriate ways to celebrate hard earned achievements too.
Michael Gallagher P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
A belated Happy Birthday to Maddison Tremble who th celebrated her birthday on Thursday 27 November! And a correction from last week – it was Aaron Dhrygck’s birthday last Thursday, not Adam’s! My apologies. Monday 1st Happy birthday to Charlotte Cooper and Arheeshay Ryan Tuesday 2nd Kindy Liturgy 10.30am St Brigid’s Hall Secondary Special Awards Assembly 11.55am – St Raphael’s Hall Wednesday 3rd
Thursday 4th Happy birthday to Darby Hubber and Cooper Pullen Primary BMP Level 7 McDonalds Visit School Social Yrs 6-10, 7pm-10pm St Raphael’s Hall Friday 5th Secondary BMP Level 7 Treat Day th
Happy birthday to Nicholas Brown for 6 , and th Cameron Forsyth for 7 December
2014 Christmas Mass Timetable
Christmas Eve –Wednesday 24th December Gooloogong 6.00pm Eugowra 6.00pm Cowra 7.00pm Family Children’s Mass Cargo 7.00pm Cudal 7.00pm Canowindra 8.00pm Woodstock 8.30pm Cowra 10.00pm Christmas Day – Thursday 25th December Canowindra 8.30am Wyangala 9.00am Cowra 9.00am Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 6 : Oliver Groves, Brian MacCabe th Sun 7 : Katherine Johnston, Sophie Johnston School Readers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 6 : St Raphael’s School Leaders School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sun 7 : Mrs Bischof School Computer Roster th Sat 6 : St Raphael’s School Leaders th Sun 7 : Mrs McMurtrie
Homework. This is the last week of homework for Years One and Two. Thank you for your support in working with your children each week. Kindergarten Liturgy Our Kindergarten Liturgy is on Tuesday 2nd December at 10.30 in St Brigid's Hall. All are welcome and please join us for a cup of tea/coffee following the 'production!' You can join in play time with the children then which should bring back memories. Library News Chess: Year 3 and 4 Knockout: Eloise Cains was our winner for 2015 after a very competitive series of games with twenty four students participating overall. The tournament ended with a round of games between Eloise, Nick Brown and Bridie O’Connor. The talent of all who played was fantastic with lots of hard fought games. Last Friday’s Assembly was presentation time for the overall library class merits for 2015. The following classes were presented with their gift: Kindergarten B, 1W, 2P, 3M, 4D, 5G and 6S. Congratulations. There are still a few books not returned and it would be appreciated if parents could check with students if they have received an overdue note that may not have been passed on. K.Skinner Librarian Special Awards Assembly - Primary th Friday, 28 November Last Friday, four students from each were acknowledged for their efforts and achievements in each homeroom. These awards recognise a student’s efforts and achievements over the course of the year. Well done and congratulations to these students. Students who received awards are listed below. Class Award Recipients KB Tobie Hubber, Arheeshay Ryan, Jack Miller, Harriet Perry KF Drew Langfield, Pyper Muddle, Bronte Keen, Layla Healey P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
1SO Josee Bruncher, Jack Campbell, Imogen Ousby, Clare Harris 1W Laura Price, Ky Garratt, Aarthika Baskaran, Emanuel Kollas 2P Phoebe Smith, Annabelle Sturgiss, Luca McKenzie, Lily Gee 2W Lachlan Shady, Max Myers, Madison Anthony, Isabella Thompson 3M Scarlet Shepherd, Jack Webb, Emma Clements, Stanley Rush 3S Dekota Hindmarsh, Imogen Chambers, Max Cruickshank, Dominic Henderson 4D Flynn Bennett, Emma Wilkinson, Hollie Orford, Charlie Williams 4J Sophie Johnston, Charli Hubber, William Norton, Luke Banks 5G Ruby Frazer, Tayah Burns, Hugo Skene, Adam Vardy 5O Joel Stendell, Alexie Buchtmann, Catherine Gallagher, Chloe Wilson 6C Matthew Cumming, Joe Sullivan, Katherine Johnston, Emma Chalker 6S Madeline Webster, Tristan Anthony, Lucas Pearce, Georgia Chapple Also acknowledged at the Primary Special Awards Assembly were those students who represented the diocese in athletics this year. These students are: Riley Langfield, Luke Banks, Hayden Mullins, Kate Price and Mikelli Garratt (Mikelli also made the Polding Squad). Ky Johnson received a belated diocesan certificate for swimming. Congratulations to all these students. Secondary Awards Assembly nd Tuesday, 2 December Secondary subject awards are to be presented at an nd assembly in St Raphael’s Hall tomorrow: Tuesday, 2 December. These subject awards acknowledge students’ efforts and achievements during the course of the whole year. Other awards to be presented are athletics diocesan representation certificates. The assembly will commence at 11.55am and will conclude by 12.55pm. Letters of invitation for parents to attend this assembly were given to the relevant students last week. NOTE: Students are to wear their summer school uniforms to the Secondary Assembly. Speech Day Annual Awards Presentation th Tuesday, 9 December The Kinder – Year 10 Annual Awards Presentation will th be held in St Raphael’s Church on Thursday, 12 December. This awards day commences at 9.30am and will conclude prior to 11.30am. This presentation day is the culmination of the awards presented to the students. The end-of-year awards assemblies prior to this occasion included the Primary Special Awards, Primary English and Maths Awards and the Secondary Subject Awards. Speech Day provides an opportunity to acknowledge students in the year group classes for the categories of: - Religious Education and Gospel Values Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
-
Academic Achievement
- Application and Industry - Special Community Awards - Achievement and Effort in Sporting Categories NOTE: All students will be wearing their summer school uniforms to the Annual Awards Presentation. Change in Uniforms Secondary Assembly (Dec 2) Annual Awards Presentation (Dec 9) All students are to wear their summer school uniforms for these special events. That is, Secondary Assembly (Tuesday, December 2) and K-10 Annual Awards Presentation (Tuesday, December 9). Parents are asked to please note the dates and ensure students are wearing the correct uniforms on these days.
Infant Christmas Parties Monday 15th December. Children can wear Christmas colours to school if they wish but must wear sensible shoes. The classes will have their Christmas lunch together then everyone will dance the afternoon away. Teachers will inform you about the food for the day. Level 7 Lunch One of the privileges for primary students who have reached Level 7 on the school’s Behaviour Management Plan is to leave the school with Mr Maher and Mr Jeffries to have lunch at McDonalds. A note has been sent home and returned. The date planned th for this lunch is Thursday, 4 December. Some Important Dates and Events As the school year comes to a close there are a number of celebratory events. Please note these in your calendar. Some will draw individual permission notes while for other events the newsletter is the only source of information. nd Tue, 2 Dec: Secondary Subject Awards Assembly th Thu, 4 Dec: Primary Level 7 Lunch at McDonalds th Thu, 4 Dec: Year 6-10 Social (St Raphaels’ Hall from 7-10pm) th Fri, 5 Dec: Secondary BMP Level 7 Treat Day th Tue, 9 Dec: Speech Day (Annual Awards – St Raphaels’ Church at 9.30am) th Wed, 10 Dec: Level 7 Primary BMP Special Treat Day th Thu, 11 Dec: Year 10 Graduation Liturgy, Mass and Dinner th Thu, 11 Dec: Stage 3 Girls (National Cricket Finals – Melbourne) th Thu, 11 Dec: Primary Reports (given to students) Secondary Reports (mailed home) th Fri, 12 Dec: Swimming Trials for Year 2-5 students - Preparation for next year’s swimming carnival
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
th
Mon, 15 Dec: Kinder – Year 2 Dance (2-3pm) - Mufti clothes for these students on this day th
Mon, 15 Dec: Year 3-6 Dance (St Brigids Hall from 1.30 – 3.00pm)- Mufti clothes for these students on this day th Tue, 16 Dec: End of Year School Mass th Wed, 17 Dec: Last School Day (for students) Vinnies Christmas Appeal As you will be aware, this year for our school Vinnies Christmas Appeal we are asking for donations of Christmas Gifts for Children in our community. Following is a list of age groups that each stage can buy for. However, if you wish to buy a gift for another age group you are more than welcome. What age group to buy for? Kinder – Babies Stage 1 – 1-3 year olds Stage 2 – 4-6 year olds Stage 3 – 6-8 year olds Secondary – 10-12 year olds Please wrap and label all gifts with age and gender. Cake Stall – Breast Cancer Foundation Don't know what to make your kids for a treat on Wednesday?? Let some Year 7 students do it for you and raise some money for a good cause along the way! On 3rd December students will be selling cakes and small treats for $1-$2, with all money raised going to the Breast Cancer Foundation. The students are raising the money for the Foundation as some of their family members went through this terrible trauma and they would like to make sure that as many women as possible will survive thanks to the research provided by funding. School Magazine Orders – The CROCUS If the old adage of "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true then this year's THE CROCUS school magazine would have in excess of 900,000 words or would be over 4,500 pages in size. Invest in your child's history. Order a copy of this year's magazine by week 7 of this term. Please complete the order form at the end of the newsletter with your numbers wanted. If 100 copies are ordered the cost will be $34.50 per copy If 200 copies are ordered then the per copy cost drops to only $23.50 Orders to date ONLY
82
CDF Banking Please note that this is the last week for school. Bank books need to be at the school by Tuesday morning for processing. Thank you.
YIKYAK ~ Concern For Parents Another App has hit the market that is causing concern and issues amongst communities. As yet, this app is not mainstream in Australia and New Zealand but certainly could be on the way. As always the app itself Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
isn't inherently concerning. However the purpose and functionality make it an app of choice for those wishing to do the wrong thing. The app is a communication posting platform that has two features being that it promotes anonymity and operates through GPS location whereby only those within approximately 2km can be involved in the conversation. The owners of the app have acknowledged that it can create issues with young people and are implementing a technical solution to limit access in schools and colleges. This is app could be used as a vehicle for cyberbullying. Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues 2nd Lisa Day
Wed 3rd CLOSED
Katie Wilson
Thurs 4th Jacinta Hines
Fri 5th Mary Cooper
Mon 8th Karen Campbell
Cathy Gee
Cindy Langfield
Sally Bruncher
Heather Keen
Mark Fardell was the lucky winner of our Christmas Hamper wheel barrow this year (wheel barrow kindly donated by Jamiesons Joinery). The other winners, each of whom won a laundry basket full of goodies were: Cate Gallagher, Peter Ryan, Ruth Harper and Deenita Mitchell. Congratulations to all of the very lucky winners! Don’t forget to visit our website for updates of all that is happening with the P&F and for adding your views. www.straphaelspnf.wordpress.com
Children are collecting food waste from the playground and feeding the worm farm and compost. Waste also comes from Mrs Stokes at the canteen. The worm farm is proving extremely popular with the children, fascinated by these tiny creatures and what they can consume. A great idea from 2P...a wish list of all the things they would love to grow...starting with blueberries! This week saw a lot of boy power visit the garden. With plenty of muscle on offer, we collected worm juice from the worm farm and fertilized all the plants. Due to increasing demand and popularity more strawberry plants were planted, kindly donated by Mrs Sharon Groves. LETTUCE FOR LUNCH ORDERS A milestone reached….our first harvest...fresh lettuce was picked by KB and delivered in person to Mrs Stokes at the canteen. This lettuce was washed and dried and helped fill lunch orders! The garden is proving extremely popular with the boys, another boy based contingent in the garden during Week 4. This week we have conducted basic soil tests to check the pH levels of our beds, this experiment proved very popular, so we did it twice! Only to be rewarded with news that our current pH is perfect for growing vegetables. We have been collecting coffee grounds from a local coffee shop, adding to the compost, worm farm and directly onto beds.
KINDIGARDEN HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
ROLL OUT the BLUE BARRELS! The first week saw the survival of all our plantings, something to celebrate. Week 2 saw the rolling out of the blue barrels. This idea derived from the Northern Territory, these barrels are set up as wicking containers they have a water reservoir in the bottom from which the plants draw their water, thus reducing evaporation from the top. With the help of 2P these containers now hold tomatoes and snow peas. We also added rosemary to our herb plantings.
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
WATERMELON! We have also set up our “harvest table” a great place to investigate, learn and create. Keep up to date with garden developments and offer assistance by visiting the Facebook page St Raphael’s Productive Food Garden
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
SCHOOL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT,ORANGE Summer Reading Club Choose your own adventure at COWRA LIBRARY this summer COWRA LIBRARY invites children and families to join in the adventure by participating in Summer Reading Club activities being delivered from Thursday 4th December to 31st January 2015. The Summer Reading Club is a free online and inlibrary holiday program, run in partnership with State Library of Queensland and the Australian Library and Information Association. This year, the Summer Reading Club is all about adventure! Dodging danger, outwitting archnemeses and journeying beyond your wildest imagination are at the heart of local Summer Reading Club programming. There are lots of activities online too and the opportunity to win great prizes! From an online scavenger hunt with Encyclopaedia Britannica, to Word Hunting What Happens Next story writing with Nick Earls and Terry Whidborne, there is so much to do. You can also meet 21 of Australia’s favourite authors and illustrators and preview their newly released titles. The Summer Reading Club is delivered nationally, giving participants the opportunity to connect with children right across the country. Last year 34, 576 Australian children registered for the Summer Reading Club and collectively read more than 230,000 books. Children can join in the fun at COWRA LIBRARY or online at www.summerreadingclub.org.au Highlights of the Summer Reading Club at COWRA LIBRARY include: Summer Reading Club Launch on Thursday 4th December at 11am in the COWRA LIBRARY Club participant get togethers around the Reading Log in the COWRA LIBRARY Adventure stories and movies to borrow
JUNIOR
CHESS
WHERE:St Barnabas Anglican Church Parish Hall Corner Dora and McLachlan Streets East Orange WHEN: Thursday 22ndJanuary 2015 TIME: 9:45 am to 3:30pm ENTRY FEE: $10 ($5 for additional family member) rd PRIZES: Trophies for 1st, 2nd & 3 in Under 18 and Under 12 th REGISTER BY: 20 January 2015 at the latest by contacting one of the following Junior Chess Coordinators: 1. Alexander Aich: Ph 6884 4561 alexander.aich@gmail.com 2. Joe Cummins: Ph 6362 6882 heather.cummins@optusnet.com.au WHAT TO BRING: Your own lunch (soft drinks and bottled water for sale) You don’t have to be good, this is a fun tournament. But a knowledge of the rules is required. The games will be timed with chess clocks. Don’t worry if you have never played with clocks. You’ll be told how they work. The results will be sent to the NSW Junior Chess League for ratings. Chess, the clever sport School Magazine Order Form Name: _____________________________________ Phone: _____________________________________ Child: ______________________________________ Class: _____________________________________ Number ordered: _____________________________
For more informationCOWRA LIBRARY Darling Street, COWRA 6340 2180 cwl.cowra@bigpond.com
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au