St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 4, Week 9/A Newsletter 5 December 2016 Second week of Advent Dear Parents, Today Stage 3 cricket representatives perform at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – what a hard earned and wonderful opportunity! Excitement among the students almost matched that of the parents it seems. We’ll keep you posted about their progress via facebook. Congratulations to Mrs Alison Downes on the excellence of the feedback from the Deloittes auditor last Week. It is wonderful to have high quality work acknowledged by external authorisers. Congratulations to Miss Angela Calvert who has accepted a teaching appointment at St Joseph’s, Blayney. While she will be sadly missed we enjoy the many benefits of her immense investment in the St Raph’s family. Miss Gabriella Zideluns has been appointed to the secondary teaching position in HSIE / Business Studies and Legal Studies. Miss Zideluns will be visiting to meet staff and students and work on the handover of programmes and classes.
Lord, through the darkness, we look for your wisdom. We want our hearts to be open to you. But sometimes in these days, it seems that so many things come between us. Help us to be awake and aware of the radiance you bring to our lives. Help us to be grateful each day for the blessings of family and friends. Let us be peacemakers in our own lives and in the world. Let us pray especially for this difficult world And for those who are so much in need of an end to violence. Our hearts beg for this as our Advent prayer today. Amen
Thanks also goes to Miss Katherine O’Brien for the investment she has made in our Year 1 students during her teaching block. We wish her well for her further studies at Australian Catholic University. Awards Day on Friday has the whole school on display for the community. What we choose to recognize and award says a great deal about our school and all parents are encouraged to attend. The awards will be presented from 9:30-11:30 at St Raphael’s Church. Level Seven and Eight students (in our Behaviour Management Plan) will be having a special treats 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 Principal P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Monday 5 P&F Meeting at 7pm. Tuesday 6 Happy birthday to Nicholas Brown. Secondary Subject Awards Assembly at 12pm. Wednesday 7 Happy birthday to Cameron Forsyth and Emily Savage. Level 6 First Wednesday of the Month Mufti Day. Thursday 8 Happy birthday to Joe Waters. Friday 9 St Raphael’s Awards Day 9:30am. Happy birthday to Dempsey Farrell-Gray and Holly Wilson for the 10th and Michelle Grech, Josie Gundersen, Parneet Kaur and Natasha Smaluck for the 11th.
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal Spirit of Christmas Christmas is a season of giving. Everyone seems to be a little more generous and charitable around Christmas. Although the spirit of giving can abound this time of year, the spirit of “me-ism” can quickly sneak in if we’re not careful. As much as we want our children to get excited about all of the festivities of the holidays, we also want to teach them to focus their hearts and minds outward on others— just as Jesus Himself did. One way of doing this is to support the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. Our local Vinnie’s this year have expressed a need for gifts for 8 -12 year old males and females. Families are encouraged to support the valuable work that Vinnies do and to also experience the importance of giving and thinking of others. Please bring unwrapped gifts to the front office by th Friday 9 December (week 9)
8 Green Anointing Mass th On Wednesday 14 December, 8 Green students will attend the Mass of Anointing of the Sick at 10am in Saint Raphael’s Hall. The Mass is followed by morning tea. Traditionally our Year 8 students provide the morning tea, serve as wait staff and assist with cleaning up afterwards. This is a valuable link with our parish and an experience of service for our students. The attendance of the students is greatly appreciated by the parishioners and the students themselves benefit from this connection. Students are asked to please provide one plate of either: savoury finger food, slices of fresh fruit or something sweet to eat for morning tea. Food is to be left at the front office on the morning of the mass. Please label all containers you wished to be returned. Disposable plates are easiest. Any school community members who are praying for healing are also warmly invited to attend. Date for the Calendar Friday 16th December End of Year Mass 9.15am Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 10 Dec: Marcus Mullins, William Harris. th Sun 11 Dec: Volunteers Please. School Readers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 10 Dec: Ms K Slaven. School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sun 11 Dec: Mr M Gallagher. School Computer Roster th Sat 10 Dec: Price Family. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
St Raphael’s Awards Day Parents and friends are invited to the 2016 St Raphael's Catholic School Awards Day to be held in St Raphael's Catholic Church on Friday 9 December at 9.30am. All students must be in full school uniform. K-6 End of Year Class Parties and Discos As you may already be aware we are approaching class party and disco time with great excitement. Our end of year class parties and discos will be held on Wednesday the 14th December in Week Ten. Each child is asked to bring a small amount of food to share with their class. Class parties will commence after recess. After lunch, the children will then participate in the Infant's or Primary Disco. The Infant's disco will be held in St Brigid's Hall and the Primary disco will be held in St Raphael's Hall. All children are invited to dress in mufti with a Christmas theme for the day. We look forward to a fun day for all. I-RESPECT As part of the school’s ongoing plan to provide learning opportunities of all types for our students, workshops addressing issues of respect have been arranged for the last week of Term 4. The workshops are focused on areas of self-respect and respect for others, delivered as half day sessions for students in Stages 4, 5 and 6. The workshop for girls will be delivered by an experienced facilitator and will address body image, selfawareness, physical differences and positive self-talk. It’s important that our young women keep hearing messages which encourage positive thoughts and beliefs about themselves and how they look and feel to counter the often fake images projected by social media and other sources. The material will be delivered in age-appropriate groupings. The workshop for boys will address respectful relationships and conducted by PDHPE trained staff who are connected with CYMS Rugby League Club, Orange. The material has been delivered to other local secondary schools and involves presentations, physical activities and role plays. The workshop day is Thursday 15 December. All students will attend and are required to wear sport uniform. The workshops are subsidised and there is no charge for students. Special thanks to Miss Larissa Atkinson for setting up the workshop experiences. HORIZONS: Introducing an initiative designed to give our students the opportunity to explore the horizon and beyond in the world they inhabit. Horizons introduces our young people to experiences and the world through visiting guest speakers who bring new and interesting insights into diverse aspects of current thinking and events. Already the program has welcomed Dr Amber Beavis, an ex-student of St Raphael’s, who currently works for Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, as a Senior Researcher.
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Amber spoke to groups of students in Years 6-11 about her work and her particular interest in the scientific study of spiders around the world. She was excited to return to her old school to visit and has made a commitment to maintain an outreach program with St Raphael’s in the area of Science communication. Another special guest with the Horizons program was ABC journalist and presenter of the current affairs daily radio program A.M., Michael Brissenden. The school was delighted to host Michael when he visited Cowra, the town where his grandparents lived and his father was educated. Michael spoke to students in Years 8 and 10 about his experiences as a foreign correspondent in international hot spots such as Kosovo, New York post 9/11, London and Washington. This tied in so well with the English units these students study which explore the poetry of war and the story of a young boy in the Bosnian conflict in the 1990’s. Michael Brissenden speaking to St Raphael’s students Under the Horizons program more interesting speakers will be available to inspire the students of St Raphael’s. Sue Whiteley - Pastoral Care and Student Wellbeing
K - 2 Swimsafe This Wednesday, all children attending the Swimsafe lessons at the pool, are asked to bring with them a change of clothes that they can wear into the pool. This activity is to simulate falling into the water fully dressed and to let the children experience the extra weight of the water in normal clothes. Winter pyjamas are best, but any clothing that is long sleeved and has long pants will be fine. The students will start the lesson in these extra clothes doing safety activities, before then stripping back down to their swimmers to complete the lesson. As you can imagine, these long, wet clothes have a fair amount of weight to them by the end, so an extra strong bag will need to be packed on this day to save things falling out of broken plastic bags on the slow journey back to school. Thank you for all of your efforts with our very important Swimsafe lessons in Week 1 last week. The children are not only having a great time in the water, but also learning heaps.
CDP School Photos A note to all parents - you are still able to order your child/ren’s 2016 school photos online up until Dec 16th – last day of school. After this date you will need to contact Cliff Dykes Photography as the images will be taken down in preparation for next year. Thank you. P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues 6 Karen Campbell
Wed 7 CLOSED
Rachel Elwin
Thurs 8 Tracey Gunnyon
Fri 9 Kirsty Langfield
Mon 12 Sally Bruncher
Lisa Mallon
Nicky Hudson
Lisa Lette
Anna Thirkell
2016 P & F Christmas Fair Wrap The St Raphael’s P & F would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to everyone involved in the 2016 Christmas Fair. Without the dedication and help from the school’s parents, events like this one could not take place and we are very truly blessed to have these parents help raise funds for our school. Monster Raffle Winners: Below is the list of all winners that won a prize in the Christmas Fair Monster Raffle. All prizes can be collected from the front office during office hours. Vicki Williams
T Burton
Jade Browne
Lyn Terry
Zara McKenzie
Charlie Stephenson
Lisa Sheehy
Mikey McNamara
Val Lynch
Jill Twadell
Natalie Goard
Han Kang
Warren McKenzie
Toby Raynolds
Toby White
J & C Zarb
Lyn Teuvy
Kim Andrew
Michael Allen
Nat Buckley
Dawn Stedman
Louise Bugeja
Katie Wilson
Cathy Gee
Damien White
Angela Bosswell
Stacey
Finney
Bernie Sheehy
Bernadette Kelly
J Tonuri
Narelle Elgar
Ray Heilman
Adam Dharygck
Sienna Acret
Vivian Giallourakis
Dominic Henderson
Lauren Davies
Liz McKay
J Reid
Shane Louttit
Lachlan Shady
Jan Hughes
Patrick Twigg
Jenny Brydon
Sienna Launder
Claire Spora
Doorey
Sally Oliver
Julie McLennan
Paul Griffin
Jess Moriarty
Angie Charman
Rachel McKenzie
Other Winners from the night were: Year 4 WINNER takes all Lottery Tree: Brooke Smith. $20 meat voucher from Cowra Cash Butchery: Jenni Fitzsimmons. $50 cash: Beau Ford. Lolly jar: William Pearce.
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
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Teacher photo guessing comp $25 Sports Power voucher: Julie Gorham.
2016 Christmas Fair Sponsors: We would like to thank the following businesses that contributed through sponsorship and donations to make our Christmas Fair a success. Cowra Bus Service
Ten Pin Bowling Dubbo
Thompson's Transport
Absolute Beauty
Canberra Avenue Villa's
Bushman's Boots & All
Cowra Motorcycles
The Closet
Dream Body Retreat
Relish
Cowra Newsagency
Mr Embroidery
Questacon
National Dinosaur Museum
KS Floral Designs
Sports Power
Style For Women
Martin's Betta Electrical
Ginger & Gelato
Taronga Zoo
Target
Lot 31 @ The Imperial
Jamieson's Joinery
Unearthed Homewares
Breakout Brasserie
Lachlan Steel
Cowra Dry Cleaners
Norman C Bellamy
Cockington Green Garden's
Natural Beauty
The Perfect Health Centre
Muddle Transport
Hutcheon Pearce
Style Design Create
Cowra Cash Butchery
Cowra Vet Centre
Belinda Pullen
Chris Bakery Grenfell
Cowra Machinery Centre
Odeon 5
Hippity Hop
Domino’s Pizza
P&F Meeting All parents and friends are welcome to our last P&F meeting of the year at 7pm tonight in the Staff room.
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
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au