St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 4, Week 9/A Newsletter 4 December 2017
Dear Parents The Australian Catholic Youth Festival is a gathering of
15,000 - 20,000 Catholic young people from around Australia and runs from Wednesday to Sunday in Sydney. The festival has a brilliant programme set up for participants. We have three staff and twenty one students attending (the biggest contingent of the diocese). Thank you to Peta Bischof, Kat Allan, Fr Laurie and Larissa Atkinson for making available the five days ahead. All My Own Work is a compulsory short course for all Year 10 students entering Stage 6. The course is about referencing and acknowledging intellectual property and will be conducted tomorrow. Also on tomorrow is the Secondary Special Awards Assembly. Primary families had their Special Awards Assembly last Friday. On Friday the junior Student Leaders (Year 6 2018) were informed of their roles. I am proud to announce the following: Vice captains: Kaitlyn Rutledge and Orlando Perry Junior Prefects: Sophie McLennan, Georgia Williams, Carter Langfield and Lucas McKenzie Congratulations to these students and their families. They will be formally inducted at the opening Mass of 2018. 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 awards 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.
First Sunday of Advent Advent, the season of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas, should be a time for families to come together in prayer. Advent is a season of anticipation. The anticipation of Advent comes from anticipating the birth of the Christ in Jesus of Nazareth. Advent is a time to celebrate the coming of the King and to spend time reflecting on the implications of that for humanity: mostly, this centres around the forgiveness of God, God’s compassion, God’s love. In our hectic modern world, however, it is easy to get distracted, and the Christmas music on the radio and decorations in the stores tend to increase our anxiety. No wonder so many people are tired of Christmas by the time Christmas Day finally arrives! Lord God, only you can see into my heart and know that under all the busy-ness of my life there is a deep longing to make this Advent one that welcomes you more deeply into my life
Monday 4 Happy birthday to Darby Hubber, Cooper Pullen and Arheeshay Ryan iDevice Workshop 3-30 – 4-30 Tuesday 5 Secondary Awards Assembly 12-20-1 All My Own Work – Year 10 Wednesday 6 Australian Catholic Youth Festival - Stage 5 Thursday 7 Happy birthday to Cameron Forsyth and Emily Savage Australian Catholic Youth Festival - Stage 5 Friday 8 Happy birthday to Connie Hinton-Besant and Joseph Waters Australian Catholic Youth Festival - Stage 5 th
Michael Gallagher Principal P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Happy birthday to Alice Jennings for the 9 and th Dempsey Farrell-Gray and Holly Wilson for the 10 .
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
costs to participate at the upcoming Pacific School Games. The Parent’s and Friends Association would like to congratulate Ky on his achievements in his sport and wish him success at the Pacific School Games. St Raphael’s Catholic School Parents & Friends Association
Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 9 Dec: William Pearce and Oscar Whitty th Sun 10 Dec: Meg Jones and Cate Gallagher School Readers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sun 10 Dec: Claire Spora School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sun 10 Dec: Sue Whiteley School Computer Roster th Sat 9 Dec: Renae Downes th Sun 10 Dec: Marg McMurtrie
St Raphael's Annual Presentation Day The 2017 St Raphael's Annual Presentation Day will be held on Thursday 14 December at 9.30am at St Raphael's Catholic Church. It will conclude at approximately 11.30am. Morning tea in the convent courtyard will follow. Students who are to receive an award will receive a pink letter with relevant information. Secondary Special Awards Assembly The Secondary Special Awards Assembly will be held on Tuesday 5 December at 12.20 at St Brigid's Hall. It will conclude at approximately 1.00. This assembly recognizes students who will receive awards for academic achievement or effort in each Key Learning Area. Students who are to receive an award will receive a blue letter with relevant information. Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues 5 Karen Campbell
Wed CLOSED
Lisa Mallon
Thurs 7
Fri 8
Mon 11
Charlene Williams
Angela Kollas
Sally Bruncher
Dianne Franks
Ammie Broad Kylie Kollas
Supporting Our School Community At the recent November meeting of the St Raphael’s Parents & Friends Association a motion was put forward to support students representing the school at a national level. The motion was supported unanimously. Prior to his departure for the Pacific School Games Ky Garratt accepted a contribution from St Raphael’s P & F Association to assist with his
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
SCHOOL HOLIDAY JUNIOR CHESS TOURNAMENT ORANGE WHERE: St Barnabas Anglican Church Parish Hall Corner Dora and McLachlan Streets East Orange WHEN: Thursday 25th January 2018 TIME: 9:45 am to 3:30pm ENTRY FEE: $10 [$5 for additional family member] PRIZES: Trophies for 1st, 2nd & 3rd in Under 18 and Under 12 Coaching Voucher for 1st place in U18 and U12 REGISTER BY: 23 January 2018 latest by contacting one of the following Junior Chess Coordinators: 1. Alexander Aich Mob. 0408 200 564 alexander.aich@gmail.com 2. Joe Cummins Mob. 0411 271 224 heather.cummins@optusnet.com.au WHAT TO BRING: Your own lunch and refreshments You don’t have to be good, this is a fun tournament. But a knowledge of the rules is required and tournament conditions will be applied. 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 Go4Fun Online Is your child… Aged 7-13 years old? Above a healthy weight? In need of support to improve eating and activity habits? Go4Fun Online is a NEW and FREE program that helps children and families improve their eating and physical activity habits. There are 10 weekly online sessions and phone calls from a trained and qualified coach to help keep participants on track. Preliminary testing of the program resulted in excellent participant outcomes and the NSW Office of Preventive Health is now aiming to recruit up to 100 families (particularly from rural/regional areas) to a full pilot test of Go4Fun Online starting Term 1 2018. Interested families are encouraged to register or find out more: Phone: 1800 780 900 or access the website: https://go4funonline.com.au Go4Fun online provides: Information and support to improve eating and physical eating habits Fun games for participants and their families Weekly tokens and prizes for eligible participants. Learn to Swim My name is Maddie Cain and I will be starting my swimming lessons from the 11th of December until the end of January. I am a fully qualified swim instructor with the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association (ASCTA) and can teach your children to swim from the ages of 4 & over in a fun and friendly environment at the Cowra Aquatic Centre. At this stage I will be running lessons on Tues, Wed and Thursdays and I am happy to work out suitable times. Lessons will go for 20 minutes and will be $15 per child. If you have more than one child and would like to combine them in the one lesson, the time will be extended to 30 minutes with the first child staying at $15 and every child after that $10. If you are interested please contact me on 0456411288 or message me via Facebook
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au