Messages From Don Respect Safety Learning Trust

[Pages:8]St Joseph's School Renmark

Term 3 Week 8 ~ 11th September 2015 sjsr.catholic.edu.au

Messages From Don

Respect Safety Learning Trust

Dear St Joseph's School Families, As I write my last newsletter for the term and prepare for my leave over the next two weeks, I welcome some much needed family time but know that the school will be in very good hands. I wish Michael, Ruth and Susan all the best with their leadership during this time and know that they will be well supported by our excellent staff. Eva Wheatley Special Assembly: This was a very humbling experience. As a parent and as our Principal, I had the upmost respect and admiration for Eva's family, Sharleigh, Don and Isabel. I was also very proud of Mrs Luxton and her students for their powerful participation. We were all filled with many feelings and emotions. Eva has taught us all many valuable life lessons which we hope will make us reflect on our own lives and make us all better people.

others.

The learning outcomes have been

extraordinary, but it has been hard work. In today's

society, our children are spending more and more

time with solitary, technology driven play and may

miss the opportunities to develop skills and knowledge

necessary for functioning in the adult world. At St

Joseph's the staff are committed to continue to work

with the students to work through these challenges

and continue to teach real life lessons.

Humanitarian Refugee Crisis in Europe:

Over the past few weeks, we have seen some very

disturbing images of the refugee crisis in Europe.

The United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR,

estimates that 366,402 refugees and migrants have

crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe this year,

with 2,800 dead or missing. This week Pope Francis

and Bishop Greg have implored all Catholic

Eva Wheatley's family accepting our donations

Marbles: As parents do we remember the traditional games that we played at school? Dominoes, Jacks etc. With the help of our Year 7s, Dain and Connor, the game of marbles has recently found its way back at our school. We have seen positive interaction with many students engaging in this fun filled game. However, we have been confronted with numerous challenges. We have had tears. We have had to negotiate, establish rules and mediate discussions. We have had to teach winning and losing, making rules, team work etc. We have talked about resilience and accepting losing. We have seen honourable acts of generosity and care for

Students learning `Real Life Lessons' with marbles

institutions to show mercy to the flood of refugees. As a Catholic School we are called to show care and concern for others and be better neighbours to those in desperate need. We pray that Australia can adopt a bipartisan approach to this unfolding tragedy and respond to the call of the many families whose lives have been changed forever. Operation Christmas Child--Shoe Boxes of Love: This year our school will again be participating in Operation Christmas Child to show our care and compassion for children living in poverty stricken countries. Each class (and the staff) will have two shoeboxes, one for a girl and one for a boy. These

boxes will be filled with gifts over the next four weeks and then sent off to be delivered to a child at Christmas time. Every year millions of children around the world are touched by the power of a simple gift... a simple gift-filled shoebox that is a warm and real expression of God's unconditional love for a child in need. More than 100 million shoeboxes have been packed and sent to kids in need around the world since Operation Christmas Child began in 1993.

the two inserts, Cybersafety and Protective Practices which are included in this newsletter. The week will conclude with Mass this Sunday where the focus will be on reminding our whole community about protecting our children. We are encouraged to attend and support this most important cause. Class Lists for 2016: Parents who wish to request consideration for their child's placement in classes for 2016 are to submit their requests in writing to me outlining

Children happy to receive Shoe Boxes of Love

What is involved? Each class and the staff will be looking for donations of new items for a girl and a boy to add to their shoebox. The collection period will be from now until the end of term, as we need to send them off in October to ensure that they will reach the children by Christmas. The suggested gifts to donate for the boxes include: Something to LOVE Something for PERSONAL HYGIENE Something to WEAR Something for SCHOOL Something to PLAY WITH Something SPECIAL National Child Protection Week: National Child Protection Week aims to engage and educate all Australians to understand they have a part to play in keeping our children and young people safe from violence, abuse and neglect. At St Joseph's, we support and promote communityled prevention. Our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our students and we believe that by working together with the wider community we will help protect children and young people. Please read

The refugee crisis in Syria

sound educational reasoning for the request. All requests must be submitted by the end of this term. Requests regarding specific teachers or the type of class structure will not be considered. Class structures and the placement of teachers into teaching roles is the responsibility of the school. Whilst every educational based request is considered, not all requests will be able to be met, given the complex needs of our school community. Father's Day Breakfast: I must acknowledge the fantastic support that was displayed at our recent P&F (Parents and Friends) Father's Day Breakfast. We again had excellent numbers which highlights another dimension of what P&F is all about. The amazing success was felt in the positive vibe that was experienced and the meaningful discussion and interaction that was shared. The goal was to highlight the value that dads have on the lives of their children and to show that parenting is a shared responsibility. The feedback was fantastic and I personally thank everyone for their involvement and look forward to sharing more experiences with the dads of our community.

Special thanks to Keiren, Derek and Andrew for cooking and to Lynny and all the staff for their help and support. Sensory Garden: Our Sensory Garden is certainly progressing well. I wish to thank the many families and staff who have volunteered there time and services. I also wish to acknowledge our local Mitre 10 who are generously supporting the materials for our pergola. We look forward to sharing the final stages in the coming weeks.

also congratulate Jack James with his win in the online P&F footy tipping contest and thank all competitors for participating. I hope many will join me again next year. Go Swans!

Regards

Don DePalmal

New Family: I wish to welcome Darren, Teresa, Heath and Brett Baker to our school. We wish them well as they start their education journey in our St Joseph's Community.

It is certainly an appropriate time for a change from our Winter to Summer uniform! From now until the end of term, there will be a changeover time where children can wear either Summer or Winter uniform. From the start of Term 4, all children need to be wearing their Summer uniform. I wish everyone all the best as we cheer on our footy teams in the upcoming finals. Good luck to footy grandfinalists, Darren Bright and the U13's and also to Matty Martinson and the B Grade. I

Mr DePalma with Brett and Heath Baker. Brett is Year 2 in Miss Allen's class and Heath is Year 5 in Mr Luxton's class.

Shshsh, go Crows!!

Star Student Awards presented at our recent assembly

L-R: Harrison Keynes, Nick Demou, Dino Atsaves, Sukhraj Gill, Brodie Hunt, Madison Young, Sophie Robertson & Blake Barton.

L-R: Breea Martinson, Tammy Tran, Colby Lawton, Paige Vause, Zaide Seekamp-Hannagan, Ryan Ranford, Allira Sweetman, Lachlan Wittwer & Sasha Jenke.

RELIGIOUS IDENTITY & MISSION

Child Protection Sunday 12th September: In the context of Child Protection Sunday we are provided with an opportunity to reflect on the words of Pope Francis who in a letter written on 2nd February 2015 to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences and Superiors of Religious Institutes stated that "Families need to know that the Church is making every effort to protect their children. They should also know that they have every right to turn to the Church with full confidence, for it is a safe and secure home." What part do we play in this `shared responsibility' of working to ensure the Church is a safe and secure community? In the Australian context through Child Protection Week and in particular this Sunday we are asked to be `someone who listens to children', someone who will start a conversation with children and if needed, be that someone whom children will turn to when in need.

love. Each person is unique. The human body is sacred. We are called to be moral. Everyone has the right to be safe from

harm. Sexuality is a gift from God. The four focus areas in the Child Protection Curriculum are: The Right To Be Safe Relationships Recognising and Reporting Abuse Protective Strategies These complement the learning within Religious Education, including ``Made In the Image of God' (MITIOG), KidsMatter and Health and Physical Education, as well as being given their own focus within the life of our school.

St Joseph's School Renmark and Our Lady of the River Catholic Parish are committed to ensuring our school and our Church are places safe and secure for all children and that we all will be "someone who listens to children". For further information please visit http:// .au/ncpw/

Child Protection Curriculum: This curriculum highlights that everyone is responsible for making the future safe and secure for all children. Classes throughout the year engage in learning based on the Child Protection Curriculum, with the religious dimension including themes such as: God's love is revealed to us in and through

relationships with others. Humans are deserving of the utmost dignity

and honour. We are intrinsically good. We are gifted by God with free will. Human beings are relational and are called to

SHOE BOXES OF LOVE: The school is again involved in the Shoe Boxes of Love program. Families are asked to support this initiative. We are encouraging each child to bring in at least one item to be added to their class box. You have until Monday 19th October to participate in the program. Your support is greatly appreciated and will change the life of a child.

Susan Frawley

Parish Connections

As part of the St Therese Feast Day on Sunday the 18th of October we are hoping to present a photographic timeline of the Parish and School. To create this we are asking members of our school and parish community to bring in photographs to the front office they wish to share with us.

STUDENT WELLBEING

KIDSMATTER CHAMPION: Our Newest KidsMatter Champion is Ayden Schloithe. Ayden received his award for showing excellent resilience in the yard, always enjoying himself and brushing off minor problems. As well as always being polite, positive and caring to others. Well Done Ayden!

INSIDE OUT MOVIE: This term classes have been learning all about feelings and emotions in their Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons. Students have been learning how to: Understand what causes feelings. Predict situations likely to trigger certain

feelings. Identify feelings in themselves and others

(physical/behavioural signs). Find constructive ways to deal with feelings. For this reason and also to reward students for the great work they have been doing this term.

The KidsMatter Action Team have organised for the whole school to go to Chaffey Theatre to watch the movie Inside Out on Thursday the 24th of September at 9:30am. This will be provided free of charge to all students. Inside Out is a great movie that explores the feelings and emotions people experience and ties in wonderfully with the work being done in classes.

AMAZING RESILIENCE FORUM: We invite all parents/carers and family members to the Community Forum to hear Andrew Fuller talk about building resilience and the part we all have to play in this (see info on the left). This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from an amazing speaker and one of Australia's leading Child Psychologists on a topic that is so relevant to our children today. Don't miss this opportunity! Andrew is entertaining and very "down to earth". We guarantee that you will find his session enjoyable, very interesting and thought provoking. There are a limited number of tickets available. To guarantee your place go to the link on the flyer or come into the front office and register your interest. For more information come in and see your child's teacher.

Tony Luxton, Amy Thompson & The KidsMatter Team

STUDENT LEARNING

Premier's Reading Challenge

We have had a record 165 students complete the Premier's Reading Challenge for 2015. Congratulations to all of those students. All outstanding forms must be returned ASAP. Challenge Cup points will be announced next week. The awards and medals will be presented next term.

STUDENT FREE DAY

on

Wednesday 16th September

due to Staff Professional Development. Out of Hours School Care (OHSC) is available. Please contact Nicole for arrangements 8586 4481 This replaces our normal SFD of first day of Term 4.

Therefore, Term 4 will start on

Monday 12th October.

THRASS

We had a visit from our THRASS consultant, Pete recently. He worked with teachers and students in evaluating where we are all at in THRASS and what the next step is in the process of continual improvement.

Choir visits Aged Care

The residents at our Aged Care Facility really enjoyed a recent visit from our Choir. Well done to all the students and thank you to Mrs Ruth Daws for her leadership and taking them.

Eva's family visit

Physical Education

State Rep: Congratulations to Isabella Cant who competed in Melbourne at the National Cross Country Championships. Izzy finished 4th in Australia (first for SA) in a field of 35 runners. She finished with a time of 8.24, a personal best over 2000m, just 14 seconds from the lead. Izzy was also part of the South Australian relay team that finished in first place. Well done Izzy!

Year 5/6 Ultimate Frisbee: On Wednesday the 9th of September the Year 5/6 classes went to the Renmark Soccer oval to play a round robin Ultimate Frisbee tournament. We would like to say a big thankyou to Kieran Johnson and Mr John Pick who came with us and helped umpire and also filled in when required.

Pogo Pulse: 22 Students have been training really enthusiastically on a Tuesday ond Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon in the lead up to the Pogo-thon. The students have been working hard on their endurance and learning new skills. We have many students who are able to jump with one or no hands, skip, shoot basketball goals and jump hurdles while on their pogo sticks. If you would like to see our great skills, feel free to come and watch on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 8.30am-8.50am. We would also like to invite our community to our Pogo-thon on Friday the 16th of October, which is national bounce back day which is raising awareness for resilience .

Year 1/2/3 Football: Students participated in a mini Football carnival recently as part of their PE program. Great fun was had by all.

COMMUNITY

Parents & Friends Community

Raffle tickets: Please continue to send in your sold (or unsold) books so we can finalise before the end of Term. Thank you for once again supporting this easy fund raising activity for your child's school. Footy Tipping: After a great season of fine tipping it all came down to the last round to sort out the best from the rest. Our overall winner with a grand total of

Woolies Stickers

146 was Jack (UGOODTHINGS). Derek (Power Surge) was second on 144 and it took until the final round for Todd (Josh n Todd) to pull clear for outright third. Thanks once again to everyone who was involved. Please come into the front office to collect your prize. Good luck to your team if they are in the finals!

P&F Community

As you know, our school has been participating in the Woolworths Earn & Learn program. The program has now finished for this year, so a big thanks to everyone who supported our school. We're now at the important stage of the program where the Sticker Sheets are collected and lodged as our Earn & Learn claim. We will then be able to get new educational equipment for our school. The more we collect, the more we can redeem. So this week, please send in your Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker Sheets and any loose Earn & Learn stickers you may have. Remember to check your handbag, the car glove box or they maybe stuck on the fridge. Every little bit helps. Thanks again for all your support!

Volunt

Pleas are

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