Our Lady of the River School eNewsletter

On Wednesday 9th April, Troy, Jack and myself traveled to Port Pirie for the Chrism Mass, a beautiful celebration of hope and renewal where the holy oils used in the sacraments were blessed, and priests from across the Port Pirie diocese gathered to renew their commitment to serving the Church and community. For Jack and Troy, the day was unforgettable—highlighted by their roles as candle bearers and the opportunity to see the majestic organ up close.

I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our families for the incredible support you've shown for our Caritas campaign this Lent. Your contributions through our various fundraisers, including the successful coinline, Harmony Day casual dress, weekly prayer collections, and the staff Compassion Cafe, have made a significant impact.

Together, we’ve raised a total of $1,280. This generous support will truly make a difference in creating a more just and compassionate world. Thank you for standing with us and for your unwavering commitment to this important cause. Your kindness inspires our school community and extends hope to those in need.

In lines of coins, like seeds we sow,

With every gift, small hands bestow.

A garden grows from hearts so kind,

Where love and hope are intertwined.

To all the families who gave and cared,

Your kindness bloomed in all you shared.

With grateful hearts, we thank you true—

This hope-filled garden grew from you.

Easter Play

Today, our students performed an outstanding retelling of the central story of our faith, presenting the pivotal events that led to Jesus’ final breath on the cross. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to develop their public speaking skills, but more importantly, it allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of the story and the great mystery we celebrate on Easter Sunday.

As we left the hall, we were filled with a mix of sorrow, gratitude, and hope as we contemplated Jesus’ crucifixion and the depth of His love for us.

EASTER MASS TIMES:

Holy Thursday - Berri and Loxton 7pm

Good Friday - Renmark and Barmera 3pm, Waikerie 5pm

Holy Saturday - Berri 7pm

Easter Sunday - Morgan and Renmark 9am, Loxton and

Waikerie 11am, Barmera 6pm

This Easter, as we reflect on the seeds of hope planted by Christ’s resurrection, may your hearts be nourished with faith and renewed strength. May the hope of Easter bloom in your life, bringing peace, joy, and love. Wishing you all a blessed Easter filled with the promise of new beginnings.

Rosemary Perre

APRIM

As we finish Term One, I look back and I’m amazed at how much we’ve done. From the start of our building program with the relocation happening in the holidays, to First Communion, Children’s University beginning, SAPSASA, Lent, and everything else in between, OLOR has certainly been a busy place! Our students have been amazing in their efforts and we thank families for their support of the school and their children. We always look for ways to make OLOR better and thank families for their feedback.

We had a successful day at SAPSASA Athletics last week. Our students put in great efforts, and their sportsmanship and positive encouragement of others was great to see. Thanks to Mr Dunn and Kirrilly for their support of students on the day.

We also took part in SAPSASA Hockey on Wednesday this week. Once again our students show great efforts and did themselves proud. Thanks to Ms Moll-Short and Kirrilly for their efforts with the team.

As we approach the culmination of Lent and head into Easter in the holidays, let us prepare our hearts to celebrate the glorious feast of Easter! This is a time to rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, over two thousand years ago, and the promise of eternal life for all believers. Easter Sunday itself is a day of immense joy and celebration. We invite all families to attend the Easter Vigil Mass at 7pm on Easter Saturday.

This week in Port Pirie the Diocesan Assembly culminated with the Chrism Mass, which is a significant liturgical event in Catholicism celebrated annually before Easter. During this Mass, the bishop blesses or consecrates holy oils used in various sacraments and rituals throughout the year, including for Confirmation for students in our school. One of our Confirmation students, Jack, and Outreach Captain, Troy, attended with Mrs Perre. It was a grand service at St Mark’s Cathedral. Bishop Karol was joined by all of the priests in the diocese, as well as representatives from each school, for the occasion. This was a fantastic experience for our students to be part of.

A big thankyou to those who were able to join us today for our Easter play. Students have been preparing for weeks, learning songs and lines, and they did themselves proud today. The reverence and respect they showed to the story was evident, and they presented themselves very well. Thanks to the teachers for their efforts in getting the students organised for this important event.

As mentioned above, during the school holidays our transportable classrooms will be moved to the bottom of the oval, and prepared to be used again as classrooms from the start of Term 2. We then look forward to the beginning of our building program soon after. This will be a time of much interest and excitement across the school, as we look at what the future holds and what to look forward to.

We hope all families enjoy the chance to spend more time with their children over the holidays. Term 2 starts on Monday 28th April and we have plenty to look forward to, including camps, excursions, Catholic Education Week and many more things. Have a great break and see you next term!

Mr Michael Slagter

Principal

Many thanks to all who sold tickets, bought tickets and donated to our Easter Raffle.

The draw took place on Thursday 10th April and the winners were -

1st - Jorja Shugg

2nd - Maci Millar

3rd - Roly Beviss

4th - Curyer family

5th - Gracie Moldovan

6th - Sue Record

7th - Emma Grigor

8th - Murray Knowling

9th - Max O'Loughlan

10th - Charlee Geyer

First prize winner, with the ticket sellers Laura and Hannah

Hannah and Laura were acknowledged today for their fantastic effort of selling over 30 raffle books for the school.

Assembly Awards

Congratulations to Troy, Sriyan, Lucas, Laura, Amanat, Zeek, Luca-James, Vasili, Nathan, Ellie, Bexley and Shelby who all received Certificate of Achievement Awards at our last assembly in recognition of their efforts during the past few weeks.

PBIS Awards

We were also proud to announce our PBIS award winners for earning the highest number of points in each category. Congratulations to -

Vasili - RESPECT

Stellar - KINDNESS

Heartley - RESILIENCE

Hannah - BEING YOUR BEST

We are very excited to introduce our orphan joey “Cherry” to our school community. Cherry was rescued by a park ranger in the Flinders Ranges. She is a red kangaroo and is approximately 5 months old. Cherry spends all her time in a pouch, and drinks special kangaroo formula 4 times a day. She needs to be kept warm, have lots of sleep and get lots of cuddles. We will care for her until she is big enough to be out of the pouch full time. Then she will go to live a happy life at Wildwood Park Sanctuary with lots of other kangaroos. We weigh her every Tuesday to make sure she is putting on weight. So far, she has put on 256 grams! We need to use our subtraction skills to calculate how much weight she has gained.

HELP: Very soon, Cherry will be eating chaff. Does anyone have a shopping bag of oaten or wheaten chaff they would swap for a box of chocolates?

In other maths news – we have been working hard learning all about decimal numbers. We had great fun ordering decimals using two different representations and then laying down our ordered representations to see if they matched. We felt very successful!

SAPSASA Athletics

Last week, on Wednesday, 16 students represented OLOR at the Riverland SAPSASA Athletics Carnival in Waikerie. Students competed against other Riverland primary schools in a variety of track and field events. All students demonstrated outstanding effort and determination across all disciplines. Congratulations to Jack Burnett, Ashton Wilson and Ada Dalamagas for achieving a top 3 position in their events.

SAPSASA Hockey

The Riverland SAPSASA Hockey Carnival was held on Wednesday of this week. A team of 11 students represented OLOR at the event. All competitors demonstrated great resilience and developed their skills of the game as the day went on. The team won 3 out of 4 of their games, just missing out on a spot in the grand final. We would like to thank Charlize Camilleri-Turner from Berri Regional Secondary College for helping to coach the team.

Upcoming Term 2 Events

Week 2

SAPSASA Boys Netball

SAPSASA Girls Netball

Week 4

SAPSASA Cross Country

Week 7

SAPSASA Soccer

Week 8

SAPSASA Golf

 Luke Dunn
PE Teacher

This year, Young RMS is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary, and co-directors, William and Grace, have created Bedtime Stories - A musical showcasing songs from shows YRMS has produced before, as well as new songs never performed on RMS stage. The Young RMS program is an opportunity to showcase the various talents of Riverland children aged 7-17 who are interested in learning a range of skills, including singing, acting and dancing, to produce a musical.

There are 38 very talented young people involved in this year's production from 16 Riverland schools. Seven students from OLOR are involved in this performance - Anna, Laura, Grace, Mia, Theodora, Lucia and Hannah, plus Keisha is the assistant director, co-choreographer and production manger, and Julie is one of the rehearsal assistants.Perfomances are at the Bonney Theatre in Barmera during the upcoming school holidays.

Performances are on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of April at 1pm and 3:30pm. Tickets go on sale on Sunday 23rd May at 10am through Trybooking: www.trybooking.com/DABQW.

To stay up-to-date with information regarding our show, please follow our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/share/15kQJza1gr/