Mary MacKillop Feast Day

Illustration of Mary Mackillop by Aarvika Byreddy in Foundation. 

On August 8th, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of Saint Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint. Mary MacKillop lived a life marked by courage, compassion, and a strong faith in God. She recognised that many children, especially in remote and disadvantaged areas, lacked access to quality education.  

In response to this need, she founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, dedicated to providing education and support to those often overlooked by society. Through her efforts, Mary inspired countless families across Australia, ensuring that every child had the opportunity to learn and grow. 

MacKillop Week celebrations

As a Josephite school founded by the Sisters of St Joseph, we are proud to embody Saint Mary MacKillop’s mission to bring hope and dignity to all. This year, we marked her Feast Day with a series of joyful and meaningful celebrations. On Tuesday, students and staff enjoyed a simple bowl of soup as part of our Souper Servings of Hope Day, reminding us of Mary’s compassion for those in need. On Wednesday, our Year 5/6 students rolled up their sleeves to bake delicious treats in preparation for our Feast of Hope, which we shared together on Thursday after a whole school liturgy led beautifully by our Year 5/6 class. The food was enjoyed by all, and the spirit of community was alive and well. 

We are deeply grateful to Woolworths, Bakers Delight, Oliver Holm and family, Morris Brown and family, Archer Courtney and family, and Laura and Hannah Geyer and family for generously donating ingredients to make our celebrations possible. We also thank all families for supporting our fundraising efforts. Together, our Mary MacKillop Week raised $1020, which will be split evenly between St Vincent de Paul’s Winter Appeal and Catholic Charities’ Socktober campaign. Your generosity has helped us continue to plant seeds of hope in our community, living out Mary MacKillop’s call to “never see a need without doing something about it.” 

Mary Mackillop Poetry 
The 5/6 students have cleverly written acrostic poems that capture Mary’s values, her dedication to education, and her mission to help those in need. These poems beautifully reflect the students’ understanding of Mary’s life and her call to serve. 

Confirmation

We ask our school community to please keep Jack Burnett in your prayers as he prepares to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday 30th August in Renmark. This is a special step in Jack’s faith journey as he receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit and strengthens his commitment to live as a follower of Christ. 

May God bless, Jack, with courage, joy, and a heart always open to the Spirit’s guidance.  

OLOR Mass Times - St. Mary's Church, Berri

Sunday August 17^th  – 9:00am – School Parish Mass

Saturday August  23^rd  – 6:30pm

Saturday August 30^th - 6:30pm Confirmation Mass in Renmark

Sunday August 31^st – 9:00am

Sunday September 7^th – 9:00am

Saturday September 13^th  – 6:30pm 

Sunday September 21^st – 9:00am Confirmation Rite of Commitment.

Saturday September 27^th – 6:30pm 

Sunday October 5^th – 9:00 am

The current edition of the Catholic newspaper put out by the Archdiocese called,' The Southern Cross,' is available at Southern Cross Latest Issue

Rosemary Perre

APRIM

What an incredible few weeks it's been at OLOR! Our students have been busy with a wide range of fantastic experiences, showcasing their talents and embracing new challenges. From SAPSASA Basketball to our moving Wakakirri performance and our engaging Science Week activities, it’s clear that our students are thriving. We're passionate about offering diverse learning opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom, and this past fortnight has been a perfect example of that commitment.

Thank you to our incredible school community for making our recent celebration of St Mary MacKillop's feast day such a special and meaningful event. Last week, we honoured Australia's first saint by reflecting on her legacy of compassion and service to those in need. Inspired by St Mary MacKillop's life, we held a fundraiser to support the important work of Vinnies (the St Vincent de Paul Society) and Catholic Missions.
These organizations continue her mission by providing essential support to families and individuals in our local area and around the world. Thanks to your amazing generosity with our soup day and Feast Treats, we were able to raise a substantial amount of money that will make a real difference in the lives of many. We are so grateful for your support and for helping us teach our students the importance of kindness, generosity, and community. Your contributions truly embody the spirit of St Mary MacKillop.

Our Year 5 & 6 basketball teams recently competed in the SAPSASA Basketball tournament, and they represented our school with pride. Both teams tried their best and put in great efforts, winning a few games and being outplayed in a few others. They all tried their best and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout the day, and we couldn't be prouder.

Last Friday, our dedicated Wakakirri troupe performed at the Norwood Concert Hall. After months of hard work and preparation, their performance was a powerful and moving one. Their performance, which explored the theme of Mind Over Matter: Tales of Inner Strength, told the story of Michelle Payne. The students did a great job bringing the story to life and should be proud of their efforts. The smiles on the students' faces as they took the stage made the long day—filled with travel, rehearsals, and makeup—completely worth it. A huge thank you goes to Mrs Owens for her tireless organization, choreography, and persistence. Her dedication was instrumental in making this event such a success. We also appreciate the support of Ms. Moll-Short and Mrs. Slagter on the day. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students, and we’re so glad we could be a part of it. I’m sure the families who were able to attend would agree.

National Science Week was once again a hit, with each class learning about the importance of protecting our reptiles, and the differences between the types found in our local ecology. Our YEL team taught students about the diverse lizard populations in our area and what they can do to keep their environment healthy. We thank Mrs Steele for her support and leadership of this, as well as Cindy Kakoshke, the Education Officer from the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.

We have even more to look forward to next week with Book Week, a yearly highlight where students get to celebrate their favourite books and dress up as their favourite characters. We invite all families to join us for our always-colourful and fun parade on Thursday morning.

Our choir is also preparing for the Riverland Schools Music Festival, another fantastic opportunity for them to share their talents and be part of a bigger community event.

As you can see, this term is full of rich experiences designed to help our students discover what they love and celebrate their passions. It’s a joy to watch them grow and succeed, and it’s what makes all the effort worthwhile.

Mr Michael Slagter
Principal

Assembly Awards

Congratulations to Aziya, Gurkeert, Morris, Maci, Hannah G, Auriea, Mia, Harry, Hannah E, Kahra and Catie who all received Certificate of Achievement Awards at our 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 -

Troy - RESPECT

Hannah - KINDNESS

  Gurbaz - RESILIENCE 

 Gracie - BEING YOUR BEST 

Choir

Last Monday, our choir headed to the Berri Town Hall for our final cluster rehearsal. Our students have been doing a fantastic job learning the lyrics and choreography for all of our songs. We are looking forward to our performance at the Chaffey Theatre in Week 6.

If you would like to attend, tickets are now on sale from the Chaffey Theatre website!

Wakakirri

Last Friday our amazing Wakakirri troupe travelled to Adelaide to perform at the Norwood Concert Hall. All of our students demonstrated excellent resilience through their tremendous effort, positive attitudes and determination. Our performance received the following awards and feedback:

Show Awards:

• Storytelling Award for Story Theme and Concept
• Ensemble Award for Dancing and Acting
• Production Award for Sets and Props
• Stage Managers Award for Teamwork (on-stage and off-stage)
• Creative Production Award for Minimalist Production Design

Ambassador Feedback:

"What a wonderful group of students on stage tonight! This was a refreshing and different story from what we’ve seen so far, and I really enjoyed it. A wholesome, original work where the students truly gave it their all. Shout out to the lead for showing wonderful stage presence and taking us on the journey seamlessly putting the story together. 

The message and storytelling were clear and engaging, brought to life through the playful use of props and costumes that added charm and personality. Thank you for sharing such a heartfelt piece with us!"

 - Kate Burgess, Wakakirri Ambassador.

Book Fair

Premier's Reading Challenge

The 4/5 class have had an exciting start to their Digital Technologies unit! We were lucky to have our IT specialist Rama come in to show us the parts of a computer and teach us how computers work. We learned so much and saw how computer parts are doing more even though they’re getting smaller!

In Religion, we have learned how the earth is God’s Common Home and how we need to take care of the animals, each other and the earth’s resources. Because our class loves kangaroos so much, we decided to make a difference to our world by creating Facebook advertisements and podcasts to convince drivers to take more care on the roads to protect our amazing creatures. Keep an eye out on the school’s Facebook page for our advertisements, but here’s a sneak peek …

In addition to this, in Design Technology we wanted to contribute to the great work that Sally Arnold is doing at Wildwood Park Sanctuary by designing, building and decorating bird houses and bird feeders to go in her bird aviaries. Our orphan joey Cherry is now living at the sanctuary with some new roo friends.

Riverland SAPSASA Basketball Carnival

On Friday the 1^st of August, 16 students from Year 5 and 6 represented OLOR in the Riverland SAPSASA Basketball Carnival. Both teams competed well against some tough opposition. All representatives demonstrated great sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the day. Students showed committed to learning the game and improving their skills. Thanks to Mel Pfeiler for her support and helping to coach.

SAPSASA State Carnivals

There have been two state SAPSASA carnivals so far this term. Congratulations and well done to Jaxon Curyer for competing at the State SAPSASA Golf Carnival as well as representing the Riverland in the State Soccer Carnival.

Sports Day

The 2025 OLOR Sports Day will be held at St Francis of Assisi College in Renmark on Wednesday the 24^th of September (Week 10). We are looking forward to a fun day filled with teamwork, resilience and sportsmanship. More information will be coming out as we get closer to the date.

Upcoming Events

Thursday Week 7 – Hot Shots Tennis (Years 3 and 4)

Thursday Week 9 – SAPSASA Cricket (Years 5 and 6)

Wednesday Week 10 – Sports Day

Luke Dunn
PE Teacher