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- Year 6/7 Pizza Slice Fundraiser
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Celebrating our Patron Saint, Mary of the Cross Mackillop – 8th August
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop emulates all that is the Australian Spirit. Her hard-working, resilient nature in the face of challenges, her inclusiveness of all people, especially the marginalised and the broken, and her constant efforts to keep other's happy. Her kind-hearted ways and commitment to the schooling of children from poor and rural communities established a model of Catholic education that we continue today. She is truly a Saint for and of Australia!
It is from St. Mary of the Cross’ humble beginnings and her Josephite values our school is founded. Therefore to celebrate St. Mary Mackillop's Feast Day, Our Lady of the River School honoured our Patron Saint with a Mass dedicated in her honour on Monday, 9th August. Mass was hosted by the Year One and Two class and officiated by Fr. Paul Bourke. It was lovely to be able to celebrate with some of our parents and parish community. To commemorate St. Mary and her mission to do all that she can to provide for the poor, students and staff dressed up in the late 1800s attire and donated towards supporting members of our local community who face challenging times.
Sometimes, Mary MacKillop would visit schools armed with a tin of sweets and a spoon. Each child received a spoonful of sweets. To replicate Mary’s kindness and love of children, OLOR students received a special treat from Mary Mackillop in the afternoon. It was a delightful day enjoyed by all.
Let's endeavour to live like St Mary each and every day.
"Never see a need without doing something about it" -St Mary MacKillop
Youth ministry ad.
All youth are invited to an online Youth Games Night. If you would like to participate please follow the links to register.
Youth Games Night 1st September, 7:00-8:30pm (12-17 Years of Age)
Registration closes August 31st.
Registration - https://www.pp.catholic.org.au/caring-for-our-community/youth-and-young-adult-ministry/youth-online-games-night-registrations
Young Adults Games Night 17th September, 7:00-8:30pm (18 Years +).
Registrations close 9th September.
If you are interested in being a Youth Leader in your community. Click the link below to find out more and register.
Minnie Vinnies
This year our Senior students have been involved in our Minnie Vinnies program. Our Lady of the River School has partnered up with our local St. Vinnies to help pack boxes of food which St. Vinnies distribute throughout the community. Our Minnie Vinnies adventure began during the season of Lent when Mr. Fewster was generous enough to meet with our Year Seven students and explain the valuable work St. Vinnies does to support people in need in our own hometown. Students were then invited to offer their services to help pack boxes weekly. All Years Seven students were happy to roll up their sleeves and lend a hand. Thank you to Mr. Fewster and all of the St. Vincents de Paul Volunteers, who have worked with our students throughout the year. You have helped our students take small steps to help out in our local community. We look forward to continuing our work with you in the future.
Sacrament of Confirmation Important Dates
Wednesday, 25th August 4:00pm | Parent Information Session in the Multipurpose Room. |
Friday, 10th September 9:30am until 2:30pm | Confirmation Retreat Day in the school Hall. |
Sunday, 19th September at 9.00 am | Sacrament of Confirmation in the School Hall. |
If you have any questions, contact Rosemary Perre.
A Prayer for our Confirmation Students,
Father in Heaven,
We ask for your blessings on our students as they celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation.
May their hearts be open to the
Holy Spirit to be their helper and guide.
And through the work of the Holy Spirit
may their life be a witness of
Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,
Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness,
Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-control and Chastity.
Amen
It is with mixed emotions that I write my last newsletter for 2021. At the end of next week, I will sadly cease caring for many people I am blessed to work with each day and gladly continue caring for the most important people in my life, my family. It won’t be long until I can share all of that love with the newest little blessing in my life, and I could not be more excited about revisiting the role of being the Mum of a brand new little precious soul again.
I want to thank all of the people who have turned my workplace into a home. To Mrs Oates, Fr. Paul and the amazing Staff at OLOR. Thank you for your smiles and encouragement each day. I will be forever grateful for the leadership opportunities I have been given at OLOR. Both APRIM and Inclusive Education Coordinator roles have offered deep discernment and great discovery. You inspire me each day to learn more and achieve my best.
To the wonderful students at Our Lady of the River. Thank you so much for the beautiful messages you all wrote for me last week. They are still adorning the art room, but once I have some time to put my feet up, I will most definitely read each one, and I look forward to sharing them all with Baby Perre one day. Thank you also for the warmth, the memories, and the learning we have shared.
Thank you to the supportive parent and wider school community for entrusting me with the special role of working with your children and nourishing their faith journeys. It takes a village to raise a child, and the partnerships I have made with parents and the wider community over the years has been nothing short of remarkable. It has been challenging to achieve our goals at times, but it is always worth the hard work and dedication.
So, it is goodbye for now, but not forever. I will be sure to pop in during my time of leave to say hello, and I will return next year sometime to resume the terrific friendships I have encountered at OLOR.
May the generous hospitality of God's gracious love be with you always.
Wishing you God’s richest blessings,
Rosemary Perre
APRIM
Dear Parents, Caregivers, Staff, Students and Friends,
Welcome to our Week 5 newsletter! We've had some beautiful sunshine this week, and the community is literally 'blossoming'. The impressive almond orchards, a sea of white, is special to witness as we travel around the Riverland. A small blessing in still uncertain times.
Thank you all for doing your best to follow current health advice, ensuring the safety and well-being of our community members. We continue to ask you to use our Kiss and Drop as much as possible to say goodbye to students. Please remember to wear your masks if you do need to come into the school grounds, and not to enter classrooms, unless your child is distressed. We understand that some of you hold exemptions and are therefore not required to wear a mask; please let staff know and adhere to social distancing guidelines. This continues to be the advice that is based on the recommendations from SA Health. I will certainly keep you updated as soon as this advice changes and restrictions are eased.
Pulse Survey
This week, all the children have responded to the Term 3, Pulse Survey, which helps measure their general well-being at school. Catholic Education South Australia provides this service to all students to have a voice to express their feelings about school and how they are tracking. We believe that for all students, the classroom has the potential to be a place in which they feel safe, secure, welcomed and accepted.
Some children attend school with a range of complex needs, and often they are receiving professional assistance with their distress, sometimes inside the school and sometimes outside the school. In addition to professional allied health support, our teachers provide a safe nurturing environment for the children, essential in the healing process. Similarly, the school has a school counsellor and extra help in the classroom to support student well-being and learning needs. We have hard-working Education Support Officers in every year level who support the learning process. Our Lady of the River provides ongoing training to our teachers in techniques for deescalating and calming anxious children so that they can access the learning they need to grow as confident people. We also provide children with a regular routine and clear expectations for appropriate behaviour, talking regularly about 'A' choices being a priority.
This year, something new to our school in the daily teaching process is students are involved in their learning process by communicating regularly and referring to the Learning Intentions of their year-level curriculum and co-constructing what success looks like with their teacher. Teachers working with students on the 'Success Criteria' ensures that our students know exactly what success 'looks like', and their pathway to achieving quality learning.
Living Learning Leading Survey
Today, all families received a flyer last week (via Seesaw) introducing you to a survey we are currently conducting about the school climate and the Catholic Education Living Leading Learning Framework, in conjunction with Curtin University.
We value your feedback greatly, so all parents are invited to participate in the survey as an important opportunity to let us know how things are going for you and your child/ren. CESA and school staff will use the data to identify strengths and areas to work and build upon as part of our continuous improvement.
Please be assured that your feedback will be anonymous and confidential.
We would appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey. To get started, use the QR code below or go to www.NSIPartnerships.com.au and enter the access code OLTRLLLP.
'Never see a need without doing something about it.' Blessed Mary Mackillop.
Ros Oates
Principal
The Year 5 class have successfully graduated from the iheart Resilience and Wellbeing program. I have been so impressed with these students and how they have reflected on their learning about their psychological system, their innate wellbeing and the way we can feel boxed in by attaching labels to ourselves and others.
Next week we celebrate Book Week (Saturday 21st until Friday, August 27 (Week 6).
The theme for Book Week this year is 'Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds'.
Thank you to Sandy Sando, who has come up with many creative ideas for us to be involved in during the week to celebrate books and the enjoyment and learning we can get from them.
Our whole school dress-up day will be Wednesday, 25. Unfortunately, the Year 6/7's will be on camp, but I'm sure the rest of the school will have a lot of fun.
We will commence the day with a parade, enjoying the costumes that have been put together. We will have a free sausage sizzle lunch. If you can help cook/serve the BBQ, please let Karlie in the office know by email or phone call.
Hopefully, you have your costumes ready related to the theme of 'Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds'. We invite all students to participate positively in the day and that everyone dresses in some way according to the theme or any other costume related to a book character.
A few ideas: unicorn, dinosaur, astronaut, Minecraft, Harry Potter, Captain Underpants, Princess, Prince.
If you need any help at all with ideas or costumes, please let us know. We would love all children to have the opportunity to be involved. Other activities that we will be involved in will be:
- Visits to the Berri Public Library
- Reading and listening to the shortlisted books for the Book Week 2021 awards
- Visit our fantastic school library and a daily new book released for the students
Premier's Reading Challenge 2021 final reminder
All completed forms for the Premier's Reading Challenge need to be in by Friday 3rd September.
Sandy Sando
Library ESO
Would you mind ensuring that your child's uniform and school items are clearly named to reduce the number of children looking for lost property? We require donations of good quality secondhand uniforms, especially the sizes 6-12 for girls and boys. Please bring any donations of uniforms to the front office.
All classrooms at OLOR have a designated time for eating fruit in our morning sessions. We are currently finding large amounts of fruit, especially apples, discarded into the compost bucket with very little eaten.
Teachers will be instructing students to put large pieces of uneaten fruit back into their lunch boxes. Plenty of time is provided for eating the fruit, but if your child chooses not to eat a large portion of it, we ask that you check their lunch box and provide other alternatives. If possible, cutting up larger fruit into recyclable containers or bags would be appreciated.
We are very excited this week to have our newly purchased school van returned with this amazing identifying wrap. Thank you to Karlie Vince in Administration for all her design.
The school van will be starting a drop off at Berri OSHC (Out of School Hours Care) next week. Can you please inform Karlie in Administration, as soon as possible or text Mrs Oates if you would like your child dropped off daily or particular days of the week. Parents will need to sign a permission form in the Administration office prior to a child accessing the van service.
Hi all,
School sport is back up and running in Term 3 after some earlier delays due to COVID-19.
On Tuesday, 17th August, four OLOR students competed in the SAPSASA Riverland Golf Carnival at the Berri Golf Course. Congratulations to Mitchell, Slater, Paul and Riley for their efforts. Slater, Paul and Riley have also been selected in the Riverland team to compete in Adelaide. Well done lads!
Today, fourteen OLOR students will compete in the SAPSASA Riverland Basketball Carnival at the Loxton Sporting Complex. Our boys will be competing in Division 2, while our girls will battle it out in Division 1. We wish all our competitors the best of luck!
Have a great weekend!
Kind regards,
Mr Thomas Charlton
Year 7 Teacher/Sports Coordinator
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Tues Week 5 – Golf @ Berri (students only) |
Fri Week 1 – School Cricket Cup @ Berri |
Fri Week 5 – Basketball @ Loxton |
Week 4 – Cricket State Carnival (Year 6/7) @ Adelaide |
Tues Week 9 – Hot Shots Tennis @ Berri (Year 3/4) |
Week 5 – Tennis State Carnival (Year 6/7) @ Adelaide |
Mon Week 10 – Country Track and Field Championships @ Adelaide |
Fri Week 6 – Softball (Year 5/6/7) @ Glassy Park |
Last Thursday, 12th August, our Year 7 class held the first assembly of Term 3 in the hall.
Unfortunately, family members were unable to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions, but it was still good to see all students and staff make an appearance. Each class conducted themselves respectfully, making for an amazing audience.
Our theme for the assembly was ‘The Olympic Games’, and so we acknowledged the extraordinary performances of Australia’s athletes in Tokyo. In addition, a podium was set up for our various speakers and award winners on the day.
Perhaps the highlight of the assembly was the humorous yet thought provoking ‘Stop – Rewind – Spend Time’ videos produced by our Year 7 students during Religious Education. Each video had a strong message: Hospitality of presence means that we give our time and just be there for the people in our lives. When we spend time, or are present, we are showing people that they really matter and are important to us.
Once again, I would like to thank all staff and students for attending our assembly, and hope that families will also be able to attend the next time we host.
Kind regards,
Thomas Charlton
Year 7 Teacher/Sports Coordinator
Year 6/7 Pizza Slice Fundraiser
Thank you to all families that contibuted towards the Yr 6/7 Pizza Slice Fundraiser.
Also, a huge thank you Jayne Wishart and Effie Efthimiou for organising everything.
Together we raised a profit of $623.
Regards
Pat Perre
Finance Officer
If you have any questions, please contact the school on 08 8582 1128 or email patperre@olor.catholic.edu.au
Topic | Term | Week |
School Attendance | Term 2 | Week 3 |
Walk Safely to School | Term 2 | Week 3 |
Canteen Price increase | Term 2 | Week 1 |
Transition Students | Term 2 | Week 1 |
Term 2 Events Calendar | Term 2 | Week 1 |
SAPSASA Timetable | Term 1 | Week 8 |