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This week’s Mass: The Good Samaritan
Sunday’s gospel is such a familiar one and such an enduring image that the title for the hero has passed into everyday use to describe a stranger who does a good turn for another. Many countries even have what is known as a ‘Good Samaritan Law’ that protects those who may hurt another person when they act in good faith to provide aid.
The parable is told in response to the question, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Anyone hearing Jesus tell the story would have recognised the familiar story structure – things happening in threes with the most important element occurring on the third repetition. As three people came upon the injured man on the road, the audience would have known that the hero of the story would be the third one along. But, as Jesus often did with his parables, the pattern is suddenly disrupted. Rather than the hero being an upright, faithful Jewish person, it is none other than a Samaritan who is the one who shows mercy.
Samaritans and Jews had a deep-seated mistrust and suspicion towards one another that went back generations. So strong was the ill-feeling between the two peoples that when Jesus finishes his story and asks the lawyer which man proved himself a neighbour, the lawyer cannot even say ‘the Samaritan’ – he says, ‘the one who took pity’.
The story concludes with the instruction, ‘Go and do the same yourself’. The commandment is to act with compassion towards others – even those you may not like. The priority of compassion over the Law is a major theme of the gospel of Luke. It is often described as the gospel of compassion. The Samaritan acts with compassion, rather than out of ‘patterned’ behaviours and attitudes. Jesus challenges the lawyer – and us – to ‘Go and do the same’.
Greg Sunter
Samaritan Prayer
Dear Lord,
Open our eyes, that we might not cross the road from human need.
May our love of you and love of our neighbour
call us to be people of peace and justice in the world.
And may we, like the Good Samaritan,
always 'go and do likewise'.
Amen.
Port Pirie Diocese -
The diocese has a new website that they are now using exclusively. Please find below the link to The Witness magazine:
https://ppcatholic.org/info/witness-magazine/
Farewell
Dear Families
I offer my thanks for the wonderful welcome that I have felt at Our Lady of the River School. I knew that I had massive shoes to fill and was always going to struggle to achieve the tremendous work ethic that Ros modelled. My work has been enhanced by the incredible support of Melanie Steele as our Campus Leader who has shouldered a high level of responsibility for maintaining and extending student learning and Pat Perre for his breadth of knowledge about every facet of OLOR.
The staff are tremendous – their genuine love of the children, each other and the wider community is to be celebrated. Fr Paul and Fr Hau are a real blessing to our community and I have greatly valued their counsel and encouragement. Likewise, families have been very generous in their understanding of the need for this structure for a semester while the necessary time and resources could be implemented to attract the next Principal to Our Lady of the River School. Most importantly, the children have been amazingly flexible and loving, going with the flow but always responding positively and optimistically to the opportunities this semester has provided. My life has been enriched by this moment of grace!
In conclusion, I draw upon the words of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians “I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly”.
What a blessing you have all been in enabling me to be the Principal at Our Lady of the River School. I trust that you will make Michael Slagter feel welcome and I look forward to hearing about the wonderful achievements of OLOR over the next decade!
Kindest regards
Paul
Semester One Reports
This week you would have received your child’s Semester Two Report. We encourage you to meet with your child’s teacher/s if you would like to discuss your child’s progress.
NAIDOC Week
NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Our Year 5/6 Class undertook a cultural walk on Monday 4th July along the Berri Riverfront to view the Indigenous metal mural and to increase their knowledge and understanding about the wonderful contribution that Jimmy James made to our community. The children valued learning about the images adopted by the local Indigenous artists and about the amazing skills that Jimmy James generously shared with SAPOL to assist in his tracking duties.
NAIDOC Week was also recognised within the school through literacy activities.
Sport
Champions of the Field
Hi all,
Last week, several OLOR students competed at the SAPSASA State Hockey Carnival in Adelaide. It turned out to be a fantastic carnival with both the boys and girls winning their respective division championships. In fact, both went through undefeated! Congratulations to Charlize Camilleri-Turner, Annasia Dale, Layla Vallelonga, Ella Rothe and Wavely Marsden on their amazing achievements. I am sure you will remember the experience for many years to come.
In other news, the SAPSASA State Netball Carnival also took place last week in Adelaide. Well done to Mackenzie Pitt, Elysia Cresp and Kenzie Sweet for all their amazing efforts on the court. The girls ended up with 7 wins and 2 losses to finish third overall in division 1 – a great result! Importantly, all players had a great time ‘learning to play and playing to learn.’
The Term 3 sporting calendar has now been attached for your reference. Please keep an eye out for any changes.
Enjoy a restful holiday break.
Kind regards,
Tom Charlton
OLOR Sports Coordinator
Sporting Quote of the Week: |
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“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” – Laird Hamilton |
Term 3 Sporting Calendar |
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Event |
Date |
Riverland SAPSASA Basketball Carnival @Loxton |
Friday, 29th July |
Riverland SAPSASA Golf Carnival (students only) @Berri |
Friday, 5th August |
Riverland SAPSASA 1500m Trials (students only) @Glossop High School Old Campus |
Monday, 22nd August |
Riverland SAPSASA Athletics Carnival @Loxton |
Wednesday, 31st August |
Riverland SAPSASA Cricket Cup @Berri |
Friday, 16th September |
Hot Shots Tennis Carnival @Barmera |
Tuesday, 20th September |
Art
All entries will be displayed in ‘The Main Street Pavilion’ (formerly known as Alfresco’s) in Vaughan Tce, Berri, for the month of July.
Wakakirri
This semester, a number of students in Year 3-6 have participated in weekly Wakakirri rehearsals. Wakakirri is a national story-dance festival for schools, and we have been busy preparing our performance. Filming for our video entry is now complete. All students involved should be very proud of their efforts and dedication. A big thank you to parents/caregivers who have assisted in getting students to rehearsals on time and organising costumes. We look forward to sharing our finalised entry with the school community early next term.
Start of Term Three
- Term Three commences Tuesday 26th July
(Monday 25th July Riverland Catholic Schools Professional Development Day)
School fees for 2023
We are pleased to inform our school families that there will be no increase in school fees for the 2023 school year.
As South Australians continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, Catholic Education SA has announced it will freeze fees at its 86 Diocesan schools for the 2023 school year.
“These decisions are part of our continued COVID 19 response as we seek to support families at a time when they are being impacted by rising costs and inflation,” says Dr Neil McGoran, Director, Catholic Education SA.
Since 2019, Catholic Education SA has been implementing the Making Catholic Education More Affordable Initiative to ensure our schools are accessible to any family who wants their child to have a Catholic education.
Dr Neil McGoran said the fee-freeze would not impact the quality of education.
“We’re committed to keeping school fees as low as possible and ensuring a Catholic education is affordable and accessible to all.”
In addition to the fee-freeze, further fee remissions are available to any family who is struggling to pay school fees due to financial pressures. Families should contact Michael Slagter or Pat Perre for more information.
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).
Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:
- year of schooling
- category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
- level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.
This information assists schools to:
- formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
- consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
- develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.
The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.
The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/resources/department-education-skills-and-employment-complete-privacy-policy-0 ).
Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au ).
If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact Michael or Melanie.
Uniform
A reminder that school uniform items are accessible through Tri-State Graphics, 216 Renmark Avenue, Renmark Ph: 8586 5815
As the weather becomes cooler it is important that our students are wearing the correct uniform items and not random coats and jackets.
Student Intensive Dance Week
In Term Three, our children will be participating in an intensive week Dance Unit with Dancify from 1st – 5th August. Classes will be held in our OLOR Hall, however, on Friday 5th August, each unit will provide a display at our hall at 3.00pm. More information will be provided in future newsletters.
Child Protection Practices
We know that the safety and wellbeing of your child is your highest priority...
Every child has the right to be safe and free from all kinds of abuse, including bullying and harassment, and neglect. Schools are mandated child safe environments with legal, policy and procedural requirements for staff and volunteers.
The South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools (SACCS) requires its schools to implement child safety policies and practices, including child safety education.
Please explore the links below to see Child Protection policies and associated materials:
- Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy (Archdiocese of Adelaide)
- Child Safeguarding Policy (Diocese of Port Pirie)
- National Principles for Child Safe Organisations
- Reporting Harm of Children and Young People Procedure
- Protective practices information for parents and caregivers
- Charter for Staff in Catholic Schools South Australia
- Code of Conduct
- Duty of Care Policy
- Duty of Care Procedure
- Responding to problem sexual behaviour in children and young people
Child Protection Curriculum
The Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum provides the framework to teach children and young people from age 3 to Year 12, in an age appropriate way, to recognise abuse, talk to trusted adults and understand ways to keep themselves safe.
Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum is mandated in all Catholic schools in South Australia. Our teachers undertake professional learning to implement this important area of curriculum.
Our Lady of the River School continues to maintain a high commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of every child at our school in partnership with our families.