Our Lady of the River School eNewsletter

We would love to feature your story in our 'Called to Community' newsletter section each fortnight. In sharing our stories, we will get to know each family a little more and hope that in reading family stories, you may discover connections with other families and possibly even branch out to make new friendships.
The survey has been sent to families via Seesaw. You can also access the survey using the QR code below.

We look forward to Getting to know a little more about our Community.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Mrs Perre.

Year 1 Class Mass

Miss Martin and the Year One students hosted a beautiful Mass celebrating Harmony Week. Harmony Week is a week to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and it is an opportunity for us to embrace cultural diversity and share what we have in common. Having a sense of belonging, respect, and inclusion for all Australians regardless of culture or linguistic background is a fantastic way to live out our 'Call to Community'.

Project Compassion

The Year 3/4 class were extremely busy this week as they traded their stationery for crockery to bake the world a better place. Each of the cookies, honey joys, brownies and cupcakes looked amazing and contributed to their successful fundraiser.
Congratulations to all of the students involved. Not only did they showcase their master baker skills, but they did a fantastic job with the cleanup after each session. I am incredibly proud of this group of young people.
Thank you to all families for supporting this wonderful initiative.

Baptism and First Reconciliation

Students from Our Lady of the River School will celebrate their Baptism, followed by their First Reconciliation at St. Mary's Church on Monday, 3rd April at 5:00 pm.
The parish and school community are invited to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation after our students.

Good and gracious God,
who loves and delights in all people,
We thank you for this world's astonishing variety of races and cultures.
Enrich our lives with ever-widening circles of friendship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us,
May our hearts and minds be open to our 'Call to Community'.
Help us to celebrate similarities and differences among our sisters and brothers
so that we may live together in true harmony.

Amen

May you bask in God's richest blessings,

Rosemary Perre

APRIM

In a fortnight we look forward to the celebration of Easter. While this can be a time when we get carried away by travel, chocolate and making memories with our families, it is also a time of reflection on the sacrifice that Jesus made more than 2000 years ago. I hope in the lead up we all can remember that the season of Lent is one in which we look at who we are, how we are helping others and what we can do to make our world a better place.

Last week we were blessed with a visit from our Director Nichii Mardon, and Bishop Karol Kulczycki. They visited classrooms and spoke to our students, answered questions and shared stories. Bishop Karol shared how he came from Poland over 20 years ago to work in Western Australia as a priest, then was appointed Bishop of our Port Pirie Diocese. He loves working across the vast diocese and supporting schools and parishes through his work. Nichii shared her excitement for the future of our school and the students in it. It was a great opportunity for the students to share their story with our visitors as well.

This week we were busy completing the annual NAPLAN testing requirements. Our Year 3 & 5 students displayed determination and stamina, completing four tests across four days. While the tests can cause some frustration and anxiety, I was pleased that most students approached the tests with an open mind and willing to do their best. We look forward to receiving the results next term and using the data to identify areas for growth and improvement.

Yesterday we shared the experience of dressing up in something orange, or cultural clothing, to celebrate Harmony Week. This week is a time to remember that no matter what country and culture we originally come from, we can all contribute to creating a world with more tolerance, respect and valuing of all of the gifts that each culture brings to our world. We also enjoyed the chance to buy some baked goods, well prepared by the Year 3/4 class, with support from Mrs Perre and Miss De-Gregorio. The money raised will go towards supporting Project Compassion and all the great work that Caritas Australia do around the world.

Next week we look forward to a few happenings around the school. On Wednesday we have quite a few students representing the school at SAPSASA Athletics in Loxton. This is a great opportunity for them to show their abilities and compete against other students their age. I am also looking forward to taking our School Captains to Port Pirie for the Chrism Mass on Wednesday. This is a huge spectacle and solemn occasion for all of the schools and parishes across the diocese.

We also look forward to Parent Teacher interviews next week. These are an opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss the learning, behaviour and wellbeing of their children. Working together with families, we want to create an environment where all students are able to achieve their best with the support at school and home to help this happen. As always, we invite families to share any concerns they have about how their children are going and their feelings about school. Parent Teacher interviews are just one part of the reporting process, and we encourage families to continue these conversations with teachers throughout the year.

Mr Slagter
Principal

The Foundation class were very excited to present our first assembly last week. We used our imagination with Mrs Schilling last week when we imagined and drew some treehouses we can go to when we need a calm body and mind. Check out the video in today's newsletter of our beautiful work! The other video in this week's newsletter shows what happens when we put on our magic hats - they are truly magical and amazing! We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Students at OLOR have been working on the game of European Handball in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6.

In the F – 2 classes students have been enjoying using a parachute, refining their listening skills whilst having fun!

We wish our 18 students and Miss Stewart who will be heading off to Loxton next Wednesday, all the best as they compete in the Riverland Athletics Carnival. We can’t wait to see how they will go competing against all the other Riverland schools. Good Luck!

Reminder – the Hockey Carnival is Wednesday Week 11. Good luck to our OLOR mixed team who will compete against other Riverland Schools here in Berri at Glassey Park.

James Canavan
PE & SAPSASA

Last week on Friday, our dedicated cchoir students attended their first cluster rehearsal. This was an opportunity to sing with other schools and meet our conductor, Mrs Ridley. All students were fantastic representatives of our school and are already sounding amazing!