Our Lady of the River School eNewsletter

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Andrew Chinn Music Workshops and Concert.

On Wednesday, we were blessed with the talent of Australian singer/songwriter Andrew Chinn, who conducted workshops with our students throughout the day and supported our students in performing a whole school music concert at the end of the day. All the students enthusiastically engaged in each of the workshops and songs. Seeing their smiles on their faces was wonderful as they performed confidently. The photos in the gallery show just how much fun we had with Andrew.

SOUTHERN CROSS

The current edition of the Catholic newspaper put out by the Archdiocese called,' The Southern Cross,' is available at; The Southern Cross September 2023.

Year 3/4 Prayer Service 

On Wednesday, the Year 3/4 students and Miss Fiebiger hosted a class prayer service themed on Gratitude.  Gratitude is appreciating the things, the experiences, the opportunities and the people in your life. It’s about taking time to stop and think about these people, places, and events and reflecting on how they make your world a better place. Showing gratitude can profoundly impact your mood, outlook, and overall well-being. Gratitude, even for the smallest things, can be a great mood shifter if we feel overwhelmed, sad or angry.

Poe Francis says that “Gratitude is a characteristic trait of the heart visited by the Holy Spirit. To follow God's law, begin with gratitude. (Pope Frances 2017)

 As Catholics, living a life rooted in gratitude is essential to growing in our faith. St. Paul offers us this challenge: “Be filled with the Spirit . . . giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).

Yesterday, OLOR class connected online to the World’s Biggest Gratittude lesson. Together with students from India, Sri Lanka, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, the we participated in a lesson taught by Ash Manuel, founder of the Growing with Gratitude, where we practiced gratitude and promoted the importance of our personal well being.

We learnt that Gratitude is a two-way street. When we are grateful for people in our lives, it helps to lift our Spirits. Equally as important is to express gratitude as that lifts the spirits of those we are grateful for.

My closing prayer this week is in the form of a video. A beautiful reflection by Brother David Steindl-Rast that always has a way of resetting my attitude of gratitude. Each time I watch it, I am filled with a new appreciation of my life's big and small things.

"A Good Day" With Brother David Steindl-Rast

May you be blessed with "A Good Day".

Rosemary Perre
APRIM

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”- Chinese proverb

The quote above is so true when we think about it. We spend so much time thinking about next week or next year, that sometimes we forget to look further. One thing I also take from the quote is that we always need to be thinking of the future, both near and far, if we are truly planning for life ahead. At OLOR, we try to look at what we can do here and now to make things better, but also what we can do to map out the next ten years. Our aim is not just to give students a good education, but to help develop the next generation of adults in our community. We want them to leave OLOR knowing how to care for each other, themselves and the world in which we live. This is an important task that will benefit all of us if we get it right.

In the last couple of weeks we have had many experiences which help develop life-long memories and help to make our students better people. As they grow up they will remember things like camps and performances, and look back on these times as celebrations of their childhood.

Our Year 4 & 5 students had a wonderful camp to the Flinders Ranges last week. The weather was fine and the opportunities they got to learn something different were abundant. After the trip to our campsite, they were very lucky to have an afternoon and evening learning about Aboriginal culture and traditions from the Dusty Feet Mob. They learnt from Robert and Wanita about the connection to country that our indigenous people have, the customs, laws and practices of modern and traditional peoples, as well as learning about dance and food. One of the highlights was the preparing and cooking of kangaroo tails on a campfire. The students all found this interesting and many of them even tried the finished product. This was a great experience for many students, breaking down cultural barriers and creating a feeling of mutual respect.

The second day included orienteering, mountain biking, team games and bushwalking. Students learnt many skills and developed an appreciation for the wonderful natural environment that the Flinders ranges has. Our camp co-ordinators, Bianca, Aaron and Ashleigh, were impressed with the students and their efforts at giving everything a go and showing a curiosity about the world around them. On the last morning we enjoyed a walk around Alligator Gorge, with its wonderful rock formations and scenery, before heading back to school. It was a great experience for all involved, and I’d particularly like to thank the staff who organised and helped out on camp, Miss Stewart, Mr Dunn, Miss Fiebiger, Brad and Mel, for their outstanding efforts at looking after and supporting the students on camp.

This week we were very pleased to welcome Andrew Chinn to OLOR for workshops with students and concert on Wednesday afternoon. Andrew had been booked many times over the last few years, but COVID regulations got in the way of him being able to join us, so it was great that he was finally able to make it. I’m sure those family members who joined us would agree that the concert was fantastic, especially for only one day of organisation and practice. Andrew’s songs share the joy that can be found if we look through a faith-based lens at life and those around us.

At OLOR we are always looking for opportunities to broaden and develop the whole person that our students can be. Giving them opportunities that teach them about the world at large, as well as learning to read and write, are going to help them become the leaders of tomorrow and the caretakers of the world in which we all live.

Mr Michael Slagter
Principal

This week, the year 2/3 class presented their second assembly of the year. During our assembly, we got to share some footage of our year 3 camp to Monarto Zoo and presented those students who attended with awards and a photograph from their very first camp. We also shared our information report writing on our favourite animals and got to showcase our incredible diorama’s made, based on the habitat of each of our animals. Finally, we also shared some of our learning around the lifecycle of a plant and our assessment plant pots too! We had a wonderful assembly!

Miss Remkes
Year 2/3 Teacher

Monday

With much anticipation and excitement, all Year 4/5 students had an early start at school at 7:30 am before departing on their three-day camp to Melrose in the Flinders Ranges. All 30 students were packed and ready to go, piling up on the bus just in time for the 8 a.m. departure. After stopping at Burra for lunch, and the breathtaking pink Lake Bumbunga for recess, we finally arrived at Camp Willochra. Soon after, we were welcomed by the Dusty Feet Mob, an Indigenous Cultural Group who taught us so much about Aboriginal Culture, expressing ourselves through Cultural Dance, and also how to prepare, cook and eat Kangaroo Tail! It was so amazing to see all students participate in the yarning circles, dance workshops and cooking tutorials with such respect and interest. For our first meal at camp, we had spaghetti Bolognese followed by smore making by the campfire! By this time, everyone was exhausted, so spent some time setting up their dorms and went straight to bed – ready for another huge day!

Tuesday

We started the day with a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, baked beans, hashbrowns and toast, to get us ready for a busy day ahead. We then travelled to the main street where we based ourselves for the day and were split into four activity groups. Throughout the day, each group had the opportunity to participate in: a bush walk with bush tucker tasting, orienteering, group games, and mountain bike riding.

The bush walk took us past Willochra creek and along the way, we learnt about different plants and what they are sometimes used for. We had the opportunity to taste some bush tucker and try some new textures and flavours of the earth.

Orienteering at the Melrose Showgrounds gave students the opportunity to use a compass and map to develop essential navigational skills, while having a blast in the scenic surroundings, to find the clues.

Group games gave the students opportunity to develop their team skills as they played bocce, finska, Uno, red light green light, and tested their balance on the Heritage Swing Bridge.

A favourite for many students was the mountain bike riding on a designated mountain bike pump track. This provided students the opportunity to build their confidence on a bike, while also learning new skills, specific to mountain bike riding. The swooping magpies added an additional challenge!

After a very busy, active day in the great outdoors, students wound down with a movie night, allowing everyone to relax, unwind, and recharge for our final day.

Wednesday

With weary heads and tired legs from our busy Tuesday, we woke up bright and early to make sure we had plenty of time for breakfast and packing. It was all hands on deck packing sleeping bags and suitcases and it was great to see students helping each other with those pesky sleeping bags.

Once we were packed up, we hopped on the bus and headed to Alligator Gorge for a morning hike. We made our way down into the gorge which involved over 250 steps. As we hiked through the gorge, we learnt that it was formed over many years through the process of water erosion. We made connections to the native plants that we learnt about on Tuesday’s nature walk and traversed some tricky terrain. After about 2km of hiking, we ascended the stairs and enjoyed a well-deserved recess break.

We then got back on the bus to begin our journey back home. Mr Dunn played some classic Aussie rock music, which led to some great sing-alongs and music trivia. We again stopped at the Burra playground for a lunch stop, and to stretch our legs. The next stop was OLOR. When we arrived back at school, we thanked our amazing camp facilitators and were welcomed by our families. It felt like time had flown by and we were sad that camp had come to an end, but we were also glad to be home to tell our families all about our amazing adventures.

We learnt so much on camp, it was so much fun!

Peace Poster

This Term, our Year 5/6 class have been working on their entries for the Lion’s Club Peace Poster competition. We hope you enjoy their finished artworks.