Our Lady of the River School eNewsletter

Halloween became famous as a kind of fun and festive event with costumes and games in the Seventies in America; Australians have recently adopted this tradition. The party vibe of Halloween nowadays is so strong that it often loses its religious connection.

Although Halloween is not considered a Catholic holiday, it actually originated from All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallow’s Day. All Hallows’ Eve, now called Halloween, traditionally celebrated on October 31st, was a great vigil and a time of preparation and prayer for the feast of all Hallows (an old English word for Saints). On the feast of All Saints, November 1st, we remember those people who made a positive difference to their communities of their time. They remained faithful to God and their cause despite the many hardships faced. We remember those people who have been saints to us in our lives and all holy women and men who have lived lives of integrity with hope and a deep faith in God. We look to them as examples of how we can make a difference in our world.

All Souls Day, November 2nd, is a day on which we honour the memories of all those who have passed away, especially those who have died in the past year, through prayer, scripture and reflection. Our year 2 and 3 students will host our All-Souls Day mass this year. We want to pray for those in our community who have passed away throughout the past year. If you would like us to pray for your recently parted loved one, you are invited to pass their name on to Mrs. Perre by Monday, the 30th of October. You are warmly welcome to celebrate the feast of All Souls with us next Thursday at 9:00 am in the church.

SOUTHERN CROSS  

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

Loving God,

We keep in our hearts and our prayers, all those holy men
and women whose lives were guided by the spirit.
Inspired by their lives we pray that we
answer the call to be children of God
and have the courage and strength to
listen to the spirit guiding us and leading us.
We ask this prayer through Jesus your son.

Amen

May you follow in the footsteps of the Saints and be examples of God’s love in our world.

APRIM
Rosemary Perre

Term 4 has started in a flurry of activity. Classes are back into their learning, students have been doing PAT Reading and Maths tests to check their progress, we’ve had a lovely Musica Viva performance, and today the Foundation class is on their first excursion to the Pevan and Sarah performance. In the next few weeks we also have lots of other things coming up, which all amount to a busy but fun-filled Term 4.

Next week our Year 6s have their camp to Kangaroo Island. This promises to be lots of fun, with everything from visiting all of the famous sites like Remarkable Rocks and Seal Bay, to surfing lessons and Sandboarding down the giant sandhills at the Little Sahara, as well as visits to Clifford’s Honey Farm and many other adventures. This is a great way to celebrate all of their time at OLOR and a chance to get away and enjoy each other’s company in different surroundings.

In Week 6 we have been fortunate to be able to organise swimming lessons for all of our students at the Berri pool. The skills learnt during swimming lessons are vital living in a place like the Riverland. We hope the weather is nice and warm that week so all students take part fully!

Towards the end of term we also look forward to our whole school production of The Lorax. The cast are busy practising and learning their lines, and classes are beginning to learn their items for the production. We look forward to a wonderful night with lots of joy, song and dance.

The end of each year is also marked by the Graduation of our Year 6 students, who are moving onto secondary school and saying farewell to OLOR, which for many, has been a second home for the last 7 years. This is special time for the students and their families, some of whom also farewell the school after many years of involvement. It will be a great opportunity to thank them all for every way they have contributed to OLOR over the years.

If you know any families that are interested in sending their child to OLOR in 2024, please get them to contact us ASAP, as we will begin looking at class structures and groupings in the coming weeks. I warmly welcome any families to come and see what we offer at OLOR and proud of the efforts of all staff and students to make OLOR the wonderful place that it is.

Mr Michael Slagter
Principal

The Lions Club Peace Poster Competition

Congratulations to Ishmeet Kaur on winning the Lions Club Peace Poster Competition for our school. Her entry will now be submitted to the Regional final. Well done to our Year 5/6 class who participated – your artworks were very impressive!

The Lorax

Please be advised that our Production date has changed due to clashes with community events. Rehearsals and planning are now underway, and we can’t wait to share our performance with you on Thursday 7^th of December at 6pm!