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Christmas Mass Times
Christmas Eve: Barmera 6pm, Loxton 6pm, Renmark 6pm Waikerie 8pm
Christmas Day: Berri 9am, Morgan 9am
On Wednesday last week, we presented Sandra and Margie, our parish St. Vincent de Paul volunteers, with the gifts that our school community had collected for the St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. The gifts were received with appreciation. St. Vincent de Paul and Our Lady of the River would like to express our sincere gratitude to you for your generosity towards our Riverland community. Thanks to your kindness, many children in the Riverland will be able to enjoy opening a special gift on Christmas morning.
During the Christmas season, I wish you and your loved ones peace and joy. May you take some time to spend with family and friends, creating special memories that will last forever.
As I prepare to sign off for the year 2023, I wish that God's richest blessings be with you always.
Rosie Perre
APRIM
At the end of the year it is great to look back and reflect on all of the things that happened. This year has been full of great opportunities, wonderful adventures and fantastic events. From sporting to artistic, social to technological, our students have had a wide range of things that they have had the opportunity to be a part of. I would like to thank all of our staff and families for providing these opportunities this year and being a crucial part of that success.
This year we have had so many highlights in the sporting arena. Our students who represented the school and district in SAPSASA did themselves proud. Our Sports Day at St Francis of Assisi College was a wonderful event for all involved. We have also had opportunities to take part in clinics and sports events, from the Adelaide Crows visit in Term 1 to our PE lessons at the gymnastics centre and swimming lessons this term. A big thanks to Mr Canavan for his organisation with all of this.
It has been a big year in the Arts this year as well. From our students taking part in Wakakirri in Adelaide for the first time, to our Riverland Music Festival choir, our dance troupe, Christmas Carols choir, and of course, our presentation of The Lorax last week, students have had great opportunities to express themselves through the arts all year. A massive thankyou to Miss De-Gregorio for all of the extra time, effort and coordination with all of these events, as well as the many hours of practice that goes into each one. We look forward to many more opportunities again next year.
We have had all classes take part in camps and excursions this year. After the uncertainty of COVID the last few years, it was great to be able to get back to having these adventures and exploring parts of our state with students. Our Year 6s had a wonderful time on their Kangaroo Island camp, as did our Year 4s and 5s on the Flinders Ranges camp. Our Year 3s loved spending a night at Monarto Zoo and seeing and working with the animals. Our Year 1 and 2 students had a great excursion to the Loxton Historical Village and our Foundation class went to a great Pevan and Sarah concert earlier this term. We are proud to be able to offer these events to our students and I would like to thank all of the staff for their organisation and extra effort that goes into not only preparing for, but taking part in, these events.
We have also been involved in many other events throughout the year. Taking part in important days like ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day and other significant days are important for our students to learn about honouring the past and creating a peaceful future. We were also fortunate to be involved in the Naturally Brave program this year, where our Year 5 and 6 students were able to create 3D printed objects which solved a number of problems. This type of technological learning will help them prepare for a future when this will be just part of what we do. We also loved having Andrew Chinn come and help us be part of a concert with him, as well as all of the other performances we had visit the school this year.
In the last two weeks we have had two significant events in the school this year. Our whole school performance of The Lorax was amazing, and I have only heard positive feedback from those who were able to attend. All of our classes were great in their dances and performances, and our ensemble cast did a wonderful job to bring the whole story together. A lot of effort went into the sets, props, costumes and rehearsals and I want to thank everyone involved, but especially Miss De-Gregorio. We also celebrated Year 6 Graduation this week, which was a fantastic celebration of all of our graduating class and their families. Well done to all of the students and a big thanks to Miss Stewart for her preparation and support of the students. I also want to thank Mrs Cilla Marsden and Mrs Tammy Kregar who received Volunteer Awards for all of their service to the school over many years, with both being long-term members of the School Board.
One thing I am proud of this year is the updates we have done around the school. We had all of the school painted over the last summer holidays to freshen it up a bit. Our student toilets have now finished being renovated, and we look forward to our staff toilets being completed over the holidays this year. We have also invested in some upgrades from our stage and sound system upgrade used for our Lorax performance, to our new bell and security system around the school. We are in the preliminary stages of creating a Master Plan which will outline further improvements around the school over the next 5-10 years, with upgrading classrooms and learning areas, as well our Admin area, being our top priorities to begin with. I look forward to sharing more about this with families next year.
At this time of the year, we sadly farewell some of our staff who are moving on to other things. I thank Mrs Lisa Rayner, Miss Amelie Fiebiger, Miss Emma Remkes and Mr James Canavan for their time spent with us, the care they showed the students, and the important learning that they were part of. We wish them well in their new endeavours and adventures. We also wish Miss Gemma Stewart the best as she takes a year of leave next year. We look forward to welcoming Miss Shyla Lange, Ms Fiona Moll-Short and Mr Thomas Smart to the school next year. I would also like to thank all of the staff who have done a wonderful job this year with all of our students always at the centre of what we do. I wish them all a wonderful break and thank them for their efforts.
I would like to wish all families a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. I hope you get to spend some quality time with your children and families and look forward to hearing all about the holidays when we return in 2024. I would also like to thank all families for their support of our school throughout the year. Term 1 starts on Monday 29th January 2024, and we look forward to seeing you all again then, ready for another big year.
Take care and Merry Christmas.
Mr Michael Slagter
Principal
The Lorax
Last Thursday night our whole school came together to perform The Lorax. A big congratulations to all students for performing in front of a big crowd and thank you to all friends and family who attended the show and supported our students.
A special mention to all of the main cast members who worked tirelessly this term to memorise and rehearse their lines and additional dances.
Thank you to all staff who helped support our production by taking time out of their busy schedules to attend rehearsals, practise in class and help with props and costumes.
We hope you all enjoyed it!
Next year we look forward to returning to our usual Christmas concert format, with the aim to alternate between a production or Christmas concert bi-annually.
Berri Christmas Carols
Congratulations to all students who sang and dancbed at the Berri Christmas Carols. Our choir joined with students from Berri Primary School and Monash Primary School to perform two songs at the event. We received positive feedback from the Carols committee and look forward to continuing to support the event next year.
Instrumental Music Performance