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The saints are women and men who have chosen to live according to the truth of the Gospel in their own time by addressing the needs of their day. They exemplify what it means to be a disciple and serve as role models of faith, showing us what is achievable. In August, the Catholic Church honours the Feast Day of two outstanding women who were exceptional examples of female discipleship.
Images of Mary Mackillop by the Bright Start students.
On 8th August, the Year 2 and 3 class, together with Mrs Schilling and Miss D, hosted a Mass to celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary MacKillop. We all got the chance to dress up in 1800s fashion to honour this remarkable woman.
St. Mary MacKillop's story is truly inspiring. She dedicated her life to helping others and played a significant role in establishing schools across the nation. Her legacy continues to inspire us today. Despite facing many challenges, St. Mary MacKillop showed extraordinary bravery, kindness, and love for others. She was an ordinary person who did extraordinary things, and that's a message we want to resonate with all our students.
May we continue to draw inspiration from St. Mary MacKillop's incredible story and strive to do extraordinary things in our own lives. Her legacy lives on through our school community, and I feel blessed to be a part of it.
Most loving God,
We thank you for the example of St Mary MacKillop,
who in her living of the Gospel,
witnessed to the dignity of each person.
She faced life’s challenges with faith and courage.
Inspired by her example, may we shine our lights brightly to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need.
Give us generous hearts to respond to the cries of those who are poor in our community and in our world.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Feast of the Assumption of Mary
Yesterday, on the 15th of August, we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary, as our first disciple, provides a model for us on how to live a life open to God and be ready to say "yes" even if we do not understand the circumstances at the time. We give thanks and praise for Mary's grace-filled and blessed life and honour her assumption into heaven. On this Feast Day, we affirm our belief that Mary is now in heaven, and we are encouraged to follow in her footsteps and treat people with dignity as children of God. We honoured Mary with a whole school Mass, beautifully hosted by Miss Lange and her Year 1 and 2 students. Thank you to the many family members who attended in support of our students. It is always very special to see families attend our class Masses. We even had some visitors from out of town who took the time to commend our amazing staff for the way they beautifully worked with our students and for the students' outstanding reading and general behaviour.
Empowering God,
Inspire us by the example of Mary’s openness to Your love.
May we live in this attitude and inspire other to do the same.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen
May we all follow the examples of these remarkable women and shine our light to create the world that God desires.
In love and light,
Rosemary Perre
APRIM
The latest Southern Cross Newspaper can be found with the following link.
The Southern Cross August 2024
The last couple of weeks have been full of fantastic experiences at OLOR. From our boys winning SAPSASA Basketball to our Wakakirri performance last week, as well as our Science Week activities, our students have been part of many diverse learning opportunities and adventures. At OLOR we love giving our students the opportunity to experience learning in all of its facets, whether in class or out around the community.
Our Year 5 & 6 boys and girls competed in SAPSASA Basketball recently, and they had a great time. The boys went undefeated all day and won the Division One championship, and the girls only lost one game all day, narrowly missing out on the final. The boys now have the opportunity to represent the Riverland later in the year in Adelaide against others schools from all around the state. All of our students represented the school in a positive way and showed great sportsmanship across the day.
Our Wakakirri troupe had a very long day last Friday, which culminated in a great performance on stage at the Norwood Concert Hall. After the long trip down, costumes and make-up were applied and students had a chance to have a full dress rehearsal on stage throughout the afternoon. They then prepared themselves for the endpoint of months of practising and preparation, the actual performance. They all did a wonderful job and represented OLOR so well. Myself and the family members in the audience all enjoyed seeing them in the spotlights and the smiles on their faces afterwards made it all worthwhile! Their performance was moving and reminded us of what we can do to help everyone feel like they belong. We were praised for our minimalist storytelling and our public speaking as well. I would like to give a big thankyou to Miss De-Gregorio for her organisation, choreography, and persistence in getting them all prepared, and also to Mrs Schilling and Mrs Slagter for their support on the day. It was a wonderful occasion for our students and a great opportunity that I’m very pleased we were part of.
To celebrate National Science Week we had a great session for each class about turtles. Our YEL team taught students about the diversity in our local turtle populations, and what we can do to protect them. Our local environment is home to many turtle species, and students learnt about what they can do to ensure that we keep the environment healthy and reduce the risk of predators for these wonderful creatures. We also enjoyed Mr Dunn’s class and their rocket making on Wednesday afternoon!
We welcomed Musica Viva on Monday for the performance Lost Histories. This encompassed music, song and storytelling as we looked back at the history of Australia and the connections to land, water and family that we all have.
Next week we look forward to Book Week. This is always a highlight of the year, where students learn about the best books of the last year, as well as get to dress up as their favourite book characters. We invite all families to join us Thursday morning for our parade, which as always, promises to be interesting, colourful and lots of fun.
We are looking forward to the Riverland Schools Music Festival, where our choir get to perform the songs they have been practising all year as well. This is another great opportunity for them to share their talents and be part of something bigger in the community.
As you can see, there is a lot going on at OLOR this term. These are all great experiences for students to be part of, and we are passionate that all students have the opportunities to find what they love and be able to celebrate this. That is what makes all the effort worthwhile!
Mr Michael Slagter
Principal
This week, 12th – 18th of August, we have been celebrating National Science Week. This week is all about promoting the areas of science and technology to inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM. We participated in lots of different activities throughout the week. These activities required us to use critical thinking and the design thinking process to solve a variety of challenges.
On Tuesday, we attended a workshop about freshwater turtles where we learnt about the declining numbers of turtles in our river as well as how we can help our local environment. We also attempted the egg drop challenge. We needed to design a contraption to protect an egg from a 3-metre fall. We used ideas like parachutes and padding to protect our eggs. We had mixed results with some groups being successful, while others had their eggs cracked.
On Wednesday we had 25 minutes to build the tallest tower using only marshmallows and toothpicks. This was really challenging because we had to use our knowledge of shapes to create a stable structure. We used trial and error to find the most effective solution. In the afternoon, we invited the school to watch us launch the bottle rockets that we had created. Using water and compressed air, we were able to launch our rockets high into the sky. All of our rockets were successful in lifting off and it was great to see the whole school enjoy our learning.
Please enjoy our short video that showcases our learning.
SAPSASA Basketball
On the 2nd of August, two teams from OLOR travelled to Loxton to compete in SAPSASA Basketball. Miss Moll-Short coached the girl’s team and Mr Smart coached the boys team. The girls team competed in the division two competition and finished second in their pool. They won three games and lost one, they demonstrated sportsmanship and grew in confidence throughout the day. The boys team went undefeated in the division one competition, including the grand final where they defeated Renmark North 30-15. They showcased an excellent level of skill and sportsmanship.
Last week on Friday, our Wakakirri troupe travelled to Adelaide with Miss D, Mrs Schilling and Julie. In the afternoon we rehearsed our dance on the stage at the Norwood Concert Hall and then attended the student function which involved lots of music and dancing!
Our school received the following awards:
- Storytelling award for a great minimalistic production style
- Stage managers award for teamwork (on and off stage)
- Creative production award
- Production award for our soundtrack
- Storytelling award for a great story
- Best public speaking award.
Overall, our performance was highly commended by the judges.
We had lots of fun working on our Wakakirri routine and performing in Adelaide. Now are looking forward to preparing another dance for the end-of-year Christmas concert. All students in Year 2-6 are welcome to join us for rehearsals starting in Week 6.
We are also looking forward to our choir performance next Tuesday. We wish those students all the best!
Miss D
Arts Coodinator
The Australian Dental Foundation will be visiting our school from Sept 9th - 13th (week 8 this term) and offering free dental check ups for students. There is no cost involved and no need for parents to attend. If you are interested in using this service, scan the QR code, click the 'Register a patient' button and fill in the required details. We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to our school.
Next week is Book Week and this year's theme is 'Reading is Magic'. Each class has picked 2 books from the CBCA Shortlisted Books of the year, and will present their work to the school in the Hall on Monday 19th August, at 9.00 am.
Children are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character for our parade, which will take place on Thursday 22nd August, at 9.00 am in the Hall.
Scholastic Book Fair
A big thank you to everyone who attended the Book Fair. Our sales came to $1,871 which allowed us to purchase $557 worth of books from the fair for our school library! I have some children eagerly waiting for me to finish cataloguing and covering the books for them to borrow. Thank you!
Premier's Reading Challenge
Not long now before the Challenges closes for another year and well done to the students who have already finished! Students have until September 6th to complete the Challenge.
Kind regards,
Sandy
Play is good for babies and adults
Play can happen anywhere and can be fun for baby and carers. A good, shared laugh is a mood booster!
Play Peekaboo: While sitting with baby, hide your face behind your hands or a blanket and then reveal it saying ‘Peekaboo’. This helps baby understand that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched.
Dance: Hold a dance party to a favourite song and dance with your little one. It improves motor skills and is a good way to be active together.
Play Hide and Seek with Toys: Hide a toy under a blanket and encourage your baby to find it. This teaches problem-solving skills.
Stacking blocks: Simple stacking toys or blocks, help develop motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Bubble Chase: Blow bubbles and let your baby try to catch or pop them. The movement and colours will captivate them.
Outdoor Exploring: Let your baby feel the grass, leaves, and flowers. You can also collect safe items like smooth stones or pinecones for them to explore.
Tummy Time on a Blanket: Lay a blanket on the grass and let your baby enjoy tummy time while looking at the sky, leaves, or toys. Talk out loud about what you see and hear.
A reminder to please inform the school each day when your child is absent from school, as we need to record a reason for their absence (illness, family reasons, appointment etc). You may message on Seesaw, fill in the form on the Schoolzine app (SZapp), or phone the school. If we do not hear from you, student absences are recorded as 'Unapproved Absences' (and if there are too many of these throughout the term it is automatically reported to the government as persistent unapproved absences).
We do send SMS messages each day to try and find reasons for any unapproved absences, and appreciate parents responding to these messages.
August
Foundation - Kashana
Year 1 - Bodee
Year 2 - Luca, Mary, Shagun
Year 4 - Gurion
Year 5 - Troy
Year 6 - Anna, Harriet
Many children will have a positive experience starting school or moving from primary to high school and despite some initial nervousness, most will settle in very quickly. However, we know some parents/carers may be very concerned about the upcoming changes e.g. buying uniforms, books or devices and that's where we can help.
What is Saver Plus: Saver Plus is a free online money skills program for people on lower incomes and matched savings program. It’s about strengthening financial skills, to build and develop (and keep) good savings habits.
Saver Plus encourages parents to save $50 a month (for 10 months). Savings are then matched - a free $500 for education costs.
Now accessible to any eligible Australian – no matter where they live.
* Many types of income and Centrelink payments are eligible, see the Saver Plus terms and conditions for more information saverplus.org.au
If families would like to check their eligibility and receive a call back please include our enquiry link https://www.bsl.org.au/services/saving-and-managing-money/saver-plus/ or they’re welcome to call our national number 1300 610 355 and a local coordinator will contact them directly.
