22 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

School Calendar

Principals Report

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

This week our students perform to the community our school musical, ‘Reach for the Stars’. The musical is based around promoting fair behaviours and for all of us to use our talents and to…. ‘Reach for the Stars’. It’s a modern, as well as rock and roll musical that’s about the behind the scenes story of five finalists (and their neurotic parents) as they compete in the national TV hit sensation singing competition, ‘Reach for the Stars!’

There is a crooked judge, hyperactive presenters and a live studio audience. Throughout the musical there is lots of humour, individual talents displayed and some important messages about having good values and being fair. Today was our matinee performance and tomorrow night the community is invited to attend our evening performance at 6.30pm in the hall.

We look forward to seeing a large crowd especially for our performance tomorrow night. There is for sale a barbecue tea, drinks and snacks, available from 5.30pm.

The main cast will be required to stay at school after 3.20pm, on performance night and all other students are asked to arrive no later than 6pm and meet with their class teachers.

Next issue of the newsletter we will have all the photos from the performances to share with the community.

Thank you to all the staff, Lance Gum (staging) and Narelle James for their help in preparing for the performances. The biggest thank you goes to Catherine Heuzenroeder (Director) and Roger Cross (Assistant Director) for the large amount of work and time put into this production and rehearsals. We just wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

Newsletter Advertising

A reminder that the newsletter advertising section provides a great opportunity for local businesses to engage with our parent community. If you would like to be a part of this, please contact Schoolzine direct and discuss your sponsorship options. The company does not allow fast foods, political, gambling and adult content in the advertising. The aim is only for parent/business owners or local companies that have connections to the school to been seen as a sponsor. Please call the Schoolzine National Sales Team Manager to discuss your advertising options.

Schoolzine National Sales Team Manager
Jude Dawson
Phone Jude 07 5414 2363
jude.dawson@schoolzine.com.au

School Uniform

Over the next few months and Semester 1 of 2018, we will have a transition period for the introduction of our new school t-shirt and slight changes to the labelling on other uniform items once stock has run out. The new child sized t-shirts will be available from Tri-state this week and adult sizes will be available in late January 2018, before school begins. Those students requiring adult sized t-shirts, we encourage parents to please order what you need before the end of this term. This will ensure you have your t-shirt items ready for the beginning of the school year. We have introduced a new hooded jumper, which is thinner than the winter jumper with the yellow collar (this is still available) for those who prefer this option. Name labels on the back of the hooded jumper is a choice and additional cost. All uniform items can be ordered and purchased at Tri-state in Renmark. By the end of 2017, all uniform items can be ordered and paid for online, with local delivery or pick-up options. We will inform the community of when this becomes available. Thank you to the small uniform committee for all their work on updating our uniform items. Over the summer period we will be working on changing the style and fabric of our tracksuit pants.

Christmas Basket Raffle

We are asking for Families to donate goods for our Christmas raffle. Monies raised will contribute to our OLOR fundraising account. Please bring these in before Friday 8th December.

Foundation – Christmas Decorations
Year 1 - Holiday Games
Year 2 – Art & Crafts
Year 3 and 4 – Sports & Outdoor activities
Year 5, 6 and 7 – T.V. Snacks

Today all families will be distributed with a raffle book to sell before the last day of school. There are 4 main mixed basket prizes to be won. The raffle will be drawn at the assembly on the last day of this term. Good luck!

Just a friendly reminder that the last day of school for Term 4 is on Friday 15th December. School will conclude at 2.20pm in line with other schools in our district.

Religious Education News

Vinnies Christmas Appeal

Our Lady of the River school annually supports many fundraising efforts to support our local St Vincent DePaul Society. This time of the year we support the Vinnies Christmas appeal. At Mass on Thursday 16th November the school Religious Education captains, Jed K. and Josh S. presented an $84.00 monetary voucher to Maureen Voorendt, a volunteer from St. Vincent DePaul in the Riverland. Thank you to our families for supporting our fancy hat fundraiser on Melbourne Cup day.

In the coming weeks we will now focus on collecting toys, vouchers, non-perishable Christmas goods that can be distributed by our local volunteers to families who may otherwise miss out. In the church we will have a special tree for families to donate Christmas goodies for inclusion in the St Vincent DePaul Christmas hampers. Please feel free to drop in a donation to the front office of the school by the end of this term. We ask that monetary and voucher donations be placed in a secure and sealed envelope.

Help us make a positive difference in our community by being involved in the Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

Letter from the Bishop

Below is a letter from Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ, concerning the Plebiscite on Same-Sex Marriage.

Christmas Mass Times – Our Lady of the River Parish

Sunday 24th December 6.00pm Morgan & Loxton
Sunday 24th December 7.00pm Renmark
Sunday 24th December 8.00pm Waikerie & Barmera
Sunday 24th December 9.00pm Berri
Monday 25th December 9.00am Berri
Monday 25th December 10.00 Renmark

Catholic Education News

For the latest news nationally in Catholic Education please click on this link.

Ros Oates
Principal

Literacy Achievement

Congratulations to Jamie Heuzenroeder for his achievement having an article that he wrote about his recent school camp experience to Sydney, published in the national Catholic Education magazine ‘Topics’. Jamie will also receive recognition for his article in a later addition of the Murray Pioneer. The magazine attached, features Jamie’s article on page 16, as well as a number of photos included of our OLOR students on the front page.

Special Events

Berri Merri Christmas

This event will be held on Friday 1st December. Similar to our first event in 2016, this year we will be re-enacting the Christmas story, starting outside St Mary’s Church, at approximately 5.00pm. As a community group we will then walk along side our decorated nativity trailer to Simply Events (the keepers Inn). From there we continue down the hill to the lawns by the river front, where the students will start the Berri Merri Christmas event for the community by singing two Christmas carols. The children who are interested in being part of this event are asked to dress in traditional Christmas themed costumes, similar to the times of when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Please respond to the text message that will be sent out on Friday 24th November, indicating if your child/children and family will be attending. Refer to the attached flyer for further information.

Carols by the River

Sunday 10th December, the Berri Barmera Christian Churches will be hosing Carols by the River @ the Berri Riverfront. The OLOR choir has been asked to sing a Christmas carol at this event. The school choir children will bring home a note asking for permission to attend. The event starts with a picnic at 6pm and carols will begin at 7pm. Refer to the attached flyer for further information.

Graduation /End of year Mass – Awards Presentation

A reminder: The Year 7 Graduation is marked by two events at the end of each year. This is our opportunity to wish our Senior Year 7 Students farewell and to offer them our best wishes as they enter the next phase of their education at Secondary School.

The End of Year Mass at St Mary’s commences at 6.00pm on Thursday December 7th. Following Mass there is a b.y.o. supper in the school hall and awards will be presented to those students who have shown leadership and community spirit. This will give the whole school community, including children and parents from other year levels, the opportunity to congratulate the students. Everyone is warmly invited to join us at this Mass and Awards presentation.

Photo Album

Snapshots from the past two weeks. Thank you to Min Xie, Xanadu’s mum for visiting our Chinese lessons this week. Min is from China and a great person to have in our community to assist the children with their Mandarin pronunciation.

Fortnight Reminders

Canteen News

Term 4 – New items

• Chicken & Corn Pie - $3.50
• Strawberry Yoghurt - $2.50
• Frozen Ice Sticks - $.50

Community Events

Riverland Junior Baseball League – Friday Night Teeball

SACA Come and Try

SACA will be holding a FREE Come and Try day on Sunday morning November 26. On this morning, kids aged 5 – 9 can come for FREE to Berri Cricket Club and take part in fun cricket based activities led by SACA staff. There will be free giveaways on the day and lots of fun to be had. If kids enjoy their time, they can then register to play cricket over summer, including receiving an awesome participant pack containing a bat, ball, hat, shirt and other cool items.

Happy Birthday!