13 June 2018

Newsletter Articles

School Calendar

PRAYER

Loving God, Open our heart to you as we know we are made in your image and likeness Open our mind to you as you show us peace and dignity
Open our heart to you so we promote the good of all
Open our mind to you as we work together to build our community
Open our heart to you to see all those who are in need
Open our mind to you so we know the wonder of your creation
Open, open, open our heart and mind to your love.
Amen

Principals Report

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

Last week our community of Catholic Primary Schools from the Riverland region joined with all Catholic Schools across South Australia to celebrate, Catholic Education Week 2018.

This year’s Catholic Education Week theme in the Port Pirie Diocese was “Opening our Hearts and Minds.”

The Catholic schools in our parish engaged in a series of events to celebrate the ongoing gift of Catholic education. Many celebrations happened throughout the week in each individual school, however; on Wednesday 30th May, the combined Riverland Catholic primary schools came together at the new location of the Berri Stadium.

On the day there were over 450 primary students from Our Lady of the River Berri, St Joseph’s Barmera, St Albert’s Loxton and St Joseph’s Renmark. The day started with a special Mass gathering (pictured) and a whole diocese simultaneous prayer, linking our hearts and minds. The new Berri stadium was a fantastic setting as after Mass students enjoyed two hours of a wide variety of recreational activities, including gymnastics and bouncy castle fun.

Catholic Education Week SA, recognises the importance of shared leadership by all those involved in Catholic education and the critical role of Catholic education in our contemporary society. It is a special opportunity for our schools to celebrate and share the great education opportunities provided for our students with our parish and wider community.

Below are an enormous amount of photos collected from the activities the OLOR students participated in throughout the week. Thank you to the staff for their amazing efforts in organising the events and activities.

Tuesday - Get Kozy and Komfy for Kiribati.

OLOR raised $187.55 to support the families of Kiribati.

Students and staff dressed in their Kozy and Komfy pyjamas for the day.

Wednesday – Combined Catholic Schools Day

Catholic Schools in the Riverland region celebrated Mass at the Berri Stadium, followed by a day of celebration and fun.

Thursday – Switches off Day

Throughout the day the classes saved energy and the junior primary classes went on an excursion to the police station.

Friday - Walk to School Day & Gratitude Gala

We had the most beautiful Gratitude Gala Liturgy and morning activities, including ‘Walking to School Safely’ with our friends and families. This was a fun way at the end of our week of celebrations to express our gratitude.

ALL parents please read this and take note! Online gaming and the games your children are playing after school hours, have serious implications to your child’s well-being as well as their social and emotional development.

Online safety issues have increased to alarming rates in today’s society, especially with children aged 5 and beyond. Talking to students from OLOR about what they do over the weekend, I was alarmed at how many children spend time playing online video games and which games they are playing. I’m also aware that many parents have no real idea of the dangers or implications some of these games are having on children today.

I hope this information will give you helpful information and advice.

Keeping safe when playing online games

Online gaming can be a fun and creative activity for all the family. However, it is essential that parents/carers help children to be aware of the possible risks and help build the skills and knowledge to enable them to enjoy gaming in a safe way.

Childnet has published a free leaflet that has a wealth of advice to help parents/carers ensure children are accessing games in a positive and safe way.

Be ‘Share Aware’

It can be very hard for parents to keep track of what children are doing and accessing online. I’m sure you’ve all heard from your children, “It is ok. I’m only playing the game with my friends”. Parents beware…..with online games your child may not even be aware of people engaging in the game in the background or as a dual participant of your child’s friend.

As a parent I encourage you to participate in the game/s your child plays online and see for yourself who is playing. Ask lots of questions, to your child, to other parents, to people you know who play these online games. You can never know too much. Think U Know is another great resource.

Top tips for having a conversation with children about cyberbullying

Discussing cyberbullying with your child may seem very daunting but the best way to support them is to encourage them to have open and honest conversations with you about their online life.

Check out childnet’s website for ideas at:

• know how to start the conversation
• let them talk
• don’t deny access to technology but supervise use of technology

(Parents you will teach your child to drive one day and they will need your direct supervision for at least 12 months. Working with technology should be no different. As a responsible adult, starting your child on gaming should be no different to starting to drive on your L’s. Direct supervision until they are responsible.)

• let them know if you plan to talk to their school
• let them know you are always available to talk

News about Apps and Games

What is Roblox?

Childnet describes it as: “a gaming website where multiple players interact and play together in online games. The site has a collection of games aimed at 8-18 year olds; however, players of all ages can use the site and play games together. Roblox can currently be played on the PC, phone, tablet and Xbox One. There is a wide variety of games to choose from; from delivering pizzas, to roaming a kingdom as a medieval knight, to even starring in a fashion show, the variety of games is one of the reasons that Roblox is so popular with many young people.”

PARENTS / CARERS Childnet goes on to highlight the three key things for parents to be aware of:

• the chat communication feature of the game
• the content of the game could be inappropriate for young children
• the risk children could accidentally run up costs whilst playing the game

For more details, please read the complete guide for parents at -

Fortnite: Age 12

Fortnite is an online game, Battle Royale is a part of Fortnite where players do not have to pay to play. In Battle Royal, the free segment of Fortnite, 100 players compete against each other to be the last person standing in player vs player (PVP) combat. Please read the information provided by childnet.

Monkey App

The Monkey app allows children to video chat with new people from all over the world. According to the app producers, ‘Users are randomly matched with other users for a brief, introductory video call. When matched with a new person, you can add more time or add the person on Snapchat to continue the connection.

• the app gives children the opportunity to talk with strangers via a roulette style video chat
• children could come across indecent images or unwanted contact.
• rated 12+ in the app store
• there are no parental controls on the app

Internet Matters app

This is a fun app for parents and children aged between 8-10 years old to play together and help keep children safe online. The app is a great way to have conversations with your child about practical ways to be resilient and have a good time online. The app has eight quiz categories covering topics such as cyberbullying and gaming. The app can be downloaded for free on the iTunes app store and Google Play store.

Snapchat: Age 13

Please be aware that snapchat has a location setting that displays a map of nearby friends, showing their exact latest location gathered using a smartphone's GPS sensor. Other users can search for your child and see photos and videos they have posted.

There are many ways for users to play games online. This includes free games found on the internet, games on smartphones, tablets and handheld consoles, as well as downloadable and boxed games on PCs and consoles such as the PlayStation, Nintendo Wii or Xbox. Beware that children often access these resources outside your home and in the home of others. Parents and carers, we have a responsibility to make sure the well-being of all children is of the highest priority, please be cautious about online gaming for primary aged children.

Fundraising

We are hoping to gather a group of interested parents to join together as a sub-committee of the School Board to organise and assist with fundraising activities for the school. 'O L O R Helping Hands' is a group that will co-ordinate school fundraising events including our catering, cabarets, movie nights, raffles and future chocolate carnivals etc.

The aim of the 'O L O R Helping Hands' group is for parents and friends of our community to join together and have fun being involved in;

• Assisting in the planning and organizing of functions associated with the social, sporting, cultural and educational life of the school community.
• Fundraising for particular projects which assist or enhance teaching aids and equipment, or improvements to facilities within the school grounds, buildings etc.

We would aim to have a parent representative from the group provide a report to the School Board when needed and for the group to have a small executive that would communicate regularly with the Principal. If you are interested in taking part in this group, please return the reply slip sent home in student diaries.

OLOR School Board

Our next general meeting will be held on Monday 18th June.

Ros Oates
Principal

Religious Education News

Statement from Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ

The Holy Father yesterday appointed me Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Adelaide. This action has been taken to address some of the needs occurring in the Archdiocese following Archbishop Philip Wilson’s decision to step down from his duties as a bishop. The Pope’s intention is to provide stability for the people of the Archdiocese during these challenging times. This appointment does not affect my present position; I remain Bishop of the Diocese of Port Pirie. Archbishop Wilson remains Archbishop of Adelaide but as Apostolic Administrator I will exercise episcopal responsibilities in the Archdiocese. There is an excellent group of Church officials presently serving the Archdiocese and the day-to-day administration will continue to be carried out by those to whom I, as Apostolic Administrator, delegate that authority. On behalf of the people of the Adelaide Archdiocese, I thank Pope Francis for his pastoral concern for them and will do my best to fulfill this important role while also serving the people of Port Pirie Diocese.

Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ

St Vincent De Paul Society

Please help to support those in need in our community by participating in our OLOR ‘Vinnies Blanket Appeal.’

Donations of good quality blankets, winter linen and pillows would be most appreciated. All donations can be brought to the school front office. At our final assembly for Term 2, we will present our donations to our local ‘Vinnies’ volunteers.

Vinnies 2018 Inaugural Primary Schools Art Competition.

Students are also encouraged to participate in the 2018 Inaugural Primary Schools Art Competition. There are categories in Reception – Year 2, Year 3 – Year 5 and Year 6-7. All interested budding artist need to see Miss Kayla Jones for entry details. The competition opened on 14th April and close on Friday 20th July.

The latest edition of the Southern Cross features all the latest news and information on our Catholic community. Click on the following link below.

SCHOOL NEWS & EVENT

There is a ‘winter’ canteen list out with today’s newsletter. New items for purchase are lasagne and spaghetti bolognaise due to popular demand from our tastings.

Growing with Gratitude

Last Friday Staff students and parents gathered in front of Subway at the Riverland Plaza in preparation for our walk to school. Walk Safely to School Day is an annual, national event in Australia in which primary school children are encouraged to walk or commute safely to school. We were overwhelmed with the wonderful support we had from families. We are most appreciative to work with such a wonderful community and extend a big thank you to everyone who helped walk the Our Lady of the River students to school safely.

Gratitude Gala

This year Our Lady of the River hosted it's first Gratitude Gala. Gratitude is a way to celebrate all that is good in our lives. It is very special to show Gratitude to people who do little and big things for us. When we express our gratitude it let's people know that we do acknowledge their efforts, and appreciate having them in our lives. Our Gratitude gala was a special time to acknowledge our loved ones for all they do for us. We began with a liturgy, and then students and their loved ones participated in a range of fun activities and took the time to just be together and enjoy each other's company.

See the photo album above.

Year 3 Digital Learning Project

Over the last two weeks the year 3’s have been working hard at improving their digital learning skills. We’ve been lucky to have had Matt - an Apple Consultant, working with the Year 3 class to introduce and explore new and exciting ways to learn with our iPads.

Some of the things we looked at were Keynote, and how we could explain a science experiment with the camera, shapes and video. We made separate slides that looked at the materials, the method and our results. We took photos of our steps and used video to explain what we found out.

We looked at the app ‘Clips’, where we could capture video of our learning in fun ways. Clips has cool stickers that let us label our videos.

We also started looking at iMovie. This was very new to us all. iMovie allowed us to tell a story so we created a simple story using a soft toy from home. We took the teddy out in to the playground and filmed our story. We also used voice overs to record our voice and make the video more interesting.

This experience of using the iPads specifically for education has challenged the Year 3’s thinking about using technology for learning and has improved their skills to communicate in an interactive and digital format. Enjoy our video showing the work completed by the students.

Playgroup

Come along to B.O.P.P.E.R.S. (Berri OLOR Planned Playgroup Early Readiness for School) on Tuesdays 9am till 11am. There are a lovely group of young children and their carers enjoying our opportunity for free play, structured games and craft activities. Please let friends and family know in the community.

Foundation, Year 1 an Year 2 Excursion to Berri Police Station

The Early Years students are investigating the role of Police Officers during their Discovery time over the coming weeks. To kick start our unit visited the Berri Police Station. On arrival Sargent Hunter gave us a tour of the Police Station. We were lucky enough to visit many areas not available to the public, the children had the opportunity to see jail cells and also an experience having their fingerprints taken. Our Gratitude gala was the perfect opportunity to present Sargent Hunter with a Thank You card from all of the students.

Foundation Mass

On Thursday 7th June, the Foundation class celebrated Mass at 9.00am in St Mary’s Church. Mass was celebrated by Father Cletus. The focus was on kindness.

Book Club

Today your child/ren received Issue 4 of Scholastic Book Club. Orders are due in by Friday, 22nd June. If you would like to place an order, please send correct payment by cheque (made to OLOR) or cash. Please remember to clearly write your child’s name and class on the order form and send to school in an envelope marked “Book Club”.

Credit card payments can be made online on the Scholastic Book Club website and going into the LOOP Order Platform form and following the steps. Please see Sandy if you have any problems. Regards, Sandy Sando

OLOR Sports News

SAPSASA Football and Netball

Macey Eleftheriadis (football) Charlie Gates, Ella Kassebaum and Marley Minchella (netball) enjoyed their experience in Adelaide competing in the netball and football Riverland SAPSASA teams.

Report by Charli Gates (Netball)

In SAPSASA Netball Charlie, Ella and Marley went down to Adelaide for the week to play netball. All girls were selected into Div 1 and Charlie Gates was nominated as captain.

They were very privileged to play on the Thunderbirds court 3 times, and the rest of the games they played outside. Our team came 7th overall winning 3 games and drawing 1 of them to city south.

Report by Macey Eleftheriadis (Football)

In SAPSASA Football my team won 5 games and lost 4. We had two games every day, except on Friday where we only had one game. We played at West Beach and our grade was Div 1. It was a really good experience where I was able to meet new people and we had fun. We came fifth overall. It was a great week.

Schoolzine Newsletter and Calendar

A reminder that the calendar is only available online through the School App ‘SZapp’. Having it online will ensure that it is current and always up to date. The Newsletter will continue to highlight upcoming events to ensure that parents and families are fully aware of what is on. The newsletter is every fortnight on the odd weeks, e.g. 1, 3, 5 etc. and will come to your email inbox or ‘SZapp’ on the Wednesday of those weeks. I encourage all families to install the ‘SZapp’ on your smart phone or Tablet. To ensure you receive the newsletter in your inbox each week, please ensure the front office has your correct email addresses. If you do not have an email address, please let the front office know (this week) so that we can send paper copies home with your eldest child.

Policy Documents

School Uniforms

UPDATE! The new tracksuit pant will be available by Friday this week. The older style tracksuit pant is still available for those families who prefer that particular style. If your child is waiting upon the new tracksuit pants, children are permitted to wear navy tracksuit pants (plain) from home until they arrive. Other news! The Year 7’s now have their new ‘Year 7’ jumpers and they look great. Thank you to Mr. Kelly for all his organisation.

Fortnight Reminders

Community News

Lilly Andrews is in our Foundation class at Our Lady of the River School. She is one of JDRF’s members. (JDRF is the leading global organisation funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research). Lilly has been chosen as a Government Advocate who will be attending ‘Kids in the House’ in Canberra, under JDRF’s Promise to Remember Me Campaign on August 22nd and 23rd. Please support this fundraiser to help to get Lilly’s family to Canberra to support Lilly in her Advocacy.

Happy Birthday!