26 June 2019

Newsletter Articles

School Calendar

PRAYER

Light of Welcome

Loving God, author of all gifts;

We praise and thank you for all the gifts you have entrusted to us.
Pour out your Spirit upon us so that, true to our baptismal promises, we may form faith communities that recognise and promote the gifts in all people so that we may all share in the mission of Jesus.

Inspire us to be a Church that is welcoming and accepting, and which sees everyone as an expression of Christ.

May our faith communities nurture and commission all members to live our particular gifts as a reflection and imitation of Jesus' life.

Give us the courage to be the light of welcome in the darkness of exclusion, a voice of gentleness in the wilderness of the unheard and an outstretched hand of love to those longing for community.

Amen

Principals Report

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

Last Sunday (Saturday night in St Mary’s Church, Berri) we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to "Body of Christ."

The primary purpose of this feast is to focus our attention on the Eucharist (Holy Communion) and being reminded what it means to live as a member of the Body of Christ. Saturday night, the community of Our Lady of the River Parish and School gathered together and celebrated the great gift of Christ's Body and Blood, given to us!

Thank you to the students and staff who participated in the service, their families for joining us and to Mrs. Rosemary Perre for all her preparation and organisation of the Mass.

School Reports

School student reports will be sent home at the end of term, Monday 1st July. In determining the overall achievements of students, teachers have assessed students using a variety of assessment tools, based on essential content set out in the Australian Curriculum. The results from these assessments allow teachers to make a balanced, professional judgement. Tasks include formal assessment activities such as tests, quizzes, projects, presentations, etc. and informal assessment opportunities that include observations, checklists, discussions, etc.

Teachers make consistent and reliable judgements about the student’s work. They discuss consistency across the year level with their colleagues and may also seek assistance and information from support staff and myself. Teachers take into account the student’s knowledge, skills and understandings up to the point the judgement is made. The allocation of A-E depends on the level of achievement as set out in the common grade scale set by the Schools Assistance Act, 2004.

At some point, pretty much every parent worries about their child not reaching their potential, especially at school. The reports are about student accomplishment and the efforts of a teacher to guide them in their learning. A reminder to parents that under our new A-E reporting that a ‘C’ stands for Competent, not like the ‘C’ many of us would have understood as unsatisfactory. It’s natural, we all want the best for our children, for them to do well, feel confident and experience success. The best way to put to rest any anxiety or questions is through communication with the school and having realistic expectations.

Teachers have put in a lot of hours of preparation, in which I’m grateful. The Reports are part of that important partnership that we share with parents. I certainly hope that we hear from our community if there are any concerns.

School Attendance

Several studies have shown that being late for school has a negative impact on student learning. By arriving late or being absent for a large number of days per term, children miss out on vital instructions for the day and prime learning opportunities.

The Australian Council for Educational Research reports that arriving late to school can also mean that students miss out on activities designed to build connections with their peers, potentially impacting their social interactions and creating a greater sense of alienation from their classmates.

At Our Lady of the River School we encourage all students to come to school ready to learn every day. Learning starts between 8:30 and 8:50am for all students.

Next Semester, teachers will be monitoring their own class attendance rates, with the goal of achieving an overall rate of 95% attendance for all children. Our whole school goal for 2019 is to have our whole school attendance reach 90% by the end of the year.

Please look at your student report at the end of this week and gauge the attendance rate of your child/ren. Please refer to the facts pictured below.

School Fees

Reminder please check that you received your statements this week and ensure that you have settled school fees unless you have a repayment plan set up with us. If you are experiencing any financial difficulties please come and see me to arrange a repayment plan.

Fees are payable at the office by cash/cheque/Eftpos or if you are doing online banking you can pay for it by BPAY. Should you want to set up a Direct Debit with us, forms are available at the office. Thank you to all families who have already settled their account.

Mrs. Ros Oates
Principal

Religious Education News

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

Witness - Latest Addition

The Witness is a bi-monthly publication of the Catholic Diocese of Port Pirie. Issued every February, April, June, August, October and December.

School News

Car Park Safety

Can I remind everyone once again to be absolutely diligent at the 3.10pm pick-up time, especially on Verran Terrace. NO Parents should be parked across the road on the housing side of Verran Terrace. Please hold children’s hands when walking to cars and keep everyone safe. If there is not sufficient parking the church car park is often free.

Class news

Year 6/7 Leadership Day

On Monday, 17th June the Year 6/7 students were invited to join with other students from St Joseph’s Barmera for a combined leadership day. The 6/7’s were treated to workshops lead by Year 11 and 12 students from Marist College in Bendigo.

The day was aimed at how the students can be strong leaders and they learnt about how they can be leaders in everything that they do. The students rotated through a number of stations in mixed groups.

Thank you to Mr Abela, Principal of St Joseph’s Barmera, for the invitation to join with his students for the leadership day and the Marist College students from Bendigo. (Reflections from the students and photos are below in the School News)

Literacy News

Have you ever wondered about that silent w?

There are relatively few words in English which contain an unpronounced ‘w’ The challenge is to help students remember those words.

First it is useful to have an understanding of the etymology of the words containing the unpronounced ‘w’.

An unpronounced ‘w’ is most commonly followed by the letter ‘r’ (wrap, wrist, wrestle, write, wring). These words usually refer to twisting or distorting. To ‘wrap’ is to twist paper, your ‘wrist’ can twist, ‘writing’ is twisting the shape of letters, to ‘wreck’ is to distort or twist an item out of shape. One activity you could do with your child is to discuss how the ‘wr’ words relate to twisting or distorting.

The ‘w’ in the ‘wr’ used to be pronounced. Most ‘wr’ words are Germanic in origin in which both of these letters are pronounced (although the ‘w’ sounds more like /v/). Although we have retained the ‘wr’ spelling in English, we stopped pronouncing the ‘w’ around the 1450s to 1700s, except in some dialects.

The ‘w’ is also unpronounced in the word ‘two’. This word comes from the Old English ‘twa’ and twegen (then twain), in which the ‘w’ was pronounced. The ‘w’ in two shows its connection to other words meaning two – twin, twice, twenty (two lots of 10), twofold, twelve (10 plus two more) and between (in the middle of two). A quirky strategy I use for my students to help remember this word is that the ‘w’ stops the ‘t’ and ‘o’ from fighting. When you put your hands up on either side of your body as if you are stopping two people from fighting it looks a little like a ‘w’.

The ‘w’ is also unpronounced in a very small number of words when the next letter is ‘h’ (who, whom, whose, whole). In the Middle English period when rounded vowels were introduced (e.g., /o/ and /u/), there was a tendency for the sound /h/ to sound like /hw/. Consequently, some words which were historically pronounced as /h/ came to be written as ‘wh’ (e.g., whole). Around the same time, some ‘wh’ words followed by a round vowel were reduced to /h/ even though they continued to be spelled ‘wh’ (e.g., who, whom).

Two other words in which you find an unpronounced ‘w’ are ‘sword’ and ‘answer’. The word ‘answer’ is derived from the Old English ‘andswaru’ meaning a response or a reply to a question. The prefix ‘and’ (from ‘ant’) means ‘against’ and the root word ‘swaru’ comes from ‘swerian’ meaning to ‘swear’, suggesting that the original meaning of the word ‘andswaru’ was a ‘sworn statement rebutting a charge’. It is interesting to discuss this information with students and the link to ‘swear’ suggests that at some time the ‘w’ in answer was pronounced. However, from a teaching perspective, I find it useful to have my students to pronounce the ‘w’ when they are trying to learn to spell the word (ans-wer).

Similar to ‘wr’, the word ‘sword’ has its origins in Old High German (swert – related to ‘sweran’ meaning to hurt) in which the ‘w’ was pronounced. Again, from a teaching perspective, given this is just a single word, it is useful to just have student pronounce the ‘w’ when they are learning the spelling (s-word).

This exert has been taken from the Cracking the ABC Code website but I thought it was great to share with you. It is important that we look into the history and meanings of words because that usually gives us an answer to why some words seem to be spelled so strangely.

I find that often students remember little tips like this and it really helps them with their reading and spelling.

Melanie Steele

MindUp

During our elective lessons this Term we have been teaching our students the MindUp! Curriculum and combining these lessons with our Growing with Gratitude program.

The MindUp! Program is designed to help young people develop social and emotional awareness, give them strategies to enhance their psychological wellbeing and increase their classroom engagement. We have been teaching kids about the different parts of their brain that are activated when they feel calm and when they feel frustrated or upset, and introducing mindfulness strategies to help them regulate their own emotions. Our Big Buddies are helping to teach our Little Buddies about these strategies and when they can use them. We are also incorporating the things we are learning into our Growing with Gratitude program. Our goal is to help our students grow as both human beings and learners.

We have introduced mindful stillness to classrooms a few times a day to teach kids to focus on their breathing and so far, so good!

The Year 3/4s practising their mindful stillness in daily prayer

The Foundation class being very attentive to Mrs Eckerman’s deep breathing demonstration

James Preece
Yr3/4 Teacher

Sports News

Well, what a week in women’s sport Australia has experienced!? Some excellent stories of triumph, determination and humble Australian spirit.

• Unfortunately, the Matilda’s went down in a penalty shootout to Norway – but the way in which they responded mentally after a couple of tough first games to make it to the Round of 16 was brilliant.
• Ash Barty is the new World No. 1 in Women’s Tennis. She is a prime example of humility, hard work and patience reaching success.
• Aussie golfer, Hannah Green was crowned champion of the LPGA Championship Hazeltine National. She was ranked 114th in the world last week and is only her second year on tour.
• And lastly, surfer Sally Fitzgibbons has just reach World No. 1 status as well after winning the World Surf League’s Rio Pro in Brazil. This is her first win in over two years!

Sapsasa News

Football & Netball Carnival

Last week, four students from Year 7 represented the Riverland at the State Football and Netball Championships. Abby, Amelia, and Meg experienced success and lots of fun at the Netball Carnival, while Matthew played some solid games of football in the challenging Division 1. Please read below their reflections from the week:

I enjoyed playing on the Thunderbirds home court and learnt to accept the umpire’s decision and to make sure I am on time to team functions. – Abby

From the carnival, I developed my resilience and determination to play my best during difficult times. I enjoyed making new friends and having a good time! – Amelia

I really enjoyed the week and having Mel as my coach. I learnt how to use my body to get the best position. – Meg

I enjoyed the opportunity to play football for a week and became more confident to use my left hand and foot in games. - Matthew

Riddle of the Week

Last newsletter: Rain.

How many letters are in the alphabet?

Quote of the Week

“I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability.” – Bruce Jenner

Yours in Sport,
Mr Cotter

Special Events

PLEASE REFER TO the school website or SZApp for all school year calendar dates.

REMINDERS

PLEASE READ THE NEWSLETTERS CAREFULLY. Everything you need to know about the school week and dates is on the school app. (SZapp) You can download on all smartphones and tablets for free. We get a lot of phone calls & text about events and programs that have been advertised widely.

Policy Documents

School Uniforms

School Uniform Information

Canteen Price List

School Uniforms

We would like to make aware to OLOR families we have a large collection of second hand uniforms in good condition. If any families are interested please see Pat or Sandy in the front office.

TERM 2 Reminders

Woolworths EARN & LEARN Promotion

Keep collecting your stickers and placing them in the boxes located around the school or in those marked 'Our Lady of the River School' at our local Woolworths store. The more stickers we collect, the more equipment we will receive for our school! Thank you for your support.

Community News

Happy Birthday!