14 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

School Calendar

PRAYER

Mary of the Cross MacKillop Blessing

Through the example of Saint Mary of the Cross, may you learn to recognise
God’s will for you and trust in God’s providence.
May her life of service awaken in you a deep respect for the poor and a strong will for justice.
May you share in her courage, see with the eyes of Christian love, and
learn from her holy deeds. Amen.

Principals Report

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

Last week it was a privilege to attend the senior class biannual Camp to Sydney with Mr. Cotter, Mrs. Hunter and the Years 6/7 students. The aim of our camp is for the students to experience travelling from home to a major city and visit historical and popular sites of Sydney. As well as this, the highlight of our trip is spending the feast day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop on 8th August, going to Mass and visiting the museum at the centre of the Congregation, Mary MacKillop Place, Mount Street North Sydney where Mary MacKillop's tomb is enshrined in the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel. We managed with such beautiful weather, 23-24 degrees each day, to fit so much into 4 days. Photos and highlights of the camp in the Rocks, Circular Quay and Darling Harbour areas of Sydney are included later in this newsletter. Initial feedback indicates that our students found it to be an amazing camp and a very worthwhile experience. It was also very pleasing, numerous times over the four days, to be given complimentary comments about the students’ manners and respectful behaviours from the various venues we visited. Thank you to the parents who assisted in transporting students to and from the Mildura airport, most appreciated.

Riverland Primary Schools’ Music Festival

Last week, Tuesday 6th August a number of OLOR students participated in the 23rd Riverland Primary Schools’ music festival. This year Raahil Sowkath Ali, Daniel Heuzenroeder, Nathan Sargent, Jack Hunter and Emma Baugh performed on Tuesday evening, William Heuzenroeder performed a solo on Thursday evening and Anastasia Kondoprias was absent performance night. Congratulations to all these students for their commitment to training for this event and their wonderful performances last week. A huge thank you to our choir teacher, Mrs. Jenni Sanders and parent assistant Catherine Heuzenroeder for all their time and efforts in preparing the students since the beginning of the year.

Message from Mrs. Jenni Sanders….

I have thoroughly enjoyed the culmination of 6 months of learning and practising the songs with the OLOR choir students.

I personally want to say a huge thank you to the choir participants- your behaviour was exemplary and I was very proud watching you sing and enjoy the experience. Well done Raahil, Jack Hunter, Nathan Sargent, Emma Baugh and Daniel Heuzenroeder.

Special mention to William Heuzenroeder for his solo as part of Thursday evening performance.

WANTED

In preparation for our School Musical (date tbc early Term 4) students will be making their own instruments.

If you have of these materials (see pictures) please place in marked container at front office.

Fundraising – Bunnings Barbecue

This Saturday 17th August

Our Lady of the River will be running a sausage sizzle and selling drinks at Bunnings Berri on Saturday 17th of August. We are in need of a co-ordinator and helpers for this day from 8:30 for set up until 4:30 pack up. If you can help during any time on Saturday please fill in the reply slip sent home as soon as possible so we can organize the day, all help is much appreciated. We don’t want to lose our regular spot on the time table.

School Canteen

This Term the School Canteen will not run on a Friday until future notice. We are in the process of clearing out the canteen and making space for the classroom fridges and redesigning this space for future use. Before I advertise on social media, the school has a double door glass fridge for sale for approximately $900. It has just been recently serviced and in good working order. Please see Ros if you are interested by Friday 2nd August.

Religious Education News

The saints are women and men who set out their life to live the truth of the Gospel in their own time, meeting the needs of their day. They show us what it means to be a disciple. They are people of faith who give us a glimpse of what is possible. In August, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast Day of two remarkable women who were extraordinary examples of female discipleship.

On 8th August the Foundation and Year One class hosted a Mass to celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary MacKillop. Our Senior Students were very blessed to celebrate Mass in Mary Mackillop’s honour in the chapel in North Sydney where her body is resting peacefully, and the Year Three and Four students remembered Mary with a prayerful Liturgy while on camp at Victor Harbour. Even though we were scattered throughout Australia, we all remembered this special lady for the significant role she played in the establishment of Our Lady of the River school and many other Josephite schools spread across the nation.

This day is a special day because on 8th August in 1909 Mary MacKillop passed away in Sydney. Therefore, on this day we remember and celebrate her life and inspirational story. She lived an incredible life and was committed to helping others through her own selfless acts. She inspired those around her; so much so that in 2010 she became Australia’s first saint. Our school community is blessed to be part of St Mary MacKillop’s wonderful story.

St Mary MacKillop faced many challenges, but through her bravery, spirituality, perseverance, honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and above all, the love she showed for others, she was able to overcome her challenges. She was an ordinary person who did extraordinary things! That is exactly what we hope for all of our students at Our Lady of the River– ‘to be ordinary people who do extraordinary things.’ I pray that we can continue to draw on inspiration from St Mary ‘of the Cross’ MacKillop and our relationship to do this each day.

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 be led by your Spirit to reach out to our brothers and sisters. 
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

Tomorrow, 15th August we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (the mother of Jesus). As our first disciple, Mary provides a model for us in how to live a life open to God and to 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 assert our humanity and work to develop the dignity of people as daughters and sons of God. We will honour Mary with a whole school Mass at 9:00am, in St. Mary’s church hosted by the Year Three and Four students. It is always very special to see families attend our class masses, and I extend a very warm welcome to all in our community to share in our celebration of the Assumption of Mary.

Empowering God, Inspire us by the example of Mary’s openness to your Love. May we live in this attitude and bring to birth a new world! We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen

May we all follow the examples of these remarkable women and enjoy the abundance of God’s gentle peace always.

Rosemary Perre
Religious Education Coordinator

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

Year One News

Foundation and Year One Mass

Last Thursday the Foundation and Year One Students hosted a Mass dedicated to the memory of St. Mary Mackillop. In their beautiful introduction to Mass, students processed into the church with symbols that gave us a glimpse of Mary’s life and values.

The following symbols were brought forward.

A cross – to remind us of Mary’s faith and love for God.

A picture of St. Joseph – to remind us of how Mary wanted to model the values of St Joseph.

Rosary Beads – Mary carried Rosary Beads with her everywhere. They helped in prayer and reminded her to follow Jesus.

A candle – to remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.

A book – to remind us that Mary was a teacher and she insisted on education for all.

Bread – to remind us that Mary fed the poor people.

A Blanket –to remind us that Mary made sure the needy were warm and safe. Native Flowers –to remind us that Mary was Australian, and she worked in the bush.

She faced a lot of challenges in life, but like the hearty native flowers, Mary didn’t give up and she was very brave.

It was wonderful to see so many families supporting their children by attending Mass and celebrating with us. We are blessed to have you in our community. I extend a big Thank You to everyone for their attendance and also to Fr. Cletus as well as all the wonderful children for their participation.

Berri Regional Child Care Centre

As we aspire to be like Mary Mackillop and reach out to people in our community, the Year One students visited Berri Regional Childcare Centre last Thursday. In our attempt to follow Mary’s example to serve others, students read stories to and helped the young children in their play. They also gave a small gift of a card that had a simple explanation of who Mary Mackillop was. Our class had such a good time bringing smiles to the faces of the little ones.

Find happiness in making others happy!
Mary MacKillop (1899)

Rosemary Perre
Year 1 Classroom Teacher

Yr 6/7 Sydney Camp

“I look next to me and I can see Mika breathing into a white paper bag absolutely freaking out! Next to her was Meg, cackling herself laughing. Caicee’s legs are in the middle of the aisle. VROOM! WHOOSH! Next thing I know we are off… finally! It had been a great four days with the class but I think we have all had enough of each other. You might be wondering what I am talking about? Well…” – Abby

The students had a very memorable and exciting camp to Sydney last week! In two weeks, we will have a video and a more in depth report of our camp as the students have the opportunity to turn their reflections into high quality written factual recounts during our Seven Steps to Writing lessons. Thank you to Mrs. Oates for her behind the scenes organisation and to Stacey for joining us on our Camp.

In the meantime, please enjoy some of our students initial reflections and the gallery of images highlighting some of our favourite parts of the trip, including; walking over Sydney Harbour Bridge, visiting Madame Tussauds, Sydney Harbour Cruise, St Mary of the Cross Feast Day Mass at Mary MacKillop Place and much more!

“We are all on a sugar high as we sung ‘Let It Go!’ It was getting louder and louder and then we got kicked out of the Hard Rock Café.” – Caicee

“There I am standing in front of a whole heap of famous people; Pink, Rebel Wilson and so many more. I can’t believe it! But the truth is they were all wax people in Madame Tussaud’s Museum although I wish they were real! Seeing what people can do with wax was pretty amazing – it was very realistic. I would highly recommend Madame Tussaud’s to everyone who has not been there!”– Zoe

“Have you ever had that feeling that you’ve lost something forever? Well I have! It is the worst feeling in the world! I lost my favourite jacket! I had that worst feeling in the world at that moment. Oh, I am OBSESSED with Starbucks!! Sorry you didn’t need to know that… I just love it so much! And randomly Alhannah had a fork in her bed?” – Lily

“CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK! My hands were sweating. The plane was shaking. I am pretty sure I saw a whole movie of plane crashes before my eyes but all of it went when all of a sudden the wing was tilting high into the air, it reminded me of a birds wing. The clouds were surrounding us and it felt as if we were disobeying gravity!” – Caroline

“Tired, wanting sleep, annoyed. I couldn’t stand being up this early! Mum is outside in the car getting it all warmed up. Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock is ticking. ‘MUM! Go like the CLAPPERS!’” – Ryder

“I’m home! Best camp EVER! The only downside: I left my phone on the plane. What plane you ask? Which camp? When, what who? Well it all started on Monday morning and this is how it went.” – Alhannah

“The plane sounded like a zoo. Chewing left, right and centre. Adrenalin kicked in as I looked through the window thinking we would crash while an annoying little voice grew louder in my head.” – Tyler

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! The irritating sound that signals the morning went off with blasting horror. It wouldn’t stop. I could not find it in the early morning darkness. I followed the horrific sound to finally turn it off. It was an exciting morning but also wonderous because of the endless outcomes that could happen in the days to come.” – Amelia

Year 4/5 Camp

Phew! The relief as the 4/5s made it back to camp after walking for an hour in driving rain and howling winds was fair enough considering the bright sunshine that followed us on the walk down to Granite Island. Despite being so unlucky with the weather, the students showed amazing resilience and just got on with it, walking half of the 5km round trip in horrible weather but in high spirits. Upon arrival at TocH, bags were unloaded and we were bussed straight to the Whale Centre where we learned all about the different whale species in Australian waters and the differences between toothed and baleen whales. After roaming the museum for a while and grabbing some souvenirs, we postponed our planned trip to Granite Island because of the heavy rain and headed back to camp. Our first night was a competitive one with students playing ‘Minute to Win It’ against other groups. There was little doubt about the winners as the mighty Lion Kings came out on top.

Day 2 provided a little bit of sunlight to lure us into a false sense of security about getting to Granite Island and back before the predicted hail, so off we went. We had a brief tour of the island (seeing penguin habitats but no penguins) before setting off home. Back at camp we had some much deserved hot chocolate waiting for us and Cody, our fantastic camp leader and ex-OLOR student, ran some awesome team building activities for the afternoon. The roaring fire and lollies made watching Shrek that evening the perfect way to rest our weary legs.

The sun poked its head out on day 3 as well, and this time for long enough to stay dry for our activities. Cody had hidden items around the campsite that students had to work together to find using a GPS; the cooperation and sharing teams showed was fantastic. Before long it was time to go and after a last minute game of Identity Crisis that forced students to try and remember details about one of their campmates we packed the bus and got going.

A massive thank you to Nicole Pitt, Mel Ebert and Roy Stevens for their kindness, generosity and patience as parent helpers - we couldn’t have done it without you. All the students were incredibly well behaved and represented OLOR superbly, and we made sure their efforts did not go unrecognised. All in all, a fantastic camp experience!

Mr Preece and Miss Roberts
Years 3/4 & Years 4/5 Classroom Teachers

Scholastic Book Fair

As you are aware the Scholastic Book Fair was held recently and it was very successful, with a total of $1714 being sold.

This earned the school $514 in commission which we used to purchase new books from the Fair for our Library.

Thank you to everyone who supported our annual Book Fair, once again it was a smashing success!

Happy reading,
Sandy Sando
Librarian

National Science Week – Theme: Destination Moon

The school theme of 2019 National Science Week is ‘Destination Moon: more missions, more science’. It focuses on:

• how the combination of scientists, engineers, chemists, designers, mathematicians, flight directors, software experts, aerospace technicians and the technologies they used made the NASA Apollo 11 mission a success 50 years ago;
• the space technologies and designs that have made more missions into space possible;
• the space industry capabilities being envisioned and prototyped today, that inevitably will fulfil ambitions of returning to the Moon and other destinations in our solar system.

In classes this week, students will engage in activities that encourage and interest in Science and STEM.

BOOK WEEK 2019 – Next Week

The CBCA Book of the Year Awards Winner and Honour Books will be announced on Friday 16 August and CBCA Book Week commences the following day.

Across Australia, the CBCA brings children and books together to celebrate CBCA Book Week.

From 17-23 August 2019 we celebrate CBCA Book Week and Our Lady of the River School plans to celebrate in style. Our annual book parade is scheduled for Wednesday, 21/08/19 starting at 9.00 am in the gym/hall. This is a time to dress up and share your favourite book character. The theme for this year’s celebration is:
“Reading is my Secret Power”.

Monday: Library Open Day – Book Week Books & new books on display
Tuesday: Foundation / Year 1 – Excursion to Chaffey Theatre
Wednesday: Book Parade – School gym / hall 9am
Thursday: Classroom Activities

Sports News

Yours in Sport,
Mr Cotter
Physical Education Coordinator

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.

Special Events

Support ‘Wheel to Walk’ & Mrs. Oates participation

'Wheel to Walk Foundation' has been started by a young man I used to baby-sit when I was a teenager and his friend 'Sarah' is local netballer that I coach at Loxton North. Both pictured above. In 2010, co-founder Charles Brice had a motorbike accident on the outskirts of Paruna. The accident left him a quadriplegic. A group of supporters will be retracing his steps from the accident site, via Loxton where he was transported by ambulance, to Swan Reach and Tanunda, into Adelaide, where he spent 72 days in hospital before 14 months in Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

Since his accident Charles has wanted to give back, and now, with the help of his friend, Sarah Arnold, 'Wheel To Walk Foundation' was established. In October this year, Charles and Sarah, along with a group of 28 others (one of them Mrs. Oates), will cycle from the site of his accident to Adelaide in an effort to raise $100,000 for the Wings For Life Foundation. The trip will total just over 300 kilometres, with Charles handcycling the entire way.

The Wings For Life Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that raises money for spinal cord injury research, with 100% of donations going towards cutting edge clinical studies and research all across the world. In Australia, the money is currently being dispersed to Monash University, Prince of Wales Hospital and the University of Queensland.

The OLOR and wider community is invited to meet Charles Brice and see his special hand cycle at an assembly today, 14th August at 12.15 pm in the OLOR school hall. Children will be invited to dress up in any type of ‘riding’ gear for a gold coin donation as well as have the opportunity to ride with Charles and Mrs. Oates from OLOR to Martin’s Bend and back after his presentation. This is approximately 8 km. All students will need a sturdy road bike and helmet. Parents are also most welcome to join us.

Mrs. Oates, “I joined the WTW challenge because I believe it was important to share the inspirational story of Charles to children and families, as well as colleagues, about not taking life for granted and always finding ways to do things for others no matter what challenges you may face”. I appreciate any support given to this cause and will be doing my very best to achieve my goal of riding over 300 km on my bike over 4 days with Charles and the team.”

I will be taking long service leave during Week 1, Term 4 to complete this challenge.

For me to participate I need to raise $2,000 minimum over the next 3 months. If you would like to contribute to this foundation and support me in achieving this huge personal challenge as well as balancing training, work and family commitments then follow the instructions on the link below.

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

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 3 Reminders

Happy Birthday!