11 September 2019

Newsletter Articles

School Calendar

PRAYER

Prayer – We are all Special

Dear God, we want to say how thankful we are in every way.
You’ve made us special, smart and strong.
With family and friends to help us along the way.
Thank you for blessings, big and small.
From our home and school, you provide it all.
Now is the perfect time to say thank you and to share the love and mercy
that You give to people everywhere.
God, help us to remember to be thankful for your love and presence.
Not just today, but on each and every day.
Amen.

Principals Report

Over the past two weeks there has been a great sense of anticipation and excitement amongst the students, staff and wider community as a range of winter sports being played over the last 5 months have come to an end. Not all of us get to experience the joy of playing in grand finals or winning team awards but it is in these moments that you appreciate all those involved in the sports you play; especially your team mates, coaches, umpires/referees and team managers. Congratulations to all the Our Lady of the River students, staff and family members who have had success in their recent sporting achievements. I love receiving text messages from parents of those children who have had recent achievements in both sports and extra-curricular activities. Please keep them coming in. Some fantastic achievements pictured below.

OLOR girls involved in the Under 15B2 netball grand final

OLOR families involved in the ‘Kerans Walk for Ryley’

NAPLAN Online 2019

In 2019, ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) rolled out the NAPLAN tests for students in Years 3, 5 and 7. Every two years, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 take the NAPLAN tests and results provide parents and educators with a snapshot of how students are progressing – individually, as part of their school community, and against national standards over time. Of course, your child’s teacher knows their learning best, but NAPLAN is a useful, objective check at one point in time to see how your child is performing.

For more information on NAPLAN online, please visit the following website. Please refer to the following handout to support all parents in the reading of the reports that will be sent home to parents by the end of this term.

Made in the Image of God – Keeping Safe ‘Child Protection Curriculum’

The Made in the Image of God (MITIOG) program is the official program for sexuality education in South Australian Catholic Schools. Parents recently received information about the lessons and teaching plans that will taught in classes for the remainder of this term. Please contact classroom teachers if you have any questions. Also, with the online environment changing so rapidly, it’s often difficult to know what support and resources are ‘out there’ for parents to access in helping to keep their children safe. Please refer to the article below which is an excellent, evidence-based guide to teaching kids how to be safe online…

It’s a boy!

Congratulations to Harleen and Bikram Singh on the birth of their new baby boy, Jastaj Singh. A beautiful brother for Ishmeet in our Year 2 class.

STUDENT LEARNING PORTFOLIOS SURVEY

Please click on the following link to fill in a very short survey regarding the school Student Learning Portfolios sent out to families this week.

Mrs. Ros Oates
Principal

Religious Education News

Religious Literacy Assessment Tool (ReLAT)

Last week our Year 4 students took part in the ReLAT. This is an annual assessment that has been developed by the Catholic Education Office to assess some of the basic knowledge taught in Religious Education lessons. The data collected from this tool will inform us of whole school professional learning needs and the continuous improvement of teaching in Religious Education.

Teacher feedback indicates that all students coped quite well with the assessment. Later in the year individual reports of your child’s progress will be provided.

If you have any questions about the ReLat or if your child has any feedback that you would like to pass on to me, please send me an email rosemaryp@olor.catholic.edu.au

MIGRANT AND REFUGEE WEEK

Lord, No one is a stranger to you and no one is ever far from your loving care. In your kindness, watch over refugees and asylum seekers, those separated from their loved ones, those who are lost, and those who have been exiled from their homes. Bring them safely to the place where they long to be, and help us always to show your kindness to strangers and those in need.

Amen

On Sunday 25th August we commemorated the official World Day of Migrants and Refugees and Pope Francis chose the theme of ‘It is not just about migrants’. Pope Francis writes that it is also about who we are and who we want to become. It is about what kind of society and church we want to create. It is also about our fears, charity, humanity, not excluding others and building the city of God. Pope Francis sums up the challenge of contemporary migration in four verbs; WELCOME, PROTECT, PROMOTE and INTEGRATE. The Catholic Church teaches that all people have the right to live a dignified life in their homeland. Tragically, over 45 million people around the world are displaced. This reveals the imbalances and conflicts of the modern world. War, natural disasters, persecution and discrimination of every kind have deprived millions of their home, employment, family and homeland. We cannot provide a place for every person in need but do we do our best as a society to play our part?

FATHERS DAY Sunday 1st September

Our heroes are people we look up to, people who would do anything for us and people we aspire to be. For many of us this hero is the very person that we call Dad. We are truly grateful for the important role all father figures have in our lives and Father’s Day was an opportunity to share our gratitude with our special dads and let them know how much they really mean to us because so often in the busyness of life, we don’t always communicate this clearly. We love the moments of joy and laughter and appreciate the commitment and unconditional love they so freely give to us daily.

Our OLOR Father’s Day celebrations was our way to express our gratitude to all of our Dad’s and yet another way that Dad’s expressed their love for their children. The fabulous sunshine we were blessed with on our special afternoon matched the light beaming from the smiles of our students, as they were so proud to have their Dad’s share some time with them at school. Thank you for taking the time to celebrate with us and thank you for all you do for these wonderful people we get to guide each day.

As we reflect on the influential role that our fathers play in our lives, Let us remember to take a moment and thank our Heavenly Father as well. God is the one who gave our fathers the strength, wisdom, and patience to be the amazing people we need them to be.

God Our Heavenly Father,
We give you thanks and praise for all fathers.
Thank You for being the perfect father and for providing an example of what true love is. We pray for our Fathers who support us and challenge us.
They teach us in their gentle ways and are there for us when we need them the most. They guide us with their values, inspire hope in us and best of all they believe in us. Because of this we grow to be strong in character, courageous, kind, confident and happy.

Bless all fathers in the world.
May they follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph as they continue to love and protect their families. Keep them safe and give them a heart that will always share their unconditional love and a smile that will forever light up the eyes of their loved ones.
Amen

In honour of Father’s day the Senior Students hosted a Father’s Day themed mass and Miss Drogemuller’s class hosted a fabulous assembly. Below is a video they created in class to let their Dad’s know about how they best love to spend time with them.

Wishing you a safe and blessed fortnight filled with the grace of God’s gentle peace.

Mrs. Rosemary Perre
Religious Education Co-ordinator

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.

Class News

Yr 2/3

Inspired by artist Pete Cromer The Year 2/3 class completed their own bird collages with paper they had created using watercolour paints. Clever little artists

School News

Music

“Music Alive School of Music” is delighted to be providing lessons in guitar and drums at Our Lady of the River. Teachers will be coming to the school each Thursday offering one on one 30 minute weekly lessons. The cost will be $295 per term, payable directly to Music Alive. For more information and to enroll please call Music Alive on 85845561, if you are interested call soon as spaces are limited!

Literacy News

I feel really lucky to have my space in the library, not only am I surrounded by the huge array of latest books but I get to see students enjoying the space and absolutely loving borrowing and reading.

On Wednesdays the library is absolutely buzzing with students swapping over books and discussing books, the space has such a great energy. I’ve also noticed the fantastic conversations students and teachers are having about books about what they’ve read and what they want to read, everyone recommending different books at all different ages and levels.

Year One’s were so engrossed in their reading they didn’t even notice the photo being taken!

The Year 2/3 and 3/4 classes are busy planning their informative pieces of writing about space. The students have been learning about the importance of brainstorming and thinking harder about the questions they are going to research answers for, so their writing becomes more engaging to their reader. They have been researching facts, putting these facts into their own words all while becoming critical users of online resources.

Melanie Steele
Literacy Co-ordinator

Sports News

Sapsasa Calendar

Congratulations Riley Halupka, Slater Marsden and Peter Efthimiou for their recent efforts in Riverland Golf SAPSASA.

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.

Lost Property

You are invited to inspect lost property located in the front office, please see Pat or Sandy to inspect items that you think may be yours, you can also look through the photos below.

It is important that all student’s belongings are clearly named, and we recommend checking that the name is still clearly visible throughout the year. After inspection, any unclaimed lost property will be donated to charity, please note all named items are returned to students.

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

Community News

Happy Birthday!