Dear Families, Caregivers and Students,

One of the things I have learned and admire about the OLOR community is the ‘can do’ attitude. Mary MacKillop’s words ‘never see a need without doing something about it,’ are lived out through all its members. I was able to witness this again throughout the working bee last Saturday. Not only did many families contribute their time to the working bee, they also contributed a wide variety of skills. I express my sincere gratitude to all who helped. I especially like to mention and thank Prestige Kitchens and Cabinets in Berri for their generous donation of materials.

Well done to all students for excellent participation in Sports Day. Thank you to Mr Cotter and Ms Drogemuller for the organisation of the day. It was good to see everyone demonstrate great team spirit and give all events a go. It always warms my heart to hear students encourage each other. I was fortunate to not only witness students encourage those in their own team but encourage everyone. Congratulations to St Patrick’s for winning the school’s Spirit Award, and to St Joseph’s for winning the Sports Shield. Thank you to the old scholars that helped to make the day run smoothly, Meg, Zoe, Casey and Amelia. It’s always great to see parents attend and participate on the day and I am glad so many of you joined us. A special mention to Mr Pat Perre who was the score keeper for the day.

I am blessed to work with an amazing staff who are passionate in providing the best for every child and have a genuine desire to see your child being successful. In my eyes all staff in our school are teachers.  Every staff member provides education and support for your child at some time throughout each day. Last Friday World Teacher Day was celebrated. This was an excellent opportunity to acknowledge all staff members and celebrate the work they do.

Over the last week I have been approached by many parents with the question where I will be working next year. Although I have announced next year’s staff changes to the community already, I realise I have not let you know where I am going. One explanation could be that in my mind my position at Our Lady of the River School always was a one year appointment. Next year I am returning to St Joseph’s in Barmera.

Whenever change occurs, it can be unsettling for students. Sometimes that change can be new living arrangements at home, new staff, new students and more. When students become unsettled due to the change they experience, the staff works together and hard to support all children. It can be easy to label a child as naughty through this.  I do not believe any child comes to school with a plan of being disruptive. It is important to think, ‘Is that child giving people a hard time or is that child having a hard time?’ My approach is to provide that child with learning opportunities and support without excluding them. In the same way when a child is learning to read and is struggling we do not take books away. If a child is not able to play well with others, we should not take them away from other children. In both examples, we provide support and learning opportunities for them so that they can improve and become successful. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel welcome to make a time to talk with your child’s teacher or make a time to meet with me.

Next Thursday we welcome 7 kindergarten children as they begin their transition to school; Jaxon, Hope, Bor, Logan, Harry, Sriyan and Stellar. I love the joy children bring to school on their first day of transition; excitement in their eyes, open minds that take in everything they see and do and the enthusiasm they have to meet everyone in the school. A real buzz of excitement!

As the Made in the Image of God curriculum is being rolled out in our school this week and the next, I was thinking about who we are to God. I was thinking about how beautiful He made human beings and how much care He must have taken while creating us. He laid in each of us something that is uniquely beautiful. Celebrate who you are and discover what God put into you that makes you you; God’s beautiful and unique creation.

Have a great weekend.

Nanda de Winter