PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE 11 AUGUST, 2016

A WAY TO LIVE ...

Having something to motivate you in life is essential. Without a purpose, our achievements, promotions and milestones are rarely able to bring lasting, or might I say, everlasting, fulfilment.

Mentally, most of us would admit that we bounce from one future event to another. We exist in a state of either looking forward to, or dreading events that are approaching! This is not as sustainable as it is common. Although we all have these markers or objects in mind, when there is more depth to our daily existence we not only value the journey more, but those around us feel more at ease in our presence and we generally have a mind to notice the needs of others more.

Why do I exist? Is it to have a happy life? Be a success? Pass on wisdom? Be a good citizen? Leave the world a better place?

My vision and personal motivators are probably of little interest to anyone, but they drive my own priorities, water down personal sufferings, stimulate ideas and keep me thankful.

The great King Solomon said “With no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). Solomon, widely regarded as having been the wealthiest human to ever live, also pondered how empty his life of riches, fame, honour and romance was in the end. His conclusions were that life is all about serving God and loving those people that He created. In essence, he discovered that there is only one WAY to find fulfilment. A thousand years later, Jesus was recorded as saying, “I am the way”. A further two thousand later, He’s still the ONLY Way!

This year at Riverside, the students, the staff and the School Management Council members have been working together to define just what a Riverside student should represent and what would distinguish them from their peers in society. We are calling it the “Riverside Way”. We hope every student will soon be able to recite them to anyone who asks.

In the next few weeks our designer will createand publish a visually attractive and enduringimage to go with these words, but here is what they produced (with my dodgy artwork!). Wethink past students would agree that those whowalk in this “Riverside Way” will look a lot likeJesus.

Ian HumphriesPRINCIPAL

GETTING ACTIVE - RED TRACK PARTICIPANTS!Congratulations to our red track participants for this year:-

Damien Acres, Tasha Tuilimu, Dante Hughes, Lucas Marshall, Marleena Pugh, Lachlan Pugh, Bailey Murison, Elliey Salaca, Isaac Dawes, Sarah Stanley, Junior Tuilimu, Joshua Dawes, Keiahna Dorante, Mikki Quilala, Aurora Kawana, Terry Teariki, Kyle Brunette, Brooklyn Acres, Ella WIlkinson, Jaliah Dickman-Murgha, Shelbi Payne.

You represented our school very well and were very good sports in winning and losing - we are very proud of you.

NATIONAL TREE DAY 2016On July 27 our School Captains, Mikki Quilala and Joshua Dawes, attending the Townsville City Council National Tree Day Presentation Ceremony with Mrs Thomas at Riverway, where they were presented with a compost bin for our garden and native herbs for planting in our school grounds. They met with some Cowboys players and cuddled a few of Ranger Dan’s pets.

DATES TO REMEMBER

AUGUST 16-19Year 5-6 Camp

AUGUST 22-26Book Week

SEPTEMBER 2Father’s Day Stall

SEPTEMBER 16Term 3 Last Day

OCTOBER 4Term 4 First Day

OCTOBER 5Swimming Begins

OCTOBER 10Home & School Meeting

OCTOBER 19Pneuma Festival

OCTOBER 27Prep Open Day

OCTOBER 28Day for Daniel

NOVEMBER 11Remembrance Day

NOVEMBER 14-18Week of Worship

NOVEMBER 23Last Day Swimming

DECEMBER 1Presentation Night

DECEMBER 2Term 4 Last Day of School

Thank you to Mrs Caldwell for spending time with the kids doing craft at recess on Tuesday. They made lovely, little fur babies! It was so successful, Mrs Caldwell will be back again.

DONATIONS PLEASE!

Our Father’s Day Stall is coming up on Friday September 2 and theHome & School areasking for donations of slices, biscuits, etc. Please bring them in either the day before or the day of the stall.

Principal’s Award:Moses Salaca - For being a positive influence in the playground.Jakob Glendinning - For good sportsmanship.

Grades Prep-1

Amelia Eldridge - For excelling in Maths.

Moses Salaca - For concentrating in class.

Grades 2/3Tasha Tuilimu - For exceptional work in maths.Puna Teariki - Her hard work and effort.Grades 4/5/6Junior Tuilimu - Great attitude to schoolwork.Lochlan Rogers - For excellent sportsmanship.

CARRYING THE TORCH

Mr Vernard Tomasich visited our school assembly last Monday and presented Riverside with a beautiful book,

“Carrying the Torch - 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games”, by Marcus Marsden. Mr Tomasich presented this book to our

school on behalf of the 56er’s Olympic Torchbearers Club as Mr Tomasich was part of the torch relay team that carried the

Olympic torch that year between Cairns and Innisfail. The students were able to touch the torch and carry the award.

Thank you to Mr Tomasich for your kind donation. The book is currently in the school office if parents wish to have a look

at it.

The week commencing Monday August 22 we are celebrating

book week.

The theme for this year is “Australia! Story Country”.

Start thinking of what character you might dress up for on Friday

August 26. Here are some legendary Australian stories with

characters to get your minds thinking ...

Please guide your child in choosing a book character that reflects the Christian values of

Riverside.

FROM CHAPPY ANNETTE ...We are continuously bombarded with reality TV shows that are showing us how to do ‘Makeovers’. These shows give us suggestions on how to makeover our house, our bodies, our towns, our gardens and the list goes on. However, have you ever thought of doing a parent makeover?

There have been times in our family where I know, as a parent, I could have done things differently. I could have chosen a better way to deal with a defiant child or spoken in a different tone. It doesn’t mean I failed as a parent. It just means I now have an increased knowledge that would allow me to act, say and do things differently for the betterment of my child and family.

Here are some strategies that maybe helpful in your home:

1) If and when changes are occurring in your home, tell your child/children of the upcoming change. One mom had allowed her daughter to sleep in her bed with her. When she realized this wasn’t healthy for her daughter or her marriage, she sat her daughter down and explained that “beginning tomorrow night, you will sleep in your own bed.” This gave her daughter a heads up and a time of adjustment.

2) Train to the new expectation. If your kids are old enough, do some role-playing to train them to the new standard.

3) Apologize to your kids, if needed. An apology isn’t a sign of weakness. In the parenting realm it’s a sign of strength. Your kids will understand that you make mistakes and that you know what to do to clean up your mistakes.

4) Give a grace period. When we introduced first-time obedience, we trained for several days and then we began our grace period. It was one week of having the new expectation in place, but if they responded inappropriately, they were reminded of the standard and told that after the grace week they would receive an appropriate consequence.

5) Be willing to be the parent. The standard is set, the training done, and the practice time is over. Now it’s time to stand firm on your new direction. Most parents find if they are consistent with communication, expectations, and accountability, they are able to move in the direction they desire to go. If you’re dealing with teens, you probably won’t need the training, but the communication, grace period, and consistent accountability will do the trick.

We, as parents, are blessed to be given children in our care. Is it easy? Never! Is it rewarding? We want it to be!Rewards come as we give our love to each child.

Parenting skills is a learnt act and each child is different.No child is born with a manual to give to their parents onarrival, but we know as parents that we are to love and carefor each God-given child.

Annette EllisonSchool Chaplain

The weather has been so lovely. Let’s venture outside into the yard to see what we can find! Lately the rope ladder has made an appearance on the swing set and caused a bit of attention. Climbing and weaving in and out can be so much fun and it’s even better when we can share the experience with our friends. Once at the top we have such a great view of the yard! Can you spot the see-saw? It is new to the yard and caused some interest amongst the children. Learning to hold on tightly, the children have figured that they need to use their legs to push up to change the weight and help the “up and down” movement.

With so much energy, the best way to burn it off is to run! The children took to the pathway, running laps around the track. This soon turned into a game of following our friends around. We giggled and laughed out loud as we tried to keep up with everyone. Bubble blowing has also been a popular activity at the Centre. It was hard to predict how many bubbles we could make with each blow or where they would go. Some, we followed over the building and into the front yard. Catching the bubbles was fun too, but needed some quick actions to make the connection. There is never a dull moment at the Early Learning Centre. The children are all confidentally exploring and engaging in their physical environment through relationships and play.

Mega Maggi Staff Camp Sept 23 - 26

Sept 26 - Oct 2 Speaker│ Pr Rangi EiaoCosts │Early Bird $250 │ Early Bird Mt Isa and NT $0 │ends August 26 │Normal Fee for everyone $320 │ends September 12Register │ https://events.adventist.org.au/ew/app/registration/index.html?e=1207Ages │ 10-12 (JR) 13-16 (Teens) Staff 17+

Junior ActivitiesFishingSnorkellingSUPsSkiingCraftArchery

Teen ActivitySnorkellingSUPsSkiingPhotographyAbseilingArchery