sj st joseph’s school renmark opening doors of mercy ... t4 w6.pdfi sincerely thank adrian, nick...
TRANSCRIPT
Messages from Don:
S J St Joseph’s School Renmark
Term 4 Week 7 ~ 28th November 2016
RESPECT ~ SAFETY ~ LEARNING ~ TRUST
Opening Doors of Mercy S R
Dear St Joseph’s School Families,
I can’t believe we only have three weeks remaining. However, we still have many events and
activities to complete. This is a wonderful time of the year full of memorable experiences. I have
encouraged staff to remain positive and they have been instructed to not use the word ‘busy’ as this
can sometimes consume all our thoughts and energies. The reality is that everyone is busy and it’s a
normal part of life. As the year draws to a close, we are all encouraged to focus on the positives and
not dwell on the negatives.
Closing of The Year Of Mercy:
On Sunday November 20th, Pope Francis officially ended the Extraordinary Jubilee Year Of Mercy. With this
theme, we were encouraged to leave the past and walk through a new phase. We used the symbolism of the Holy
Door to explore ways that we could show mercy by showing forgiveness, kindness, compassion and gratitude.
Our whole community embraced this theme and were involved in many actions and events which showed love and
care for those around us. While the Doors have closed, Pope Francis told us that the windows will always stay
open and it is never too late to show mercy. We are reminded that we can continue to show these actions and
attitudes and with love, compassion and kindness touch the lives of those around us.
At St Joseph’s we have responded to the Pope’s call to create a memorial for The Year Of Mercy by planting a tree.
Not only is this a merciful response to the cry of the earth but a constant reminder of our continual mercifulness as
a community.
The Christmas Season:
Yesterday, was the start of the very special Season of Advent. This is the time when we begin to prepare for the
celebration of the birth of Christ. In the coming weeks, all classrooms will be talking about Advent and all will
display an Advent Wreath. As a Catholic Community we are encouraged to remember to think about what we are
really celebrating. We certainly celebrate the Christmas Season but focus on the birth of Jesus. It is also a lovely
idea to try to do something special which can show the true spirit of Christmas - the love of Jesus- to the world e.g.
children could set the table without being asked, do a special kind deed for someone who needs it, leave a note for
someone telling them how much they are appreciated, etc. Have a wonderful time celebrating this magical season!
Students planted a memorial
tree in our nature play space
to mark the closing of
The Year Of Mercy.
Upcoming Events
December
4 Carols In the Garden
9 Splash Day
10 Renmark Pageant (changed)
14 School Concert
15 Mass 12.00pm (changed)
15 Year 7 Graduation
16 Dismissal 12.30pm
January 2017
30 Student Free Day
31 First Day of Term 1
Collecting Data - PAT Tests and Running Records:
Teachers are working very hard to create your child's
report, being mindful of ensuring that it is an accurate
record of achievement during the year. These take time
and much thought in order to represent your child
well. Along with this, they have been completing PAT
tests and Running Records to collect more data. I have
been very pleased with the results which clearly
indicate pleasing progress across the whole school.
These have supported our pleasing NAPLAN results. I
wish to commend the students and also the staff for
their hard work.
Nature Play Space:
We have continued to develop and establish our Nature
Play Space and recently we planted a variety of shrubs
and trees. Our SRCs and members of our Garden Club
worked with Matty Martinson and Brodie Redpath to
add to this excellent learning space. We thank Matty
and Brodie for their time and effort.
SRCs planted our Nature Play Space
With assistance from Matty & Brodie.
Maintenance:
I wish to thank and acknowledge Adrian Hunt for
organising a recent Maintenance Busy Bee. A variety
of productive work was completed including
sprinklers, drains and machinery maintenance.
I sincerely thank Adrian, Nick Malinovski, Todd van
Dyk, Tony Siviour and Shane Pitman for their valuable
time and service.
I enjoy putting together our newsletter which helps
promote and celebrate what we are about at St
Joseph’s. We enjoy and understand the extra
dimension of community that is a feature of St
Joseph’s. We aim to work with our whole community
to bring to St Josephs; the confidence, skills,
knowledge and particularly the enthusiasm necessary
to see our students reflect on their schooling firstly, as
enjoyable, with memorable relationships, a spiritual
dimension to their life and an attitude that learning is
a life-long process.
Regards
Don DePalma
Principal
Some students have been spending some time ‘In The
Shed’ with our wonderful volunteer, Adrian Hunt.
On behalf of our whole community I wish
to extend our deepest sympathy and
condolences to the family and friends of
Heather Warnock.
Heather passed away recently and leaves a
lasting legacy on our St Therese Church
Centre. She was actively involved in many
areas around the Parish and School and
made significant contributions to our St
Vincent de Paul Society.
She will be sadly missed by many.
Regards
Don DePalma
Principal
Religious Identity & Mission:
First Sunday of Advent: Advent Wreath
Sunday the 27th November is the first
Sunday of Advent. The first purple candle
on the Advent Wreath will be lit. This
candle is called the “Prophecy Candle” in
remembrance of the prophets, primarily
Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ.
This candle represents hope or
expectation in anticipation of the coming
Messiah.
Set on the branches of the wreath are four candles:
three purple candles and one pink candle. In the centre
of the wreath sits a white candle. As a whole, these
candles represent the coming of the light of Christ into
the world. Each week on Sunday, an additional candle
is lit. On the second Sunday of Advent, the second
purple candle is lit. This candle represents love and is
called the “Bethlehem Candle,” symbolising Christ’s
manger. On the third Sunday of Advent the pink, or
Happy Birthday for the month of December
Eloise Lloyd, Jasleen Bhangoo, Vihan Isaac, Taso
Panayiaris, Henry Meuret, Ryan Prokopec, Holly
Teare, Joshua van Dyk, Anastasia Kalantzis, Ayden
Schloithe, Connor Berryman, Paityn Martinson, Max
Logos, Kieralea Barton, Jamie DiCerbo, Hudson
Pearce, Brock Rover and Chloe Smith.
Parish Connections:
ST. THERESE’S RENMARK
Fr Paul Bourke 8582 1894
Fr John Stuart-James 8588 2452
MASS TIMES
27 November Sun 9.00am
3 December Sat 6.30pm
11 December Sun 9.00am
17 December Sat 6.30pm
PLAYGROUP Families of St Joseph’s are invited to bring along your
children aged 0-5 years to Playgroup.
Lots of fun including art, craft, outdoor play, singing, storytime and
more! Network with parents who’s children will also be attending
school at St Joseph’s next year.
Italian & Science Room 9.00am-10.45am
$3 per child or $5 per family per visit
Please bring along a piece of fruit to share.
TERM 4 DATES
2nd December: Mystery Box Activity How many ways can we write your name (using different materials)
9th December: Christmas Craft Count down the days until Santa comes (games)
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE
rose-coloured candle is lit. This pink
candle is called the “Shepherds Candle”
and it represents joy. The fourth and
last purple candle, of Advent, called the
“Angels Candle,” is lit, this candle
represents peace.
On Christmas Eve, the white centre
candle is lit. This candle is called the
“Christ Candle” and represents the life
of Christ that has come into the world. The colour
white represents purity. Christ is the sinless, spotless,
pure Saviour. Also, those who receive Christ as
Saviour are washed of their sins and made whiter
than snow. Celebrating with an Advent wreath
during the weeks prior to Christmas is a great way
for Christian families to keep Christ at the centre of
Christmas, and for parents to teach their children the
true meaning of Christmas.
Susan Frawley
THANK YOU to the family of
Ryan, Roni & Ruby Phan
for donating some nectarines.
They were distributed to students to enjoy.
All donations are gratefully appreciated.
Star Student Awards:
L-R: Dino Atsaves, Emmy Phan, Noah
Martinson, Emerson Vincent, Hugh Riedel,
Lachlan Major, Samuel DePalma, Andrea
Catalano.
L-R: Kobi Lowe, Anja Tassios, Paris Webb,
Michelle Morris, Alexander Curtis, Joshua
van Dyk, Sasha Jenke, Cooper Neef.
Absent: Seth Heading & Jessica Martin.
Parents & Friends News:
Challenge Cup Results:
Our recent Challenge
Cup event was ‘Doing
Good Deeds’. All four
teams were very close
with Mary MacKillop
being successful by half
a point followed by St
Joseph, St Therese & St
Patrick. Pictured are
Sasha & Declan with
the trophy.
Our KidsMatter
Champions are
Jasleen Bhangoo,
Milie Koumbarakos,
Madison Young,
Hudson Pearce
and
Taso Panayiaris.
Well done
everyone!!
KidsMatter
Hi everyone!
Over the past few weeks the committee have been very
busy organising a great raffle to be sold in the next few
weeks! Awesome prizes to be won including a Webber
Q, a big Christmas stocking and lots of wine! Please
support this excellent fundraiser as it might end up
being a great Christmas gift for someone!!
Thank you & enjoy your weekend!
Kristine & the P&F committee
Christmas Raffle
1st Prize Weber Q2000 with stand
2nd Prize Christmas stocking filled with prizes
3rd Prize 2 dozen bottles of mixed wine
$2 per ticket,
available at the front office,
drawn at the End of Year Concert,
Wednesday 14th December.
SAPSASA Tennis:
Congratulations to
Josh Bright and
James Haslett who
competed in Adelaide
last week for
SAPSASA Tennis.
They were in Division
3 and finished in 5th
place.
Both boys had hard
fought matches and
represented the
Riverland and St
J o s e p h ’ s w i t h
determination and
great sportsmanship.
Well done boys!
Some of our ex-students returned to show
what they had learnt and studied during
their Agricultural Science lessons at
Renmark High School. They cooked a BBQ
for some of our students using their
produce and enjoyed interacting with
students.
It was also a great way of showing our
Year 7s some of the subject choices
available.
RHS Ag students visit:
Barney Lindsay from the Gerard Community spoke
about how when he grew up all the food he ate came
from the bush and river. Barney said his people never
had any refrigeration so learnt at an early age to
respect the bush and all the fish, birds and animals.
When he went fishing and caught lots of fish his
mother always made him share his catch with
neighbours, family and friends. These were important
values he learnt growing up in the place he loved.
He left school at a young age, so he never learnt how
to read or write properly. He explained to the students
how it took him a long time to pass the written test to
get his driver’s licence and explained the importance of
learning how to read and write. Barney has worked in
local primary schools supporting students in the class
as well as driving the school bus. He has been a
wonderful role model.
Barney answered all the students’ questions and spoke
about being part of the local Ngarrindjeri tribe and
their Dreaming stories. Barney played the didgeridoo
and said he became an Aboriginal Elder by showing
respect to other people, who in turn showed great
respect to him. Barney’s words of wisdom was a most
fitting way for the Year 3-4 students to conclude their
work on Indigenous Studies.
Aboriginal Elder visits:
Five tips to keep your children safe online:
By Mark Rigby and Phil Staley
While the internet can be a place of entertainment, learning and fun for
kids, it also has a dark side. So how do you make sure your kids stay safe
online?
Cyber safety consultant Brett Lee has travelled to some of the most
remote communities to teach parents and relatives how to make sure kids
stay safe on the internet. Mr Lee pulls no punches in his approach to
internet safety and said adults who claim they know too little about
computers to monitor their children's online habits are kidding
themselves.
"When I talk to adults and carers, particularly grandparents, I encourage them to draw on the skills and the
knowledge they already have," he said. "We can make incredible inroads and reduce [online] risks to nearly zero
just by employing a few strategies and mindsets that we already possess."
1. Talk to children
Mr Lee said first and foremost parents, grandparents and carers need to keep
the lines of communication open with the children in their care.
"Never underestimate the value of knowing how kids are going just by having
a simple face-to-face conversation," he said. "The internet can instil the belief
that it is a private environment but we can change that by talking to our kids
about what's happening online."
2. Clear rules and boundaries
Although they may not like it, children need to be set clear rules and boundaries about
what sites or programs they are allowed to access, when they are allowed online and
who they can talk to.
"Kids are used to rules and boundaries because they have them in every other aspect
of their life," Mr Lee said. "Whether they feel it or not, it helps them. It helps take
away the responsibility for them to have to make the decision on their own when it
comes to technology. We shouldn't step back or feel guilty about putting [rules] in
place when it comes to technology. Kids are ready for it; we just need to put it in
place."
3. Stay up to date
Mr Lee admits staying up to date with applications and programs is not the most
popular of tips with many adults, but it is not as difficult as some people make
out.
"This is not about staying up to date with technology because we can't do that -
some of us don't have an interest, a lot of us don't have time," he said. "It's more
about staying up to date with the technology that applies to our family. Staying
up to date is about talking to the kids, talking to other adults and talking to the
school because they know the trends with programs and can give us some
advice."
4. Consider parental controls
By installing software, programs or applications on a device parents or guardians can monitor online activity,
block access to certain sites, set time limits on the device's connection to the internet and be alerted to concerning
usage or conversations happening on the device.
"This is great for young children," Mr Lee said. "Some parents and grandparents say to me 'it's like I'm spying on
my children, they're going to say I don't trust them' but this isn't about spying on our children. This is about being
comfortable in ourselves knowing that everything is going okay.
"We're spying on other people and we're spying on activity that may come into our home through that device."
5. You make the final decision
No matter what level of computer literacy or technological understanding an
adult has, it is up to an adult to have the final say about a child's access to
the internet.
"It does not matter who owns the device and it does not matter who knows
the most about technology," Mr Lee said. "If we feel something needs to be
put in place or said, we do it. We are the ones who make the final choice."
If you have any questions or concerns about Internet Safety please see your child’s class teacher.