Dear Parents/Caregivers, Students, Staff, and Friends of St Raphael’s School,
Welcome to Term 3 and what a start it has been! A tremendous thank you to our parents/caregivers who took on the supervision of student learning at home, to our teachers who worked hard and provided the quality online/remote learning for all our students, to our support staff who supervised students at school, so children of essential workers were able to do their online/remote learning at school, and to our OHSC educators who supervised students both before and after school for families who needed this service. It was wonderful to welcome back all our students and see their smiling faces once again this morning.
As the SA lock down ended last night, we continue to have various restrictions in place. Thank you to parents/caregivers who adhered to these restrictions and did not enter the school grounds and used the ‘Kiss n Drop’ when delivering and collecting students to and from school today. Staff are on duty before and after school and they can assist with this task. If for any reason parents need to enter the school site, parents/caregivers are required to wear a mask until directed otherwise from SA Health. As much as I do not want to restrict parents/caregivers to the school, for the moment it is what I am required to do to ensure that we are following health guidelines and that I keep students, their families, and staff safe. Thank you for your continued support with these directives.
Welcome to Ashleigh Behrendt who will be teaching our Year 2 students this semester. We send a special welcome to our new students who joined our school community this term. We welcome new Reception students, Angelique A, Hendrick B, Daniel G, Renee S, Violet T and Year 2 students, Reggie C and Grace JB. Their first week of school would have been confusing, here one day and gone the next, and we are very glad that our students have returned to us, face to face this morning.
We keep all our families and staff who are currently in quarantine in our prayers and hope they can return to us safely when their directed quarantine has ended.
Other news to share is that for the next two weeks, beginning Monday 2 August until Friday 13 August, I will be on leave and Ms Marianne Farrugia will be the Acting Principal in my stead. Marianne is well known to our community in her leadership role as the Assistant to the Principal, Director of Learning. We have worked closely in the last eighteen months and I have no doubt that the school will be in safe and capable hands in my absence.
With every best wish,
Mia Harms
Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
What a week for South Australia! We should be proud of our community effort, albeit challenging for many. It is wonderful to have all the students back here at school today. The importance of human connection becomes so clear during ‘lockdowns’ and our awareness of those who are lonely, vulnerable and at risk comes to the fore. We must remember to look out for our ‘neighbours’ not just our physical neighbours but for all those that may need our support during difficult times. Let’s hope the uncertainty of COVID reduces and we can return to some normality in the coming months.
Speaking of those who have been particularly vulnerable during this pandemic, the elderly in our community. Many older persons have been isolated and unable to see loved ones. We especially pray for their wellbeing. In fact, Pope Francis announced the Catholic Church’s first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly which was observed worldwide on Sunday 25 July, close to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. The theme for this year was “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). In his address, Pope Francis emphasised that grandparents and the elderly “are the bread that nourishes our life” and that we should “protect them, so that nothing of their lives and dreams may be lost.” May we honour the full lives lived by our grandies. Below is a prayer of thanks to them all!
Loving God,
We give thanks for our grandparents and the other special older people in our lives and community,
We thank them for their wisdom,
We thank them for their love,
We thank them for their stories,
We thank them for their life lessons and experiences,
We thank them for their strength,
We thank them for their guidance,
We are blessed to have them in our lives,
We ask this prayer, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Fundraising efforts for Fred’s Van
On the last day of school in Term 2, we held a casual day for Fred’s Van and raised $100. We thank the community for their generosity and hope the money raised can continue to support this wonderful organisation, who need our support more than ever in these unprecedent times.
Beanie Knitting Initiative
We have had a wonderful response to our knitting initiative with our parish community. Many volunteers have created warm blue and grey beanies for our young people and we are delighted with the response. We will gift our new Reception students a beanie for the cooler months and thank the lovely parishioners who have taken the time to make them for us. If you or someone you know is interested in being part of this initiative please contact me or the office for more information. We will supply the wool and patterns for your convenience.
Southern Cross: South Australia’s Catholic News
Please find below the link to the July edition of the Southern Cross news.
https://thesoutherncross.org.au
May we have a wonderful term ahead together connected at school!
FOR THE HEART......
Lockdown and COVID may have cancelled many things, however, not everything is cancelled!
Love is not cancelled…..
Relationships are not cancelled…..
Reading is not cancelled…...
Creativity is not cancelled…..
Music is not cancelled……
Kindness is not cancelled…..
Imagination is not cancelled……
Conversations are not cancelled…..
Caring for each other is not cancelled…..
God bless and go well,
Kelly Manera
Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission
Literacy in the Early Years
At the beginning of the year, each of our students from Reception to Year 3 undertook some one-on-one and whole group assessments which gave us information about a number of their reading skills such as their ability to recognise and name letters, sounds and blends, their level of reading fluency and their reading comprehension. This information gave us a baseline from which to measure progress for each student prior to their immersion in our new approach to teaching reading. Since then, our R-3 learners have engaged in explicit teaching to build their:
- phonological awareness (recognising the smaller components in words)
- phonemic awareness (recognising the individual sounds in the spoken word), and
- phonics skills (recognising that letters represent the sounds in print)
This learning has been multi-sensory, engaging auditory (listening), oral (speaking) and written processes.
During Week 10 of last term, students engaged again in the DIBELS testing (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) in order to identify their progress and thus, the effectiveness of our new approach.
We are pleased to say that every child has progressed significantly in their learning with many making exceptional gains! Your child’s teacher will be looking closely at this data and this will help inform their planning and teaching moving forward. Please speak to your child’s teacher for specific details about your child’s progress.
These assessments will be undertaken again nearer the end of Term 4, however, this mid-year information tells us that our new approach has already made an impact on the learning progress and achievement of our early readers, setting a solid foundation for them to develop as competent and capable readers.
Marianne Farrugia
Assistant Principal – Director of Learning
Reminder school fees
Fee statements have been sent to all families for Term 3.
Instalment Term 3 - Due Date 1 August
Instalment Term 4 - Due Date 1 November
Please assist us by keeping fee payments up to date.
If you have having difficulties paying school fees, it is important that you contact me to discuss and make alternate payment arrangements.
Thank you
Jodi Jansons
Finance Office
Ph: 8272 2368 accounts@raph.catholic.edu.au
As you would already know coming out of our recent lockdown, there are still many restrictions in place to ensure the safety of ourselves and others. This includes restrictions on competitive sport, both at school and club level. However, school PE lessons and school-based trainings can proceed.
These restrictions have impacted on upcoming sporting events that many of our students are involved in. Please see the information below on how restrictions are impacting on our school sporting events and what processes we have in place to deal with the changes:
Catholic Schools Cross-Country Carnival - POSTPONED at this stage
The Catholic Schools Cross-Country Carnival which was scheduled to take place next week (5 August), has been postponed, with a view that it will hopefully be re-scheduled later in the month of August. However, in the interim, as per the COVID restrictions, we can continue with our school-based trainings on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings before school between 8:30am – 8:50am.
Soccer Skills Clinics - POSTPONED to commence at a later date
Our 6-week Soccer Skills Program which was due to commence this coming Saturday for interested students in Reception to Year 3 has been postponed. We will look at a later start date, when COVID restrictions ease.
It is not too late to register for this great program which will be held on the school grounds from 9:15am – 10:15am on Saturday mornings to learn the basics of soccer in a fun, engaging setting. Please see the flyer here for more details.
School Soccer – MATCHES CANCELLED on Saturday 31 July
For those students in Years 2 – Year 5 who are playing school soccer on Saturday mornings, matches are cancelled for this coming Saturday morning. Training will not take place tomorrow, but we will look at re-commencing school-based training next Thursday 5 August from 3:15pm – 4:15pm.
I will continue to keep the school community informed of any further changes to the above school sporting events as soon as details come to hand.
Jeanette Archer
PE Teacher and Sport Coordinator
Recently St Raphael's School was involved in the Gifted Awareness Week in which all our students were encouraged to demonstrate their talents in different ways. At St Raphael’s School we develop creative and critical thinking as our school focuses on STEM and encourge our students to stretch their thinking. As students realise that their talents can vary from Mathematics, Design and Technology and Art they become more reflective in their own learning and share their talents in different areas with their peers. The Gifted Awareness competitions allowed our students to shine and demonstrate their abilities and talents. The outstanding entries were a credit to our students and showcase the many talents of St Raphael School students.
Our creative entries received many first, second and third place winners. The below students won their categories as they competed with the other Catholic schools. A huge congratulations to the following students. These students will be presented with their certificates and prizes when we can have our next assembly.
Lego Maze Competition
Daniel H and Sebastian B in Years 1-2 category tied for first place.
Nicholas P in Years 3-4 category also won first place.
Participation certificate
Caroline S
Celine P
Oliver H
George E
Harry E
Leo T
Winjeth N
Art Competition
Sam F - 1st place Reception category (honourable mention)
Jemima M- 1st place Year 3 and 4 category
Mia P- 2nd place Year 3 and 4 category
Mathew G - 3rd place Year 1 and 2 category
Participation certificate
Caroline S
Elaine G
Georgia A
Ivy H
Loraine C
Naomi T
Important Dates
Splash Theatre Show
Year 4 Assembly
Book Week commences
Touch Football Carnival
Father’s Day Liturgy
Year 2 Assembly
School Photos
Japanese Spring Festival
School Disco
Catholic Schools Music Festival
Mercy Day/Term 3 concludes
Scholastic Book Club
Book Club Issue 5 is out now. Orders are due by 5 August 2021. We are unable to accept late orders. Please note: Scholastic have incorrectly printed the date on the Book Club brochures and it should read 2021 not 2020.
Premier's Reading Challenge
Congratulations to George E, Indiana R, Leo T, Julian S, Matthew G, Nathanael F, Riley K, Sebastian B, Alex C, Evan Z, Conner V, Rebecca S, Isabelle H, Leo P and Jemima M who have recently completed their challenge.
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