Newsletter 11 2022

Dear Parents/Caregivers, Students, Staff, and Friends of St Raphael’s School,

Welcome to Term 3!

We welcome all our students and their families back for another term of rigourous learning. We especially welcome our new little people beginning their educational journey with us. Welcome to Charlie B, Jake B, Aaniah C, Polly C, Tom D, Claudia G, Anabelle M, Ethan S and Juro U to our Reception class. We also welcome Madelyn C to Year 2 and Emily D to our Year 1 class.

We know that these students will thrive in our close knit community.

The Living Learning Leading Survey

Parents/Caregivers are invited to participate in a short confidential survey about our school’s performance.  Catholic Education SA in conjunction with National School Improvement Partnerships, introduced the LLL surveys in 2021, to gauge from their school community, parents/caregivers, students and staff, how they perceived Catholic Schools were performing. Similar surveys are being administered to students and staff and the feedback will be used for school improvement.  Feedback gathered from the 2021 LLL Surveys informed our 2022 -2024 Strategic Intent and the school’s 2022 Annual Improvement Plan. We want your voice once again, to further improve our school. Please click here to have your say.

School Disco

We congratulate our Year 6 leaders who have organised a fantastic Disco for this Friday 5 August and while children are at the Disco parents/caregivers are invited to gather at the Parkside Hotel. Tickets for the Disco are $5 and can be purchased via Qkr App. 

Trivia Night

Our P&F held a meeting on Monday evening to finalise details for our upcoming Trivia Night being held on Saturday 20 August, and to discuss other planned events for our community. It is not too late to purchase Trivia Night tickets and we are looking forward to a fun night enjoyed by all attending.

I thank the P&F Committee for their commitment in engaging our families in the life of the school. We also welcome ideas for possible events and get-togethers, and encourage our parent communty to let us know if you have ideas that the P&F could initiate.

Masks and COVID

Last week families were sent a letter strongly encouraging the use of masks, for adults whilst at school and for students in Years 3-6. I also remind families that if your child/ren is unwell that they remain home. Should a student come to the Office because they are feeling unwell, the child will be sent home as we need to consider the whole school community. Many times a child presents with a slight sniffle when leaving home, but by recess time the sniffle becomes a runny nose, a tummy ache and or a temperature and so we will send students home for their own wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of their peers and teachers.

This week I have been working from home as I too, have COVID. I came to school feeling a little out of sorts last Thursday morning, went home at lunch time and did a RAT. The result was negative. I administered another RAT on Friday morning, just to be sure, and the result was ‘positive’. That’s how quickly COVID came into my home.

Thank you for supporting us with COVID regulations and recommendations.

In the meanwhile, I am very much looking forward to returning to school next week.

With every best wish,
Mia Harms
Principal

Hello Families and Friends.

I am delighted to be contributing to the St Raphael’s School newsletter for the first time. It has been a wonderful transition for me to your community over the past week. The children have been so welcoming and friendly, they are a credit to their families and a true reflection of the culture here at school.

Last week I had the pleasure of joining the Reception class for Christian Meditation. The class did a wonderful job, even the new Receptions joined in with confidence. I am working with Year 3 for their current Religious Education unit and we have planned a visit to St Raphael’s Church for a thorough tour and then a week later attendance at morning Mass to hear Father Denis break down the Mass into its four key parts as he says Mass to the congregation.

There is such a strong connection between church and school here at St Raphael’s School. Father Denis and Sue, Pastoral Associate, have been extremely welcoming and accommodating to any requests for support.

In the next newsletter I will be able to give more detail regarding the Sacrament of First Reconciliation. For now I can advise that you make contact if you would like your child or children to be involved in the preparation sessions. The parent information evening is 10 August at 7pm at the Monastery.

I work every Thursday and alternating Wednesdays and Fridays. Please introduce yourself when you see me and contact me if there is anything I can offer support with, or if you have any questions regarding my role at the school.

With warm regards,
Andrea Bishop
Acting Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission

Staff Professional Learning: Visible Learning: How Students Learn

As you are aware, St Raphael's School has been part of a nearly three year learning journey with Corwin University in the area of Visible Learning. Our staff have partnered with staff at St Therese, Colonel Light Gardens and St Thomas, Goodwood, to collaborate in understanding which education variables have the biggest impact on learning. In essence, this work has established that learning means that students fundamentally know what they need to learn, how to learn it and how to evaluate their own progress. In using the Visible Learning approach, our teachers have become evaluators of their own impact on student learning too. The Visible Learning Impact Series takes the theory of John Hattie's years of research and puts it into a practical model for teachers to apply. 

Through the Visible Learning journey, as a school, we have developed our widely used and understood 'Learner Dispositions' as well as other elements including making learning visible through success criteria and learning intentions, providing timely and appropriate feedback, understanding and designing surface, deep and transfer learning opportunities and at our most recent Pupil Free Day our staff engaged in understanding how students learn best. The purpose of the 'how students learn' session was to provide our teachers an opportunity to explore strategies to achieve more effective learning outcomes in their classrooms. Hattie and Donoghue's Model of Learning (2016) also includes elements of skill, will and thrill. These important elements are surmised below:

Skill
Prior ability: What the students bring to the learning.

Working memory: Refers to the amount of information that can be retained in short term memory when engaging in processing, learning, comprehension and problem solving.

Will
Self-efficacy: The disposition of confidence and self-efficacy is the student's belief that they can achieve a task and attend to challenges rather than avoiding them.

Concentration/Persistence/Engagement: Most people have a concentration span of 15-20 minutes before their mind wanders. When teaching new material, the aim is to do so in that time frame (Hattie & Yates, 2014).
Metacognition: Learning 'how to learn': This is the application of the Learner Dispositions. A good learner cultivates positive learning dispositions and is disposed to learn- ready, willing and able to take on new learning opportunities.

Thrill
Motivation and Challenge: An important aspect of learning and one that can be maximised is using the 'not too hard and not too boring' principle. The aim is making the challenge of the task/learning appropriate to the student.

Use of SOLO (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) in relation to the task/thinking, that is, differing levels of complexity, surface, deep and transfer learning/thinking.

In addition, our staff explored the variety of strategies that assist in surface, deep and transfer acquisition. Students will benefit from this understanding as teachers embed these strategies in their learning and assessment design.

Kelly Manera
Assistant Principal – Director of Learning

Book Fair

In the lead up to Book Week we will be holding a Book Fair from Wednesday 17 August to Friday 19 August in the Loft. 

Wednesday      After school 3:10pm - 3:50pm

Thursday         Before school 8:30am - 8:50am and after school 3:10pm - 3:50pm

Friday              Before school 8:30am - 8:50am

This year parents are invited to come on site with their child to purchase from the fair. Wearing of masks is strongly recommended when visiting the Loft. 

Book Week

Book Week will commence on Monday 22 August and more details on events for the week will be included in our next newsletter.

On Monday 1 August the St Raphael’s School Drama Club (Years 4, 5 and 6) presented a short pantomime performance of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ at the Salvation Army children’s group based in Unley. What’s more, I am delighted to announce that our enthusiastic student actors not only presented an outstanding performance, but also demonstrated an exceptional level of passion, motivation and teamwork during the rehearsal period.   

However, on the morning of the performance, one of our valued cast members was unwell and couldn’t make it. Naturally, we were sad that our student actor couldn’t be with us, but as they say, “the show must go on”. Therefore, I would like to commend Isla A (Year 4) who stepped into the role of ‘Mr Whiskers’ (Goldilocks mischievous cat) and radiated confidence, despite only having thirty minutes notice. Well done and congratulations Isla!!

Additionally, I would like to thank Andrea Bishop (APRIM) for assisting with supervision safety and Katrina Tucker (School Marketing and Communications Manager) who arranged the opportunity for our talented students and for also assisting with supervision on the day.

Please enjoy our collection of photos from the day.

Amanda Flynn
Performing Arts Teacher

Cross Country

It has been fantastic to see so many students participating in Cross Country training on Wednesday mornings. St Raphael’s School will have a squad of 30 students from Year 3 to Year 6 participating in the annual SACPSSA Cross Country next Thursday. The SACPSSA Cross Country Carnival is held each year in the East Parklands, starting on the Prince Alfred College Oval and making its way along a 2km course through Park 15. Annually, this event sees students in Years 3 - 6 challenge themselves over a 2km course. The event hosts approximately 60 schools and around 2500 students each year.

When: Thursday 11 August, Week 3 Term 3
Where: East Park Land, PAC Oval
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm

School Sport

This week sees our after-school sports program back and running on Wednesdays after school. Kelly Sports ‘Multi Sports’ Program will run from 3:15pm – 4:15pm for students in Reception – Year 2.

Our Netball Team will also begin training on Wednesdays after school from 3:15pm - 4:00pm, with games being played on Thursday evenings at 4:30pm at Netball SA Stadium.

Hannah Reid
P.E. Teacher and Sports Coordinator

This Friday is our Parent and Caregiver Catch-up

While your child/ren boogies, flosses, jump steps or just ‘dances on the inside’ at our School Disco, our Parents and Friends Committee would like to invite you to our Disco Social at the Parkside Hotel. After you have dropped your children off at the disco please join us for a catch up at the Parkside Hotel. Friday 5 August from 6:15pm to 7:30pm.

This is a great opportunity to build lasting connections within our school community. 

Trivia Night

Our 20 August Trivia Night is sponsored through a grant we received for the Glenside Estate to run a community building event. We are pleased to have been able to purchase all the prizes from local Parkside businesses with the exception of a generous donation from PIKE jewellery [a school family’s business] and a few other bits and pieces. We are also pleased to be able to extend tickets to our partners at Grove Kindergarten, Kozy Kids, Eastwood Community Centre and Kelly Sports. We are super excited to host this major event for our school and wider community. Tickets are on sale now for just $10 through Humantix on this link – https://events.humanitix.com/st-raphael-s-school-trivia-night See you there, and don’t forget to bring ‘real money’ to purchase raffle tickets on the night!

Working Bee

Saturday 10 September from 10am to midday.  Children welcome and encouraged to attend.

Help Needed

Thursday 1 September from 8:30am to 10am we need a few people to set up our Father’s Day Stalls and run them please.

Friday 19 August from 5:30pm for as long or as little as you can, we need people to help set up the Trivia Night in the school hall please.

If you are able to help, or would like further details on events, or how to be involved, please email Katrina ktucker@raph.catholic.edu.au

Katrina Tucker
Marketing and Communications Coordinator