Newsletter 19 2022

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

As we have entered the liturgical season of Advent, a period of time beginning four Sundays before Christmas we are reminded of our many blessings and the hope that Jesus offers us. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas with our families and friends, it is important to reflect on God’s loving abundance to us in so many forms, not simply to focus on the materialistic expectations of Christmas. Advent is a time of hope and waiting for the birth of Jesus.

Thanksgiving End of Year Mass

Today we celebrated our End of Year, Thanksgiving Mass at the St Raphael’s Church. This was an opportunity for us all to give thanks for our recent school year and to farewell all leaving staff and students.  We farewelled Mrs Sue Coghlan, former Assistant Principal, Religious Identity and Mission (APRIM) and Andrea Bishop, Acting APRIM Term 3, Jasmine Jenkins, Education Support Officer – Curriculum Support, Kelly Manera, Assistant Principal, Director of Learning and Elizabeth Bello, Year 1 Teacher.

We will officially farewell our Graduating Year 6 students on Wednesday 14 December with a Graduation Mass followed by a ‘picnic supper’ back at school.  

2023 Staff

We congratulate Kelly Manera on her appointment as Acting Deputy Principal at Star of the Sea School commencing in Term 1, 2023. Kelly will be greatly missed by our school community.  

New staff to our school beginning in 2023 include, Helena Card, Acting Assistant Principal, Religious Identity and Mission (APRIM), Susan Moir, Education Support Officer, Curriculum Support, and Olivia Fechner, Year 2 Teacher. As I wrote in the last newsletter, we will have had the opportunity to once again offer 7 classes in 2023. I have listed below the 2023 staff  for your information.  All students will have the opportunity to have a transition visit with their 2023 Class Teacher on Monday 12 December at 1:30 pm.

Leadership Team
Principal                                               Mia Harms
APRIM                                                 Helena Card
AP Leader of Learning                        TBA

Teaching Staff
Reception                                             Louise Rowson
Year 1                                                   Kelly Davies
Year 2                                                   Olivia Fechner
Year 3                                                   Leeanne McAloney
Year 4                                                   Clare Deverson
Year 5                                                   David Monti
Year 6                                                   Anthony Sicari

Inclusive Education                              Helena Card/Angela Keam
Numeracy Intervention                        Julie Purdie
Performing Arts                                    Amanda Flynn
Physical Education                              Hannah Reid
Japanese                                             Reena Aftab

Finance Officer                                     Damian Emery

ESOs Curriculum Support                    Susan Moir
                                                             Debra Parker
                                                             Wendy Davey

ESOs  Administration                           Denise D’Alessandro
                                                             Wendy Davey

Marketing/Communication                   Katrina Tucker

OSHC Director                                     Anne O’Connell

WH&S                                                  Wendy Davey

Semester 2 Reports

Semester 2 Reports will be sent home to parents/caregivers on Monday 12 December. This report captures the last two terms of learning, and the grade assigned is a summative grade encompassing multiple modes of assessment aligned to the Australian Curriculum. On receipt of your child/ren’s report, parents/caregivers are invited to make a time with their child’s teacher to discuss this further.

Volunteer’s Assembly

We are holding a special Volunteer’s Assembly on Friday 9 December at 9:00 am, followed by morning tea to say ‘thank you’ to all our 2022 volunteers. Whether you came along on an excursion, supported us with school initiatives, or were a sporting coach, we are grateful for your commitment and service to our community. We look forward to seeing you there!

Wishing all our staff, students and their families a blessed Christmas and a joyous New Year.  I look forward to welcoming our school community back on Monday 30 January 2023.

With every best wish,
Mia Harms
Principal

As is our tradition at St Raphael's School we marked the transition of leadership from our graduating Year 6 class to our current Year 5 class with our candle ceremony at Mass today.

Sidney and Georgia, School Ambassadors for 2022, handed the candle to Loraine and Nathan (pictured above) our newly appointed 2023 School Ambassadors.

Congratulations to Loraine and Nathan on this outstanding achievement.

To find out more about our Leadership program at St Raphaels' School please consult our website here - https://www.raph.catholic.edu.au/learning/student-leaders

Thank you to all the families who have started bringing in grocery items for the Brother Michael Christmas Hamper Appeal. We appreciate your continued support in providing items such as baby food, tuna, pasta, rice, cereal and non-perishable items.

Final donations will be collected on Wednesday 14 December.

It is hard to believe that this is our final newsletter for 2022. What a year it has been! In total our learners and staff have spent approximately 1098 hours at school…..that is a lot of learning, connecting, and growing! I trust that your child can share with you the many wonderful experiences 2022 has brought. I know as a school community we are proud of all that we have achieved, and the opportunities this small but vibrant school provides.

Visible Learning

Our three-year engagement with Corwin University to make learning visible at St Raphael’s school officially ends this year. The team are scheduled to visit in 2023 to conduct a School Capability Assessment with a thorough report of impact provided. You will have seen evidence of the Visible Learning work throughout the years, particularly through our Learner Dispositions that are now part of the vernacular of our learners and educators. We are committed to continue all that we have learnt through the project, as well as engaging with our CESA direction of the CLARITY suite that will drive professional learning in 2023 and is closely linked with the research and action of the Visible Learning Project.

End of Year Reports

Our educators have been comprehensively completing Semester 2 Reports that reflect on your child’s learning journey progress thus far. As you know, here at St Raphael’s School, reporting occurs across the school year in a variety of ways. You would have witnessed many assessments through your child’s See-Saw posts, assessment rubrics and conversations with your child’s teacher. The formal academic report you will receive next week will affirm your child’s strengths and acknowledge areas for future focus and growth. As you speak with your child about their report, I encourage you to affirm all the learning they have undertaken and ask them to share what they are most proud of too. We aim for our learners to be assessment capable, that is, to talk about their learning and consider their own goals and actions moving forward.

NAPLAN 2023

For those students entering Years 3 and 5 in 2023, please be aware of the date change for the NAPLAN assessment Australia wide. This assessment will be held in Term 1 Week 7, not the May date in previous years. Our staff have spent time this term, analysing and interpreting the data around our school’s NAPLAN performance and will continue to support our learners across the school through quality instruction, targeted intervention, descriptive feedback and a learning environment that fosters growth, confidence, learner dispositions and student agency. NAPLAN is a snap-shot of learning at a certain period of time, and is not the only form of assessment we gather to understand where our learners are at in their learning cycle.

Year 6 Retreat

On Monday, we look forward to continuing the tradition started last year, in offering a walking reflective retreat to conclude our Year 6 students’ journey with us here at St Raphael’s School. Mr Sicari and I will be joined by Mrs Reid and Fr Denis Travers as we reflect on the journey of primary school, the friendships made and the possibility that awaits our learners who are transitioning into Secondary School. This year we will head to Kensington Park and enjoy a day of bonding, laughter and prayer.

2023 Transition afternoon

We look forward to our learners meeting their teachers for 2023. This will occur next Monday at 1:30pm.

Southern Cross

Please find attached the link to the latest edition of The Southern Cross. https://thesoutherncross.org.au

Farewell and Vote of Thanks

As you would be aware my time at St Raphael’s School has come to an end as I take up the role of Acting Deputy Principal at Star of the Sea School in 2023. I would like to take this opportunity to thank this wonderful community for welcoming me so warmly and providing me the opportunity to lead as both APRIM and AP Director of Learning over the past two years. I will hold a special place in my heart for all the children, families, staff and Parish community members I have come to know and wish you all the best as this community continues to grow and flourish – it really is a ‘place to learn and belong’.

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Blessings to you all,
Kelly Manera
Assistant Principal - Director of Learning

Congratulations to Holly and Georgia who were awarded the 2022 St Raphael's School McAuley Award. Holly and Georgia were presented with this award because they displayed successful work practices and sound leadership skills throughout their years at our school. This award is named after Catherine McAuley who founded the Sisters of Mercy. Catherine’s example is encouraging and empowering. She had a great desire to support the poor, the sick and the uneducated. She followed her heart and trusted in God. Congratulations to Holly and Georgia on being awarded this significant St Raphael's School award.

Out of School Hours Care Christmas Party! 

Friday 16 December is a Pupil Free Day. In order to assist working families with finding care for their child/children on this date, St Raphael’s OSHC may be open for care. This is reliant on receiving enough bookings to warrant the opening of the service. All bookings already entered in Fully Booked for Before or After School Care on this date have now been cancelled so please go online and book your children in again promptly if you need care.

If numbers warrant the running of OSHC on Friday 16 December, it will be open from 8:00am-5:30pm (please note the change in opening and closing times for this day). Families who collect their children after 5:30pm will incur a late fee. Children can come dressed in Christmas clothes and will need to bring a hat. Christmas dress up is always fun and encouraged so children can be creative and dress in something “Christmassy”.

Lunch will be provided as will an afternoon snack, served at approximately 3:30pm. Children will, however, still need to bring recess, a bottle of water and any other snacks they may require.

The cost of the day will be $55.00 per child, with no added cost for lunch. Bookings need to be made by Monday 12 December.  A booking cancelled after Friday 10 December, or if your child is absent on the day, will incur full fees. Late bookings, (made 2 days or less before PFD) will incur an extra $5.00. If your child is not booked and you arrive on the day without notice, you may be refused care as I will book staff depending on numbers of children booked and we have strict child/staff ratios to which we must abide.

If your child/children are not already enrolled in St Raphael’s OSHC, then an online Enrolment will also need to be completed through the following link. https://straphaelsos.fullybookedccms.com.au/family/login

Anne O’Connell
St Raphael’s OSHC Director   

SACPSSA Athletics Carnival

On Thursday 24 November, 32 students represented St Raphael’s School at the SACPSSA interschool Athletics Carnival, at Bridgestone Stadium. Our school competed against 6 other schools in a very competitive division. All students represented our school with pride with many coming away with ribbons. A huge congratulations to Savannah who was Year 6 Girls Age Champion. Savannah came first in 100m, 200m, 60m hurdles and second in long jump. A fantastic effort!

Thank you to Mrs Deverson, Mr Sicari, Bridget Jarman and Nayomi Peris for assisting with marshalling and getting students to their events on time.

Water Safety

It was great to see students actively engaged in the DECD water safety program last week. Our school will continue its partnership with Unley Pool and DECD to ensure that our students experience how to be safe around all types of water and build on their knowledge each year. Thank you to all parents and volunteers who assisted throughout the week to ensure it all ran smoothly.

Sport Coaches and Volunteers for 2023

We are constantly seeking parents or guardians to volunteer as a coaches, managers or marshals for school sport team and carnivals.  To be able to do this you must have a Working with Children’s Check, COVID vaccinations sighted by the school and the volunteer RAN training and volunteer pack completed.

If your child is planning on playing sport for the school next year or representing the school at a carnival, please strongly consider putting your hand up to help out. No experience is needed, and this can ultimately be a shared role between multiple parents to help spread the load across the duration of the competitions. Please speak with our Office staff if you would like to start this process.

Hannah Reid
PE Teacher and Sports Coordinator

Thank you 

Our stall at The Monastery's Car Boot Sale went well and we thank Nadine for running it on the day and our fabulous bakers for making 190 biscuits, that sold out! We are proud to announce that we will be donating half the profits from this day back to the Monastery. 

Funds raised

The Parent and Friends are pleased to announce that funds raised this year will be put toward redevelopment of the quadrangle area for 2023. 

2023 events for your calendar

• Parents and Friends Committee meeting Tuesday 31 January at 6pm on TEAMS, please email Katrina ktucker@raph.catholic.edu.au if you would like to attend.
• Welcome Night for all families in the Hall on Wednesday 8 February at 6:30pm.
• Welcome BBQ for all families on school grounds Sunday 19 February from 11:30am.
• Car Boot Sale on Sunday 5 March on the oval from 9am to 2pm.

Thank you for your support!

Katrina Tucker
Marketing and Communications Coordinator

This printable available by clicking here, is designed to help your family remain calm and centered during the Christmas period and school holidays. The Big Life Journal website has many free resources you can download to suit your family needs.

I would like to wish all of St Raphael's School students and their families a Merry Christmas and a safe, enjoyable and happy start to 2023.

https://biglifejournal.com.au

Sarah Byrnes
School Counsellor - School Counselling Program