Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 4 Week 8, 2022
Excellence
Our community values an attitude of enthusiastically applying energy and effort to become better learners. Excellence is evident when:
• we do our best to develop our talents and share them with others
• we have high expectations of what we can achieve
• we take risks and experiment with the way we learn
• we work hard to do our best work
• we celebrate our achievements
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are now in the season of Advent. Advent is the preparation time leading up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from the Latin advenio which translates as “to come to” and refers to the coming of Christ in celebration of his birth at Christmas, coming of the grace of Christ into our lives and through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Our Carols from Around the World was a lovely Advent celebration and a wonderful community event on Tuesday evening. On nights such as these, we come together as a Catholic community, filled with the hope of the Advent season. Thank you to all families, staff and students for the effort that they have put into making this a memorable occasion in the children’s lives. Many thanks to our hosts Millie and Sophia, to Sarah Draper, Sue Tormay and Hallie Purio for coordinating the event, and also to the parents, staff and students including the choir and vocalists who all worked together. I am so grateful for the contributions of everyone. Today our Pre-Kindy students spread the joy of Christmas at their concert. Thank-you to the Pre-Kindy children and to the staff for their efforts.
We thank families who have brought in items for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. Donations have been packaged as hampers and will be distributed through the Parish St Vincent de Paul group. Supporting this charity is a way that we can demonstrate faith in action, promoting the value of Generosity and our motto "To Give is to Receive."
Next Tuesday, students will visit their classes for 2023 for a transition session. Year level teaching Staff for 2023 is included below; please respect the dignity of our staff in your conversations with each other and your children. We are models to our children and our words and actions are noticed by our children and others. Let us also model optimistic openness as we look ahead to 2023. Class placements for 2023 will be sent to parents on Tuesday afternoon. Whilst we have attempted to satisfy genuine parent/carer requests, it is impossible to accommodate all of them. Staff have worked hard to place children in the class in which they are most suited and have considered student friendship groups, challenges that students may face, student combinations that will allow students to grow academically and socially and parent requests. Sometimes parents have asked for students to be separated from a particular child due to past social issues and sometimes this is the best course of action in the short term; however, for students to develop their social skills and their ability to work with all people, as would be expected in high school and in the workplace, it is important that students work through these differences in a supportive environment. It is important that you are positive about your child’s class placement to give your child the best opportunity to learn and to succeed in achieving the school values: Generosity, Respect and Excellence.
Reports will be available on SEQTA this Tuesday, the 6th of December. When discussing and sharing these with your child celebrate some strengths and growth and also identify an area of focus for 2023. Please acknowledge the effort your child has put into each area, not simply focusing on the grade. With my own boys, we always read the reports together, starting at the back page, focussing on the personal and social management and the teacher/teachers' personal comment, before looking at the grades.
As the year concludes and we all become increasingly tired, we have spoken to students in regard to ensuring that the same high standards are maintained for the entire year. This includes using manners when speaking with others and being kind in our actions. Please discuss this with your children.
Our P&F continue to provide wonderful community-building occasions and excellent resources for our students. I would like to personally thank Clarissa van der Heijden (Class Representative Coordinator) and Helen Harley (P and F Secretary) for their commitment to the P and F for our students and community. Their work for the P and F is truly appreciated and they have both made a significant difference to our school community as a whole. This year, the P&F have contributed over $50000 to resources including the Year One outdoor learning area, automatic gate, furniture, air-conditioning, sustainability resources, parent education, as well as support for community events. This is a fantastic achievement, contributing to initiatives that we would not have achieved without the P and F's time and support, both financially and people power. It is great to see the efforts of our P and F community benefitting our students and families. If you would like to join the P and F Committee for 2023, please contact the P and F directly or through the office.
We are very fortunate at Orana Catholic Primary School to have an outstanding community who put our students at the centre of everything we do. During Week 9, the distributed leadership team and then in Week 10, the staff will review the ‘Year That Was!’ to inform our planning for 2023. We will continually strive to make improvements to benefit our students and we thank-you for trusting us with your precious children.
Best wishes and God bless.
Dee Johnston
Principal
Year Level Teaching Staff
FAITH IN ACTION
Advent Begins this Week
Advent comes from the Latin word meaning "coming." Jesus is coming, and Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. While we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period of preparation, much like Lent. Prayer, penance and fasting are appropriate during this season.
Advent is not as strict as Lent, and there are no rules for fasting, but it is meant to be a period of self-preparation. The purple colour associated with Advent is also the colour of penance. The faithful should receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
At Mass on Sunday, the second Advent candle will be lit. The second candle, also purple, represents faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. The colour of the second Advent candle is associated with royalty and reminds us that Christ is the "King of Kings." We await the coming of a new king from Bethlehem.
Christmas Hampers
Thank you to everyone in the Orana community who contributed to our Christmas Hampers. The Willetton St Vincent de Paul Conference collected 18 large hampers today, which they will distribute to needy families in the local community. A very big thank you to the Year 6 students in the Social Justice Team for their hard work in organising and coordinating the hampers.
School Initiatives Parent Survey
Having implemented a variety of initiatives throughout 2021 and 2022 we now ask for your feedback and further suggestions. As an Orana community, we value your contributions and input in these areas as we plan for 2023.
Please express your views on the areas attached regarding the implementation of the initiative. Use the space provided to comment on each area (if applicable). Then use the general comment space to add any further feedback.
P&F News
WE WANT YOU!
We are looking for two new members to join the P&F committee for next year. One for the Secretary position and one for Class Representative Coordinator. One of our previous committee members said that joining the P & F was a great way to get to know other parents in the school community. If this may be of interest to you, please contact the P & F for further information by sending us an email at oranapandf@gmail.com
Thank you for all your continued support.
WELCOME BACK SUNDOWNER - SAVE THE DATE!
Save Friday, 17th March for our Orana Community Welcome Back Sundowner. This is a wonderful opportunity for children and parents/carers to enjoy some time together - especially our families new to Orana.
The P&F
Covid-19 Update
The WA Health guidelines state that if a positive result is returned, students and staff stay home until symptoms have resolved. Positive RAT results should be reported to WA Health and to the CEWA Covid-19 Reporting Portal.
Isolation for close contacts is no longer mandated; close contacts are encouraged to test daily for 5 days and only attend school following a negative RAT result. Close contacts may choose to wear a mask.
High standards of personal hygiene should be encouraged. High contact surfaces will be regularly cleaned.
The school has a large supply of RATs awaiting families to collect. Please collect from the office between 8am and 4pm.
The school will continue to be proactive in promoting a healthy learning environment. Please keep your children at home if they are unwell, to reduce the risk of spreading illnesses of any type.
Dates to Remember
Please check the website: https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/calendar/
Monday 5th December - Young Engineers Club 3.15pm
Tuesday 6th December - Reports available on SEQTA
Tuesday 6th December - Students visit classes for 2023
Wednesday 7th December - Kindy Christmas Event 9.30am
Thursday 8th December - Graduation Year 6
Friday 9th December - Last Day of School for Students
Friday 9th December - Year 6 Activity Day (including Yr 6 Farewell at 2.50pm)
Saints John and Paul Parish
Christmas Events at the Parish
- Wednesday, 7th December 7pm - Second Rite of Reconciliation - there will be many priests assisting Fr Thai - please invite your family and friends for this service as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of Christ.
- Sunday, 11th December - Carols by Candlelight: BBQ (provided) 6pm, Carols 7pm, Santa arrives 8pm. Come and enjoy the evening with other parishioners.
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
Everywhere I go around Australia parents tell me how stressed, exhausted and overwhelmed they are.
Many cannot believe they have turned into a frazzled, shouting parent. Aside from generally feeling pressure from the demands of life, there are other possible reasons why this is happening.
Firstly, children tend to spend so much more time inside their homes than in previous generations.
Parenting in the ’80s was so much easier, as it was completely acceptable to send the kids outside to play for hours with neighbourhood kids. You could also get them out there because they didn’t have little devices to distract them from real play. We also weren’t able to access the enormous amount of information about raising children that has, quite frankly, created as much confusion and stress as it has been helpful.
Kind regards,
Kath Warburton
Social Worker
OSHC NEWS
We are currently reviewing our operational hours, specifically the start time to Before School and Vacation Care.
Please complete the attached survey link, all feedback is greatly appreciated to ensure considerations can be made to further support the working families of Orana OSHC.
https://forms.office.com/r/L04D1Wnegt
We would appreciate passing this link on to Non-OSHC Families, who may wish to use the service if the operational hours were amended. This link will be shared in today's school newsletter to ensure the greater school community has an opportunity to provide feedback.
Thank you.
The OSHC Team.