Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 1, Week 3, 2021.
TO GIVE IS TO RECEIVE
Generosity is an attitude of freely sharing our ideas and talents and giving our time generously. We show generosity by being welcoming, inclusive and promoting a sense of belonging.
Ash Wednesday Prayer
God our Father,
You formed us from the dust of the earth and brought us to new life in Christ
through the waters of Baptism. We ask you to change our hearts as we journey through these forty days of Lent. Help us to see Jesus in everyone we meet, and to serve him in all persons, especially the poor, the sick and the lonely. By your grace, may our prayers and sacrifices this Lent help us grow closer to each other and to you, as one family in Jesus.
We make this prayer to you in His name.
Amen
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you to Father Anthony for marking the start of Lent with the Ash Wednesday Whole School Mass. Ash Wednesday begins our season of Lent; the season which takes us on a journey of renewal for forty days until the dawning of Easter. Many thanks to Mrs Byrne, Ms Draper, Miss Mouttet and Mrs Fernando for their preparation for this significant Mass. The reverence displayed by the students was commendable. The Kindergarten and Pre-primary students marked Ash Wednesday by participating in a class liturgy.
On Ash Wednesday, we come together like the people of the Old Testament to remind ourselves that we don’t always follow God’s ways and need to ask God for His mercy and forgiveness. Like God’s people in the time of the prophets, we wear ashes to show that we want to turn away from whatever keeps us from God, and to have a change of heart, so that we can live in right relationship with God and each other.
For Catholics, Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting and abstaining from meat. Fasting reminds us that food alone cannot make us happy. We must also be fed with prayer, with God’s Word and by meeting Jesus in the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist. The small sacrifices we make during Lent make room in our hearts to welcome the risen Jesus at Easter. (Adapted from http://www.ourlanguageourstory.org)
Today we acknowledged our Year 6 Leadership class of 2021. Thank-you to Father Thai for attending the Leadership Assembly and blessing our Year 6 students and their leadership badges. We asked our leaders to respect the journey made by the leaders before them and to work together so that that they leave a legacy for the next leaders to continue to build upon. We look forward to seeing our leaders grow in their capacity to serve the school community and demonstrate the Orana Motto “To Give is To Receive.” Thank you to Mrs Packer, Miss Dreyer, Mrs Vinci and Mrs Payne for preparing and facilitating this special assembly.
This week, the staff reviewed our school Code of Conduct. This applies to all students, staff, parents/carers and visitors to our school. The purpose of the Code of Conduct is to describe minimum standards of conduct in all behaviour and decision making to ensure the safety and well-being of students. Today, we have installed an electronic sign in/out system. When you sign in, you will be prompted to agree to the Code of Conduct statements. The full document can be viewed on our website under the Policies tab. https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/policies/
As mentioned in last week's newsletter, supervision concludes at 3pm for Kindergarten and 3.30pm for Pre-Primary to Year 6. To ensure duty of care is maintained, students who are not collected by this time will be escorted to the office for supervision. From next week, parents and carers who are unavoidably late on occasion, will now need to sign their child out and collect them from the office, to ensure supervision is maintained.
We are continuing to follow Phase 4 Covid Safe procedures to keep our students, staff and community safe. While we are relatively safe in Perth, it is important that we maintain good hygiene and heightened cleaning. In the event of an increase of cases, our students, staff and families are prepared and in a regular routine of Covid safe behaviour. Last week, hand sanitiser dispensers were installed at the entry of rooms. This is an environmental and economical way for all to efficiently access hand sanitiser. The hand sanitiser brand in Bactisan. For further information, the safety data sheet is available at the office or online. If this brand is not suitable for your child, please feel free to send in an alternative sanitiser.
The Querrin Avenue carpark and the kiss and drive are the most frequently used pick up and drop off areas for our students. Several rules exist in using this car park that are predominantly in place for the purpose of creating the safest environment possible for our students. Please exercise care, courtesy and patience when utilising the car park - our children’s safety depends on it!
- Please always use the red brick paths and crosswalk to safely move around the carpark.
- Please give way to all pedestrians at the crosswalk.
- Please display your faction coloured family name on the sun visor of your car to assist with prompt collection of your child.
- Please drive slowly and cautiously.
- Please stay in your vehicle in the kiss and drive line and ensure students get in and out safely on the passenger side of the car.
- Please give the kiss and drive right of way to re-enter the flow of exiting traffic to ensure the line continues to move.
- Please ensure you move up to car bay number 1 if you are first to enter a clear kiss and drive lane.
- Please listen to staff on duty who are directing students into cars.
If you require a faction coloured family name, please contact the office via email at; admin@orana.wa.edu.au
A directional map and other information can be found on our website. https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Parking.pdf
Next Wednesday 24th February, we will be having a “Bushfire Relief - Dress in Red Day” to raise money for the many Western Australians who were sadly impacted by the bushfires earlier this month. Students are invited to wear their Orana sports shorts and sport shoes with something from home that is red e.g. shirt, hat, hair ties, socks, bandana, etc. Please send in a donation on the day. Please see the flyer below created by Manwella in Year 6. Donations can also be made directly to the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund. https://www.perth.wa.gov.au/lord-mayors-distress-relief-fund
Community members are invited to support the P&F by attending the P&F Meeting next Tuesday 23rd February at 6pm in the Library. Please sign in on arrival using the SafeWA app and follow Covid procedures. There will be a Senior Assembly next Friday 26th February at 9.00am in the Hall.
Take care and God bless.
Dee Johnston
PRINCIPAL
Bushfire Relief - Dress in Red Day
- Orana sports shorts
- Sport shoes
- Something from home that is red e.g. shirt, hat, hair ties, socks, bandana, etc.
Faith in Action
Project Compassion - Annual Lenten Appeal
On Ash Wednesday, we commenced the first day of lent and our partnership with Caritas Australia’s annual Lenten Appeal, Project Compassion. Each class has a Project Compassion box on their prayer table and students are encouraged to earn money by doing acts of service at home or with family, they could even give up something like an ice-cream at the shops and donate this money to Project Compassion and so on. In class, students will be hearing about stories of how their donations can help communities around the world and will be exploring this year’s theme, ‘Be More’.
How can you ‘Be More’ kind, ‘Be More’ compassionate, ‘Be More’ patient, ‘Be More’ giving, ‘Be More’ green, ‘Be More’ aware during your Lenten journey this year?
Thank you for your generosity and donations towards Caritas Australia. Caritas Australia is the international aid and development organisation of the Catholic Church in Australia. The organisation delivers long-term development programs, helps people regardless of ethnicity, religion or political beliefs, works with the poorest of the poor and helps people to help themselves. Your donations to Project Compassion, support this inspirational organisation and truly make a difference to many lives.
Term 1, Community Mass
On Saturday 27th March we invite our Senior students and their families to our first Community Mass at Sts John and Paul Parish at 6:30pm. Please diarise this date in your calendar.
Sacramental Enrolment Masses
On the following dates, students who are enrolling in the Sacramental Program for First Holy Communion, Confirmation and Reconciliation must attend one of the Mass times below with their family or parent/carer and following Mass attend the Parish Hall to receive an enrolment form for this year's Sacramental Program.
- 13th March - 5:00pm, 6:30pm
- 14th March - 10:30am
Sacramental Dates 2021
- The Sacrament of First Holy Communion (Year 4) – 19th June, 6:30pm
- The Sacrament of Confirmation (Year 6) – 11th September, 6:30pm and 12th September, 10:30am
- The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 3) – 4th November, 6:00pm.
Project Compassion Launch
From our Parish of Sts John & Paul
Project Compassion Boxes
If you would like a Project Compassion box for your family, please join us for Mass and pick one up from our Parish foyer.
Please visit the Parish website for the latest information on weekend Masses.
Dates To Remember
WEEK 3
- Tuesday 23rd Feb - Swimming Trials
- Tuesday 23rd Feb - P&F Meeting, 6pm
- Wednesday 24th Feb - Bushfire Relief, Dress in Red Day
- Thursday 25th Feb - Board Meeting, 6pm
- Friday 26th Feb - Senior Assembly
WEEK 4
- Monday 1st March - Labour Day, Public Holiday
Parent Information Feedback: Year One - Six
On Monday a PowerPoint was sent home via Seesaw to deliver the Year 1 to 6 Parent Teacher Information. We hope that you found the information useful. Please contact your class teacher by email if you have any questions. (firstname.surname@cewa.edu.au)
We invite your feedback following our Parent Information. To participate in this 2 minute survey, please click on the link below.
NEWS FROM THE P&F
Our first P&F Meeting is coming up on Tuesday, 23rd February 2021 at 6pm, in the Library. This is a good opportunity for Parents and Friends of Orana to get together, get to know each other and get involved. We sure hope to see you there!
Update on the Sundowner Event
Get excited for our first event of the year; the Orana P&F Sundowner on Friday 12th March. There will be some amazing water slides and bouncy castles for the little ones. Bring along a picnic rug and enjoy a meal together. It is sure to be a wonderful event and is truly about community spirit, so we would love to see as many people there as possible. Also, if you would like to get involved as a volunteer with this event, please email us at oranapandf@gmail.com.
More information will come through on the Orana P&F Facebook page, click here to join and stay up to date! https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=129789794379591&ref=content_filter
Update on Star Gazing Event
Star gazing on the school oval is in the final phases of planning, with the event to occur Saturday 20th March 2021. A local astronomy club will host the event with an interactive presentation followed by stargazing through a number of telescopes pointing at various constellation and stars (Tarantula Nebula, Orion Nebula, Sambrero Galazy, Mars and the moon). More details and event flyers will be out soon.
Kind regards,
Orana P & F Executives
Waste Wise Accreditation
We are delighted to announce that Orana has been awarded Waste Wise accreditation for another five years. This is a real credit to our community.
There are many initiatives that are supported by different people in the school to help reduce the amount that is going to landfill. We encourage you to look at the different items collected in the bins in the quad and feel free to send those items to school with your children rather than putting them in your general waste at home. Except for soft plastics! Please take your own soft plastics to the Redcycle bins outside of Coles and Woolworths. It is shocking when you start collecting at home at just how much soft plastic one house collects!
The Sustainability Team goals for 2021 are "Rethink and Reduce". That is our next step - to encourage choices that avoid rubbish all together. We encourage you as well!
Year 1 - 6 students are setting an environmental goal to care for our common home, Earth. We will check in during each Science session. Please support your child to work towards their goal. Together, we can make such a difference.
School Banking
School Banking day is Wednesday. Please bring bank books to the office each Wednesday morning. We are not able to securely store personal bank books, so they must be brought in every Wednesday and will be returned on Wednesday afternoon.
Social Worker News
As parents and carers, if we can help our children develop a growth mindset when it comes to maths, or anything for that matter, we give them a new story, a powerful story they can tell themselves for the rest of their lives. A story which opens up a world of optimism, opportunity and fulfilment. No matter what their ambitions.
Check out this article on developing a growth mindset; https://bit.ly/3s67kLZ
Kath Warburton
Social Worker