Orana Catholic Primary School
Term1 Week 3
TO GIVE IS TO RECEIVE
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
Orana Catholic Primary School Prayer
O God,
Guide our school in the way of truth and goodness.
Help us to live in such a way as to bring honour to ourselves, our families and our school.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Amen
Dear Parents and Carers,
As communicated earlier today, a member of our school community has received confirmation from the Department of Health (WA Health) confirming they have tested positive for COVID-19. While the school and community are yet to receive detailed close contact advice from WA Health, we are acting with an abundance of caution. We will work closely with WA Health to provide information parents and carers as it comes to hand.
Please respect the confidentiality of all involved. Refrain from sharing this news via social media and allow the school, CEWA and the Health Department to communicate the facts – protecting both the privacy and dignity of all concerned. I will keep you updated with any new information.
The safety and wellbeing of all students and staff is our highest priority and as WA is now considered to be in a high caseload setting we need to remain vigilant and monitor for symptoms. If your child is unwell they should not attend school and if anyone in your household displays any of the COVID-19 symptoms they should seek testing immediately, notify us and isolate until a negative result is received. Please notify us immediately if you or a family member receives a positive test result. Any communication you provide to us will be held confidentially. Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to keeping our community safe.
As a school, our staff strive to be child-focused in the way we respond to the rapidly changing CEWA and government recommendations. The following have successfully been put into place earlier this week to minimise risk of transmission, so we are best placed for educational continuity.
· Lining up areas after recess and at the green shed have been reallocated so there is physical distance between year levels.
· Lunch eating areas have been broadened.
· Monday morning assembly is online and led by our Year 6 leaders.
· Honour certificates and birthday pencils will be presented in class.
· Multi-level music groups, such as the school band and ensembles, are independently working on their parts with the instrumental tutors.
· Multi-level groups such as STRETCH Crew and STEM are alternating in year groups.
· Evacuation and Lockdown drills have been postponed. Staff have reviewed the Emergency Procedures this week to ensure they are prepared.
I find it heartening to note that whilst we are currently experiencing restrictions due to Covid-19, there are also many positive opportunities. We can choose to look at what we are missing out on, or we can choose to focus on what we are learning from our situation and what positive outcomes result. When reflecting on this from an educational perspective, there is increased opportunity for student and teacher relationships to develop, for increased learning time with less interruptions to weekly timetable and greater student independence. Our students are calm and that is due to parents and carers being calm. Thank-you for modelling resilience to your children whilst demonstrating that you trust the school.
Last night, we had our first Advisory Council online meeting. The 2022 Advisory Council Executive were elected. Congratulations to the following members of the school community:
Advisory Council Chairperson: Craig Petta
Advisory Council Deputy Chairperson: Chris Mattock
Advisory Council Treasurer: David Giuffre
Advisory Council Secretary: Barbara Cook
In 2022 our Gospel Value focus is Excellence. This week, the staff had the opportunity to collaborate to describe what Excellence means to us at Orana. This information will now be used to establish a whole school essential question to drive inquiry learning experiences. Thank-you to Miss Lucy Gilbert and Mrs Nadia Lovelle for driving this initiative.
A Term 1 Planner is available on the website under News and Events – Calendars or via the following link: https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/calendar Please regularly check the Dates to Remember section of the newsletter for updates.
God bless and stay safe.
Dee Johnston
PRINCIPAL
Covid-19 Updates
Thank-you for your support in adhering to the current Covid-19 restrictions. All updates are located on our website for ease of reference.
Faith in Action
Celebrating the Sacraments in 2022
The following years will celebrate a sacrament this year.
Year 3 – Reconciliation
Year 4 – Eucharist
Year 6 – Confirmation
If you are new to Orana, or have any queries about your child celebrating the sacraments, even if they are not in the year levels mentioned above, please email kathryn.alp@cewa.edu.au.
CEWA Childsafe Framework
Crunch and Sip
Orana is now registered as a Crunch and Sip school. Please see our pledge below.
If you wish to read more on the benefits of the program and see some fresh food ideas, please visit the parent information section of the website. https://www.crunchandsip.com.au/parents
Participating in a daily Crunch&Sip break provides an opportunity for children to drink water and eat an extra serve of vegetables or fruit to support good health and to help with learning and concentration in the classroom.
Crunch&Sip is also a fantastic opportunity to increase vegetable intake by choosing to pack vegetables more often.
Drink Bottle Reminder
Dates To Remember
Term 1 - Week 4 - 2022
- Tuesday 22nd February - P and F Executive Meeting (Online meeting)
Always check the Orana Website for the most up-to-date calendar.
2022 Professional Development Days Reminder
The following dates are pupil free days for 2022. For your future planning OSHC will offer a full day program on these dates.
27th and 28th January - Staff Professional Development | Whole School Planning and Faith Formation
8th April - Staff Professional Development | Promoting Literacy Development
7th June - Staff Professional Development
18th July - Staff Professional Development
29th August - Pupil Free Day | Catholic Day
10th October - Staff Professional Development
From our Parish of Saints John & Paul
Please visit the Parish website for the latest information.
From the P & F
For all our new families, please join our Parents of Orana Facebook Page and make sure to reach out to your Class Rep. to get connected to your Facebook Year Group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/225041470923706
Have a lovely weekend, and feel free to drop us a line to let us know if we can assist in getting you better connected into the Orana Community: oranapandf@gmail.com.
Warmest Regards,
Orana P&F Executives
Sunscreen
OSHC NEWS
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
Teaching Children Good Sportsmanship
Parents and kids alike love sports, and it's easy to get caught up in a game and become focused on winning. Yet there is much more to be gained from the sports experience than a winning record. When children and teens are involved in sports, they are able to learn and put into practice values that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Good sportsmanship is one of the life lessons that children can learn from sports. You can help your children understand and value good sportsmanship while making sure they have a safe and fun sports experience.
Kind regards
Kath Warburton
Social Worker