Orana Catholic Primary School
Term1 Week 4
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
A PRAYER FOR OTHERS
Father,
You know that sometimes life and the circumstances we face are just hard. But you are our source of peace.
I pray for the one reading these words right now. I pray that whatever they are facing right now, that they would take a deep breath and inhale more of you and your peace while exhaling any of the worries that weigh them down. I pray that they would be anxious for nothing, but would come to you in prayer with all their needs, thanking you even now that you know how you’re going to take care of every last detail.
I thank you that you care about the things that we care about, and that you are our source of peace in the midst of the storms.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers,
We welcome Father CJ to our parish. Father CJ is the newly appointed assistant parish priest at St John and St Paul Parish. We look forward to Father CJ working alongside Father Thai in providing spiritual guidance to our school community.
Yesterday we welcomed our Year 6 students back to school. The students were excited to see each other and smoothly settled back into routine. Their ability to transition to remote learning demonstrated their resilience and flexibility. Thank-you to everyone for supporting our students to continue their learning.
The well-being of our community members is paramount during these challenging times. We are acutely aware of an ever-changing Covid-19 guidelines; constant flow of information; changing restrictions and the overwhelming focus on the pandemic. There is talk of Covid fatigue prior to our case numbers peaking. It is important to remember that students need to feel a sense of normality; to play, learn and rest. A sense of belonging to family, friends and the school community will help to reduce their anxiety around the ever-changing Covid landscape.
On Tuesday evening, the P and F Executive and I met online. I look forward to working with this team. We welcome the following P and F Executive members:
President: Borhan Milani
Vice President: Shehan Goonetilleke
Treasurer: Priya Narsing
Secretary: Helen Harley
Class Representative Coordinator: Clarissa Van der Heijden
As a group, we reviewed 2021 and discussed creative opportunities for 2022. The collective goal is to prioritise community connectiveness in challenging times. We are fortunate at Orana to have such enthusiastic parent leaders who highly value the welcoming community spirit, inclusive of students, parents and staff.
Many thanks to Miss Tayla Dennett for coordinating the relocation of the swimming trials to an outdoor venue to comply with current restrictions. Her commitment in time, included a site safety visit and checklist to ensure adherence to the venue Covid Plan, is greatly appreciated. The swimming trials and carnival, if they are able to go ahead, will look different to ensure compliance to the restrictions and the safety and wellbeing of our student, staff and families. We will forward more information closer to the time.
For student safety, playgrounds are out of bounds before and after school. There is no teacher supervision at this time. This includes the early years play equipment.
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
Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. This event takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and although mainly observed by Catholics, many other Christians observe it too.
Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. (The ashes this year, are sprinkled on the head). The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. These ashes are created by burning the palms from last year's Palm Sunday that parishioners have brought back to the church. As the priest (or delegate) sprinkles the ashes on a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Repent and believe in the Gospel."
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of obligation. Mass at Saints John and Paul Church will be held at 7am, 10am and 7pm on 2nd March.
The students will celebrate a year level liturgy in their class room at 11am.
Changes to the Parish Sacramental Programme
Please view the table below for the most recent changes to the 2022 Sacramental Programme due to Covid-19 Restrictions.
CEWA Childsafe Framework
https://childsafe.cewa.edu.au/introduction-key-concepts/
What Does the Element of Culture Look Like?
* Teachers and staff recognise a child and young adult’s right to a safe, engaging and supportive environment.
* Child safety is a responsibility shared by everyone in schools and across CEWA.
* Standardised, quality training is provided to understand the indicators of child maltreatment, e.g. Child Protection Policy and Mandatory Reporting training
* Child safe policies and practices are in place to ensure that unsafe behaviour is recognised and reported.
* There is a culture where children and young adults can raise concerns without worry.
* Parents are treated as partners in child safety and have access to information and support on all aspects of child safety.
* Parents, children and young adults are included in the development of policies, procedures and models of service.
* Staff protect and respect a child or young adult’s cultural and spiritual identity and help to support and preserve their family and community connection.
* Staff actively seek to identify and eliminate racism and discrimination.
* Staff feel confident to identify and present concerns about child safety activities and practices.
* There operates a culture of trust and openness where practice is supervised, discussed, questioned and improved.
* Teachers and staff are alert and aware about how others treat children and young people.
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.
Dates To Remember
Term 1 - Week 5 - 2022
- Tuesday, 1st March - Shrove Tuesday and Project Compassion Launch.
- Wednesday, 2nd March - Ash Wednesday - Classroom Liturgies at 11am.
- Friday, 4th March - Year 6 Reconciliation and Senior Certificates presented in the classroom.
Always check the Orana Website for the most up-to-date calendar.
Officer Visitors Carparks
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
We welcome the new Orana Parents & Friends committee for year 2022. Welcome Borhan Milani (President), Shehan Goonetilleke (V.President), Priya Narsing (Treasurer), Helen Harley (Secretary), Clarissa Van Der Heijden(Class representative).
We also welcome parents who have joined the Orana Family this year. Do let us know if you would like to join the P & F and offer a helping hand with our projects by emailing oranapandf@gmail.com.
We would also like to inform everyone of the following Orana P & F events.
Canteen lunch day on 7th April
Homeless food service on 12th April
More information will follow in next week's newsletter.
Have a great weekend.
Orana P&F Executives
OSHC NEWS
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
10 Way to Support Anxious Kids
If they’re terrified of dogs, it’s pretty reasonable to keep them away from the pitbull next door….right?
Well, not really. By helping children avoid scary situations, you’re reinforcing and fuelling their anxiety. They’re also missing out on opportunities to develop coping skills and prove to themselves they can deal with the anxious thought or feeling next time it comes up.
The best thing you can do for your child is to help them learn how to cope with anxiety.
Kind regards
Kath Warburton
Social Worker