Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 2, Week 7, 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.
Prayer for Good Manners
Dear Lord,
Help us remember to always thank people who have helped us or shown kindness,
no matter in how small a way it is.
Help us to remember to show kindness and politeness to others,
whenever we get the chance.
Amen
It is pleasing to see the exchange of manners around the school when people interact at many levels – in classrooms, in the carpark, in the office and between families at various school gatherings. As I take new families on tour around the school, they often comment to me about the good manners our students display. Not only do good manners portray a positive image for the individual displaying them but they make a positive difference to those they are directed towards and to those around who witness them.
The traffic flow has continued to improve both before and after school. Thank-you to the parents that are parking in the appropriate bays or on the oval and those showing manners and patience as we prioritise the pick-up line over the crosswalk or traffic continuing through the carpark. Please do not get out of your car in the drive through area. This interrupts the traffic flow and is not safe. If you need to get out to assist your children with their bags, please park in a bay or reverse park on the oval.
Whilst on the topic of displaying good manners, on Wednesday, I had the privilege of accompanying two of our very well-mannered Year 6 leaders, Matthew and Anthony, together with Mrs Alp, to the official launch of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe’s LifeLink Day. Catholic primary school children gathered from around the city to hear Archbishop’s Costelloe’s Lifelink message. The LifeLink Day Initiative was established in 1999 and one of the aims of LifeLink is to encourage a “practical demonstration of Faith” by asking students, teachers and schools to organise a special fundraising event for LifeLink Day, with the proceeds aiding people in real need within the community. As such, after the celebration of the 9am Whole School Mass for Orana Day, where we celebrate the Feast Day of Sts John and Paul, on Friday 2nd July, our class teachers have organised a mini-fair, to raise money for Lifelink. All children are asked to support this event by donating toward this very worthwhile Catholic fundraising activity. More information will be sent out closer to the time.
On Thursday, we hosted the Year 3-6 Cross Country. This was a terrific event. Many thanks to Miss Dennett for her thorough organisation and the parents and staff who helped to set up and coordinate the event. The weather was kind and congratulations to the students for their participation and efforts. All of our gospel values were evident throughout the event;
· Generosity: Students cheered for and encouraged their peers. Sportsmanship was displayed when some students who has completed the run went back to support others to finish the course.
· Excellence: Some students achieved their personal best times while others persevered to complete a challenging distance to finish the course.
· Respect: The spectators displayed respect by encouraging and acknowledging the different levels of abilities in our school community.
This week, we have continued to conduct Kindy interviews for 2022. If you are aware of families who require a placement for next year and have not yet put in an application, please ask them to contact the office for an enrolment package or visit the admissions tab on our website.
Next week is Wellness Week. Whilst at Orana, we have a continual focus on the wellbeing of our students, staff and community members. Each term we nominate a week to specifically target wellness. Please refer to the advertisement below for details about Wellness Week at Orana.
Enjoy the long weekend.
Take care and God Bless
Dee Johnston
Principal
Dates To Remember
TERM 2 - WEEK 8
Wellness Week
7 June - WA Day - No school
9 June - Kids iPad Conference - Yr 6
10 June - First Holy Communion Retreat Day
10 June - Priest Visit
11 June - Reconciliation - Year 4
11 June - Senior Assembly
Faith In Action
LifeLink 2021
On Wednesday, Anthony and Matthew attended the Archbishop’s LifeLink Launch together with at Newman College. These two students were chosen because of the way they have worked so hard this year on social justice issues.
LifeLink is the umbrella under which many Catholic agencies operate to bring positive change to people experiencing hardship in Western Australia. Please use the link to view a video on LifeLink. https://lifelink.com.au/what-is-lifelink-day
Students were also challenged to create a digital media presentation showing how these Catholic agencies assist people in our community. Our wonderful Year 6 students created these and two have been uploaded to the LifeLink website.
First Communion Retreat Day
Next Thursday, our Year Four First Communicants will participate in a retreat at our parish to prepare for this sacrament. Please view SeeSaw for any updated information.
Kathryn Alp - Assistant Principal
SPORTS NEWS
Cross Country Results
On Thursday 3rd June, students in Years 3 to 6 competed in the annual Orana Cross Country Carnival, held on the school oval. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny afternoon for our students to participate in various race distances for their year level. The students were wonderful sports people cheering on their faction and friends and it was a beautiful sight to see so much love and encouragement from all students.
Please click on link for the exciting results:
Tayla Dennett
Sports Specialist
From our Parish of Saints John & Paul
Please visit the Parish website for the latest information on weekend Masses.
Social Justice Group
Plant Sale
At the end of this term, the Social Justice team will be holding a plant sale to raise money to buy food that the teachers will then cook and serve to the homeless in our community. If you have any plastic plant pots or milk cartons that you can donate for us to put plants in, it would be greatly appreciated. We would also be grateful for any plant cuttings. If you are able to help us, pots and plants can be dropped off at the year 4W classroom. The Social Justice group will take care of the plants until the plant sale. We will inform you of the specific date in the near future.
Nights are getting Colder
As we are all aware, the nights are getting very cold. The Social Justice Group would like to help those who are in need by collecting warm blankets, beanies, gloves and socks. If you have any of the above items that are spare and you no longer need them, you can drop them off in the 4W classroom and we will give them to the Homelessness We Care organisers. We ask that they be in reasonable condition and clean. We thank everyone for your support with this project.
NEWS FROM THE P&F
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OSHC News
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
Thoughts are not Facts
I want to start by putting your mind at ease. If your child or teenager is having thoughts that are frightening and upsetting, or what they call ‘bad thoughts’, they’re not alone, and there’s a lot you can do to help them. It’s actually not just kids who have scary thoughts, all of us have thoughts that are scary, weird or intrusive at times, but most people are able to shrug them off and move on, paying them little to no attention. It’s when we give a lot of weight to the content to our thoughts and when they feel like the absolute truth, that it can be very distressing. One of the important thinking skills that helps kids to manage their thoughts in helpful ways is learning to notice that they’re ‘having a thought’, rather than being swept away by what they’re thinking. Learning to look at thoughts rather than through them is a game changer. The next step is learning that not all thoughts are facts. The notion that they don’t have to believe everything they think brings kids an enormous sense of relief now, and over a lifetime. These are thinking skills all kids’ need, no matter what age they are.
Kath Warburton
Social Worker
Grounds / Maintenance News
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.
2021 Professional Development Days Reminder
The following dates are pupil free days for 2021. For your future planning OSHC will offer a full day program on these dates.
Monday 19th July - Future Focussed Learning Professional Development
Friday 24th September – Catholic Day
Monday 11th October – Data Analysis Professional Development and Wellbeing Session