Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 3 Week 2
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
Mary MacKillop Prayer
Ever-generous God,
You inspired St Mary MacKillop
to live her life faithful
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and constant in bringing hope
and encouragement
to those who were disheartened, lonely, or needy.
With confidence in your generous providence
and joining with St Mary MacKillop,
We ask that our faith and hope
be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit so that we too,
like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage,
trust, and openness.
Ever-generous God, hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers,
On Wednesday evening we hosted the Bully Zero Parent and Teacher Information Session. Thank-you to Julie Kelley for informing us of this company and their resources. There was a fantastic turn out of parents and staff, demonstrating the desire of our community members to work together to address bullying. The dynamic presentation covered the types of bullying and strategies for dealing with bullying, along with some confronting facts and data. Whilst the focus was on cyber bullying as this is the current most prevalent avenue of bullying, the strategies can be applied to other forms of bullying; verbal, social and physical. The importance of open communication and building trusting relationships were key take aways that apply to home, school and interactions in life whether it be at a workplace, sporting clubs, etc. Together we have an opportunity to set our children up for a well-rounded and successful life.
This term we will be hosting leadership lunches every Wednesday. Student representatives from each year level will have a turn to have lunch with Kathryn and myself. We sit together and discuss what is going well at Orana, what we could do better at Orana, any concerns the students have and our focus on Excellence, from their perspective. This week the Year 6 students joined us, sharing that camp is a common highlight for this year. We look forward to these lunches to engage with the students and listen to what they have to say. Next week a group of Year 5 students will join us.
Today we celebrated the MacKillop House Mass. The model of Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint, is so relevant to school life and our motto "To give is to receive". She truly lived her words "Never see a need without doing something about it". Mary MacKillop founded Australia's first religious order and worked hard to establish 17 schools in difficult circumstances. This is the first opportunity we have had to celebrate Mass together at school this year. The children were reverent and participated prayerfully. Thank-you to Father CJ, the staff representing our MacKillop House and the staff that prepared and set up the hall.
The review of procedures is an important element of school improvement. Over the holidays, Kathryn and I worked together on some elements of our website. There is a new tab under Practical Matters titled ‘Forms’ https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/forms/ that provides quick and easy access to links to the following:
· Absentee Form
· Leave of Absence Form
· Medical Form
Please use these forms when you child is sick, away for a period of time or requiring the medication at school. For detail on Attendance and Non-Attendance Procedures please refer to the parent handbook. There is an updated section of the Polices and Guidelines tab that explains the Child Safe Framework. The nine elements of the framework were shared in sections in earlier newsletters this year. There is a guideline on Dispute and Complaint Resolution Procedures in the School Based Guidelines tab. This document guides a process to effectively capture manage and report on complaints.
Our children are precious to us. Please be vigilant when driving in our carpark and walking to and from your car. Children move quickly and can be unpredictable and easily distracted. Please drive slowly, particularly up to the green shed where children are moving to and from cars. Please model safe car park use by using the pedestrian entries and the crosswalks.
God bless and take care.
Dee Johnston
Principal
Faith in Action
Confirmation Commitment Mass - Year Six
Year Six are preparing to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation this term. Part of their preparation is celebrating a Commitment Mass next weekend at either: Saturday, 6th August at 5.30pm or Sunday, 7th August at 10.30am.
Social Justice Team Plant Sale
After last year's very successful plant sale, we will be holding the event again this term. Money raised will be used to support the Orana staff's ongoing commitment to providing meals for the homeless. If you would like to donate plants, pots or potting mix it would be greatly appreciated. We welcome cuttings as the Social Justice group will plant and cultivate them. Donations can be dropped off at the Year 4 W classroom. The Social Justice Group will care for any plants and cuttings until the plant sale, which will be held on Open Night in Week Six.
MacKillop House Mass
It was wonderful to celebrate together with our MacKillop (Blue) House Mass. This was led by MacKillop House members. We focused on St Mary of the Cross, their house patron - our only Australian saint and prayed together by asking for St Mary's guidance as a wonderful role model. Thank you to everyone who could celebrate with us.
Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment: Year Three and Five
ICAS ASSESSMENTS 2022
The school library will be the venue for the 2022 ICAS Assessments Competition which occurs in August throughout Australia and New Zealand. Although not a school assessment, Orana is happy to host the testing program so that students are not withdrawn to go elsewhere and miss a bigger part of their school day here. The school will also prepare the iPads with the latest version of the testing app so the assessments will be trouble-free for the students.
The sitting schedule is from 8 August - 2 September 2022
The subjects tested are English, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Digital Technologies and Spelling Bee. These tests are for Years 2-6 with the exception of Writing which is for Yr 3-6.
We have set up a parent portal with ICAS so you are able to enrol and pay for the testing. If you choose for your child(ren) to participate, please follow the link and use the school access code.
Access to ICAS Parent Portal
Your school access code is: TPK630
Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
Lyn Perrigo
Teacher Librarian/DT Coordinator/Apple Learning Leader
Orana Catholic Primary School
COVID-19 Update
Mask wearing is strongly recommended by WA Health and Catholic Education WA to help reduce the spread of Covid-19. Please wear a mask when indoors and where physical distancing may not be possible (e.g. assemblies, Masses, in classrooms at busy times such as drop off and pick up). Please encourage your children to wear masks where practical.
WA Health provides information directly to the Covid-19 positive person / caregiver following their registration of a Covid-19 positive test result with WA Health via this Link.
Parents and carers are requested to continue their reporting of close contact or Covid-19 positive status to schools through the Covid-19 self-reporting portal via this link.
Term 3 Week 2 (23rd July - 28th July)
There were 2 positive cases reported to the school this week.
From our Parish of Saints John & Paul
Days and Times of Masses
Monday - 9:00 am
Tuesday - 9:00 am
Wednesday - 9:00 am
Thursday - 9:00 am
Friday - 12:00 pm
Saturday - 9:00 am, 5:30 pm Vigil Mass
Sunday - 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 10:30 am
Reconciliation
Sat 9:30 – 10:00 am or see the priest after Mass or by appointment
Dates to Remember
Please check the website: https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/calendar/
- Thursday 4th August - School Advisory Council Meeting - 6.00pm
- Thursday 4th August - Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment - Year 3
- Thursday 4th August - Performing Arts Hosted at Orana - Guitar and Flute Ensemble
- Friday 5th August - Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment - Year 5
- Friday 5th August - Performing Arts Hosted at Orana - Brass Ensemble, Trumpet Quartet, Flute Ensemble
- Saturday 6th August - Confirmation Commitment Mass (Year Six) 5.30pm
- Sunday 7th August - Confirmation Commitment Mass (Year Six) 10.30am
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.
29th August - Pupil Free Day | Catholic Day
10th October - Staff Professional Development
P&F News
HOMELESS FOOD SERVICE
Our next Homeless Food Service will be held on 2nd August 2022. As it is Winter we are serving hot meals. If you are able to assist in our target to provide 150 serves, please email the P and F on oranapandf@gmail.com or get in touch with Clarissa. More details will be provided close to date.
COMMUNITY FAMILY CAMP
Due to popular demand, The Community Family Camp out is on 13-14 August 2022.
Flyer: https://bit.ly/3ntkbHF
P&F online shop page: https://orana-catholic-primary-school-parents-and-friends-association.square.site/
Please join us for an overnight camping adventure. There will be optional activities such as wall climbing, disc golf, indoor movie, bushwalking, and basketball to participate in, and of course, there will be a campfire!
As this is an off-site activity, you will be responsible for your own children’s supervision throughout the event.
The online payment gateway will be setup over the weekend. Check the online P & F web page to make your booking during the holidays or email, oranapandf@gmail.com
Orana P & F