Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 4 Week 2, 2022
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
Prayer
Dear Parents and Carers,
Today we celebrated a very special Mass. The Most Reverend Bishop Sproxton attended Mass as part of the Parish Canonical Visit. This Mass was the house Mass for Ward. Sister Margie Burke and Sister Francine Roberts from the Loreto order joined us to present the Loreto Endeavour Award and scholarship. The 2022 Loreto Endeavour Award winner is Hannah Cook, a worthy recipient who was voted by her peers to receive this award. The result of the voting were overwhelming in favour of Hannah. Hannah's peers see her as an exemplary model of our school values "Generosity, Respect and Excellence." Students were engaged and reverent. Thank-you to Father Thai and Father CJ for concelebrating Mass with the Bishop and for all the staff and students that prepared for and participated in the Mass.
We also took this opportunity to acknowledge the retirement of Judy Green and Kerry Marshall, two of our valued and loved staff members. Judy has served the Orana community for 34 years and Kerry has served the Orana community for 27 years and worked in Catholic Education for 37 years. Both of these committed staff members have had a significant impact on generations of our Orana students and their families. These skilled teachers have made learning a joy to many classes of children and have truly made a difference to their lives.
Congratulation also to Tayla Dennett who got married during the holidays. We wish Tayla and Michael a lifetime of happiness. Mrs Lake is back this week following a lovely honeymoon getaway.
Last weekend, our Year 3 students attended their commitment Mass at the parish. The students, along with parents, staff and parishioners committed to their faith journey as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of Penance. The important element of this sacrament is love and forgiveness as modelled by Jesus. On Thursday, our Year 3 classes attended their retreat day at Schoenstatt Shrine. My son who is in Year 12 and graduating this week still talks about his memories from his retreat at the shrine. I hope our Year 3 students also enjoy and remember the experience for years to come.
This term, an extra-curricular activity was offered for students interested in engineering. Places were filled promptly and the program is going well.
The government independent audit is now complete. These audits are conducted by an independent auditor every 5 years. The auditor's closing comments were positive and a formal report will follow. Many thanks to Craig Petta, our Advisory Council Chairperson and the staff that were interviewed as part of the process. Particular thanks to the leadership and office team for their countless hours of preparation.
On Tuesday, the Orana Community served food and water to the homeless in the city. Thank-you to the P and F for coordinating the donation of 170 delicious meals from parents; to the Social Justice team for providing the water and to the staff serving the food. There were sufficient meals that enabled the Street Doctor and the chaplain service to pass on to people later in the evening. This is a genuine example of faith in action and our motto "To give is to receive". Thank-you to all involved.
Please join us at the Highway Heroes Bullying Information Session next Tuesday evening. Tickets are available through the P and F shop.
Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten interviews for 2023 are continuing. Places are filling so if you or a friend or family member have a child turning 3 or 4 years old next year, please contact admin@orana.wa.edu.au
Class teachers will soon be looking at class groupings for 2023. Many factors are considered when selecting class placements for students and the children’s best interests are the main priority when these decisions are made. Students will get the opportunity to list peers that they work well with and would like to have in their class. We aim to ensure that at least one child from the list will be in the class for 2023.
We attempt to satisfy genuine parent requests; however, this is not always possible. If for any particular reason, you have a valid class placement request (see below), please put this in writing via email to myself, (dee.johnston@cewa.edu.au) with the subject line ‘Class Placement Request’. Parent requests must be received by 28th October 2022.
Valid requests:
a) Separating or keeping twins together.
b) Providing insights into your own child’s personality or learning needs/style.
b) Respectfully providing the school with insight into relationship issues a child may have with another student.
Please note the following are rarely valid requests and are not able to be considered.
a) Requests for a particular teacher, as staffing can change for various reasons.
b) Requests for a child to be in a class with a particular student. At times, we get conflicting requests where a parent would like their child to be in the same class as a particular student and the other child’s parent has requested that the two children be separated. There are also occasions where parent requests conflict with their child’s request.
A term calendar detailing the events for this term has been updated and is on our website. It can also be accessed on the following link www.orana.wa.edu.au/calendar
Further updates and any changes will be uploaded to our online calendar, also on the website. Knowing what is coming up in the term and planning ahead, reduces anxiety for all community members and ultimately, for our children.
God bless and take care.
Dee Johnston
Principal
Congratulations Mrs Lake
Quality Catholic Education Award Winner - Podcasting in Primary School
Quality Catholic Education Merit Award - Kaya! Orana to our Noongar Seasons Walk.
Faith in Action
October is the Month of the Rosary
Traditionally, October is the month we focus on the Rosary. This sacred way of praying has a long tradition in our Catholic church.
· Tradition says that St Dominic (d.1221) devised the Rosary as we know it.
· In 1571, Pope Pius V asked that all the faithful pray the Rosary.
· It is a meditative prayer (‘old fashioned’ mindfulness)
· It was created to focus on the significant times of both Jesus’ and Mary’s life on Earth - these are the great mysteries of our Catholic faith.
· While we can pray the Rosary to varying degrees of perfection, it is not really possible to pray the Rosary badly. It is prayer for all people.
· It is because of its meditative nature that many popes and saints have been so keen to promote the Rosary.
· You may find it hard to concentrate praying the Rosary; but contemplation is a fundamental part of the Rosary.
Our classes will focus on the Rosary in our daily prayer.
Junior Community Mass - 22nd October 5.30pm
- Saints John and Paul Church
- Saturday 5.30pm
Sacrament of Penance – Year Three
Our Year Three students continued their journey yesterday by enjoying a retreat at Schoenstatt Shrine with Sr Lisette.
P&F News
‘Welcome back to Term 4.
On Tuesday 18th October, we had 180 beautiful meals made for the homeless from various parents. Thank you to the following for their very generous contributions:
Clarissa van der Heijden, Louise Palumbo, Margueritta Karam-Sahyoun, Rochelle Keogh, Janet Kearney, Sarah Hegarty, Suchrita Raj, Erika Sutanto, Simone Agar, Stella Smith, Nicola Hallsworth. Also thanks to the wonderful Orana staff who distributed the meals. It is so beautiful to see such collaboration and community spirit.
The Teasing and Bullying Parent Information Evening is being hosted by the P&F next Tuesday 25th October at 6.00pm. Please book your ticket below (one per family)
The P&F are still continuing with the fundraising of the amazing kites. Check out the display on the P&F board. Get your kids out soaring! Here is the link https://zoomkites.com.au/order/ under Orana Catholic Primary School.
The next P&F meeting is on Tuesday 1st November at 6.00pm in the library.
Thank you for your continued support of the P&F.’
P&F
Covid-19 Update
The WA Health guidelines state that if a positive result is returned, students and staff stay home until symptoms have resolved. Positive RAT results should be reported to WA Health and to the CEWA Covid-19 Reporting Portal.
Isolation for close contacts is no longer mandated; close contacts are encouraged to test daily for 5 days and only attend school following a negative RAT result. Close contacts may choose to wear a mask.
High standards of personal hygiene should be encouraged. High contact surfaces will be regularly cleaned.
The school has a large supply of RATs awaiting families to collect. Please collect from the office between 8am and 4pm.
The school will continue to be proactive in promoting a healthy learning environment. Please keep your children at home if they are unwell, to reduce the risk of spreading illnesses of any type.
Dates to Remember
Please check the website: https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/calendar/
Monday 24th October - Young Engineers' Club 3.15pm
Tuesday 25th October - P&F Event - Highway Heroes Bullying Information Evening 6.00pm
Wednesday 26th October - Kindy Blue Grandparents' Day 9.30am
Thursday 27th October - Kindy White Grandparents' Day 9.30am
Thursday 27th October - School Advisory Council Meeting 6.00pm
Friday 28th October - Pre-Kindy Photo Day
Friday 28th October - World Teachers Day
Friday 28th October - Year 5 Class Mass 9.30am
Friday 28th October - Senior Assembly 2.30pm
Sport Shoes at Orana
As part of the school sports uniform, students can wear the following colours in sports shoes:
- Blue
- White
- Combination of blue and white
No other colours are allowed. Thank you for adhering to our dress code.
Saints John and Paul Parish
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
The Importance of Play
As your child grows, the way he plays will change – he’ll get more creative and experiment more with toys, games and ideas. This might mean he needs more space and time to play.
Also, children move through different forms of play as they grow. This includes playing alone, playing alongside other children and playing interactively with other children.
Regards,
Kath Warburton
Social Worker