Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 3, Week 2, 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.
A Prayer for Those Responsible for Children
O Lord,
Grant me your strength, so I will have courage in every situation;
Grant me your love, so I may love others as you love me;
Grant me your wisdom, so I will show others the path to success;
Grant me your mercy, so I will forgive those who have hurt me;
Grant me your peace, so I will find the best in everybody;
Grant me your hope, so I will never give up;
Grant me your joy, so I will be thankful for all my blessings;
And grant me your grace, so you will always be at my side.
Amen
Dear Parents and Carers.
Students have started the term very positively and are generally wearing their uniforms correctly and with pride. The way a student wears their uniform promotes the school values of ‘Respect’ and ‘Excellence’ and demonstrates pride in themselves, their family and their school. Please note that winter uniform is long pants for boys and running shoes are to be blue or white. Teachers will be following up with families. The uniform policy and uniform requirements can be found on our website in the parent handbook: https://www.orana.wa.edu.au/parent-handbook/
On Monday, we hosted the Catholic Education WA (CEWA) Leadership Roadshow. CEWA executives and staff from 19 Catholic schools attended a forum in the hall. The day was a great success with opportunities for some of our school leaders to greet guests, open the forum with the Acknowledgement of Country and prayer. Our junior choir sang beautifully to lead the prayer reflection and our guitar and flute ensembles created a lovely ambiance during morning tea. I wish to thank all the staff who collaborated to plan and coordinate this event. The high levels of teamwork and attention to detail made this event a success, seizing the opportunity to showcase Orana.
Earlier this week, I attended the Catholic Primary Principal Association Conference. The theme of the Conference was “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste!” with a variety of keynote speakers presenting on the opportunities arising from our reflections on and learnings from challenging times; how do we turn a crisis into a creation for our children? My key learnings included the importance of ensuring students see a genuine link between learning and living. Leading educational researcher and author Pasi Sahlberg spoke on the impact of play deprivation and the necessity for children to have unstructured time for free time to enhance learning. If you are interested in learning more, Pasi Sahlberg has co-authored a book titled “Let the Children Play” and has a wealth of information, including a blog, on his website. https://pasisahlberg.com/category/english/
Congratulations to our students that have participated in the Performing Arts Festival so far. Ms Draper has tirelessly coordinated these students. Positive feedback of the experiences are flowing back to school. Today our Classical Guitar Ensemble and our Classical Guitar Quartet received terrific comments and should be very proud of their talent and commitment to music. Next Friday, we will host a full day of Performing Arts at Orana, another opportunity to showcase our school community.
The Bishops’ Religious Literacy Assessment for Year 5 will occur next week. This is a curriculum based assessment which reflects and supports the progressive nature of the K-12 Religious Education Units. It focuses on students’ ability to recall content about the Catholic religion and to assess students’ knowledge and understanding of Religious Education; it does not measure students’ faith. The intended purpose of the assessment is to provide individual schools with a snapshot of student performance in Religious Education.
God bless and take care,
Dee Johnston
Principal
New Day, New Adventure – Every Day Counts!
Now that we have begun a new semester, each student's attendance rate has reset to 100%. It is important to note that every day of attendance in school contributes towards a child’s learning. Research shows that academic outcomes are always enhanced by maximising attendance at school.
What does this mean for our children? It means coming to school every day is extremely important. When a child misses school, it can have an ongoing impact on his or her learning. It is the one single factor that we can do as parents (unless our children are unwell) to ensure every success in a child’s education.
NSI School Climate Survey - Closing Soon!
This week we launched the NSI School Climate Survey. The purpose of this survey is to collect feedback and analyse data from students, families and staff members to inform effective school improvement. The survey feedback does not include individual responses, rather it provides a graph based on the feedback of all parents. We are seeking your impressions and there are no right or wrong answers. Paper copies are available for collection at the office if you prefer this platform rather than online. The school values your feedback and we strongly encourage you to complete the survey. Please refer to the survey information via the link below.
School Climate Survey Information
Survey Web Link Passcode OCPACS
Dates To Remember
TERM 3 - WEEK 3
Tuesday 3rd August - Homelessness Food Service (Staff)
Wednesday 4th August - Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment (Year 5)
Thursday 5th August - Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment (Year 3)
Thursday 5th August - Advisory Council Meeting 6pm
Friday 6th August - Performing Arts Hosted at Orana (No Assembly)
Friday 6th August - Climate Survey closes
Saturday 7th August - Year 6 Confirmation Commitment Mass 5.30pm
Sunday 8th August - Year 6 Confirmation Commitment Mass 10.30am
Faith In Action
Sacramental Commitment Mass - Penance Year 3
Our Year Three children will embark on their preparation for the Sacrament of Penance this weekend by attending either the Saturday 5.30pm Mass or Sunday 10.30am Mass. This Mass is where our children and parents will commit to their preparation. All the Orana community are welcome to attend.
Social Justice Group
This term the Social Justice Group are planning to hold a second-hand book and toy sale. This could be a great opportunity to clean out your toy box and bookshelf! The money raised will be used to purchase gifts to put in the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers which we will be organising in Term 4. This is one way of showing GENEROSITY to those less fortunate than us. If you have any books or toys you would like to donate, please put them in the basket situated outside the Year 4W classroom. Let’s make this Christmas a very special one for those less fortunate than us. Specific information regarding the sale will follow shortly but in the meantime, let us get those donations in!
Thank you.
Care Packages - Year 3
3W are making care packages for the homeless and we need donations! We need non-perishable items eg.pretzels, ready made popcorn, and crackers. Towards the end of Term 3, we will create care packages out of these items and donate them to the homeless.
From our Parish of Saints John & Paul
Fr Thai is currently taking a well-deserved holiday. He will return to our parish after the 15th August.
Please visit the Parish website for the latest information on weekend Masses.
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.
P & F News
Hello Orana!
The Orana P&F and the committees have been busy planning a number of things this term that will keep us (and the children of course!) excited. Our next P&F Meeting will be held on Tuesday 10th August 2021, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. We will be discussing projects and activities that we have in our calendar. If you are keen to get involved, please come and join us.
The Disco Committee has been formed, led by Kate Guilfoyle and planning is underway. Save the date – Disco is planned to be on Friday, 10th September 2021. If you are available to volunteer on the day, please get in touch by contacting P&F via Facebook/Messenger, or email at Oranapandf@gmail.com. Stay tuned for more info!
There is also a Parent & Children Camping Activity on the 14th to 15th August 2021. This will be held in Kerem Adventure Camp in Bullsbrook. There will be optional activities such as wall climbing, disc golf, indoor movie, bush walking, and basketball to participate in, and of course there will be a camp fire! This is not a school activity and as this is an off-site activity, you will be responsible for your own children’s supervision throughout the event. For further details please see the below flyer and visit our Orana P&F Store to purchase tickets: https://orana-catholic-primary-school-parents-and-friends-association.square.site/
The P&F Canteen Committee held our first canteen day today. Many thanks to the group of dedicated volunteer who made this day happen for our children.
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
Your attention is a big reward for your child. If your child behaves in a particular way and gets your attention, she’s likely to behave that way again.
When you give attention for good behaviour, it shows your child that behaving in a way that you like will get positive interest. This means you can use attention to encourage the behaviour you want.
When you start paying attention to good behaviour, you might realise how often your child already behaves well. You might also find you start to feel more positive because you’re more focused on your child’s good behaviour than on his difficult behaviour. And as your child responds more and more to your positive attention, there might be less difficult behaviour for you to manage.
Kath Warburton
Social Worker
OSHC News
Sports Achievement
Congratulations!
Year 6 Graduation Art Fundraiser - only a few more days left to order!
Last week, all the students worked hard on a beautiful art masterpiece in class. You have the opportunity to turn this masterpiece into a keepsake for your child, yourselves or to give as gifts to grandparents.
An image of your child’s art has been posted on SeeSaw - here you can view the artwork that will be used for the keepsakes.
What a wonderful gift to give that special person in your family that has everything and is difficult to buy for!
Choices available:
- 2022 calendars
- Greeting cards
- Diaries
- Notebooks
- Sketch pads
- Pillowcases
- Tea towels
- Tote bags
Orders are to be placed directly with Crazy Camel via the following link: www.crazycamel.com.au/33943 or via QR code on the flyer or SeeSaw app.
Please note that the child’s details entered during purchasing will determine which artwork has been ordered.
Examples of the keepsakes can be viewed in the school office.
All proceeds raised from this fundraiser will go towards the Year 6 Graduation. As always, we thank you for your support!
Parking and Pick Up After School
Unless your child is in Kindy, it is best if you arrive from 3.15pm to park or use the drive through. Children will then be ready at the green shed, waiting for you. We request that when parking on the oval, that you reverse park in one row on the edge of the oval. Please continue this row around the fence line to the 2 large trees on the Chelmer Ave fence line. Please do not park on the main section of the oval. The grass is required for school use, such as during athletic carnivals and sport lessons and is already showing signs of wear.
ICAS Testing
This year the school will be a venue for ICAS Testing. ICAS testing is separate to the standardised assessments undertaken here. We understand some parents would like their children to participate in Writing, Digital Technology, English, Science, Spelling Bee and Mathematics testing. The school will offer the testing venue, setting up of iPads and supervision of tests. A direct payment plan to ICAS will be set up once we receive expressions of interest.
For further information, please explore the link below:
To send the school an expression of interest through Microsoft Forms:
https://forms.office.com/r/DZPKVtsHAU
Dates, payment and other information will be distributed at the start of of Term 3.
Lyn
Lyn Perrigo
Teacher Librarian/DT Lead
Orana Catholic Primary School
OSHC News
School Banking Postponed
School Banking day is currently postponed. Our School Banking Coordinator Stephanie is no longer available to continue in this role. We thank Stephanie for her time and service. We are in need of a volunteer to take over the role of School Banking Coordinator. Until further notice, School Banking is postponed. If you have a couple of hours, on any day of the week, available to do this role, please contact Deb in the office by phone or email (admin@orana.wa.edu.au) Training is provided.
Grounds / Maintenance News
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.
Friday 24th September – Catholic Day (Pupil Free Day)
Monday 11th October – Data Analysis Professional Development and Wellbeing Session