Orana Catholic Primary School
Term 3, 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 Fathers
God our Father,
in your wisdom and love you made all things.
Bless these men,
that they may be strengthened as Christian fathers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honor them always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Amen
Dear Parents and Carers
This morning, we had the pleasure of hosting fathers, father figures and families for the P and F Fathers’ Day Breakfast. Congratulations to the team of P and F volunteers that made this wonderful event possible. We would like to wish all fathers, grandfathers and father figures a happy Fathers’ Day for this Sunday.
On Thursday evening, I also had the pleasure of attending the Kindergarten Fathers’ Day Evening. The kindy students joyfully worked with their dads and father figures to create some amazing box cars. The final products were astonishing and most importantly some treasured memories were made.
On Tuesday morning, students came to school excited and dressed as their favourite book characters for the Book Week Parade. This year’s theme is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. This is an exciting time and one which students look forward to and one where we can emphasise the joy of reading. The parade doesn’t happen on its own and without significant effort from our community. Thank you to Mrs Perrigo and Mrs Fernando for coordinating this and to parents and carers for the work that goes on behind the scenes to prepare the students. In class, teachers have been sharing a selection of new books with students. It might be a good idea to read a few extra books together as a family this week to continue the excitement of Book Week.
Today NAPLAN results have been sent home to parents and carers of students in Years 3 and 5. The Year 3 and 5 results are both significantly strong across the board. Results are well above the state and national averages. The school uses these results along with class observations and other assessments to cater for student learning and for whole school curriculum, teaching and learning planning. Results for each area and the percentage of students at or above the minimum standard are listed in the table later in this newsletter.
Last week the Stretch Crew had a special visit from Claire Orange. Mrs Orange surprised the Stretch Crew with an exciting opportunity. Check out all the details from Mrs Perrigo later in this newsletter.
From next term, all class teachers will allocate three days per week for students to wear their sports uniform. These days will suit the individual class timetables. Our investigation indicates that wearing sports uniforms can increase confidence in participating in sport and physical activity. The restrictive nature of uniforms can be a barrier to engaging in the range of activities that children participate in during primary school life.
Thank you to parents and carers who are using the car park and following pick up procedures after school. I have had the opportunity to visit the car park in the afternoon on occasion and have witnessed most people doing the right thing. We are also correctly prioritising the pick-up lane to the green shed and this is lessening the congestion on the road. At all times, safety of our students is a priority and we need your cooperation to ensure this is not compromised.
Community members are invited and welcome to join us for the Community Mass tomorrow evening at the church at 5.30pm.
God bless and take care,
Dee Johnston
Principal
Accessible Parking
Dates To Remember
TERM 3 - WEEK 8
Tuesday 7th September - Year 5 Excursion - Fremantle Prison
Wednesday 8th September - Emergency Evacuation Drill
Thursday 9th September - Confirmation Rehearsals
Friday 10th September - Assembly
Friday 10th September - Year Level Spelling Bees Year 4-6
Friday 10th September - P & F Disco
Faith In Action
Social Justice Toy and Book Sale
Wow! Thank you! The toy and book sale was so well patronised from our students. What a wonderful way to show sustainability! We have re-used! Stay tuned to how much we have made to help our friends at Christmas time.
Reconciliation Retreat – Postponed Again
The date for the Reconciliation Retreat at Schoenstatt Shrine (children in Year Three) has been postponed again as Sr Lisette is unwell. Please say a prayer for her to return to her lovely vibrant self.
Senior Community Mass – Celebrating Our Dads
See you tomorrow night! All families are most welcome to join in celebrating our Dads at our next Community Mass at 5.30pm this Saturday, 4th September. During this celebration we will announce our next Faith in Action Award winner.
Our Leadership Groups - The Pod Squad - The Play Pod
Let's introduce the POD SQUAD! These fabulous kids open up the Pod (the sea container) each day for year levels to engage in creative play with donated items. If you have anything that can contribute to this creative play (see list below) please send to the Year 6 classrooms.
Unused: prams, ropes, safe pieces of wood, cases etc. Anything that children can engage with in creative play.
From our Parish of Saints John & Paul
Fr Thai is back from his holiday with many exciting stories about his travels in the beautiful north of our state.
Please visit the Parish website for the latest information on weekend Masses.
NAPLAN 2021
Stretch Crew News
Our Stretch Crew were delighted to meet Mrs Claire Orange, co-author of Highway Heroes, at our last session. We had invited Claire to discuss the possibility of podcasting some of her resources. Claire actually had bigger ideas and asked whether Stretch Crew could lend their voices to the new digital products her company is producing around child safety. Claire very generously also offered to allow Stretch Crew to join DiGii Social which is her new app teaching students about cybersafety. Along with a school in Victoria our children will have access in order to locate any coding problems but also to learn along the way the do’s and dont’s of social media for their age group. We are overwhelmed to be part of Claire’s work. Claire is a child and family mental health author, advocate and speaker. To find out more, please visit Claire’s website: http://claireorange.com.au
Lyn Perrigo
Stretch Crew Coordinator
P & F News
Hello Orana!
Thank-you to everyone that came to the Fathers' Day Breakfast this morning. It was an amazing event. Many thanks to the team of volunteers.
The School Disco will be held on the 10th September 2021, so make sure you don’t miss this event. Tickets sales close tonight at 11.59pm! Late ticket sales cannot be taken and there will be no tickets sales at the door. Buy tickets via the P&F shop via this link
P and F Executive
School Banking
School Banking day is held every Wednesday. We now have a new banking coordinator. Please send your banking books to the office on Wednesday morning.
SOCIAL WORKER NEWS
Using Attention to Improve Behaviour
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.
Regards,
Kath Warburton
Dogs Free Zone
We all value the benefits of having pets; however, dogs are not permitted in the school grounds. Some children and adults can find dogs stressful and at times, dogs can behave in unpredictable way when excited. To minimise risk and possible anxiety, please do not bring dogs onto school grounds at drop off or pick up. If you walk your dog to school for pick up, please arrange for your children to use the back gate and wait outside of the school grounds with your dog. Thank-you.
OSHC News
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