This week we celebrate NAIDOC Week, whose theme is ‘Get up! Stand up! Show up!’ NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as we honour their history, culture and achievements.
Art Show
A tremendous thank you to our students for their outstanding efforts in our recent Art Show. Thank you too, to our parent community who were able to bring their children to view the exhibits at the Monastery. There were over 135 visitors throughout the three-day event with many positive comments made along the way. We are fortunate to enjoy the benefits to having such a strong and positive relationship with our Glen Osmond/St Raphael’s Parish and especially Fr Denis Travers cp, whose original idea it was, to hold an Art show at the Monastery.
2023 School Fees
We are pleased to inform our school community that there will be no increase in school fees for the 2023 school year. This decision has been made, by Catholic Education SA due to the continued impact of COVID -19. You will find more details regarding this directive in this newsletter. Please come and see me if you require additional information.
New Acting APRIM
Mrs Andrea Bishop has been appointed as the Acting Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission (APRIM), for the remainder of this year. Andrea comes to us with a wealth of experience in this field and is the current substantive APRIM at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic School, Albert Park. We look forward to welcoming and working with her next term.
Semester 1 Reports
Semester 1 Reports will be sent home to families on Thursday 7 July. Parents/caregivers are invited to organise a time with teachers to discuss their child/ren’s reports on our return next term.
Pupil Free Days
A reminder to families that the Office will be closed on Friday 8 July as all staff, including the Office Administration staff, will be attending a Staff Retreat, led by Fr Denis. OSHC will be in operation on Friday 8 July as planned.
Term 3 begins on Monday 25 July with a Pupil Free Day, and teachers will be involved in a professional learning day combining with our colleagues from two regional schools, St Thomas, Goodwood and St Therese, Colonel Light Gardens, continuing our learning in ‘Visible Learning’. Students return to school on Tuesday 26 July.
Once again, OSHC is available on Monday 25 July and to register, please use the Fully Booked system which you can access here.
As the term break is fast approaching, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday with your child/ren and look forward to their return next term.
We thank the Neil family for looking after our resident chickens, Hazel and Chickpea, during the term break as they too will be on holiday.
With every best wish,
Mia Harms
Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Here we are at the end of Term 2. We have experienced a wonderful term of learning and belonging. Upon reflection, a real highlight has been the St Raphael’s inaugural Art Show that was held over the weekend at the Monastery. Our creative learners presented a variety of amazing pieces for our exhibition that were well received by school and community visitors. We thank Father Denis, Sue and the Parish team for hosting this event and appreciate all the valued feedback we received over the three-day exhibition. Well done to all our students and teachers!
Christian Mediation
As a school we have reengaged in Christian Meditation, a traditional prayer form whose roots lie in the desert tradition of early Christianity. It is a contemplative prayer form that complements the many prayer experiences our learners encounter at our school. Over the course of this term, staff have undertaken professional learning reacquainting themselves with the practice and its benefits and we are committed to embedding this as a school wide prayer experience. Classes will engage in Christian Meditation multiple times across the course of the week stilling their minds and their bodies. Each family will receive an electronic and hard copy of a brochure outlining what Christian Meditation looks like at St Raphael’s School. We encourage you to speak with your child about their experience..
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation commences next term. If your child(ren) is ready to receive this sacrament we ask that you contact the School or Parish office for an enrolment form. The parent meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 August 7:00pm at the Monastery.
Student Voice
Yesterday we hosted a thank you morning tea for our Student Voice Representatives. Our Semester One representatives have done a formidable job offering ideas and actioning initiatives to help make our school and community a better place. We appreciate their leadership and thank them all for their service. We welcome two new representatives from each class for Semester Two.
Hutt Street Shelter Walk
Father Denis is inviting school families and parishioners to gather at the Monastery on Saturday 6 August at 10:00am to join in the annual Walk a Mile for Hutt Street Campaign. The route will take walkers to the Waite Institute, through the Arboretum, and then back to the Monastery. Tea/coffee will be available after the walk. Walkers can choose to be sponsored or donate to Hutt Street Shelter directly. We hope you can support the campaign in some way.
Farewell
This will officially be my last newsletter as APRIM as I commence my new role as Director of Learning at St Raphael’s School. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience leading Catholic Identity at our school and am most grateful for the wonderful relationship we share with Fr Denis and the Parish team. I am heartened to know that I will remain at St Raphael’s School for a further 12 months and look forward to the opportunities to lead, learn and belong. We welcome Andrea Bishop to the role of APRIM for the remainder of the year.
I wish you all a safe and connected school holiday break.
End of Term Prayer
We thank you Lord, for this term.
For the challenges, the successes and the mistakes from which we have learned.
Be with us as we spend time with our family and our friends
Keep us safe in our activities and
Bring us back to school refreshed and ready for a new term ahead.
We give thanks for our parents, our teachers, our friends and our community that care for us and
May we always be conscious of You in our lives.
We ask this prayer in Your name,
Amen
God bless,
Kelly Manera
Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission
A reminder that the consultation is an outcome of the 2021 Diocesan Assembly. It invites us to review all the recommendation of the 2021 Assembly and to choose three that are most relevant to our parish life and three that are most important for the Archdiocese to pursue.
Further to the email to all on the E-Bulletin group, hard copies of the Together on the Way Workbook are available in each church. In particular for those who do not have a computer at home, the Workbook explains how to approach the Workbook so please take home a copy of the Workbook and once you have read the Workbook and written your choices on the worksheet, a box will be available in each church for you to return your submissions. If you would like to submit your responses as an individual please submit them to:- www.adelaidediocesanassembly.org/together If you would like to be part of the group process that the parish is offering, then please submit your responses here by the 20 July 2022. Your responses will be collected and collated by the parish office.
At the end of July we will host a meeting of parishioners (an open meeting) inviting any who wish to attend to reflect more deeply on the lists that parishioners have sent, and to help formulate:
- the three (3) priorities we consider important for the Parish to address
- and the three (3) priorities we consider important for the Archdiocese to address.
After this meeting, we can then forward these six (6) suggestions to the central office of the Archdiocese (by the due date of 15 August).
All of this material will assist in the preparation of the 2022 Diocesan Assembly (in October).
On Saturday 6 August I am inviting parishioners and school parents to gather at the monastery at 10 am and join in the annual Walk a Mile for Hutt St campaign. Our route will take us to the Waite Institute and through the Arboretum and back.
We can set off at 10 am and end our walk back at the monastery at 11 am with coffee/tea.
Walkers can choose to be sponsored or to make a donation to Hutt St Shelter on the morning itself.
Fr Denis Travers
Choir Ensemble (Years 5 and 6)
This term, our participating singers have learned and refined a variety of beautiful songs for this year’s Catholic Schools Music Festival, which will take place in Week 10 of Term 3 at the Adelaide Festival Centre (performance day/time to be announced by festival organisers early next term).
Additionally, choir members recently attended their first combined rehearsal in Week 9, along with several other participating schools. During this rehearsal, our student performers not only represented our school community with pride, but also demonstrated their contagious enthusiasm for choral singing and live performance.
Additionally, I would also like to say a warm thank you to the extraordinary Mr Monti for being our second supervising educator and for his kindness during our unofficial minibus rehearsal sessions!
Amanda Flynn
Performing Arts Coordinator
SACPSSA Netball Carnival
On Monday, St Raphael’s School participated in the SACPSSA Netball Carnival at Netball SA Stadium. For the first time in a number of years we were able to nominate 3 teams! Year 5 Girls, Year 6 Girls and Year 5/6 Boys. Over the course of the day each team played 6 games, we had several wins, some draws and a few losses. Our students showed great sportsmanship and their skills progressed as the day went on. A huge thankyou to Mr Sicari, Mr Monti, Monika and Nayomi for managing teams on the day.
Hockey Clinics
As part of the Government's ‘Sporting School’ Program, Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 student have been participating in Hockey Clinics in our Physical Education lessons. These sessions have been run by Hockey SA and it has been fantastic to watch our students have fun and develop their skills in a sport that many have not had to the opportunity to try before.
Kelly Sports Term 2 Wrap Up
Last week saw the completion of our after school Kelly Sports Program. Over the course of the term students in Reception – Year 2 participated in an 8 week program where they had the opportunity to try soccer, netball, basketball and AFL. Kelly Sports will be on offer again next term on Wednesday afternoons. If your child is interested, more information is available here.
School Netball Term Wrap Up
Thursday last week saw our final round of Term 2 School Netball, and a convincing win over St Aloysius College. Our School Netball team comprised of 11 students in Years 4- 6, many of which had never played netball before. It has been so rewarding to see the dedication and improvement of the team over the course of the term. A huge thankyou to parents Emma, Nadine and Samantha for volunteering their time to manage and coach. Out of school sport relies heavily on parent involvement, without their help we would not have been able to register the team.
Cross Country Term 3
It was great to see so many students in Years 3-6 come out and train for Cross Country. The Cross Country Carnival will be taking place in Week 3 next Term. The SACPSSA Cross Country Carnival is held each year in the East Parklands, starting on the Prince Alfred College Oval and making its way along a 2km course through Park 15. Annually, this event sees students in Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 challenge themselves over a 2km course. The event hosts approximately 60 schools and around 2500 students each year. Training will continue next term.
Hannah Reid
PE Teacher and Sports Coordinator
As Term 2 wraps up the Parents and Friends Committee is pleased to announce that it raised $228 through the recent Wine Fundraiser.
Term 3 meeting Monday 2 August on TEAMS 6pm - 7pm. Please email ktucker@raph.catholic.edu.au if you can attend. Email invites will be sent out this week to all current members and non-members are encouraged to attend.
Social invite on 5 August. As our learners enjoy the school disco the P&F would like to invite all adults to The Parkside Hotel. If you are interested in attending please email ktucker@raph.catholic.edu.au
Trivia Night on 20 August. The P&F invites everyone to attend the Trivia Night and tickets are on sale here.
Father's Day Stall on 1 September.
Katrina Tucker
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
We are pleased to inform our school families that there will be no increase in school fees for the 2023 school year.
As South Australians continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, Catholic Education SA has announced it will freeze fees at its 86 Diocesan schools for the 2023 school year.
“These decisions are part of our continued COVID 19 response as we seek to support families at a time when they are being impacted by rising costs and inflation,” says Dr Neil McGoran, Director, Catholic Education SA.
Since 2019, Catholic Education SA has been implementing the Making Catholic Education More Affordable Initiative to ensure our schools are accessible to any family who wants their child to have a Catholic education.
Dr Neil McGoran said the fee-freeze would not impact the quality of education.
“We’re committed to keeping school fees as low as possible and ensuring a Catholic education is affordable and accessible to all.”
In addition to the fee-freeze, further fee remissions are available to any family who is struggling to pay school fees due to financial pressures. Families should contact either Mia Harms (Principal) or Damian Emery (Finance Officer) for more information.
I read an important post on Facebook about changes to Snapchat today and feel it's really important for parents to be aware, from both a safety perspective but also from a mental health perspective for children.
There is a website called Safe On Social www.safeonsocial.com which is fantastic, and their Facebook page has a lot of great posts. Parents can sign up to a newsletter to keep abreast of the current cyber space issues that impact children (and adults alike). Today's post about Snapchat talks about changes to their policies which will allow ANYONE to see where you are currently located, to the point of showing your actual house via Google Earth.
Social Media and other messaging platforms can cause serious mental distress amongst children if they are allowed full access to the apps. By signing up to Safe On Social's newsletter www.safeonsocial.com, you will be able to make appropriate decisions for the safety of your children, in terms of people being able to find your child, but also for the mental health of your young ones. Imagine your child was not invited to a party and they found out through Snapchat that their friends are all staying over at another friend's house. These situations are very common and cause lots of issues related to lack of self-confidence, feelings of not being 'good enough', self-blame or self-hatred among a myriad of other feelings. Depending on a child's resilience to these kinds of situations, their ability to cope with a situation like this could be very upsetting for them, causing mental health and wellbeing concerns over time.
A link to their website which will bring up their newsletter sign-up box is available here.
Sarah Byrnes
School Counsellor
As you know, Eat on Glen Osmond provide our delicious lunch orders on Thursdays and Fridays. Please see the advertisement below.
Shop Assistant - Eastwood - School Hours - Part time
Our small cafe in Eastwood is seeking an energetic and enthusiastic person to join our friendly team. Our business focus is to provide our customers with high quality fresh food and catering, and boutique style coffee with only minimal wait times. We are looking for someone with great people skills and a willingness to work under pressure in a fast paced environment.
Your Duties will include
Serving customers, making coffees and handling money. Taking phone orders. Running out orders to tables. Clearing tables and maintaining the cleanliness of the cafe. Helping in the preparation of food.
Experienced Coffee making skills a bonus!
We trade Monday to Friday and your working hours are flexible and fall in between school drop off and pickup. We are offering between 25 - 28 hours per week.
If you would like to join our friendly team please drop in your resume to 39 Glen Osmond Road, Eastwood or email eatonglenosmond@bigpond.com
Important Dates
Term 2 concludes
Pupil Free Day/Staff Retreat
Pupil Free Day/Staff Professional Learning - Visible Learning
Term 3 commences
Parish Bulletin
Please enjoy reading the latest Parish Bulletin which is available here.
Allergy Awareness Policy
Dear Families
Please read our updated Allergy Awareness Policy which is available here.
In the interest of all our school community we ask that parents/caregivers are made aware of this policy as it relates to keeping all our children safe.
Social