Newsletter 13 2023

Dear Families,

Book Week

It was wonderful to see so many of the parents and grandparents attend our Book Week Parade last Friday. The children were truly immersed in the day, and it was good to see the connections they made to books and the various characters through the costumes they wore. Thank you to Mr Sicari, the Year 6 class and Mrs Card for their organisation of the day.

Catholic Schools Music Festival

This Friday our Catholic Schools Music Festival choir will have their combined rehearsal at Loreto College before their performance at the Festival Theatre on Friday 29 September. This is an amazing experience for our children and even more so for the audience. If you have never attended one of these shows, I highly recommend you take the time to witness some of South Australia’s most talented musicians and vocalists from around our Catholic schools. Tickets are available through Ticketek.

Catholic Education Open Week

On Tuesday of this week, Mrs Lewis and I led a group of families for a tour of the school as part of Catholic Education Open Week. This is an important part of offering opportunities for prospective parents to visit our school when considering school enrolment for their child. The importance of enrolment growth can not be understated. A good balanced school enrolment growth allows for the long-term provision of additional resourcing and learning programs for our children. St Raphael’s School has a strong focus on Literacy and Numeracy teaching, with a wide range of extra curricula activities the children can become involved with. Your support in promoting our school among the community is always welcomed.

Uniform

As you may be aware, earlier this year the School Board undertook a review of the current uniform with the view to move to one Active Wear uniform for our students.

At our last board meeting a decision was made on the provider and items that would encompass the new uniform. An example of the new uniform will be made available in the coming weeks.

One of the decisions was the two-year changeover period for the new uniform. This was decided to minimise financial pressure on families. In the meantime, families will be able to purchase the existing uniform at a heavily discounted rate. This is a good option for children who are currently in Year 4 or 5 where the purchase of the new uniform is not essential. All children commencing at St Raphael’s in Reception, will be required to purchase the new uniform once it comes online. 

A new discounted price list for the current uniform will be made available to families next week.

Welcome

We welcome Mr Mark Simpson who will be taking over the role of Acting Principal for the remainder of the year beginning next Monday. Mark has had a handover with key personnel at the school to ensure a smooth transition as he undertakes his role.

Finally, thank you again to the families, staff and students for their support and welcome during my brief stay at St Raphael’s School. I have enjoyed my time here and I wish the school community all the best in your educational endeavour.

Gennaro Mannella
Acting Principal

Dear Families,

In this day and age, Father’s Day, is a good time to pause to appreciate a unique person that God has put in our lives – our father. It is easy to take our fathers for granted. The natural hurts that arise in all families can cause us to forget the wealth of goodness and commitment that is also there. Father’s Day, despite all the commercialism that surrounds this day, is an opportunity to recall and affirm the particular gifts that fathers bring to families. There is no one ‘right’ way of showing appreciation of one’s father. The important thing is to do it. Also, it doesn’t have to stop with Father’s Day. You can continue to thank and affirm your father and father figure for his fatherhood – on his birthday, or at times of special events in your or his life.

Happy Father’s Day for this Sunday to fathers, grandfathers, and all significant male role models in our families. The celebration of Father’s Day gives us reason to pause, to pray for, and to reflect on our fathers whom we love. On this Father’s Day, we celebrate, congratulate, and pray for the men who continue to reflect the qualities of fatherhood as they lovingly establish, nourish, and maintain their families. Fathers are a blessing, and we thank them for blessing us with lives of their children.

Father’s Day VIP Liturgy

This Thursday 31 August at 9:15am, we will celebrate our Fathers and VIP’s through a Prayer Liturgy led by Father Tony. You are warmly welcome to attend and stay for a cuppa, and biscuits and cakes.

A Prayer for Fathers

Loving God, look with love and kindness upon all fathers.
May their example be like a beacon that guides to safe water as their children grow and are nourished in their care.
May their love and strength be a blessing upon each member of their family as they share special moments together.
May their openness to your love and understanding continue to nurture their faith and provide a rich example to their children.
May they be blessed today with health, happiness and love as they walk life’s journey with their families. We ask this through Jesus your Son. Amen

Peace and Blessings,
Helena Card
Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission

Please enjoy the photo gallery below from our Book Week Parade 2024.

Debating

Congratulations to our students who have completed the Debating season. They have had some wonderful achievements over the past two terms. Each team does not get to choose their topic or whether they are debating on the affirmative or negative side. This can be really tricky for some students, as they may have a very different personal opinion about the topic.

The Year 5 team consisted of Senul, Caroline and Chris. The Year 5 topics included: That cats are better than dogs, That trampolines for children are a good idea, That teachers should not give lollies as a reward to students, That hot cross buns should be sold all year, That Santa should slim down. The Year 5 team won 1 of the 5 debates and a special mention goes to Senul for gaining speaker of the night in 2 of the debates.

We had two teams compete in the Year 6 division. Year 6 Yellow consisted of Jemima, Nathan and Sanuli with 1 win out of 5 debates and Year 6 Black consisted of Loraine, Braxton and Nick with 4 wins out of 5 debates. The Year 6s competed against other Year 6/7 teams. The topics of their debates included: That schools should ban mullets, That schools should have a dog to reduce stress in the classroom, That we should be able to keep native animals as pets, That SA should adopt the former East German Ampelmann as a traffic light signal at pedestrian crossings, That Father Christmas has a harder job that the Easter Bunny. An extra special mention goes to Loraine for speaker of the night twice and Sanuli and Jemima for speaker of the night once. What an incredible achievement overall.

Tournament of Minds

We have two teams competing in the Tournament of Minds competition on Sunday 10 September. Our teams have been madly preparing for the long term challenge. Mila, Maria, Reggie and Leo have decided to work on the Arts challenge. The challenge has asked them to create an immersive art experience for the International Arts Committee. They chose from a list of artists, researched their artworks and chose one to use in the immersive art installation. They need to explain the significance of their installation and why it is included.

Loraine, Isla, Ebony, Celine and Caroline have chosen a STEM long term challenge. They need to create an exotic bird and provide a hypothesis as to why the bird-life has declined, and the effect on the economy. The bird will need to be released from its perch twice, and needs to be able to fly freely and unaided, without support or guide wires. The bird must do two different flights and two manoeuvres.

Finally, each of the teams will compete in a spontaneous challenge, where they will be given a short challenge that they will need to solve as a team. We look forward to seeing our students perform in their challenges.

STEM MAD

Jess, Ivy, Loraine and Mia showcased their STEM MAD (Making a Difference) at the Adelaide Convention Centre on 17 August. The girls were a part of the design process of empathising, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing. They decided to create an Emergency Flood Kit using 3D printers to support families who were being flooded. As part of the process, the students set up a static display and our students did the opening prayer. They were a part of breakout challenges and were able to ask questions about other student's displays as well as showcase their own. Keynote speaker Dr Jenny Mortimer Associate Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology at the University of Adelaide spoke with the students. A wonderful day was had by all involved. Thank you to Anthony who took the girls at the last minute as my child was unwell.

Corey-Lee Lewis
Assistant Principal - Leader of Learning

We are beginning to plan our class structures for 2024 and we need your support in confirming whether your child will be continuing their enrolment at St Raphael's School in 2024. A copy of the letter sent home to families last week is available here.

Please confirm your child/children’s status for 2024 by Friday 8 September 2023. 

This term, Year 6 students have been learning about Economics and Business, and they have organised a fair for St Raphael’s School students on Thursday 21 September (Week 9).  The fair will run for about an hour, and students will be able to visit stalls run by Year 6 students.  There will be Lucky Disco Hour, 5-a-Side Soccer Shootout, Basketball Prized Shootout, and The Jem, Max and Brax Nerf Shootout.  (There will be no food and drink stalls, so students will bring their normal recess and lunch for the day.)  All monies raised will be donated to Mercy Works, who support disadvantaged communities around Australia.  Please support our Year 6 entrepreneurs and Mercy Works by sending your child to the fair with some money to spend at the stalls.  Stalls will range from approximately 50 cents to $1.50.  Thank you. 

Date: This Friday 1 September 2023
Time: 6:00pm -  7:30pm
Venue: St Raphael's School Hall

Doors open 6:15pm and students are to be picked up by 7:45pm.

Fruit box and snack will be provided.

Tickets are $5 and are available to purchase through Qkr!

All monies raised will be donated to Mercy Works.

Please note we have banned glow sticks from our events. While we understand that they can be a fun addition to any gathering, we have noticed some safety concerns and have decided it is best to err on the side of caution. Additionally, we would like to remind you that this event can be quite loud. If you feel that your child would benefit from wearing headphones, please feel free to send them with a pair.

We want all of our attendees to have a positive and comfortable experience, and we hope that this small change will help make that possible. 

Year 4 students have been busy learning about visual programming. Students interacted with a game to decipher the algorithm, identifying branching and iterations embedded within the game example.  Students then designed their own game on paper before beginning to use PowerPoint to build their gaming experience. Students imbedded hyperlinks to connect their branching and looping and gave feedback on peer games, enabling students to improve their overall gaming experience.

In Science, students are investigating how the Earth changes through both natural and human interactions. Last week, students completed an investigation about frost wedging. Frost wedging is the process of when water seeps into cracks in a rock, expands on freezing, and thus enlarges the cracks. Students placed 9mls of water in a syringe and recorded how much the water expanding when frozen.

To begin our Maths measurement unit of learning, students undertook a match up session- identifying different measuring tools.

School photo day is Friday 22 September and envelopes for ordering photos were sent home with students last week. Important information about our school photo day and ordering of photos is available here. 

If you require family photos, please ensure a “Family Photo” envelope is collected from the front office prior to this day.  There are also spare envelopes for ordering of photographs available from the front office if required.

Please ensure students are wearing full formal uniform on school photo day.

The past fortnight has seen numerous changes within Physical Education lessons.  The R-2s have begun a new unit focusing on the fundamental movement of striking. In these lessons, students have been challenged to complete a variety of stations that has tasked them to develop their ability to use different pieces of equipment in a multitude of ways.

With the Touch Football Carnival quickly approaching (Week 7), students in Years 3-6 have commenced a Touch Football unit. This has been great fun, with opportunities for game-based learning to occur. As the carnival comes closer, as will the rise in challenge, allowing students to push themselves to develop further.

As always, should you have any questions regarding anything PE/Sports related, please do not hesitate to reach out ctucker@raph.catholic.edu.au.

School Sport Results

Week 4:
Year 5/6 Netball: Pulteney 33 defeated St Raphael’s 3
Year 3/4 Soccer: St Joseph’s Hectorville 2 defeated St Raphael’s 0

Week 5:   
Year 5/6 Netball: St Andrews 23 defeated St Raphael's 14
Year 3/4 Soccer: Trinity Gardens 1 defeated St Raphael’s 0

Year 3/4 Saturday School Soccer Competition

This week saw the conclusion of the school soccer competition that ran across the last two terms. We at St Raphael’s School would like to thank coaches Adele and Chris for the amazing job they have done in bringing together the group of Year 3/4s and turning them into a team that plays for one another.  A special thank you is also needed for all the parents/carers who have spent their Saturday mornings coming out to help facilitate in officiating the games and being the team’s biggest supporters in cheering them on each week!

Touch Football Carnival

In Week 7, the SACPSSA Touch Football Carnival will be held at Park 17, Touch SA Headquarters located on the corner of Greenhill Road and Beaumont Road. Information forms and permission slips were sent home in Week 4. Extra copies of forms have gone out to students this week to those who have misplaced them. Please fill these out and return them no later than this Friday 1 September.

We are also still seeking some more parents/carers who would also be able to volunteer as an official on the day. You must have a Catholic Education SA Police Check sighted by the school and the volunteer RAN training and volunteer pack completed.

The cost for the carnival is $10. This will cover team registrations. There was an initial issue with Qkr payments being accessible, but this has since be fixed. 

Term 3 Kelly Sports R- 2

The Kelly Sports Program continues this week for Reception – Year 2. Sessions will continue to be held on Wednesdays after school from 3:15pm - 4:00pm. It is not too late to register your child. Please be mindful that you must be on time and pick your child up at 4:00pm, otherwise they will be sent to OSHC.

Flyers for nominations for Term 4 are currently being produced by Kelly Sports. These nominations will open once the forms are sent through and finalised.

Corey Tucker
P.E. Teacher and Sports Coordinator

Father's and Special VIP's Day Events Liturgy.

Liturgy on Thursday 31 August at 9:15am and stalls on Friday 1 September in the school hall. If you are able to volunteer on the stalls, please come along at 8:30am Friday.  Thank you.

Adult Disco Drinks.

Enjoy a drink and nibbles while the kids enjoy the school disco! You've earned it! Parents/carers are invited to the Parkside Hotel on the night of the disco for a drink and nibbles while their children dance the night away. Friday September 1.

Cyber Safety Child Parent Workshop at St Raphael’s School

Please RSVP via Qkr! Thursday 7 September from 6pm to 7pm for parents/carers and their children. Please find details here.

Katrina Tucker
Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Old Scholars

We are excited to announce that Sienna, an old scholar of St Raphael's School, has been selected yet again for the U14 SA Girls Squad! Her hard work and dedication to soccer have paid off as she prepares to represent her state at the National Youth Championships in Wollongong this October. Sienna has proven herself to be a valuable asset to her team, showcasing her skills and determination on the field. We are incredibly proud of her and can't wait to see her shine at the upcoming championships. Let's show our support for Sienna and the rest of the squad as they take on the best young soccer players from across the country!