Newsletter 11 2023

Dear Parents/Caregivers, Students, Staff, and Friends of St Raphael’s School,

We celebrated our Blessing and Opening of the Upstairs Refurbishment on Thursday 27 July and it was a wonderful celebration led by Archbishop Patrick O’Regan and Fr Denis Travers, Parish Priest. Our celebration began with a moving smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country led by Elder, Uncle Tamaru.  A number of invited special guests attended including Dr Neil McGoran, Executive Director, Catholic Education SA, Mr Mark Battistella, Nicolai Zaruki, Studio Nine Architects, Justin Cucchiarelli and Kanishk Meghani, our builders INCA Constructions, and other system leaders in Catholic Education South Australia. It was wonderful to see so many parents/caregivers attend too.  

Building Project

We have endeavoured to ensure that there is minimal disruption to our school whilst the new school facilities are being built.  We anticipate that the building will be finished by April 2024. Thank you to all families for your assistance with drop off and pick up of students. We are also grateful to the Federal Government for the four-million-dollar capital grant given to us enabling this project to happen.

Mini Monet Art Show

The St Raphael’s School’s Mini Monet Art Show is being held at the Monastery on Friday 4 August. Students have been busily preparing their artworks to be displayed in a gallery format at the Monastery. Proceedings begin at 5:30pm and conclude at 7:30pm.  The Art Show will continue over the weekend, and once again be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am  – 12:00 pm.  Bring your family and friends to see the wonderful art work on display and come at any time during the opening times.

We thank Fr Denis and the parish team for giving us the opportunity to showcase our artistic masterpieces at the Monastery. We are blessed to have share such a strong parish partnership.

Fr Denis Travers News

We say a fond farewell to Fr Denis who has been appointed as the new Provincial Leader of the Passionists, Australia.  The Passionate priests are now based in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand as well as throughout Australia. The central administration and Provincial House is located in Marrickville, Sydney and Fr Denis will be commuting from Adelaide to Sydney and other countries quite extensively. Fr Tony Simbel, well known to our school community, will continue in his role of visiting our school and celebrating Liturgies and Masses with us. We wish Fr Denis all the best as he embarks on his new leadership role within the Passionists community.

Staffing News

Yesterday a letter was sent home to families regarding the Acting Principal arrangements. Click here to read the letter sent home, just in case you missed receiving this email.

We wish Mrs Hannah Reid, Physical Education Teacher, all the best as she takes leave from Monday 14 August, as she and her husband, Andy and their son Henry, await the birth of their second child.  Mr Corey Tucker will be replacing Mrs Reid for the remainder of this year and in Term 1, 2024, as the PE Specialist Teacher. Corey Tucker will also continue in his role as Year 6 Co-Teacher with Anthony Sicari for the remainder of this year.

Mrs Debbie Parker, Education Support Officer, is currently on Long Service Leave for five weeks and Mrs Jeannette Archer is replacing her until she returns.

Living Learning Leading Surveys

Please avail yourself to the LLL Surveys. I encourage all parents/caregivers to participate in the surveys. This is an opportunity for you to have a say and let us know your thoughts regarding the performance of this school. We use the data we collect to inform strategic directions in the following year.  The parent survey is open until 25 August 2023.

Farewell

It is with heartfelt gratitude that I write this final newsletter, as Principal of St Raphael’s School. It has been a privilege to lead this community for the last six years and the time has gone far too quickly. As a vibrant school community, we have achieved quite a lot and there is still so much more to do and I am confident with the incoming Leadership structure in place, students will continue to thrive in their learning.  St Raphael’s School is such a diverse and terrific school community, with so much to offer our young people.  Thank you for your partnership and support during this time. The incoming Acting Principals, Mr Gennaro Manella and Mr Mark Simpson will no doubt agree, that this is a great school community with beautiful children, their families and staff.

I thank you for the gift of your children every day, who always brighten my day.

Wishing you all God’s Blessing, now and always,
Mia Harms
Principal

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Week 2.  Last week we all enjoyed returning to school and as a community and we came together to celebrate the Opening and Blessing of the refurbished learning areas.  We began with a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country by Elder Uncle Tamaru.  We were pleased to welcome Archbishop O’Regan who led us in our liturgical celebration.  We also welcomed Dr Neil McGoran: Executive Director of Catholic Education South Australia who joined our celebration along with other distinguished guests from CESA.  This was a wonderful milestone for our catholic school community.  The children were wonderful during the liturgy showing great respect and participated beautifully with responses and their singing. Thank you to all the parents who attended and all those who helped to make the day a success.

Catholic Identity Teaching and Learning

At St Raphael’s School, we are going to revisit Pope Francis’ encyclical: Laudato Si which calls us to take a moral stance on climate action and caring for our Earth.

‘The genius of Laudato Si’ was to bring together the best available science, the best theology, the best reflection on economic ideologies, the broadest view of the relationships involved in human flourishing, and to hold them together in a deep spiritual vision. Perhaps the most important contribution of Laudato Si’ to Catholic thinking about the environment was its reference to integral ecology and its association with integral justice.’ (https://www.sjesjesuits.global/2023/05/21/australia-deep-spiritual-vision/)

Our aim is to support children to connect to nature and to see that we are all a part of an integral web. We have endeavoured to do this with a Catholic Education South Australia Project, which all our teachers are involved, stemming from Pope Francis’ encyclical and a stimulus paper written by the CESA Catholic Identity team.  We are looking at how we can connect children to nature and bring them closer to the spiritual sense of being in partnership with our Earth. 

Each class will have a specific focus and a unit of enquiry which will link with our Religious Education Curriculum and also the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities.  We have also been invited to talk about our teaching and learning on the Archdiocese Podcast.  I am looking forward to leading this project and the enrichment which will stem from our planning and programming that inform our teaching and impact our children’s life long learning.

Mini Monets Art Show

On Friday and throughout the weekend, please come and support our Mini Monets Art Show at the Monastery, Glen Osmond.  The students have done some excellent work and it is a wonderful way to celebrate their unique artistic styles.

We thank the parish of Glen Osmond/Parkside who have been so willing to let us display our beautiful work in lovely surroundings. The hours for opening and viewing are:
Friday 4 August 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Saturday 5 August  10am - 12pm
Sunday 6 August: 10am - 12pm

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

Living, Learning, Leading Surveys

Each year, Catholic Education of South Australia invite all members of St Raphael’s School community to have a say in the perception of the school’s performance. The Living, Learning, Leading (LLL) surveys were developed in collaboration with Curtin University according the Living, Learning, Leading Standard. Survey development involved a multistaged process that included: collaboration and input from members of the school community, and expert review panel from outside of Catholic Education, multiple trials, and a pilot study. A rigorous validation process provided robust psychometric properties to support the validity of the LLL surveys.

An important principle underpinning the LLL Standard is mutual accountability, involving a shared agenda that the Catholic Education Office and all Catholic schools have in promoting Catholic Identity and striving to create excellent educational outcomes for all students. Importantly, mutual accountability reflects the importance of regularly monitoring, reviewing, and reporting progress at the school and system levels.

The LLL Survey suite consist of:

LLL parent and caregivers survey (to assess the perceptions of parents and caregivers within the school community)
LLL Teaching and Leadership Staff Survey (to assess the perceptions of teachers and leadership (Principals, APRIM’s, Assistant/Deputy Principals) within the school).
LLL ESO Staff Survey (to assess the perceptions of education support officers within the school).
LLL Student Survey for students in Years 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Today, parents and caregivers will be sent an invitation to participate in the LLL survey. Please take the time to fill in the survey to support us in making St Raphael’s School a success.

Tournament of Minds

Tournament of Minds has kicked off in Week 2, Term 3. There are two teams participating in the inaugural year at St Raphael’s School. There are 4 challenges for the students to choose from. One team has chosen to do The Arts challenge and the other team has decided to do the STEM challenge. Students prepare their challenge over a 6 week period and present their challenge to a panel of adjudicators. They will also have to do a spontaneous challenge and work as a team. I look forward to seeing how their challenge grows over the next few weeks.

Debating

Week 3 will be our 4th debating competition. The competition topic has been very challenging for the past few debates, but the Year 5 and 6 students have been very competitive.

STEM MAD

Throughout the year, some of the Years 5 and 6s have spent their lunch time on Mondays with Clare and me preparing for the STEM MAD competition. Jess, Ivy, Loraine and Mia were selected in the STEM MAD to showcase their work at the Adelaide Convention Centre. This is extremely exciting for them. A big congratulations to all the students who participated – Senul, Lucas, Manny and Sanuli. 

Corey-Lee Lewis
Assistant Principal - Leader of Learning

We welcome Mr Corey Tucker who will be stepping into my role as I commence maternity leave in Week 4. As a trained Physical Education Teacher, Corey will be taking students for the Physical Education lessons as well as taking on the Sports Administration role. Should you have any questions regarding anything sport related please make yourself familiar with Corey’s email address ctucker@raph.catholic.edu.au.

School Sport Results

Week 1:
Year 5/6 Netball: No Game
Year 3/4 Soccer: St Raphael’s 3 defeated St Joseph’s Tranmere 2

SACPSSA Cross Country Carnival / Training

Next week our Cross Country squad will participate in the annual SACPASSA Cross Country Carnival. 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. This is a participation event that hosts approximately 60 schools and around 2500 students each year. Keep an eye out as information about training sessions for our Year 3- 6 students will be made available in the next few weeks.

When: Thursday Week 3 Term 3, August 10
Where: East Park Land, PAC Oval
Time: 10:00 - 2:00pm
Departing: 9:00am St Raphael’s Church

Term 3 Kelly Sports R- 2

The Kelly Sports Program has commenced this week for Reception – Year 2. Sessions are 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 OHSC.

Hannah Reid
P.E. Teacher and Sports Coordinator

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. 

Father's and Special VIP's Day Events

Liturgy on Thursday 31 August and stalls on Friday 1 September in the school Hall.   

Social gathering opportunities

Art Show opening night - we warmly invite all our families to attend the opening night of this weekend's school Mini Monets Art Show from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at The Monastery, this will be a wonderful chance to get together socially. Please note the Art Show will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to midday also.

Disco

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 at the school Disco.

Friday September 1. Please look out for invitations to be distributed in the next few weeks.

Katrina Tucker
Marketing and Communications Coordinator