26 February 2015 - Emmanuel Catholic Primary School

26 February 2015
Dear Parents,
‘Everyone is responsible for their own choices. There is power in choosing. There is a special power
in knowing I am the chooser at every moment in every situation. When I do not take action,
even when I do not make a decision, I am choosing not to decide, I am choosing not to take action.’
(Tom Harley)
Resilience appears to be one of the most sought after qualities for happiness in our lives. No matter our age we
will need to face set backs in our lives and the ability to bounce back from these set backs is a test of our
resilience. Our decisions and choices influence the outcomes we reach and will build and shape character. How
we instil this value of resilience in others is not easy, particularly as parents.
Schools provide a safe environment for learning. However if we assume that students will not face challenges at
school then we are sadly mistaken. The fact is that just like in society, students will meet other learners, both
students and teachers, who are different to them. They will face challenges at stages with their learning. Yet
how each student deals with these challenges will be different. It would be wonderful to ‘bubble wrap’ our
students so that they do not face these challenges, so they are protected and do not have to experience the
uncertainty of making choices and facing something new and different. It would be reassuring for us as parents
but we would be crippling the learning capacity of our students by not working through the skills and strategies
needed to become resilient. If we do not work on this with our students then it will ultimately affect their ability to
become responsible members within the community.
We need to be clear that our school environment is safe, engaging, caring and supportive for student learning.
We aim to support our students through all their new learning experiences, whether that be academic, emotional,
social or spiritual, but it is ultimately through experiencing new learning that our students will develop resilience.
We by no means expect students to learn resilience in isolation, as it takes a lot of support, but this support
comes through conversation and a safe environment to make decisions and choices which we can learn from
and reflect on, not the avoidance of something new and different. This process sets our students up for success
in a sustainable and on-going manner.
Wishing you every blessing for the coming week,
Geraldine Rostirolla
(Principal)
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2015
CATHOLIC PARISH OF NORTH MACKAY AND
Personal Faith Journey
NORTHERN BEACHES
During Lent, I thought that I would like to share with you
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Ritual of Choosing - Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 March held at
some of the Personal Faith Journeys of our staff and
all Parish Weekend Masses.
parents.
Parent/Child Interviews- Monday 9 & Tuesday 10 March –
This week I would like to share some of Kathy Burke’s 3.30pm-5.30pm held at St Joseph’s Parish Centre.
journey, one of our Year 2 teachers.
SCHOOL LENTEN CHALLENGE
As part of our Lenten Challenge this year, Emmanuel
School will be supporting Lifeline. During Lent, we ask
that any clothing you wish to donate be brought in to
school.
Please forward bags of clothing to your child’s
classroom. It would be appreciated if the bags are not
over packed to ensure that the contents are contained
within the bags. This could be a timely opportunity to
clean out those cupboards.
I asked Kathy to write this a number of weeks ago,
however it is interesting how this journey hits home right
now with the cyclone that hit the Yeppoon and
Rockhampton area last week. Our prayers are with
people who are involved in this terrible disaster.
MAKING JESUS REAL CONFERENCE
This week I will be attending the Making Jesus Real
Conference in Hobart. The Making Jesus Real program
is centred around the belief that we are the image of
Jesus to all those people around us. We are His
representatives and our actions should reflect His values.
I would like to share a special time in my life that helped Jesus also made the comment that we are part of his
family and that the way we treat others should be
me to understand why I place my trust in God.
reflective of the way we would treat Jesus. We are
looking to implement this program into our school over the
CYCLONE TRACY – 1974
As Christmas 2014 drew near, I turned my thoughts to next 12 months, so you will hear more about it over the
that Christmas Eve 40 years ago, in Darwin. It may as coming weeks.
well have been yesterday. It was certainly a terrifying
experience, but also a faith-filling one. We all realised Miss Peta Wade
how vulnerable we were and it was quite evident to us Assistant Principal – Religious Education
that Jesus held the power to choose whether we lived
or died. We had resigned ourselves to the fact that we VIRTUE FOR FORTNIGHT – TOLERANCE
would die that night, but we couldn′t understand why we Why Practise It? People who don’t practise tolerance
cannot stand to have anything different from what they
had to suffer for so many hours beforehand.
want and expect. Tolerance helps them accept things as
There was a candle lit on the dining room table. It was they are. People without tolerance judge others by the
a simple white candle with no fancy trimmings. As we way they look, sound, or dress. They decide who can be
sat there, preparing to have a cup of tea to calm our a friend and who can’t. When people are teased or left
nerves, an enormous crashing noise was heard. We all out, they feel sad and lonely. When we are tolerant, we
dived for the protection of the hallway. It was the roof don’t allow differences to drive us apart.
falling down around us, however, we were safe for the
moment. Every now and then we peered from the CAR PARK SAFETY
hallway to see the candlelight still flickering in the wind. A GENTLE REMINDER TO ALL THAT THE CARPARK
THE
ENTRANCE
TO
THE
SCHOOL
It defied all laws of physics to stay alight.
It AT
miraculously stayed alight for hours. To us, the saying: ADMINISTRATION IS FOR STAFF PARKING ONLY.
THIS ALSO APPLIES TO PARENTS WHO DRIVE INTO
HE IS THE LIGHT OF LIFE
THE STAFF CARPARK BEHIND THE YEAR 1
took on a new depth of meaning. We decided amongst CLASSROOMS AND PARK IN THE SPACES
ourselves that we were fortunate enough to have time PROVIDED FOR STAFF.
to prepare ourselves for our death and that, whenever
the flame of the candle was extinguished, then so were We understand the issues for parents with babies and
small children but we simply do not have the car park
our lives.
space to accommodate everyone. No school does. What
If you would like to read on further please go onto our we try to do is be fair to everyone.
website for the rest of the journey.
OPENING SCHOOL MASS
Emmanuel Catholic School Opening Mass is being held
Tuesday 17 March commencing at 9.30am at St
Joseph’s Church. Parents, grandparents and our
extended Emmanuel family are most welcome to attend
this Mass.
If you are in the habit of using the STAFF CAR PARK,
you will be approached by someone who will remind
you of the areas in which you may park. Sometimes
this causes offence so please choose wisely. If
everyone parked where they wanted to because it
suited them we would be in a fine predicament. Thank
you to those parents who co-operate and think of
others.
PLEASE NOTE: DISCUSSIONS WITH COUNCIL
ARE CURRENTLY IN PROCESS REGARDING
TRAFFIC ISSUES AT EMMANUEL.
NATIONAL RECALL FROZEN BERRIES
As the community has been made aware via recent
media reports, there is currently a national recall on a
number of frozen berry products imported by Patties
Foods. The recall is due to a potential Hepatitis A
contamination. The recall involves a variety of frozen
berry products under the product names of Nanna’s
and Creative Gourmet.
Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton schools
and services have removed any of the recalled
products as advised by Food Standards Australia.
Queensland Health advice to members of the
community is to monitor yourself and others who
consumed the product for symptoms of fever, nausea
or abdominal discomfort. Symptoms may appear
between 15 and 50 days after catching the virus from
eating the product. If symptoms appear, see your
doctor immediately.
SCHOOL REVIEW AND IMPROVEMENT
– SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
As you may be aware, our school took part in a
process of School Review and Improvement at the
end of last year. This five-yearly review, which takes
place in all schools across the Diocese, plays an
important part in our future direction here at
Emmanuel. We certainly appreciate the valuable
feedback given to us throughout this process and
would like to thank those parents, staff and students
who took the time to provide us with their thoughts and
ideas. We look forward to celebrating the many
successes identified as a result of this review, together
with planning for the improvements necessary to help
make Emmanuel the best it can be. The
Commendations and Recommendations, made by the
External Validation Team, have been published in a
Final Report, which is available for perusal at the
school office. A Summary of Findings is attached to
this week’s newsletter for your convenience.
MUSIC NEWS
School Choir is off to a wonderful start! I have nearly 60
students from Years 4 to 6 in the choir and they are
already sounding fabulous! A reminder that rehearsals
start promptly at 8am every Wednesday.
Musicorp are still accepting enrolments into the
Instrumental program. If you would like your child (Years
3-6) to learn a woodwind, brass or percussion
instrument, please collect the paperwork from the office.
If your child is interested in learning guitar, Mr Jim Scott
is available for lessons through the school. More
information is also available at the office.
Yours in Music, Mrs Dale
ONLINE SAFETY
This snip was taken from the Australian Government
Cyber Smart site which provides advice to families about
online safety. As a number of our students play online
games for their relaxation after school, it is important
that parents and students are aware of the potential
dangers of online communities. We will insert a number
of appropriate snips in the coming weeks to help parents
provide timely supervision and advice in regards to
online gaming and other related topics.
 Stay involved in your child’s use of new technologies
– ask them to show you how social networks work.
Set up your own account, ask to join your child’s
‘friends’ list and see for yourself what they’re doing.
It can be a fun experience for you too!
 Check the age guidelines of any site or game your
child might want to engage in.
 Help your child set up their profile to make sure that
they don’t put too much personal information online.
Help them to identify what is and isn’t appropriate to
post online.
 Check the privacy settings for each service and find
out how to block other users and report abuse.
Hopefully you will never need to do this, but it’s good
to be prepared.
 Talk to your child about who they should
communicate with or make ‘friends’ with online.
 Discuss the amount of time your child can spend
online and ensure they maintain a balance. Remind
them of their other responsibilities and encourage
outside activities, hobbies and face-to-face time with
friends.
TUCKSHOP ROSTER - WEEK
COMMENCING MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY
Monday 2 March
Tracy Hammer
SCHOOL FEES
Tuesday 3 March
Amanda Sharp
School fees were due yesterday. Thank you to those
families who have paid. If you have not already paid,
it would be appreciated if this could be done as soon
as possible. If you are having difficulty in paying your
fees, please contact Jan or Therese in the finance
office.
Wednesday 4 March
Vicki Brooke
Thursday 5 March
Help wanted
Friday 6 March
Antoinette Schembri,
Melanie Hudson
SPORTING NEWS
HOCKEY IN 2015
Hockey is a great team sport which caters for players of all
skill levels.
School hockey fixtures are starting on March 7. If you are
interested in playing in Under 7, Under 9, Under 11 or Under
13 please contact Louise Sheedy on 0407595310 or Email:
[email protected] to organise a registration form.
PRINCIPAL AWARDS
FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY
Prep
Yr 1
HOOKED INTO HOCKEY
This years Hooked into Hockey program starts on February 28
at 3.30pm in the Emmanuel School grounds. The cost is $60
per child and includes a hockey stick, ball, shin pads,
mouthguard, replica t-shirt and a stick bag as well as 5 weeks
of skill sessions. If your child is interested in being a part of
this fantastic program please register on line at Hockey
Queensland. Payment needs to be made prior to receiving
your kit. Please contact Louise Sheedy on 0407595310 for
further information.
Yr 2
Yr 3
INTERHOUSE SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2015
The interhouse swimming carnival will be on Tuesday 10
MARCH at the MEMORIAL SWIM CENTRE. This will be a
day carnival, allowing for maximum participation with many
heats followed by finals. The carnival is for all students from
Years 1-6 with students competing in the age group that they
will turn in 2015. Years 1 and 2 will participate in novelty
events or width events, depending on their swimming ability,
and return to school mid-morning. A detailed letter has been
sent to all parents of Years 1 and 2 students. Year 3 have also
received a letter and will return to school before lunch after
participating in width events. All students in Years 1, 2 & 3
need to return the swimming nomination form by
TOMORROW, regardless of whether they are swimming a
width.
In the past we have had many parents who have generously
volunteered to help in many ways at the carnival. Your
assistance is again sought to ensure the smooth running of the
carnival.
If you can help, please complete the slip in the newsletter and
return to the school. You will be
contacted the week before the carnival to confirm your job on
the day.
Thank-you for your support.
TERM CALENDAR
Tues 10 Mar
Tues 17 Mar
Sat 21 Mar
Sun 22 Mar
Thur 2 Apr
Fri 3 Apr
Sat 4 Apr
Sun 5 Apr
Mon 6 Apr
Mon 20 Apr
Sat 25 Apr
Emmanuel Swimming Carnival
Opening School Mass
Harmony Day
Children’s Mass
Holy Thursday
Last day of Term 1
Good Friday
Easter Saturday
Easter Sunday
Easter Monday
Term 2 Begins
Anzac Day
Yr 4
Yr 5
Yr 6
Holly Hinrichsen
Claire Marshall
Landon Hammer
Lincoln Abela
Millie Byrne
Riley Camilleri
Ellie Shean
Brodie Garnham
Isabella Waters
Jessica Rowley
Brydie Moore
Ella Norris
Adam Grech
Alina Baby
Ethan Craig
Mia Ryan
Stephanie Schembri
Saxon Crofts
Kai English
Makayla Phillips
Jessica Haworth
William McGrath
Blake Luckel
Hilda Benz
Brielle Bishop
Alex Haworth
Hayley Woodwell
Tom Burgess
Isaac Hinrichsen
Matthew Miles
Ben Pula-Fatu
Jorja Ellia
Luke Anderson
Holly Tinney
Nickolas Walker
Michael Bartolo
Mira Rose
Emily McVeigh
SWIMMING CARNIVAL HELPER’S NOTE
I can help on Tuesday 10 March.
NAME: ……………………………………………………
CHILD’S CLASS: ……………………………………….
CONVENIENT PHONE CONTACT: …………………..
I prefer to help with
Scoring / Ribbon Writing / Timekeeping
Lifesaving / Judging / Marshalling / Any
Setting up tents before and after carnival