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Important Dates 20th April First day back to school 7th May Eid Gift Giving 10th - 14th May Eid Break 17th – 20th May NAPLAN 24th of May Eid Festival 31st May – 4th June Numeracy Week 7th – 11th June Literacy Week 14th June Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday 17th June 7-9 Parent/Teacher Interview 21st – 23rd June High school Girls’ Camp 22nd June K-6 Parent/Teacher Interview

A Not-For-Profit Organisation

www.rissalah.nsw.edu.au 54-72 Hampden Road, Lakemba

Ph: 02 9758 0808

K N O W L E D G E

F A I T H

D I S C I P L I N E

Issu

e 1

Apr

il E

ditio

n Te

rm 1

Inside

o Principal’s Message

o Bulldogs Visit

o SRC Ceremony

o 2021 SRC Representatives

o Harmony Cup Day

o VR Incursion

o Backflip Against Bullying

o Superhero Day

o Annual Swimming Carnival

o High School Boys’ Camp

o Snake Tails Incursion

o Transition into Kindergarten

o Sayran Ramadan

o Canteen Menu

Ms. Yeliz Yilmaz

Asalaamu ‘alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Dear Parents and Caregivers, This term I have witnessed our students participate in an extraordinary number of curricular and extra-curricular activities, through which they have demonstrated outstanding levels of engagement, creativity and resilience. As I reflect on our experiences, I realise how rewarding this term has truly been. We have been fortunate enough to be able to hold all of our planned events, which have provided our students with a wide range of engaging and exciting learning experiences. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank all students, parents, families and staff members who have supported the on-going work of our leadership and teaching teams this term. Our school community continually demonstrate great energy for learning and care for each other, with school pride regularly celebrated in a range of authentic contexts. I wish all members of the Rissalah community a safe and relaxing holiday. As the blessed month of Ramadan approaches I pray that all of our efforts and acts of worship are accepted. I look forward to seeing students back at school in Term 2, on Tuesday, 20th April, insha’Allah

JazakaAllah Khairan, Ms. Yeliz Principal

On the 17th of February, we were fortunate enough to have the Canterbury Bulldogs NRL team visit us at Rissalah College. The Bulldogs players and development staff spoke to years 3 – 9 students about hard work, achieving dreams, commitment and most importantly, respect. The students of Rissalah College were able to ask questions and learn about the development of the players.

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All students and staff were extremely excited to meet and greet the players. There was a buzz around Rissalah College when the players first arrived, and the students were still talking about them after they left. Students were also lucky enough to have personal items signed by the players and they could not wait to show each other their signed jerseys and posters.

On Wednesday the 24th Of February, our Rissalah College SRC members and their parents/ guardians attended the SRC Induction Ceremony held at the Renaissance Reception Lounge. They enjoyed a beautiful evening and received their badges and trophies. The highlight of our event was the memorable speeches by some of our SRC students. The Student Representative Council (SRC) at Rissalah College is a group of students elected by their peers and our Head of School, Ms. Yilmaz, to represent all the students within the school community. The SRC provides students with some opportunities to influence school decision-making, as it applies to student facilities and activities of the SRC. The students selected for our Student Representative Council will be representing Rissalah College for the entire year. These students will be working alongside Ms. Hamouda and Ms. Darouiche, assisting them in building leadership skills and giving them a voice at our school to make a difference. This will give them an opportunity to build their social and leadership skills. The Coordinators are responsible for organising and running the meetings at the school. Throughout the year, the SRC committee regularly meets to discuss any issues, ideas, suggestions, and requests for changes to school practice that will make our school and the community a better place. Congratulations to all our SRC Members for 2021.

2021 SRC Representatives

High School Year 9 Male School Captain Adam Said Sabbagh

Year 9 Female School Captain Mariam Abdallah Year 8 Male Vice School Captain Bilal Anboussi

Year 8 Female Vice School Captain Mariyam Abdul Rahman Year 7 Male School Prefect Jibreel Annbou

Year 7 Female School Prefect Iesha Elghamraoui Primary School

Year 6 Male School Captain Omar Chamma Year 6 Female School Captain Ellah Ismail

Year 6 Male Vice School Captain Yaqub Gillespie Year 6 Male Vice School Captain Osman Hamouda

Year 6 Female Vice School Captain Amelia El-Hassan Year 6 Female Vice School Captain Raneem Chmait

Year 6 Prefect Female Alaa Abdul Rahman Year 6 Prefect Female Elizabeth Ottoman

Year 6 Prefect Male Mahmoud Dennaoui Year 6 Prefect Male Ahmad Chamma

Year 5R Male SRC Prefect Rayhan Khan Year 5R Female SRC Perfect Zeyneb Fattouh

Year 5B Male SRC Perfect Zain Hassan Year 5B Female SRC Perfect Yasmine Awad Year 5G Male SRC Perfect Jawad Al Zoubi

Year 5G Female SRC Perfect Jessenia Habib Year 4R Male SRC Representative Jayden Omar

Year 4R Female SRC Representative Ayah Al Jaroudi Year 4B Male SRC Representative Jabir Quazi

Year 4B Female SRC Representative Ilham Ayoub Year 4G Male SRC Representative Suleiman El-Hassan

Year 4G Female SRC Representative Amira Abbas Year 3R Male SRC Representative Muhammad Yaghi

Year 3R Female SRC Representative Aya El Homsi Year 3B Male SRC Representative Muhammad Ali Gena

Year 3B Female SRC Representative Suhana Hussan Year 3G Male SRC Representative Rayyan Farouqee

Year 3G Female SRC Representative Amina Anisha Shohid

Harmony Cup Soccer Competition

In Celebration of Harmony Day 2021, students from

Rissalah College in years 7-9 took part in a Harmony

Cup Soccer Competition. This was an important

moment for Rissalah, as it was the first time in

Rissalah history they competed in this competition.

Students were selected to represent our school and

verse other Islamic schools in an indoor soccer

competition.

This competition allowed our students to expand on

their social skills and build their teamwork abilities.

Our students interacted well with students from other schools, and this allowed

them to remove any barriers and help build inclusivity in our community. This

event brought together students, teachers, and volunteers through sport, to achieve

a common goal. Our students participated in a great experience, which built their

skills and relationships with others.

Well done to all the boys and girls involved in this event, for trying their best in the

soccer games and supporting one another. Thank you to Mr. Charaf for organising

this event for our students.

Antibullying VR Bullying behavior can happen all year round in many ways and it is important that our students are educated in ways to identify and reduce bullying. A virtual reality workshop that focuses on Anti-

Bullying using the latest VR technology visited Rissalah College on Monday the 8th to Wednesday the 10th of March, to educate our students about Anti-Bullying. The Anti-Bullying VR workshop entered students into a real-life situation, whilst learning about the background of characters, learning about their motivations, and offering tactics to reduce bullying. VR allowed students to simulate a real-life experience more effectively than any other medium. The interactive workshop encouraged students and teachers to witness, dissect and negotiate a typical scenario of bullying behaviour to help decrease bullying behaviour.

Learning through the new world of technology is exhilarating!

On Friday 12th March, Backflips Against Bullying was brought back to Rissalah College to teach our students how to stand up against bullying. All students from Kindergarten all the way to Year 3 watched and participated in the show, learning about resilience, cyberbullying, the main different types of bullying, consequences of our actions and acknowledging our mistakes and how we can make a change for the better! The acrobatic team of Backflips Against Bullying used their skills to present a 1-hour high-energy performance tackling real issues that relate to our students. The students were engaged from the beginning all the way to the end of the show. Selected students were chosen to demonstrate what cyberbullying looks like, to show others how the victim would feel. Others were chosen to show what verbal bullying looks like and what strategies are useful to overcome such bullying. For the finale, the team lined up a row of students and a teacher to do one final jump over them. The looks on our students’ faces were priceless!

"Heroes are made by the path they choose, not the powers they are graced with”. -- Iron Man Rissalah College took action to stand up against bullying and violence on Thursday, 11th of March 2021. Our students

took part in the day by dressing up as their favourite SUPERHERO character. At our College, we believe that students must have respect for themselves and others and be responsible for their own actions. We want our students to feel empowered to stand up against bullies or to help others that are in

need. Rissalah Superheros came out to save the day! The smiles on their faces were priceless. Some exciting outfits such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Spider Girl, Hulk and many more showed up. On this day, students were able to understand the importance of what real heroes do. They not only stand up to bullies, but help out victims of bullies. Students were able to understand the qualities a hero has and how to report bullying to

a grown up.

Annual Swimming Carnival On Friday, 12th of March 2021, Rissalah College hosted their annual school swimming carnival at Canterbury Leisure and Aquatic Centre. The annual swimming carnival was the largest swimming carnival to date with students from years 4-9 participating in the fun filled and eventful day! The jam-packed day included 25 & 50m freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke. Students were also treated to leisure time in the novelty section of the pool, where they were able to enjoy some free time with their friends and participate in non-competitive games.

Our wonderful swimmers were awarded with ribbons and awards on the day. It was fantastic seeing the carnival run flawlessly, with such a fantastic atmosphere. A big thank you to all the staff who assisted on the day and prior, and to all the students who competed and cheered on their peers; a great show of enthusiasm and team spirit by Rissalah College.

High School Boys Camp 2021

On the 15th of March 2021, Year 7 – 9 Boys took part in a 3-day camp held at

Outdoor Adventure Camp in Wisemans Ferry this year. It was a fun filled,

adventurous experience that students will remember for years to come.

For many students this was their first camping experience. Throughout this three-

day journey, students engaged in a range of activities that enabled them to gain

real life skills and resilience. Some of the activities that students took part in

included zip lining, abseiling, canoeing and an outdoor obstacle course. The

engagement in such activities allowed students to develop positive relationships

and build rapport with their peers. This camp experience also taught students how

to develop effective communication in a real world setting and develop trust with

teachers and peers.

Collaboration between students transpired through their ability to work together

in challenging situations throughout various contexts and landscapes. Many

students endured the cold waters and were undaunted during their time when

canoeing. This experience taught students to ensure that safety is always important

when entering unknown waters and that collaboration is the key to succeed in

challenging environments.

Many students were courageous in facing their fears and reaching greater heights

during abseiling. Abseiling was one of many challenges that students encountered,

which enhanced their confidence and self-esteem once the challenge was completed.

Through motivation and encouragement, many

students took part in a range of experiences including

the obstacle course full of mud and zip line, which

allowed them to celebrate their success.

Overall, students enjoyed their 3 days at the Outdoor

Adventure Camp, with many students labelling it as a

great experience. At Rissalah College we endeavour to

provide our students with a range of opportunities

to support healthy,

active, and safe

lifestyles. We hope

to continue to build

a greater bond

within our school

community and

encourage our

students to be

lifelong learners.

Snake Tails incursion

On Tuesday the 23rd of March, Snake Tails visited Rissalah College and brought along many, many friends. Students in Kindergarten and Year 1 were given the opportunity to dive into and understand the wonderful world of reptiles. Bob, from Snake Tails, presented an engaging and interactive performance to teach us a little about the role of Australian reptiles in the environment. Students had the opportunity to interact with harmless pythons, lizards and turtles, as well as view some lethal snakes. Students brave enough were chosen to receive a special “kiss” from a blue tongue lizard! Other students pretended to be strong tall trees while a bearded dragon was placed on them. Some fearless teachers also had close encounters with Little Bruce – a snake! It’s safe to say, that students and teachers had an enjsoyable experience.

There is only one word we can use to describe Term 1 for our new generation of students at Rissalah, WOW! It was a term filled with discovery, exciting learning and plenty of adventures shared with classmates. We started off early in the term excited, happy and teary at times. Our experiences and emotions were colourful and rich, however, resulted in utmost trust and respect between the amazing team of teachers and students alike. Our students spent a great time learning the busy routine of school activities and class rules, whether it was sitting in their learning circles or working at their desks, sharing pencils, taking turns, listening to others, and even packing and unpacking their bags. The Literacy program included rich texts linked to new school experiences, where students were able to connect to the characters and discuss their feelings. In Mathematics, students started their daily routine learning the days of the week and singing the months and seasons of the year. They worked hard at counting on up to 30. They were involved in hands on activities adding and subtracting, especially when counting their Dojo points! During Science and Technology, students were excited to learn about living things and their needs. They observed living plants and made shelters for animals. As a culminating task, we invited Bob from The Snakes Tails interactive reptile show. The children were presented with various Australian reptiles and had the opportunity to handle and feel a lizard and a python. Our History program was about families and our students were involved in creating their own family trees and presenting them to their peers in class. Our PDH program themes integrated with Literacy themes. They also touched on the topic of bullying, where students dressed up as superheroes and were exposed to the fantastic experience of the Backflips Anti-Bullying team. Physical Education was always the preferred activity amongst all other learning tasks. Our students learnt so much more than running, skipping and other locomotor and non-locomotor skills. The program promoted listening skills and encouraged participating in activities with safety in mind. All these exciting activities and events promoted our love for learning and discovery! We are saddened to see this term go by, but are super excited for what’s next to come, Insha’Allah!

Sayran Ramadan

In celebration of the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan, Rissalah College hosted a Sayran Ramadan event for all students and staff on Tuesday, 30th March 2021.

As part of the Sayran Ramadan event, students brought in a range of foods and desserts to share with their class peers. They were also encouraged to wear an Abaya on the day, everyone looked fabulous!

Rissalah College arranged for Sheikh Shady Al Sulaiman to be a guest speaker on the day. Students learnt the importance and meaning of this holy month whilst listening to the Sheikh’s sermon. Our students listened attentively to the importance of Ramadan and how to make the most of the holy month ahead.

Note: During month of Ramadan Canteen will be closed