Messages from Don:

S J St Joseph’s School Renmark

Term 4 Week 7 ~ 28th November 2016

RESPECT ~ SAFETY ~ LEARNING ~ TRUST

Opening Doors of Mercy S R

Dear St Joseph’s School Families,

I can’t believe we only have three weeks remaining. However, we still have many events and

activities to complete. This is a wonderful time of the year full of memorable experiences. I have

encouraged staff to remain positive and they have been instructed to not use the word ‘busy’ as this

can sometimes consume all our thoughts and energies. The reality is that everyone is busy and it’s a

normal part of life. As the year draws to a close, we are all encouraged to focus on the positives and

not dwell on the negatives.

Closing of The Year Of Mercy:

On Sunday November 20th, Pope Francis officially ended the Extraordinary Jubilee Year Of Mercy. With this

theme, we were encouraged to leave the past and walk through a new phase. We used the symbolism of the Holy

Door to explore ways that we could show mercy by showing forgiveness, kindness, compassion and gratitude.

Our whole community embraced this theme and were involved in many actions and events which showed love and

care for those around us. While the Doors have closed, Pope Francis told us that the windows will always stay

open and it is never too late to show mercy. We are reminded that we can continue to show these actions and

attitudes and with love, compassion and kindness touch the lives of those around us.

At St Joseph’s we have responded to the Pope’s call to create a memorial for The Year Of Mercy by planting a tree.

Not only is this a merciful response to the cry of the earth but a constant reminder of our continual mercifulness as

a community.

The Christmas Season:

Yesterday, was the start of the very special Season of Advent. This is the time when we begin to prepare for the

celebration of the birth of Christ. In the coming weeks, all classrooms will be talking about Advent and all will

display an Advent Wreath. As a Catholic Community we are encouraged to remember to think about what we are

really celebrating. We certainly celebrate the Christmas Season but focus on the birth of Jesus. It is also a lovely

idea to try to do something special which can show the true spirit of Christmas - the love of Jesus- to the world e.g.

children could set the table without being asked, do a special kind deed for someone who needs it, leave a note for

someone telling them how much they are appreciated, etc. Have a wonderful time celebrating this magical season!

Students planted a memorial

tree in our nature play space

to mark the closing of

The Year Of Mercy.

Upcoming Events

December

4 Carols In the Garden

9 Splash Day

10 Renmark Pageant (changed)

14 School Concert

15 Mass 12.00pm (changed)

15 Year 7 Graduation

16 Dismissal 12.30pm

January 2017

30 Student Free Day

31 First Day of Term 1

Collecting Data - PAT Tests and Running Records:

Teachers are working very hard to create your child's

report, being mindful of ensuring that it is an accurate

record of achievement during the year. These take time

and much thought in order to represent your child

well. Along with this, they have been completing PAT

tests and Running Records to collect more data. I have

been very pleased with the results which clearly

indicate pleasing progress across the whole school.

These have supported our pleasing NAPLAN results. I

wish to commend the students and also the staff for

their hard work.

Nature Play Space:

We have continued to develop and establish our Nature

Play Space and recently we planted a variety of shrubs

and trees. Our SRCs and members of our Garden Club

worked with Matty Martinson and Brodie Redpath to

add to this excellent learning space. We thank Matty

and Brodie for their time and effort.

SRCs planted our Nature Play Space

With assistance from Matty & Brodie.

Maintenance:

I wish to thank and acknowledge Adrian Hunt for

organising a recent Maintenance Busy Bee. A variety

of productive work was completed including

sprinklers, drains and machinery maintenance.

I sincerely thank Adrian, Nick Malinovski, Todd van

Dyk, Tony Siviour and Shane Pitman for their valuable

time and service.

I enjoy putting together our newsletter which helps

promote and celebrate what we are about at St

Joseph’s. We enjoy and understand the extra

dimension of community that is a feature of St

Joseph’s. We aim to work with our whole community

to bring to St Josephs; the confidence, skills,

knowledge and particularly the enthusiasm necessary

to see our students reflect on their schooling firstly, as

enjoyable, with memorable relationships, a spiritual

dimension to their life and an attitude that learning is

a life-long process.

Regards

Don DePalma

Principal

Some students have been spending some time ‘In The

Shed’ with our wonderful volunteer, Adrian Hunt.

On behalf of our whole community I wish

to extend our deepest sympathy and

condolences to the family and friends of

Heather Warnock.

Heather passed away recently and leaves a

lasting legacy on our St Therese Church

Centre. She was actively involved in many

areas around the Parish and School and

made significant contributions to our St

Vincent de Paul Society.

She will be sadly missed by many.

Regards

Don DePalma

Principal

Religious Identity & Mission:

First Sunday of Advent: Advent Wreath

Sunday the 27th November is the first

Sunday of Advent. The first purple candle

on the Advent Wreath will be lit. This

candle is called the “Prophecy Candle” in

remembrance of the prophets, primarily

Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ.

This candle represents hope or

expectation in anticipation of the coming

Messiah.

Set on the branches of the wreath are four candles:

three purple candles and one pink candle. In the centre

of the wreath sits a white candle. As a whole, these

candles represent the coming of the light of Christ into

the world. Each week on Sunday, an additional candle

is lit. On the second Sunday of Advent, the second

purple candle is lit. This candle represents love and is

called the “Bethlehem Candle,” symbolising Christ’s

manger. On the third Sunday of Advent the pink, or

Happy Birthday for the month of December

Eloise Lloyd, Jasleen Bhangoo, Vihan Isaac, Taso

Panayiaris, Henry Meuret, Ryan Prokopec, Holly

Teare, Joshua van Dyk, Anastasia Kalantzis, Ayden

Schloithe, Connor Berryman, Paityn Martinson, Max

Logos, Kieralea Barton, Jamie DiCerbo, Hudson

Pearce, Brock Rover and Chloe Smith.

Parish Connections:

ST. THERESE’S RENMARK

Fr Paul Bourke 8582 1894

Fr John Stuart-James 8588 2452

MASS TIMES

27 November Sun 9.00am

3 December Sat 6.30pm

11 December Sun 9.00am

17 December Sat 6.30pm

PLAYGROUP Families of St Joseph’s are invited to bring along your

children aged 0-5 years to Playgroup.

Lots of fun including art, craft, outdoor play, singing, storytime and

more! Network with parents who’s children will also be attending

school at St Joseph’s next year.

Italian & Science Room 9.00am-10.45am

$3 per child or $5 per family per visit

Please bring along a piece of fruit to share.

TERM 4 DATES

2nd December: Mystery Box Activity How many ways can we write your name (using different materials)

9th December: Christmas Craft Count down the days until Santa comes (games)

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

rose-coloured candle is lit. This pink

candle is called the “Shepherds Candle”

and it represents joy. The fourth and

last purple candle, of Advent, called the

“Angels Candle,” is lit, this candle

represents peace.

On Christmas Eve, the white centre

candle is lit. This candle is called the

“Christ Candle” and represents the life

of Christ that has come into the world. The colour

white represents purity. Christ is the sinless, spotless,

pure Saviour. Also, those who receive Christ as

Saviour are washed of their sins and made whiter

than snow. Celebrating with an Advent wreath

during the weeks prior to Christmas is a great way

for Christian families to keep Christ at the centre of

Christmas, and for parents to teach their children the

true meaning of Christmas.

Susan Frawley

THANK YOU to the family of

Ryan, Roni & Ruby Phan

for donating some nectarines.

They were distributed to students to enjoy.

All donations are gratefully appreciated.

Star Student Awards:

L-R: Dino Atsaves, Emmy Phan, Noah

Martinson, Emerson Vincent, Hugh Riedel,

Lachlan Major, Samuel DePalma, Andrea

Catalano.

L-R: Kobi Lowe, Anja Tassios, Paris Webb,

Michelle Morris, Alexander Curtis, Joshua

van Dyk, Sasha Jenke, Cooper Neef.

Absent: Seth Heading & Jessica Martin.

Parents & Friends News:

Challenge Cup Results:

Our recent Challenge

Cup event was ‘Doing

Good Deeds’. All four

teams were very close

with Mary MacKillop

being successful by half

a point followed by St

Joseph, St Therese & St

Patrick. Pictured are

Sasha & Declan with

the trophy.

Our KidsMatter

Champions are

Jasleen Bhangoo,

Milie Koumbarakos,

Madison Young,

Hudson Pearce

and

Taso Panayiaris.

Well done

everyone!!

KidsMatter

Hi everyone!

Over the past few weeks the committee have been very

busy organising a great raffle to be sold in the next few

weeks! Awesome prizes to be won including a Webber

Q, a big Christmas stocking and lots of wine! Please

support this excellent fundraiser as it might end up

being a great Christmas gift for someone!!

Thank you & enjoy your weekend!

Kristine & the P&F committee

Christmas Raffle

1st Prize Weber Q2000 with stand

2nd Prize Christmas stocking filled with prizes

3rd Prize 2 dozen bottles of mixed wine

$2 per ticket,

available at the front office,

drawn at the End of Year Concert,

Wednesday 14th December.

SAPSASA Tennis:

Congratulations to

Josh Bright and

James Haslett who

competed in Adelaide

last week for

SAPSASA Tennis.

They were in Division

3 and finished in 5th

place.

Both boys had hard

fought matches and

represented the

Riverland and St

J o s e p h ’ s w i t h

determination and

great sportsmanship.

Well done boys!

Some of our ex-students returned to show

what they had learnt and studied during

their Agricultural Science lessons at

Renmark High School. They cooked a BBQ

for some of our students using their

produce and enjoyed interacting with

students.

It was also a great way of showing our

Year 7s some of the subject choices

available.

RHS Ag students visit:

Barney Lindsay from the Gerard Community spoke

about how when he grew up all the food he ate came

from the bush and river. Barney said his people never

had any refrigeration so learnt at an early age to

respect the bush and all the fish, birds and animals.

When he went fishing and caught lots of fish his

mother always made him share his catch with

neighbours, family and friends. These were important

values he learnt growing up in the place he loved.

He left school at a young age, so he never learnt how

to read or write properly. He explained to the students

how it took him a long time to pass the written test to

get his driver’s licence and explained the importance of

learning how to read and write. Barney has worked in

local primary schools supporting students in the class

as well as driving the school bus. He has been a

wonderful role model.

Barney answered all the students’ questions and spoke

about being part of the local Ngarrindjeri tribe and

their Dreaming stories. Barney played the didgeridoo

and said he became an Aboriginal Elder by showing

respect to other people, who in turn showed great

respect to him. Barney’s words of wisdom was a most

fitting way for the Year 3-4 students to conclude their

work on Indigenous Studies.

Aboriginal Elder visits:

Five tips to keep your children safe online:

By Mark Rigby and Phil Staley

While the internet can be a place of entertainment, learning and fun for

kids, it also has a dark side. So how do you make sure your kids stay safe

online?

Cyber safety consultant Brett Lee has travelled to some of the most

remote communities to teach parents and relatives how to make sure kids

stay safe on the internet. Mr Lee pulls no punches in his approach to

internet safety and said adults who claim they know too little about

computers to monitor their children's online habits are kidding

themselves.

"When I talk to adults and carers, particularly grandparents, I encourage them to draw on the skills and the

knowledge they already have," he said. "We can make incredible inroads and reduce [online] risks to nearly zero

just by employing a few strategies and mindsets that we already possess."

1. Talk to children

Mr Lee said first and foremost parents, grandparents and carers need to keep

the lines of communication open with the children in their care.

"Never underestimate the value of knowing how kids are going just by having

a simple face-to-face conversation," he said. "The internet can instil the belief

that it is a private environment but we can change that by talking to our kids

about what's happening online."

2. Clear rules and boundaries

Although they may not like it, children need to be set clear rules and boundaries about

what sites or programs they are allowed to access, when they are allowed online and

who they can talk to.

"Kids are used to rules and boundaries because they have them in every other aspect

of their life," Mr Lee said. "Whether they feel it or not, it helps them. It helps take

away the responsibility for them to have to make the decision on their own when it

comes to technology. We shouldn't step back or feel guilty about putting [rules] in

place when it comes to technology. Kids are ready for it; we just need to put it in

place."

3. Stay up to date

Mr Lee admits staying up to date with applications and programs is not the most

popular of tips with many adults, but it is not as difficult as some people make

out.

"This is not about staying up to date with technology because we can't do that -

some of us don't have an interest, a lot of us don't have time," he said. "It's more

about staying up to date with the technology that applies to our family. Staying

up to date is about talking to the kids, talking to other adults and talking to the

school because they know the trends with programs and can give us some

advice."

4. Consider parental controls

By installing software, programs or applications on a device parents or guardians can monitor online activity,

block access to certain sites, set time limits on the device's connection to the internet and be alerted to concerning

usage or conversations happening on the device.

"This is great for young children," Mr Lee said. "Some parents and grandparents say to me 'it's like I'm spying on

my children, they're going to say I don't trust them' but this isn't about spying on our children. This is about being

comfortable in ourselves knowing that everything is going okay.

"We're spying on other people and we're spying on activity that may come into our home through that device."

5. You make the final decision

No matter what level of computer literacy or technological understanding an

adult has, it is up to an adult to have the final say about a child's access to

the internet.

"It does not matter who owns the device and it does not matter who knows

the most about technology," Mr Lee said. "If we feel something needs to be

put in place or said, we do it. We are the ones who make the final choice."

If you have any questions or concerns about Internet Safety please see your child’s class teacher.