Messages from Don:

S J St Joseph’s School Renmark

Term 3 Week 8 ~ 11th September 2020

RESPECT ~ SAFETY ~ LEARNING ~ TRUST

“Ignite Your Passion & Purpose” S R

Dear Parents, Friends and Students,

Confirmation – Welcome and Farewell Bishop Greg

It is a pleasure that we welcome Bishop Greg O’Kelly back into our community to confer

the Sacrament of Confirmation of our students including Kalan Curtis, Mia DePalma,

Jesse Hammond, Mikayla Matulick, Angus Morris, Angus Pitman, Emily Robertson and

Madison Young. They will be joined by other students from around the Riverland. This

will take place next Saturday 19th September, 3.00pm at an Open-Air Mass here at our school.

Their teachers, Miss Ward, Mr Sampson, Mr Slagter and Mrs Guy have done a great job preparing the

candidates. Along with their other Year 7 classmates, they have all learnt about the Gifts and Fruits of

the Holy Spirit, and what it means to become an adult member of the church. There are so many

negative influences in life that it takes courage and strength sometimes to do what is right rather than

what is popular, what brings a quick laugh or makes headlines for the wrong reasons and how to choose

well in the decisions we make each day and strive to put the needs of others before our own. We wish

them all the best as they continue their journey of faith.

This will also be an opportunity for our whole Riverland community to farewell Bishop Greg as he

retires from his role as our honourable leader of the Port Pirie Diocese. Bishop Greg has shown

incredible service for all our communities. His passion, knowledge, guidance, leadership and faith has

had so much influence on so many people. I personally wish to express my gratitude and appreciation

for his trust, encouragement and belief in me in my role as a principal. We wish him well and hope he

enjoys his well-earned rest.

National Child Protection Week - Carly Ryan Foundation - Cyber safety

National Child Protection Week aims to engage and educate all Australians to understand they have a

part to play in keeping our children and young people safe from violence, abuse and neglect.

At St Joseph’s, we support and promote community-led prevention. Our priority is the safety and

wellbeing of our students and we believe that by working together with the wider community we will

help protect children and young people. The week will conclude with Mass this Sunday morning where

the focus will be on reminding our whole community about protecting our children.

As a follow up to National Child Protection Week, we have produced an Online Safety Booklet. In

conjunction with our Wellbeing Team, the Carly Ryan Foundation and the eSafety Commission we have

produced this comprehensive resource to support parents and their children. I continue to be concerned

Confirmation candidates: Mikayla, Mia, Emily, Angus, Kalan & Jesse. Bishop Greg

at how many of our students have increased their screen time and

have access to many sites, games and apps that have a minimum

age requirement of 13. This week we learnt of the risks that our

children can be exposed to and this was a timely reminder for all of

us to be more vigilant and cautious. We hope you will find the

included booklet a valuable resource with information sheets about

various Apps to help support parents and families guide their

children to making positive choices. I hope you take some time to

peruse this booklet and gain further knowledge and awareness of

the many Apps circulating throughout Social Media.

Satisfaction Survey:

I again thank all the families who provided us with excellent

feedback. This information has been collated and will be used to

inform our structures, procedures, activities and events for the

future. The results will be shared at School Board level and staff

will be working through responses. Below is a sample of the

feedback we received.

• All teachers did an amazing job of supporting children and

families during COVID. The on-line learning programs were

great. Thank you for a great year, even though it’s so

different to previous ones, the kids have all been supported.

(6&4)

• School leadership I’m sure is a driving force behind the

inclusive community that’s St Joseph’s. The continuation of

this style of leadership will be vital with the exciting new High

School. (6&1)

• I feel due to all the COVID restrictions, our kids have still been

able to go to school safely and learn effectively as they would

have if this wasn’t happening. Obviously, the school camps

and excursions are what the kids are disappointed with the

most, having to miss out. (7&5)

• Couldn’t be happier with the school, it’s community and the

way you contribute to raising responsible, empathetic and

kind young people. Thank you!! (2&R)

• Love the inclusion of Charlie the dog – what a fantastic

initiative. (4)

• Although COVID has had face to face restrictions, other ways

of communication have been done well. (4)

• Will be sad to say goodbye to St Joseph’s. Loved our time

here as a family. (7)

Children’s University:

We welcomed Gemma from Children’s University who met with our

children. With Covid-19 having an impact, they discussed their

progress and looked at plans for their end of year Graduation

Ceremony. Whilst they have had challenges, the students have

remained active and have continued to participate and complete

numerous activities to contribute to their Children’s University

ST. THERESE’S RENMARK

Fr Paul Bourke 8582 1894

Fr Cletus 8588 2452

MASS TIMES

13 Sept Sun 9.00am

19 Sept Sat 3.00pm

Confirmation

at St Joseph’s

27 Sept Sun 9.00am

UPCOMING EVENTS

September:

16 SAPSASA Athletics

19 Confirmation 3.00pm

Farewell for Bishop Greg

21 Assembly by 3/4MP

25 12.30pm dismissal

October:

12 Student Free Day

13 Return for Term 4

Student Free Day

Monday 12th October

For Staff Professional

Development.

OSHC is available.

Ring Nicole 8586 4481

Please see this

important resource

included with your

Newsletter pocket.

Congratulations to Hugh Riedel,

Lily Schloithe and Anja Tassios

who all passed their recent Music

Exams with an ‘A’.

qualification. We again recognise and

congratulate all participants.

Staff News:

The Covid – 19 Pandemic has had many impacts.

Some of our staff had reflected on the importance

of family and friends and have expressed their

desire to return back to their homes in Adelaide.

It is with sadness that I announce that Miss

Madeline Cole, Miss Laura O’Connell, Miss

Tiffany Sansome, Miss Alina Meich, Miss Astrid

Powell will all be leaving our community at the

end of the year. Furthermore, Miss Rebecca

Ward will pursue opportunities that align her

High School qualifications, Mrs Megan Peterson

will take time to review her future directions and

Miss Tayla James will return to Adelaide for

University. We feel very fortunate to have had

the services of all the above staff and we wish

them well.

Obviously, the tasks for appointing 2021 staff

will be a thorough and comprehensive process. I

am pleased to announce and congratulate the

following existing staff who all have been

successful in obtaining contracts for next year:-

Mrs Katie Shrubshall, Mrs Julie Slagter, Miss

Kassie Heuzenroeder, Mr Paul Hooper, Miss Ella

Noak and Ms Stephanie Hocking. We also are

very pleased to announce the appointments of

Mrs Belinda Pfeiffer and Ms Anita Modlinski. We

congratulate and welcome Mrs Chrissie Grocke to

our community for next year. She is currently

teaching in Roxby Downs and we wish her well

as she looks forward to continuing her teaching

journey with us. Finally, we welcome back Ms

Emma-Lee O’Dea and Mrs Jordan Whitelaw who

will return from Maternity Leave and will share a

class next year.

Class placements and other appointments will be

finalised in the near future.

Class Lists for 2021:

Parents who wish to request consideration for

their child’s placement in classes for 2021 are to

submit their requests in writing to me outlining

sound educational reasoning for the request. All

requests must be submitted by the end of this

term. Requests regarding specific teachers or the

type of class structure will not be considered.

Class structures and the placement of teachers

into teaching roles is the responsibility of the

school. Whilst every educational based request is

considered, not all requests will be able to be met,

given the complex needs of our school community.

Deepest Sympathy:

Fr Cletus Mloka received news last week of the

death of his sister. Fr Cletus will be leaving us to

return home to Tanzania next week and

unfortunately did not make it back in time for the

funeral. We include Fr Cletus in our prayers and

offer our sincere condolences and sympathy. We

also express our gratitude and thanks for his four

years of wonderful service. His gentleness and care

will be fondly remembered. We wish him well.

Kiss and Drop – review

The morning routine continues to be running well

and parents have welcomed the ‘Kiss and Drop’

opportunity. This process works best when cars

stop at the front of the designated area, move

along as far as you can to allow for the momentum

to flow and to avoid cars banking up over the

crossing. This is not a parking area so please avoid

getting out. Students are capable of independently

getting out of the car on their own and coming into

the school grounds. Please remember to obey the

school crossing rules and the 25km speed

restrictions when dropping and collecting your

child from our school. The streets are a very busy

place at this particular time and all parents,

families and friends are urged to be alert at all

times.

On Monday this week, our staff joined with

colleagues from St Albert’s to work with Ann Baker

on concepts around Natural Mathematics. It was a

fascinating and inspiring day as we covered topics

such as Mental Routines & the Language of

Mathematics, Trusting the Count, Place Value and

Multiplicative Thinking.

Ann stressed how important it was for children to

build a vocabulary

around mathematics to

help kids explain their

thinking. We looked at

s t r a t e g i e s a r o u n d

problem solving which

can be used across a

Staff announcements for 2021: Katie, Julie, Kassie, Paul, Ella, Stephanie, Belinda, Anita, Chrissie, Emma-Lee & Jordan

Farewell Fr Cletus!

broad, differentiated curriculum. It was an

excellent day of collaborative learning and staff

couldn’t wait to put these strategies into practice

at the earliest opportunity!

Cardboard Box Sleep Out:

A big congratulations to Mr Sampson, Miss Ward,

Mr Anspach, Mr Reeks, Mrs Guy and the Year 7

students who participated in this significant event.

Last week, our Year 7 students braved the cold

conditions and participated in the Mini Vinnies

sleep out. For one night, the students were able

to experience similar conditions to those that

homeless people experience daily. It is an

important learning opportunity to gain a new

perspective on the struggles that some people in

our community and across the world face each

and every day. The students will now have a new

level of empathy for people in difficult situations I

am sure. These learning experiences are invaluable

to life long learning. Thank you to the families

who helped in any way, and for assisting the

students to raise over $3000 is an amazing effort.

I also thank Mr Slagter for his support and Mrs

Kathy Hazlewood and Mrs Elisabetta Angeletti for

their attendance and participation.

As the weather is starting to warm up I hope that

you are able to get out and enjoy the sunshine this

weekend with family and friends.

Regards

Don DePalma

Principal

To farewell Father Cletus and thank

him for his time with St Joseph’s

School Community we had a dress up

Pyjama Day. Children brought along

a gold coin donation and they were

also able to purchase cakes and

biscuits made by the P&F. All funds

will go towards Fr Cletus’ village in

Morogoro, Tanzania.

First Communion:

On Saturday 5th September ten of our students

celebrated their Sacrament of First Communion.

Congratulations to Sierra Broughton, Louis

Brown, Kailyn Burn, Campbell Dring, Max Hunt,

Riley Hunt, Eloise Lloyd, Amber Matulick, Phoenix

Pearce and Hamish Young. It was a wonderful

celebration for them and their families. Also a big

thankyou to those who helped prepare the

students for this significant occasion: Miss

O’Connell, Miss Sansome and Mrs. Petersen, as

well as Mrs Guy and Fr Cletus for their support. I

would also like to thank Mr Reeks for his

assistance with the wonderful altar banner that

the students worked with him on. We hope for

these students that it is another step into a life-

long commitment to their faith.

Cardboard Box Sleep Out:

Last Thursday night the Year 7 Mini Vinnies

group participated in the Cardboard Box

Sleepout. They prepared their sleeping

arrangements after school, as well as helping Mrs

Guy with preparing some of their food for the

night. The students shared bread and soup for

dinner with some members of our local Vinnies

conference. Kathleen Hazelwood from the St

Vincent de Paul Society in Renmark came to

speak to the students about the history of the

society as well as how they help those in need,

some of whom are homeless. She spoke to

students about the things that Vinnies does for

our local community, and of the happiness that

helping others brings. After this they watched a

movie about homelessness, before retiring for the

night into their cardboard boxes. In the morning,

the big job of cleaning it all up and getting on

Religious Identity & Mission:

Fee reduction announced:

with the day ahead, even though tired and cold,

helped reinforce to students how lucky we all are.

A big thankyou to Mr Sampson, Miss Ward, Mr

Reeks, Mrs Guy and Mr Anspach for their support

on the night. Also a big thankyou to the Year 7

students who raised approx. $3,000 which will be

given to the Renmark Vinnies group next term.

Confirmation

Next Saturday 19th September some of our Year 7

students will be celebrating the Sacrament of

Confirmation. Due to COVID restrictions on

numbers we are celebrating this outdoors at

school at a 3pm Mass. We will also use this

opportunity to farewell and thank Bishop Greg

O’Kelly for his leadership and service as the

bishop of the Port Pirie Diocese. We congratulate

the students taking part and look forward to a

wonderful parish celebration.

Michael Slagter

APRIM

Fees to reduce across all Catholic Diocesan

Primary Schools

The South Australian Commission for Catholic

Schools has announced that it will make Catholic

education more affordable by lowering the school

fees of every Catholic diocesan primary school in

2021 under its Making Catholic Education More

Affordable initiative.

The exact level of fee reduction in each diocesan

primary school will vary from school to school to

take into account their circumstances and the

needs of their families.

Our school is working with Catholic Education

South Australia to finalise our fees for 2021 and

these will be released in the coming weeks.

There is more information about the initiative in

the letter sent from the Chair of the South

Australian Commission for Catholic Schools to

families this week and on the Catholic Education

South Australia website at cesa.catholic.edu.au/fee

-reductions.

Our recent Champion Citizen Awards

were presented to

Sirat Ghangas & Archie Sutton

Congratulations to both students on your

wonderful achievements.

Champion Citizen Award:

Back L-R: Nadine Beresford-Murray, Kaelen

Greenhalgh, Hamish Pitman, Henry Dring, Emilly

Warren.

Front L-R: Alex Cartwright, Maddalyn Stoneham,

Anastasia Kalantzis, Amy Logos, Sophie Kernich.

Star Student Awards:

Back L-R: Imogen Beresford-Murray, Hamish

Young, Amber Matulick, Tejdeep Singh, Ruby

Phan.

Front L-R: Hannah Keynes, Malakai McElroy,

Khushreet Khinda, Andy Nguyen, Jett Lever,

Ayana Isaac, Marlon Brown, Annie Hooper.

Parents & Friends:

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Spring arrives so early in our climate and before you

know it, it is planting time for vegies.

Sowing: Carrots, beetroot, spring onions and lettuce

can be sown directly into the soil now but other spring

vegetables such as tomatoes, capsicums, chillies,

eggplant and basil are best sown into seedling trays.

Keep them covered by a window while they germinate.

Local businesses are well equipped to help us start our

planting projects. The kids can enjoy the process from

start to finish by enjoying fresh home grown

vegetables.

Elisha Brown

For the P&F Committee

Congratulations to St Joseph’s Gold who won

the recent Challenge Cup activity for Nude Food

Day. Gold finished with 149 points, closely

followed by Green 146, Red 145 and Blue 138.

The overall points are tightening up so we look

forward to more activities in Term 4.

Challenge Cup Award:

Jonah Sutton from Miss

Cole’s R-1 class, has won

third place in a national

art competition for

drawing a masterpiece

inspired by the human

brain. This incredible

achievement has won

our school a $250

voucher from Modern

Teaching Aids as well an

individual prize pack for

Jonah. We congratulate

Jonah on his wonderful

achievement. His

artwork was really

sensational.

The students have been drawing and painting

Pokemon characters and cats, while the Year

Seven students are preparing for their final

Sacrament of Confirmation by making a large

banner to celebrate the occasion.

In Languages the R-2 students have created

booklets about all the facts associated with India.

Languages: Visual Arts:

Mr Paul Tassios spoke to the 3/4 classes about his

Greek culture and heritage. They especially

enjoyed hearing about the Greek Gods and the

traditions he still follows today. Thank you to Paul

for giving his time to the students.

Mrs Giulia Del Zoppo

Languages Teacher

Mr Greg Reeks

Visual Art Teacher

Some of the

amazing artwork

by Year 7 student,

Anastasia

Kalantzis.

In our integrated subject we

designed a nature fun park

from scratch. Our aim is to

explore, plan and develop a

park through integrating most

of our subjects we learn at

school. To be successful in our

project we needed to budget

with $1,000,000, design the

park, make it sustainable, make

a profit and create texts to

promote the park.

Our favourite part of the project

was creating our maps. We were

able to show our creativity by

making our own choices for

what we put in our parks. The

only things we had to consider

was the cost and making it

sustainable. Some students

added creative attractions into

their park. This includes a paint

ball arena, rocking horse, maze,

tree climb, playground and a

motorbike track. We are

continuing our park planning

through learning how to create

a profit.

5EN Nature Fun Parks

We have loved learning in a

fun and creative way.

Wellbeing In Action:

Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset approach to challenges:

Those with a growth mindset run into challenges just like people with a fixed mindset. The

difference is how each feels about them and their reaction to those challenges.

Individuals with a growth mindset don’t expect to be great at things right away. The process

of learning excites them, rather than annoy or cause feelings of inadequacy.

People with a fixed mindset get upset when things get difficult. Rather than enjoy challenges,

their attitude moves them to seek out something easier.

A person with a growth mindset knows practice and repetition is making them better.

This is an important point in today’s world, where distractions are everywhere. Having a

fixed mindset will make you more likely to quit a challenging activity and jump to something

easier but less important.

Bottom line, the growth mindset embraces and even seeks out challenges. The fixed mindset

avoids them at all costs.

Deb James

Wellbeing Officer

Pyjama day ...