from the principal - brendan o’reilly · readers: t. o’leary & b. lack school camp update...
TRANSCRIPT
As of this week, our newsletter will be available on the school website
www.clifton.catholic.edu.au. If you do not receive an emailed copy of our newsletter next week please
contact us. Please provide us with the email address you want the school newsletter sent to.
KidsMatter is an Australian mental health and wellbeing initiative set in primary schools and in early childhood
education and care services. It’s not a program, but a framework that helps take care of the mental health needs of
children. It focuses on:
creating positive school and early childhood communities
teaching children skills for good social and emotional development
working together with families
recognising and getting help for children with mental health problems.
KidsMatter is funded by the Australian Government and beyondblue, and is a partnership between education and
health sectors. It was developed by experts - mental health professionals and education and childcare staff.
KidsMatter is the first of its kind in Australia, and has the mental health of children as its top priority. I would
encourage you to have a look at the website as you will discover an amazing range of videos, discussion forums,
fact sheets, links to other resources, etc. I am sure you will find it a handy resource to help you and your child
through their educational journey. For further information, try the following link:
www.kidsmatter.edu.au
From the Principal - Brendan O’Reilly
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I would like to extend our many thanks to those people who helped out at the polocrosse fundraiser over the
weekend and those who supported this event by donating food and their cooking skills. Special thanks to Simone
and Troy Gillam and their children for giving up so much of their own time to support our school. All our won-
derful volunteers are always greatly appreciated. Thank you.
At our P&F meeting on Wednesday night, we reviewed the financial position of the P&F and voted on investing
some funds into various school projects. This was an exciting conversation to be a part of. With the assistance of
the P&F committee, I look forward to enriching the opportunities and facilities we can provide for the students.
The Making Jesus Real program, or MJR for short, fosters many valuable attitudes and values that are already
reinforced every day in our classrooms. This program makes explicit the behaviours, values and attitudes we want
to ‘see’ in our students. Over the next few weeks I will be teaching the students the acronym WEST and what it
represents; Welcome, Encourage, Sorry and Thanks. I have informed the students that I will be focussing on their
ability to welcome others, encourage others, say sorry when they should and be thankful for what they have, and
say thanks! I am looking forward to presenting the principal award to a student who consistently tries to display
these behaviours.
Our full time teachers are all attending two professional development days in Brisbane over the weekend. Our
commitment to improving our professional practice is highlighted when our teachers give up their weekends to
engage in professional development. I thank our teachers for this commitment and I look forward to building our
professional capacity at these seminars.
Peace and Best Wishes,
Brendan
12th May 2016
Dates To Remember May 2016
Gala Days-Friday 20th May and
Friday 27th May
Friday 27th May is under 8’s Day.
Sept Thursday 8th - School play dress rehearsal
God Bless
Brendan O’Reilly
Principal
This Week’s Mass Roster Saturday 14th May 7.00pm Welcoming: M Cranitch POF/OH: G. Imhoff Readers: T. O’Leary & B. Lack Offertory: R & L Murphy Eucharistic Ministers: K. Flynn and L. Murphy
School Camp Update A second instalment of $250 for camp was due by
Friday the 29th April .The third instalment of $250
is due on Friday the 27th May. Thankyou for as-
sisting us to honour financial deadlines with the
school Camp.
Camp Dates: Sunday 19th June to 23rd June
Save the Date
Angela Ehmer (literacy consultant) visit
on 25th and 26th of August
The UNIFORM SHOP will be opened on
MONDAY from 8.30am –9.30am
If you have any questions or need to place an or-
der please contact Jenny Gillam on 0408198538.
Representative Sport Dates for Term Two Gala Days in Allora for Netball, Rugby League and
Soccer;
Friday 20th May and Friday 27th May
SFDS Athletics Days– 13th and 15th July
P & F N E W S
BULL CAMP – P&F FUNDRAISER The Bull Camp roster was sent home on Wednesday and
is also available on our Facebook Page along with direc-
tions on how to get there. We have been busy cooking
meals and preparing food ready to cater for this event
which commences on Thursday. We are catering for 50
people. Thursday we are providing lunch, afternoon tea
and dinner. Friday we are providing breakfast, morning
tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Saturday we are
providing breakfast, morning tea and lunch – then pack-
ing up….and SLEEPING!!! What a massive couple of
weeks! Once again, thank you to all families who have
contributed to these two events. Your help, baking and
donations has been very much appreciated.
TUCKSHOP
Friday 20/5 – open (no meal deals)Closed on Friday 27/5 for gala
day & u8’s day
“SFDS FAMILIES”
PREP ENROLMENTS 2017: Applications for Prep 2017 are now being taken. We already have a promising enrolment for Prep in 2017. Current families who are yet to submit their application for Prep 2017 are en-couraged to complete an application and submit it to the school. Interviews will take place in week 2 of Term 3 (starting on the 18th July).
If you know of anyone who is looking to enrol at St Francis de Sales in 2017, please encourage them to come and get an application package
Next P&F Meeting: 6pm – Wednesday, 8th June 2016
Please email your agenda items to: Clif-
Everyone is Welcome to Attend
TUCKSHOP ROSTER
Friday 13/5 Leanne Harrigan & Gale Ansett
Baking – Leanne Harrigan
Friday 20/5 Angela Parry & Anna Marks
PENTECOST PEOPLE
Come, Holy Spirit, and make us Pentecost people
Let your wisdom and right judgement guide our decisions and temper our
impulses.
Let knowledge and understanding increase our capacity for empathy and
compassion.
Let reverence and awe fill us with gratitude and respect for all creation.
Give us the courage to witness to our faith in word and deed.
Through and with and in Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
MINI VINNIES – This week, the Year 5 and 6 students ran their own
Mini Vinnies meeting with the help of Mr Wigan and myself. The fol-
lowing students are taking on Mini Vinnies leadership responsibilities for
the remainder of this term:
Chairperson – Lachie Peardon
Secretary – Sophie Willett
Treasurer – Liam Ruhle
Spiritual Advisor – Kate McCarthy
Thank you to these children for agreeing to take on these roles. A further election will take
place for Term 3 at the end of this term.
PARISH FAMILY MASS – Invitations for all families have been sent home earlier this week.
We encourage as many families as possible to come along and celebrate Mass together at
5pm on Sunday 22 May. Could children please bring back their invitation re-
sponse by Monday 16 May in order to arrange those who will help out with read-
ings at Mass.
SCHOOL CENTENARY COMMITTEE MEETING – Following the Parish Family Mass
next Sunday 22 May, there will be a committee meeting in the Presbytery to continue planning
for our school centenary which will be celebrated in Marcy 2017. Any parents or community
members are welcome to attend.
UPCOMING DATES
22 May at 5.00pm – Parish Family Mass
PRAYER PLEASE Many of our families have difficult times particularly when they lose a family member or are
dealing with serious illness. In recent times, members from our community have lost loved ones,
are fighting cancer and are recovering from surgery. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
From the APRE - Kathy Doherty
Athletics 2016 During physical education lessons this term the children will be taking part in sever-
al athletics events. This is in the lead up to the school athletics carnival early next
term.
Gala Day Sport Our Gala Days will be held in Allora on the Friday 20th and Friday 27th May. We
will provide a bus for the students on these days. If you are transporting your own
child either to or from Soccer, Rugby League or Netball, please make sure you in-
form us. The staff attending these days will be busy organising teams and refereeing
games. If you are attending any of these sports, we would appreciate any extra su-
pervision you may be able to provide on the sidelines. Thank you in advance for
your support.
Horse Sports St Joseph’s Primary School in Millmerran is hosting a School Horse Sports Day on
Friday 24 June at the Millmerran Showgrounds. Children may nominate individually
if they like, however they must be a current financial Pony Club member. Categories
vary and children must be between 6-16 years old. If anyone would like a nomina-
tion form, please see Mr O’Reilly.
Sport News
The Wise Donkey
Here’s a little story about a donkey and at the end you will understand why the story is titled,
“The Wise Donkey”. “One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The animal cried miserably for
hours as the farmer tried to work out what to do. Finally, the farmer decided that the donkey was
old and the well had to be filled in anyway; it just wasn’t worth the effort to retrieve the old don-
key. The farmer invited his neighbours to come over and help him. Each grabbed a shovel and
began to shovel dirt into the well. When the donkey realised what was happening, it cried horri-
bly, then, to everyone’s amazement it quietened down. When the farmer looked into the well, he
was astonished to see the donkey shake each shovel of dirt off its back and take a step upwards.
This sequence continued until the donkey began to appear. Before long, it stepped over the edge
of the well and trotted off.” Author unknown.
And the moral? Well, use each of your problems as stepping stones. We will never get out of
our “deepest wells” by doing nothing. We need to shake off our negative attitudes and keep only
the positive ones. Additionally, acting in a positive way does not mean that we ignore life’s less
pleasant situations but that we approach the unpleasantness in a more positive and productive
way. What a Wise Donkey!
Christians realise that optimistic, positive thinking needs to be tempered with realism, which is
not the same as being negative. A favourite saying is to “Act as if everything depended on you,
pray as if everything depended on God.” In other words we should not use faith in God as a sub-
stitute for living in positive ways that will improve our chances of having positive outcomes; the
two go hand in hand. St. Paul said: “There is no limit to the blessings which God can send you;
He will make sure that you will always have all you need for yourselves in every possible cir-
cumstance and still have something to spare for all sorts of good work.” 2 Cor. 9:8.
You Can Do It Awards Award Winners from Prep and Year One
Congratulations Bailey for trying to solve a problem on your own before you
asked for help.