Whitefriars School

Newsletter

8th November, 2017 Term 4, Week 4

Dear Parents,

Education is a lifelong process and we can learn in many ways and many

places. Being at school is only one place for children to learn. Today at

our Assembly Kaylee Kent, our Catholic North West Community

Co-ordinator for Children’s University, addressed our gathering, inviting

our students to participate in the Children’s University program.

In recent years Children's University has been

established to enable children, aged 7 to 14 years of

age, to explore educational opportunities beyond

classroom experiences. Activities can include many

that take place outside of school hours such as sports

practice and games, music, dance, language or art

lessons. Children can visit places such the Zoo, Art

Gallery, various museums and school holiday activities

in the local library. By enrolling in this program

children will be provided with a Passport to Learning in which they

record their learning activities. At the end of Term 3 next year they will

be able to participate in an Award Presentation ceremony at the Adelaide

University to acknowledge their achievements. This year 25 of our

students were awarded, ranging from those who had completed 30 hours

to 330 hours of activities. Children who want to be part of this great

opportunity to further their learning are invited to register their interest

by completing a form which is available at the office. The cost for the

year of joining this program is $27.50.

Volunteers

At our next Assembly we would like to recognise and

thank our Volunteers for the service that they provide

here at Whitefriars School. With over 200 volunteers

we indeed have a very supportive community, and

having a number of grandparents among these is truly

a great gift.

All Volunteers are welcome to our Assembly which will be followed by

morning tea, hosted by some of our Kids Council students.

Books for Filipino Students

Education opens doorways to great opportunities and books allow this to

happen. This week we are inviting families to sort through bookshelves

and bring books which are surplus to requirement to school so that we

can make a presentation to a school in the southern Philippines.

Through this project our community can make a difference to the lives and learning of children in one school.

You may like to take the opportunity to sort through bookshelves.

“God’s love is too deep for words to express.”

(St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, 1870)

For your diary…..

Friday, 10th November - 9.15am Mass, 3/4F & 3/4S (1/2NK, 1/2TK attending)

Tuesday, 14th November - 7pm Hot Topic Parent Session—”Learning with the Future in Mind” (repeat) in the Library Friday, 17th November - 9.15am Mass, Sacramental Students - 2.15pm Liturgy, Year 1/2 Unit in Hall Monday, 20th November - Pupil Free Day Wednesday, 22nd November - 9am Assembly hosted by Reception Unit, Presentation of Volunteers - 7pm, School Board Meeting at Whitefriars Friday, 24th November - 9.15am Mass, 5/6H and 5/6N Thursday, 30th November - 10.30am Reception Liturgy in Hall Friday, 1st December - 9.15am Mass, 3/4BF and 3/4C (1/2C and 1/2W attending)

- 10.30am Reception Liturgy in Hall (Repeat of Liturgy on 30/11) - Carols Night Wednesday, 6th December - 9am Assembly hosted by Year 5/6 Unit Monday, 11th December - Basketball and Netball Tuesday, 12th December - Thanksgiving Mass and Year 7 Graduation Thursday, 14th December— Last day of school - 9am Final Assembly hosted by Specialist Teachers

45 Beaufort Street, Woodville Park, 5011

Phone - 8445 1895 Fax - 8445 1876

Email address: info@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

Our website: www.whitefriars.catholic.edu.au

Principal: Ms Mary Hemmings Deputy Principal: Mrs Barbara Ahern

APRIM: Mrs Angela Scodella

OSHC & Vacation Care Phone: 8244 4155 or 0459 988 149

Croydon Park Parish Office Phone: 8346 0944

There will be a Pupil Free Day on MONDAY, 20TH NOVEMBER. The YMCA OSHC service will be available

from 7.30am—6pm on this day.

Please phone 8244 4155 to book.

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REMEMBRANCE DAY

Armistice Day, also known as

Remembrance Day or sometimes Poppy Day,

is commemorated every year on

the 11th November.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day

of the 11th month in 1918,

the guns of the Western Front fell silent

after more than four years of continuous

warfare during the First World War.

On Friday at 11am, the Year 7 students

will be leading a whole school liturgy

marking the importance of this day.

Parent Hot Topic

Due to several requests we will provide a further Hot Topic Session of “Learning with the Future in Mind”.

This will be held on Tuesday, 14th November at 7pm in the Library. A crèche will be provided if there is

sufficient need.

Yours sincerely

Mary

These events are the culmination of our year here at Whitefriars. Therefore it is important that

all children attend. Please inform your child’s teacher if this is not possible.

Friday December 1st

Carols on the Green

Students will present

Christmas songs and dance.

5:30pm: Picnic Tea

6:30pm: Carols begin

Tuesday, December 12th

Thanksgiving

Mass

and Graduation

7:00pm in our Hall

Sacramental Program

Angela Scodella- APRIM

The first parent information meeting will be held on

Wednesday 15th November. At this meeting parents will receive

more information about the program and the Reconciliation

work booklet. Parents can attend either the 9:15am or 7pm meeting and they will both be held in the

Parish Hall at St Margaret Mary’s School. It is essential that at least one parent attends this session. Students are invited to attend

the evening session.

Year 4 RELAT Testing Results

Last term our Year 4 students sat the RELAT test. This test focused on students’ knowledge and

understanding of key concepts that are addressed in the Religious Education Program, the achievement of the outcomes set out in the Religion curriculum, and

the ability of students to communicate this knowledge and understanding about the Catholic tradition. The results from this test will be distributed to

students at the end of this week. The data and results received from this test are designed to give teachers meaningful feedback about the students’

learning and to assist in developing the classroom teaching of Religion.

INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCAL LESSONS 2018

Planning is underway for Instrumental

and Vocal lessons for 2018.

If your child would like to learn:

Please collect an enrolment form from the

office and return ASAP to secure your place.

We have limited vacancies

for each instrument.

If you have any questions,

please contact Danielle Lyons

(dlyons@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au)

(If you have previously returned a form and have

NOT heard from the tutor, please complete another form and return

it as soon as possible – thank you.)

Danielle Lyons, Music Teacher

Children’s University

Today we launched a new year for Children’s

University. Registrations are now open. If

your child would like to be involved and has

not yet applied please see Mrs Bileckyj in the

Office for an application. The annual fee is

still just $27.50.

Children's University Adelaide has exciting

learning activities outside of school hours -

before school, at lunchtime, after school or in

the school holidays. Students get to choose

the activities they do, where, when and how

often.

If your child collects enough hours they will

be able to graduate at the University of

Adelaide. They will be presented with a

certificate at a special ceremony, all dressed

up in a cap and gown, just like the older

university students.

If parents/grandparents

have a particular skill

such as knitting, crochet,

art, craft, etc, and would

like to share this gift

with students, we invite

you to come and see

Mrs Bileckyj in the

office and offer your

services. We could start

a club during a lunch

break, perhaps in the

new year.

PIANO

VOICE

VIOLIN

RECORDER

GUITAR

DRUMS

FLUTE

Fred Hollows Humanity Awards

Well done to Georgia Lawson (5/6N) for receiving a

Fred Hollows Humanity Award on Monday 6th November at Parliament House

and to Teagan Dunbar (5/6N) who was presented with her award

by Ms Hemmings at Assembly today.

Fred Hollows was an ordinary person with an

extraordinary dream. He used his skills to restore

sight to thousands of people around the world. He

also believed that Australians have an amazing

ability to care for others and to help those in need.

Mary MacKillop also cared for others and helped

those in need. We at Whitefriars strive to follow

her through our motto, “In all things kindness”.

Well done Georgia and Teagan!

KidsMatter Whitefriars Catholic School is a, “You Can Do It‟ school!

Continuing on from last week, these are a few more suggestions that

Michael Grose, well–known psychologist, puts forward as a way to

support you in your parenting role.

1 Make sure they do something that someone else relies on:

What does your children do that someone else relies on? Do they feed

the dog? Empty the dishwasher? Help their siblings with homework?

Assuming responsibility builds kids’ confidence. We often give

responsibility to kids who we know can carry out the responsibilities

without a hitch, not those who really need it as they sometimes struggle

and won’t do it right.

2 Give them psychological space:

Sometimes we know too much about our children’s lives. Most times we know if they had breakfast, who their

friends are and how their day went at school. All this knowing may keep us in the loop with our kids, but it

can also be suffocating for some children. Children benefit when they have some space from their parents’

attention and best intentions. Space gives them the chance to solve their problems in their own way and

develop their own resourcefulness, which is a fantastic confidence-builder at any age.

3 Ask them to help you:

Nothing displays faith in a child’s abilities like a genuine request for help. Next time you’re about to embark

on an activity (cooking, washing the car, loading the washing machine) ask a child to give you a hand. Even

better, give the total job to your child if it’s practical and timely to do so. Now that’s what I call a show of

faith!

4 Let them teach you something:

When was the last time you asked your child to teach you how to do something? Kids who see themselves as

strugglers can get a boost in confidence when they teach their parents how to do something that they are good

at.

5 Encourage your child to be a generalist:

The years before adolescence have traditionally been seen as a period when children explore various activities

and develop a variety of interests. Essentially it’s the time to be a generalist. Specialisation best happens from

around fourteen years of age when young people start to define their identity (‘I’m into music!’ ‘I’m a sports

nut!’) by the activities they pursue. Children now seem to specialise at a much younger age. This can limit the

options available to them later on. Encourage your child to try a variety of different activities to build a broad

base of competencies and interests that will serve him well in the teenage years.

6 Problem solve together:

While kids need a chance to resolve some of their every day problems – such as managing pesky siblings,

dealing with strict teachers and sharing a workspace at school with peers they don’t like- by themselves, they

can also benefit from sitting down with a parent

and working their way through problems together.

All the aforementioned problems (and many more

besides) could be workshopped so that kids get the

benefit of your wisdom, without you solving their

problems for them.

Kind regards

Kids Matter Team

The following students celebrate their birthdays from the 8th to 14th November:

Leonardo Benedetti, Siyona Biju, Flynn Fitzgerald, Alex Lagana, Georgia Lagana, Andy Ngo, Michael Notarangelo,

Aston Phan and Eva Tolo.

VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS and POLICE CHECKS The Police Check Unit sends reminders to volunteers about expiry dates for police checks. Please

attend to renewal of your police check as soon as possible as they can take up to 8 weeks to come through. (If

you have changed your address since your last check please let the PCU know of the change.)

All volunteers are now required to complete Responding to Abuse and Neglect training. From the

1st November any volunteer who has not completed the training and provided a copy of the cer tificate

is not able to volunteer at Whitefriars School until this is done. We really value our volunteers and look

forward to all completing our requirements so that you can keep providing this great service to our

community. Please call into the office for information about completing the training online if you have not

already done so (or deliver a copy of a current certificate that you have for work, etc).

This term we have been learning about the seasons

and how trees change

throughout the year.

We discussed what

happens in each season of

the year, the features on

the trees and the warm

and cool colours

associated with them.

First, we coloured our tree

with oil pastels, then we

added the features to

each season and finally

paint washed the

AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS NEWS & RESULTS

Basketball and Netball 2018—If your child will be in Years 2—7 in 2018 and would like to play Basketball

or Netball please collect and complete an Information Sheet which is available at the office to register.

(Netball has a venue for 2018 at St Vincent Street, Port Adelaide so teams can now be arranged.)

Forms are required to be filled in and returned to the office. Current and new players are all required to

complete the form.Teams will be arranged by the office staff. Any enquiries should be directed to the office.

Sport Whitefriars Team Score Opposing Team Score

Basketball U9 Whitefriars Lightning

U11 Whitefriars Tigers

U11 Whitefriars Wildcats

U13 Whitefriars Allstars

14

38

26

51

Star of the Sea

St Margaret Mary’s White

St Margaret Mary’s Blue

St Margaret Mary’s

5

14

8

8

Some of the services and events contained in this newsletter are in no way connected with the school and are included

for your information only. Parents/caregivers need to make their own enquiries and assessments about the suitability

of these events and services for their needs and those of their children.

CANTEEN ROSTER - TERM 4, WEEK 3

(If you are able to help please contact Erica or Iris in the Canteen)

Mon—13 Nov Tues—14 Nov Wed—15 Nov Thurs—16 Nov Fri—17 Nov

CANTEEN

CLOSED

Jo Karidis and

Trish Quirk Tina Bodjo Kerry Farrington Denise Harrison

State Chess Finals

Last Monday Gavin Zhang, Luke Marafioti,

Deshawn Ram and Santhosh Sundaram had the

opportunity to compete in the Chess State Finals

as they were in the top four competitors in our

school because they won their lunchtime Thursday

chess games.

We competed against many schools including

Pushkin Russian School, Kidman Park Primary

School, Glenelg Primary School,

Tyndale Christian School,

Burnside Primary School,

Southern Vales Primary School,

Prescott Primary School,

Stradbroke School, Redeemer

Lutheran School and Kings

Baptist School.

Gavin got 6 points, Luke got 5.5

points, Deshawn got 5 points and

Santosh got 4 points.

Our school came 7th place with

20.5 points in total.

Overall we all had a good time

because we experienced playing

chess at a high level.