P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au Tel: 6342.2940 School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au

Dear Parents Catholic Schools Week and 125

th Parish Anniversary

Celebrations are closely allied events because they

identify and celebrate the particular work of the

Catholic School and Catholic Parish in the Cowra

community. Both recognise the dedication, hard work

and foresight of the people who started our parish and

school from next to nothing.

In our daily flurry we can lose sight of being part of the

bigger story – the story that started long before we did

and will go on well after we stop. Belonging to the St

Raph’s family is much, much bigger than just those

who are here in 2014. Somehow the story has to be

retold for each new generation or it get’s lost.

Our Heritage Day fete is a way of reminding us

annually about where we fit in the big picture and

about doing something decent for people who need a

hand. Therefore all proceeds from the fete go to

support the poor of our world through Caritas and

Catholic Missions.

We need to remember Miss Martin and Miss Prucell

who lived in Cowra before we had a parish or a school.

So they began to gather Cowra kids and teach them –

their facilities were primitive but their heart and

courage are exemplary. We need to remember the

Sisters of St Joseph who followed the lead of the two

Cowra ladies and built up primary schooling even

more. We need to remember the Brigidine Sisters who

followed the Josephites when schooling at secondary

level was required. We need to remember the lay

teachers who built the school up even more when the

Brigidines stepped down. We have what we have now

because of these good people and it would be most

ungracious of us if we did not acknowledge with

gratitude their hard work, love and dedication for future

generations.

Back now to the present: Congratulations to the

children and thank you parents for the successes of

the weekend’s Festival events – particularly members

of the choir and senior students representing in the

Festival Youth Ambassador events. Plenty is yet to

come in the celebrations with the United Nations

guests.

Keep up your active involvement in our 2014

community for the sake of future generations.

Michael Gallagher Principal

Catholic Schools Week Prayer Loving God,

we know that you are always with us. May we carry the light of Christ in our hearts,

in our minds and in our deeds, so that our schools may be places of faith

and learning and we learn to be the best that we can possibly be.

Amen

Catholic Schools Week 2014 More than a Great Education

Monday 10

K-6 Open Day 10am-11am.

Tuesday 11 Happy birthday to Eoghan Killick.

Secondary Assembly. Cowra Primary Rugby Gala Day.

St Raphael’s Catholic School

Term 1, Week 7/A Newsletter

10 March 2014

Gospel Challenge Term 1 Week 7

“Father I have sinned against heaven and against you”

Matthew 4:1-11

P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au Tel: 6342.2940 School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au

Wednesday 12 Happy birthday to Jack Harper.

Thursday 13

Happy birthday to Izac Healey, Will Thompson and Emma Wilkinson.

Primary Assembly 2.05pm.

Friday 14 Happy birthday to Harrison Carman and Lachlan

Shady. Heritage Mass at 10am.

Heritage Day Fete 1:00 - 2:30pm

Saturday 15 Festival of International Understanding Parade, choir

singing at Festival.

Happy birthday to Mackenzie Sim for the 15th and

Thomas Thuaux and Jack Thurtell for the 16th.

Heritage Day This week in our Religion classrooms there is an emphasis placed on the heritage of our school community with Heritage Day being conducted on Friday. Bishop Daniel Delaney, the founder of our own Brigidine Sisters and the Sisters of St. Joseph, founded by St Mary McKillop will be the focus of our school remembrance for this whole school celebration. Heritage Day this year will begin with a whole school Mass on Friday morning. This Mass gives the students the opportunity to participate in the 125th Anniversary celebrations of our St Raphael’s Parish. The Heritage Day Fete will be held once again this year on Friday afternoon. Please try to join us for this lunch (1pm – 2:30 pm) time fun. There will be stalls and lots of goodies to purchase. Games, a jumping castle, raffles and fun activities are also some other fund raisers at the fete. The idea is to raise money. No food or events are free. Students will wear mufti in green and gold, for a gold coin donation; our Brigidine school colours. All money raised will be distributed to our annual school charities eg CARITAS and Catholic Missions. Hope you can join us Karla Slaven and Peta Bischof

Calendar Dates for the Calendar

Heritage Day Mass: Friday 14th March 10 am

Heritage Day Fete: Friday 14th March - 1pm Altar Servers’ Roster Sat 15

th March: Kate and Ben Price, Chris Gibb and

William Norton. Sun 16

th March: Madelyn Stead and Bernadette Zarb.

Emily Beath-Pearce and Flynn Bennett in Goolloogong.

School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: Sun 16

th March: Mrs S Whiteley, Mrs T Johnston.

School Computer Roster Sat 15

th March: Georgia Waters.

Drama Elective On Sunday night parts of the drama class met at the civic centre for a show that was a little... unusual. Raymond Crowe the famed 'unusualist' put on an entrancing show for the Cowra audience. With a mix of illusions, magic, puppetry, mime and shadow theatre, the students were enthralled. With the history of slight of hand being told with an endless pouring of salt, to shadow puppetry of the rabbit and wolf, Raymond used audience participation to keep all engaged throughout the night. Ending the night with the shadow puppetry that brought him to fame on the show Spics and Specks, Raymond was fresh from being a finalist on Australia's got Talent 2013. Their teacher often struggled to hear or concentrate on the show for the cries of wonder and amazement of the antics on stage. After the show Raymond was kind enough to pose at a table for a photo with some of the St Raphael's students who were in attendance. A wonderful night of laughs and amazement was had by all. Look him up if he is ever in town again! Miss Kervin

Primary Assembly The next primary assembly will be held this week, Thursday 13

th March. It will be led by the Primary

Prefects and House Captains. If your son / daughter is to receive a class award a note will be sent home at the beginning of this week. Parents are always most welcome to attend any primary assembly. Festival Parade 15

th March, 2014

Students attending the parade this year are asked to wear their sports uniform. The colours of the United Nations emblem are blue and white. For the parade the students will be given a blue material sash to tie over their left shoulder and pin to their waist on the right side. This allows us to reflect the colours of the United Nations during the parade.

P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au Tel: 6342.2940 School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au

Note: The blue material plus safety pins will be sent home with the students this week. Note: The students in the choir will be wearing blue t-shirts. Starting Point: Brougham Park Time: Students need to arrive at approximately 11.40am for a 12.00pm start. Parade Finish: Parade concludes beside River Park (can be seen on the council website) Students need to be collected promptly at the parade’s conclusion. Catholic Schools Week Today marked the beginning of Catholic Schools Week. An Open Day was held for K-6 students and families followed by a morning tea and a K-10 Gathering in the church. The guest speaker was Mrs Jenny Allen, Executive Director of Schools and a special award was given to Jessica Meyers. Other events covering Catholic Schools’ Week, our Heritage and the Festival of International Understanding are listed in the table below. Parents and friends are most welcome to attend the events listed. Timetable of Events Catholic Schools Week & Cowra Festival of International Understanding

Day Time Event

Tue, Mar 11

12.08-12.58pm All Day

Secondary Assembly (Theme: Catholic Schools Week) Primary teams competing in the Cowra Rugby Gala Day

Wed, Mar 12

No events scheduled for this day

Thu, Mar 13

2.05 -3.00pm Primary Assembly (Theme: Festival: United Nations)

Fri, Mar 14

10-11am 1.00-2.30pm

St Raphael’s Heritage Day Mass (Kinder – Year 10) St Raphael’s Heritage Day Activities (Kinder-Year 10)

Sat, Mar 15

12.00pm Festival Parade (starting from Brougham Park)

Stage Three Hockey Gala Day Friday the 21

st March, 2014

This year, all Stage Three students are given the opportunity to participate in an exciting Hockey Gala Day. All specialized activities will be conducted by qualified instructors trained in the various fields. It is a wonderful opportunity for your students to come together as a group and get to know students from other schools in a friendly non-school denominated competition. We actively encourage all Stage 3 students to attend. It was a great success last year with 450 students attending from all the surrounding schools. Your child will receive a letter outlining the day, things required and a permission form. If you wish to discuss

the excursion, or have experience in hockey and would like to help please contact Ben Cooley at St Raphael’s School 63422940 or 0435649426.

Primary Physical Education Lessons Wednesdays Physical education classes for this week, 12

th March

are: Year 2, 5 and 6. These classes need to wear their sports uniform. Next week (19

th March) Year 1, 3 and

4 wear sports uniforms. Over these two weeks the students will be led through gymnastics activities with Mrs Purcell and Mrs Colemane teaching. Diocesan Swimming Carnivals The Primary Diocesan Swimming Carnivals were held in Dubbo last week. Thank you to the parents in getting all the students to the events and helping where necessary.. Their next events are in Sydney. Primary: March 28, Secondary: April 29. Ten students have swum their way into the diocesan teams Secondary: Lauren Thomas, Hannah Chamberlain Primary: Philippa Austin, Will Austin, Phoebe Varela, Ben Varela, Sam Kelly, Ky Johnson, Joe Sullivan, Finn Ryan

Save the Date – Stage 6 Discussion

Stage 6 Parents Meeting at St Brigid's Hall on March 27th at 7:30pm. We will address some of the questions raised at the December meeting as well as update people on the Educational Briefing paper and draft design proposal. School Fees There are still some unpaid Term 3 accounts. Unless other arrangements have been made with the school, these accounts are now due. Thank you. Scholastic Book Club Please note Book Club orders are due back at school on 14

th March 2014. Please make sure you have

included your child’s name and classroom on the order. Thank you Clothing Pool The clothing pool will be open at 2:30pm after the Heritage Day Fete on Friday. Lots of winter, skirts, pants and jumpers.

P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au Tel: 6342.2940 School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au

Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows:

Tues 11

Wed 12

Thurs 13

Fri 14

Mon 17

Nicky Savage

Sharon groves

CLOSED

Jacinta Hines

Tracey

Gunnyon

Mary Cooper

Raelene Nelligan

Laura

Proctor

Sam Doorey

Dawn

Stedman

WELL DONE

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved the next level on the

Behaviour Management Programme. Level 5 Archie Brown 3M Eric Simpson 3M Monique Chang 3S Ilyssa Charnock 3S Lachlan Pullen 3S Inka Wilson 3S Flynn Bennett 4D Hollie Orford 4D Ava Pickup 4D Annaleise Prescott 4D Lucy Proctor 4D Madyson Webb 4D Emily Beath-Pearce 4J Eloise Cains 4J Kate Cumming 4J Mikelli Garratt 4J Sophie Johnston 4J Lillian Lawler 4J Samuel Lynch-Edwards 4J Rachel Myers 4J Mitchell Pattingale 4J Grace Richmond 4J Chloe Robertson 4J Mollie Thompson 4J Alexi Buchtmann 5O Finn Ryan 5O Jeremy Cains 6C Amelia Sharp 6C Zoe Stedman 6S Charlotte Cooper R2 Connor Cox K1 Meggan Ellison K2 Joseph Herden X2 Celine Langlands R1 Lanty Ryan X1 Nathan Stead X2 Christopher Williams K1 Brandon Budden X1 Axton Farrell-Gray R1 Brittney Irvine R2 Brandon Melton K1 Hannah Nobes R1 Tom Statham X2 Benjamin Symons K1 Julia Cains K1 Grace Gallagher R2 Samantha Gibb R1 Daisy Heilman R1 Anna Johnston R1 India Johnson R2 Anthony Liang R1 Xavier Lynch X1 Sophie McKillop K2 Matthew Mood K2 Lilly Pilcher X1 Benjamin Price R1 Dean Ryan X1 Mackenzie Thompson X2 Lachlan Toohey K1 William Trudgen K2 Matthew Wilkinson R2 Hayley Amos X2 Mia Ashton R2 Thomas Cusack R1 James Forsyth K2 Samuel Frazer R1 Alaska Galea X1 Ellie Garlick K2 Holly Gorham R1 Oliver Groves R2 Ella Gruessing K2 Lucy Jones R2 Macauley Kellett X2 Brittany Kiss X2 Brian MacCabe R1 Samantha MacCabe R1 Shiane Murray K2 Jaimee Nixon K1 Lucy Pattingale K2 Brianna Roberts R2 Reece Ryan X1 Henry Sant R1 Matthew Terry R2 Lauren Thomas X2 Maisie Thompson K1 Bradey Tretheway X1 Jordan Triming X1 Dustin Walker K1

Your Teachers are very Proud of You!

ST RAPH’S P AND F QUIZ NIGHT

SAT 5th APRIL 2014

The Quiz Night is fast approaching and tickets are now on sale at Mr Embroidery for $10 per ticket. Each table will

be set for a team of eight people. BYO Drinks and nibblies. Anyone aged 15 and older is welcome. Start organising your tables now!! Please keep the donations for prizes coming in. We are asking families of St Raph’s to contribute. It could be a bottle of wine, a gift voucher from a Cowra Business, gourmet items, a box of chocolates or even a cash donation that could go towards purchasing items. It does not have to be expensive but good quality please -something that someone would like to win! Also if you own a business in town and would like to make a donation, we would be very grateful. If you would like us to acknowledge that you made a donation, please include a card with the donation otherwise it will remain anonymous. All donations can be left at the front office at school. Thanks so much to all the families who have already generously donated.

P and F AGM Monday 17th

March 2014 Our AGM is to be held at 7pm in the staff room on Monday 17

th March 2014. Please put it in your diary and

we encourage and welcome you to come along. We are looking for a new Publicity Officer, Secretary and President for our school P and F as the positions become vacant at this meeting. The St Raph’s P and F has a proud tradition and close involvement with our school including: • Providing a forum where the views of parents may be heard • Promoting community through social activities; • Assisting the school with many practical initiatives including fund raising. All the roles are straightforward and can easily be handled by someone with no experience as the outgoing committee plan to help and assist the incoming people with their roles.

Family Fun Challenge

This is your invitation to be part of the 2014 Family Fun Challenge! The Family Fun Challenge is an annual bike ride that focuses on participation and forms part of the bigger NAB B2B Cyclo Sportif Challenge which runs from Blayney to Bathurst. The Family Fun Challenge is not a race, it’s not even timed! It’s about being active, having some fun and being part of your community. The event is held on the 6

April 2014 and this year we’re

encouraging families, groups of friends, teams of colleagues and individuals to enter. There’s going to be a particular focus on having as much of the fun factor as possible, and so we’re encouraging people to dress up for the event! We'd love to see your school – teachers, students and their families, getting out there and enjoying this ride together. You’ll find all the info on how to register here - http://bit.ly/1g212E9 We’ve also attached an info sheet to this email that should answer any questions you might have. Speech Pathology - Helping All Children to Succeed!

Is your child having difficulty in learning how to spell and read? Is your child’s speech still unclear at times or does your child have difficulty with comprehension? Perhaps your child struggles to tell you information and stories in well formed sentences? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, your child may have a speech and/or language

P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au Tel: 6342.2940 School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au

disorder. These difficulties significantly impact upon a child’s ability to make and keep friends as well to access all areas of the school curriculum. Speech and language difficulties can persist well into high school and adulthood if children do not receive therapy. Speech Pathology can make a difference for these children. Children can be helped to succeed and feel good about themselves with their peers and in the classroom. Karen Trengove is now providing speech pathology services in Cowra and Young as part of her Learn2Communicate Speech Pathology consultancy. Parents are encouraged to contact Karen via phone 0458 413051 or email info@learn2communicate.com.au for a free

phone consultation. There are no waiting lists and Speech Pathology services are recognised by all major private health funds. Most children are now also eligible for limited Medicare rebates for services.

Dress Alterations Need your Deb Ball dress altered? Please contact Jen at the Little Sewing Shop at Shop 12 Centre Arcade, Kendal St or phone her on 0427 471509.

Friday 14th March 2014

1pm- 2.30pm

Jelly Cups - 50c BBQ

FOOD! FOOD! FOOD! Canteen will be closed for Lunch Orders on this day

Sausage Sizzle $2 Drinks $2

Curry Chicken and Rice $5 Bowl- $3 Box Hot Dogs $2

Quoits

P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au Tel: 6342.2940 School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au