Term 1, Week 4 2023

Dear Community Members,

Welcome to Week 4!

As I reflect on these first few weeks at Dominican School, I am reminded of the strong community spirit we share in our commitment to live our 2023 School Theme:

Our School Theme:

• is grounded in our NEW Vision for Learning that will be actioned through our Pedagogical Principles of Community, Connection, Discovery and Challenge.
• is deeply connected to our Catholic Identity, inspired by the Scripture of Matthew (22: 37-39) to love God, ourselves and others with all our hearts, souls and minds.
• aligns with our CESA Positioning Statement, Raising Hearts & Minds, which highlights the ‘why’ of our important work in Catholic Education. 

In partnership with our exceptional staff and families, we are dedicated to providing a learning community of EXCELLENCE for each and every student at Dominican to reach their full potential to be thriving people, capable learners and leaders for God’s world.  Our school theme affirms this ongoing commitment.

As a school community we already have so much to celebrate and be proud of.  This has been evident in the many ways we have gathered with students, families, staff and the parish to share in important community events including:

• New Families Meet & Greet - Coffee & Conversation Morning
• Welcome Assembly & Blessing Prayer - Presentation of 42 New Students & Year 6 Seniors
• Beginning of Year Mass – Living VERITAS with Faith & Love
• Weeks 1 & 2 Building the Foundations for Success – Engagement, Wellbeing & Learning
• Meet the Teacher Evening with creche for children attending
• Student Leaders Assembly – SRC, Sports Captains & Justice Leaders
• Acknowledgement of Country prepared by our Dominican School Nunga Club
• Shrove Tuesday Pancake Morning Tea organised by our Justice Leaders and the P&F
• Science of Reading Parent Workshop with Linda Clune

It is events like these that make us proud of who we are here at Dominican and that reflect true examples of what it means to be the best we can be as we work in positive partnership to achieve new levels of excellence. 

An upcoming significant event in our school calendar is the Annual General Meeting. This will be held on Monday 20 March at 6.30pm in the Multi-Function Centre and you are all warmly invited to attend. I am pleased to announce that Rua Hashlamoun our Architect from Brown Falconer will be our guest speaker/ join us to present the preliminary design elements of our Stage 2 Master Plan. Rua is looking forward to sharing plans for the exciting next stage of our approved $3 million upstairs build and refurbishment project to commence in July/August of this year. Keep the date and more information will follow to register for the evening.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to recognise and express sincere gratitude to Phil Holmes.  After two and a half years of outstanding leadership as Principal of Dominican School, Phil has made the decision to resign to take on a Leadership Development role as Principal Consultant for the Brown Collective.  During his time at Dominican, Phil has led our school with great integrity, vision and innovation and we give thanks for the significant contributions he has made to the life of our school community.  We wish Phil all the very best in his future endeavours and look forward to acknowledging and celebrating his achievements at a community farewell later in the term.

Blessings for a wonderful week!

Inspiring Hearts & Minds to be the BEST we can be.  

Kind regards

Alison Tanti-Clark
ACTING PRINCIPAL

OPENING MASS

On Friday 10th February we celebrated our first school Mass for 2023. This was a special time for our students, staff and families to gather with Father Roderick, to ask God’s blessing upon us as we begin a new school year. At Dominican School, we look to St Dominic, our patron saint, who came to share the Good News of Jesus, and who shows us how to follow God’s way. Our Opening Mass marked the beginning of our journey in 2023 to LIVE VERITAS with Faith & Love. 

THE SEASON OF LENT

On Tuesday, we celebrated SHROVE TUESDAY with a Pancake Morning Tea. Many thanks to the Justice Leaders and the P&F for their help with organising this event for all of our students and staff. As a school community we raised over $250 for Project Compassion.  

Yesterday we celebrated ASH WEDNESDAY with an R-6 Liturgy in the MFC. This was led by our Year 3-6 classes and was a special time to gather in faith to begin our Lenten journey to Easter. Each of us was marked with a cross of ash reminding us to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God this LENT. 

In Pope Francis’ words, ‘Lent is a time for drawing near to Christ.’ Ash Wednesday also marks the launch of CARITAS Australia’s Project Compassion appeal on the theme, For All Future Generations. Each class and each student has been provided with a Project Compassion box to contribute to during Lent. Our support of Project Compassion is one way of putting our faith in action to support the most vulnerable in our world. So let’s open our hearts to the poor and give generously to this worthy cause this Lent. 

NUDE FOOD EVERY DAY

In Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si: CARE OF OUR COMMON HOME, we are reminded of our commitment to ecological conversion and the call to be stewards of God’s gift of creation. At Dominican, we work in partnership to care for our school environment by ensuring we have NUDE FOOD EVERY DAY. 

Nude Food is food without excess packaging. Usually, this means food that is not processed, often making it a healthier and more environmentally friendly option. Nude Food reduces the amount of waste that needs to go in bins to be sent to landfill. Durable, reusable containers are a great way to bring food, as they may last from pre-school through to high school, providing long term cost savings and environmental benefits. 

We give thanks for the beauty of God’s creation and we look forward to continuing to work together to care for it.  

Martina Kovacev 
ACTING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COORDINATOR

This Tuesday we hosted a parent workshop to inform parents of some of the literacy practices that are occurring within our school. This was run by Linda Clune, a Specialist Dyslexia Teacher and Literacy Consultant, based at Fullarton House at Glenelg.  She provided an opportunity for parents to be updated about how students learn to read, what approaches work the best for most beginning readers and how evidence-based research can be used to teach reading and spelling from Reception to Year 6.  Linda provided insights from her own time educating and as a tutor at Fullarton House, as well as from the perspective of a parent. This was a great opportunity to find out how we are approaching literacy at Dominican and how you are best able to support your child to being a successful reader, as well as learning to have patience with them along the journey. 

The infographic, How Our Brains Learn to Read (click image at right to see full size) provides an insight into understanding that the brain is not hardwired to read but is an essential skill that needs to be taught and mastered over time. Linda encouraged our parents of the younger year levels to expose their children to as much rich print and stories as possible and immerse them in rich language by having meaningful conversations with them. This is why we have begun with the initiative of sending Oral Language Reader packs for Reception students. 

Please feel free to touch base with your child's teacher should you wish to learn more about our literacy approaches or how you can support them further with their reading at home. 

Nick Ryan
LEADER OF LEARNING

What a yummy way to start the day! Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday.
We eat pancakes as we prepare for Easter.

Julia Nofi
YEAR RN CLASSROOM TEACHER

Term 1 is off to a great start at Dominican!

Basketball is underway as students had their first game this week. It is fantastic hear the students joy when they report back on their games. We have completed Swimming Trials and congratulate those selected students who will compete in the SAPSASA Swim Carnival in Week 6 and the SACPSSA Swim Carnival later in the term. Good luck swimmers!

As the temperature soared, this week we had to "beat the heat" with students attending the Port Adelaide Athletic Club for our annual Athletic Trials on Monday. We had 46 students, and with some amazing parent help, we were able to get through all the events quickly and with ease. Students will be selected to participate in the SAPSASA Athletics Carnival later in the term.

Across all year levels we are focusing on Athletics in PE to get ready for SPORTS DAY at the end of term. All year levels are participating in running, hurdles, shot put and relays to name a few.

Let's Keep Moving!

Dayna Martin
PE & SPORTS COORDINATOR

SCHOOL UNIFORM

In Term 1 students are required to wear the Summer Uniform. We ask families to ensure that students are wearing the correct uniform items at all times. This includes:

• black formal school shoes (not black sports shoes)
• the new Summer Dress (the old style dress is being transitioned out)
• SKORTS are not permitted to be worn as part of the Sports Uniform. Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct sports shorts.

A copy of our Uniform Policy is in the student diary or can be viewed here 

Uniform is purchased through Hambours Uniform Shop, in store or online (with delivery to school).

School commences at 8.50am and concludes at 3.05pm each day. Students who arrive after 8.50am must sign in at the Front Office.

If your child is absent from school, please email absent@dominican.catholic.edu.au or phone 8114 3600 Option 1 and leave your child's name, class and reason for absence.

If your child needs to be collected before the end of the school day, they must be collected from the Front Office and be signed out.

Whilst we are able to put many COVID restrictions behind us, COVID-19 continues to affect the community. We all have a part to play in keeping our school community safe and minimising the disruption to learning that can occur when illness circulates at school.  Students who are unwell should stay home if they have cold or flu-like symptoms and get tested for COVID-19. If students have COVID-19, please advise the school as soon as possible, and stay at home until all acute symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, cough and fever) have cleared.