Term 1, Week 6 2023

Dear Community Members,

Welcome to Week 6!  As we approach the half-way mark of Term 1, it is such a joy to see students settled, happy and thriving in our school environment.  With the strong partnerships fostered between home and school, our students are showing each day that they are ready to engage, connect, learn and be the best they can be, in all aspects of school life.

COMMUNITY PRAYER & ASSEMBLY

Last Friday we celebrated our first class-led Assembly of the year with students in Year 1/2AB leading us in community prayer and delighting us with their reflections on their learning and achievements.  Our R-6 Assembly also included the presentation of students demonstrating excellence in our Dominican Pillars of Prayer, Study, Community and Ministry, and a visit from Jemma from Children’s University to talk to our students about the program and how to get involved.  We value the opportunity to gather as a school community at our R-6 Assemblies and warmly welcome all families to join with us.  Please see the School Calendar for the dates of upcoming Community Prayer & Assembly celebrations.

YEAR 4/5 CAMP

A highlight of last week was the Year 4/5 Camp at Narnu Farm on Hindmarsh Island.  Our Leadership Team had the pleasure of attending for part of the 3-day experience, and it was great to see all students so happy, positive and actively engaged in the camp program.  The weather was perfect ensuring students to experience the full range of activities including feeding the farm animals, archery, kayaking, fish ecology and wilderness survival.  What an amazing opportunity for our young people to learn in a new setting, develop life skills and have fun together.  Special thanks to the Year 4/5 teachers, Mr Kosta, Mrs Lose and Miss Spencer for their excellent preparation and guidance throughout, and for the generous support of our parent volunteers Katy, Nicole, and Teri.  From all accounts, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable camp experience!

SCHOOL BOARD & AGM

At Dominican School, we are privileged to have the support and commitment of an exceptional School Board.  This consists of the Principal, Parish Priest, APRIM and Staff Representative, along with elected members of our parent community.  I take this opportunity to acknowledge and extend special thanks to the following parents for their valued contributions and service to our Dominican School Board: Ben Evans (Chairperson), Katy Tatrai (P&F Committee), Sam Whitton (Finance Committee), Kevin Blute, Angela Petts, Sara Thompson, Greer Tappert, Henry Klis and Chris Russell.    Our School Board meets twice per term on Monday evenings from 6.30 – 8.00pm.  Elected Board Members serve for a two-year period and play an important role in representing the parent community by contributing to and considering matters pertaining to the school on a strategic level.  As we approach the AGM, five of our Board Members will continue their tenure in 2023 and four Board Members have expressed an interest to re-nominate. This means that we are in the excellent position of having the support of a FULL School Board and it would only be in the event that we receive additional nominations that we would take this to a vote at the AGM.  Please see further information in this edition of the newsletter.

As detailed in our last newsletter, our Annual General Meeting will occur on Monday March 20 from 6.30 – 8.00pm in the Multi-Function Centre.  This will provide the opportunity to hear about the work of the Board, report on our achievements in 2022 and finalise our School Board Membership.  In addition, Rua Hashlamoun our Architect from Brown Falconer will present the preliminary designs for Stage 2 of our Master Plan, with our upstairs build and refurbishment project due to commence this July/August.  At the conclusion of the formal proceedings, there will be time to mingle with staff, parents and board members over drinks and nibbles.  An invitation has been sent to all parents and we hope that you can join us for this significant school event.

Go well and enjoy the week.

Kind regards

Alison Tanti-Clark
ACTING PRINCIPAL

JUSTICE LEADERS

Earlier this Term our Justice Leaders for 2023 were presented to our school community at our Student Leaders Assembly. These Year 6 students are committed to leading our school community in our Catholic mission to work for social justice and outreach to the poor.  They have already been active in their ministry, organising our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Morning Tea, launching this year’s Project Compassion Appeal, and promoting and overseeing our school composting initiative. We look forward to our Justice Leaders guiding us throughout the year to put our faith in action for a just world.

COMPOSTING

As part of our Catholic Identity focus on Ecological Conversion, we have a shared commitment at Dominican to care for the environment and for Mother Earth. In his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis calls us to work for justice to Care for our Common Home. Our Justice Leaders promote and lead this important initiative within our school. They have met with John who has taught them how the composting bins work to recycle our food scraps into natural fertilizer for our school gardens. The Justice Leaders now support and guide our eco-warriors (students in every class) in emptying their class caddies into our school compost bins. Our Composting Project is an important student-led initiative for our school to continue to work for the justice and care of our world.

FAMILY FAITH FORMATION

As a school community, we pray for the following students in the Faith Formation Program who will prepare for and celebrate the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion this year:

Angelique J, Amelia L, Harrison L, Angela H, Isabella H, Matilda H, Harrison H, Parker P, Peyton P, Tiger M and Macy C.

On Saturday 4th March, these students attended Sacred Heart Church for their first workshop for the year, focusing on The Journey to Easter.

We ask God’s blessings for these children and keep them in our prayers as they journey in faith.

WE ARE COMPASSION IN ACTION

Our support of CARITAS Australia’s PROJECT COMPASSION gives expression to the Gospel value to pursue justice and help those suffering from poverty.  Our donations to CARITAS Australia this Lent will help to bring love and hope to those in need throughout the world for a better future.  In Pope Francis’ words, ‘To love God and neighbour… means seeing in every person the face of the Lord to be served.  And you are, dear brothers and sisters, the face of Jesus.’ At Dominican we are working together for justice and dignity, building together a better future for all.

Martina Kovacev 
ACTING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COORDINATOR

A significant event that occurred throughout Week 5 was the Year 4/5 students attended camp at Narnu Farm. For some students this was the first time away from home. The atmosphere on the bus was full of excitement, a few nerves and anticipation for many fun and adventure filled days ahead.

We arrived at lunchtime on the Monday, settled into our dorms then got organised into our day groups. Each group participated in a rotation of activities across the three days. This involved kayaking, fish ecology, archery, feeding farm animals, truck rides, sand dune walks and visiting the Murray River lock where several seals were sighted.

The students represented Dominican School with pride, displaying behaviours which reflect being their best selves showing the character strengths of bravery, kindness, teamwork, empathy and leadership. We would like to thank the parent volunteers who attended making the camp possible. Overall, it was an amazing experience which created memories for years to come.

Kate Lose
YEAR 3/4 CLASSROOM TEACHER

CONGRATULATIONS to the following recipients of our Dominican Pillar Certificates:

PRAYER
Maddison Y, Harrison H

STUDY
Jed U, Genevieve M, Mack M, Carter H, Samuel D, Oliver C

COMMUNITY
Aliza F, Charlize K, Scarlett J, Macy C, Estelle F, Sean L

MINISTRY
Aliana E, Eric C, Lachlan W

On Monday we held our Parents & Friends Group Information Evening which was led by our Coordinating Committee - Chloe Hamilton, Katy Tatrai and Vanessa Blute. It was a highly successful evening with many new parents joining us with lots of exciting community and fundraising events discussed. If you are interested in joining the P&F Group, please contact the Front Office.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

Alison Tanti-Clark, Martina Kovacev & Ali Appleby

SCHOOL BOARD NOMINATIONS

If you are a current parent who is interested in serving on the Dominican School Board, please see the following links for:

• Board Member Roles and Responsibilities Information
• School Board Nomination Form

All nominations must be submitted to Alison Appleby, Executive Assistant, by 3.00pm Wednesday 15 March 2023. Submissions can be made via email to aappleby@dominican.catholic.edu.au or handed in to the Front Office.

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.