Term 2, Week 2 2023

Dear Families

Welcome to Term 2. I hope that the school holidays provided you with the opportunity to rest, relax and recharge in readiness for another busy term ahead.

We concluded Term 1 with our Sports Day and I am sure you will all agree that the day was highly successful. This success is only achieved with effort and commitment. I would like to thank the entire staff who worked in close collaboration to ensure our students enjoyed the day.  Our students participated with great spirit and enthusiasm, and they are to be congratulated for the way in which they conducted themselves. Special thanks to Dayna Martin and the Sports Day committee for their leadership, along with the P&F for their amazing support and hospitality.

Our staff and students have embraced the first week of the school term with energy and excitement. It has been great to see our students wearing the correct Winter uniform as we embark on the new term. Our identity as a Catholic school at Dominican is one that I am very proud of. My expectation is that this identity continues to grow as we strive to be the best school that we can be.

A warm welcome to Melissa Littos (Year 5/6OK Teacher) and Dijana Vincekovic (Educational Support Officer) who join our school community this term.  We wish them every blessing.

Term 2 is always filled with many community events and celebrations.  Please refer to this link Term 2 Calendar for key dates and pop them in your diaries. Last week all parents received a class newsletter with an overview outlining the teaching and learning for this term.  This is aimed to inform you of the curriculum your child will be engaging with to enable you to have discussions with your child about their learning. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or queries about the learning program.  We value the partnership we share in supporting your child on their learning journey.

This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day, a time to celebrate and give thanks for our dearest mums, grandmothers, and all the special women in our lives.  Thank You to each and every one of you for your nurture, care and love for your children.  Best wishes for a Happy Mother’s Day!  As a token of our appreciation, we will be holding a special Mother’s Day Breakfast from 8.00am followed by a Community Prayer Gathering at 9.00am this Friday May 12 We hope that you can join us.

I look forward to another positive term of rich learning experiences for all in our community.

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

Kind regards

Alison Tanti-Clark
ACTING PRINCIPAL

GRATITUDE FOR MOTHER'S DAY

The month of May is dedicated to our Blessed Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus and the mother of our Church, and this Sunday we celebrate MOTHER’S DAY.  

We honour and give thanks for Mary, our mums and all the special women in our lives. 

We want all the mums at Dominican to know how important you are. Thank you for your constant love, care and nurture. We wish you all much love on Mother’s Day. We will be praying for you. 

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK

Next week we are celebrating Catholic Education Week on the theme: Raising Hearts and Minds with God for Social Justice.

As a school community, we are engaging with various activities that immerse us in exploring this focus:  

All classes are engaging in daily prayer and reflecting on how we can raise our hearts and minds to the needs of others, the needs in our community and the needs in the world.
All R-6 students are working on creating a design in the form of a photo or artwork with the theme being Mary Mackillop’s quote, “Never see a need without doing something about it”.
“Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud”. Our Justice Leaders are inspiring us to take action and work for social justice by having a rainbow casual day on Wednesday May 17. Students are asked to wear their class colour (as per the poster) and bring a gold coin donation to raise money for Catholic Charities and support people in need.
Next Friday, Year 1/2D and 5/6OK will lead us in Mass at Sacred Heart Church with a Catholic Education Week focus.

Catholic Education Week provides us with the opportunity to rejoice in our school as a great place of faith and learning that… RAISES THE HEARTS and MINDS of our young people to be thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires.  

BUDDY CLASS MASS

This term we will have a focus on celebrating buddy class masses at Sacred Heart Church at 12.00pm on the following dates: 

Week 3 Friday May 19 – Years 1/2D & 5/6K 
Week 5 Friday June 2 – Years RN & 3/4S
Week 7 Friday June 16 – Years 1/2AB & 5/6OK 
Week 9 Friday June 30 – Years RS & 3/4L 

For Masses, students will walk to and from the Church supervised by their teachers. Teachers will inform families of rehearsal dates and times in preparation for these celebrations. 

These celebrations provide us with the opportunity to come together and pray as a community, and we look forward to sharing our Masses with Father Roderick, parishioners and families.   

Martina Kovacev 
ACTING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COORDINATOR

This term, RS have been focusing on our letter sounds in Literacy. Each week we do a range of letter sound activities such as writing words in our books, craft making and sensory play. After brainstorming different words that begin with the ‘v’ sounds, the reception classes went outside to make their own volcano using vinegar, Bicarb Soda and red food colouring.

We had lots of fun looking at the lava coming out of our volcanos.

Lisa-Marie Siviglia
RS CLASSROOM TEACHER

Once again our Vacation Care Program was jammed packed and children enjoyed a range of fun filled and varied activities over the April school holiday period.

We watched a movie each week at the Odeon Cinemas; walked to Semaphore Pets and Garden to purchase new plants; participated in fun games at the Largs Bay Swim Centre and travelled to watch a live performance of Shrek 2.

Our at centre days included ANZAC day crafts and activities; tie dye and face painting; wheels day and a BIG favourite – mobile junk and nature play.

We welcome any suggestions of ideas for future Vacation Care programs.

Kind regards,

Janine Hay
VACATION CARE DIRECTOR

The P&F always welcome volunteers, who help make all our events a success.  
Any amount of time is always greatly appreciated.

All volunteers must have a current clearance to work in Catholic Schools. Please see Front Office staff or go the Volunteer Involvement page of our website.

The next P&F meeting will be held on Friday May 19th at 2pm. Everyone is welcome!

We are in our first week of the Premier’s Be Active Challenge!  

The Challenge plays an important role in promoting healthy and active learners.

Please note: From weeks 2-5, students will complete their 60 minutes of physical activity throughout the school day. If your child/ren would like to do the 10 week challenge, please use the 10wk log sheet which can be found at the following link: https://pbac.sa.edu.au/resources/

The first four weeks will be completed at school and the remaining six weeks will be your responsibility to complete at home after school.

Have fun and enjoy the challenge!