Term 2, Week 4 2023

Dear Families

Welcome to Week 4!  We have had a positive start to the term with students well and truly settled, connecting with their peers and engaging with their learning. 

It is pleasing to see students wearing the correct winter uniform with pride.  A friendly reminder that the formal winter uniform is worn in Terms 2 and 3, and includes:

• the grey/blue tartan pinafore/skirt;
• grey pants;
• blue long sleeve shirt,
• jumper and jacket, all with school emblem;
• plain grey tights or socks;
• black formal school shoes (no sneakers)
• regulation school bag with the Dominican crest.

Please note: the blue short sleeve shirt with school emblem, and grey shorts are only to be worn as part of the formal summer uniform, and white socks and sports shoes/sneakers are only to be worn with the sport uniform.  Black socks are not a part of our uniform.  Please click here to view the full uniform policy.  I am pleased to advise that the long sleeve PE polo will be re-introduced.  We are awaiting further details from our uniform supplier, Hambours, and will communicate once confirmed.

Our Dominican school uniform aims to promote our Catholic identity and encourage a sense of community and school pride.  It is an expectation that all students adhere to our uniform policy. I would ask that parents/caregivers make contact with your child’s class teacher or myself to advise if any uniform items are on order or if you are experiencing difficulty in accessing any items. 

As we head into the colder months, we typically see an uprise in student illness, including colds, flus and in recent years, COVID-19.  We thank you for keeping your child home when they present with symptoms such as runny nose, sore throat, cough, and/or fever, and until they have cleared to limit the spread of illness.  We also appreciate your timely advice if your child tests positive to COVID-19.  As per the Catholic Education Management Plan, we are required to monitor the positive COVID cases within the school and respond accordingly.  This assists us in tracking case numbers and keeping students, staff and families well.  Thank you for your support.

Last week we celebrated Catholic Education Week with the #LoveMyCatholic School campaign.  This provided us with the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate what makes Dominican School so very special.  I encourage you to visit our Facebook page and take a look at the clip which tells that story.  It is a beautiful reflection of what our young people value and cherish at Dominican, which highlights the many and varied ways we… Inspire hearts and minds to be the best we can be.

Special thanks to Martina Kovacev and the Justice Leaders for their support with organising our Catholic Education Week activities on the theme Raising Hearts and Minds with God for Social Justice. Living our faith in action helps our young people to know that they are stewards for God’s creation. This was reflected in our Rainbow Day – Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud – with all classes wearing a pop of colour for a gold coin donation and purchasing a rainbow cupcake to support Catholic Charities.  Also, through our National Walk Safely to School Day with students, families and staff joining a ‘walking bus’ and picking up rubbish on the way to school.  This occurred during Laudato Si Week on the theme Hope for the Earth and Hope for Humanity, showing our care for the environment in cleaning up the streets in our local community. 

Another good news story is our success in accessing a $10,000 Way2Go Wheels Hub Grant to fund the upgrade of our bike and scooter storage area.  Special thanks to Martina Kovacev, Jo Freer and John Bowler for their work in preparing the submission.  We look forward to an improved facility which will include a secure shelter structure and the installation of 2 bike racks and 3 scooter racks to accommodate 10 bikes and 24 scooters.

There are so many reasons to love Dominican School.  We have such an amazing community spirit, strong family and school partnerships, beautiful children at the very heart of our focus, caring and committed staff, contemporary facilities, quality learning opportunities, a rich Dominican tradition and lived experience of faith, with a close connection to the Lefevre Catholic Parish.  We are a community of Truth, inspired to live, learn and lead through our Pillars of Prayer, Study, Community and Ministry.  I take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for making Dominican School a truly great place of faith, learning and wellbeing.   

Go well and God bless,

Alison Tanti-Clark
ACTING PRINCIPAL

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO FR RODERICK

We give thanks for Fr Roderick who celebrated his birthday on Saturday. As a school community, we are blessed to have Fr Roderick as our leader of faith who guides us to live with God’s love. Fr Roderick celebrates Mass with us and helps us to learn more about God, Jesus and our Church. We extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Fr Roderick for his ministry to our school community as our Parish Priest.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK

Last week we celebrated Catholic Education Week on the theme: Raising Hearts and Minds with God for Social Justice. We engaged in various activities that immersed us in exploring this focus. We had prayerful moments and reflections, an outdoor pop-up prayer space, mindfulness activities, art activities and 1/2D & 5/6K Mass at Sacred Heart Church.

Throughout the week we also shared with one another what we love about Dominican School. It was a special week which gave us 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.   

FAITH IN ACTION

As part of Catholic Education Week’s theme, raising hearts and minds with God for social justice, our Year 6 Justice Leaders led action through organising RAINBOW DAY! We dressed up in all the colours of the rainbow, enjoyed rainbow cupcakes and raised $408 for Catholic Charities, to support people in need.

Thank you to our amazing Justice Leaders for leading this initiative and inspiring us to… shine bright and be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.

LAUDATO SI WEEK

This week is Laudato Si Week which marks the 8th anniversary of our Pope’s encyclical on the CARE OF OUR COMMON HOME.  As we celebrate this important week, 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 actively engaging in… nude food lunchboxes, class indoor and outdoor environmental responsibilities, composting of food scraps, looking after our school gardens, and caring for our local Sand Dunes. We give thanks for the beauty of God’s creation and we look forward to continuing to work together to care for it.

CELEBRATING THE SACRAMENTS

As a school community, we pray for the following students in our Sacramental Program:  Angelique, Amelia, Harrison, Angela, Isabella, Matilda, Harrison, Parker, Peyton, Tiger and Macy

This evening, Wednesday May 24, our sacramental candidates will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation, where they will confirm the promises made by their parents and godparents when they were baptised.  They will then celebrate the Sacrament of First Holy Communion at our parish Masses this weekend where they will receive the Eucharist for the first time.

 We ask God’s blessings for these children.

Martina Kovacev 
ACTING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Families are invited to attend an inspirational evening with Gill Hicks presented by Catholic Schools Parents SA.

Gill Hicks is globally known as a survivor of the London terrorist bombings on July 7th 2005. She survived, but suffered severe and permanent injuries, losing both legs from just below the knee. Gill is a published author, musician, award winning artist and performer. Gill’s appreciation and gratitude for life is present throughout all her creative works.

Attendees will leave the event feeling empowered, inspired and grateful to continue to their parenting and education journey.

The event will be limited to 300 in person Catholis school family attendees. 
There will be an online option with live streaming.

Register your attendance here https://registrationcentre.cesa.catholic.edu.au/event-5247928

Congratulations to the following Dominican Pillar Certificate recipients for Week 2:

PRAYER
Harper E

STUDY
William J, Jack T, Nathaniel F, Mason H, Roman C, Robben P, Angela H, Max L, Oliver B, Zack M, Emily W

COMMUNITY
Elise R, Sasha E, Tiger M

MINISTRY
Amelia R

This term, 1/2AB students are participating in stretching exercises in the morning as part of the Well Being program. 

This helps support students in their energy levels, improve their focus with a clearer mind and cheerful mood to start their learning for the day.

Sofia Agnello and Sue Brogden
1/2AB CLASSROOM TEACHERS

To promote ecological conversion and nude food within our school, each fortnight we announce a class that are our ECO-WARRIORS. The eco-warrior champions are the class that have the most nude food lunchboxes within the school, when we do our spot checks. I am pleased to share that our eco-warrior champions for the last fortnight were RS with an amazing 89% of students with nude food! What wonderful leaders our Receptions (and their families) are in teaching us to take care of God’s beautiful creation. Here are a few tips from RS on how we can all look after our common home:

Ripley & Jed: “Don’t throw rubbish on the ground because that’s littering. We need to take care of our world”.

CONGRATULATIONS to the following students for their selection and representation in the following sports:

Harrison, Luisa and Isabelle for selection in Port SAPSASA Football Teams where they participated in the SAPSASA Football Carnival on 17-19 May at West Beach where both teams placed 4th in a very competitive bracket.

Sierra for selection in the Port SAPSASA Netball team where she will take part in the SAPSASA Netball Carnival at Priceline Stadium on 21-23 June. We wish Sierra and her team all the best at the carnival.

Following our Mother's Day Breakfast, we gathered for an R-6 Assembly and held community prayer dedicated to all the special women in our lives.  At this Assembly, we had a  special presentation for Ruth Cross, grandmother to Jessica Jones in Year 6K.  Ruth is a dearly loved member of our community who generously serves our school in many ways, including the Breakfast Club, Iceblock Thursdays, excursions, and P&F events. 

We are so grateful to Ruth for all that she does.