Term 3, Week 6 2021

Dear Community Members

Welcome to Week 6! The school term is certainly racing ahead!

Last Friday the Deputy Director of Catholic Education South Australia, Mr John Mula, visited Dominican School. During his visit he had a tour of our learning spaces and visited every classroom where he engaged with our students about their learning. He met with the Leadership Team and we were able to share with him all the new initiatives that we are implementing across the school especially the early intervention programs that we are now offering. John was extremely impressed with the improvements we have been achieving and is already looking forward to visiting again in the future.

Our involvement in the IDEAS project continues this week. For those that need a reminder, the IDEAS Project stands for Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools. We are at the visioning stage of the 2 year project where the IDEAS Team and the whole staff begin to develop a Vision for learning. An effective vision that aligns with the collective values and beliefs of all of us here at Dominican School. The IDEAS team will be meeting via ZOOM tomorrow with Professor Dorothy Andrews and Associate Professor Joan Conway who are both from University of Southern Queensland. I look forward to sharing the next part of our journey with you.

I am pleased to announce that the School Board has approved the redevelopment and restoration of the Military Road front fence. We are in the final stages of tendering and we will be ready to begin this work very soon. This will certainly enhance our street presence and Dominican School will certainly be sitting proudly on Military Road once this improvement has been completed. This has been in process for a long time and I would like to thank our Board Members for supporting this significant enhancement to our school. I will keep you updated as to when the work will commence.

Our Master Plan is also surging ahead with plans currently being prepared to significantly improve our Junior Primary learning spaces. I will be sharing these plans within the community once they are available.

Book Week is upon us again this week. The students have enjoyed live performances as well as online performances from the local library. It’s important that we continue to celebrate the joy of reading and the joy of holding a book, especially as we find ourselves in such a digital world that surrounds us. I look forward to our Book Week parade on Friday. As you know we are welcoming parents and caregivers to view this parade from the footpath either on Dunn Street or Swan Street due to COVID restrictions. Please adhere to social distancing requirements. It’s the best we can do under challenging circumstances. Thank you for your continued understanding and cooperation with these arrangements.

Volunteering @ Dominican School – what you need?

Volunteers that are interested in assisting in school activities/sporting events /excursions, need to complete in advance their Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (RRAN-EC) online training module and provide the completion certificate to the school.  This training can be easily accessed via the following link:

1. Click on this hyperlink https://www.plink.sa.edu.au/pages/signup.jsf and create your account selecting “1-Volunteer” and follow the instruction.

If you have not already done so, you will also be asked to ensure that you have completed a Working with Children Check (WWCC), including the CESA application / induction package.  More information can be obtained from our office staff.

Have a great week and please remain healthy and safe.

Kind regards
Phil

Composting Project

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.  This year our Justice Leaders have accessed a $500 grant from Catholic Education SA to develop a composting system at our school.  They have purchased and assembled two composting bins to recycle our food scraps into natural fertilizer for our school gardens.  On Friday, our Justice Leaders met with Amy Henshaw, the Community Waste Project Officer from the Port Adelaide Enfield Council, to discuss our school Composting Project.  Special thanks to Amy and our local council for providing us with kitchen caddies and biodegradable bags for classes to dispose their food scraps.  We are also grateful for their support in accessing a future KESAB Composting session!  Our Composting Project is an important student-led initiative for our school to continue to work for the justice and care of our world.

Catholic Charities Appeal

A little giving goes a long way… Charity is at the heart of living Catholic and each September we celebrate Catholic Charities month. Catholic Charities is our South Australian organisation that provides support to agencies making a difference to the lives of the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community, including Our Lady of La Vang and St Patrick’s Special Schools, Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, SA Catholic Deaf Association, Centacare Catholic Family Services, Hutt St Centre, Catherine House, Mercy House of Welcome, and Calvary Ain Karim.  Today each child will receive a leaflet attached with a donation envelope for this year’s appeal.  You are invited to make a donation via the reply paid envelope or online at www.adelaide.catholic.org.au/donate

Alison Tanti-Clark
Assistant Principal Religious Identity & Mission

The past fortnight in Maths we have been exploring Location and Transformation. Our Learning Intention has been to interpret simple maps of familiar locations and identify the relative positions of key features (Year 2 - ACMMG044) and create and interpret simple grid maps to show position and pathways (Year 3 - ACMMG065).

Firstly, we created songs and plays to teach one another about directional language. We then created a maze to get the cartoon character ‘Sully’ to his ‘snack’ and used directional language to describe our way through the maze. We also spent time in the sunshine drawing a map of our school grounds and describing pathways that visitors can use to arrive at particular locations.

Wednesday 18th August saw the annual SACPSSA Catholic Schools Cross Country Carnival held at the East Parklands for students in Years 3 to 6. Well done to all the students on their remarkable effort on carnival day and also in the lead up during training sessions. We are so incredibly proud of you all. Congratulations to Maverick, Remmie and Portia who won medals/ribbons for placing in the top 4 of their races. Congratulations to Year 5 girls Division A runners, Maya, Dlila, Molly and Aitana, for being back to back winners of the pennant!

A big thank you to our parent volunteers who came out and helped with the event. We are very appreciative of your time and support.

Martina Kovacev

Due to Covid-19 lockdown early in the term our School Photo day is now on Monday 25th October.

Photo Order envelopes with students unique shootkey code will be resent closer to the date.If you have already ordered online or returned your envelope these have been held over and you won’t be required to do anything further. Every student is asked to return their envelope, even if you don’t choose to order. Family Photo Order envelopes are available from the Front Office. Please don’t hesitate to contact the office if you have and questions.

Q. How can I keep track of my Qkr! payments?
A. Itemised Qkr! eReceipts provide a record of purchase and are a convenient way to keep track of  your Qkr! payments.

To view your eReceipts:
1. Open Qkr! and tap 'Activity'.
2. Scroll down to 'Order History' and tap 'Receipt' to view eReceipts.

Q. How can I look up details from Forms already submitted?
A. All forms previously completed are saved as a convenient way to keep track of  details of upcoming events.

To view your Forms:
1. Open Qkr! and tap 'Dominican School'.
2. Select ‘My Forms' and tap 'Forms' to view eForms.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today.
Approved by Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis O’Brian 2004