*New Dates

TERM 2

• Fri, 7 Jul - Pupil Free Day - OSHC available 

TERM 3

• Mon, 24 Jul - First Day of School
• Fri 28th Jul, Crazy Hair/Crazy Sock Day
• Mon 31st Jul,  2.10pm Assembly - Approach to Learning Certificates
• Wed 2nd Aug, Year 2 Assembly 
• Wed 2nd Aug , 7pm P&F Meeting 
• Fri, 4th Aug - Year 3 Sleepover
• Mon, 7th Aug 1.45pm-2.45pm Action Hour
• Tues, 8th Aug Feast Day of Mary MacKillop - Whole School Mass Time TBA and Andrew Chinn Concert
• Wed, 9th Aug- School Board Meeting 
• Wed, 16th Aug Year 1 Assembly 
• Fri, 18th Aug, School Disco
• Wed 23rd Aug, Bookweek Parade
• Tues, Journey to Emmaus Day
• Father's Day Stall
  
• Wed 6th Sept , 7pm P&F Meeting 
• Fri, 8 Sept - Pupil Free Day - OHSC is available 
• Wed, 13th Sept- School Board Meeting 
• Fri, 22nd Sept - Year 2 Italian Night 5-8pm
• Wed 29th Sept, Reception Assembly 
• Fri, 29 Sep - Last Day of School 12:30pm dismissal

TERM 4

• Mon, 16 Oct - First Day of School
• Wed, 1st Nov, School Board Meeting
• Wed, 29th Nov, School Board Meeting
• Thurs, 14 Dec - Last Day of School 3:05pm dismissal

Dear Parents and Community Members

I am delighted to extend a warm welcome back to Frank in Term 3 and wanted to express my sincere gratitude for your support during my time as the Acting Principal. It has been an incredible honour and privilege to serve in this capacity, and your encouragement and collaboration have been instrumental in our collective success.

At Whitefriars Catholic School, we firmly believe in the power of community. Our partnership with you, the parents, guardians, and community members, has been instrumental in creating a vibrant and supportive educational environment. We deeply appreciate your continued involvement and commitment to the success of our students.

As we near the end of another successful academic term, I am thrilled by the achievements our students have exhibited towards their studies throughout the term. With the guidance of our talented educators and staff, they have achieved remarkable academic milestones and displayed a thirst for knowledge. We are immensely proud of their accomplishments and the way they have embraced the challenges of their educational journey.

I wish each one of you a safe and joyful term break with your loved ones. This is a time to unwind, recharge, and create lasting memories.

Welcome New Staff

Gabrielle Gonos will be joining the Reception Team, replacing Adriana Scali, who is going on maternity leave.

Emily Probert and Chantel Farina have been appointed as the new Term 3 Reception teachers.

Vy Ly will be the Transition teacher for Term 3 and Term 4 for the Term 1 2024 Reception children.

Kind Regards

Catia Frasca

Caring for the Temple, You

I recently had the opportunity at staff meeting to remind our dedicated teachers that we are temples of God’s spirit – God’s masterpiece in all of creation. He made everything before us good then when he made humans everything was very good. Even the great temples of the world don’t compare to the design and potential of each of us. Scripture teaches us that we are sacred and our responsibility is to look after the gift of our temple. Our needs vary, however basic needs such as having wholesome food, giving and receiving love, rest for the body and mind, healthy relationships and many more combined with works of kindness, truthfulness and joy can reflect our ‘YES’ to God’s gift of life.

After prayer the staff actioned the word by ‘doing’ an activity that responded to our call. It is well known that exercise, movement, meditation, prayer, listening to music and eating dark chocolate are a few ways we can support the mind to naturally release feel good chemicals. See chart below.

This is a timely reminder, for all of us, to look after our body and mind as we head into the school holidays and to enjoy being out of a disciplined routine. My wish for you is to intentionally put some time aside each day to action looking after your temple so to improve or sustain your sense of wellbeing. Always celebrate with loved ones around a meal, as Jesus did with his disciples, and remember to hydrate with life-giving water.

Lord, Our Creator, we thank you for having fashioned us in your divine image and likeness. May we find true wellness in the power of your Spirit as we strive to care for your temple that is the gift of our lives. We make this prayer to you in the name of Jesus, the Lord. Amen.

It is week 10 and we are ready for the school concert. We have been rehearsing our dance everyday and can’t wait to share it with all the parents Thursday night. Here is a sneak peek at some of our dance moves.

 Drumming

Our performance will begin with some precision drumming skills by our fabulous drummers. Come along and watch their sticks create magic to a fast-paced beat. Clap along stamp your feet to the catchy beat.

 Dancing

We would like to thank Chymes,  our wonderful and talented

Ground Force dance instructor, who taught us all our awesome dance moves.

We hope to see you all on Thursday night as Whitefriars presents our school concert ‘Beyond The Garden Gate’.

Whitefriars Chess Club.

On Friday 30th June, six students participated in the Chess Competition at Nailsworth Primary School.

The competition was very tough, but our students were very determined and focused, beating other teams to come first by one point.

Congratulations to Vittal Balasubramani, who emerged as the overall winner of the competition by winning all seven games.

Also, well done to Eithen , Lewis  and Austin  who received Gold medals for winning five games, and Daniel S and Nicholas , who won four games.

From the Sports Desk

SAPSASA Netball and Hockey

Over the past 2 weeks we have had 4 students represent our school in the Western Districts team at the State Championships for Netball and Hockey.

Edel Lehmann, Ivory Girdham and Fleur Kennewell spent 3 days playing Netball, often in some terrible weather conditions.

The Western Districts team was in the top division this year after being promoted last year, it meant that the teams were up against some very tough districts each game. All 3 girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves though and had a great experience and they have some fantastic memories from the week.

Matilda Scholes who is our Year 5 Hockey guru, was selected in the combined Port Adelaide/Western Districts Hockey team. Being in Year 5, Matilda will have a chance to play again next year. The Hockey games were played at West Beach and Matilda was involved in 9 games over the 3 days of the State Championships. The team did amazingly well and Matilda is already looking forward to next year.

Congratulations to all 4 girls on being selected to represent our school at the State Championships!!

Netball Carnival

The annual Catholic Schools Netball Carnival was held on Friday last week at the SA Netball Stadium at Mile End.

This year Whitefriars had a massive interest in Netball and we were able to field 11 teams with 94 students participating. We had a large number of players with a lot of experience playing netball which was evident in the games but we also had some students trying the sport for the first time which was great to see. These days are organised to increase participation in Netball as well as allowing students to experience and enjoy a team environment especially those who have had little involvement with the sport.

Each team played 5-6 games against a number of other Catholic Schools from around Adelaide. Even in the wet weather that greeted us in the morning the students seemed focussed on having fun and enjoying themselves with each other. As usual, our students represented our school proudly and displayed great kindness and humility when playing other teams. Congratulations to all our students who went along, it was a very enjoyable day and you all represented Whitefriars extremely well.

We were lucky enough again this year to have Mount Carmel College students come and help us with the umpiring of games. Having 14 high school students come and assist takes a lot of organising so thank you to Mount Carmel for making it happen and thank you to the students who volunteered their time to help.

A big thank you to Amanda Burns, Jackie Arnold, Sandra Tellez, Saraya Kennewell, Jade Lehmann, Diana Morcom, Amanda Pilkington and Tina Portelli for their invaluable coaching and motivation throughout the event, these days are impossible to run without your help!

Each year we have over 100 registered volunteers who help our school in so many different ways, contributing to our school and supporting children and staff.  Registered volunteers contribute to the school community in just some of the following ways:

• School Board 
• Parents & Friends events
• After School Sports (Coaches and Team Managers)
• Canteen
• Learning Assistance Program (LAP)
• Reading with children
• Assisting at excursions

All volunteers are required to obtain appropriate clearances, including a Department of Human Services (DHS) Clearance and Catholic Clearance.

Once submitted, clearances may take up to 6 weeks to process.

When you receive your clearance or card please bring this into the office for us to update to the Volunteer Register.

If you would like to volunteer, please see staff in the front office for a Volunteer Information Pack and support in registering as a volunteer.

Please see below for current volunteers wanted in our school.

Thankyou to the following volunteers assisting in Term 3, Week 1 & 2.

If you would like to contribute to this wonderful school community and spend some of your day making delicious food, chatting and laughing in good company, having fun and of course drinking coffee, whether you are able to assist for both recess and lunch, or just an hour, it makes a huge difference and we would love to have you join us.

• Monday - Friday
• Times: all day (9-1:30pm), recess (10:50-11:30am), lunch (12:50-1:30pm) or just an hour wherever you can!
• Tasks include: Making popcorns, jellies, sandwiches, assembling burgers, serving at the counter, packing lunches and stacking the chip rack.

Tasks are given in very easy, manageable steps so everyone can comfortably learn as you go.  No experience necessary!

If you would like to volunteer some time in the Canteen or would like to ask questions about what is involved, please contact Iris at the Canteen before school.

Iris Mori

Canteen Manager

We acknowledge and pay our respect to the Kaurna people as the traditional owners of the land of Mikawomma on which Whitefriars Catholic School is located.  We come with open hearts and minds to listen and learn from Elders - past, present and emerging.