Term 3, Week 2B- Monday 28th July, 2025

What's On This Week

Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Last Friday was a wonderful experience for our students with our feature event, Grandparents Day and 100 Days of Kindergarten. We were truly blessed to have so many grandparents and parents attend to enjoy our liturgy, meeting Father Thao and experiencing our students' classrooms. St Raphael’s is a faith community, which sets our school apart from other schools. 

Last week we welcomed Father Thao. We are thrilled to have Father Thao who in turn is super excited about our journey together, and the enormous welcome he has had from students, parents and staff.

Our commitment to consistently improve every student’s learning is our priority. This year we have continued our professional learning as a leadership team with international learning expert Dr Michael McDowell. In this work we have also had specific mentoring with Michael, which supports our next steps contextually. Our focus is to make St Raph’s not only the school of choice but a place of academic excellence where every student thrives. 

In the holidays a group of students attended IGNITE with Mr Phelan. The students including Mr Phelan had an outstanding faith experience, each remarking how deeply the experience was for their faith development. We encourage all students to take this opportunity in the future. 

Last week our Seikei Exchange student, Saya, attended Rotary with Ms Olbourne, Mrs Buchtmann and I. She presented her journey so far to the Rotarians who in turn asked many questions to Saya about Japan and her experience in Australia. Saya was sensational in her responses much to the delight of our Rotarians. We thank Rotary for their wholehearted support of the Seikei Exchange and their ongoing financial support for our students by way of scholarships and contributions. 

We are deeply blessed at St Raphael’s to have a significant relationship with Seikei and Shiroishi City. This relationship is deeply embedded in Cowra’s history and commitment to peace. This week we welcome Shiroishi City students to St Raphael’s. The students are from Year 8 and from various schools in Shiroishi. This will be a wonderful experience for our school, and the students. We will enjoy a bonfire next weekend, and various families will spend time with a Shiroishi student as they enjoy this week of cultural exchange. 

It's only 9 weeks until our Japan Tour! Including this year we will have taken 41 students to Japan. This is a significant learning experience for our students, learning about the world, gaining independence, and beoming culturally aware. It's a life changing experience!

God Bless, 

Michelle Deschamps - Principal

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal

Welcome back one and all to the start of Term 3 2025. The term started with a Staff Development Day and the staff continuing to work on our Annual School Plan. These days are vital for staff to clarify our purpose and to be able to communicate in our classroom and community our vision for our school. Part of this vision is continuing to develop a positive school culture, and our first session involved staff looking at current research and working together to ensure the positive culture at St Raphael’s continues to shine.

With the students' arrival on Tuesday it was an opportunity to speak with them about what a positive learning culture we have at St Raph’s. The student-led assembly ends with both staff and students giving “shout outs” to either staff or students to recognise outstanding contributions by our school community to enhance the learning experiences for all concerned. We had students thanking staff for organising and supervising the 9/10 Camp in the last week of Term 2, and we had staff thanking students for their exemplary behaviour on camp and at Ignite. For students to stand up or raise their hands and acknowledge the staff demonstrates the calibre of students we have and for staff to continue to go beyond the normal hours and routines to provide opportunities for our students all strongly emphasise and indicate the positive culture we are continuing to develop at St Raph’s.

This positive culture continues on Friday of the first week with a celebration of 100 Days of Kindergarten and Grandparents Day. At St Raph’s we understand the importance of celebrating important milestones in our students' school careers and the people involved with them. As we witness the growth of learning and development of our Kindergarten students we can't help but smile and celebrate who they have become and what they have learnt. 100 Days of Kindergarten is celebrating the students, their families but also their Teacher and support staff who give of the time to ensure these 100 days are full of learning, love and laughter.

I believe that we are building a first choice school that is constantly developing a positive school culture and that cares about learning and the students who are at the centre of our decision making.

David Wickham - Assistant Principal

Faith, Mission & Learning

Remembering Fr Laurie Beath 

Last week marked two years since the passing of Fr Laurie Beath, our beloved parish priest and friend.

Fr Laurie served our community with great humility, strength, unwavering faith and service.  He had a way of making each person feel known and valued. Whether it was through a word of encouragement, a moment of laughter, providing clear instructions for how to fix your garden or just checking in, Fr Laurie reminded us of God’s presence in the everyday.

Though he is no longer with us in body, his spirit continues to live on in the life of our parish and school. His legacy is carried in the Masses we celebrate, the kindness we show one another through service and the faith we pass on to the next generation.

As we remember Fr Laurie, let us give thanks for his life and ministry. May we continue to be inspired by his example, a life lived in service.

Gabrielle Bruin - Leader of Faith, Mission & Learning

Key Notices

Scholastic Book Club

Issue #5 of Scholastic Book Club will go home to Infants and Primary students this week, with order due online, or back in the office by Friday 8th August.

From the Library

Chess Comp

Our Chess Comp has commenced for 2025. Due to the overwhelming interest, Stage 3 started last week and Stage 2 will start this week. The Comp will run each Monday (Stage 2), Wednesday (Stage 3) and Thursday (Stage 3) at lunchtimes.

Library Opening Times

The Library is open from 8:30am - 8:50am and 1:30pm - 1:55pm Monday to Thursday. All students K-12 are welcome to come to the Library at these times to borrow books, read a book, complete activities and play games in a quiet place.

Book Week .... BOOK IT IN!

Book Week for 2025 is officially August 16th - 23rd, but it is also the Trial HSC week. So we are going to celebrate Book Week at St Raph’s throughout Week 6 instead. There will be lots of different activities happening in the Library throughout the week including our annual Book Week Parade which will take place on Wednesday 27th August. This year’s theme is Book an Adventure. Definitely lots of ideas for costumes using the theme.

Nicole Twohill-Scott - Librarian

Primary Sport

Rugby Union 10s

Last Thursday, St. Raphael's sent six Stage 3 boys over to Orange to help form a team with Catherine McAuley. Our boys played strongly throughout the day against some very tough competition, finishing 7th. St. Matthew's Mudgee have progressed to the next level, playing at Joeys in Sydney next. Well done boys on your excellent participation and thank you to "old boy" Mr. O'Reilly for taking control of the boys on the day.

Todd Woodbridge Cup - Tennis

It's a big week or so for our rising tennis stars coming through the ranks. Today's Stage 2 event has been postponed to next Monday, 4th August, as the courts were still too water-logged upon inspection at 7am this morning. On Wednesday of this week, again - weather permitting, it's our Stage 3 players turn to "serve, volley, smash" their way around the tennis court. We wish them all the best as they represent St. Raphael's Catholic School.

Southern Region Athletics

This Friday, 1st August, sees the Southern Region Athletics Carnival to take place. St. Joseph's, Molong are our hosts. They are hoping to hold it in Canowindra, however with the rain over the weekend and the expected rain early this week, a change to Cowra may be made. We will let parents know of any change once it has been confirmed. In total, nine Catholic schools from our area will be in attendance, with those who qualify progressing to Dubbo in a few weeks. Good luck to our very talented athletes.

Lawn Bowls

At the end of last term, Year 6 completed a four week sport session on Lawn Bowls. For many, it was their first time having a crack at it, with improvement noted as the weeks progressed. A big thank you to the Cowra Bowling Club for allowing us to come down and have a roll-up! Special thanks to Sharen Hubber and her band of helpers for showing us the skills to play. It was loads of fun and we greatly appreciated it. We hope to now send through a couple of teams to play against the other local schools later this term.

Attendance, Wellbeing & Enrichment

100% Attendance for Term 2, 2025

INFANTS

Lukie Gavenlock, Jack Gumbleton, Henry McVicar, Evie Morgan, Eve Robson, Nicolas Silman, Anastasia Buckley, Fergus Hakiza, Laine Louttit, Austin Thomas, Lincoln Tindall, 

PRIMARY

Piper Atkinson, Lillian Biega, Oscar Bryant, Charlie Cooley, Mackenzie Langfield, Lachlan Meyers, Annie Riley, Jacob Todd, Stella Frazer, Rohan Meyers, Angus Robson, Rebel Thompson, Piper Tindall, Shamara Hewagamage, Mitchell Holmes, Tenuli Wickramage Don, Noah Campbell, Simon Hakiza, Hannah Jones, Jack Keefe, 

SECONDARY

Tyler Harris, Claire Harrison, Max Holmes, Briannah Honeysett, Holly Mitchell, Maddy Whitty, Enal Wickramage Don, Georgia Kennedy, Ruby Lazanski, Aiden Mitchell, Max Osborne, Ned Osborne, Maddi Causton, Neil Duguid, Owen Holmes, Hannah Fahey-Doolan, Cohan Howden, William Leatherland, Makayla Curtis, Darby Hubber, Seamus McCormick

Click  here for the list of students reaching 100% attendance for Weeks 5-10 Term 2.

Congratulations to you all!

Canteen

Council of Catholic School Parents

Our Catholic Faith Handbook

CCSP have recently updated the Our Catholic Faith handbook for 2026 – it’s a very popular guide to Catholicism because it’s easy to read. Resources and Links for Families: https://www.ccsp.catholic.edu.au/faith-formation

Webinar Links

https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/newsletter/article/499

Online safety basics

We can help our children safely navigate the online world by taking some basic steps to reduce the risks.

Our support and guidance can give our children the knowledge to make sound decisions online and the confidence to ask for help when they need it. 

The eSafety Commission have released the following guidelines to assist: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/issues-and-advice/online-safety-basics

Community Connections

Raising Children Network: Introducing an app to support student wellbeing

The Raising Healthy Minds app is a free, personalised, pocket resource to help parents and carers raise confident, resilient children. Co-designed with parents and experts and funded by the Australian Government, Raising Healthy Minds aims to support children’s social and emotional wellbeing with evidence-based information.  

You’ll find information on topics like dealing with worries and making friends, as well as ideas for day-to-day life, like creating family routines, looking after yourself as a parent, and building strong relationships.  

The app offers a mix of quick-read articles, videos and animations aimed at parents and carers of children aged 0-12 years. You can tailor information to the age of your child and opt-in to receive helpful tips.  

Raising Healthy Minds provides simple-to-use information at your fingertips with clear actions you can start today.  

Download from Google Play or the App Store or go to raisingchildren.net.au/rhm to learn more and raise a healthy mind