Last Sunday's Gospel ... 

Last Sunday, in his homily, Fr O’Brien asked “Why are we born?”. The answer – to know love and serve God. He put it another way which helped make it clearer to me – to know love and serve goodness. All we say and do, all our worldly possessions should help us to know, love and serve goodness - God. If anything doesn’t, we should discard it, be it a possession or a behaviour.  

Did you know? ... 

Statues are not allowed in churches of the Eastern Catholic rights i.e Greek Orthodox because of the statues used by the Romans and Greeks in honour of their gods in ancient times. They have images painted or mosaics on the walls in the form of icons.

Stewardship Thought ... 

Jesus urges us to be rich in what matters to God.  The psalmist warns us against hardening our hearts.  Are our hearts open to what really matters in life?

Dear Parents,

It’s lovely to be back. I had an amazing trip in the footsteps of St. Paul going through Greece, Malta and a small part of Turkey. I visited places such as Athens, Philippi, Corinth, Thessaloniki and Ephesus, all places where St. Paul lived and as you would know, wrote the letters to those communities. We hear parts of them at Mass on Sunday. I thought the best way to share my experiences with you would be to share a small snippet in the ‘Did you know...’ section of the newsletter each fortnight. Father Sarkis was leading the pilgrimage and when I left him in Malta to start his holiday he asked me to give you his very best wishes, and to tell you he is praying for you all and offering Mass for your intentions.

I had the great pleasure of accompanying Year 6 to their conversation Mass with other schools from the Macarthur and Bishop Brian. Their conduct was a source of praise by many people from other schools, including our director, Mr Peter Turner, who sat behind them and told me how wonderful their singing was. Our students also did us proud at the soccer gala day with their teachers returning having had a fantastic day themselves rather than being completely exhausted.  This is a great credit to your children as well as the outstanding planning of the teachers on both occasions. I sincerely thank all for their dedication whether I happen to be in the school or not!

 You will notice the gardens have been substantially started thanks to the money given by the P&F through your donations. I have met with the gardeners to complete stage 2 which will be inside the grounds. The painting of the timber and the hall exterior was completed in the holidays and I think you will agree that the school is looking quite smart. Thank you for your donations so far to our colour run in honour of the feast day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. As you know this money will go towards religious icons in the school which include our new statues and the surrounding work. I enjoyed seeing so many of you today. The Liturgy was particularly well attended and I agree with your comments about how nice it is to be inside to hear and see the children sing and perform so well. Special thanks to Mr Vincent and the RE team, as well as all the staff, who put so much time and effort into all aspects of the day. I wore white yesterday so the students could cover me in colour and for us to make sure it didn’t cause any irritation and washed out.  Happy eyes and white clothes today! 

I am looking forward to welcoming you to our Excellence Awards where Bishop Brian will be our guest speaker.

God bless.

Michelle Rolfe

Principal

St Mary of the Cross Feast Day - Colour Run

I might be biased… however I felt the smiles on the kids faces said it all today. We started with a beautiful liturgy where talents shone through - the Year 6 student readers, the Year 4 freeze frame actors, the angelic singing from all students, the talented musicians and especially Mr Marshall for his songwriting skills and vocal abilities. I feel the teachers need special mention here too, Miss O'Sullivan and Mrs Failla for preparing the Year 4 students so well, Mrs Dew for leading the liturgy so wonderfully and Mrs Rolfe for joining Mr Marshall and I on the guitar. It was a lovely first liturgy in our new hall.

Our celebrations then took us up to John Therry for the Colour Run. The children had a wonderful time and that was all thanks to the support from everyone involved. Special mention to all of the parents who jumped in and assisted with the set up, paint throwing throughout and pack up at the end. You were amazing. Also to the OLHC staff who, like every other event, went above and beyond in supporting the running of this day. I know I am blessed to have such a supportive team, especially regarding RE events such as today. Thank you.

Remember to keep those donations coming in. If you need a booklet to collect cash, you can pick one up from the office. All donations will be finalised on the morning of the 22nd of August. Thank you for your continuing support.

Peter Vincent

Religious Education Co-ordinator

School-wide Positive Behaviours for Learning

When students exhibit positive behaviour, by following our school rules, their name is written on a raffle ticket and is entered into a draw where two winners are selected at flag-raising.  The students receive a voucher for use at the canteen. 

Congratulations to the following students who were drawn from the last two weeks:

   Abigail Crawford (1M - Sarkis), Aleesha McVittie (1M - MacKillop),

Charles Przybylo (2M - Rose), Matilda Summers (2M - Rose).

Car Park Gate

Parents and care-givers are reminded that the car-park gate is not to be used for entry and exit from the school grounds at arrival and dismissal times.  Please use the gate near the multi-purpose centre on Demetrius Road.

Student Representative Council (SRC)

We congratulate the following students, who along with our House Captains, form the SRC for Semester Two:-

3M:  Sophie Nunes, Ignatius Przybylo

3W:  Sophie Collet, Jye Dickens

4M:  Amelia Sculli, Shaun Joseph

4W:  Katrina Panikian, Ayrton da Silva

5M:  Charlotte Suares, William Chanhdara

5W:  Elizabeth Lisita-Cocheci, Harry Morell

Excellence Awards

These awards are presented once per year to students who have shown excellence in any curriculum area (Academic Excellence) or who have excelled in the giving of their time and talent in the school, parish or wider community (Excellence in Stewardship) or in recognising excellence in being an active learner - visible in all key learning areas (Striving for Excellence).  Nominations are submitted by staff and the final decision on the recipients is made by the leadership team. Recipients of the award are not known prior to the assembly.  However, parents of the award winners will be contacted prior to the assembly.  Please diary Wednesday 21st August at 1.30pm in the hall for these awards.  We are honoured this year to have Bishop Brian Mascord as our guest speaker.  Please join us on this special occasion.  

OLHCS

Acting, singing, dancing, juggling, playing a musical instrument - whatever your talent is, we want to see it!

This year OLHC will be hosting another "OLHCs Got Talent" Quest.  Students will come and share their talent in an audition.  Auditions will commence in Week 4 (students will be notified when their grade is performing) and the final will take place in Term 4.

Assembly

Please join us at our next assembly on Friday 16th August at 1.50pm.  Merit and Principal's Awards will be presented.  Congratulations to the following students who will be receiving a Principal's Award:

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop Feast Day & Colour Fun Run

Funds raised will be used for the purchase of religious icons and landscaping at the front of the school. Please return all sponsorship forms, whether used or not, by Thursday 22nd August.

Soccer Gala Day

Last Friday, 2nd August, 77 students represented OLHC at the Western Region Soccer Gala Day held at Eschol Park.  We were so fortunate to be blessed with such beautiful weather on the day.  Students competed against various schools in the Macarthur area.  All students are to be congratulated for showing fantastic sportsmanship and support of their peers.

Thank you to Mrs Tonna, Mrs Federico, Mr Dunbar, Mr Failla and Mr Nunes for coaching our school soccer teams on the day.  We are so appreciative of your help.  Thank you to the very supportive families and friends who came along to spectate and cheer on our students.  Thank you to Miss Daly, Miss O'Sullivan and Miss Brocklehurst who accompanied the students on the day.

Our last gala day for the year will be the Basketball Gala Day.  Permission notes will be distributed over the coming weeks to those students who have nominated to compete.

Just a reminder, all our parent helpers at these gala days are awarded five house points to their child's house colour.

Cultural Celebration Day

This celebration will be held on Friday afternoon, 23rd August, in the school hall.  A note has already been sent home with relevant details.  If you would like to present something on the day please return the slip at the bottom of the note.

On the day, students are invited to wear mufti representing their culture or heritage.  Students need to wear enclosed shoes and have their shoulders covered.  We will forward a timetable closer to the date.

Congratulations

We wish good luck to Ayrton da Silva (4W) who will be competing in the National Hip Hop Dance Championships next week on the Gold Coast.

School Banking

School banking is every Friday.

Facebook

www.facebook.com/olhc.rosemeadow

Skoolbag App

This app should be downloaded so you can be kept up to date with the latest events and information from the school.  This app is also used for distribution of the Newsletter.  Please download the app from your relevant store.  For more information visit "skoolbag.com.au".

Congratulations to the following students who celebrate a birthday in August:-

 Max Athanassiou, Robbie Barrett-Vizcaino, Taj Barrington, Skye Bishop, Monique Brticevich, Maddison Burke, William Chanhdara, Olivia Ditotto, Dante Foweraker,

Ryder Glover, Charlotte Good, Sienna Hallam, Dylan Hickson, Isabella Hili, Sienna Holmes, Alexis Jahshan, Orianne Lennon, Veniana Morell,  Katrina Panikian,

Viola Rayon, Viona Rayon, Isaac Soriano, Charlotte Suares, Leo Vagaja.

P&F Chocolate Fund-raiser

Tomorrow the P&F will be sending fundraising chocolates home to each family.  If you do not wish to participate, please return the unopened box, to school, by Tuesday 13th August.  Chocolates are $1.00 each.

P&F Meeting

Please join us for our next P&F Meeting on Monday 2nd September at 7.30pm in the staff-room.

Clothing Pool

The Clothing Pool is open every Wednesday from 8.00am - 8.20am.  The Clothing Pool is located between the Years 1 and 2 classroom.

If your child wishes to order food at lunch (Break 1:  10.50am - 11.30am) please write your child's name, room number and what is required on a paper bag and include the correct money, if possible.  Payment must accompany orders and treats eg. ice-creams cannot be ordered.  Normal purchasing of "treats" will still occur at Break 1.

Camp Australia

Attached is a recipe flyer from Camp Australia.

Bradbury Cricket Club

Please find attached flyers with details of what cricket games are available for children of primary school age.

Little Learning Labs - University of Wollongong (UOW)

For students in Years 1 to 6, an invitation is forwarded from the University of Wollongong for students who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners to attend workshops during the next school holiday period.  Applications close on Wednesday 21st August.  Please be aware that there is a cost associated with these workshops.  Applications must be made online.  For further information about the workshops and the application process visit the UOW website or contact the Learning Labs team via email at learning-labs@uow.edu.au or telephone 4221 5557.