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FROM THE GOSPEL
Last weekend, in the Gospel of John, we heard Jesus make a statement to the awaiting crowd that encapsulates the doctrine of our Catholic faith tradition. Jesus tells his crowd, that He is the living bread that comes from heaven, the bread of life, when we eat this bread, we live forever. In the bread that they have received from Jesus at Holy Communion, they have received physical nourishment and spiritual nourishment. Jesus wants the crowd to see beyond the surface to the one who provides true nourishment.
Dear Parents and Carers,
Today, 8th August, we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. On this Feast Day we are called to pause and reflect on the wisdom her life experiences offer to us in this time.
Mary MacKillop was a woman who dared to believe in her dream and to trust in God. She lived the Gospel faithfully as a missionary, and this trust gave her the courage to take risks and to break boundaries. It called her to travel down rough roads and on stormy seas into places well beyond her imaginings. Her presence brought an explosion of God’s love to the neediest in Australia and beyond, thus improving the lives of those who were poor. She was a woman before her time with an incredible vision and is indeed a Saint for all people.
Trusting in Mary can light our path. No matter what darkness she entered or how uncertain she was at times, Mary never wavered in her belief that the work she was doing was the work of the Holy Spirit. She never doubted that hers was a call from God. Nor did she ever waver from her sense of duty – that there were certain things that she simply had to do, even if she didn’t want to do them, even when she found them painful.
Mary MacKillop brought about a change in the newly colonised Australia. Australia was a tough place at this time, there was little money and very few people. Mary, through her work in the Church, brought about a better living for all Australians.
She is Australia's first Saint and a Saint for all the world to follow her example. Mary inspires us to be courageous and hopeful and to have a deep faith in our God who provides. Mary MacKillop has shown us how to forgive and how to be compassionate; she teaches us about spirituality and is a saint for all of us today.
The life of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop demonstrates the deep commitment that was shown to her faith and the Church. She stood for others believing that her work was for the good of others; that those around them would live lives that were fulfilled and filled with prayer and the Holy Spirit. Mary is remembered by many quotes, and I leave this one with you this week to reflect upon as we journey through the coming week.
Let us all take time over the coming weeks to see the needs of others and respond just as St Mary of the Cross Mackillop would have.
Enjoy some photos below and wishing you many blessing over the coming fortnight.
Jane Webb
PRINCIPAL
Last term members of our school community (staff, parents and Years 4-6) were asked to give feedback to the school through responding to the Tell Them From Me Survey.
Over the coming weeks, in the newsletter, I will share with the school community some of the feedback we received. Today’s feedback is in relation to the ‘Living Catholicity’ of the school. Overwhelmingly, the feedback for our school in this area was very positive with responses from students, parents and staff ranging between 80-98% that they agree / strongly agree that OLHC is a school that:
- helps the students in their understanding of Jesus and how they can apply these teachings to their everyday life.
- provides opportunities for the students and staff to explore and develop their Catholic faith.
- infuses Catholic values and practices in all aspects of the school curriculum
- is readily identifiable as Catholic.
- offers prayer and liturgy experiences that help the students to reflect on their life and faith in God.
- the teachers help the students to think of others and encourage them to make the world a better place.
The survey results also affirmed the need for our current school goal of working towards a shared understanding of the school’s vision and mission so that it is actively lived out by all members of the school community. Only 63% of the students agreed or strongly agreed with this statement:
- I know my school’s vision and mission statement, and I see it lived out by students, teachers and staff.
Respectful Relationships
This term we will be having a whole school focus on 'Respectful Relationships'. This is designed to teach skills to engage in respectful and equal relationships. To create a whole school culture that promotes positive attitudes and behaviours towards relationships, equality, diversity, gender, power, resilience, help-seeking and respect for all.
Last week students participated in the first lesson of this Respectful Relationships program. This lesson’s focus was on developing a shared understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviours, the feelings associated with actions and how our behaviours and emotions can be controlled. Students explored that these behaviours indicate healthy and unhealthy relationships and that if relationship behaviours are unhealthy, this could be a reason for the relationship to change.
PB4L
Congratulations to Sarkis who are currently in the lead with house points for the beginning of Term 3. Please see below for the current house point tally. This week’s PB4L focus, that has been explicitly taught to the students, is Canteen. The students have been reminded this week of the expectations, procedures and how to follow the school rules in this setting. Please see the poster for Canteen which is hung in each classroom and has been referred to this week.
1st - Sarkis (486 points)
2nd - MacKillop (437 points)
3rd - Rose (400 points)
4th - Ingham (378 points)
Alison Fazio
Assistant Principal
Diary dates are published on our website home page. You can also check Compass calendar and the events tab. Finally, all newsletters can be accessed on our website.
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Friday 9 August |
Western Region Athletics Carnival Campbelltown Stadium 6M Reconciliation Year 4 Classroom visit by Fr Sarkis 10am |
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Tuesday 13 August |
Year 6 Bishop Mass at Holy Family (online approval in Compass events ) |
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Wednesday 14 August |
Year 2 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Thursday 15 August |
Feast of the Assumption of Mary Mass at 9am. All welcome to attend. |
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Friday 16 August |
6W Reconciliation at 9am Year 5 classroom visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am Assembly - Merit and Awards 2pm in hall, all welcome |
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Wednesday 21 August |
*new* Book Week, bring your favourite book and a prop. |
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Friday 23 August |
Western Region Soccer Gala Day - Eschol Park (further details in compass closer to the event for selected students) Back up date 6 September. |
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Monday 26 August |
*new* Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day |
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Tuesday 27 August |
P&F Father's Day stall - Day 1 |
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Wednesday 28 August |
Year 1 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Thursday 29 August |
Year 3 and 4 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Friday 30 August |
Be Skilled Be Fit (Olympic's Unleashed)- Incursion P&F Father's Day stall - Day 2 Assembly - Merit and Awards 2pm in hall, all welcome |
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Saturday 31 August |
P&F Bunnings BBQ Campbelltown, 8am to 4.30pm |
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Wednesday 4 September |
Kinder Parish Mass at 9am |
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Monday 2 September |
Father's Day liturgy at 8.25am St Joachim Hall |
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Monday 9 September |
Year 3 - School Managed Device information session 2pm to 2.45pm P&F Meeting 7.30pm school library - All welcome to attend |
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Friday 6 September |
3M Reconciliation 9am Year 2 class visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am Year 4 and 6 Benediction at 11.30am |
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Wednesday 11 September |
Year 2 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Thursday 12 September |
Year 6 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Friday 13 September |
*new* Staff Spirituality Day - Pupil Free Day for students |
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Monday 16 September |
Kinder 2025 transition to school program - 9am to 10am |
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Wednesday 18 September |
Year 5 Parish Mass at 9am Kinder 2025 transition to school program - 1.30pm to 2.30pm |
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Thursday 19 September |
Basketball Gala Day 1 (selected Students) - Online consent in Compass closer to the date |
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Friday 20 September |
Basketball Gala Day 2 (selected students) - Online consent in Compass closer to the date Year 1 class visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am |
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Monday 23 September |
Kinder 2025 transition to school program - 9am to 10am |
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Wednesday 25 September |
Kinder 2025 transition to school program - 1.30pm to 2.30pm |
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Friday 27 September |
Year 6 class visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am Assembly - Merit and Awards 2pm in hall, all welcome |
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Saturday 28 September to Sunday 13 October |
****** School Holidays ****** |
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Monday 14 October |
*new* Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day |
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Tuesday 15 October |
Term 4 commences for students |
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Thursday 24 October to Friday 25 October |
Year 5 Excursion to Canberra (Online consent required in Compass closer to the event) |
On Friday 30th August (Week 6) we are excited to welcome 'Be Skilled Be Fit' to run an Olympic Day at OLHC!
Students will be split into ten countries and compete for OLHC Olympic Gold. Prior to the event, they will be informed of their country and will be able to wear their countries colours or wear their sport uniform.
The day will commence with an Opening Ceremony followed by a series of ten events. Students will move with their groups to participate in the different events. Following Break Two, there will be a closing ceremony where one team will be presented as the Olympic Champions.
Parents will be invited to support in the running of the events. If you are interested in helping, we ask that you notify the school office to ensure you have been cleared as a volunteer.
We look forward to a wonderful day and further details in next newsletter !
Book Week Celebrations 2024 - Wednesday 21 August 2024
Book Week is held each year by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Books are nominated and recognised to receive awards for the categories of Picture Book, Young Reader and Older Reader. The purpose of Book Week is to highlight and promote the importance of reading.
This year the theme for Book Week 2024 is Reading is Magic. Book Week commences on Monday 19th August (Week Five).
This year at OLHC the following arrangements will be in place to celebrate Book Week.
On Wednesday 21st August students will be invited to bring their favourite book (and a prop) to school. The prop could be something from the favourite book (something used in the book or from the book). No dressing up this year.
If the book was Goldilocks and the Three Bears the prop could be a bowl for the porridge.
Students will be given time, during the day, to share the book with their peers.
We will have a book parade at OLHC every second year. So, the next book parade will be next year.
Thank you for your support for promoting a love of reading with your children.
Annual Improvement at OLHC for 2024
This year, one of our annual improvement goals focuses on student engagement. During upcoming staff meetings our staff will develop a shared understanding of what student engagement is. We will also be considering some research into student engagement.
As a staff we will come up with a definition of what student engagement at OLHC.
We will also consider characteristics of a student who is highly engaged as well as a student who is not engaged.
We will also be asking some of our students what they think helps them to be engaged at school.
We also look forward to hearing from our parents later in the term, from a parent perspective about the aspects that support students to be engaged.
We look forward to sharing our professional learning with you about how we can support all our students to be engaged learners at OLHC.
Sharing in the Olympic Spirit
It has been wonderful over the past fortnight, to witness elite athletes representing our country with pride, commitment, and perseverance. We have a vested interest in the Olympics this year as a school community, as we are cheering on one of our very own former students, Natalie Van Coevorden. Natalie was a former student of OLHC and JTCC.
Natalie has been competing over the past fortnight in the triathlon events.
As the Olympic Games have taken place in Paris, I thought that it would be interesting to consider the Olympic values, that have over time evolved and are now expressed in more contemporary terms -
- Striving for excellence and encouraging people to be the best they can be
- Demonstrating respect in many ways - respect for self, the rules of the game, the opponents
- Celebrating friendship, which is quite unique to the Olympic Games - as this event brings people together every few years.
As a school we are so proud of Natalie, for her performance, perseverance, and persistence in demonstrating these Olympic values.
We hope that our parents can join us to share in the Olympic spirit later this term.
We also wish those students well who will be representing our school at the Western Region Athletics Carnival on Friday and the Soccer Gala Day, in a few weeks.
We know that they will represent our school with pride and a positive team spirit.
See more in our sporting news!
ASSEMBLY
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Principal Awards |
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Class |
Student Name |
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2M |
Jeremy CHANHDARA |
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3M |
Eva ANDERSON |
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3M |
Hayden PHYAKEO |
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3M |
Oliver MCINTYRE-WORMALD |
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5M |
Emmanuel VENEGAS |
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5M |
Niah BIGGAR-WADE |
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6M |
Lilly MUSCAT |
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6W |
Kadence BEGG |
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6W |
Isabella HILI |
POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS FOR LEARNING (PB4L)
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 on a Monday morning. The students receive a voucher for the Canteen which can be used for treats or put towards a lunch order. Congratulations to these winners:
Sebastian Barrett - Vizcaino 3M, Ollie Marshal 4M, Braxton Gomes 3M
SAVE THE DATE - Staff Development Days for remainder of 2024
Parents are advised that the following dates have been set aside as Staff Professional Learning Days. Thank you for making alternative arrangements for your child/ren on these days.
- Monday 26 August 2024 (*new*)
- Friday 13th September - Staff Spirituality Day. Our staff will all be off site on this day to attend the annual spirituality day.
Term Four
- Monday 14th October (revised date).
- Thursday 19th December and Friday 20th December 2024.
Olympic Representative
As mentioned previously in this newsletter, congratulations to Natalie Van Coevorden who represented Australia with pride at the Olympic Games last Wednesday and again in the Mixed Relay on Monday. We are so proud of her and know that she has been a wonderful role model and inspiration for many students at OLHC.
Western Region Athletics Carnival
Good luck to our 33 students who will be representing OLHC at the Western Region Athletics carnival tomorrow at Campbelltown Athletics Stadium!
Remember to have fun, do your best, and enjoy the experience. Whether you're running, jumping, or throwing, your hard work and enthusiasm will shine through.
Go out there and give it your all!
Soccer Gala Day
The Western Region Soccer Gala Day will be held on the 23rd of August, at Kooringa Reserve, Raby. A number of students from Years 3 - 6 will be representing OLHC at the gala day. This is a great opportunity for students to participate in the sport of Soccer, students are encouraged to try their best, have fun and show sportsmanship to all participants.
Information has been sent out via Compass Events to the students who expressed an interest in attending the event. We have also invited parent volunteers who nominated their interest in helping out at the Gala Day earlier in the year.
Online consent via Compass Events is required as soon as possible along with a $4.00 fee.
Students are reminded that NO soccer boots are allowed, but ALL students MUST wear shin guards.
NEW Soccer goals at school
The students have been very excited as we have purchased soccer goals for them to play in break times.
We thank the parent community as the funds raised by our P&F have gone towards the cost of the new equipement.
Further soccer goals will be purchased very soon, as they have been a great success!
CEO Privacy policy update - Standard Collection Notivce
Did you know that newsletter can be translated ?
For any parents or relatives that have limited English, the newsletter can be translated to over 150 languages.
Just select the language in the top menu bar of newsletter - translate.
Final call - Bunnings BBQ Campbelltown (Cnr Blaxland Rd and Farrow Rd)
FATHERS DAY STALLS
Father's Day stall to be held at the school on Tuesday 27th August and Friday 30th August.
All items $5 and volunteers needed to help run the stall (must have completed school induction).
Link for Father's Day stall form is here - https://forms.gle/
PARISH APP
Dates for Sacraments