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FEAST OF ST MARY of the CROSS MACKILLOP
Tomorrow, Friday 8th August, we celebrate the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop - Australia’s first saint. Mary MacKillop was a trail-blazer in her lifetime, leaving a culture of exemplary living for her followers to emulate. Mary paved the way for education of poor children and a variety of ministries which addressed the needs of 19th century Australia.
Her legacy continues today in countless ways.
Education in its many facets is still a strong ministry for the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
Mary’s work continues today with a myriad of ways of bringing healing and hope through spirituality, counselling, supervision and mentoring.
Mary MacKillop’s legacy encourages us to be people of justice and ecumenism. 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 week.
“If disappointed, don’t say hard things. Only think a little, pray a little, and try to remember that God will bring about what is best in God’s own time.”
Mary MacKillop, 2 September 1873
Dear Parents and Carers,
As is the case with many organisations, improvement involves the setting and monitoring of goals, measuring impact and the planning for ongoing improvement through the development of a strategic plan. The same can be said for schools, as the cycle of continuous improvement aims for growth in faith, learning and wellbeing for all students.
Later this term, our school will participate in a School Cyclic Inquiry (SCI). This is an integral component of our Diocesan Continuous Catholic School Improvement approach to strategic planning leading to improved student outcomes and successful growth in faith, learning and wellbeing.
The SCI is a school led inquiry and review process that generally occurs every 4 years. The process evaluates the school improvement efforts of the previous four years and through inquiry into evidence, leads to the development of a four year Strategic School Improvement Plan.
This inquiry is a key part of our system's larger Continuous Catholic School Improvement Framework. Its main goal is to celebrate the successes of our school's strategic plans over the past four years and help us identify important areas for our focus over the next four years.
A significant part of this SCI involves a Panel visit to the school over two days. This Panel is made up of five educators and consultants from both within and outside our system. The Panel will be at OLHC on Monday 1st September and Monday 8th September. Their role is to help us reflect on our progress and identify future areas of focus.
Parent Review Panel
On Monday 8th September (Week 8), Panel members will conduct interviews with a selection of staff, students, and parents. These discussions will gather insights on the school's achievements over the last four years and suggestions for future growth.
If any parent is willing to participate in a group interview and is available to come into the school between 9am - 9:30am on Monday 8th September, we would be very grateful for your contribution. To ensure adequate representation, we would need a minimum of 10 parents to attend.
Please register for the Parent Review panel using the following link by Monday 25 August 2025.
Parent Review panel registration
https://forms.gle/frvHWPYk9xbVf7po9
We look forward to working in collaboration with the panel to identify and map the improvement for OLHC over the next four years.
Jane Webb
PB4L
Congratulations to Sarkis house who are currently in first place, please see the House Point tally listed below which was announced at Flag Raising on Monday morning.
These points include the house points awarded at the Athletics carnival, well done to Sarkis for being the winning house at this event. The students will continue to be awarded house points for following the school rules (both in the classroom and on the playground), wearing the correct uniform, completing their homework and for borrowing from the library.
1st - Sarkis (1198 points)
2nd - Rose (1193 points)
3rd - MacKillop (1160 points)
4th - Ingham (1105 points)
PB4L Focus Week 3 and 4: FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS
This week we launched our new PB4L focus, Following Instructions, which will be the whole school focus over the next fortnight both in the classroom and on the playground. Following instructions is a part of following our school rule: Be Respectful. When students respond promptly and respectfully to instructions, it helps keep the classroom calm, organised and focused. This allows teachers to teach and students to learn without unnecessary interruptions.
With daily explicit teaching, the students are learning the importance of following instructions and how this contributes to a safe, cooperative and successful learning environment. The students have been taught the steps to take when following instructions and these are outlined in the poster shown below. Sometimes students may not understand an instruction straight away, which is okay. Part of this explicit teaching encourages students to wait and ask the teacher politely to clarify what is expected of them.
Teachers are giving extra house points in the classroom to students actively following instructions and playground tickets to students doing the same on the playground. Next week at flag raising we will announce the house colour with the most points but also the class who received the most points this week for following instructions.
Diary dates are published on our website home page. You can also check Compass calendar and the events tab. All newsletters can be accessed on our school website.
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Friday 8 August |
St Mary Mackillop Walkathon - sports uniform (Online consent via Compass Events) Western Region Athletic Carnival (Online consent via Compass Events) |
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Tuesday 12 August |
Year 6 Bishop Mass at Mary Emmaculate Eaglevale (Online consent via Compass Events) |
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Friday 15 August |
Assumption of Mary Mass held for the whole school at 9.30am Assembly - Merit and Principal Awards at 2pm, all welcome. |
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Tuesday 19 August |
Diocesan Athletic Selection Trials |
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Wednesday 20 August |
Kinder Parish Mass at 9am |
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Thursday 21 August |
Year 2 Parish Mass at 9am Book Week Parade dress up, from 1.30pm. Parents welcome. |
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Friday 22 August |
Year 6 Reconciliation at 9am Year 4 visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am |
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Wednesday 27 August |
Year 4 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Thursday 28 August |
Western Region Soccer Gala Day - more details closer to the event via Compass. |
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Friday 29 August |
Year 4 Reconciliation at 9am Year 6 classroom visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am Assembly - Merit and Principal Awards at 2pm, all welcome. |
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Wednesday 3 September |
Kinder Parish Mass at 9am Father's Day stall - Day 1 |
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Thursday 4 September |
Year 1 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Friday 5 September |
Year 3 Reconciliation at 9am Kinder visit by Fr. Sarkis at 10am Fathers Day stall - Day 2 |
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Monday 8 September |
Full Summer Uniform |
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Tuesday 9 September |
Year 5 and 6 - Christmas Art Gallery showing at school from 2.15pm to 3.15pm in St Joachim hall. |
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Thursday 11 September |
Year 3 and 4 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Friday 12 September |
5M Reconciliation at 9am Year 1 Classromm visit by Fr Sarkis at 10am Fathers Day Celebration at Assembly - Merit and Principal Awards at 2pm, all welcome |
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Wednesday 17 September |
Year 2 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Thursday 18 September |
Western Region Basketball Gala Day - Juniors (Year 3 & 4) - more details closer to the event via Compass. |
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Friday 19 September |
Western Region Basketball Gala Day - Seniors (Years 5 & 6) - more details closer to the event via Compass. |
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Wednesday 24 September |
Year 3 Parish Mass at 9am |
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Monday 22 September |
Year 3 and 4 Incursion - Junkyard Beats in St Joachim hall |
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Friday 26 September |
Staff Spirituality Development Day - Pupil Free |
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Saturday 27 September to Sunday 12 October |
******** School Holidays ******** |
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Monday 13 October |
Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day |
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Tuesday 14 October |
Term 4 commences for students Kindergarten Excursion to Calmsley Hill - more details closer to the event via Compass. |
BOOK WEEK 2025 - Book an adventure!
This year OLHC will be celebrating Book Week with a parade and activities. The 2025 Book Week theme is 'Book an Adventure’. On Thursday 21st August we will be hosting a book parade. Parents are invited to join the parade, which will begin at 1:30pm, on the Playground 2 basketball court. Students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character, and bring along their favourite book.
Please be reminded that students must wear appropriate costumes and footwear. Throughout the day, the students will also participate in activities associated with the nominated books from the Children's Book Council (CBC) Shortlist.
We are very grateful to the P&F for their generous support, in purchasing these books from the CBC.
Kinder 100 Days Brighter - Monday 28 July 2025
Kindergarten celebrated the 100th day of school on Monday, 28th July. The bright outfits were amazing.
Enjoy photos of the day.
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:
Alexandra Mezarina 5M, Jordan Tabone 3W, Amaira Shesthra 2M, Jarrod Crawford 5M
Our next Assembly will be on Friday 15 August 2025. Merit and Principal Awards will be presented. Congratulations to the following students who will be receiving a Principal's Award.
| Principal Awards | |
| Class | Student Name |
| 1M | Alexandros PIIPARI |
| 3M | Brooklyn TERAN |
| 3W | Rosa MELHEM |
| 5M | Fiona NGUYEN |
| 6M | Roman ORAZ |
| KM | Victor MCMILLAN |
Western Region Athletic Carnival Friday 8 August 2025
Congratulations to Sarkis House, who was announced on Monday as winners of the school Athletics Carnival.
We wish those students well who will be representing OLHC at the Western Region Athletics Carnival, being held tomorrow 8th August at Campbelltown Stadium.
Thank you to our parent volunteer Mrs Kelly Tabone and teaching staff, Mrs Alison Fazio and Mrs Taryn Western for assisting at the event.
We hope that they have a wonderful day and know that they will be great representatives of OLHC!
| Sport Representatives | ||
| First Name | Last Name | Class |
| Charlotte | Abrahams | 4M |
| Orlando | Arias | 6M |
| Sebastian | Barrett-Vizcaino | 4M |
| Jarrod | Crawford | 5M |
| Austin | Dellis | 5M |
| Adelaide | Douglas | 4M |
| Khloe | Garcia | 3M |
| Rafqa | Hachem | 5M |
| Teresa | Jimmy | 5M |
| Andrea | Joseph | 6M |
| John Paul | Khalife | 1M |
| Brooklyn | Kosema | 3M |
| Ezrah | Latulipe | 6M |
| Hezekiah | Latulipe | 3M |
| Lucas | MacDiarmid | 6M |
| Rosa | McDonagh | 3M |
| Amelia | McGee | 4M |
| Roman | Oraz | 6M |
| Klara | Smith | 3W |
| Eloise | Soriano | 6M |
| Jordan | Tabone | 3W |
| Hayden | Tabone | 3M |
| Alexandra | Vagaja | 6M |
Each fortnight there will be a section of the newsletter, that will provide you with some tips, information and resources about how to best support your child at school and at home.
COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS CONFERENCE -
The Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) has announced that tickets to the 2025 CCSP Parents and Carers’ Conference on Saturday 25 October 2025 are now on sale.
This year’s conference celebrates 30 years of CCSP supporting and advocating for parents and carers of children in Catholic schools. It also marks the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee.
The 2025 conference theme is
Supporting Families: Working Together in a Modern World.
Keynote speakers at the conference include:
- Dr Justin Coulson – one of Australia’s most trusted parenting experts. He is the co-host and parenting expert on Channel 9’s Parental Guidance, and the founder of happyfamilies.com.au.
- Michelle Mitchell – author and speaker, sought after for her compassionate and grounded advice for parenting tweens and teens.
- Daniel Principe – passionate youth advocate and educator. Through his work, Daniel encourages young people to recognise and resist distorted attitudes towards bodies, relationships, and sex.
The conference, which is being held at the Novotel, 350 Church Street, Parramatta, is a one-day event and is only $30 to attend. It is a wonderful opportunity to hear and engage with some of Australia’s leading experts on raising young people in our complex society.
Please see the accompanying flyer, for further information
Canteen closed Friday 8 August 2025
Our school canteen will be closed on Friday 8 August 2025 for online lunch orders and snacks.
The closure is due to the canteen being a shared resource with John Therry Catholic College, who have a Pupil Free Day on Friday and will be closing their canteen.
Sorry for any inconvenience and please ensure students have enough food and snacks for Friday.
Staff Development Days 2025
