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- NAPLAN Catch Up (Assistant Principal)
- OLHC Feast Day Celebrations and Mass - Registration required (Principal and Religious Education)
- Open Classrooms (Religious Education)
- Winter Woollies Fundraiser (Religious Education)
- Before 8.00am drop off (Information)
- Semester 1 Reports (Information)
- Personalised Planning Meetings (Information)
- Nude Food Fridays (Information)
- Re-usable lunch bags (Information)
- School Photographs - Term 4
- Like us :) on Facebook
Stewardship Thought ....
From the Gospel ....
Jesus is taken to heaven, and the disciples go forth to preach as Jesus commanded.
Last weekend our Church celebrated the ascension of Jesus, an indication that we are beginning to move out of the season of Easter. Remembering his ascension reminds us that we cannot limit God. While he came to us in the flesh in the person of Jesus, we cannot limit God to any one place. His ascension is not about His leaving, rather that He is within us and in all that we do.
It can be very important whom we sit next to. Any family that has tried to sit down to a family dinner or packed the car for a trip has heard children argue at least once about who should sit where. To sit next to someone, especially if that person is important, is to have a place of honour.
Jesus has this place of honour seated at God’s right hand, but there’s more to this metaphor than where Jesus sits in relation to God. To be in the place of honour is also to be in a place of power. Knowing people in powerful places can be helpful. Our children remind us of this each time we are called upon to referee a conflict. Jesus, honoured at God’s right hand, is a powerful ally for us.
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is difficult to believe that we are at the half-way point of the second term and heading towards the sixth month of the year. Next week, on Monday 24th May, we celebrate, as a school and parish community, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians – the patron of our community.
We pray that under the guidance of Blessed Mary, our spiritual mother, that we continue to be a place where Jesus is present and experienced in our community. We will celebrate our Feast Day by coming together as a community at Mass with Fr. Sarkis. This Mass will be in the Parish Church from 10:30am. We give thanks for the many blessings that we have each received and the faith that unites and sustains us.
Our Lady Help of Christians – Pray for Us.
God our Father in heaven,
by your grace you have given us all that is good.
Thank you for our Catholic community of faith, love and learning.
As we gather here under the guidance of Mary, our Mother,
help us to seek your wisdom and courage
so that we can learn to be more like Jesus, your Son.
May our classrooms be filled with discovery,
our playgrounds filled with joy,
our futures filled with hope, and
our hearts filled with love.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
Amen.
Athletics Carnival
There was a great sense of excitement this morning with the Athletics Carnival today. We were blessed to have the opportunity to reschedule. I’m sure it will be a wonderful day with great sportsmanship shown and many house points awarded. Thank you to all of the teachers on the Sports Committee, especially Miss O’Sullivan, for all of the organisation for today’s carnival.
NAPLAN Assessments
Year 3 and Year 5 students have completed their NAPLAN Assessments over the last couple of weeks, finishing with the Numeracy Assessment yesterday. Thank you to the Year 3 and 5 teachers for supporting the students through this process and to Miss O’Sullivan for all of her technical support. Students who have been absent and have missed one of their NAPLAN Assessments will have the opportunity to catch up tomorrow.
House Points
We are at the halfway point of Term 2 and the House Points have been tallied. Congratulations to MacKillop who are currently in first place and will receive their ice block reward tomorrow. House Points awarded from today’s Athletics Carnival will be added to the House Point total next week.
SPOTLIGHT ON RELIGION - 6W Spirituality Day
This term students in 6W took part in a Spirituality Day. The students explored the goodness of God and how they could be that good in the world. The picture below shows the characteristics or values they want to focus on in 2021.
Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day
Thank you to all the parents and care-givers who have responded to the Compass invitation for our Feast Day Mass on Monday at 10.30am. If you would like to attend and have not yet responded, I would encourage you to register your interest in attending via the Compass events portal before the cut off at 6.00pm tonight.
After Mass, weather permitting, parents will be invited to come and eat with the students on the basketball courts (parents may bring their own food to eat as well).
Continuing with our Feast Week celebrations, we would also like to invite parents to attend our open classrooms. Parents can join students in learning about Our Lady Help of Christians. In keeping with COVID safe regulations we ask that before entering the classroom you use the QR code to check in.
Open classrooms will occur on the following days:
| Tuesday 25th May | Wednesday 26th May | Thursday 27th May | Friday 28th May | |
| 8.30am - 9.00am | 2M | 4M | Kindergarten | Year 5 |
| 9.00am - 9.30am | Year 1 | Year 6 | ||
| 2.10pm - 2.40pm | Year 3 |
St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal
This year the main focus of our Winter Appeal will be creating awareness about the challenges people who are experiencing homelessness over Winter face. Students from Year 5 will be informing their peers about this social issue and what we can do to support the cause.
On Friday 4th June we will have a Winter Woollies mufti day. Students can wear casual clothes for a gold coin donation that will be given to St Vincent de Paul on behalf of the school community.
Personalised Planning (PP) Meetings
Parents and care-givers who are involved in PP Meetings were sent an email and Compass alert on Tuesday. Please make every effort to book a meeting. If you are experiencing any difficulty, please contact the office who can make a day and time on your behalf. The on-line booking system for these meetings will close at 3.00pm on Monday 24th May.
Before 8.00am Drop-off Car Line
Parents and care-givers are reminded that there is no supervision of students until 8.00am. If you drop your child/ren to school at the car-line area prior to 8.00am, please let your child/ren know that they must sit in the under-cover area until the gate is opened. We have been advised that students are playing tip and jumping on the stairs. This is a safety hazard to drivers and also puts the students at risk of sustaining an injury.
NAPLAN
Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students who have participated in the NAPLAN assessments over the past two weeks. It seems that many educators and commentators have various opinions about these tests with regard to their effectiveness.
In their current format, NAPLAN provides parents with a snapshot of how their child is performing in some areas of literacy and numeracy. Once they complete them up to Year 9, the results can provide an indication of their progress over time. The results also provide schools with data that can be useful in determining some overall strengths and areas for improvement. State and Federal governments also use the NAPLAN results to assist them with policy development and planning for education.
Some important things to be aware of with NAPLAN:
- It is only one form of assessment done on one day
- It does not assess all aspects of literacy and numeracy
- The intention was never to rank schools
- It does not measure so much more about children - creativity, motivation, leadership, curiosity, reliability etc.
- Teachers gather a range of other assessment data during the course of the year
Results will be available to parents later in the school year.
Semester One Reports
School reports for the first semester (Terms 1 and 2) will be available for students in Years One - Six through Compass on Wednesday 16th June. Kindergarten do not receive a Semester One report.
School photographs will take place in Term 4 on Tuesday 12th October. Students will be wearing full summer uniform.
Every Friday students are asked to bring in a rubbish free lunch. This way, we can work together to reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill. This means no zip lock or plastic bags, cling wrap, foil, paper bags and simply any pre-packaged food items. Students are encouraged to bring their lunch in durable and re-usable containers or wrapping. House points will be awarded for students with waste free lunches.
Earlier this week each student was sent home with a note and an order form for a re-usable lunch wallet. A copy of this note is attached.
Clothing Pool Procedures
With the continued easing of COVID restrictions we are now able to invite parents into the school who wish to access Clothing Pool. A range of second hand uniforms are available.
If parents wish to visit the clothing pool, which is located between the Years One and Two classrooms, please come to the school office to sign in before going to the clothing room.
Generally, the Clothing Pool will be open on a Wednesday morning from 8.00am - 8.20am. If you cannot make it on this day, please send a note into school with the items you require and we will bag the items and send them home via your child.
Vehicle Safety and Access - Drop Off and Pick Up
Parents and care-givers are requested to slow down (10 kph) when driving through the pick up/drop off areas and be very mindful of students using the roadway. Please respect the safety of all students, ours and those at John Therry Catholic High School.
Parents are also reminded that the OLHC staff car-park cannot be used to park in to pick up and drop off children and the gate from that car-park also cannot be used. Parents and care-givers must park elsewhere and use the gate closest to Demetrius Road to enter and leave our site. The only exceptions are for late arrivals and early and late leavers.
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:
Monique Brticevich (4M - Rose), Marise Kosema (2M - Ingham),
Hannah MacDiarmid (4M - Ingham), Adrianna van Kints (6M - Sarkis).
Assembly
Congratulations to the following students who will be receiving a Principal's Award at our next assembly on Friday 28th May 2021. Merit Awards will also be presented at this assembly.
Skye Bishop (5W), Katrin Camilleri (6M),
Lachlan Drake (3M), Jasmine Jallad (5M),
Ryan Muscat (1M), Amelia Lisita-Cocheci (1M),
Nelson Martinez-Ramirez (6W), Annabelle Smith (4M),
Olivia Smith (6M), Heath Spinks (1M),
Nolan Tran (3M).
Newsletter Translation
Did you realise that the Schoolzine Newsletter platform allows for the Newsletter to be translated into any language? Please follow the prompts from the attached flyer for further information.
Use of School Bubblers
Parents are advised that the school bubblers can be used by students. However, it is recommended that students continue to bring a water bottle from home.
We also have a refilling station that the students can access during the school day to refill their drink bottles.
Please ensure that drink bottles are clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Student Absence
Letters to request reasons for a child's absence will be sent home on a fortnightly basis. Please provide an explanation for the absence and sign off the letter and return it to the office as soon as possible. If you think the absence is incorrect, please note this on the letter.
Parents may also open the Compass app and provide an explanation through there.
Just after 10.00am, on a school day, an alert will automatically be sent to you to advise if your child has been marked absent. You can provide an absence reason via this alert as well. Thank you.
Celebrations and Sharing of Food
This term we are continuing with the request that parents/care-givers not send in birthday cakes or food to share with the class. I understand that this is something that the children enjoy, however, we need to maintain controlled safety and hygiene procedures in the school. If you would like to send in something to acknowledge and celebrate your child’s birthday, you are able to send in packaged goods only (eg, packets of Maltesers, small wrapped chocolate bars etc such as a Freddo Frogs). We will notify you when these restrictions are lifted.
Compass 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 please see the attached flyer "Accessing the Compass App".
eSafety Website
| DATE | ACTIVITY |
| Friday 21st May | Year 4 Reconciliation, 9.00am |
| Year 1 grade visit by Father, 10.30am | |
| Monday 24th May | OLHC Feast Day Mass, 10.30am (Open classrooms this week - see RE section). |
| Wednesday 26th May | National Sorry Day |
| Year 3 to Mass, 9.00am | |
| Personalised Plan Meetings commence | |
| Thursday 27th May | Year 5 to Mass, 9.00am |
| Years 3 and 4 Excursion | |
| Friday 28th May | 6M Reconciliation, 9.00am |
| Year 2 class visit by Father, 10.30am | |
| Assembly, 1.50pm | |
| Tuesday 1st June | Year 6 - Activate Fire |
| Wednesday 2nd June | Kinder to Mass, 9.00am |
| Thursday 3rd June | Year 1 to Mass, 9.00am |
| Friday 4th June | St Vinnie's Fundraiser - Mufti Day for gold coin |
| Monday 7th June | P&F Meeting, 7.30pm |
| Wednesday 9th June | Year 4 to Mass, 9.00am |
| Thursday 10th June | Year 6 to Mass, 9.00am |
| Friday 11th June | Corpus Christi Procession |
| 5W Reconciliation, 9.00am | |
| Year 6 grade visit by Father, 10.30am | |
| Confirmation practice | |
| Saturday 12th June | Confirmation, 6.00pm |
| Wednesday 16th June | Years 1 to 6 Reports go home via Compass |
| Friday 25th June | Last day of Term 2 |
Please join us at the next P&F Meeting on Monday 7th June at 7.30pm in the staff-room. We look forward to your attendance at this meeting.
School Banking
School banking is available on Tuesday of every week. Please remember to bring the deposit book and savings in on this day.
School banking helpers are required. If you can assist with school banking, please come to the office on a Tuesday morning after school drop off. It is a chance to volunteer your time at school and meet new friends. It takes about one hour per week and involves counting deposits, basic computer data entry and issuing prizes from the bank. If this sound like it would suit you, please come along!
The Canteen is open for over-the-counter sales of snacks and treats at Break 1 (11.00am - 11.30am). A price list is attached. Please support the Canteen in their endeavours to support our school community.
Lunch orders are required at the Canteen by 9.00am. Please write your child's name, class and what they wish to order on a paper bag and enclose the correct money, if possible.
The Canteen is run by Made Fresh. Should you have a need to contact the Canteen, please email Maria at "made.fresh@yahoo.com" or telephone 0422 469 489.
Parish Feast Mass
Mass
