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- Virtual Assembly (Information)
- Photo Competition (Religious Education)
- Wellbeing Day (Friday 27th August)
- Frontline Workers Video (Religious Education)
- Sacrament Survey
- Year 2 - iPad Information Evening (Information)
Stewardship Thought ....
Dear Parents and Carers,
With the ongoing nature of the COVID pandemic, we now have greater clarity that remote learning will remain in place for the remainder of the term. I am sure that this news raised a range of valid emotions from fatigue, anxiety and the unknown.
I know from the many conversations with parents recently, that so many of you have been putting a great deal of thought into how to help your children cope during the pandemic and are going to great lengths to support your child with their remote learning.
We are very grateful for all your continued and ongoing support through this challenging time.
I also know from talking to our staff, who are also juggling work and parenting responsibilities, the heavy toll this current reality is taking on personal well being.
As parents, we all must acknowledge how enormously important it is that we take some time to consider how to maintain our own well being.
Parents and carers may experience a range of different emotional reactions, including feeling overwhelmed, apathetic, worried or irritable. Despite being tempted to go into overdrive to minimise the impact on your children, you are not immune to the stress either.
Remember that taking care of your own well being is essential.
Below are four things you can do for your own well being:
1. Be gentle with yourself:
In the world of parenting, there is a drive to be the best you can be, and to be everything to everyone. Your kids don’t need you to be the perfect parent / carer. They need you to be good enough and to help them feel safe and supported. For this to happen, they need you to be OK.
Try to create more realistic and achievable expectations to reduce the pressure.
2. Take breaks for self-care:
Make sure you take some breaks to do the things that will help you feel less stressed. If you have someone to watch the kids, take a walk by yourself and enjoy the break. Try to find some time each day to take care of yourself, even if it’s just five minutes.
3. Stay connected:
While it’s important to make time to have fun and connect as a family, make sure you create time for your own social connections. Vent. Laugh. Share ideas about coping and compromising. Be there to support each other.
4. Be mindful of how you are thinking about the situation – take it seriously but keep your response in perspective:
Stay informed from reliable sources but remember that this will end. It might not feel like it some days, but it won’t be like this forever.
I hope that the resources shared below will provide our wonderful community of parents some wisdom and comfort in the days ahead.
How Parents can Keep Calm and Manage Stress
Way to reduce Stress- Beyond Blue
Tips for keeping calm and managing stress- download the PDF below:-
Ideas for Positively Managing your Children's Behaviour
Getting Children to listen
Approaches to Guiding Children's Behaviour – Parent Downloads
Positive Approaches to Guiding Children’s Behaviour – Guide 2
Children's mental health during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic podcast
How might children’s social and emotional well being be affected by the changes brought about in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? In this bonus episode, Brad Morgan, Director of Emerging Minds, discusses some challenges that might be coming up for families at this time as they navigate spending more time at home together. Tune in to this discussion to hear about what infants, toddlers, and children are needing from their parents right now and some suggestions on how parents can have child-centred conversations about Coronavirus.
Staying Connected
During this time, more than ever, it is important for our families to stay connected with one another and also to the school, so that we can support you and your child’s learning at home.
Here are some of the ways that you are encouraged to reach out if you need any help
- Updates are provided regularly via COMPASS - please ensure that you have the COMPASS app downloaded onto your phone
- If your child is having difficulties please contact the school office and the office staff will email your child’s teacher to pass on this message
- Send an email to info@olhcdow.catholic.edu.au and with your child’s name in the subject line and this will be passed onto the class teacher.
- Remember to take one day at a time and be kind to yourself - we know that you are doing your best.
Wellbeing Day
This Friday 27th August, all students at OLHC will be engaged in a variety of wellbeing activities that promote wellbeing and mindfulness.
The act of mindfulness helps us to be present, be grateful and promotes being well.
Students are encouraged to share photos with their classroom teacher.
We are looking forward to this sharing and enabling our students to engage in these mindfulness activities.
Stay Well, Stay Safe, Stay Home.
It’s hard to believe but here we are almost at the end of Week 7 and the end of 7 weeks of remote learning. As a school community, we reach out to all of our families who we wish we were seeing face to face each day. We hope you are all safe and well and please know that we are thinking about you all, each and every day. Knowing that we will continue to the end of the term learning remotely, remember to be kind to yourselves and give yourself time to relax together as well.
Tomorrow will be our first ‘Wellbeing Day’ and we hope that our students and maybe even your whole family, embrace some of the suggested Mindfulness activities so as to give yourselves time away from your screens. Time to be quiet, time to spend with God, time to be together as a family. We look forward to seeing the photos that the students will share with their teachers of their engagement in Mindfulness.
During this time of remote learning there may be an occasion when a staff member is unwell and unable to support students with their learning on that day, just the same as when we were teaching face to face. If this occurs, the scheduled school work for the day would still be uploaded via Seesaw or Google Classroom for the students to engage in. The students will receive a message that their teacher is unwell and will not be able to answer their questions or provide feedback to their work on that day. If there was a class zoom scheduled for that day, then this would be cancelled and the students will be notified of this as will you as parents via Compass.
If it is possible to arrange, a casual teacher will be employed to provide the feedback and answer students' questions for that day. If this is not possible then the students will still engage in all of their work in the usual way but they will have received a message, as mentioned previously, that no feedback will be provided. The teacher will not be expected to provide this feedback upon their return to work.
Hopefully we will be able to enjoy some more beautiful weather over the weekend, keeping you all in my prayers
Take care.
Season of Creation
Next week, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation marks the beginning of the Season of Creation.
To celebrate and show gratitude for creation, students will be taking part in activities that involve them enjoying the world around them, thinking of ways to be good stewards and praising God for the goodness given to us through our environment.
We will also be having a photo competition. Students are encouraged to take a photo of their favourite part of creation and write a short description of what they have photographed and why. To enter they can share this with Miss Ferderer (ferderern02@dow.catholic.edu.
Winners will be announced at our Week 9 assembly.
Thank You Frontline Workers
Students from Kinder to Year 6, as well as staff, took part in thanking the many men and women who help to keep us safe.
This was a wonderful opportunity for our school community to pause and be grateful for the sacrifices and hard work of our dedicated frontline workers.
Father's Day
We wish all fathers and those who take on fathering roles in our lives, a very happy Father’s Day.
In the year of St Joseph, we reflect on the father that Joseph was to Jesus and how he loved, supported and guided his son. Through the intercession of St Joseph we pray for all our fathers here and in heaven.
Miss Ferderer
Religious Education Co-ordinator.
Please find attached a letter from Bischop Mascord requesting parents and care-givers to give some time to complete the Sacraments Survey. Once downloaded, please click on the link in the letter. Thank you.
Virtual assemblies will now be held in odd weeks, with the next assembly due tomorrow, Friday 27th August. Merit Awards will be presented. Congratulations to the following students who will be receiving a Principal's Award:
Rihanna Abranches (3M), Lachlan Gorrie (6W),
Vinhy Tran (3W), Makenzie Williams (1M).
Year 2 Parents - 1:1 iPad Information Night
A reminder to our Year 2 parents that the information night for 1:1 iPads (students who will be in Year 3 in 2022 - iPads are compulsory for students in Years 3 to 6) will be held, via Zoom, on Monday 30th August at 5.00pm. The purpose is to provide parents with all the information they require in regard to iPad purchase and the responsibilities that go with the use of the iPad in the school environment. The link for the Zoom meeting will be shared on Monday.
Could you please confirm your attendance, via Compass, under the Event section.
Congratulations
Well done to Isabelle O'Toole (5W) who was winner of the Childrens' category in Campbelltown City Council's Cosplay Competition for 2021. In announcing Isabelle as the winner, the Council commented "We loved the complexity of the costume you put together and the amount of detail that went into creating it. One of our favourite parts was the staff, which looked like a lot of fun to carry around!".
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
School bubblers are no longer accessible to students. Students who are on-site will need to bring sufficient water for their needs each day.
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
P&F Meeting
The September P&F Meeting, set down for Monday 6th September, has been cancelled. The next scheduled meeting is Monday 1st November. Let us hope we can meet again by then.
Clothing Pool
As parents can no longer enter out site, if any item of uniform is required, please contact the office and we will arrange for items to be sent home when on-site learning resumes.
School Banking
School banking will resume when on-site learning resumes.
School banking is available on Tuesday of every week. Please remember to bring the deposit book and savings in on this day.
The Canteen is not open during remote learning. Students, who are on-site, need to bring all their food and drink for the day.
On resumption of on-site learning, the Canteen will be 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.
