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FROM THE GOSPEL
In the Gospel reading last Sunday, Jesus continued in his public ministry in and around Galilee. He found a stretch of level ground, perhaps along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, where a large crowd of people had gathered. The 'level place' beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke differs slightly from the Sermon on the Mount beatitudes found in Matthew’s Gospel. The differences between the two versions come because Jesus is preaching in two different locations to two different crowds. At this level place, Jesus is among the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed. These people have little in life to bring them joy, but Jesus tells them that they are blessed and loved by God.
The crowd that day includes men and women who are hopelessly poor, hungry, oppressed and excluded by society. They hear that there is a place for them in the kingdom of God! They are blessed! They are honoured! Jesus invites them to respond to his message and to be transformed.
How do you respond to these beatitudes? Do you ever find yourself poor? Hungry? Oppressed? Rejected? If so, you are in good company. You are blessed too, and you can lean into the messages preached by Jesus.
Just like the people on the level ground at the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee two thousand years ago, our faith can provide many reasons to rejoice and be joyful.
Lord, send us the grace of trust, so that we can trust you in the
midst of all the challenges that we face and let us grow in our
faith as we seek wisdom and love God.
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you so much for your wonderful support as we ensure the safety of students and staff by continuing to adopt COVID Smart Measures. The ongoing support of parents and carers is most appreciated as we continue to navigate and support each other through this time.
If a student in a particular grade returns a positive COVID test result from a Rapid Antigen Test parents are asked to notify the school office and record this via the Services NSW Health App. Parents will be notified if a student in your child’s grade returns a positive test result via COMPASS where they will receive a notification. Due to privacy reasons and being part of a community, the student or staff member who returns the positive test result will remain anonymous. Thank you for being respectful in relation to this as we seek to communicate necessary information whilst being conscious of the privacy of individuals in our school community.
Last Friday 11 February 2022, our Stage Three (Years Five and Six) students gathered in our Parish Church to celebrate Mass with Fr Sarkis. At the conclusion of this Mass Fr Sarkis blessed the new staff name badges as well as the Year Six student leader badges for 2022.
We wish these student leaders well as they undertake a variety of leadership roles and responsibilities throughout the 2022 school year.
ENROLMENT FOR KINDERGARTEN 2023
Parents and Carers are advised that the enrolment period for Kindergarten 2023 has now opened.
Please use the following link to download an enrolment application form.
Parents are asked to please return this completed enrolment form to the school office by the end of this term - Friday 8 April 2022.
Please spread the word with extended family and friends that the enrolment period is now OPEN.
In order to accept your enrolment application the following needs to be included -
- Birth certificate
- Baptism certificate
- Immunisation record
- Proof of address.
The newest members of our school community, our Kindergarten students are settling in well and adjusting to school routines. We are blessed to have many new Kinder families join our school community this year.
Enjoy the coming week as we continue to Seek Wisdom, Love God.
Jane Webb
PRINCIPAL
SUPPORTING REGULAR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
WHY MUST I SEND MY CHILD TO SCHOOL?
Education in New South Wales is compulsory. This means all children from six years of age and under the minimum school leaving age are legally required to attend school.
WHY IS REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL IMPORTANT?
Regular school attendance will help your child to succeed in later life. Attending school every day makes learning easier for your child and helps children to build and maintain friendships with other children. If your child doesn’t learn the basic skills in the early years of school, they may develop learning problems in later years.
DID YOU KNOW? IF STUDENTS MISS AS LITTLE AS EIGHT DAYS IN A SCHOOL TERM, BY THE END OF PRIMARY SCHOOL THEY WILL HAVE MISSED A YEAR OF EDUCATION.
MUST I SEND MY CHILD TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY?
YES. It is a condition of enrolment that you send your child to school every day.
A small number of absences may be justified if your child has to:
- go to a special religious ceremony;
- is required to attend to a serious and/or urgent family situation (e.g. a funeral); and
- is too sick to go to school or has an infectious illness.
It was lovely last week to welcome our new Kindergarten students to our school on Tuesday. They have made a huge adjustment to school life and are settling in very well. Thank you to the Kindergarten parents for being so understanding of the arrangements that we have had to put in place due to our COVID restrictions and thank you to Miss Gabrio and Mrs Dryden for all that they are doing to make this transition to big school so smooth. I am sure there were many tired Kindergarten students last Friday afternoon after their first week of big school.
The students have been working very hard in their classrooms and on the playground to show that they are able to follow the school rules and have been awarded house points for doing so. To begin the year the teachers have explicitly taught the expectations for behaviour in the classroom and in all areas of the playground. These are retaught throughout the year to remind students of what is expected and how we follow the school rules in everything we do here at OLHC. House points are totalled each week to see which house is coming first. The students were very keen to hear from Mrs Nowak at Monday’s flag raising this week when she announced the first house point tally for the term. Congratulations to Sarkis and MacKillop who are currently tied for first place with 138 points each. The house points for the Swimming Carnival will be added to next week’s total and will be announced on Monday morning at flag raising.
MEET & GREET
During Week 6 (Monday 28 February - Friday 4 March 2022) we will be having our Meet and Greet meetings with parents. These 5 minute meetings are an opportunity for you as parents to meet your child’s teacher and to inform them about your child and their needs. Unfortunately due to the current COVID smart measures in place we are unable to hold these meetings face to face. This year our Meet and Greet meetings will be held via zoom. You will be able to book your meeting time, if you wish to, next week via Compass and the zoom link will be shared with you before Week 6. When you click on the zoom link you will enter a waiting room and the teacher will admit you to the meeting. Please be mindful that these meetings are only for 5 minutes and it is important that teachers stick to this so they don’t keep other parents waiting. If a longer meeting time is needed this can be arranged through the school office.
Have a lovely end to your week and a relaxing weekend.
OPENING SCHOOL MASS
On Friday 11 February 2022 we celebrated the beginning of the school year. Stage 3 came together for Mass and Stage 2 and 1 for Liturgies. It was wonderful to have time to gather.
A special part of Mass was the commissioning ceremony for our captains. We welcome our captains into their new leadership roles.
CLASSROOM PRAYER CLOTHS
This year we have class prayer cloths. These prayer cloths are green for ordinary time and have been specially designed with our school motto: Seek wisdom, love God. A very special thank you to Mrs Maree Murphy for her time and work in creating these for our school community.
Our school motto originates from the first reading for the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, Year A. Ecclesiasticus 4:11-18 God loves those who love wisdom. Father Sarkis blessed these prayer cloths and they were shared with our classes on Monday.
On Shrove Tuesday 1 March 2022, Stage 3 will gather to celebrate the launch of Project Compassion. The launch will be held over ZOOM. Project Compassion will span the 6 weeks of lent and will provide many opportunities for our school community to support those who are most vulnerable.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
Please note that there has been a change to the date of Confirmation:
POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS FOR LEARNING (PB4L)
Georgia Botrous (1M) Rose and Harvey Miller (1M) Sarkis
ASSEMBLY
Emily Anthony (1M), Faustina Sojan (1M),
SPORT DAYS
| Kindergarten - Monday & Friday |
| Year 1 - Monday & Friday |
| Year 2 - Wednesday & Friday |
| Year 3 - Thursday & Friday |
| Year 4 - Monday & Friday |
| Year 5 - Tuesday & Friday |
| Year 6 - Tuesday & Friday |
LIBRARY DAYS
| Kindergarten - Wednesday |
| Year 1 - Thursday |
| Year 2 - Thursday |
| Year 3 - Friday |
| Year 4 - Friday |
| Year 5 - Wednesday |
| Year 6 - Tuesday |
2022 SCHOOL FEE INFORMATION
School fees for 2022 have now been invoiced and statements will be issued by the end of Week Two with annual or first instalment payment due on 28 February 2022. You may view school fees in the Compass Parent Portal.
We would also like to advise you of the following important information in relation to school fees and the rollout of new administrative systems. All primary, secondary and K-12 schools have now been transferred to the package which includes Compass and Technology One. This has provided the Catholic Education Office with the ability to perform centralised functions relating to school fee accounts on behalf of our schools.
WHAT CENTRALISATION OF FUNCTIONS MEANS FOR FAMILIES
The invoicing of school fees and the distribution of school fee statements each month, is now a function carried out by the Catholic Education Office. Payment of fees, whether as an annual payment or payment by instalments is due on the date/s provided on your school fee statement.
Please note that if an adjustment is made to your school fee account eg your child changes subjects in a secondary school, etc., we will email a new school fee statement. If you are paying by instalments, they may need to be regenerated and a change may occur in your payments. If this is the case, a new schedule of payments and due dates will appear on the last page of your statement.
REMINDERS FOR LATE PAYMENTS
In 2021, the issue of reminders for late payment via email was introduced and in 2022 the ability to send SMS messages will be added to the system. These reminders are automatically generated by the software based on the number of days a payment is overdue and are distributed by the Catholic Education Office. For those families that may have difficulty in paying their school fees, these reminders may cause some distress. This is not our intention. Our intention is to manage the collection of school fee accounts with new technology and in so doing, alleviate some of the administrative work of our schools.
SCHOOL FEE ACCOUNT ENQUIRIES
Please note, despite the centralisation of various functions, your school/s will always be your point of contact for matters pertaining to fees. If you wish to discuss your school fee account, please contact your school office. The role of the Catholic Education Office is to action centralised tasks on behalf of schools.
IF YOU WISH TO PAY BY INSTALMENTS
Many families have already elected to pay their school fees by instalments. If you wish to avail yourself of this option please complete a Request to Pay by Instalment Form which is available on your school’s website or at your school’s office. On completion of the request either email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.au or submit at your school’s office. Following receipt of the request, instalments will be generated on your account and a schedule of payments and due dates will be provided on your next school fee statement. Please note it is only necessary to complete this form once during the period of child/children’s enrolment, unless you wish to amend your payment frequency.
DIFFICULTY WITH PAYMENT
If you are experiencing financial difficulty, we encourage you to contact the school in which your child/children are enrolled to discuss an arrangement that will assist you meet your commitments. This may include the completion of a Diocesan Application for Fee Concession which is available from the administration office of each school. Be reassured that your situation will be treated with strict confidentiality and respect for your circumstances.
For those families that received a Fee Concession in 2021, you will receive an email prior to your annual review date attaching a further Application for Fee Concession. If you wish to submit the application, please do so at your child’s school. Please note, if you have children in more than one school, it will only be necessary to submit one application.
For further information regarding school fees, please access the Diocesan School Fee Management Policy and Frequently Asked Questions which is available on your school’s website.
NEWSLETTER TRANSLATION
USE OF SCHOOL BUBBLERS
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".
To visit the school Facebook page, please click on the link below. When you see something you like on our Facebook page, "Please "like" us" :)
www.facebook.com/olhc.rosemeadow
eSAFETY WEBSITE
The following dates are published, but subject to NSW Health Public Health Orders.
| Date | ActivityEvent |
| Monday 28 February to Friday 4 March |
Catholic Schools Week Meet & Greet ZOOM meetings |
| Tuesday 1 March | Shrove Tuesday |
| Wednesday 2 March | Ash Wednesday |
| Friday 25 March | Feast of The Annunciation |
| Sunday 3 April | Daylight savings finishes |
| Friday 8 April | Last day of Term 1 |
| Tuesday 26 April | First day of Term 2 |
The Canteen is open for lunch orders and 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.
They may find what they are looking for in our group sessions. These face to face group sessions are available to adults who would like to strengthen relationships, support children's development and build resilience within a supportive environment, alongside others who share similar life experiences.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation all Term 1 courses have been moved online.
Click below to view our Term 1, 2022 courses.
For more information or to make a booking please contact our Intake Service on 4254 9395 or email IntakeService@catholiccare.dow.org.au
WHAT'S ON IN CAMPBELLTOWN