Dear Parents & Parishioners,

It's hard to believe, but at the end of this week we will already be halfway through this term and, yet, there is so much still on the horizon. A number of major highlights ahead of us on the calendar include the Kids & Dads' Night with Kaboom Sports, Book Week Celebrations, Fathers' Day Stall, the Sacrament of Confirmation, the School Concert, and Footy Colours Day. Whew!

Celebrating 100 Days of Learning

Last Friday, Mrs Hollow and Ms Dening prepared a special day to recognise 100 Days of learning in Prep. The Prep students all arrived at school wearing clothes that typified what might be worn by a 100 year old person. I've never seen so many walking canes!

The 100 days of school celebrations began with a photo shoot to capture the precious memories of the Preps' first year at OHR. This was followed with some quiet time in prayer where God was thanked for the many blessings received - remembering how fortunate the children are to have such great educational opportunities here in Australia.

The students then set about making '100 day glasses'- where they displayed their great fine-motor skills that have been strengthened during 100 days of learning.

This was follwed with a “Buddy Catch Up” session where the Preps practiced precise counting to check their 100 item collections. Conversations were also held on the topic, “Things I would like to do before I am 100”.

The Fitness session consisted of 100 star jumps, 100 second sprints and some class games.

The students watched 101 Dalmatians, had some fun with Mr Bode and finished off the day with a special afternoon tea supplied by our incredibly supportive Prep parents.

Ms Dening and Mrs Hollow would like to extend their many thanks to everyone involved in sharing this special day.

Dads & Kids Night

There is only a fortnight to go until the PFA Dads & Kids Night with Kaboom Sports. This is always a popular and well-attended evening in the lead-up to Fathers' Day. Details can be found on the PFA News page further in this newsletter.

Science Week: Have you booked your tickets to OHR's Science & STEM Night?

Mrs Axon has planned a family evening celebrating both Science and STEM at OHR. This is a night not to be missed - less than one week to go.

Information on how to book tickets can be found on the Science and STEM page of today's newsletter.

School Concert

Details to book seats for the OHR School Concert, on Thursday 14 September, will be emailed to families in the coming days.

On the Performing Arts page in today's newsletter, you can find a copy of the email sent out on Tuesday detailing the order of songs and costume requirements.

MASH Rotary Club Speech Competition

On Tuesday evening the Mont Albert & Surrey Hills (MASH) Rotary Club held the 18th Annual Primary Schools Speech Competition. 16 students represented eight local schools. The two students proudly representing Our Holy Redeemer were Eleanor J and Harriet J. Both students are in Year 6. Eleanor spoke on the topic 'Uniforms are Better', while Harriet delivered a speech on 'The ANZACS'. Harriet took the place of Thomas W who has been unwell this week.

All 16 students delivered captivating speeches on a range of topics. Needless to say, we were extremely proud of Eleanor and Harriet who delivered cleverly composed speeches with both poise and confidence. Harriet was awarded third place by the judges and will present a speech on an entirely different topic at the September meeting of the MASH Rotary Club.

Book Week at OHR

Make sure that you head to the Library News page to find out what Mrs MacIsaac has in store for Book Week this year.

Working Bee

This is a friendly reminder that our next Working Bee is scheduled for this Saturday 12th August from 8:30 - 10:30am. Within that time we will also have a sausage sizzle.

Please bring along wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, brush cutters, loppers, and petrol or electric blowers.

If you are able to assist, even for part of the time, it would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to bring along your children - they can either help out or play with their friends.

For task planning and catering purposes, please confirm your attendance to either of our Working Bee coordinators, Justin or Luke:

Luke.Torpey@jrtpartnership.com.au

Justin.trees@hotmail.com

Student Code of Conduct Form

It is now a requirement from MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) that all students who attend a Catholic school complete the Student Code of Conduct.

On Monday, the classroom teachers went through the Code of Conduct with the students in their class and clearly explained the expectations of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours at school. Your child was given a copy of this document on Monday afternoon to take home and sign. However, prior to signing and dating, we request that parents/guardians read over the document with their child. Please take this as an opportunity to discuss the contents of the Code of Conduct with your child, as the language will need to be simplified for younger students. We then ask the students to sign this document in the presence of their parents before returning it to their class teacher.

The Code of Conduct ensures that students, parents/guardians and teaching staff all have the same understanding of the expectations around being enrolled in a Catholic School.

All Code of Conduct forms need to be returned to the classroom teacher by tomorrow, Friday 11 August.

We appreciate your cooperation with regard to the initiative that has been implemented by MACS.

Key enrolment dates for Year 5 students in 2024 starting Year 7 in 2026

The key enrolment dates for students in Year 5 in 2024 who will be starting Year 7 in 2026 have been agreed after consultation with the Executive of the Principals Association of Victorian Catholic Secondary Schools (PAVCSS).

The timeline of events and dates is as follows:

applications for students starting Year 7 in 2026 will open on Monday 29 January 2024
applications will close on Friday 16 August 2024
offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants on Friday 18 October 2024
parents/carers will be required to accept an offer from a school by Friday 8 November 2024.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank

Learning Diversity