Principals' Pilgrimage ~ The Way of St James

I will be absent from school during the first week of Term 4 (7-11 October) as I am attending a special pilgrimage with 25 other Catholic principals from the Eastern Region of Melbourne. We will depart Melbourne on Sunday 29 September (following the AFL Grand Final) for Spain, and return to Melbourne on Saturday 12 October. Mr Nick Byrne will be your point of contact during my absence - nbyrne@ohrsurreyhills.catholic.edu.au

This pilgrimage follows in the footsteps of the Apostle, St James, in Northern Spain. It's an

ancient pilgrimage from medieval times, arriving at the Santiago de Compostela, where it is believed the remains of St James are buried. This particular pilgrimage is often referred to as the Camino de Santiago. The total distance of this Camino is 825km, however my colleagues and I will only be completing the final stage of this journey, from Sarria to Santiago, which is 115km.

As a team of leaders in Catholic schools, our goals during this pilgrimage will be to build on our collegiality as well as experience spiritual growth and cultural immersion. We have each been gifted a journal for our Camino, which has a range of reflections and prayers for meditation along the way. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is situated in Galicia, in northwest Spain, which will be the final point of our pilgrimage where we will have the privilege of visiting the Tomb of St James, in a crypt beneath the main altar.

I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in this special pilgirmage and hope to bring my learnings and experiences back to OHR to share with you in Term 4.

OHR Art Show

When: Tonight. For anyone unable to attend this evening, some of the spaces will be open this Friday until lunchtime.

Time: 7.00 – 8.15pm. Please assemble in the hall by 6.50pm for the official launch and keynote address.

Where: Artworks will be on display in a number of key areas, including: the Hall; Performing Arts Room; Year 3/4 learning area; stairwell leading down to the junior area; and 1/2DE & PrepHW classrooms.

What else is on? A number of hampers can be won during the night. Raffle tickets will be on sale during the evening. $2 per ticket or 3 tickets for $5. We encourage you to bring along gold coins or small denominations of paper notes to purchase the raffle tickets.

It’s important to note that the Art Show is a family affair, in other words, children should remain with their families at all times. We encourage families to take their time. Children should not be moving about the Art Show by themselves. Toileting facilities for children will be identified as separate to those available for adults. Teaching staff will be assigned a variety of roles during the night to assist with the smooth running of the Art Show and, therefore, will not be there in a supervisory capacity.

And thank you ...

To those parents who have given time this week to assist us in setting up the Art Show.

Post Art Show Assistance

If you are able to spare an hour on Friday afternoon or during the day on Monday to assist with packing up artworks, please contact me by email:

principal@ohrsurreyhills.catholic.edu.au . Any help is greatly appreciated.

Monday's Assembly

Due to the fact that the Art Show displays in the hall will be taken down this Monday, the weekly assembly will be held in the church.

Welcome

A special welcome to Christopher D-M, who commenced in Year 1/2HH on Monday. We also extend a special welcome to his parents, Michael and Evellyn. Please extend a warm welcome to the family, should you meet them.

MACSSIS

A significant and formal way in which we engage and gather data is through MACSSIS, the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys.

MACSSIS is a set of surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic schools in Melbourne by the Learning Services team at MACS, in partnership with researchers at Learning First and in wide consultation with principals in our schools.

Families , students (Years 4 -6) and staff are invited to complete the surveys.

So far our response rate is 7% of families which is significantly below the 30% goal that MACS sets for schools. You can also see that the average survey completion time is only 8.6 minutes.

Footy Colours Day

Next Thursday is Footy Colours Day where we aim to raise money to support Kids with Cancer. Our students are encouraged to come to school on this day wearing the colours of their favourite footy team. Further details can be found on the P.E. News page.

PFA Sausage Sizzle Next Friday

To conclude the term, the PFA will hold a sausage sizzle for the students next Friday. The cost for a sausage in bread is a gold coin donation.

Remember, the students are dismissed at 1.00pm that day.

OHR Spring Carnival School Fete - Only 6 Weeks to Go

The fete committee continue to meet on a fortnightly basis to plan for this year's school fete. This is a HUGE event for our school and to ensure that it is a success the fete committee will require everyone's support.

Make sure that you visit the PFA News page for further information. Also check out our list of invaluable sponsors listed on the first page of this newsletter.

A link to the fete website can be found on the homepage of our school website.

Parish Notice: Exploring the Catholic Faith

If you or an adult family member or a friend are interested in exploring the Catholic faith further, or being baptised and confirmed in the Catholic Church, we would like to hear from you. Our next group of enquirers will begin in October this year. A number of sessions are planned to welcome and plan a way forward for any interested person. Our four sessions will take place on 9 October, 23 October, 6 November and 20 November at 7.00 pm in the Gathering Space at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 10 Whitehorse Road, Deepdene. Please contact either Fr Brendan Reed or Tricia Norman for further information or to express your interest. Read Fr Brendan’s article, From the Parish House.

Planning for 2025

We are currently in the process of finalising the student numbers in each level for the 2025 school year. If your child will not be returning to OHR next year, would you mind putting this in writing and sending this communication in an email to both Heather and myself? It would be appreciated if you could let us know by no later than tomorrow, 13 September.

Of course, parents with students currently in Year 6 do not need to write to us.

Summer Uniform & Hats

As we are a SunSmart School, all students will be required to wear their hats to school from the first day of Term 4. Students have the option of wearing either their summer or winter uniform for the first two weeks of the term, but not a combination of the two. We also ask that the students wear black leather school shoes on the days they are not wearing their sports uniform.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank Dame

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