Dear Parents & Parishioners,

One of the great champions of sport, Sir Donald Bradman, described Nelson Mandela as a true champion – for his courage under adversity, his integrity on the world stage as a stateman, and his compassion towards all people. He described Nelson Mandela as a ‘champion of humanity’.

Sir Edmund Hilary believed, “the strongest factor is motivation. I have known many mountaineers who would not be regarded as top class but, because they have a terrific desire to achieve, can drive themselves to the utmost. I have known in my own life, motivation has been the strongest factor.”

Herb Elliot, the Olympic gold medallist, thought, “most champions seem to have some sort of dream well above their current status. They recognise that to get to that dream they have to change their daily process in some way or another. They have the intelligence to do that. Almost everyone in the world can do that.”

Julie Hammer, one of the highest ranked women in the Australian defence forces, said that she honed in “on four factors – determination and absolute commitment to a goal; optimism, the belief in yourself and your team that you can actually achieve that goal and perhaps even exceed it; energy, that ability to keep driving; and teamwork. Whether you are following an individual or a team pursuit, there is always a team there supporting that champion.”

The last word belongs to Nelson Mandela, freedom fighter and humanitarian. “No leader, no champion, who puts him or herself above the people and above the team deserves that title or status … In all communities there are to be found good men and women who are prepared to stand up and achieve championship status through the desire to achieve for the common good. Let us all be champions for the people of the world.”

The impacts of absenteeism are cumulative

“The effects of non-attendance on achievement are cumulative and can impact both academic achievement and attendance in future years of schooling” – Hancock et al., 2013; Zubrick, 2014

Declines in achievement are evident with any level of absence. However, greater numbers of absences are typically associated with larger declines in student achievement (Gottfried, 2014; Hancock et al., 2013). Studies of chronic absenteeism (missing more than 10% of school days) show that regardless of the type, absence, has a compounding negative impact on academic performance (Gershenson et al., 2017; Gottfried, 2009; Zubrick, 2014).

As absences accrue over several years, the effect on a student’s academic achievement is cumulative. Hancock et al. (2013) found that Year 3 students with an accumulated unauthorised absence rate of 10% in each of their first three years of schooling achieved approximately 36 points lower in Year 3 on the NAPLAN numeracy domain than students with no unauthorised absences during the same period. As students generally gain 100 points from Year 3 to Year 5 (Hancock et al. 2013), a 36 point difference is almost two thirds of a year’s growth in achievement that students with high rates of unauthorised absences fail to reach. This impact continues to be evident in further years as well.

Findings from both US and Australian studies highlight the importance of setting positive attendance habits early in a child’s schooling. This includes attending early childhood education programs and early schooling. In an Australian study, researchers demonstrated that children who had attended a pre-school program at ages 4 or 5 achieved up to 20 points higher across NAPLAN domains in Year 3, compared with students who did not attend preschool. This equates to approximately 20 weeks of schooling by the Year 3 level, that students who did not attend pre-school missed out on (Warren & Haisken-DeNew, 2013). The link between attendance at pre-school, and Year 3 literacy and numeracy achievement is strong, even after controlling for various socio-demographic variables, indicating pre-school attendance has a significant impact on achievement outcomes in later years of compulsory schooling (Warren & Haisken-DeNew, 2013). International research demonstrates that chronic absenteeism in pre-school and Year 1 predicts patterns of non-attendance in later years (Attridge, 2016; Connolly & Olson, 2012; Dubay & Holla, 2016).

Acknowledgement: AITSL (2019), Attendance matters

Below is a copy of the Our Holy Redeemer Attendance Policy for MACS Schools.

Parent Learning Walk

Our next Parent Learning Walk will be held on Wednesday 7 August commencing at 8.45am.

"What is a Parent Learning Walk?" I hear you ask. A Parent Learning Walk takes place throughout the school year during the school day. Parents are invited to walk the school with a member of the school leadership team and observe lessons taking place in three learning areas across the school. During this time you will have the opportunity to talk to the senior leaders and classroom teachers.

Each Learning Walk is designed to provide you with an insight to the learning that takes place at OHR, with the opportunity to ask questions and share any observations in an informal environment. All this plays an important role in the strategic development of our school.

A Google Form will be sent home tomorrow to ascertain numbers of interested parents.

About Real Life: Years 3 - 6

Information regarding this year's About Real Life program for parents and students in Years 3 - 6, can be found on the Student Wellbeing page where Mrs Lisa Canty has included some helpful links and provided further information about the forthcoming Parent & Child sessions.

Working Bee

Our third Working Bee for the year is fast approaching and will be held on the morning of Saturday 10 August between 8.30am and 10.30am. The Working Bee will be coordinated by both Luke Torpey and Justin Bolger to address the upkeep of the school grounds and minor maintenance matters. Working Bees are a cost-effective and essential means of maintaining aesthetic school grounds that afford a safe and welcoming environment for our children, parents and visitors.

Working Bees provide the opportunity to connect with other families, and the children always have a great time helping out and playing with one another.

For task planning and catering purposes, please indicate your attendance by emailing either:

Justin: justin.trees@hotmail.com or

Luke: luke.torpey@jrtpartnership.com.au

100 Days of Learning in Prep

Congratulations to all our Prep children who will be celebrating 100 days of learning at OHR on Friday 9 August. Mrs Hollow planning a range of activties to do with "all things 100".

Don't be surprised if you see a number of small senior citizens in the Prep classroom on that day!

OHR Spring Carnival

The fete committee continue to meet on a very regular basis to plan for our first school fete since 2019. Timelines, schedules, bookings and logistics are all ramping up with only 13 weeks until the big day. Look out for comms from the Class Reps calling on everyone to be involved in some way to ensure that this day is a huge success.

Make sure that you go to the PFA News page for further information.

Is your Working With Children Check up to date?

Parents should monitor when their Working With Children Check is due to expire. Upon expiry of the Working With Children Check, legislation requires that you obtain a new card and bring it to the Office in order that it can be verified and scann.

The Card MUST be displayed at all times when volunteering at School in any capacity. Thank you for your support.

Term 3 School Closure Day

This Monday 29 July we have a school closure day for staff professional learning. During the first part of the day the staff will be engaged in further work surrounding the MACS Vision for Instruction, with a focus on Explicit Teaching. The second component of the day will be geared towards renewing our First Aid (including CPR) qualifications.

Camp Australia will offer a full-day program. Details can be found by selecting the attachment, below.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank Dame

Scholastic - Issue #5