From the Acting Principal

Term 4 Week 11

Hi all parents and carers,

As I write the final Principal’s Newsletter for 2023 I reflect on how much has happened and how fast the year seems to have flown by. We have had so many wonderful events throughout the year that students will hopefully remember for years to come. I have enjoyed the opportunity to lead the school community during 2023 and want to thank the staff, families and students for all the support I have received during the year. At the beginning of the year I felt a bit like the Preps at the beginning of their new journey but with the assistance of so many people in the community I have made it to the end of the school year.

I need to thank the members of the Leadership Team, Norah, Dina and Clare who have worked closely with me this year to maintain the great learning programs that we have at school and to implement change as we embrace new opportunities. I need to thank the wonderful teachers and LSOs for their hard work over the year and commitment to providing inspiration learning opportunities for the students. Special thanks to Liz and Loretta, their support and assistance in keeping the office side of the school going, which is so obviously vital that I can’t think of the school without them. To the parents in the community, your support has been wonderful and I look forward to continuing to work with most of you again next year. Most importantly I want to thank the students. Every year when we are talking about what is great at OLHC my first thought is the students. They are such awesome ambassadors for the school and they are the reason I keep coming back to OLHC each year.

Pat Cronin-Be Wise Launch

We were very proud to be asked to host the launch of Pat Cronin Foundation Primary School Presentation – Violence is never OK. As mentioned last week we have a long association with the Cronin family and know that the work the Foundation is doing with young people is vital to spreading the message that violence is never ok.

On Tuesday, our Year 5 and 6 students were the official launch audience for some of the material that will be offered to primary schools in 2024. Some central aspects of the presentation focus on the importance of giving younger children tools and strategies to reduce physical incidents inside and outside the schoolyard. I know some of our students were quite excited to be seen on Channel 9 news.

MACS - Our Lady Help of Christians School hosts launch of anti-violence classroom resources

Year 6 Graduation

On Wednesday night we had a lovely ceremony to celebrate the completion of 7 years of primary schooling for our Year 6s. The night is always special for the staff, students and families as we reflect on not only their learning, but also on their growth as people. We know we send them off to high school well prepared for the amazing opportunities that lie ahead of them as they embark on their new exciting educational adventure. I know I can thank not only this year's teachers but all the staff who have worked with them during their time at OLHC on behalf of the families. All our staff have all had an impact on the students learning over the journey and hopefully will be remembered fondly in the future.

A celebration like that can’t go ahead without the dedication, planning and hard work of their teachers. Huge thanks to Anne Askew for her leadership in organising the evening and to the team who supported her, Emily Ashworth, Anita Simpson, Angela Vines, Liz Cox, Clare Bisby and Liv Tomada. Special thanks to parents Karly O’Donaghue and Danielle Saliba for their work in setting up the hall for the celebration afterwards. Also thanks to Anne Hibbert, Jenny Ashton and Karly O’Donaghue for helping prepare the Year Book for the students which provides them with a wonderful memento of their time at OLHC.

Thanks to all the departing families, some who have been with us for as long as 14 years. Your contributions to the school community will be missed, as will the smiling faces of your children.

The families finishing up are:

Adapon, Allen, Barber, Bordignon, Boyd, Brennan, Carroll, Ciappara, Costantin, D'Arcangelo, Dario, Denman, Firth, Hansen, Hibbert, Jessup, Kite, Kostas, lu, Mair, McNutt, Moffitt, Musarra, Scannell, Savickis-Nalato, Schultz, Taylor, Tsirbas, Verde, Ward and Xiao.

We wish you all the best and remind you that you will always be part of the OLHC family, like past pupil Beccy Tirrell who we congratulate on achieving Dux at CLC for 2023. As always, we love to hear of our past students doing well.

Final thanks on behalf of the school and the community to our departing staff. We wish Linda Lawrence, Lindy Chaplin-Holmes, Barbara Cumming, Katrina Smith, Anita Simpson, Gabby Compasso and Dina Rubini all the best as they embark on new phases of their lives.

End of Year Mass and Assembly

We finished the school year off with Mass celebrated by Father Michael today. It is a lovely way to finish by celebrating as a faith community with the parishioners, parents, family members and friends. Thank you to Clare Bisby for organising the mass and Father Michael for inviting us into the first Classroom as he likes to call the church. We recognised the families that were departing OLHC for the last time, we farewelled staff who are heading off to new adventures and announced our school leaders for 2024. (see pics below).

There was also a special leadership award presented to our year six student Ellyse Saliba. Vicki Ward, a past parent and the local State Member for Eltham, presented the David McKenzie award to Ellyse. The award recognises the outstanding student leadership that Ellyse has displayed all year in all that she has done at school.

Reports

As mentioned last week, Semester Two reports are available online via the nForma Parent Portal. Instructions on how to access the nForma Parent Portal have been sent out to the email addresses that have been previously supplied to the school. These emails were sent out on Tuesday December 12th (see link for further information).

While there are a lot of school celebrations going on, Christmas is all about connections with Jesus and the Church, so don’t forget to plan Christmas Mass into your busy schedules. See below for Mass times.

The 2024 school year will officially begin for staff on Monday 29th January. We will have two days of small group wellbeing and assessment sessions for the students on Wednesday 31st January and Thursday 1st February. The first full day back for the whole school will be Friday 2nd February. Information about your child's half day session has been sent to you via email. We will send an email out early in the new year with a list of important dates for Term 1 2024.

Mr Vail will officially take over at the beginning of the 2024 school year but he and I have already begun working closely together as we finish off 2023. I again thank you for your support during the year and as always, leave you with the message that if you have any questions or concerns our doors are always open.

Regards,

Mark Pinkerton

Acting Principal

Congratulations to our 2024 School Leaders