Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

This last fortnight has been extra special, right from the moment our grand, good, great and gorgeous people popped in for 'G Day' through to Prep's Milo Birthday Surprise and 100 Days at school celebrations. Add to the mix an amazingly well attended Working Bee and learning opportunities to extend students who participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition. 

G Day

We were delighted to open our doors last Monday for ‘G’ Day! Children brought along Good, Great, Gorgeous, or Grand persons in their lives for a wonderful morning here at OLA. We scheduled this day close to the Feast of St Joachim and St Anne - the grandparents of Jesus. The prayer service was strongly led by our School Captains and supported by our Preps beinging forward symbols. We loved hearing stories from our special people and we are especially grateful to one of our Grandads, Paul Brennan, who shared what it means to be a grandparent.

The joy on both the children and their special person's face was amazing. Such precious conversation and such precios sharing of work and stories.  At OLA we love to partner with our families and this is a wonderfukl example of this strong connection. Families please pass on a huge thank you to all who helped make this morning so memorable. Thank you for the emails and comments of gratitude - this day was one very important day for us all.

Just a quick note to thank you for the beautiful Grandparents Day. Both We both appreciated the time and effort that went into organising such a special day. It was wonderful being able to share some precious time with our three grandchildren.

We love the school, staff and wonderful community supporting our grandchildren. 

Student & Parent Voice

At OLA we love to hear about 'What is Working Well' and what could be 'Even Better If...' Feeback and gratitude are always welcome and these video clips are two examples of what our students and parents love about our great school.  I wonder if you can spot some faces that you know...! These videos can also be found on our updated website. We thank School Presence and in particular Tserlin and Mark for what they do to help us celebrate all that is OLA.

Student Voice

Parent Voice

Milo's Birthday Surprise

During our Little Learners Love Literacy Program, we’ve been engaging with the delightful text 'Milo’s Birthday Surprise!' This book serves as the perfect tool to introduce letters and its corresponding sound. Throughout the weeks, we’ve embarked on an exciting adventure, inviting a diverse cast of characters to Milo’s Birthday Surprise Party. It has been a joy to witness the children’s enthusiasm as we completed the exploration of all 26 letters of the alphabet. We recently came together to celebrate Milo’s Birthday Surprise in grand style.

100 Days of Prep

Even the front page of The Age newspaper highlighted this momentus celebration with the headline, 'A wrinkle in time as Preps imagine their future selves'.  We had children with their hair in rollers, make up on, wearing frocks, braces, cardigans and walking with zimmer frames or walking sticks. It was so good seeing our Preps (and their teachers!) taking part in the 100 Days of School celebrations. This week our Prep children celebrated 100 days of learning together with their friends! They dressed up as 100 year olds, sang and paraded in front of the school and did lots of fun activities all about 100! We thank Mrs Lee, Mrs Harrison, Mrs Berley and Mrs Hudson for their exceptional dedication in nurturing and seamlessly transitioning our precious Prep students into school life. 

Thank you so much for the 100 Days of Prep celebration!

The 100 days of prep was so special, thank you for everything you do! We are so grateful! You did an amazing job with the children! 

That will be a day I will remember forever.

Working Bee

Thank you to the many many generous families who helped to make OLA grounds and buildings look their very best at our working bee.  You’ve made our school sparkle. There really is an amazing spirit amongst all present on these days - thank you. A reminder that if you were not able to attend this Working Bee we have one more left in Term 4 or you are more than welcome to make a donation to the school which goes towards ongoing maintenance.

School Fees

Term 3 School Fee Statements were emailed out last week.  Please contact Gabrielle McGee accounts@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au if you didn't receive your statement or have any queries. All fees are due on 15 October unless of course you have made a payment plan that is different to that. Thank you to all who have already made part of full payments.

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

• Monday 29 January 2024 – Applications will open for students commencing Year 7 in 2026. 

• Friday 16 August 2024 – Applications will close. 

• Friday 30 August 2024 – Date by which principals must exchange their full list of applications with neighbouring colleges, including parish of residence.

 • Friday 13 September 2024 – Date by which principals must exchange their full list of applications with neighbouring colleges, identifying proposed offers and non-offers. 

• Friday 11 October 2024 – The Principals and Registrars Enrolment Briefing will be held at the Catholic Leadership Centre from 12.30 to 3.00 pm. 

• Friday 18 October 2024 – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants. 

• Friday 8 November 2024 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school.

2024 Plans

We politely ask all families to notify the school should your child/children not be returning to OLA in 2024. We have had a number of enquiries in recent weeks and have waiting lists for 2024 across most year levels. Having an accurate indication of our enrolment numbers for next year ensures we are able to plan accordingly and access appropriate funding i.e. staffing and resourcing. We thank you for your cooperation. 

Calendar

Please open the ‘Key Dates and Events’ tab in this newsletter for important dates or access the OLA Calendar here.

Key dates for the next 2 weeks...

Celebrations

Body Image

Today we had a visitor come to the school to speak to Grade 5s about their body image and the body image of others. It was so beautiful to hear the children speaking of what influences our body image. The children without promting spoke about surrounding yourself with people that you love and people that make you feel good, being active, getting outside, getting a good sleep, a positive mindset and being gradteful. Such important thoughts to be already having! We are proud of you Grade 5.

Principal Awards

Principal Awards go to amazing students like this who give their absolute best in presenting their project work from home. Children in Grade 1/2MV wrote about the Characters, Setting and Plot in Mem Fox's book Possum Magic. Thank you for giving your best.

Thank you

Grade 1/2KM 

Thank you Yueni Yang and welcome Jamee Montebruno and Maree Kraloglou

Last Friday we thanked Mrs Yang at our Friday Assembly for being the classroom teacher for 1/2KM. Mrs Yang is very much looking forward to her delayed honeymoon and travels overseas. We thank her especially for establishing solid classroom routines and structures where the children felt safe and where their learing and wellbeing were prioritised.

We have loved welcoming Jamee and Maree over the last couple of weeks and it is a joy to see the children warming to you so quickly and enjoying getting to know you.

Garden Club Donation

We thank the Jordan family for donating some plants for our keen Garden Club! We appreciate the thought and time taken to gather these for us. 

May this weekend be a quiet one or one where you have a moment to just be. Thank you for your support and for being part of the fun and festivities at OLA over the last fortnight.

Richard Jacques

Principal