Principal's News

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Dear Parents & Parishioners,

During last week's Australian Catholic Education Conference, I had the pleasure of attending numerous keynote addresses, panel discussions and workshops. During one of the sessions, that was delivered in the main auditorium, Dr Jordana Hunter from the Grattan Institute spoke on the topic, 'Why high-quality curriculum materials matter'.  In this talk, Dr Hunter made the case that it is essential that schools have access to quality-assured curriulum materials to adopt and adapt in that they are a potential gamechanger that can boost learning, build teacher expertise and ease workloads.  

In this regard, OHR's adoption of the MACS Vision for Instruction, has ensured that these parameters are met. In English and Mathematics, we have access to resources through OCHRE Education, where these are adapted to suit the context of our school.  Members of the Leadership Team have attended Masterclasses by Teach Well which, in turn, has augmented our approach to learning and teaching.

In an article that appeared in The West Australian newspaper, entitled 'Time to get serious about lifting the quality of teaching', Dr Hunter wrote:

"For reading, schools should have a strong early emphasis on systematic phonics, so all students learn to “crack the code” and read unfamiliar words. But reading instruction can’t stop there. Students need lots of opportunities to read quality literature and non-fiction texts, and they should have explicit teaching of vocabulary, fluency, and background knowledge. This work must continue right through the primary and secondary years.

For maths, schools also need a systematic approach. Success is fostered by teaching new concepts and skills explicitly step-by-step, and giving students plenty of opportunities to practice before they apply new skills to more complex problems." 

At OHR,  under the guidance of Mrs Marian Nicolazzo (Univeristy of Melbourne Lecturer) and Mrs Lisa Canty, the teaching staff have had an explicit focus on improving student achievement in vocabulary and sentence level structure.  While in Mathematics, Mrs Penny Hansen has placed a spotlight on improving number fluency.  Make sure that you head to the Learning & Teaching News and read Mrs Hansen's article, 'Fluency - not speed, but flexibility'.

Kew Future Leaders Speech Competition

Last week, Jess Wilson MP visited Our Holy Redeemer to judge the finalists in the OHR Kew Future Leaders Speech Competition.  Congratulations to Emilia K, Zoe C, Ameila L and Anne E, who delivered impressive speeches. Amelia L (5/6DG), was the overall winner of the competition.  According to Mrs Mitchell, "Amelia delivered an insightful and well presented speech."

Amelia will now proceed to the grand final on Tuesday, 2 September, at the Parliament of Victoria where she will deliver the same speech.  We are very proud of Amelia and wish her every success.

Fathers' Day Stall & Breakfast

• The annual Fathers' Day Stall will be held next Thursday.  Details can also be found on the PFA News page.

• The Fathers' Day Breakfast will be held outside in the school grounds next Friday 5 September from 7.45 - 8.30am.  Head to the PFA News page to book a light breakfast.

School Concert: Less than 2 Weeks to Go!

Tickets went on sale at the beginning of last week for the OHR School Concert, 'Come Fly with Me'.  343 seats have been sold since then. 

To ensure no families miss out, we are requesting that each family secure a maximum of no more than three seats.  When selecting seats, please be sure that you don't leave a single seat space between your seats and that of another family.  Thank you. 

To secure tickets, simply go to:

https://www.trybooking.com/DEQPV

Any remaining unallocated seats will go on sale this Monday.

Details of costume requirements can be found on the Performing Arts page further in this newsletter.   We ask that all costumes be placed in a clearly named bag and delivered to school no later than this Wednesday, 3 September.

2026 Student Numbers

As we approach the latter part of Term 3, the school is attempting to determine accurate numbers of students in each year level for the 2026 school year. Therefore, with the exception of exiting year 6 students, could you please notify me if your child will not be returning to OHR next year?  I would appreciate notification by no later than Friday, 12 September.  As you can appreciate, final numbers will ascertain whether we can satisfy any requests from families wishing to transfer their child/ren from another school. 

Whole School Assembly in Church this Monday

Due to the fact that some carpet layers will be relaying the carpet tiles on the hall stage and steps this Monday, the weekly assembly will be held in the church.  All parents are still welcome to attend.

Note: There will be no assembly the following Monday, 8th September, as the students will be pariticpating in a dress rehearsal for that evening's concert.

The Right to Disconnect

From 26 August 2024, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) included provisions to give employees a workplace right to disconnect from communication received outside of their designated working hours, where reasonable.  Within the education sector, this includes communication from parents, students, colleagues or others within the school community, where reasonable.

What is the right to disconnect?

Under the new right to disconnect, an employee may refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer outside of the employee’s working hours unless the refusal is unreasonable.

In addition, the right will also allow an employee to refuse to respond to communication from parents, students, colleagues or others within the school community if the contact relates to their work and is outside of the employee’s working hours, unless the refusal is unreasonable.

What is considered as unreasonable?

The FWC may consider the following factors, amongst others, when determining if an employee has unreasonably refused to connect:

• The reason for the contact or attempted contact with the employee; 

• How the contact or attempted contact with the employee is made and the level of disruption the contact or attempted contact causes the employee; 

• The nature of the employee’s role and the employee’s level of responsibility; 

• The employee’s personal circumstances (including family or caring responsibilities).

At OHR we respect the importance of engaging in dialogue and the communication of valuable information but acknowledge that consideration be given to the timing and frequency of communications to staff from employers and members of the school community.  The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) requires us to manage expectations surrounding responses outside of an employee's working hours.  

Thank you for supporting us in this endeavour.

Below is a copy of OHR's Protocols for Using Email:

Key enrolment dates for Year 5 students in 2026 starting Year 7 in 2028

The timeline of events and dates is as follows: 

• applications for students starting Year 7 in 2028 will open on Tuesday 27 January 2026 and close on Friday 14 August 2026 

• secondary principals must subsequently exchange their full list of applications, identifying proposed offers and non-offers, with neighbouring colleges by Friday 11 September 2026 

• offers will be posted to 2028 prospective Year 7 applicants on Friday 16 October 2026 

• parents/carers will be required to accept an offer from a school by Friday 6 November 2026.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank Dame