Foundation Hutchinson

Welcome to our 2026 Foundation families.

Our students have made a wonderful start to the year and are settling into school life with growing confidence. In these first weeks, we have focused on building positive relationships, establishing classroom routines, and supporting new friendships. The children are becoming familiar with our daily schedule and are enjoying hands-on learning through play, stories, and exploration.

Our Meet and Greet Interviews are offering a valuable opportunity to connect, share insights about your child, and strengthen the partnership between home and school. Working together ensures each child feels supported in their learning, wellbeing, and sense of belonging.

It has been lovely to see students smiling, participating enthusiastically, and embracing new experiences. I am very proud of how smoothly they have transitioned and look forward to a positive year ahead.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via Dojo message or email at khutchinson@olwangaratta.catholic.edu.au.

Kate

Grade 1/2 Grant

Welcome to a new school year! I am very excited to be working with your children in Grade 1/2 this year, and we are looking forward to a happy, settled, and successful year of learning together.

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas break and were able to find some ways to keep cool over the holidays. The beginning of the year is an important time for building routines, friendships, and confidence. Our classroom will be a safe and welcoming space where children are encouraged to try their best, ask questions, and grow as learners. Once our Library Day has been confirmed, this will be shared with you in Dojo. On these days your child will need to bring along a waterproof library bag.

This year our whole school will have a focus on home reading and filling out Home Reading Diaries. There will be some impressive incentives so stay tuned!!! If you have your child’s green reading satchel at home, could you please return it as soon as possible.

As the weather is still warm, please ensure your child brings a named hat, water bottle, and fruit/snack each day so they are well prepared for learning and play.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email or our class Dojo. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Kind regards

Liz Grant lgrant@olwangaratta.catholic.edu.au

Grade 3 Sinclair

Welcome to Grade 3!

We are so delighted to welcome all our Grade 3 students and families to the start of a new school year. Students have made a wonderful beginning—settling in beautifully and showing fantastic enthusiasm for learning. Alongside myself in the classroom, we are also very lucky to have the support of our Learning Support Officers: Mrs Sampson, Mrs Sherwill, Mrs D’Agostino, and Mrs Kittlety, who work with Grade Three students each week.

One exciting highlight of our first weeks has been launching our class novel, Matilda by Roald Dahl. Students are already enjoying the humour, imagination, and rich characters in the story, and we look forward to exploring it further together as the term continues.

In Mathematics, our learners have shown great resilience as they build their understanding of place value and numbers up to six digits. This can be a challenging concept early in the year, but students are approaching it with persistence, positivity, and a willingness to stretch their thinking—all the ingredients for strong growth.

Last Friday, students brought home their Reading Diaries. We encourage all children to read for 10–15 minutes each day. These short, consistent reading sessions make a big difference to fluency, comprehension, and confidence. The notes included in their InitiaLit Reading Diary offer simple prompts and strategies to help support reading at home.

Families will also have received information last week about our Grade 3/4 Camp to Beechworth in Week 5. This camp is always a Term 1 highlight and a wonderful opportunity for students to build friendships, teamwork, and confidence as we begin our year together. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

It was lovely to see so many families at our Beginning of Year Mass last Friday, and to meet even more of you during our Meet and Greet interviews. Building strong partnerships between home and school is incredibly important, and these early opportunities help set us up for a positive and supportive year ahead.

A friendly reminder that ClassDojo or email are the most efficient ways to contact me during the school week. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

We’re excited for a wonderful year of learning, growth, and connection in Grade 3!

Warmly, Mrs Bek Sinclair rsinclair@olwangaratta.catholic.edu.au

Grade 4 Griffin

Welcome to Grade 4!

We are so excited to begin this learning journey together in Grade 4. This year will be filled with curiosity, creativity, and many opportunities for students to grow as confident learners and kind classmates. Supporting us in our classroom each morning will be Mrs Linda D’Agostino, who will be working closely with our students to help them learn and thrive.

Grade 4 is an important year where students continue to build independence, responsibility and resilience. We will be working together to develop strong learning habits, a positive mindset and respectful relationships, all while striving to ‘Seek Peace and Pursue It’ in our classroom community.

Throughout the year, students will be encouraged to:

Take pride in their learning
Try their best, even when work feels challenging
Show kindness, patience and respect towards others
Be responsible for their belongings, learning and behaviour

We will explore exciting topics across all learning areas, including engaging reading and writing activities, problem-solving in mathematics and meaningful opportunities to grow spiritually and socially.

Families play an important role in supporting student success. I look forward to working closely with you to ensure your child feels safe, valued and supported in our classroom. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, concerns or important information to share.

For our first three weeks of term 1 we have had Harry Snowling (Mr S) in our classroom. Harry is a Pre Service Teacher studying at University of Victoria and is in his last year of study. Please pop in and say hello, Harry will be back in May to complete his placement.

Let’s make this a happy, productive and faith filled year of learning in Grade 4!

Warm regards, Lynda

lgriffin@olwangaratta.catholic.edu.au

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