Principal's Update
A Lenten Prayer
May we continue to immerse ourselves in the season of Lent and reflect on what it means to us in our daily lives.
Jesus,
As we continue our Lenten journey, draw us near to you and transform our lives with your loving encounter. We pray that we may know your hope, love, mercy and compassion. Renew us with your living water, and fill our hearts with love that overflows to all people.
Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers,
Reconciliation
Forgiveness is something we focus on during this time of Lent as we prepare for Easter. Congratulations to all the children who received the sacrament of Reconciliation on Tuesday and best wishes to those who will receive it tonight and Saturday morning. Tuesday was a very prayerful occasion and I would like to thank and congratulate all families on their participation in the program over the past month, helping the children prepare for this important sacrament.
NAPLAN
This week our Grade 3 and 5 children have completed NAPLAN tests in Reading, Writing and Language Conventions. They will complete Numeracy on Monday. We congratulate the children on the way they have approached NAPLAN. The NAPLAN testing format is a learning environment that is not a regular part of our day to day experiences in the contemporary classroom, where discussion, interaction and group sharing are encouraged. Therefore, we do not make judgments on the children based solely on their NAPLAN results. It is one of many assessment tasks that the children participate in throughout the year. Results will be sent to schools early in Term 2.
School Sports
Over the past few weeks we have been busy preparing for this year’s school sports to be held at the Lake Oval tomorrow. The children have been preparing well, practising their sprints, relays and tabloid events. A big thank you to Dan and our sports and sustainability leadership team, for organising the event. The weather is looking good so it promises to be a fun filled day. Sunscreen will be provided, but we recommend that the children apply before they come to school.
SchoolTV / Anxiety
A few weeks ago I sent out an email inviting parents/carers to complete a short survey about their child(ren’s) wellbeing on the SchoolTV site. Thank you to those who have already completed it, but we would like to get more families complete it to give us more accurate data. From the responses received so far, there have been some trends that have emerged. One of them being anxiety. For more information and resources on anxiety, please click on this link;
https://smcolac.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/youth-anxiety
Prep Information Morning
This coming Monday, 18th March, an information session will be held in the school library from 10.00am-11.00am. The meeting is aimed at prospective new families in 2025, but existing families are most welcome to attend. Topics covered will be specialist programs, mental health and wellbeing initiatives and strategies for helping parents prepare their child for school. If you have any family or friends looking to enroll their child at a school next year, please pass on this information. If you are intending on attending, please inform the school office.
Down Syndrome Day
Thursday 21st March is Down Syndrome Day. Children are invited to wear ‘silly socks’ to raise awareness of Down Syndrome.
Car Park
A reminder that if the Gellibrand St. entrance is blocked at pick up time, you can enter the Calvert St. entrance to park your car in the car park, provided it is before 3.10. You can then get out of your car and collect your child(ren). If doing this, please enter with care, staying to the left.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Michael Mahoney (Principal)