Principal's Message

Principal's Report

Dear Families & Carers,

FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the first edition of our now fortnightly newsletter.  With the move to fortnightly newsletter, we as a staff we are trying to utilise the Class DoJo platform on a more regular basis, providing real updates and examples of what the classes are learning. If you are not already joined up to DoJo, please make contact with your child's classroom teacher to join. Please note that the Class DoJo platform is free. Simply download the app from the app store and join. 

DIVISION ATHLETICS

I wanted to start this newsletter with some exciting feedback from our Division Athletics, held last week. I have heard from numerous sources now that the Our Lady's students were encouraging, supportive, organised and in general amazing role models for our school. I have heard stories about how children stayed in between their own events to cheer others on and in one situation, running alongside someone to encourage them to finish a race with confidence. Congratulations to all students who competed and showed true spirit in the process. A huge thank you to Mrs. Kirby for running events in her own time to enable children to progress to the next level following our washed out athletics. 

Another huge thank you goes to our parents - this event was only made possible by our parents who happily donated their time to ensure their child could compete. On behalf of our students, thank you! 

ASSEMBLY

On Monday our school joined together for our weekly Assembly. This week, we were led by our confident Grade 1/2NH class. 

Congratulations to our 'Student of the Week' recipients for this week. Awards are presented each week for academic achievements. 

Foundation: Jasmine

Grade 1/2BH: Sonny

Grade 1/2NH: Jordan

Grade 3/4WY: Harry & Jamersen

Grade 4/5G: Stephanie

Grade 5/6G: Lillie

This week, in order to get your name into the Class Dojo Raffle, students had to be nominated by a staff member who observed them during our 'Behaviour Blitz.' This fortnight, we are looking at how we behave in the eating area. This includes picking up rubbish, walking to and from the eating area, taking care of those around us and many more things. Congratulations to Evie (Grade 5/6) for taking out the win today. 

ATTENDANCE

Please make sure you check out the Attendance Matters page for some amazing achievements from our school community around attendance. On Monday during our Assembly we celebrated many individuals who are working hard to be at school all day, every day. We also have a little competition for Term 4 - a class party organised by me for the strongest attending class in the school. What an opportunity! At the moment, there is a tie for first place...the competition will be close.

SIMON EVERYWHERE

This term, in preparation for 2024, we will be rolling out a new feature to our families that is an extension of our internal SIMON system. As a staff we use a program called SIMON to communicate between staff, mark attendance and generate reports. We will be utilising the parent extension platform 'Simon Everywhere' to notify family of first aid incidents, provide permission for excursions and notify us of an absence. Parents will also then have access to our electronic calendar at school. We are doing this to streamline our communication platforms. Stay tuned for more information!

STAFFING ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are currently in the processing of short listing to welcome a new teacher to the Our Lady's Team. Along with this, staff are currently working on how we can best support our students in 2024 with a structure that suits the schools needs. We hope to announce this structure in our next newsletter. It is a busy and exciting time here at Our Lady's as I work on both 2023 & preparing for 2024. 

CES SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SURVEY

Today a letter will be going home to all families to invite you to participate in a school improvement survey. This letter contains an individual PIN in order to complete the survey. The survey is expected to take around 20 minutes, is completely confidential and needs to be completed by the 30th of October, 2024. We have invited all families to participate so we can gain valuable insight to continually improve our school. 

Blessings,

Cassie Lynch

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Doxa Youth Foundation will be running holiday camps for children from 10 to 12 years old during the 2024 summer school holidays.

Doxa will be providing these camps FREE of charge for children from less affluent families. We are all about children having fun, learning, and creating special memories. In order to be eligible, the school will need to refer you. If you believe this would be of benefit, please come and see me to complete an application.

Malmsbury Camp, January 8th – 12th 2024, (5 days and 4 overnight) 

Our Malmsbury Camp is located in an idyllic bush setting in Central Victoria where campers will have exciting outdoor adventures. Onsite there are all sorts of facilities including a giant swing, climbing wall, archery, trampolines, and local native wildlife. During this program participants will also visit the local swimming pool and canoe in local areas. 

City Camp, January 15th – 19th 2024, (5 days and 4 overnight) 

Located in the heart of the CBD, our city camp will offer participants the opportunity to discover all the things that our vibrant city has to offer.  From seeing Melbourne’s iconic attractions such as the Eureka Skydeck and Melbourne Zoo, to attending major Australian sporting events such as The Australian Open and Big Bash League, the experience they will have will be like no other. 

A referral is required to attend - please reach out if you think this would be of benefit for your family.