From the Principal

Welcome to 2020!

Well here we are at the start of another school year! A sincere and warm welcome to all our families. It has been lovely to see all the children returning to school after their break and to hear their holiday stories. A big WELCOME to our 16 new families who have joined our community with our new Prep intake. The Preps commenced last Thursday and are settling in extremely well to the routines of school life. Tonight our Prep families have been invited to the oval for an informal Pizza night. This will be an opportunity for our Prep parents and their children to meet with one another at the start of the year in an informal setting.

Along with our new Prep families we also welcome the Boukouras and Macleod families who have joined our school in various other classes. We hope you enjoy your time here at COHR and feel very welcome in our community.

This year we also welcome the following new staff to our school:

Mrs Jo Cowan - Deputy Principal and Religious Education Leader

Mrs Clare Inwood– 5/6 Class Teacher

Miss Samantha Cannizzaro – Teaching in 5/6SC and 5/6F

Mrs Daniela Vecchi – Italian Teacher

Today we celebrated our first whole school mass together as a community. We prayed that God would guide us and bless us in this new year of learning. Thank you to those parents who came along to join us.

Our newsletter will continue to be published fortnightly. The newsletter will be distributed via email, FlexiBuzz and via our school website. Any additional information or updates (required between newsletters) will be communicated via FlexiBuzz.

Tomorrow morning, immediately after the bell, we will hold our first Friday morning assembly. Tomorrow we will be presenting our Preps and new students with Welcome Certificates. All parents are welcome to come along.

Building Update

If you have been into school lately you will have noticed the progress being made with our new building. We are getting very close to moving in. At this stage there is every chance we could be moving in as early as next Thursday and Friday. An inspection of the works will take place early next week to determine whether or not we are permitted to move in. Even if we are delayed a few extra days we still wont be far away from moving in.

At this stage it is planned that 5/6I and 5/6C will move into the new rooms upstairs. 3/4S and 3/4D will move into the new library temporarily and 3/4GR will move into Room 113 (downstairs) temporarily. Once these classes have moved out of their existing rooms the builders will commence refurbishing them. This work will be carried out through this term and it is anticipated that the building program will be completed early in Term 2. Once completed the four 3/4 classes will occupy the four newly refurbished classrooms in the top corridor.

Condolenses

We keep the Ramalinga family (Lucas 3/4S) in our prayers following the recent passing of his Grandfather.

School Nursing Program

Samantha Malin, a visiting primary school nurse from the Department of Education and Training, will be attending the school to conduct the Prep health assessments and to see other children as requested by teachers (with parents’ consent).

The purpose of the visit is to provide children in their first year of primary school with the opportunity to have a health assessment; to link children, families and school communities to services available in the community; and to provide information and advice that promotes health and wellbeing.

The confidential questionnaire will provide important information about your child’s health so the nurse can make an effective assessment. If your child requires further assessment, such as vision, hearing or speech assessments the nurse will see him or her at school.

For parents of Prep students:

If you would like your child to participate in the Primary School Nursing Program please indicate this by ticking the YES consent box (page 5), sign and fill out the questionnaire and return the completed student entrant health questionnaire to school.

If you do not wish your child to participate in the Primary School Nurse Program please tick the NO consent box (page 5), sign and return the student entrant health questionnaire to school.

Parents are invited to contact the visiting primary school nurse if there are any issues they wish to discuss. The contact number is 0412 161 470.

Parent Information Evenings

These meetings will be a valuable opportunity to meet class teachers, hear more about class expectations and responsibilities of your children as well as hearing a little about the focus of the year.

Meetings will be held in the hall and commence at times according to the level.

Monday 10th February Prep Level – 6:30pm Monday 10th February 1/2 Level – 7:30pm

Thursday 13th February 3/4 Level – 6:30pm Thursday 13th February 5/6 Level – 7:30pm

Flexibuzz

A reminder that we will be using the Flexibuzz app to contact parents regarding upcoming events, reminders and our fortnightly newsletters. Class teachers will also use this app to inform families of classroom notices. The Flexibuzz app can be downloaded onto an android device, iPhone, iPad or a windows phone. WE are hoping that all parents join so that we can improve our communication with you. For those of you who have already downloaded the app, please ensure you have updated your child's new class to receive the relevant information.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parents are invited to meet with their child's classroom teacher on either Tuesday 18th or Wednesday 19th February. These interviews are an opportunity for parents to share with their child's teacher relevant information which will assist the teacher to better understand the needs of the child as a learner. Interviews have been allocated in 10 minute time slots.

The following dates and times for these interviews are as follows;

Tuesday 18th Feb 4pm - 7pm

Wednesday 19th Feb 3pm - 5pm (PLEASE NOTE: students will finish at 2:30pm on this day

To book an interview time please make an online booking on

https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/

using the code: bxftw

Classroom Cuisine

Classroom cuisine will again provide our lunch order service on every day except Tuesday.

All orders need to be placed online before 8.30am

School has no access to this service and will not to able to place late orders. For information or to order, please visit https://classroomcuisine

School Hats

A reminder that all children are required to have their school hat for recess, lunch and PE. Please ensure hats are clearly labeled.

School Banking

School Banking will be every Tuesday morning. Please ensure you have updated your child's class on the banking cover. If you would like to open a school banking account, you just need to go to www.commbank.com.au/schoolbanking to register.

2020 STAFFING

Foundation (Prep)

Jill Palermo(Mon-Thur)/Emily Stafford(Fri)Prep PS

Level Two (One/Two)

Kim Goddard 1/2G

Rachael O'Hallaron 1/2 O

Emily Leckie 1/2L

Level Three (Three/Four) Sarah Den Elzen 3/4D Karen Gosling(Mon-Wed) 3/4GR

Nicole Russell (Thur/Fri Term 1)

Elise Rimmington (Thurs/Fri Term 2-4)

Kristy Sly 3/4S

Tanya Ticca 3/4T

Level Four (Five/Six)

Ilona Cetrola 5/6C

Emily Faella /Sam Cannizzaro(Wed) 5/6F

Clare Inwood 5/6I

Sarah Counihan/Sam Cannizzaro(Mon) 5/6SC

Specialists

Karen Wakeling Resource Centre & ICT (Tues,Thurs,Fri)

Sue Tobin PE (Tues,Thurs,Fri)

Jon Bode Performing Arts (Tues/Thurs)

Daniela Vecchi LOTE (Italian) (Tues/Thurs)

Marissa Kilbride Visual Arts (Wed)

Georgina Torrisi Digi Tech & Media Arts (Fri)

Learning Diversity

Suzanne Neil

Learning Intervention & Extension

Franca Paduano

Reading Recovery & Intervention

Maria Falla

Learning Support Officer

Lorraine Hill

Isabelle Georgalas

Vicky Kalliontzis

Anna Giannikos

Carolyn Heil

Tim McDonald

Administration

Virginia Macdonald (Mon,Thurs,Fri)

Rachel Bernardo (Tues,Wed, Thurs)

Position of Leadership

Franca Paduano Teaching & Learning Leader

Jill Palermo Teaching & Learning Leader

Emily Faella Wellbeing Leader

Franca Paduano Literacy Leader

Karen Wakeling ICT Leader

Sarah Counihan Numeracy Leader

Suzanne Neil Learning Diversity Leader

Jo Cowan Deputy Principal/Religious Education Leader

Brendan Welsford Principal

Child Safe Standards

In meeting with Child Safe Standards I would like to remind parents of the need to have a current Working With Children Check if you intend on volunteering here at Christ Our Holy Redeemer.

The Working With Children Check (WWCC) helps protect children from physical and sexual harm.

It does this by screening people’s criminal records and professional conduct and preventing those who pose an unjustifiable risk to children from working with or caring for them. To volunteer at Christ Our Holy Redeemer as a parent helper, a check is required. To apply for the check, please visit the government website and follow the details.

www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au

Please ensure you put Christ Our Holy Redeemer as the place where you will be volunteering, as your check details will then be forwarded to the school. The only cost to parents will be the passport photo required for the card. All forms are online. Paper forms are no longer available from the Post Office or schools.

Please complete, print and submit forms at an Australia Post office with your attached photo. The school will be notified via a letter once your check has been verified and granted. If you already have a Working With Children Check and the school does not yet have a copy, please bring your card to the school office so a copy can be made for our records. It is each parent’s responsibility to update their Working with Children Check and notify the school when a new card has been issued.

We greatly appreciate your time and support with school activities.

All parents are required to sign a copy of our Code of Conduct. These forms will be sent home next week. Could you please sign and return to the school.

Medication / Medical forms

All children who had medication at school were sent home with it last year. Please check expiry dates and return to school along with up to date Asthma / Anaphylaxis plans. A reminder to also update your Caremonkey details.

Financial Assistance Information for Parents

The annual CSEF amount per student will be:

$125 for primary school students

$225 for secondary school students.

How to Apply

Contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef

For more information about the CSEF visit www.education.vic.gov.au/csef

Newsletter

Inspired by the Spirit, we are a strong community supporting and leading learners in a safe and inclusive environment.

Issue 1 · 06 Feb 2020

In this issue