News from our 

Assistant Principal

Tell Them From Me Survey 2024

A school community is thriving when teachers, students, parents and carers are all working together toward a common vision of success. It is important to strengthen relationships and gain a deeper understanding of the whole school community by giving everyone a voice in setting a school’s direction. 

Our school uses many forms of data including the Tell Them From Me Survey data annually to design the Annual School Improvement Plan for each school year.

This year’s Tell Them From Me Survey results indicated that parents who completed the survey were generally satisfied with:

• Opportunities for prayer and faith development
• Fostering an understanding of Catholic life and culture and promoting relationships with the Parish community
• Student engagement in learning
• Modelling and promoting positive, safe behaviours
• Positive general health 
• Student wellbeing
•  The range of Creative and Sporting opportunities 
•  The supportive and professional staff 

Book Week

This week our school celebrated Children's Book Week centred around the theme 'Reading is Magic'. An exciting week of activities enabled students to celebrate this annual event which included: literacy units related to short listed books, colourful displays, competitions,author visits, a book fair and the annual book week character parade and performance.

Teachers and students had a wonderful time acknowledging the importance of reading and the talented authors that inspire our imaginations. Please visit our school Facebook and Instagram sites to view the wonderful celebrations and events involving our students and teachers.

Father’s Day Stall

Thank you to all the parents who organised and assisted at our Father’s Day stall on Wednesday.  It was wonderful to see such a wide selection of gifts. The students always enjoy selecting a special gift for their fathers/father figures in their lives.

Our Lady of Fatima wishes all father’s a wonderful Father’s Day on Sunday 1st September!

Child Safety Week 2024 -  Every Conversation Matters

Child Safety week  will be acknowledged from the 2nd to 6th September 2024.National Child Protection Week is a great time to consider how we all play a part in creating a safe and supportive community for children and young people.

The theme for Child Protection Week is “Every Conversation Matters”. Conversations with your children provides the power to prevent child abuse. Every talk brings us closer to a world without it, we can all help prevent child abuse by having one talk at a time with children to ensure they are feeling safe. Please access the links below for information related to keeping children safe everywhere. 

Education Videos and Fact Sheets for parents: Click on the links below 

• Information about grooming - Information for parents about grooming so you reduce the opportunities of grooming occurring. 
• GrandFamilies - A resource for grandparents to assist them with keeping their grandchildren safe. This book provides conversation starters and activities to do side by side with their grandchildren to keep them safe from child abuse.
• Family and Domestic Violence - Provides information about signs of family and domestic violence and provides services and information to get help and support. 

Safety Information related to children riding            e-scooters and e-bikes 

Transport for NSW has recently published e-bike and e-scooter advice for families. This  information is  to inform families regarding the  safe and legal use of e-bikes or e-scooters in the community. Parents are advised to view the linked documents to be aware of the safety rules associated with the use of these types of transport.

On Tuesday 3rd September police officers from Miranda Police Station will be visiting the school to talk to students in Years 3- 6 about safety rules that apply when riding a bicycle.

The Right to Disconnect

As many of you will have seen in the media, new right-to-disconnect provisions are now in place for many employees in Australia, including Sydney Catholic School staff. Employees have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact, or attempted contact from their employer or a third party related to their work (i.e. a parent or student) outside of working hours unless the refusal is unreasonable. 

We understand that parents and students may send emails outside of hours.  School staff are not required to respond to out of hours emails or calls. We also remind parents to be conscious that most staff are in class, or on supervision duties during the day, and accordingly, there may be a delay in responding to emails or calls, as our first priority has to be our duty of care to the students. 

The best way to contact the school is always to email our school office:  

info@olfcaringbah.catholic.edu.au 

Lunch Orders    

Parents are reminded to use the canteen online facility or a lunch bag to order lunches. Many students are coming to school with money to buy their lunch over the counter and not selecting a nutritional lunch. 

Please ensure that your child has a healthy morning tea and lunch. Students participate in crunch and sip every morning where they are asked to bring in fruit or vegetables as a healthy snack.                 

Summer Uniform

Due to the warmer weather conditions, students will be able to wear full Summer or full Winter uniform  from next Monday 3rd September. 

Term 3 Staff Development Day

On Friday, 27th September, the school staff will engage in a Staff Development Day away from the school premises. During this time teachers will have the opportunity to  further deepen their understanding of their faith through the lens of Prayer. 

This professional experience will enable teachers to explore the concept of Prayer, what prayer can look like in their daily lives and how prayer allows us to come to know God more.

Supervision will be provided at school if required.

Ms Louise Gordon | Assistant Principal