Dear Parents & Parishioners,

ANZAC Day is a time for all Australians to recognise the more than 2 million people who have served our country in all conflicts, wars and peace operations since 1914. It's also a time to remember the over 103,000 Australians who sacrificed their lives in our country's name.

In towns and cities across Australia and around the world, Australians attend services to:

salute the service and sacrifice of the men and women who have worn our country's uniform
recognise the men and women who are currently serving overseas
acknowledge the impact this has on them and their family and friends who remain at home.

ANZAC Day, on 25 April, is gazetted as a national day of commemoration in Australia. The day recognises and commemorates the contribution of all people who have served Australia in times of war and in war‑like conflicts. Australians have a public holiday for ANZAC Day when 25 April falls on a weekday. Each state and territory follows its own public holiday legislation when ANZAC Day falls on a Saturday, as it does in 2026.

The Dawn Service

The ANZAC Day dawn service originates in the Army's 'stand-to' routine. This was when soldiers in the front line guarded their posts at dawn, when attacks were often launched.

After World War I, many returned soldiers missed the comradeship they felt at these times. This is why a dawn ceremony became their preferred form of remembrance on ANZAC Day. The tradition also has a symbolic link to the dawn landing on Gallipoli.

Acknowledgement: Dept. of Veterans' Affairs

OHR ANZAC Day Commemoration - all welcome

We are commemorating ANZAC Day at OHR tomorrow, Friday 24 April at 9.00am. Our ANZAC Day commemoration will form part of the whole school mass marking the commencement of Term 2.

All are welcome, including grandparents and other family members.

Surrey Hills ANZAC Day Dawn Service

The Mont Albert and Surrey Hills Rotary Club & Surrey Hills Historical Society are pleased to announce that the 2026 ANZAC Day Dawn Service will take place in Surrey Gardens at 5.40am arrival for a 6am start on 25 April.

Our Holy Redeemer is one of four schools invited to send students to participate in the service. Our School Captains will read during the service, while our three Vice Captains will lay a wreath on behalf of the school.

All families are invited to attend the service.

Address: Surrey Gardens, 88 – 90 Union Rd Surrey Hills

Camp Australia - School Closure Day

If you would like to book your child/ren into a full day program on our next school closure day, scheduled for Monday 4 May, I would suggest doing this quickly. If we have sufficient numbers booked in the next few days, the service will definitely operate on 4 May.

2026 House Sports Day & School Cross Country

We concluded last term with our annual House Sports Day. We had terrific weather throughout the morning, which also encouraged many parents and relatives to come along a spectate.

It was wonderful to see the joy with which all the students participated and supported one another. The team chants were deafening on the day, which really captured the spirit of our students.

Our Prep parents showed their pride on the day, with many smartphones capturing their children competing. The Prep students certainly learned what it meant to be a member of a House Team.

Congratulations to Clarke on winning the House Sports Day for the second consecutive year. They were lead by their proud captains Oliver D and Oliver M.

eSafety

eSafety is Australia's independent regulator for online safety. This term, eSafety will be offering a series of free live webinars giving parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.

Simply follow this link to register: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

Learning Walks for Parents

Come to the Staff Room on Wednesday, 6 May, for a coffee and then see first hand how children learn at our school through joining us on a Learning Walk for Parents.

Learning Walks are a great opportunity for parents to come to the school and, with other parents in a small group, be guided around classrooms by one of the school leaders. It is a great opportunity to observe what learning looks like in different levels of the school. These guided walks will provide you with:

A first-hand look into three selected classrooms to observe the learning
Special commentary and insights from school leaders
An opportunity to ask questions
A chance to meet, listen and learn with other parents

Our Learning Walk for Parents will commence at 8.45am. Please allow 45 minutes. If you have not previously attended a Learning Walk for Parents and would like to find out more, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Parents who have been on Learning Walks in the past are more than welcome to come along again, as the classrooms and learning we observe are always changing.

If you are interested in joining us on one of these walks please indicate your interest by selecting this link.

Road Safety Reminder for School Communities

The City of Boroondara recognises that the beginning of term can be a particularly busy time around schools, and encourage all families to remain vigilant when travelling to and from school. Parents and carers are reminded about the importance of:

Obeying all parking and traffic signage
Using designated crossing points
Avoiding unsafe stopping, double parking, or illegal U‑turns
Remaining alert around school crossings and surrounding streets
Following school crossing supervisor’s instructions

We have been informed that Parking Officers will continue to patrol school areas to support compliance and help keep children and families safe.

I thank you for your ongoing support in promoting safe behaviour around our school.

Learning & Teaching at OHR

Make sure you head to the Learning & Teaching News and Maths pages, for some important updates from our leadership team. In the article 'Strengthening number sense at home', there are some helpful resources and videos to strengthen parent understanding of mathematical terminology and current teaching practices.

Science Talent Search

For details of this year's Science Talent Search, head to Mrs Axon's article on the Science and STEM page.

Winter Uniform

The first few weeks of Term 2 can offer temperamental weather with a mixture of warmer and cooler days. Therefore, the children are allowed to wear either summer or winter uniform until the end of next week. Commencing Tuesday 5 May, however, all children are required to be dressed in full winter uniform.

Note: the students are required to wear their hats until the end of April.

Open Mornings

Our next Open Morning will be held at 9:00am on Thursday 30 April.

If you know of anyone considering a school for their child, please encourage them to come along to our final Open Morning or, alternatively, arrange a personal school tour.

Our parents are our greatest advocates. Research clearly shows that word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing.

It would be gratefully appreciated that all existing school families who have a child commencing school in 2027 complete an enrolment form and submit it to Heather.

If you are available to assist by meeting and greeting prospective new families at the end of our Open Morning, your help would be greatly appreciated. Simply be avaialble in the hall foyer between 10.00 and 10.30am. Please notify be by email if you can help out.

School Closure Days

We will have two school closure days for staff professional learning during Term 2. Therefore, there will be no school closure days during Term 3. The dates of the two school closure days are:

Monday 4 May
Friday 5 June (leading into the King's Birthday long weekend)

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank