From the Acting Principal

Term 3 Week 9

Parents and Carers,

Friday 8th September was a school closure day intended to allow the teachers the opportunity to spend the day planning collaboratively, to ensure the final term of the school year is filled with engaging learning opportunities. As mentioned last week, next term the overarching concept for the Religious Education and  Inquiry Units, from Prep to Year 6, will be CONNECTIONS. The staff has been working closely with MACS to merge Religious Education and Inquiry to create richer and deeper units of work, which foster curiosity, risk taking and critical thinking and questioning. 

Next week is the final week of Term 3. The students will finish at 1.00pm on Friday September 15th and will return to school for Term 4 on Monday October 2nd.

All families should have received an email with a link and unique code for the school’s family Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). Thank you to the 20 families who have already responded. I encourage the other families to please take the time to complete this survey, as we highly value the feedback from our families. We use the data from the family responses to help us better understand the needs of our community, as a tool to set future directions for the school and as a way to celebrate what we do well and ways we can improve in the future. 

On Monday the Year 5/6  students headed off to school camp at Lyrebird Park in Yellingbo. This adventure camp gave the students an opportunity to try many new things, take on exciting challenges and build connections with their peers and the staff. There were numerous  highlights over the 3 days. Most loved the Flying Fox that whisks the students at high speed down through a beautiful tree lined gully over a dam, before bursting out of the tree canopy into bright sunlight!  At least that is what the brochure picture shows. As for us, we experienced hail, wind and rain but that just added to the camp experience and it couldn’t dampen our spirits. The indoor rock climbing wall, archery and trampolines are always popular as well. I think for some, the adventurous torchlight night walk will remain in their memories for a long time. I know it will be remembered by the teachers who accompanied them. As a staff, we were so proud of the way our students tackled all the challenges and assumed a can do attitude. Some students found their limits, while others were left wanting more height, speed or an adrenaline rush. What I do know is that they all pushed themselves to the absolute limits and should be very proud of their achievements. I hope they had an early night on Wednesday and slept in on Thursday because they were truly exhausted by the time we returned to school.

Thank you to Mrs Askew who had been busily working behind the scenes to ensure that the camp was a wonderful experience for our students. The role of the camp coordinator is a daunting one, but she did a marvellous job and the students reaped the rewards. A big thank you also to the other staff who came along and gave up two nights at home with their families to support and look after the students. Maree Rofe, Connie Lania, Gloria Fischer and Emma Marazzato were fantastic. Most of them had not been on camp with us before but they were a perfect fit and worked tirelessly to make sure that your children were well cared for. The children were also excited to see Anita Simpson come down after work on Monday to spend a few hours with us and Grace Mechkaroff during the day on Tuesday.

The School Disco on Saturday 2nd of September was a wonderful night. By all accounts the students had a great time and showed some real flair on the dance floor. Huge thanks to PFOL parents Melissa Bowkett-Hall and Tony Vikram and the rest of the team for all their efforts to make the event special and successful on the night. So much goes on behind the scenes to get these events up and running, so I encourage you all to put your hand up and get involved in some of the upcoming events, like Lawn Bowls, the Oa Day Luncheon and the Christmas Carols BBQ. 

However, before these events we have the 90s Trivia Night this weekend on Saturday 9th of September. Once again I encourage all families to support this event, as it has always been a big night on the OLHC Social Calendar. It is a great opportunity to leave the kids at home and enjoy a light hearted and slightly competitive evening. I’m hearing a lot of chat during drop off and pick up about costumes for the night so I know it will be a great night for all.

It is tradition here at OLHC, that on the last day of Term 3 we celebrate the Victorian obsession with Aussie Rules Football, by having our annual footy day. All students wear their club colours and join in the parade of colour first thing Friday morning. After this we have a short quarter time break and at 10.30 head to Central Park Eltham, for a kick of the footy on the oval. We will be at the oval until 11.45, before heading back to school. The students will have lunch at 12.10 till 12.50 and then back into class to pack-up for the 1.00pm finish. As a footy day treat, we will have lunch orders available through My Mum and I. We are promoting footy finals food like pies or hotdogs, but the full menu will also be available for those who prefer something healthier. We will need the assistance of parent walkers to get over and back so please keep your eyes out for the permission Operoo form sent this morning.

Last week in staffing news, we announced that Emily Ashworth and Anita Simpson will be sharing the teaching duties in 5/6W until the end of the year. This means we have had to change PE arrangements which Emily was originally going to be taking. In somewhat good fortune Andréa Chesterman, who has been covering the PE for the second half of Term 3, has agreed to stay on in that capacity until the end of the year. Andréa and I have been working on the planning of this term and will continue to do so throughout Term 4.

As mentioned in last week's newsletter, as a SunSmart school it is time for our students to find their school hats and start wearing them once again.  Please take this weekend to find any school hats that may be hiding, because from next week onwards the students will be expected to be wearing their hats at school. This is also the time of year where we transition into summer uniform, so please ensure that you  spend some time on the holidays labelling items of clothing. It would be good to make sure that lunch boxes have name labels as well.

Regards,

Mark Pinkerton

Acting Principal

TRIVIA NIGHT START 7:00PM

Canteen window for (Friday) recess sales.  

Available for sale will be snack packets of Red Rock chips, Grain Wave whole grain chips, Pringles, Raspberry Twisters, Snakes, Smarties (Small 16g pkts), Yoghurt Frogs and Juicies. 

These items can be purchased through CDFPAY (and will be ready to pick up at recess) or can be bought directly from the window. 

If you are interested in helping our PFOL as a recess helper, please let us know. 

Friday Recess Orders

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